October 26, 2016 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Ghor Province Governor's spokesman claims ISIL insurgents killed 26-42 civilians in his governed province, Afghanistan. (Reuters)
- Syrian Civil War
- Suspected Syrian or Russian warplanes conduct airstrikes on a residential area and a school in Haas village in rebel-held Idlib Governorate, killing at least 26 civilians, most of them children. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- A series of earthquakes strikes a region of Central Italy already impacted by a major quake in August. Many buildings are damaged or destroyed across several towns. (CNN)
Health
- A research team led by an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona publishes a paper in Nature on the genetic history of HIV proving that Gaëtan Dugas, the Canadian flight attendant who had been identified for years as "Patient Zero" of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., did not spread the virus to the country. The study indicates that HIV first spread to the U.S. from the Caribbean around 1970. (BBC) (The New York Times)
International relations
- Gambia says it will join South Africa and Burundi in withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, accusing the court of ignoring "Western war crimes" like the Kunduz hospital airstrike. (BBC)
- NATO–Russia relations
- Russia withdraws a request to refuel three of its warships, including the flagship of the Russian Navy, Admiral Kuznetsov, en route to Syria, at the Spanish port of Ceuta following NATO pressure on the Spanish government to not allow the warships to dock. (BBC)
- For the first time in 25 years, the United States abstains in a United Nations vote calling for an end to its Cuban economic embargo. (Reuters) (NPR)
Politics and elections
- 2014–16 Venezuelan protests
- An unknown gunman shoots a Venezuelan police officer dead. Two other officers sustain injuries during protests against the Government of Venezuela. Approximately 120 Opposition supporters also sustain injuries during the protests. (Reuters)