Some Republicans in the state fear that the sensational biography of Victor Marx, their party’s candidate for governor, could drag down the rest of the ticket.
Victor Marx, pictured outside his ministry’s training center in Colorado Springs, Colo., says he wants to be governor to bring the state “back to God.”
Russia has quietly started a new round of mobilization and plans to bring in more North Korean troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He cited a new report from Ukraine's military intelligence. The same day, the Kremlin published a decree enlarging Russia's army for the fourth time this year.
Russia widens recruitment at home and abroad
Zelenskyy spoke in his evening address on 28 September, after a briefing from Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR).
"In effect, the Russians have already begun additional mobilization—they are increasing the number of people they recruit through various means," he said.
Moscow also plans to recruit more foreigners, Zelenskyy said. He urged the governments of countries whose citizens Russia recruits to counter it, and said Kyiv would inform each of them.
Ukraine says Russia has been losing soldiers faster than contract recruitment replaces them. If so, an unannounced call-up lets the Kremlin refill its ranks without a formal draft. ISW says Putin may hold off on such a draft until he sees whether his strikes work. Ukrainian intelligence had expected Russia to announce a mass mobilization after this month's State Duma elections.
More than 8,000 North Koreans in Russia, 10,000 more in preparation
More than 8,000 North Korean troops are currently on Russian territory, Zelenskyy said. Pyongyang is selecting another 10,000 for training and deployment to Russia, he added.
Russia is paying, among other things, with technology, according to Zelenskyy. North Korea has launched production of Shahed-type attack drones with Russian technical support, he said.
That is a step beyond what Kyiv reported in June 2025. Moscow and Pyongyang had then only agreed to start preparing such production. In August, Zelenskyy warned that Russia could receive up to 50,000 North Korean troops.
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North Korean missile unit deploys to Russia for ballistic strikes on Ukraine, Kyiv says
Kremlin raises the army's size again
Putin's decree sets the authorized strength of Russia's armed forces at 2,441,630, including 1,550,500 military personnel, Vedomosti reported. The decree gives no reason.
The order adds 15,500 troops and is the fourth such increase this year, Euronews said. Since March, the combined increase has reached 47,860 soldiers. Putin's 2022 "partial mobilization" decree also remains in force, the outlet noted.
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Russia could open northern front by February if it orders new mobilization, Ukraine intel says
Moscow keeps denying a call-up
In early September, Putin claimed that reports of a coming mobilization were "complete nonsense" and "an information attack on Russia." Russian officials gave similar assurances days before the 2022 call-up.
Ukraine's military and foreign intelligence had earlier said that Russia's General Staff prepared a scenario to mobilize 600,000 people over 2026 and 2027, 300,000 each year.
Official statements said bilateral relations were discussed. But the question of who bears responsibility for failing to prevent the Oct. 7 attack is a major election issue in Israel.
As record prices weigh on the G.O.P.’s midterm outlook, several Republicans have coalesced around an idea to block diesel from leaving the United States. Others are skeptical that doing so would lower costs.
The average price of diesel has risen by nearly 75 percent since the war with Iran began at the end of February, a spike that has complicated Republicans’ midterm aspirations.
Even some devoted conservatives know more about Sherrod Brown, the Democratic challenger, than the Republican incumbent, who needs the MAGA base to turn out.
Some Ohioans said they don’t know much about Senator Jon Husted, the Republican incumbent. Some said they thought Sherrod Brown, the Democrat, was the incumbent.
As Brazil prepares to hold elections next month, Latin America’s biggest nation is taking steps to shield its democracy from potential American meddling.
Supporters of the right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro waved American flags and brandished a blowup doll of President Trump clutching an imprisoned President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a rally this month in São Paulo, Brazil.
Ms. Peltola, the Democratic Senate candidate in Alaska, has complicated politics: She is pro-gun, pro-oil and pro-gas — but also pro-environment and especially pro-fish.
The president amplified negative social media comments about Representative María Elvira Salazar of Florida, a move that drew a rebuke from at least one Republican.
The longtime Democratic insider has emerged as a behind-the-scenes force in his party’s push to win back Congress. After that, he’ll think about the next presidential race.
Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and chief of staff to President Barack Obama, has been recruiting Democratic House candidates and helping to guide their campaigns.
The organization, founded in 2006 to back Democratic veterans opposing the Iraq war, is pouring huge sums into this year’s elections amid intense voter antipathy for another conflict in the Middle East.
Bobby Pulido, a Tejano musician running as a Democrat for the House, has left his Republican opponent struggling to match his star power in a district that President Trump won easily in 2024.
Bobby Pulido is running for a House seat anchored in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. President Trump won the district by 18 percentage points in 2024, but it is now seen as competitive.
A federal appeals court had sided with Republicans seeking to use redrawn congressional district boundaries to give their party an advantage in the midterms elections.
Protesters outside the state capitol in Jefferson City, Mo., in March. The Supreme Court’s latest order landed when some ballots have already been sent out in the midterms in which a few seats could determine control of Congress.
Michael Whatley, the Republican Senate candidate, joins President Trump onstage during a rally in a hangar at Gastonia Municipal Airport, N.C., last week.
Revelations about the conduct of former Representative Mary Peltola may not faze voters who have long elected abrasive and sometimes violent figures to represent them.
Mary Peltola drew criticism from Republicans who suggested that revelations this week about her conduct toward staff showed her unfitness for the Senate seat she is seeking.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed holds a modest lead over Mike Rogers in part because of a strong advantage with younger voters, according to a New York Times/Siena poll.
The party’s nominees lead in Michigan and New Hampshire but the Republican incumbent is ahead in Maine, according to New York Times/Siena polls of the three battlegrounds.
It was the Trump administration’s latest stumble in its effort to find proof of widespread noncitizen voting, despite decades of evidence that it is extremely rare.
Despite its claims, the Trump administration has not yet offered evidence of a single instance of a noncitizen on Nevada’s voter rolls. Above, people cast their votes in Las Vegas in 2024.
Voters in the battleground state favored Senator Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, over Troy Jackson, a Democrat, in several important areas, according to a New York Times/Siena poll.
Early results in legislative elections showed the lowest voter turnout in nearly two decades. Economic frustrations have grown as Morocco is set to co-host the 2030 soccer World Cup.
The party’s nominees lead in Michigan and New Hampshire but the Republican incumbent is ahead in Maine, according to New York Times/Siena polls of the three battlegrounds.
Allegations embroiling the Brazilian judge who jailed former President Bolsonaro are reshaping an election that has consequences for Latin America and Washington.
Democrats hope that Mary Peltola can flip a Republican Senate seat in Alaska. Former aides describe a campaign and congressional office marked by chaos.
Former Representative Mary Peltola of Alaska is facing Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, in a competitive race that could be crucial for Senate control.
The former Maine governor, a Republican running for Congress, said the Trump administration is seeking to wrongly deport his son’s father-in-law, who has a work permit.
An explosive news report says election commission members objected to the measures that excluded millions of people from voting, which critics say favor the government.
As the far right surges, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s unpopular economic policies and gruff manner have failed to sway voters turned by rivals’ promises of easy fixes.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany at a party meeting in Berlin on Tuesday. One of his biggest problems is explaining to voters, especially younger ones, the need for difficult measures.
A federal appeals court sided with Republicans seeking to use district boundaries redrawn last year to give the G.O.P. an advantage in the upcoming midterms.
The Supreme Court has twice cleared a path for Missouri to hold its general election under an older map that would likely help Democrats retain both of their congressional seats in the state.
The inquiry was closed last year because senior bureau officials questioned the veracity of a campaign donor’s account, according to current and former officials.
Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, fired many agents in a public corruption unit at the Washington field office that had handled the Kao investigation who had gone on to work for the special counsel Jack Smith.
Representative Ashley Hinson of Iowa and Mike Rogers of Michigan distanced themselves from President Trump amid concern that high diesel prices could hurt the party in November.
In a wide-ranging interview, the New York congresswoman offered her most detailed insight yet into how she is thinking about a possible presidential run.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has several choices ahead of 2028: Keep her House seat, run for the Senate or seek the White House.
The former president and Texas senator are headlining a fund-raiser in Dallas for top Republican Senate candidates. Not included: Ken Paxton, the nominee in their own state.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, left, lost a costly and bitter Republican primary this year to Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, right. Former President George W. Bush, center, has mostly stayed out of the fray, but his politics align more with Mr. Cornyn’s.
Russian authorities left residents in and around Moscow without air raid sirens or phone alerts during Ukraine's largest combined strike on Moscow Oblast, apparently to guard turnout at Russia's parliamentary elections, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said. The silence angered residents and even pro-war commentators as a major oil refinery burned.
For most of this war, Russia has handled strikes on its cities as a routine to be announced, warned about, and waited out. Withholding warnings during the heaviest raid yet, in the middle of a national vote, suggests authorities will trade residents' safety for the look of a calm election when a political milestone is on the line.
Sirens stayed off during the biggest raid
Ukraine hit strategic sites across the Moscow area overnight on 19-20 September, the last day of Russia's State Duma vote. Moscow Oblast officials did not switch on air alert sirens or send the SMS warnings they had used during far smaller attacks. They quietly restricted mobile service without major public notice. Ukraine struck oil and logistics targets, not polling stations, according to the experts, and authorities appeared to place high turnout above protecting civilians.
Moscow Oblast residents complained that no alert reached them, some posting on the Telegram channel of regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov before it closed comments. A prominent Kremlin-linked military blogger attacked the official response, saying it erodes public trust and that cutting mobile service does "not really help."
What the drones hit
Ukraine's General Staff reported striking the Gazpromneft-Moscow Oil Refinery in the city's Kapotnya district, one of Russia's largest plants, causing a large fire. Ukrainian manufacturer Fire Point said its FP-1 drones completely shut down the refinery, with all primary processing units damaged.
Governor Andrei Vorobyov claimed air defenses countered 249 drones across 17 municipal districts. The strike was part of Ukraine's widening campaign against the fuel sector funding Russia's war, with about a fifth of Russian refining capacity offline.
The California representative, who is pondering a presidential run, has campaigned for more than 70 left-wing candidates in an effort to harness the left’s deep discontent with the Democratic establishment.
Former Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat, is running again for Senate after losing in 2024, when the cryptocurrency industry spent heavily to defeat him.
Monae Johnson, the secretary of state, is the latest Republican incumbent to speak out against conservative candidates as President Trump loses support before midterm elections.
Mr. Carlson, the far-right podcaster, has promoted Abdul El-Sayed’s comments and sharply criticized his Republican rival in Michigan. Strategists are scratching their heads.
Sweeping the courtyard of a residential building hit by what the authorities said was a Ukrainian drone strike in Kotelniki, in the Moscow region, on Sunday.
The liberal party Yabloko is fielding 98 candidates in this weekend’s elections, a small miracle for antiwar Russians who cannot openly express their views.
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