Learn Dutch: Het rapport analyseert de in de krant beschreven actuele situatie. - The report analyzes the current situation described in the newspaper.

This is an extended attributive phrase, often called the 'trek harmonica' (accordion) construction. In Dutch, you can squeeze a whole descriptive phrase between the article (de) and the noun (situatie). Instead of using a relative clause like de situatie die in de krant beschreven is, the prepositional phrase (in de krant) and the past participle (beschreven) are sandwiched directly before the noun.

Could I change the word order to de beschreven in de krant actuele situatie?

No, the word order inside this 'sandwich' is strict. The participle (beschreven) acts as the core of the inserted phrase and must come last in that sequence, right before the noun (or right before any regular adjectives like actuele). Therefore, the modifying phrase in de krant must precede beschreven.

Why doesn't beschreven get an -e ending here, like actuele does?

Because beschreven is a strong past participle (it ends in -en). When used as an adjective before a noun, past participles ending in -en never get the extra -e ending. Actueel, on the other hand, is a regular adjective and gets the -e because it modifies a singular de-word (de situatie).

Does actuele mean 'actual' in this sentence?