VOA Today’s Focus (October 24, 2026) U.S. Military Strengthens Air Combat Power with 10-Year F-35 Procurement Framework Agreement
This episode of VOA Today's Focus mainly reports on Russia and Ukraine reaching a partial humanitarian ceasefire and exchanging prisoners of war under White House mediation; the countdown to the 2026 U.S. midterm elections and the closely watched race in Minnesota; the U.S. Department of Defense signing a ten-year F-35 procurement framework agreement with Lockheed Martin to strengthen Air Force combat capabilities; and a report on remote communities in Guatemala improving their livelihoods through fish farming with the support of international organizations.
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Welcome to VOA Today's Focus for October 24. I am Wang Yuhe, broadcasting live from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Every day, we bring you a 15-minute quick grasp of the latest developments in the U.S. and around the world. Here are today's top stories. President Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine have reached a temporary humanitarian ceasefire. The U.S. military is strengthening its air power by signing a ten-year procurement framework agreement for at least 850 F-35s. As the countdown to the 2026 U.S. midterm elections begins, why is Minnesota receiving so much attention?
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a partial ceasefire in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Orikhiv. The White House announced on Friday that First Lady Melania Trump participated in the mediation to facilitate this ceasefire agreement. Under the agreement, both sides will temporarily cease hostilities to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the area and permit the evacuation of residents. A White House statement noted that the ceasefire will begin on October 29. Ukraine confirmed that both Melania Trump and Pope Francis made efforts to facilitate this agreement. The Kremlin stated that it is expected to take several days for civilians who wish to leave to complete their evacuation.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine also conducted the latest round of prisoner exchanges on Friday, with 270 people from each side released and returned home. When answering reporters' questions at the White House on Friday, President Trump said: "Saving babies, getting babies back to their parents—Melania has successfully facilitated something remarkable. She has been working very hard on this, hoping to see these babies returned to their families. This involves Russia and Ukraine, and both sides have reached a ceasefire agreement in a very dire situation. Babies are being exchanged and repatriated. She did a great job."
The 2026 U.S. midterm elections will be held on November 3. Control of the Senate and the House of Representatives has become the focus of competition between the two parties, with the Republican Party striving to maintain its majority and the Democratic Party hoping to regain control. In the following report, we will take you through the historical records of U.S. midterm elections to understand how the election results will affect the final two years of President Trump's second term. The focus of the 2026 midterm elections is on who will control Congress for the final two years of President Trump's second term. The Republican Party is fighting to hold onto its majority in both the Senate and the House, while the Democrats hope to win control to change the political power landscape in Washington. President Trump has been campaigning for Republican candidates in several key battleground states, while Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer stated that voters want the country to move in a new direction. Senators have returned to their respective states to launch campaign activities during the congressional recess.
The 2026 midterm elections will be held on November 3, with 35 of the 100 Senate seats up for re-election. Prior to the elections, the Republican Party held 53 seats in the Senate and the Democratic Party held 45 seats, while two independent senators caucused with the Democrats, making the seat ratio between the two parties 53 to 47. Highly watched Senate races include Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas. House members will also return to their respective districts to campaign for re-election and mobilize potential voters. All 435 House seats are up for re-election. Ahead of the 2026 elections, the chamber includes 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent, and two vacant seats.
From Bill Clinton to Joe Biden, four out of five presidents saw their party lose its majority in the House of Representatives during the first midterm election of their tenure. The only exception was the 2002 midterm elections during the presidency of George W. Bush. In 2022, the Republican Party recaptured control of the House from the Democrats under President Joe Biden. In 2018, during Trump's first presidential term, the Democratic Party won control of the House from the Republicans. In 2026, 36 states will also hold gubernatorial elections as well as state legislature elections. Members of Congress elected in the 2026 elections will begin their terms on January 3, 2027.
The United States midterm elections will be held on November 3, and the battle for control of both houses of Congress is attracting widespread attention. So why is Minnesota receiving national attention in this election? Below is further introduction by correspondent Xu Xiangyun. Xiangyun, can you first tell us what important positions in Minnesota are up for election? Well, Yuhe, we know that Minnesota voters will elect federal senators, representatives, and state-level public officials in this midterm election, with the federal Senate race drawing particular attention. The incumbent Democratic senator, Tina Smith, is not seeking re-election, so this election will also determine who succeeds her. In the federal House of Representatives, elections will also be held in all eight of Minnesota's congressional districts.
Minnesota has historically been a state leaning toward the Democratic Party, but this year's federal Senate race is more fiercely competitive than ever before. The Democratic candidate is incumbent Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, and the Republican candidate is former sports television journalist Michelle Tafoya, marking her first run for public office. According to a poll released by the Minnesota Star Tribune on October 12, Flanagan leads Tafoya 47 percent to 43 percent, but the poll also shows that some voters remain undecided. Minnesota will also hold a gubernatorial election, with the Democratic candidate being incumbent U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and the Republican candidate being State House Speaker Lisa Demuth. Control of both chambers of the state legislature is also contested, with the state Senate separated by just a single seat and the state House currently tied between the two parties.
So Xiangyun, why is Minnesota receiving special attention in this midterm election? We know that the November 3 midterm elections will determine control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress, and will also affect President Trump's governance space for the next two years. Currently, the Republican Party controls the Senate with 53 seats to 47. If the Democrats want to secure a majority, they need to gain four seats to reach 51. Regarding seats targeted for a flip, states such as North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, and Alaska are drawing attention. As for seats that need to be defended, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Minnesota have also captured national spotlight.
Although Minnesota tends to lean Democratic, the degree of competition varies across different elections. Taking the 2016 presidential election as an example, Hillary Clinton led Trump in the state by a margin of only about 1.5 percentage points. In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic candidate Harris's lead exceeded 4 percentage points. In this midterm election, the outcome in Minnesota could affect the Democratic Party's overall calculation for winning a Senate majority and is also tied to the Trump administration's legislation, budget, and congressional oversight work over the next two years.
How is the early voting situation in Minnesota, Xiangyun, and what voting methods are available to voters? Early voting in Minnesota began on September 18 this year. Voters can choose to vote by mail or go to their local election office for in-person early voting. Data released by the Secretary of State's office on October 16 showed that approximately 200,000 voters had already cast their ballots by that time, with about 80,000 voting early in person and about 120,000 returning their ballots by mail. Compared to the same period during the 2022 midterm elections, there are nearly 30,000 more ballots cast this year. Minnesota voters can vote early in person until November 2, or go to their assigned polling stations on Election Day, November 3. Mail-in ballots must be received by the state-mandated deadline to be counted. Thank you very much for the detailed report, reporter Xu Xiangyun.
The U.S. Department of Defense signed a ten-year framework agreement on Thursday with defense company Lockheed Martin for the procurement of F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters. This agreement secures a procurement quantity of at least 850 aircraft over ten years. According to a report submitted to Congress by the U.S. Air Force on October 16, the Air Force needs to have at least 1,500 combat-capable fighter jets by 2035. Please watch the television report by VOA reporter Liu Enming.
This landmark agreement sends a signal of stable, long-term procurement and will help the United States achieve the modernization and scale expansion of its fifth-generation fighter fleet. Michael P. Duffy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, stated in a press release that this agreement fundamentally changes the way the U.S. defense industrial base is solidified, enabling it to achieve high-speed, large-scale production, and ensuring that warfighters have the powerful lethal equipment needed to win in combat. This framework agreement is a key operational milestone in the Department of Defense's procurement transformation strategy, which aims to enhance the resilience of the defense industrial base through long-term procurement transparency and rapid private capital investment. Lockheed Martin will also self-fund at least $7 billion to support various initiatives for the F-35 program.
This agreement also ensures a procurement volume of at least 850 aircraft within ten years. The procurement covers initial spare parts and modification kits, as well as continuous sustainment services for the global F-35 fleet, which can support Lockheed Martin's production pace of 156 aircraft per year. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated in a speech on the Freedom Arsenal on the 20th that providing companies with long-term, predictable contracts can achieve large-scale, high-speed military equipment delivery. As I said before, we are providing companies with larger, longer-term, and more predictable contracts to help them achieve large-scale, high-speed delivery. We are reshaping the military by equipping it with the most advanced equipment and the best leadership, ensuring our warfighters have an absolute advantage, so that they always have an overwhelming chance of winning in battle and will never fall into a hard-fought battle between equals.
According to reports from U.S. media Defense News and Air & Space Forces Magazine, a newly released fighter force structure report submitted by the U.S. Air Force to Congress on October 16 shows that by 2035, the Air Force needs to have 1,509 combat-capable fighter jets. About 40% of the fighter jets in the fleet will be F-35As, 20% will be F-22 Raptors and sixth-generation F-47s, and the proportion of stealth fighters will reach 60%. The remaining 40% will be composed of F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, each accounting for half. The execution of the F-35 fighter procurement framework agreement still requires congressional authorization and appropriation approval. VOA reporter Liu Enming reporting from Washington.
Next, we see how aquaculture is changing the lives of rural residents in Guatemala. With the support of the international development organization World Neighbors, some remote communities are improving their diets, increasing their incomes, and making their livelihoods more secure through sustainable fish farming. Please watch the report by VOA reporter Taber. In San Lucas Tolimán, about 110 kilometers west of the Guatemalan capital, Guatemala City, surrounded by green mountains, some families are increasing their income through fish farming and have also gained a healthy source of protein. The fish must be fed three times a day, and after five months, they can be sold. Fish farmers keep a portion for their own use and sell the rest to community residents and visitors from outside. Some people come to buy one pound, two pounds, or even ten pounds.
This fish farming project was initiated by the international development organization World Neighbors, which is dedicated to helping some of the most remote rural communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America alleviate hunger, poverty, and disease. World Neighbors was founded on the belief that communities have the capacity to change their own lives, and that we are their partners in this process, using local materials and technologies to help them achieve their goals. The fish farmers raise the popular tilapia, which sells for 25 quetzales per pound, or about 3.27 USD. Genero Pal has been raising fish for 16 years, saying that after deducting costs, fish farmers can make a profit of about 50 percent. I raised three children through fish farming, sending them to school, supplementing household income, and paying for some expenses.
Farmed fish also provide an important source of protein for these families. With this project, we don't have to worry about not having food to eat. Every week we eat fried fish, fish soup, or make fish into the local traditional dish patin. Fish farmers in San Lucas Toliman said they hope to further expand their business with the help of World Neighbors. We started with about 300 fish, and now the two projects combined have about 600. We are constantly progressing, and they hope our next batch will be raised even better, and life will get better and better. Our goal is to make them as self-reliant as possible; the more food they can produce themselves and the more income they can earn, the better. This will make community life around the world happier and more resilient in the face of difficulties.
In Guatemala, about 1,200 fish farmers are distributed across 12 communities, and World Neighbors also runs fish farming projects in other countries. Fish farmers in San Lucas Toliman hope that with the continued support of World Neighbors, they can expand their scale of production to commercial levels, supplying sustainably farmed fish to local businesses and restaurants. Reported by Tabor for Voice of America.