Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. GOLDEN STATE FLAMES California is heading into what traditionally is the teeth of the wildfire season, and already it has set a record with 2 million acres burned this year.

2. LEGISLATIVE LULL As lawmakers return to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill, or much else.

3. EXPULSION STANDOFF Leading Belarus opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova is being held at the border with Ukraine, resisting authorities’ attempts to force her to leave the country.

4. TRUMP TARGET GETS SUPPORT Chinese leader Xi Jinping has praised China’s role in battling the coronavirus pandemic and expressed support for the World Health Organization, which the U.S. is in the process of withdrawing from.

5. VIRUS WEIGHS ON PALESTINIAN TERRITORY Gaza, under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007, is seeing its already overburdened health-care system strained further by the pandemic.