The Morning Briefing: October 31, 2026

Good morning. It is Saturday, October 31, three days before the November 3 midterm elections. Pressure on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz rose again this week, Wall Street closed October with a sharp selloff in technology shares, and Milwaukee turned out in large numbers to celebrate a first World Series title.

Iran pressure grows in the Strait of Hormuz as talks continue

Iranian forces used fast attack craft to place and detonate two limpet mines on the hull of the Panama-flagged oil tanker Louise 1 on October 29, according to the Institute for the Study of War update for October 30. The vessel was moving out of the strait about 25 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman, when the mines caused a fire in its engine room. The update, citing two maritime sources, called it the first successful detonation of a limpet mine against a vessel in this conflict. Read our full report on the tanker strike.

On Saturday, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, citing a Hormozgan province official, said the United States attacked two fishing boats near Qeshm Island, leaving two fishermen missing and one wounded. Reuters reported that there was no immediate United States confirmation of the attack. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that talks with Iran continue, saying, “There are talks. They want to talk.” Axios reported that Qatari mediators held talks in Tehran for more than 12 hours on Friday, and that Trump said the war is “going to get wrapped up soon.”

Wall Street ends October with a sharp tech selloff

Stocks fell sharply on Friday, October 30. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.86 percent to 25,437.00, the S and P 500 fell 1.82 percent to 7,580.07, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 572.25 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 51,770.31. Intel fell 28.58 percent after guiding fourth-quarter revenue below expectations, leading a selloff in semiconductor shares. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 5.69 percent, according to the market wrap figures for the day.

Core personal consumption expenditures prices rose 0.3 percent in September from August and 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis figures cited in the wrap, the highest yearly reading since May. Energy and consumer staples shares finished higher on Friday, while the 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.93 percent. Read our full report on Friday’s selloff.

Three days to the midterms, with courts and polls in focus

Democrats lead the national congressional ballot by about 9 percentage points, according to a Yahoo analysis published October 27 of polling data. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that the polls understate Republican enthusiasm, saying, “The polls are grossly underestimating public enthusiasm across the country.” All 435 House seats are on the ballot on November 3, and Democrats need a net gain of three seats for a majority, after accounting for two vacancies and an independent member who generally supports Johnson, according to ABC News figures cited in the analysis.

A federal judge on Friday barred the Justice and Homeland Security departments from pressuring election officials in the days before the vote. Read our full report on the ruling. Early voting is under way in many states, and the Senate contests in Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Maine, Iowa and Alaska remain among the races that will decide control of the chamber.

Congo Ebola deaths pass 5,000

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo passed 5,000, government data released Friday showed. The country’s National Institute of Public Health reported 5,026 confirmed deaths and 10,351 confirmed cases as of October 29, in situation report 168 published October 30. The report recorded 77 new confirmed cases and 34 deaths in the preceding 24-hour period, a case fatality proportion of 48.6 percent, with eight provinces and 67 health zones affected.

Reuters reported that the outbreak, declared in May and caused by the rare Bundibugyo species, has infected more than 10,000 people, with many deaths occurring outside treatment centers. Reuters also reported that there are no approved treatments or vaccines for the Bundibugyo species. The outbreak is the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record, behind the 2014 to 2016 epidemic that infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Record tides flood the California coast as advisories run into November

Record high tides flooded coastal communities across California this week. The National Weather Service recorded a water level of 8.52 feet above mean lower low water at the San Diego tide gauge on Tuesday, October 27, the highest measurement in that station’s record. Huntington Beach proclaimed a local emergency on October 26, after tides reached 8.20 feet and flooding hit Huntington Harbor and Sunset Beach.

ABC7 reported 114 damaged properties in Huntington Beach, and sections of Pacific Coast Highway between Warner Avenue and Anderson Street were closed during high-tide periods. The National Weather Service extended coastal flood advisories around San Francisco, San Pablo and Monterey bays through November 1.

Milwaukee celebrates a first World Series title

More than 750,000 people filled downtown Milwaukee on Friday, October 30, for the Brewers’ World Series parade and rally, according to a Milwaukee Police Department estimate. The parade started at 10 a.m. and led to a rally at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater that started at 12:30 p.m. Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday, October 28, to win the first World Series title in franchise history.

Jacob Misiorowski started the deciding game and worked 5.2 innings without allowing a run. Rookie Cooper Pratt drove in two runs, and catcher William Contreras, who was named the series MVP after hitting .381 with four runs batted in against the Rays, added a run-scoring double. Read our full report on the parade.