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1256 articles · page 4 of 27
Libya's parliament unanimously approved a maritime agreement with Turkey this week, establishing a direct economic corridor between the two countries' coasts and setting the stage for intensified disputes with Greece and the European Union over energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean.
Iran's armed forces have threatened to fire on US warships if they approach Iranian waters, as President Donald Trump said Washington was considering new attacks on Iran. The escalation comes as oil prices rise above $117 a barrel after fresh attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Smoke plumes rose over the Russian city of Oryol on 23 October after what local officials said was a Ukrainian attack on a factory, with three people killed and five seriously wounded, according to the regional governor and emergency services. The location of footage published on social media was verified using satellite imagery, but the date and circumstances of the filming remain unknown.
Elon Musk has said SpaceX deliberately restricted Ukraine's Starlink internet service because the country's military violated terms of service by using the civilian network for offensive drone strikes. Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov disputed the claim, noting that Starlink terminals in Ukraine are already speed-limited and cannot operate on Russian territory. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said on Saturday that the connection is now stable, with drone speeds exceeding 400 km/h, after US President Donald Trump said he told Musk to "put it back".
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has crossed the newly opened New Yalu River Bridge into the Chinese border city of Dandong, his first known trip abroad in over a year. During the unannounced visit, he was greeted by senior Chinese official Wang Huning, who conveyed greetings from President Xi Jinping and underscored a shared push to expand trade and cooperation.
Two former Ukrainian prisoners have described witnessing US citizen Stephen Hubbard being subjected to beatings, electrocution and sexual humiliation by Russian prison guards during his four-year detention, in accounts that corroborate his family's allegations of torture.
The US Defense Department has officially designated Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes on American university campuses as a threat to national security, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday, alleging the centres were operating under disguise to steal intellectual property and influence students.
Israel's central bank and more than 100 economists have rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to use cryptocurrency and blockchain to circumvent potential international banking sanctions, in a rare public rebuke days before the country's national election on Tuesday.
Russian attacks are increasingly turning Kyiv into a front-line city, with residents sleeping in subway stations, a 14-year-old killed in his own home and the military administration warning that 2026 could be the deadliest year for the capital since the full-scale invasion began.
President Donald Trump has further modified the 50 percent additional tariffs the United States applies to certain Canadian motor vehicle products, removing some goods from the levy and adding others, effective October 30. The White House says the change continues to offset what it describes as Canadian discrimination against US commerce.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham directly raised Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications system with US President Donald Trump during a phone call on Friday, Downing Street confirmed, after restrictions last week hampered Kyiv’s ability to intercept Russian missile and drone attacks.
The Israeli army has imposed a tight siege on the West Bank village of Madama since October 11, blocking all four entrances with earthen barriers and citing security reasons. The restrictions have trapped more than 2500 residents, preventing them from reaching work, schools and hospitals while disrupting this year's olive harvest a vital source income amid what locals describe as a deteriorating daily life.
Moldova has declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata after a Russian Geran drone entered its airspace and crashed near residential buildings in the center of the country, President Maia Sandu announced on October 23. The incident, which occurred during a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine, underscores the growing security risks to Moldova from the war across its border.
An eight-country bloc of European and Middle Eastern foreign ministers has publicly warned the United States and Israel against launching fresh military strikes on Iran, as the economic toll of the conflict deepens and Tehran seizes on what it calls a shift in European attitudes.
The race to become the next United Nations Secretary-General has taken a new turn with the entry of UAE Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh, who announced her candidacy this week. Nusseibeh joins a field that includes front-runner Rebeca Grynspan, the former Costa Rican Vice President, as well as several other candidates. The election could produce the first female secretary-general in the UN's more than 80-year history.
Ukraine said it has recaptured more territory than Russia has seized this year, even as the US restricts military support and Russia escalates attacks on civilians and energy infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that cluster munitions hit Kyiv on October 22, and that more than 170 strikes on energy facilities have occurred since a US-brokered energy ceasefire on October 11. A trilateral meeting among the US, Russia and Ukraine is tentatively scheduled for November 10 in Abu Dhabi.
Russia has confirmed that trilateral talks between Moscow, Kyiv and Washington will take place in the United Arab Emirates in November, in the latest diplomatic effort to end the war in Ukraine.
All four of Moscow's main airports suspended civilian flights on the afternoon of Oct. 23 after a Ukrainian drone raid, while a separate missile strike reportedly targeted a semiconductor plant in the Russian city of Oryol, local authorities and media reported.
Moscow was reportedly targeted by hundreds of drones during the Russia-Africa Summit overnight on Oct. 28-29, and Russia said its war against Ukraine must continue, as Kyiv, Moscow and Washington awaited a date for planned trilateral peace negotiations.
Ukrainian armed forces struck five data centres belonging to Russia's largest technology companies in October, hitting three Yandex facilities, a Sber centre and a VKontakte server farm across five regions. The attacks triggered persistent failures in cloud services, payment systems and navigation apps across Russia, and experts say recovery could take months or years. The strikes also dealt a significant blow to Russia's artificial intelligence ambitions, as Yandex's supercomputers, among the world's most powerful, were damaged or destroyed.
The European Union is pressing for a direct role in peace talks to end Russia's war on Ukraine, aiming to turn the current trilateral format involving the US, Ukraine and Russia into a multilateral process with European representation. The move comes as Washington prepares to resume technical-level talks in November after its midterm elections, following a months-long stalemate triggered by the US war on Iran.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has warned that Europe is facing a rising wave of organised sabotage, terrorist attacks and cyberattacks orchestrated by Russia, citing a recent attack on an Estonian defence industry company that was attributed to Russian secret services. In an interview with France 24, Tsahkna said Russia was 'increasing the pressure on Europe' through hybrid tactics aimed at dividing societies and weakening unity, while its conventional military capabilities had been degraded by the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner swap on October 23, the first exchange in two months, with 270 Ukrainian service members returning home and an equal number of Russian prisoners returned to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced. Most of the Ukrainians freed had been captured during the Siege of Mariupol in spring 2022, including members of the Azov regiment, Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Assault Forces. Five of those released had survived the 2022 Olenivka prison massacre, in which a thermobaric munition was detonated inside a barracks housing Ukrainian prisoners of war. In addition, several civilians were also brought back from Russia, though accounts of the exact number varied.
Regional mediators led by Qatar are pressing Iran to allow UN inspectors back to its nuclear sites in an effort to head off a renewed US bombing campaign after next week's midterm elections, according to US, Israeli and regional sources cited by Axios. President Donald Trump, who told a rally in Lubbock, Texas that military action could resume, told Axios he does not know whether the negotiations will succeed.
Ukrainian outlet Slidstvo.info has identified Russian officers it says are responsible for the blockade of the occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, where around 2,000 civilians remain trapped amid severe shortages of food, water and medicine and aid is being kept out.
Both Ukraine and Russia formally confirmed on Oct. 23 a US-brokered localised ceasefire in and around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, with officials on each side naming the negotiators behind the deal even as they gave different start dates for the pause.
Denmark has delivered 50,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition for the autocannons on Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Oct. 23, as Kyiv continues to seek additional munitions for the U.S.-made aircraft.
Ukraine is learning to operate without reliable access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, which has become increasingly unpredictable amid disruptions tied to the billionaire’s political stance. The shift is prompting both Kyiv and European partners to reconsider long-term dependence on the network that has been vital for civilian communications and military drone operations.
Japanese journalist Yuki Imai has been arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on spying charges, prompting condemnation from Tokyo and raising fears over the deteriorating state of bilateral relations. Imai, a 34-year-old correspondent for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was detained on October 14 in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island. Russian authorities transferred him to Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, where a court ordered him held in pre-trial detention until at least December 12. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Guillermo Zuany Portillo, the former special prosecutor for strategic operations in Mexico's Chihuahua state who is accused of giving CIA agents broad access to the state attorney general's office, has been on the run since mid-May and faces charges of unlawful exercise of public office and making false statements, according to investigative documents obtained by EL PAÍS. The case has fueled a political firestorm between the federal government of President Claudia Sheinbaum and Chihuahua's opposition governor, María Eugenia Campos, after two CIA agents and two Mexican officials died in a road accident following an April anti-drug operation in which the U.S. agents participated.
The deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has said new US sanctions are beginning to affect staff through banking difficulties, but insisted the court's investigations, including into the Gaza war, have made 'significant progress' and remain unaffected. Nazhat Shameem Khan said the court was working to insulate itself from the measures imposed by Washington, which has labelled the ICC a 'rogue court'.
Ukrainian officials said on Friday that Starlink and Starshield speed restrictions remain in place along the front line, directly contradicting US President Donald Trump's assertion that Elon Musk had restored full service. The ongoing disruptions have pushed Kyiv to sign a letter of intent with Finnish firms Nokia and ICEYE to develop an independent satellite communications system.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he expects the United States to do business with both Ukraine and Russia after their war ends, as the first tanker carrying Russian diesel under a controversial supply agreement sailed for New York.
Israel and Iran have escalated their war of words, raising the prospect of a return to open conflict after months of relative quiet. Israel’s prime minister, facing a tight reelection battle, argued this week for overthrowing Iran’s regime, while the US ambassador to the UN signaled Washington’s readiness for a protracted conflict. Iran, meanwhile, claimed to have struck multiple tankers and threatened US bases across the Middle East, with a senior general warning that 'action against Iran carries a cost.'
Oil prices climbed to their highest level in more than five months on Friday, with Brent crude rising 1% to $114.72 a barrel, after Tehran warned it would strike oil facilities, undersea cables, datacentres and AI infrastructure across the Gulf if the US and Israel launched a fresh attack on Iran.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has banned civil servants from using the navigation app Waze, citing risks to national security and data sovereignty. Anwar warned that the app, which was developed in Israel and remains subject to Israeli law despite being a Google subsidiary, could expose government information and personal data to misuse. He encouraged Malaysians to adopt local alternatives like Tuju, developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority.
Austria has ordered the expulsion of four Russian diplomats, including an OSCE delegate, saying they carried out activities incompatible with their diplomatic status. Russia's Foreign Ministry has promised an "inevitable" response.
Russia and Ukraine traded fresh strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure overnight, less than a day after both sides signalled that U.S.-brokered peace negotiations were moving forward, with Russian attacks leaving more than 500,000 Ukrainians without electricity.
Egypt is set to authorize a defensive military deployment to Saudi Arabia, as the escalating US-Iran conflict draws in new regional actors. The move comes as Iran explicitly lists Saudi refineries, data centers and undersea cables as targets, and the New York Times reports that Washington and Israel have drawn up a short, intensive bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear and energy sites. Crude oil futures held above $100 a barrel on Friday, with Brent trading at a five-month high of $114.49.
A rescue operation was launched off Romania's Black Sea coast on Friday after the vessel Khoryv sent a distress signal 13 miles from Constanța, reportedly struck by drones. Nine of the 13 sailors on board were pulled alive from the water, one body was recovered, and three are missing.
Verified video from Friday shows oil from a tanker damaged near the Strait of Hormuz washing ashore on beaches in the United Arab Emirates and colouring the water black, as the slick spreads towards a globally recognised biodiversity area. UAE authorities have closed beaches near the northern city of Umm Al Quwain.
South Korea's Defense Ministry on Friday proposed military talks with North Korea to confirm the precise location of their border and restore communication channels. The proposal follows a September landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone that injured three South Korean soldiers and an escalation of military activity by the North along the border.
Israeli forces have demolished homes and businesses in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, displacing hundreds of families in an operation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would destroy the neighbourhood where two Palestinian gunmen who killed two soldiers came from. The crackdown, launched after Friday's checkpoint attack, has seen bulldozers flatten streets, military cordons restrict movement, and spray-painted markings on buildings cleared of residents. The operation is unfolding four days before Israel's general election, in which Netanyahu faces a tight race.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is facing a difficult year, with the postponement of his flagship Future Investment Initiative summit emblematic of interlocking crises: a resurgent Houthi missile campaign, a struggling economy and a bet on Donald Trump as a reliable ally that has gone badly wrong.
US Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander was briefly detained by the Israeli military on Wednesday while volunteering to help Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the occupied West Bank, drawing international attention to a sharp escalation in attacks on the annual harvest. In a coordinated campaign reported across the territory, Israeli forces arrested 36 Palestinians during raids, while the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission documented 17 attacks on farmers and their land in a single day.
Europe is entering winter with historically low gas reserves and cannot withstand further supply shocks, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned, as the US-Israel war on Iran disrupts global supply chains and pushes energy prices higher across the world.
As Russia escalates its strikes on Ukraine's infrastructure and relations between Kyiv and Washington hit an all-time low, the attritional fight for the Donbas is heading toward what analysts describe as its climax. Moscow is pressing to capture the remainder of Donetsk Oblast while Ukraine, reorganized under a new command structure, is trying to grind down Russia's offensive power before winter. In territorial terms, the Kyiv Independent's analysis says 2026 has been a year of relative success for Ukraine, but the fate of the region's last Ukrainian-held cities now hangs in the balance.
European Union leaders will use a summit with Britain next month to press the prime minister, Andy Burnham, to increase UK support for Ukraine in 2027, as Kyiv faces a €70bn (£58bn) funding shortfall. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will make a similar request to Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, at an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next week.