PHOTO: REUTERS
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 26, 2026
· The Straits TimesExiled opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returns to Venezuela
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to Caracas in a surprise move that could pose the biggest test yet to acting President Delcy Rodriguez’s political opening and the Trump administration’s strategy for post-Maduro Venezuela.
“I’m here, with you,” Machado posted on X on Oct 25, confirming her return after months abroad. She gave no details on how she entered Venezuela, but her party shared photos and videos of her arriving at a church in Lara state, where emotional supporters embraced her and said, “She will be the next president of Venezuela.”
Machado’s team earlier thanked President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their support, signaling an effort to underscore her ties with Washington even as her return risks complicating the administration’s Venezuela strategy.
Trump, speaking to reporters as he left the White House, said he didn’t know about Machado’s return. Other US officials, including her longtime ally, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, celebrated the move, with Salazar calling it “the beginning of a new chapter.”
Serbian longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic concedes defeat in parliamentary election
Serbian longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic surprisingly conceded defeat in a snap vote on Oct 25, saying the student-backed movement that challenged him won the election.
Vucic, speaking to his supporters in Belgrade as results were trickling in, said the Student List won the ballot with the help of foreign aid, without providing evidence for his claims.
The movement received more than 2 million votes in the Balkan country of 6.5 million, he said.
Zelensky says trilateral US-Ukraine-Russia meeting to take place in November
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct 25 said that a trilateral meeting between Kyiv, Washington and Moscow would take place in November aiming to restart stalled peace talks.
“We are ready to talk. If it’s a territorial issue, it must be addressed at a leadership level. Other issues fall within the remit of the technical groups. All this can therefore be discussed in November,” Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian television.
On Oct 23, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a trilateral meeting was planned to take place in the United Arab Emirates in November.
Manchester United battered by Bournemouth to leave Michael Carrick on the brink
Manchester United slumped further into crisis with a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Oct 25 that plunged Michael Carrick’s future as manager into doubt.
Carrick’s bold decision to drop captain Bruno Fernandes backfired as defeat stretched United’s winless run to eight games and left them 16th in the Premier League, just one point above the relegation zone.
For the third time in four seasons, the Cherries won 3-0 at Old Trafford as goals from Rayan, Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson secured a fully deserved win for Marco Rose’s side.
Kimi Antonelli wins US Grand Prix but must wait for title
Kimi Antonelli won the US Grand Prix for Mercedes on Oct 25 to stand on the brink of becoming Formula One’s youngest ever champion in Mexico next weekend.
The 20-year-old Italian did all he could to put the championship out of reach of his rivals in Texas but Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate George Russell did just enough to delay the inevitable with fourth and eighth.
Antonelli now needs to score only two points – a ninth place – in Mexico to be sure of the title.