U.S. and world news for Nov. 1

Halloween shooting: The Orlando Police Department said it is investigating a shooting that occurred in Downtown Orlando, resulting in multiple victims. On Nov. 1, 2024, at approximately 1:07 a.m., a tweet on X from the department stated that “officers responded to reports of shots fired at Central Blvd. and Orange Ave. Within minutes, a second shooting was witnessed by officers south of Washington Street on Orange Avenue. A total of 8 victims were shot. Tragically, 2 individuals have been pronounced deceased. The remaining 6 victims were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) in stable condition. The ages of the victims range from 19 to 39-years-old. Shortly after the initial shots were reported, a suspect was located by officers on OPD’s Downtown Detail and taken into custody at Washington St. and Orange Ave. That suspect has been identified as 17-year-old Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, who was previously arrested for Grand Theft in 2023.”

Trump sues CBS: Former President Donald Trump has sued CBS News, alleging the network’s “deceitful” editing of a recent 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris misled the public and unfairly disadvantaged him, the network reported. In a statement released Thursday, CBS News called the former president’s claims “completely without merit” and said the network intended to vigorously defend against the lawsuit. The lawsuit, which comes just days before the two candidates face off in the 2024 presidential election, centers on two clips of an October interview 60 Minutes conducted with Harris. One of the clips was edited to include a longer section of her response to a question about the conflict in the Middle East. Trump’s lawsuit contends this editing decision was meant to intentionally assist his opponent and mislead the public, something CBS News has disputed.

Video debunked: Georgia Secretary of the State Brad Raffensperger issued the following statement Thursday night regarding a video that has surfaced about a purported Georgia voter. “Earlier today, our office became aware of a video purporting to show a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia ID’s claiming to have voted multiple times. This is false and is an example of targeted disinformation we’ve seen in this and other elections. It is likely foreign interference attempting to sow discord and chaos on the eve of the 2024 Presidential election. We are working to combat this and identify the origin of it with our state and federal partners. CISA is currently investigating. In the meantime, we ask Elon Musk and the leadership of other social media platforms to take this down. This is obviously fake and part of a disinformation effort. Likely it is a production of Russian troll farms.”

Station roof collapse: A concrete roof above the entrance of a railway station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed Friday, killing at least eight people, according to The Associated Press. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that at least four other people have been hospitalized with serious injuries, while rescuers have established contact with two people who are still buried under piles of concrete. Ambulances and other emergency teams were dispatched to the downtown station and bulldozers were removing the debris looking for survivors.

Israel ‘Iron Beam:’ Israel expects its “Iron Beam” laser defense system to be operational within one year, saying it will bring “a new era of warfare”  as it engages in a war of drones and missiles with Iran and its regional partners, CNN reports. The Jewish state spent more than $500 million on deals this week with Israeli developers Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, architect of Israel’s Iron Dome, and Elbit Systems to expand production of the shield. Dubbed the Iron Beam, the shield aims to use high-power lasers to counter an array of projectiles, including missiles, drones, rockets and mortars, Israel’s defense ministry said this week.