News: October 24, 2026

Drone strikes killed at least 306 people in Sudan in three weeks, UN rights office says

Developing Reported Oct 24, 4:35 pm PT

Oct. 24, 2026 — Drone strikes attributed to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces killed at least 306 people in Sudan in the first three weeks of October, hitting homes, markets, hospitals and displacement sites in Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile, Khartoum and other states, the UN human rights office said. The deadliest it listed, on Oct. 18, killed at least 139 people when a truck in Dibab, West Kordofan, was struck twice. In the disputed Abyei area, an Oct. 19 drone attack on Amiet Market killed more than 80, UN News reported.

conflict, Africa

Update: Ebola cases in Congo pass 9,700 as WHO says the outbreak is reaching ever more remote areas

Update Reported Oct 24, 4:30 pm PT

Oct. 24, 2026 — This updates our Oct. 23 report. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached 9,765 cases and 4,727 deaths across eight provinces, and about 30,000 contacts are being monitored each day, WHO incident manager Catherine Smallwood said, UN News reported. She said the outbreak is moving into ever harder-to-reach places, some days away by boat or motorcycle. About 2,600 people have survived. In Kenya, some of the more than 100 contacts of the country's first case will finish their 21-day quarantine on Oct. 25.

health, Africa

Magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes off Vanuatu; the tsunami threat passed within an hour, the warning center said

Developing Confirmed Oct 24, 4:20 pm PT

The quake came amid a week of activity in the same patch of sea, where USGS lists 59 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or larger since Oct. 19.

Read the full story

earthquakes, Pacific

San Diego County: 41 vote centers open Oct. 24, 221 from Oct. 31

Public notice Confirmed Oct 24, 4:25 pm PT

Oct. 24, 2026 — Forty-one vote centers across San Diego County open Oct. 24, and 180 more open Oct. 31, for 221 in all, the Registrar of Voters said. They are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. On Nov. 3, vote centers, drop boxes and the Registrar's office are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Details: sdvote.com.

elections, local