More than 25 unions have announced actions spanning 113 ports in 22 countries and regions, warning that over $2 billion in cargo could face delays
Dockworkers across five continents have launched a coordinated anti-war strike, targeting Israeli arms shipments, US military cargo, and the growing militarization of civilian ports.
Organizers say more than 25 unions are mobilizing across 113 ports in 22 countries and regions on Friday in an unprecedented international action. The campaign includes 24-hour strikes, shorter walkouts, blockades, and solidarity rallies.
Major European ports joining the action include Genoa, Marseille, Le Havre, Hamburg, Valencia, Barcelona, and Piraeus. Beyond Europe, protests are planned at Tangier Med in Morocco, Nhava Sheva and Chennai in India, and Oakland and San Francisco in the US, with further actions across Türkiye, Cyprus, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia. France’s CGT Ports et Docks has called 24-hour strikes across 24 ports, while Italy’s USB has declared a nationwide general strike, with protests in more than 40 cities. Unions in Germany, Greece, Spain, India, and the US are also taking part.
Dockworkers at the port of Piraeus, Greece, walked off the job as part of a global day of action, with protesters in more than 100 ports worldwide striking against the arms trade with Israel.
Dockworkers at Piraeus, Greece’s largest port, were among the first to join the action, with a three-hour stoppage scheduled from 08:00 to 11:00 GMT. Other Greek maritime unions announced 24-hour strikes affecting seven ports, threatening ferry services to the country’s islands.
Dockworkers across 21 major ports in Europe and the Mediterranean shut down operations in a coordinated day of action. Under the call “Port Workers Do Not Work for War,”
They blocked arms shipments and demanded a full trade and arms embargo on Israel. pic.twitter.com/43Srp1pYE5
Videos of demonstrations and gatherings at other ports have emerged online, although the full extent of the disruption to shipping operations remains unclear as actions are taking place at different times.
The unions demand a halt to weapons, ammunition, military equipment, and troop shipments through commercial ports, targeting both Israeli and US military supply chains. They also oppose turning civilian ports into military hubs and diverting public funds into rearmament while workers face stagnant wages, job insecurity, and worsening conditions.
Protesters gather outside Tilbury Docks in the UK, urging dockworkers to join an international mobilisation involving over 100 ports in solidarity with Palestine and against arms shipments to Israel. pic.twitter.com/7fulNOmU82
“From planes to tanks, guns to bullets, explosives to ammunition, uniforms to boots, our ports have become replenishing and forwarding bases for war and genocide,” the organizers said at a press conference on October 15 in Rome.
🇵🇸⚓Hoy están llamados a huelga estibadores de más de 100 puertos de todo el mundo contra el comercio de armas y el genocidio
The unions accused governments and shipping companies of keeping military supply routes open despite the Gaza ceasefire announced over a year ago, which they say has been rendered largely meaningless by continued Israeli strikes.
‘No Harbour for Genocide’, the campaign coordinating the action, claims that it tracked 315 shipments of components for Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems through 56 ports in 29 countries over 14 months. It says it identified 3,400 shipments of US military cargo through 67 ports in 42 countries over ten months. The group also says US military cargo volumes at some European ports rose as much as tenfold following the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran. The figures have not been independently verified.
Organizers estimate the action could delay 40,000 containers carrying cargo worth over $2 billion, potentially costing shipping companies up to $43 million.
Is it the first strike of this kind?
Dockworkers have challenged military shipments for years, though resistance was largely scattered and localized. Since 2019, workers in Italy, Greece, Morocco, and France have staged sporadic blockades and stoppages, targeting arms shipments to Israel, US bases, and other conflict zones.
The movement gained momentum in late 2025 after Israel intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a 40-plus-vessel convoy attempting to deliver aid to blockaded Gaza. Hundreds of activists were detained, sparking strikes and port blockades across Europe. The flotilla campaign also pledged to join the action on Friday with “coordinated, strategic actions on the water.”
100+ PORTS. WORLDWIDE. NO MORE WEAPONS.
On October 30th, dockworkers, seafarers, students and communities in more than 100 ports around the world are standing together to say one thing: NO MORE WEAPONS.
International coordination intensified in February, when dockworkers at more than 20 ports across seven countries staged their first joint day of action, reportedly stopping five suspect ships.
ANTWERP 🇧🇪 “We do not want our poets to be used for the transit of weapons.”
Members of Bond van Bedienden, Technici en Kaderleden (BBTK) have joined today’s historic international day of action to say: Dockworkers do not work for war. pic.twitter.com/Dhqyzjv6IN
In May, dockworkers’ unions from France, Greece, Italy, Türkiye, Morocco, and Spain’s Basque Country adopted the Istanbul Declaration, in which they pledged to block military cargo and troop shipments to war zones, including those supporting Israel and US military operations. The agreement laid the groundwork for Friday’s global strike.
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 30, 2026 — RT has signed agreements and memoranda with twelve African media organizations and ministries during the “Russia-Africa” media forum, which took place in Moscow over October 26-29 as part of the “Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.”
RT, which broadcasts in Africa in English, French, and Arabic, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Communications and Media of the Central African Republic (CAR), represented by Minister Evariste Ngamana.
Additionally, RT signed a cooperation memorandum with one of Nigeria’s leading television channels, TVC News. This agreement envisions deepening the partnership through the exchange of content and experiences, as well as joint coverage of significant international events. Further agreements were also established with the state broadcasting corporations of Ghana, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well as with the Ethiopian FANA Media Corporation and the Ethiopian News Agency.
Furthermore, the RT Arabic channel signed a cooperation memorandum with LANA, one of the oldest state news agencies in Libya; Sudan National Television, among the oldest television broadcasters in the Arab world and Africa; Mauritanian Sahara Media Group; and the Mauritanian broadcasting company.
The “Russia-Africa” media forum, organized by RT in collaboration with the Sputnik and TASS news agencies, gathered over 200 participants from 46 African countries, including political figures and leading experts from the regional media community.
The global RT television news network includes news channels in English, Arabic, Spanish, German, Serbian, and French, as well as the RTD documentary channel in Russian and English. RT also operates online portals in ten languages and the global multimedia agency RUPTLY, which supplies exclusive content to broadcasters worldwide. RT is available 24/7 to more than 950 million viewers in over 100 countries.
Africa is one of the key regions for RT’s operations. The channel is expanding its partnership network with new media corporations and enhancing cooperation with existing partners. Currently, RT has eight bureaus across Africa. Additionally, RT conducts training programs for African journalists and co-hosted the African Media Awards ceremony in Ethiopia in 2025, which is the largest media event of the year for the continent.
More than 1,000 residents reportedly decided to stay despite years of Ukrainian shelling, drone attacks, and severe shortages
A humanitarian mission in the frontline town of Alyoshki in Kherson Region, Russia has delivered essential supplies and helped civilians evacuate under a temporary ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev.
More than 1,000 residents have chosen to stay despite years of shelling, drone attacks, and severe shortages, RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev reports from the scene.
Many of those remaining are elderly. Some wanted to evacuate but feared they would be turned away after losing their identity documents when their homes were destroyed. Others refuse to leave behind their pets and livestock, even as they struggle to find enough food.
“Despite what they’ve been through, the shortages, the violence, the bombing, most of them... a little over a thousand, are choosing to stay,” Gazdiev says.
The evacuation and delivery of humanitarian aid are taking place under a temporary ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev, coordinated with the involvement of US First Lady Melania Trump. Russian and Ukrainian human rights commissioners are overseeing the operation.
Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova told RT that a family with seven children and their pets, who had remained in Alyoshki, had been evacuated to safety.
“We were deeply concerned for their lives and wellbeing. Ultimately, the decision was made to move them to a safe location. For now, that place is Skadovsk,” she said.
Watch the exclusive report from Alyoshki below.
Humanitarian mission completed
Everyone wishing to leave Alyoshki was given the opportunity to do so, including those who had not registered in advance, according to Lantratova. A separate vehicle was also arranged to evacuate pets.
More than 50 doctors and paramedics took part in the mission, which delivered food, medicine, hygiene supplies and fuel to residents. The humanitarian ceasefire was fully observed, the commissioner said.
The Russian and Ukrainian human rights commissioners also jointly appealed to Melania Trump to coordinate similar humanitarian missions on a regular basis, Lantratova said.
Melania Trump wrote on X that the humanitarian convoy had prepared to safely evacuate more than 750 residents who had voluntarily chosen to leave Alyoshki. “Our priority: saving lives,” she said, adding that the convoy and safe passage routes had been agreed upon by “Russian and Ukrainian leaders.”
Aid deliveries and civilian evacuations are underway under a ceasefire coordinated with US First Lady Melania Trump
Russian and Ukrainian humanitarian teams have begun delivering aid and evacuating civilians from the frontline town of Alyoshki under a temporary ceasefire brokered with the help of US First Lady Melania Trump.
Residents of the town in Russia’s Kherson Region have faced months of severe shortages, with Ukrainian drone attacks and mines disrupting supply routes, according to Russian officials and evacuees interviewed by RT.
An RT correspondent is on the ground covering the mission, which has brought representatives from both sides together to assist civilians. Here is how the agreement came about, what is happening on the ground and what residents have said about conditions in the town.
Where is Alyoshki?
Alyoshki lies on the left bank of the Dnieper River, opposite the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson. It has been under Russian control since 2022 and is part of Russia’s Kherson Region, which Ukraine continues to claim.
The nearby Antonovsky Bridge, once a key crossing between the two cities, was put out of action in 2022. The river has since formed part of the front line separating Russian and Ukrainian forces.
The humanitarian mission is using land routes into Alyoshki, which Russian military engineers have been clearing of mines and unexploded ordnance.
Why was a humanitarian ceasefire needed?
Russian authorities estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 civilians remained in Alyoshki before the operation, including elderly residents and children. Food, medicine, drinking water and fuel have been scarce, while damaged utilities have deprived residents of basic services.
Kherson Governor Vladimir Saldo has accused Ukrainian forces of attacking supply vehicles and remotely mining access roads. Russian Foreign Ministry envoy Rodion Miroshnik described the situation as a “medieval blockade using modern methods.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, has accused Russia of preventing civilians from leaving. However, evacuees interviewed by RT blamed Ukrainian attacks for making both aid deliveries and evacuation attempts dangerous.
“There’s nothing to eat. No medicine. Drones are constantly hovering above you,” one evacuee said. He described residents being unable to step outside without encountering drones and recalled three supply vehicles being destroyed in succession in the spring, leaving people to survive on vegetables grown in their gardens.
Others recounted receiving food, water and fuel from Russian soldiers and volunteers.
One woman said her husband was killed by a mine while collecting potatoes. She described how Russian troops guided her to safety using drones and a radio during a five-hour journey to a hospital.
Another resident, whose husband was killed in a Ukrainian attack, described houses being “blown away” during bombardments. Another evacuee noted that the people of Alyoshki were treated by Ukraine as “scum” and “traitors.”
The humanitarian crisis was raised during an October 9 telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. The two leaders agreed to establish direct contact between Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova and Melania Trump’s office.
Subsequent negotiations secured a temporary pause in fighting around Alyoshki, with the US first lady and Pope Leo XIV helping advance the initiative.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has credited Melania Trump with coordinating the effort, linking her involvement to earlier work reuniting children separated from their families during the conflict.
Is the EU involved?
The EU has played no role in negotiating or carrying out the mission. The operation has instead relied on direct Russian-Ukrainian coordination, US mediation and logistical support from Belarus.
Lantratova and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitry Lubinets, have coordinated the practical arrangements and are taking part in the mission.
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has also participated in contacts and public announcements related to the operation.
Belarus has provided logistical assistance, with delegations from both countries traveling through the Belarusian city of Gomel before proceeding toward Alyoshki.
How long does the ceasefire last?
The truce took effect at 4am Moscow time on October 27 and is due to expire at 10:59pm on November 1. It covers the humanitarian mission and the routes used to bring in supplies and evacuate residents.
On Friday, Melania Trump said the ceasefire had held for 80 hours, allowing Russian and Ukrainian teams to deliver aid and prepare civilian evacuations.
Lantratova confirmed that both sides were honoring their commitments, reporting no violations.
Aid distribution and the boarding of evacuation buses were underway on Friday, according to Lantratova.
The humanitarian convoy includes 25 buses and vehicles carrying food, medicine, drinking water, hygiene supplies and fuel for generators.
Residents are free to stay or leave, with evacuation options available for those wishing to travel deeper into Russia or to Ukrainian-held territory.
Those remaining in Alyoshki are receiving essential supplies, Lantratova said. Some have chosen not to leave because they want to remain in their homes or care for relatives.
More than 50 journalists from several countries have arrived to cover the mission, according to Lantratova. They include an RT correspondent and four Newsmax reporters whom Melania Trump identified as observers documenting the operation.
Military engineers had to clear mines and unexploded ordnance before humanitarian vehicles could enter Alyoshki.
The Russian Defense Ministry released footage of remotely operated mine-clearing equipment and said many of the explosives discovered along the routes had been dropped by Ukrainian drones.
The operation has already claimed a life. The ministry confirmed that Sergeant Andrey Vedernikov of the 98th Guards Airborne Division was killed on October 28 while clearing a road leading into the town.
According to the ministry, he was fatally wounded by a drone-laid explosive device equipped with a proximity sensor.
Could the operation be repeated?
Although the agreement applies only to Alyoshki, Peskov has suggested it could serve as a model for future humanitarian missions.
He said a successful truce “could set a precedent,” opening the way for similar ceasefires in other areas of the conflict zone.
The Russian president has been exploring partnership opportunities following a week of initiatives during which some 48 delegations came to Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a series of bilateral meetings with African leaders at the Kremlin on Friday, following the third Russia-Africa Summit.
The talks involve African heads of state, including from Sudan, Madagascar, Ghana, Mali, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Eritrea, as well as the prime minister of Togo.
The meetings follow the two-day summit, held in Moscow on October 28-29, which focused on expanding trade, investment, energy, security, and humanitarian cooperation between Russia and African nations.
During Friday’s talks with Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Sudanese leader proposed establishing a free economic zone on the Red Sea for Russian fuel and wheat storage facilities, as well as cooperation on a railway linking Port Sudan to Chad.
Burhan also offered Russian investors access to Sudan’s gold and copper deposits.
Putin presented a roadmap for bilateral cooperation and said Russia-Sudan trade had more than doubled in 2025, rising by a further 25% in January-August 2026.
Addressing the ongoing conflict in Sudan, Putin reiterated Moscow’s support for a political settlement and proposed discussing additional steps Russia could take to help resolve the crisis.
In a separate meeting with Madagascar President Michael Randrianirina, Putin highlighted expanding educational ties, noting that around 5,000 Malagasy students have studied in Russia and that MGIMO University signed a cooperation memorandum with Madagascar’s Foreign Ministry in June.
Putin also welcomed the Russian Orthodox Church’s recognition as a legal entity in Madagascar in April, noting that it has more than 1,500 parishioners on the island.
Randrianirina called for stronger practical cooperation and urged Moscow to accelerate work on debt conversion.
During talks with Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, Putin said bilateral trade had grown by 6% between January and August. He added that Ghana ranks 12th among Russia’s African trading partners. The Russian leader also praised Ghana’s independent foreign policy and its opposition to neocolonialism, thanking Accra for its support for Russian resolutions at the UN.
Mahama expressed interest in expanding economic and investment cooperation with Moscow. The leader praised Russia for having “always stood by Africa” during the struggle against apartheid and for supporting the continent during the Covid-19 pandemic through supplies of Sputnik V vaccines.
At a meeting with Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goita, Putin said Russia had increased its scholarship quota for Malian students to 300 places for the 2026-27 academic year, citing growing interest in Russian education and language studies. He added that six Russian language and cultural centers are operating in the West African country.
During the summit, Putin also held at least nine more bilateral meetings with other African leaders, including the presidents of Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Kenya, as well as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Libya’s Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed al-Menfi.
Recruitment officials in western Ukraine allegedly abducted and beat men to force them into military service
Five Ukrainian military recruitment officials have been arrested on suspicion of abducting and torturing men to force them into military service, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) has announced.
According to investigators, the officials rounded up men on the streets of a small town in western Ukraine’s Chernovtsy Region and forcibly took them to a recruitment center, where they were beaten, threatened, and subjected to further abuse.
One victim was allegedly shot in the leg and forced to extract the bullet himself after officers denied him medical care.
In another case, recruitment officers allegedly stalked and abducted a war veteran over a personal dispute.
Investigators also uncovered a bribery scheme in which recruitment officials allegedly extorted over $6,000 in exchange for a detainee’s release.
The five suspects face various charges, including torture, kidnapping, unlawful detention, and bribery. The most serious offenses carry up to 12 years in prison. Investigators are searching for additional victims.
Kiev has struggled with manpower shortages due to heavy battlefield losses in the conflict with Russia, widespread draft evasion, and desertion. The government has tightened mobilization laws and resorted to heavy-handed enforcement to replenish its depleted military ranks.
Earlier this month, the DBR charged a draft officer in Lviv with beating a handcuffed recruit to death. The suspect received a non-custodial sentence for bribery just weeks earlier. In April, investigators referred another case to court involving a conscript who died after being beaten and subjected to electric shocks while being transported. His commanding officer also faced charges for failing to intervene.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmitry Lubinets, has accused military recruitment officers of routinely violating citizens’ constitutional rights. Earlier this month, he said the authorities opened 39 criminal investigations over alleged abuses in just one month, but no court verdicts were issued in cases of illegal detention and forced transportation to recruitment centers.
Attempts to attract volunteers have also largely failed to gain traction. Kiev’s latest recruitment drive, launched in June, attracted just 8,600 people despite higher pay and shorter service terms, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported this week. The figure includes troops already in service, leaving the actual number of new recruits unclear.
President Vladimir Putin and African Union chair Evariste Ndayishimiye have called for deeper economic ties and global reforms following the adoption of a joint declaration
Russia and African countries have agreed to deepen economic cooperation, strengthen political coordination, and push for reforms of global institutions, Russian President Vladimir Putin and African Union chair Evariste Ndayishimiye said in a joint press statement on Thursday.
Speaking at the conclusion of the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, the two leaders outlined the results of the October 28–29 gathering, which brought together senior delegations from 48 African countries, including 21 led by heads of state.
The gathering resulted in the adoption of three documents: the Declaration of the 3rd Russia-Africa Summit, the Declaration of Cooperation in the Civilian Application of Artificial Intelligence Technologies, and the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2027–2029.
Turning political solidarity into economic cooperation
Ndayishimiye said African countries are seeking to diversify their international partnerships and strengthen their sovereignty, with Russia playing a role in accelerating economic development and regional integration.
Speaking about the summit’s three-year action plan, he said that the leaders “outlined priorities, financing mechanisms, implementation schedules and areas of responsibility, and set dates by which expect to see results.”
The African Union chair called for greater Russian investment to help African countries create added value locally. He also stressed that African youth expected tangible results, including more scholarships, reliable energy supplies, and digital solutions.
Putin said Russia-Africa trade currently stood at $27 billion but remained well below its potential, and called to double it.
The Russian president noted national currencies, including the ruble, now accounted for 85% of settlements in commercial transactions between Russia and African countries.
Reducing technological dependence
Ndayishimiye called for reducing Africa’s technological dependence. He stressed the summit had adopted a separate declaration on artificial intelligence, advocating equitable international cooperation with a central role for the United Nations.
Putin said Russia and African countries had signed agreements aimed at introducing Russian digital solutions, including AI-based technologies, in African economies and public administration.
Africa must choose its own partners
Asked whether Africa risked becoming an arena for competition between major powers, Putin rejected the suggestion that Moscow viewed African countries as objects of geopolitical rivalry.
Putin backed permanent African representation on the UN Security Council. “I am absolutely convinced that Africa must be represented there on a permanent basis, including in the Security Council,” he said.
Ndayishimiye reaffirmed Africa’s position on UN reform, while calling for greater representation in global financial institutions and closer cooperation with BRICS.
Strengthening security and humanitarian cooperation
Putin said Russia would continue consultations with parties involved in African conflicts and expressed hope that Moscow’s diplomatic efforts could help prevent further escalation.
He also pledged to expand cooperation in healthcare and education, including medicine supplies, mobile laboratories, and training for African students.
Russia’s epidemic-control assistance program for African countries has been extended through 2029, Putin said, adding that African partners supported expanding Russian university branches and educational centers on the continent.
Moscow Declaration sets out common political positions
The 101-point declaration, adopted in Moscow on October 29, is divided into five sections covering political and legal cooperation, security, economic ties, humanitarian cooperation, and environmental protection and climate issues. Here are its key points.
Maritime security: Oppose the unjustified detention, seizure or arrest of civilian vessels, including African-flagged ships, in violation of international law. The document warns that such actions against commercial vessels turn maritime trade into “a tool of economic and political pressure.”
Sanctions: Oppose unilateral coercive measures that violate international law, including measures imposed outside the UN Security Council, and strengthen coordination to reduce their impact on trade, energy, healthcare and food security.
Sovereign assets: Oppose the freezing and attempted confiscation of sovereign assets, as well as political and economic coercion against sovereign states.
Colonial reparations: Pursue legal mechanisms to assess and compensate for damage inflicted on African countries during the colonial era, alongside efforts to complete the continent’s decolonization.
International justice: Counter the politicization and misuse of international criminal justice mechanisms, including their use to exert neocolonial pressure on African states, and strengthen cooperation to ensure the independence and impartiality of international courts.
UN reform: Work toward reforming the Security Council to increase African representation, taking into account the continent’s common position under the Ezulwini Consensus and the 2005 Sirte Declaration.
Counterterrorism: Strengthen cooperation against terrorist groups’ use of drones, encrypted platforms, and digital finance, while also addressing terrorist financing, organized crime, and maritime piracy.
Arms control: Oppose the politicization of international arms control, disarmament, and nuclear nonproliferation mechanisms, and support compliance with existing treaties governing nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
IMF and World Bank: Push for reforms to give African countries greater representation in the leadership of both institutions and more influence over decision-making.
G20: Call for South Africa’s full and active participation in the group to be restored as soon as possible, while strengthening the voice of African countries and the wider Global South.
Cultural heritage: Support the return of cultural objects and historical artifacts removed from African countries during colonial rule, alongside efforts to protect cultural heritage from illicit trafficking.
Space cooperation: Expand cooperation in peaceful space exploration, satellite communications, Earth observation, and joint research, including spacecraft technologies and equipment.
Trade and infrastructure: Expand cooperation in precious metals, strengthen industrial value chains, and develop maritime, river, road, rail, and aviation infrastructure. Remove trade barriers, increase African exports of value-added products and establish reliable financial settlement mechanisms to support trade and investment.
Energy cooperation: Expand cooperation across oil and gas, nuclear, hydropower, hydrogen, and renewable energy to strengthen energy security and improve access to electricity.
Education and healthcare: Expand academic exchanges, Russian-language education and joint research, while strengthening healthcare systems through medical training, laboratory development, and epidemic preparedness.
Media cooperation: Strengthen ties between Russian and African media through the opening of representative offices, journalist training, information exchanges, and joint media projects.
Climate policy: Oppose discriminatory protectionist measures introduced under the pretext of combating climate change, while expanding cooperation on climate adaptation and environmental projects that take national priorities into account.
Sovereignty: Counter neocolonial practices that undermine states’ independence, restrict their decision-making, or facilitate the exploitation of natural resources, while upholding countries’ right to determine their own development paths.
Conflict resolution: Support African-led efforts to resolve and prevent conflicts on the continent, guided by the principle of “African solutions to African problems.”
Trade, resources and digital ‘cooperation’ sound harmless – until you look at the fine print
I’m trying to spend a few weeks back in Canada for some peace and quiet from the usual European drama. Just my luck that Queen Ursula would follow me here, circus and all.
She hadn’t even landed in Montreal for the EU-Canada Summit, and already everyone around me was saying that Canada’s “associate membership” had been canceled. They’d heard that countries like France and Germany objected to the idea, even as Von der Leyen was saddling up her broom for a trip across the Atlantic.
Someone even asked me if that meant that we’re now kicked out of Eurovision. I had to explain that the title never existed in the first place. EU treaties refer only to association agreements. It’s just the usual sort of branding that von der Leyen, the unelected EU chief executive, likes to roll out, much like her endless riffs about unity, as though dissent weren’t an actual virtue in a functioning democracy.
Or like the way she talks a good game about sticking it to Russia while simultaneously celebrating the €977 million spent this winter alone on gas purchases for Ukraine – much of which comes from Russia via Hungary and Slovakia. The EU writes cheques to Kiev. Kiev pays Hungary and Slovakia, who then pay Moscow.
Those middlemen exist mainly so that Queen Ursula can maintain a certain public image while engaging in more practical considerations behind the scenes, albeit at considerably greater expense to the European taxpayer.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney got a taste of the spectacle when Ursula’s marketing campaign became the focus of the event. He was forced to acknowledge that he honestly didn’t give a damn what they called this new cooperation, so long as it was good for Canadians. Meanwhile, other EU leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, had started referring to it instead as an “alliance for the future.”
But von der Leyen had already landed in Canada and continued promoting the “associate membership” label, smiling as Carney, sitting beside her, subsequently echoed the term.
Of course, all that the mental midgets are going to take away from this whole event is the intrigue over whether or not Canada is joining the EU. Spoiler alert: it isn’t. And never will. It’s not even legally possible. But this idiotic intrigue is distracting from the details of what lurks underneath, which could amount to a whole lot of iron-fisting through velvet gloves.
Turns out someone had already leaked a draft statement on these future relations to Politico, dated September 22, 2026. Cut out the diplomatic fluff and here’s what you’re left with.
Both sides are clearly looking for new markets as they diversify trade away from the US. Great. But it seems rather stupid for the EU to be begging Canada for its natural resources – gas, metals and minerals – while simultaneously slapping on carbon tariffs that get downloaded onto European citizens and companies. What’s the point of trying to bring prices down by increasing supply if you’re just going to top up the cost anyway.
You jokers also killed off your own nuclear industries, only to realize (a bit late) that perhaps it was preferable to having to resort to coal, before subsequently reviving it as the future of clean energy. So maybe you’re not exactly the best people to be doing commie-style central planning.
Technology is already advancing in favor of the environment, with those improvements increasingly built into the conditions for funding and financing. Just let it breathe already. Not every industry needs a Brussels bureaucrat hovering over it.
Perhaps the most troubling part is the Orwellian digital cooperation section of the agreement, which aims to “advance cooperation on artificial intelligence security and sovereignty, trusted data flows and digital governance and to align emerging AI and digital regulatory frameworks through associated country status for Canada.”
Does this mean Canadians get to have Queen Ursula block their bank accounts now, too, since we’ll all be connected and harmonized inside one giant digital panopticon? It’s hardly reassuring that Carney’s government has just appealed the federal court decision condemning his predecessor Justin Trudeau’s government for unconstitutionally invoking the Emergencies Act, which allowed it to block the bank accounts of Covid-era anti-mandate Freedom Convoy participants without a court order – all for the crime of honking too loudly. Nor is it reassuring that Canada and the EU have already signed an agreement on digital “trust services” involving things like government-controlled digital identity wallets.
One honk too many, one wrong opinion on some social media platform linked to the online ID system that they’re all ushering in – ostensibly under the pretext of adults needing to prove that they aren’t children requiring protection from online pedos – and there goes your whole life with the flip of a switch. It’s not like Queen Ursula’s European Commission isn’t already doing that with sanctions and asset freezes, in the absence of due process, for those whose views it qualifies as “propaganda.”
And if this is what they mean by an alliance for the future, then Canadians – the average citizens of this country – need full and open debate over the fine print before anyone signs us up.
The predictive market platform that allows users to bet on real-world events has blamed the breach on a compromised third-party provider
Hackers have swiped at least $2.6 million in user funds from predictive market platform Polymarket that allows people to wager on real-world events, including elections and military action. The company was forced to briefly pause trading on its international exchange, promising to reimburse all affected users.
In an X post on Thursday, a Polymarket-related account said that the company had “identified & fixed an issue impacting our international platform.”
“We have temporarily halted trading,” the statement read, adding that the breach occurred after “one of our 3rd party providers was compromised.”
The hack only affected Polymarket’s flagship platform, although Polymarket US, which operates independently as a federally regulated financial exchange, was spared.
Several media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, reported that the third-party provider that Polymarket referred to was DebugBear - a UK-based performance-monitoring platform.
DebugBear wrote on X on Thursday afternoon that it was “aware of a security incident,” advising clients using its RUM product to “remove the embed code from your website.”
According to Business Today, citing blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, as many as 700 Polymarket accounts were affected, with users reporting unauthorized withdrawals and sudden balance liquidations.
The breach coincided with a major cyberattack at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, that saw intruders steal an estimated $6.3 billion.
As for Polymarket, it suffered another breach as recently as June, with hackers getting their hands on more than $2 million.
In recent years, Polymarket, along with its major rival, Kalshi, have been at the center of multiple scandals, involving insider trading by American officials and military personnel, with several US states also accusing them of sidestepping gambling laws.
Last week, the Associated Press reported that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had issued a directive specifically warning service members against using classified material to bet on prediction markets.
Earlier this year, US Army Green Beret Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke was arrested and charged with illegally profiting from advance knowledge of the January operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Prosecutors alleged that the defendant had placed more than $32,500 in Polymarket bets, mostly on January 2, hours before the US attack on Caracas. Van Dyke allegedly raked in $400,000 by betting on Maduro’s removal from power.
The man pleaded not guilty.
Newly created Polymarket accounts also placed suspiciously timed bets shortly before US President Donald Trump announced an April US-Iran ceasefire, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits. The White House subsequently warned staff against trading on confidential information.
In late August, Trump’s long-time teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, was ordered to pay $65,000 to settle a case related to his “unlawful” prediction-market trading about the president’s speeches.
The White House aide was also required to give up $107,000 in ill-gotten profits from his wagers on Kalshi, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said at the time.
Access to additional LNG volumes that northern frontier provides remain crucial for countries such as India to enhance energy security
Speaking at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow on October 27, President Vladimir Putin warned that excluding Russia from global gas markets would raise costs for consumers. He also revealed discussions with potential American partners for exploring cooperation in Arctic gas development. This is happening even as restrictions on Russian energy projects remain in place.
Putin’s remarks come amid continued disruption to LNG supplies. QatarEnergy has extended the suspension of certain deliveries into December, while India’s LNG import bill rose 23% to $8.5 billion during April-September, despite volumes increasing by just 4.4%.
For import-dependent economies such as India, the question is whether prospective Arctic cooperation could eventually expand supply options, or whether sanctions, pricing and transportation constraints will keep that possibility beyond commercial reach.
Arctic gas cooperation meets commercial reality
Russia’s interest in Arctic cooperation extends beyond developing its vast gas reserves. Following Putin’s October 27 remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak clarified that discussions with Washington concerned potential joint development of gas fields and LNG liquefaction facilities, including opportunities involving Russian infrastructure.
One possible example has already surfaced. Russia’s Novatek has acknowledged agreements to provide technology for the proposed $25 billion Polar Train LNG project in Alaska. The venture aims to use Russian liquefaction infrastructure for American gas exports, although its implementation remains subject to regulatory approvals.
Russia and the US compete for LNG buyers, yet Arctic development could give their energy companies reasons to work together. Russia could find opportunities to deploy its Arctic expertise and attract investment, while American developers could benefit from technology and infrastructure suited to challenging northern conditions.
Yet commercial interest alone cannot overcome the obstacles facing Arctic LNG development. Washington sanctioned Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project in November 2023, subsequently extending restrictions to companies and vessels involved in supplying equipment and transporting LNG from the project.
In September, the Novatek-led Arctic LNG 2 project sought approximately $1 billion in damages from South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean in an arbitration dispute over cancelled contracts for specialized ice-class LNG carriers, highlighting the shipping complications facing Russian Arctic gas development.
The regulatory environment remains equally complicated. On October 16, President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs under the Graham Act, but the decision did not automatically remove restrictions imposed separately on Russian LNG projects.
Beyond regulatory approvals, Arctic operations depend on a limited fleet of specialized carriers capable of navigating ice-covered waters. Seasonal conditions further restrict their deployment, making transportation capacity a critical consideration for new projects.
India’s LNG security faces an Arctic test
India’s response to recent LNG disruptions offers an indication of how importing economies may approach future supply arrangements. According to Kpler data for the month of October, the US, Oman and Nigeria accounted for 68% of India’s LNG imports between March and September, against 25% a year earlier. Qatar’s share fell sharply before shipments began recovering this month.
India’s changing LNG suppliers expose a distinction between diversifying sources and reducing exposure to international prices. With more than a third of its LNG reportedly sourced through spot purchases, Indian buyers remain exposed to price fluctuations even when physical supplies are available. Adding Russian Arctic LNG to India’s supplier portfolio would not necessarily change that exposure unless the contracts offered a different pricing structure or greater protection against international price swings.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects India’s LNG requirements could reach 64 billion cubic metres annually by 2030, with the gap between contracted supplies and projected demand widening after 2028.
That gap could influence how Indian importers negotiate their next generation of LNG contracts. Long-term agreements offer greater supply certainty, while shorter commitments provide flexibility when demand or prices change. The balance between them will become increasingly important as India seeks to expand natural gas consumption.
Transport economics add another dimension. Analysis by Reuters in May estimated that shipping LNG from Russia’s Yamal project to India’s Kochi terminal via the Northern Sea Route could cost approximately $3.80 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), compared with $2.60-$2.70 through the Suez Canal using transshipment facilities at Murmansk.
In August, the Indian authorities announced plans for a joint Russia–India pilot voyage along the Northern Sea Route in 2027, alongside a bilateral cooperation agreement that is being negotiated. In September, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov confirmed these plans, stating in the future, Russian-Indian shipments along the NSR could reach 5 million tons annually.
The proposed voyage could help establish whether the NSR offers practical advantages for India-bound cargoes. For LNG, however, that assessment would require more than a successful transit, including evidence of year-round operating reliability and the costs of deploying specialised vessels.
Asia’s LNG market confronts a new supply equation
China offers an early indication of how Arctic LNG is entering Asian markets despite Western restrictions. According to S&P Global Energy, Chinese imports of Russian LNG increased nearly 25% during January-July 2026, supported partly by discounted Arctic LNG 2 cargoes. Reuters reported in June that Beijing was preparing a second receiving terminal for the sanctioned project’s shipments.
Meanwhile, Kpler estimates cited by Reuters on October 22 suggest Asian LNG arrivals could reach 23.31 million tonnes in October, their highest level in three months despite elevated prices.
Yet stronger imports do not necessarily signal sustained demand growth. The IEA reported that Asian spot LNG prices averaged $17.50/MMBtu in the second quarter, up 45% year-on-year, and projected a 0.5% decline in regional gas consumption during 2026 as higher prices encouraged fuel switching and reduced industrial demand.
China’s experience contrasts with that of other Asian importers. On October 1, Britain exempted certain Russian LNG shipments to Japan and South Korea from its sanctions restrictions until March 2028, but only for Sakhalin-2 supplies under existing contracts. India, meanwhile, declined an offer of sanctioned Russian LNG in May, according to Reuters, while remaining open to permitted cargoes. These differences show how sanctions compliance and contractual commitments can shape Asian buyers’ access to Russian gas, regardless of the availability of additional supplies.
Prospective US-Russia cooperation could bring additional Arctic gas into international trade, but new production alone would not redraw global LNG supply patterns. For India and other importing economies, the larger question is whether future projects can offer access on terms that improve their existing procurement choices. The Arctic’s next commercial breakthrough may depend as much on reaching buyers as on producing gas.
Volkswagen has reported a €5.8 billion quarterly loss as German industry struggles with high energy costs and global competition
German automotive giant Volkswagen has reported a €5.8 billion ($6.5 billion) net loss for the third quarter of 2026, up from €1.1 billion a year earlier, as the country’s manufacturing sector faces growing economic pressure.
Europe’s largest carmaker announced the results on Thursday. Revenue fell 6.3% to €75.3 billion, and vehicle deliveries dropped 14.3%.
“US tariffs weigh on us, the Chinese market is shrinking, and competitive pressure in Europe is increasing significantly,” VW Group Chief Financial and Operating Officer Arno Antlitz said in a statement.
Volkswagen faces growing competition from cheaper Chinese vehicles in Europe, and its expanding electric car business remains less profitable than that of conventional models.
The results follow the auto giant’s announcement in September of sweeping restructuring plans that could eliminate up to 100,000 jobs and leave four German factories facing closure.
The pressures extend beyond the automotive sector. In an assessment on October 21, the German Economy Ministry acknowledged weakening economic momentum and sluggish manufacturing activity, particularly in energy-intensive industries.
German manufacturers have struggled with high energy costs since losing access to inexpensive Russian pipeline gas following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Germany is increasingly relying on defense spending to support economic growth. On October 8, the government raised its 2026 growth forecast to 1.3%, acknowledging that public expenditure on defense and infrastructure is helping drive the recovery.
The shift toward military production is already visible in the automotive industry. In September, Volkswagen reached a preliminary agreement to sell its Osnabrueck factory for conversion to defense manufacturing, potentially preserving around 1,400 jobs. The project envisages cooperation with Israeli weapons producer Rafael on air-defense systems.
Weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall has also announced plans to expand production facilities, including armored vehicle manufacturing, potentially creating more than 1,000 jobs.
Germany’s expanding military industry has drawn criticism from Russia. Addressing the UN General Assembly in September, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov questioned Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ambition to make Germany Europe’s leading military power, warning of the potential consequences and asking whether Berlin learned the lessons of World War II.
In June, Russian presidential investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev accused European weapons manufacturers of profiting from the Ukraine conflict, arguing that they have a “serious financial interest” in prolonging the fighting. The EU maintains that its military support for Kiev is aimed at securing a lasting peace.
Protesters will receive steep fines as nationwide unrest intensifies over demands for the prime minister to resign
Albania has imposed steep fines on people who take part in violent protests, citing a recent law imposed in France, in an attempt to quell weeks of clashes between police and protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Under measures adopted Wednesday, remaining at a demonstration that turns violent will be a criminal offense, even for those not directly involved in clashes. Anyone who “chooses to remain in a crowd” engaged in violence or looting, or is found “concealing their identity,” faces fines of up to 500,000 leks ($6,130), over six-times the Balkan country’s average monthly salary.
Initially sparked by student anger over education costs and deteriorating facilities, the demonstrations have evolved into nationwide protests against inequality, soaring living costs, and cuts to public services.
Citing “urban anarchy” when announcing the crackdown, Rama acknowledged France’s controversial ‘casseurs-payeurs’ (rioters pay) bill, which would hold demonstrators liable for up to €10,000 ($11,160) in damages. The bill passed the French Senate on Wednesday and is now headed to the National Assembly, following weeks of protests and riots in which over 1,300 protesters were arrested in a single day.
Italy has also followed suit. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government approved measures last week that criminalize “violent participation in a demonstration,” punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to €20,000.
In Albania, a “special electronic register” will track suspected offenders, while police gain powers to restrict gatherings near schools, hospitals, and government buildings over potential violence. The measures – which also provide compensation for businesses damaged in the unrest – are already in place and require parliamentary approval within 45 days to remain in force.
What’s behind the protests in Albania?
Anti-government protests in the country began peacefully in May over plans for a luxury resort in the Zvernec nature reserve, a project linked to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
By mid-October, the protests escalated into daily clashes with police amid growing anger over corruption, economic mismanagement, unemployment, and failing public services. Demands for Rama’s resignation took center stage, but the prime minister, who has been in power since 2013 and was elected to a fourth term last year, has refused to budge.
The unrest has caused over €2 million in damage, according to official estimates, as rioters torched ministries and attacked police stations, public buildings, and businesses. Clashes flared up again over the weekend, with protesters chanting “Revolution” and “Rama in prison” and police using tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons in Tirana.
Despite the protests being driven by grievances over domestic matters, Rama blamed the violence on a “hybrid war” by foreign actors, specifically Russia and Iran.
Russia has dismissed the accusations. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested last week that Rama should look closer to home. “These are citizens of your own country who took to the streets to protest. Don’t shift your responsibility onto others. Deal with your own domestic problems.”
The bloc’s most powerful bureaucrat has refused to backtrack after inviting Canada into an alliance that doesn’t exist
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is stirring up trouble at home during a controversial trip to Montreal, turning what should have been a straightforward trade mission into a petty argument over Canada’s fictional “membership” in the bloc.
The EU mandarin traveled to Montreal for the 21st annual EU-Canada summit on Thursday, with her tail between her legs. A month after unilaterally promising Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “associate member” status of the bloc, she was reportedly forced to scrub all mentions of the term and downgrade her offer to one of an “ever closer association” between the EU and Canada.
When the summit closes on Friday, both sides will issue a revised joint statement that reads: “We will create an even closer association between Canada and the EU... and work to define by the 2027 EU-Canada Summit the concept of an ever closer association of Canada to the EU, short of full membership itself,” according to a draft seen by Policito.
Von der Leyen reportedly gave neither the EU’s vast bureaucracy, nor its members’ wary leaders, any warning before she told Carney in front of the European Parliament that she “would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to being the first associate member of the European Union.”
Unilateral decisions and boundary-overstepping are von der Leyen’s calling cards, as her fellow Eurocrats have repeatedly complained to the press. “Nobody was consulted about associate membership apart from [von der Leyen’s] closest staff, it would seem,” an unnamed diplomat told The Guardian on Wednesday. The widespread anonymous briefing to various mainstream European media made it clear that France, Germany, Greece and Italy had forced von der Leyen to adopt the new, watered-down terminology.
Ursula goes rogue
In her first speech in Montreal on Thursday, von der Leyen refused to adopt the new, sanitized wording. After noting that “Canada cannot become a full-fledged member of the EU because of geography,” she insisted that “we are discussing the idea of Canada becoming the first associate member of the European Union. Our idea is simple: it is an ‘association without accession’.”
Whatever form Friday’s communique will take, von der Leyen has evidently chosen to disregard the concerns of the EU’s largest member states for the sake of her own personal project. However, the difference between both statements is purely rhetorical.
What does ‘associate member’ mean anyway?
Neither “Associate member” nor “ever closer association” are defined anywhere in EU law.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attempted to define “associate membership” in May when he suggested that it be granted to Ukraine. Under his proposal, Ukraine would participate in European Council meetings without voting rights, send representatives to the European Parliament, receive more EU funding, and become party to the EU’s mutual defense clause.
The proposal was rejected by Kiev, with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky arguing that this kind of ‘membership-lite’ would leave his country “present in the European Union, but voiceless.”
“Ever closer association” is an even more meaningless term, lifted straight from ‘Ever Closer Union’, a hagiography on EU integration by the bloc’s court historian, Desmond Dinan. Writing in 1994, Dinan argued that “European integration is a good thing,” and the phrases he used – “ever closer union” and “pooling sovereignty,” for example – have since become staples of EU speeches and press releases.
US President Donald Trump ridiculed von der Leyen’s word games last month, calling the concept of associate membership “laughable,” and threatening to “put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things” if the EU-Canada proto-alliance ever harmed US interests.
Carney – who plainly insisted last month that Canada is “not looking to become a member of the European Union” – responded diplomatically to the intra-EU squabbling. “The good news is it doesn’t matter about specific names or nomenclature,” he said ahead of the summit. “What matters is the difference it will make to the lives of Canadians.”
However, Von der Leyen’s “membership” promise and the subsequent retraction has undermined Carney in front of his opponents. In a social media post on Thursday, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre described the concept of “associate membership” as “theater,” and dismissed the summit as “yet another grand theatrical meeting to sign a bunch of meaningless declarations filled with big words (catalyze, anyone?) and promises to meet again to talk more."
How long will this theatre go on?
While Canadians can’t afford food and homes, Mr. Carney has distracted for months with big talk about “Associate Membership” with Europe. Now, Europe has rejected it.
For the next two days, we will be distracted again from the cost-of-living crisis with wall-to-wall media coverage on yet another grand theatrical meeting to sign a bunch of meaningless declarations filled with big words (catalyze, anyone?) and promises to meet again to talk more. No one’s mortgage or grocery bill will come down.
We already have a free trade deal with Europe, Mr. Carney. Get the 9 countries who have not ratified it to do so. And get EU countries to let our beef into the continent and cancel their planned carbon tariff on Canada. Otherwise stop wasting your time and our money. Both are running out.
Von der Leyen has far more riding on this summit than Carney. While the EU needs energy, minerals, and Canada’s geographic clout in the Arctic, Canada only needs to diversify some of its trade away from the US – which accounts for around 72% of its exports and 46% of its imports – in order to hedge against Trump’s tariffs and trade restrictions. At present, the EU accounts for less than 6% of Canada’s exports and 12% of its imports.
🛬 Touchdown in Montréal 🇨🇦
Rarely have I looked forward to a Summit this much.
An ocean separates Europe and Canada. Yet we have never felt closer.
We have a new ambition: bringing Canada closer to us than ever before, as Associate Member of the EU.
And we want to take our unique partnership even further.
With an Alliance for the Future, we will stand together and respond to a world of growing rivalries.
Montréal, we’re about to write a new chapter in our shared history.
Although the agenda is wrapped up in the language of “shared values” and “respect for the rules-based international order,” Brussels’ priorities in Montreal are clear: the energy-starved EU needs access to Canada’s resources.
According to Euronews, the latest draft of the joint declaration includes a promise to “assess opportunities for long-term energy connectivity,” including the supply of Canadian liquefied natural gas to the EU. Remember that in July 2025 von der Leyen personally pledged to Trump that bloc members would buy $750 billion worth of US energy by the end of 2028, in a trade deal that was widely seen as one-sided.
Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has also announced that Ottawa and Brussels intend to sign an agreement on the supply of critical minerals including lithium, nickel, and cobalt. The EU currently controls less than 4% of the world’s supply of these minerals, which are vital in the production of electric vehicles and missiles – both of which the EU intends to increase.
The Europeans also intend to sign defense production and technology-sharing deals, to squeeze cash out of Canada for the bloc’s increasingly stretched €90 billion loan package for Ukraine, and deepen involvement in the Arctic, according to the summit agenda. As the EU set out in its updated Arctic Strategy’ earlier this month, Brussels intends to increase its military presence to challenge Russia in the north, and plans to literally redraw the map of the region to increase its meager Arctic claims, and to pursue closer ties “with like-minded partners,” including Canada.
To challenge Russia in the Arctic, the EU likely has its eyes on Canada’s polar-trained military and its 20-strong icebreaker fleet, compared to the ten such vessels spread across the 27-member bloc. None of these icebreakers are nuclear powered, and even if they were to operate on joint Arctic missions, they would be outnumbered and outclassed by Russia’s fleet of 43, eight of which are nuclear powered
However, any hope von der Leyen may have had of securing preferential single market-style trade deals with Carney have apparently been dashed. According to AFP, the “associate member” version of the joint statement included an “explicit goal of deeper financial market integration.” The new, “ever closer association” communique has replaced this with a promise by both sides to “limit potential negative effects on each other.”
Von der Leyen’s unforced error
Whether von der Leyen will, by virtue of repetition and against the will of four EU member states, invent an “associate membership” is immaterial. The concept is a legal fiction, and by insisting on the word “membership,” the European Commission president set herself up for an entirely avoidable clash with the French, Germans, Greeks, and Italians.
It’s very interesting to see the Commission president goes so defiantly against the position of Germany — the biggest member state and her home country — on an issue that, as of now, remains strictly theoretical.
The argument over the statement’s wording has overshadowed the summit, but the geopolitical reality remains unchanged: the EU needs Canada’s energy supplies to keep its economy afloat, Canada’s money to prop up its Ukraine project, and Canada’s geography to legitimize its Arctic expansion. For these, it doesn’t matter how the deal is dressed up.
The Rooppur facility, built by Russia’s Rosatom, is the South Asian country’s first nuclear project
Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has received the final regulatory clearance, paving the path to commence electricity generation.
Rooppur, the country’s first nuclear power plant, was given the nod to advance to Stage C by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA), the Daily Star reported on Thursday.
During this stage, the reactor’s power will be increased to produce steam, boost the turbine, and generate electricity. Capacity will gradually be increased in phases.
“Now Unit 1 will proceed with the power startup to begin the generation process,” BAERA Chairman Mahamudul Hasan was quoted as saying by the news outlet. He added that the authority would determine the startup date.
Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev earlier this month told media that the plant is on track to be connected to the national grid by end of next month.
The Rooppur plant, located 160 kilometers from Dhaka on the banks of the Padma River, was built at a cost of $12.65 billion, with Russian financial and technical support. With two VVER-1200 Russian-designed reactors, it will have a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts. Moscow is financing $11.9 billion in state loans for the project.
Rosatom, which is providing equipment, nuclear fuel, and engineering assistance, expects to commission the second unit in 2027.
Once fully operational, the plant is expected to deliver 12% of Dhaka’s power demand.
Likhachev recently disclosed that Moscow is in talks with Dhaka to build a new phase of Rooppur’s high-capacity units.
“We are primarily talking about a possible additional phase of large units,” Likhachev said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week forum, adding that Dhaka was also exploring the possibility of small-capacity units and a research reactor.
A new RUSI report questions the future of Moscow’s strategic forces. Its conclusions leave crucial parts of the picture out.
A few days ago, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) released a report titled ‘Russia’s Nuclear Deterrent and Its Weapons Procurement’. The report examines the development of Russia’s nuclear triad amid stringent financial constraints and the rising threat of a potential US non-nuclear counterforce strike.
The author of the report, Sidharth Kaushal, makes conclusions based on the publications of Russian military experts in the journal ‘Voennaya Mysl’ (Military Thought), as well as established Western practices for analyzing Russia’s nuclear capabilities.
A British diagnosis of Russia’s nuclear future
Here are the key takeaways from the report:
Paradigm shift: Russia is being compelled to shift its focus from a posture of “assured retaliation” (increasing the survivability of mobile missile systems and submarine-launched ballistic forces to effectively counter a first strike) to a Launch on Warning (LOW) posture (employing its arsenal early against an enemy attack).
Vulnerability of mobile forces: Advancements in US space reconnaissance make the concealment of mobile ground-based systems increasingly ineffective.
Greater reliance on silo-based launchers, which are viewed as more secure bases for strategic missiles. Silo-based systems will comprise a greater proportion of throw weight, particularly since RS-28 Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles are silo-launched to ensure instant readiness.
Economic challenges: According to the report, modern Russia cannot pursue a large-scale quantitative increase in its missile arsenal due to the enormous costs associated with developing and maintaining the conventional armed forces amidst the ongoing military operation in Ukraine.
Due to cost parity, the domestic production costs of strategic missile systems compete with conventional weaponry – for example, producing one Yars missile is equivalent to the cost of 15 T-72 tanks.
A labor shortage in the nuclear and missile industries is unavoidable in the current conditions and necessitates a significant increase in wages.
The author also provides interesting assessments of specific weapons systems:
RS-28 Sarmat: The report projects no quantitative increase in the deployment of these missiles. Emphasis is placed on a short boost phase and a high payload capacity for overcoming missile defense systems.
The medium-range Oreshnik missile is seen as a priority in the European theater of operations and as a tool for preemptively neutralizing US Dark Eagle systems in Europe. Given manufacturing shortages, it is expected to be deployed primarily in its nuclear variant.
The long-range KH-BD air-launched cruise missile (with a range up to 6,500 km) is designed to be carried by Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers, in light of the lack of progress on the PAK DA next-generation stealth strategic bomber.
Burevestnik and Poseidon programs are considered technically unfeasible by the author of the report; due to the high costs, they are perceived primarily as methods of psychological intimidation
Space-based warfare: The report highlights the jamming of US missile defense systems as a major priority for Russia. It predicts the launch of nuclear electronic warfare satellites into orbit and the eventual deployment of full-scale space-based nuclear weapons to create massive plasma fields in the ionosphere.
How can we assess this report? Generally, the picture is more complex than described. Like in the Indian parable about the blind men and the elephant, the author of the report sees certain aspects of the ‘elephant’ but fails to see the general picture, which may be quite different. Let’s take a closer look.
The logic behind Russia’s nuclear shield
Regarding the structure of the strategic nuclear forces and the shifting balance between mobile and stationary systems, the distinctive feature of the Soviet, and now Russian, approach lies in balancing mobile and stationary strategic missile systems. Despite advances in satellite reconnaissance, mobile missile systems hold certain advantages: for example, hundreds of them are deployed over vast territories. Moreover, several Peresvet laser weapon systems have already been deployed; these can blind potential adversaries’ optical reconnaissance systems at a critical moment. While reliance on space-based systems is understandable, it’s important to note that these technologies are also vulnerable to various factors, as we have seen recently.
Stationary missile systems come with a significant drawback: it’s relatively easy to spot their location. However, they offer a high level of protection against non-nuclear strikes and maintain relatively high (though not absolute) survivability in the event of a nuclear exchange. Russia’s strategy combines hard-to-detect mobile missile systems with stationary systems that can be employed in response to a nuclear attack. This combination allows for greater flexibility and multiple operational scenarios. Considering this strategy, it’s likely that a large inventory of Sarmat missiles isn’t necessary – two regiments with 50+ missile silos might suffice. This doesn’t indicate a shift in priorities but rather reaffirms a conservative and justified traditional approach.
We must also note the naval component, which ensures reliable retaliatory capability. Both Russian and Western analysts have grown accustomed to the fact that the Bulava submarine-launched solid-fuel missile has been deployed and will eventually replace other ballistic missiles in the Russian Navy. However, that’s not entirely true. Project 667BDRM DELTA-IV submarines equipped with liquid-fueled R-29RM missiles remain on duty. These missiles are among the most effective strategic systems in terms of their energy-mass efficiency. Judging by statements from 2022, it seems that Russia may very well renew its interest in liquid-fueled sea-based missiles. Maintaining two centers for naval missile production is more expensive than having just one, but if it results in a higher number of warheads with fewer missiles, financial concerns could be overlooked.
Lastly, the demonization of the Oreshnik missile in the West is understandable and, overall, justified. Its minimal flight time presents a significant threat. There’s also the option for hybrid use – deploying it with non-nuclear payloads to signal intentions or for use in low-intensity conflicts. The existence of such a missile system increases the range of potential scenarios for employing strategic forces and provides substantial flexibility.
Even a few launch facilities would suffice for these purposes, which raises questions about the costly deployment of multiple brigades. Most likely, we’re talking about the deployment of divisions with 3-4 TELs instead of full brigades consisting of 12 TELs. This strategy also allows to increase the number of deployed missiles, should the need arise.
Beyond the bluff: Weapons built for retaliation
The assessment of the aviation component of the strategic nuclear forces seems fairly accurate, but it’s necessary to note that several other weapon programs are also being developed alongside the KH-BD missiles. Russian defense contractors consistently work on multiple projects, regardless of the current financial climate. It’s reasonable to assume they’re developing air-launched hypersonic missile systems for both tactical and strategic aviation, as well as various types of cruise missiles for strategic use. Additionally, it’s highly likely that a range of tactical munitions for front-line aviation is also under development. Similarly, work on the new PAK DA strategic bomber is probably ongoing, even if the urgent need for this expensive project has diminished.
I’d like to highlight the assessments regarding the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile and the Poseidon nuclear-powered UUV. Both systems boast practically unlimited range and the ability to remain airborne/underwater for extended periods of time. There’s a lot of speculation and publicity surrounding these projects, and it makes sense to leverage such groundbreaking initiatives for propaganda purposes. However, this doesn’t negate their real military significance or the seriousness of intentions regarding their deployment.
Infrastructure for these projects wouldn’t be carried out solely for PR purposes. At least one major base with several launch systems is being constructed for Burevestnik missiles, and for the Poseidon UUV, basing facilities are being built in the Pacific Ocean, and it is set to be deployed to the Northern Fleet.
Experts monitor progress and construction through satellite imagery. Tracking testing activities is more complex, but there are signs that work continues in this direction as well. Most importantly, these combat systems possess an unknown yet potentially immense retaliatory capability, which is difficult to evaluate due to the absence of analogues. What’s certain is that their potential is significant. Poseidon UUVs may not be able to target naval fleets, but their true purpose is to ensure guaranteed retaliatory strikes capable of causing total destruction along an adversary’s coastline.
In summary, despite economic and financial challenges, Russia will undoubtedly find the resources necessary to maintain and advance its nuclear triad, or even the more powerful new strategic nuclear forces.
Two candidates named Dan Sullivan are running in Alaska’s Senate race, prompting accusations of electoral manipulation
US President Donald Trump has accused Democrats of fraud over an alleged plot to field a namesake candidate in Alaska’s Senate race.
An electoral trick familiar to Russians who remember the political free-for-all of the 1990s, the tactic involves recruiting a candidate whose name matches that of an established politician in the hope of confusing voters and siphoning off votes.
In Russia, such contenders became known as “clone candidates” and were a hallmark of the country’s notoriously ruthless election campaigns, forming part of the political “black PR” playbook.
In Alaska, Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan now faces a namesake challenger, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who is also running in the November 3 election.
According to a New York Times investigation, operatives linked to Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee allegedly helped recruit the namesake candidate as part of a broader effort to undermine the incumbent. The newspaper cited interviews, text messages and documents detailing the operation, which reportedly began in 2025. Both Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic committee have denied involvement.
Following the report, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, ordered an investigation into whether any laws had been broken and whether criminal charges or civil action was warranted. Trump has branded the alleged scheme “voter fraud at the highest level” and called for Peltola and the namesake candidate to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted.
@Odinsraven66 @StephenM To be precise, there is no indication what party "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.” might be affiliated with on the Alaska bingo card. https://t.co/TWjsD2dWtT
Russians know the playbook. During the 1998 elections to the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, namesake candidates appeared in multiple constituencies. At least two challengers sharing the surname Mironov ran against Sergey Mironov, then acting speaker of the regional parliament. He nevertheless secured a decisive victory with around 70% of the vote.
In a 2000 State Duma by-election in Sverdlovsk Region, Yekaterinburg police chief Nikolay Ovchinnikov faced Vladimir Ovchinnikov, who appeared above him on the alphabetically arranged ballot. The namesake reportedly secured more than 5% of the vote, although the police chief ultimately won.
An isolated example of the practice surfaced in St. Petersburg as recently as 2021, when opposition politician Boris Vishnevsky faced two rivals who had legally changed their names to Boris Vishnevsky, adopting similar hairstyles and beards for their election portraits.
This is not the first time the practice has appeared in the US. In the 2020 Florida state Senate race, a little-known candidate named Alex Rodriguez received more than 6,000 votes, while Democratic incumbent Jose Javier Rodríguez lost to Republican Ileana Garcia by just 32 votes.
The namesake candidate subsequently pleaded guilty to campaign-finance offenses connected with the scheme, which involved a former Republican state senator.
For consumers, heating and electricity costs have spiked as a consequence of the US-Israeli war on Iran
As European households struggled to pay their energy bills, the continent’s oil companies more than doubled their profits over the last quarter, reaping the benefits of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Eight months to the day since American and Israeli forces began bombarding Iran, Brent crude prices sat at $115 on Thursday, up from $72 pre-war. Dated Brent, the actual on-the-spot price that purchasers are paying for Brent cargoes in the North Sea, was even higher, at $120.
This price spike has driven the cost of petrol, diesel, and heating oil to record highs across Europe. However, it’s been a windfall for Europe’s largest oil companies, according to quarterly profit statements compiled by Germany’s Der Spiegel on Thursday.
British oil and gas giant Shell recorded a profit of $12.1 billion between July and September, a more than twofold increase on the previous quarter, and on the same quarter last year. Between July and September 2025, Shell made $5.43 billion in profit.
France’s TotalEnergies increased profits by 127% to $9.1 billion in the same period, while Spain’s Repsol recorded an almost fivefold increase, from $640.7 million to $3.1 billion. Austria’s OMV, meanwhile, increased profits by 68% to $2.36 billion.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and his counterparts in Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, have called for an EU-wide windfall tax on the oil giants, similar to the “solidarity levy” imposed by Brussels after the escalation of the Russia/Ukraine conflict in 2022.
“The Commission has been very reserved on this issue, although several member states have been calling for models to be presented for a long time,” Klingbeil said after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Ireland last month. “This must happen by the next [finance ministers’] meeting in October at the latest,” he added.
The European Commission shot down Klingbeil’s proposal, and October passed with no action from Brussels. “It is in the hands of member states,” EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters. “Member states can go ahead and take those decisions on the taxing of windfall profits.”
Despite Gulf exports reportedly recovering to 80% of pre-war levels, Houthi attacks on Saudi energy facilities and shipping, the threat of naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and warnings of an “intense”new US military campaign against Iran have all played a role in keeping oil prices nearly twice as high as they were at the beginning of February.
Lithuania expands military draft as European recruitment drives face public resistance
Lithuania will introduce universal male conscription despite public resistance to compulsory military service, the country’s government has announced.
The Baltic state reinstated selective conscription in 2015, seven years after abolishing it. Under the new plan, the draft would be extended to all eligible men, while women would continue to serve voluntarily.
Annual recruitment will increase from just over 5,000 to around 7,500 men, President Gitanas Nauseda announced on Thursday following a State Defense Council meeting.
Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius described universal conscription as “necessary and inevitable.”
The decision follows similar recruitment pushes elsewhere in Europe. Poland is considering restoring compulsory service, which was abolished in 2009, and introducing a system covering both men and women. A recent poll, however, found that 53% of Poles aged 18–24 opposed reinstatement of the draft.
Germany has already introduced mandatory military registration for 18-year-old men. Enlistment remains voluntary, but parliament can activate compulsory service if recruitment falls short or the security situation deteriorates.
Berlin’s recruitment drive has met resistance, with some 45,000 people joining student protests across roughly 100 German cities and towns in September, with some carrying banners reading “We won’t fight in your wars” and “Russia is not our enemy.”
Applications for conscientious objector status reached over 12,000 between January and August, compared with 3,879 throughout 2025, according to figures reported by German media.
European officials have nevertheless continued discussing preparations for a possible war with Russia by the end of the decade. Estonian Defense Minister Martin Herem “joked” last month that if Estonia mobilized and Russia did not attack, it would be “economically more correct to attack ourselves” rather than keep troops waiting.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that it has neither reason nor intention to attack NATO countries, describing such allegations as “horror stories” intended to prepare European populations for further militarization.
Russian officials have warned that Europe’s military buildup could itself lead to confrontation and that expanding NATO infrastructure near Russia’s borders would prompt additional security measures. Moscow has stressed that it is prepared to defend itself if attacked.
The video by James O’Keefe and Cam Higby centers on Minnesota voting practices allowing one to vote with no ID and to vouch for eight others
Conservative US influencers James O’Keefe and Cam Higby are facing felony charges over a video on Minnesota voting practices that allow one to “vouch” for eight others from the same precinct, while not having to show any ID.
Titled ‘I Wore Burqa To EXPOSE Election FRAUD In Minneapolis’, the stunt was shot during the Minnesota primary election in August. It features Higby posing as a Muslim woman dressed up in a full-face veil, with O’Keefe also wearing mock Muslim attire and speaking in a thick accent.
US President Donald Trump has for years alleged that Democrats have committed voter fraud, including by allegedly allowing non-citizens to participate in elections. The Republican has long advocated a standardized photo ID verification for voting.
On Wednesday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced that O’Keefe and Higby had been charged with unlawful voting and identity theft. According to Attorney Mary Moriarty, the pair had “visited multiple precincts… and misrepresented their identities by giving election judges names of registered voters in the precinct without those voters’ knowledge or permission.”
Speaking during a press conference, Moriarty said that summonses had been issued in both men’s names. Should O’Keefe and Higby fail to appear in court, an arrest warrant will follow, the official clarified.
While the Hennepin County attorney conceded that neither man signed an oath for ‘vouching’, she insisted that they still intentionally misrepresented “their identity to election judges in applying for a ballot.”
The conservative influencers availed themselves of a procedure which allows a registered voter in Minnesota to vouch for up to eight other voters from the same precinct, permitting the latter to cast their ballots without any further verification. Under Minnesota law, a person vouching for someone else must sign an oath and could face charges of perjury if it turns out that they lied on it.
Commenting on the charges filed against him in the Democratic-run state, Higby wrote on X that he was “not afraid of Minnesota.”
In their video, the conservative influencers specifically state they are “not actually going to vote… [and] touch any ballots,” with no intention to “break the law [or] to commit voter fraud.”
The idea was rather to “point out the vulnerabilities in the system and how easily exploitable it is,” O’Keefe and Higby explain.
Having visited three polling stations in different precincts, the pair concluded that “any person who has the address and name of another person can walk into a Minnesota… polling station and vote in that person’s name without ID.”
Additionally, poll workers “were going to allow me to vouch for eight other people so that they could vote the same day, also without verifying their ID,” Higby says in the video.
Late last year, Minnesota was thrust into the national spotlight after the federal authorities launched an investigation into an unrelated alleged fraud scheme involving multiple childcare centers run by locals of Somali background that appeared to be non-operational fronts.
The probe followed an expose by YouTuber Nick Shirley who claimed that the alleged fraudsters had received more than $110 million in state funds for non-existent services.
Binance says customer funds are safe despite reports of massive suspicious transfers
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has launched an investigation into a possible cyberattack after billions of dollars in digital assets were reportedly transferred from wallets linked to the platform.
Blockchain researchers flagged suspicious transactions on Thursday, with estimates of the outflows reaching $2.77 billion across five blockchains. Binance said it was investigating reports of a potential security issue but insisted that customer funds were safe. The exchange has not confirmed a hack or disclosed any financial losses.
“Our team is conducting security checks. Withdrawals will resume as soon as the security issue is fully resolved. User funds remain safe,” the company said on X on Thursday.
Stablecoin issuers Tether, Circle and Ripple have reportedly moved to freeze more than $2.5 billion in digital assets linked to the suspected hack.
Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao wrote on X that “it does look like a hack on Binance.”
Cuba’s top diplomat has branded Mike Waltz a “liar” after the American ambassador accused Havana’s leadership of corruption
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz has shouted “Back up!” at Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez during a heated confrontation at the General Assembly over Washington’s blockade of the island. The Cuban diplomat accused Waltz of spreading “crude lies” to justify US “economic aggression.”
During the UNGA session on Tuesday, Waltz dedicated his speech to allegations of corruption among the Cuban leadership, pointing to what he called their collection of luxury watches, real estate, and yachts as well as their relatives’ holidays in Europe. While ordinary Cubans “are starving,” the US blockade and embargo of the island “does not exist” and “doesn’t apply to luxury goods” that “somehow get through to the Cuban regime elites,” he claimed.
His words drew loud condemnation from the Cuban delegation led by Rodriguez as the diplomats clapped and knocked on their desks in protest against Waltz’s speech.
See the corrupt Cuban regime’s Rolex collection while their people sit in the dark. https://t.co/6wMlNhmNhl
The foreign minister also interrupted the US diplomat’s speech by requesting urgent intervention and delivered his own remarks, in which he accused the American envoy of lying in a “rude and arrogant manner” and “violating the dignity of the General Assembly” with his words.
Rodriguez then approached the podium and engaged in a heated argument with Waltz. In a video posted on X by the US envoy, Waltz can be heard urging the General Assembly president to make the Cuban minister “back away from this podium,” insisting that he would not allow Rodriguez to “intimidate” him on US territory. He then shouted: “I’m the representative of the United States of America! Back up! […] Do you understand who you are dealing with?! Back up!”
The Castro regime has profited at the expense of the Cuban people with luxury cars, expensive watches and a private island resort. As I shared this with the world, regime thugs rushed the stage to interrupt my speech.
They can intimidate their own people in Cuba but think again about trying that nonsense in the United States of America.
The American envoy also posted a host of videos on social media, detailing the incident and accusing those he called Cuban “so-called ‘diplomats’” and “regime thugs” of “melting down at the first hint of criticism.”
Rodriguez subsequently addressed the General Assembly, accusing Waltz of lying in a “rude and arrogant manner” and “violating the dignity of the General Assembly” with his remarks.
He later shared on X a cartoon depicting the confrontation at the UN with the words “Gringo mentiroso” (“Lying gringo”) above the two diplomats. He captioned the post: “Cuba is not a threat. The blockade is.”
#CubaNoEsUnaAmenaza El Bloqueo Sí. https://t.co/OJd5pcHKBQ
In a separate post, Rodriguez “denounced the economic war that the United States is waging against Cuba with aims of domination and “regime change"." Rodriguez blasted the continued blockade as an “act of war” and “genocide prohibited by the International Law.” He also shared the results of the vote, where he said it was rejected by a “large majority” of the nations.
A resolution condemning the US embargo of Cuba was supported by 130 countries, including Russia, China, India, and even several US allies such as Canada, France and the UK. It was opposed by 17 nations, including the US, Israel, and Ukraine, with 25 nations abstaining.
US President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Havana since the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Trump has since repeatedly stated that Cuba would be “next” as his administration imposed a near-total energy blockade against the island nation.
The restrictions contributed to severe energy shortages on the island. Cuba has entered its worst economic crisis in decades, marked not only by prolonged blackouts but also food shortages. Last month, Trump described Cuba as an “absolutely failed state” and “a haven for foreign adversaries” on America’s doorstep.
Moscow and Beijing have expressed solidarity with Cuba in the face of American pressure. Russia has been among the countries providing relief to Cuba, delivering around 700,000 barrels of oil in March. China also said in late September it would support Cuba in “safeguarding its national sovereignty” and pursuing a “development path suited to its national conditions.”
In mid-October, the US issued an arrest warrant for former Cuban President Raul Castro, 95, accusing him of ordering an attack on two American planes operated by anti-Communist Cuban exiles off the island’s coast in 1996. The warrant followed a separate federal indictment brought against Castro and five others in May. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the case as a “political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation” and accused Washington of creating a pretext for a military intervention.
Moscow has condemned the accusations against the former Cuban leader as “groundless” and “contrived,” calling it a “revenge” by the anti-Cuban lobby.
Protesters clashed with police in Madrid as they demanded resignations following a high-speed train collision that killed at least 68 people
Protesters clashed with police outside the Transport Ministry in Madrid as they demanded accountability for a high-speed train collision that killed at least 68 people near Toledo.
Wednesday’s crash near Urda, in Toledo province, was Spain’s second major rail disaster in less than ten months. On January 18, a train derailed near Adamuz, in Cordoba province, and collided with another train traveling in the opposite direction, killing 46 people.
According to elDiario.es, the demonstration, organized by far-right groups Falange and Revuelta, demanded the resignations of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Transport Minister Oscar Puente. “How many more people have to die before we throw these murderers and traitors out of our institutions?” Falange spokesman Federico Campanero said in a speech.
Ministerio de transportes ahora mismo. https://t.co/5WOlae1nzq
Some protesters threw flares and other objects at police, who pushed back the crowd and used tear gas.
La manifestación frente al ministerio de transportes exigiendo la dimisión de Óscar Puente se calienta.
La gente está hasta los cojones. https://t.co/KGcoYNeIjU
The right-wing Vox party and its affiliated trade union Solidaridad held a separate demonstration earlier at Plaza de Cibeles in central Madrid, where participants observed a minute of silence. Some carried a banner reading “Corruption kills.” The rally ended without major incidents.
Audio recordings obtained by El Pais suggest that rail traffic controllers violated safety protocols before the deadly collision. A controller reportedly instructed an AVE train to resume normal speed without confirming that the track ahead was clear, rather than restricting it to 40 km/h as required. Despite repeated warnings from the driver of a stationary Iryo train, controllers failed to stop the approaching AVE, which collided with the stranded train minutes later.
In a speech on Wednesday, Sanchez promised a thorough investigation. “It is unacceptable for a country like Spain to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year,” he said.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the main opposition People’s Party, demanded an immediate investigation and an independent review of the railway network. “Spain has the right to know what is happening with its infrastructure, what condition the tracks and safety systems are in,” he said.
The disaster comes at a politically sensitive moment for Sánchez, whose government has faced public anger over housing costs and parliamentary setbacks. With a general election scheduled for November 29, the collision has brought renewed scrutiny of the government’s handling of railway safety.
Islamabad has reportedly restored overflight rights to two Taiwanese carriers after defending the restrictions under its One-China policy.
Pakistan has restored overflight rights to two Taiwanese airlines after they stopped using its airspace three days earlier, according to AP, Bloomberg and Dawn.
On Wednesday, Islamabad issued permits allowing Taiwan-based China Airlines and EVA Air to use Pakistani airspace until March 27, 2027, the outlets reported, citing official documents.
Hours earlier, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif had defended restrictions on Taiwanese carriers, citing Islamabad’s longstanding adherence to Beijing’s One China policy. “The aviation division follows the One-China policy – only mainland China is allowed,” Asif told Bloomberg. “We have permitted only Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistan.”
According to flight-tracking data, Taiwanese airlines began rerouting flights to avoid Pakistani airspace on October 25. Taipei condemned Islamabad for what it described as undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty and “politicizing and weaponizing airspace,” according to Taiwanese media.
Most countries, including the US and Russia, do not formally recognize Taiwan as an independent state. Beijing considers the self-governing island part of China and seeks reunification, preferably through peaceful means, but has not ruled out the use of force. Washington and several other Western governments maintain unofficial ties with Taipei and supply it with weapons, drawing condemnation from Beijing.
Pakistan’s restrictions reportedly went further than Beijing’s own rules, which permit some Taiwanese airline operations in mainland Chinese airspace.
China and Pakistan maintain close political and military ties, describing their relationship as an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.” Beijing is Islamabad’s principal arms supplier, while Pakistan consistently supports China’s position on Taiwan.
Taiwanese airlines had largely avoided Russian airspace since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, although neither Moscow nor Taipei had formally prohibited them from using it. Following the Pakistani restrictions, several Taiwan-Europe flights were rerouted through Russia.
According to Bloomberg, no country had previously imposed a blanket overflight ban on Taiwanese commercial airlines. In April, Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar withdrew overflight clearances for Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s aircraft, forcing him to postpone a visit to Eswatini, a southern African country formerly known as Swaziland. Lai eventually made the trip in May.
Some voters demand Netanyahu’s departure. Others insist he must stay. A unity deal could test how much both sides are willing to swallow
Israel faces weeks of political uncertainty, as the parliamentary elections did not result in a majority for either side. A unity government could break the deadlock, but at what cost to domestic politics and regional stability?
After months of a fiercely contested race, Israelis are waking up to a political reality that offers little prospect of stability. The question is no longer who won the most seats in the Knesset, but who can form a government – and at what cost.
According to the preliminary results from the Central Elections Committee, which is responsible for counting the 7.3 million votes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading with a projected 27 out of 120 seats. The former chief of staff and head of the Yashar party, Gadi Eisenkot, comes in second, securing 21 seats in the Knesset. These numbers will change as the counting continues.
Divided we stand
For some Israelis, the initial results have already proven disappointing.
“I really hoped that the victory of Eisenkot would be obvious and we could celebrate Bibi’s defeat. The country is tired of this man, we need a change but the results are not encouraging,” Miriam Hassan, a 40-year-old resident of Nazareth, said.
Others share her frustration. “The change bloc [a union of parties aligned against Netanyahu] did everything it could to end the rule of Netanyahu. Arab tried too. They went to the polling stations in their masses but now it is clear that the battle is not over yet. More work needs to be done for us to finally see this man handing down the keys to the premier’s office in Jerusalem,” according to Samer Nasrawi, another Nazareth resident in his 50s.
Ronen Attar, a voter of Yashar in his 30s, said:
“We voted for change, for hope, for the repair of this country. We wanted to see this government that was responsible for October 7 handing down power. Polls indicate our bloc can still form a government but everything is up in the air.”
On the other side of the political divide, Netanyahu’s supporters are celebrating.
“My entire family voted for Netanyahu,” Moshe Keif, a Jerusalem resident in his 50s, said. “He has done so much in these four years. The media and Israeli channels buried him politically, they said he will be crushed but now it is clear, Likud is still the strongest and the biggest party. Netanyahu is unsinkable.”
Itzik Dayan, another Jerusalem voter in his 50s, was less optimistic:
“I think Netanyahu should still be the PM despite his mistakes and vices. But the results show that half of the population doesn’t share these views. We are a country divided.”
Unity as a solution?
With polling stations closed and the count underway, it will take days for the final results to emerge. Even then, weeks may pass before Israel – and the world – learns who will become the country’s next prime minister.
Israel’s political system does not automatically award the premiership to the leader of the largest party. Instead, the president must nominate a candidate capable of assembling a coalition commanding at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
The problem is that neither camp appears to have the numbers.
According to the Central Elections Committee, Eisenkot’s potential partners, the Together bloc led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, and Yair Golan’s Democrats – are projected to win 12, 7, and 8 seats, respectively. Together, they would hold 48 seats, 13 short of a majority.
To bridge the gap and secure the premiership, Eisenkot could seek an alliance with the Arab parties: the Joint Arab List and Ra’am, which have won 13 and 6 seats, respectively.
“I voted for them,” Hassan said. “I support the idea of them joining forces with the change bloc to oust Netanyahu from power. Only this cooperation will bring the much needed change.”
Nasrawi agrees:
“It is time for the Arab parties to start cooperating with the Jewish ones. It has been long overdue. They have a chance now. Join forces and remove Netanyahu. Then start cooperating in other spheres, be it tackling high crime rates or the economy.”
Cooperation, however, may be easier said than done. Although Arab party leaders have repeatedly pledged to support initiatives aimed at ending Netanyahu’s premiership, their political priorities remain difficult to reconcile with those of the Change bloc.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the clearest example. Arab parties advocate ending the occupation, withdrawing troops from Gaza, and establishing a Palestinian state. Eisenkot and his allies, with the exception of Golan, reject these positions and have pledged to take a tougher approach toward the Palestinians.
Israeli experts consider it unlikely that the Arab parties and the Eisenkot-led bloc will overcome these differences. Without their support, the former chief of staff may struggle to become prime minister. Even if he succeeds, his coalition could prove short-lived.
Netanyahu’s prospects are hardly brighter. Together with his traditional allies, including several religious parties, he commands 53 seats, 8 short of the 61 required for a majority.
To retain power, Netanyahu would need to persuade lawmakers from the opposing camp to defect or convince some members of the Change bloc to join a coalition under his leadership.
He has managed this before. On October 11, 2023, shortly after the Hamas-led attacks, he formed a unity government with Benny Gantz, who set aside his differences with Netanyahu to provide broad legislative support. This time, however, the task will be considerably harder. Several leaders in the Change bloc have already ruled out joining a Netanyahu-led coalition and pledged not to serve in ministerial positions under his leadership.
Yet neither side may ultimately have a viable alternative to a broad unity government.
According to a recent poll, around 60% of Israelis favor a unity government bringing Netanyahu and Eisenkot together; 33% want the former chief of staff to lead the government, 19% prefer Netanyahu, and 8% say they have no preference between the two.
Political pressure for unity is also mounting. President Isaac Herzog has indicated that he will work to establish a broad coalition between Netanyahu and Eisenkot. Netanyahu, too, has urged his opponents to consider the proposal, arguing that unity is the only way to address the pressing challenges facing Israel.
Voters, however, remain deeply divided over the prospect.
“Nobody trusts Netanyahu anymore,” Nasrawi said. “I don’t see how Eisenkot agrees to sit with the man who deceived all his coalition partners in the past.”
“This government needs to go. Striking an agreement with Netanyahu is criminal. If they do so, it basically means they betrayed our trust and threw all our votes out of the window,” Hassan said.
Dayan sees things differently: “I really don’t think there is an alternative but to have a unity government.”
“We still have Iran and Hezbollah on our borders, the situation in the West Bank and Gaza is not stable either, economy needs to be fixed, and all we are doing is dividing the country into pro and against Netanyahu. Only unity can bring a change.”
No bright future in sight
A government of national unity could have consequences far beyond Israel’s domestic politics. Netanyahu previously indicated that if he remains prime minister, he intends to complete what he considers unfinished business in Iran, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza.
The groundwork for further military operations is already being laid. In Gaza, the IDF is conducting near-daily raids and targeted killings. In the West Bank, the military is pursuing a major campaign in the Hebron area aimed at dismantling Hamas infrastructure. These operations could intensify and expand if Netanyahu and Eisenkot join forces.
If they don’t, the future for the region doesn’t look bright either. In the event of a political deadlock, with neither side forming a government, Netanyahu will remain interim prime minister until another round of elections is held, typically within 90 days. Unless there is a war that can push it to a further date.
A war seems to be on the horizon. Reports suggest that Netanyahu planned an attack against Iran on October 10, but was blocked by US President Donald Trump at the last minute.
Experts suggest that he might resume his plans if he remains in office, even for a short period of time.
In the coming days, Herzog is expected to consult the leaders of the various parties before deciding which candidate to task with forming a government. Once given the mandate, the candidate will have 28 days to assemble a coalition, with the possibility of a two-week extension. If the attempt fails, another candidate may get the opportunity.
For now, the clouds of uncertainty hanging over Israel show little sign of lifting. A unity government could offer a way out of the immediate political deadlock, but it would not necessarily heal the divisions exposed by the election.
Israelis who went to the polls hoping for a clear direction may find themselves facing a familiar reality: a country still divided, a government still uncertain, and a future that remains difficult to predict.
Roscosmos has signed a cooperation memorandum with the Tanzanian government on the sidelines of the Russia-African summit
Russia and Tanzania have agreed to launch a joint space program, the Russian space agency Roscosmos has said. Moscow will assist Dodoma in establishing its own national space agency and developing the infrastructure needed for a domestic space industry.
On Wednesday, Roscosmos and Tanzania’s Ministry of Information, Communication and Information Technology signed a framework memorandum on strategic partnership and cooperation on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit. The event has brought delegations from 48 African countries to Moscow this week.
“Tanzania is planning to establish its own space agency, and we are ready to provide our colleagues with expert and methodological support,” Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Bakanov told journalists. The Russian space agency has already stepped up cooperation with Tanzanian specialists in the field, with support from the Russian presidential administration, he added.
According to Bakanov, Dodoma is particularly interested in developing its own spacecraft and launching them into orbit aboard Russian rockets. Roscosmos has confirmed that Russia will launch Tanzania’s first Earth remote-sensing satellite in March 2027.
During the summit, Russian specialists demonstrated to the Tanzanian delegation the country’s capabilities in training cosmonauts and space industry specialists, as well as conducting scientific experiments in space.
The two sides also discussed sharing Earth remote-sensing data and establishing ground stations in Tanzania to receive such data. According to Bakanov, the African nation also plans to increase the number of students studying space-related disciplines at Russian universities.
Under the agreement, Russia will assist Tanzania in developing infrastructure for its space industry, while the two countries will exchange expertise and best practices in training space specialists. They have also agreed to establish joint working groups and develop road maps covering all areas of cooperation.
Moscow has been actively supporting African nations’ space ambitions. Last year, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) hailed Russia as a key partner in advancing its national space program. Pretoria “has received most of its support from the Russian Federation,” SANSA board chairman Patrick Ndlovu told Sputnik Africa at the time. Earlier that year, SANSA CEO Humbulani Mudau announced South Africa’s support for Russia’s proposal to establish a BRICS Space Council to strengthen space cooperation among member states.
In 2024, Zimbabwe announced plans to build its first spaceport with Russian assistance. The country also said it was in talks with Roscosmos about gaining access to Russia’s cosmonaut training system, among other areas of cooperation.
Moscow has agreed in principle to new talks with Washington and Kiev, which are expected in the UAE in November
European nations will not be invited to the next Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday, a day after the leaders of Finland and Norway called Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow agreed in principle to participate in a fourth round of trilateral talks following last week’s meeting between Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg. Mid-November has been floated as a possible timeframe, with Abu Dhabi suggested as the venue.
“We have agreed that trilateral talks will resume, involving representatives from Russia, Ukraine, and the US,” Ushakov told Vesti. He stressed, however, that European representatives will not be invited.
“They can get there if they buy tickets. But no one intends to invite them to the negotiating table.”
Ushakov’s comments came a day after Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store called Putin for a conversation that reportedly lasted over an hour. The call sent a shockwave through Kiev’s staunchest backers, prompting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to condemn the Nordic leaders’ initiative, insisting it had not been coordinated with “European partners.”
However, neither Stubb nor Store brought any new proposals for settling the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the call.
Ukraine’s European backers have been excluded from all three rounds of trilateral negotiations so far and have increasingly sought direct participation in the peace process. They have, however, not tempered their demands, insisting on an unconditional ceasefire – something Moscow has repeatedly rejected, arguing that a temporary freeze to the fighting would only allow Kiev to rest and rearm with Western weapons.
Russia has also accused the EU of acting as the principal side arming Ukraine and prolonging the conflict. In April, Brussels approved €90 billion ($100 billion) to Ukraine for 2026–2027, financed via capital markets. Earlier this month, Vladimir Zelensky asked for a further €70 billion to keep Ukraine’s budget and military afloat through next year.
Moscow has maintained that Europe’s financial and military support for Ukraine makes it a party to the conflict, which Russia has long described as a NATO-led proxy war.
Flavio Bolsonaro has accused President Lula da Silva of election fraud and vowed to lead the opposition from abroad
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has declared himself the rightful leader of his country after arriving in the US, having fled Brazil following his election defeat to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump, landed in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday morning aboard a private jet after traveling through Argentina and Ecuador. He defied a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports amid investigations into alleged financial crimes.
The senator is suspected of involvement in a money-laundering scheme linked to fraudulent deductions from pension payments. He also faces a separate investigation involving alleged financial misconduct. Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing, describing the cases as politically motivated.
The right-wing senator narrowly lost to Lula, a veteran left-wing politician, in Sunday’s runoff election, despite receiving more votes than his rival in the first round on October 4. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 election defeat to Lula. The elder Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing, arguing that the case was politically motivated.
In a lengthy letter posted on X, Flavio Bolsonaro described himself as “the leader of Brazil” and claimed that the election was rigged. An earlier version of the letter had described him as the country’s elected president.
“The illegitimate and illegal actions of Lula’s former lawyer allowed a mathematical impossibility to become reality, with Lula gaining more than 10 million votes between the first and second rounds,” he wrote.
Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family have landed in Miami after fleeing his country.
This comes a day after they were granted United States visas by the Trump administration. https://t.co/oB91ejWab5
Bolsonaro was referring to Supreme Federal Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who previously represented Lula. Zanin ordered voting extended from 5pm to 7pm on Sunday following complaints from Lula’s campaign about public transport disruptions. The last-minute ruling caused confusion because some polling stations had already closed, prompting Zanin to clarify that the extension applied only where voting was still underway.
Bolsonaro provided no evidence of electoral fraud. Lula won the runoff by approximately 4.4 million votes, while just 34,393 ballots were cast after the original 5pm deadline, according to Brazil’s electoral authorities. The figure includes votes cast by people already waiting in line when polls were due to close.
Bolsonaro rejected the investigations against him and vowed to “lead the opposition” from abroad. “It was not my intention to leave my homeland, but I know exactly where this is heading. This is the classic playbook of any coup d’état,” he wrote.
Lula earlier condemned Bolsonaro’s departure as “a shameful act,” arguing that “those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear.”
Trump has also suggested that Brazil’s election may have been rigged. He previously condemned the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro as a “witch hunt” and called for the case against the former president to be dropped.
Drug-resistant infections kill over 50,000 Americans annually, with 80% of deaths occurring in healthcare facilities, a report finds
More than four in five US deaths linked to drug-resistant infections involve pathogens commonly associated with hospitals and nursing homes, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The agency’s Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report released this week draws on data from 2023 and estimates that 19 types of drug-resistant bacteria and fungi cause 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths annually in the US. Seven bacterial threats commonly associated with hospitals and nursing homes accounted for more than 42,000 of those deaths, along with nearly $12 billion in healthcare costs.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when germs develop the ability to withstand drugs designed to kill them, making infections difficult or impossible to treat. Elderly people, those with weakened immune systems, and patients undergoing invasive medical procedures are particularly vulnerable.
Among the pathogens classified as urgent threats is Candida auris, a potentially deadly fungus that can resist multiple medications and survive on surfaces in healthcare facilities. It primarily affects seriously ill patients and can cause dangerous bloodstream infections.
A separate CDC study published in July found that reported cases of Candida auris more than doubled from 2022-2024, rising from 2,882 to 6,197. Most cases for which the type of medical facility was identified were detected in hospitals, including those that provide long-term treatment for seriously ill patients.
The CDC noted that many healthcare-associated infections are preventable, but much of the progress in combating drug resistance was lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, when staffing shortages, overcrowding, and disruptions to infection-control practices contributed to a rise in infections.
The warning comes as US hospitals face mounting financial and staffing pressures. A Harvard-led study published earlier this month found that 432 hospitals closed nationwide from 2010-2025, resulting in a net loss of 216 facilities and more than 24,000 beds.
Nursing homes are also struggling with bed and staffing shortages. An investigation in September by KFF Health News found that declining capacity forced some patients to remain hospitalized longer because suitable care facilities were unavailable.
The prime minister will have to fight to stay in power, following a surge in support for his opponents
Israel’s parliamentary elections are over, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been wounded, but not defeated. His battle to form a government and stay in power is just beginning.
The final results of the Israeli election won’t be known until Thursday, when Israel’s Central Election Committee (CEC) finishes tallying so-called ‘double envelope’ ballots cast by soldiers, diplomats living abroad, prisoners, and other voters unable to make it to polling stations on election day.
However, with more than 85% of votes counted as of Wednesday evening, a picture of political deadlock is becoming clearer, and neither Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, nor the center-left to center-right bloc of his opponents, are on track to win a majority in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. Either bloc must secure 61 out of 120 Knesset seats to form a government.
What are the results of the Israeli election?
Netanyahu’s Likud remains Israel’s largest political party, and is projected to win 26 seats, down from 32 in 2022.
Yashar, led by Netanyahu’s chief rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, is in second place with 21 seats.
Both politicians lead large and potentially fractious blocs. Together with four far-right and religious parties – Otzma Yehudit, United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Religious Zionism, Netanyahu’s bloc controls 53 seats, ten short of a majority.
Eisenkot’s opposition bloc comprises Yashar, former Prime Ministers’ Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s B’Yachad party, Yair Golan’s Democrats, and Yisrael Beytenu, a right-wing party led by former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. Together, this bloc controls 48 seats.
Israel’s two main Arab parties, Yousef Jabareen’s Joint List and Mansour Abbas’ Ra’am, have almost doubled their representation in the Knesset. Driven by anger over Netanyahu’s war on Gaza and his appointment of overt Jewish supremacists to cabinet positions, voters in Arab-majority districts turned out in record numbers to award the Joint List and Ra’am 12 and seven seats respectively, up from a combined ten seats in 2022.
With a combined 19 seats, the Arab parties could play the role of kingmakers when coalition talks begin. However, they would likely find few allies within either Jewish-led bloc.
Will Netanyahu work with the Arabs?
Netanyahu has explicitly ruled out cooperation with either Arab party, both of which have condemned his war on Gaza. “It is forbidden, simply forbidden, to endanger Israel and to establish a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties,” he said after polls closed on Tuesday.
In the run up to the vote, the Israeli prime minister framed the election as a choice between “Me and [US President Donald] Trump, or Eisenkot and Abbas,” and accused his opponents of plotting to recognize a Palestinian state after entering a government with the Arabs.
In a statement on Wednesday, Netanyahu claimed that “the elections in the State of Israel were stolen by Arab parties,” and that Likud had uncovered evidence of vote-buying, “threats and violence against polling station members,” and repeat voting in Arab districts. The PM called on police and Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency to conduct a “thorough investigation” into his claims.
A post on X by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, October 28, 2026
Eisenkot’s party warned on Tuesday that Netanyahu would attempt to delegitimize the election. “Netanyahu is panicking and has begun making up stories and claiming that the election is being stolen,” Yashar said in a statement. “This is no accident. He is already laying the groundwork to challenge the election results.”
What about the opposition?
Eisenkot, Liberman, and Bennett have all ruled out cooperation with the Arabs, with Eisenkot declaring on election night that he intends to form “a Zionist government.” Democrats leader Yair Golan, on the other hand, has called on the anti-Netanyahu bloc to reach out to Ra’am and the Joint List for the sake of ousting Netanyau. Partnership with the two Arab parties would give the bloc 65 seats – a clear majority.
“We have no future here if we don’t stop being afraid,” he wrote on social media on Wednesday morning. “We have a majority. We have responsibility. And we have an opportunity to form a government of change in partnership with Israel’s Arab citizens.”
Abbas has said that he is willing to enter government with the anti-Netanyahu bloc, while Jabareen has said that his Joint List lawmakers would “pave the way for the ousting of the Netanyahu government” by refusing to oppose a minority government in exchange for some concessions on Palestine and funding for Arab communities.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will ultimately decide which political leader stands the best chance of forming a stable government, and task them with forming a coalition. Herzog has called on all parties to enter negotiations “with an open mind.” As the political horse-trading begins, three potential outcomes are laid out below:
Netanyahu wins back the right
Netanyahu could secure a majority by striking a deal with Bennett and Liberman to peel B’Yachad away from the opposition bloc. Both are right-wingers, but both campaigned on ousting Netanyahu and forcing military conscription on Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Haredi communities. In this case,, Netanyahu would likely lose the backing of the two ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition, United Torah Judaism and Shas.
Swapping these parties for B’Yachad would leave Netanyahu’s bloc even further away from a majority, meaning one side would have to compromise on their core campaign promises to make this arrangement work.
Eisenkot joins the Arabs
Eisenkot’s opposition bloc could quickly secure a majority and form a government, but only if he, Bennett, and Liberman decide that taking power is worth cooperating with, or securing the abstention of, the Arab parties.
Doing so would carry political consequences for everyone involved. At a time when public support for a two-state solution has collapsed and fewer Israelis than ever believe that they “cannot coexist peacefully” with their Palestinian neighbors, Eisenkot, Bennett, and Liberman would risk alienating their right-wing voters.
Likewise, Arab voters could see any partnership with the Israeli-right as a betrayal by the Joint List and Ra’am. Earlier this week, Joint List parliamentary leader Ahmad Tibi alluded to this fear, telling Türkiye’s Anadolu news agency that he does not want his party “to be responsible for incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, a war in Gaza, the continuation of Jewish terrorism and settlement activity, or house demolitions.”
Entering a government with Eisenkot and the right-wing opposition would make the Joint List “collectively responsible” for these crimes, he explained.
Could a grand Zionist coalition emerge in Israel?
A unity government – in which Netanyahu and Eisenkot rotate the premiership with the support of Bennett and Liberman – may seem like an obvious solution for everyone involved. Likud, Yashar, B’Yachad, and Yisrael Beytenu are all aligned on security matters, and entering a grand coalition would allow Netanyahu to cast off his ultra-Orthodox and far-right partners, while Eisenkot could sever ties with the Democrats and Arabs.
Such an arrangement is not without precedent. In 2020, Netanyahu and Benny Gantz – a centrist ex-general – reached a power-sharing agreement after three elections in less than a year.
However, the Netanyahu/Gantz coalition fell apart in less than a year, at a less polarized time in Israeli politics. This time around, all of Netanyahu’s opponents have focused their campaigns around deposing the prime minister, with Eisenkot accusing him of corruption, incompetence, and ignoring “dozens of warnings” prior to Hamas’ attack on Israel in 2023.
“I unequivocally pledge that I will not serve under Netanyahu in a rotation agreement. Period,” Eisenkot told Radio 103 last week. “If that were to happen, you would see me resign an hour later.” Eisenkot did not explicitly rule out working with Likud, if Netanyahu were to retire.
The alternative for Israel: deadlock and elections
Should none of these arrangements work, Israel could be thrust into another election cycle. Repeat elections and failed coalition talks were a leitmotif in Israeli politics until the October 7 attack and subsequent wars ushered in a period of relative stability: in the four years before 2022, Israel went through five elections.
Herzog has made it clear that he wants to avoid such an outcome. “We must do everything we can, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another round of elections,” he said on Tuesday. However, unless Israel’s main parties can find some kind of compromise, another election may be inevitable.
Just 8,600 people have reportedly signed new military contracts as Kiev faces battlefield manpower shortages
Ukraine’s latest military recruitment drive has failed to gain traction, with the number of new contracts signed amounting to a “drop in the ocean,” Ukrainskaya Pravda has reported.
Kiev has been struggling with acute manpower shortages as it suffers heavy battlefield losses in the conflict with Russia, as well as widespread draft evasion and desertion.
Around 8,600 Ukrainians have signed contracts under the scheme since its launch in mid-June, Roman Kostenko, secretary of the parliamentary committee on national security and defense, told the outlet. The figure includes both new recruits and personnel already serving in the military, leaving the actual number of additional troops unclear.
The initiative introduced contracts lasting between six months and two years, depending on the role and service history, along with temporary exemptions from further mobilization after discharge. The Defense Ministry also raised pay for infantry and assault troops, with monthly salaries increasing from around 120,000 hryvnias ($2,900) to between 300,000 and 460,000 hryvnia ($7,200–$11,000).
However, soldiers interviewed by Ukrainskaya Pravda expressed distrust of government promises, questioning whether they would actually be discharged when their contracts expire. Some also argued that the temporary exemptions from further mobilization were too short to make signing worthwhile.
An earlier recruitment drive targeting Ukrainians aged 18 to 24 also struggled despite offering a bonus of up to one million hryvnia ($24,000) for a year’s military service. In March 2025, the Defense Ministry posted a TikTok video boasting that the money could buy 15,625 McDonald’s cheeseburgers, drawing online criticism. The following month, a senior presidential official acknowledged that fewer than 500 people had signed up.
Kiev has also sought recruits abroad, launching a military recruitment program for Ukrainians living in Europe and exploring ways to bring military-age men back home. It has also stepped up efforts to attract foreign mercenaries. Russian forces have captured US, British, and Colombian nationals during the conflict.
Apart from voluntary contracts, Kiev also relies on compulsory mobilization of fighting-age men. Under martial law, Ukraine can mobilize eligible men for military service regardless of whether they want to enlist.
The campaign, however, has been marred by widespread corruption among draft officials and public perceptions that the system is deeply unfair. The government has responded to draft evasion with heavy-handed enforcement that has repeatedly involved the illegal use of force by military officials.
Texas police have launched a probe after a group in white supremacist regalia was filmed in El Paso
A group dressed in Ku Klux Klan (KKK)-style robes and pointed hoods has sparked outrage in Texas after videos of the Halloween stunt went viral, prompting a police investigation.
The footage shows several people dressed in the white supremacist group’s distinctive attire walking through a residential neighborhood in El Paso and shouting racial slurs. According to local social media accounts, they were teenagers attending a Halloween party.
DISTURBING: A group dressed in KKK robes for Halloween filmed themselves yelling a racial slur. The El Paso clip is sparking outrage online. #ViralVideo #Halloween https://t.co/b7EHLLni0c
El Paso police said on Monday that they were reviewing the footage and related reports to determine whether any laws had been broken.
“Symbols and language associated with the Ku Klux Klan represent a history of terror, violence and racial hatred,” El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas said in a statement on X on Monday. Treating such imagery as “a costume or a joke is unacceptable,” he added.
The incident also drew condemnation from the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
In a statement cited by local media, the NAACP expressed “utter outrage, disgust and righteous indignation” over the imagery.
Wearing KKK-style clothing is not in itself a crime under US law, although threatening or intimidating conduct may constitute an offense.
Founded after the US Civil War, the KKK became notorious for terrorizing racial and ethnic minorities, primarily blacks, through murder and various forms of intimidation. Membership peaked at an estimated 4 to 5 million people nationwide during the mid-1920s, at a time when only 10-11 million Americans were black.
The incident follows several other recent controversies involving KKK imagery across the US.
Earlier this month, the University of Maryland suspended its club tennis team indefinitely after members circulated tournament materials featuring KKK-style hoods incorporated into the state flag. The images prompted complaints from students at Howard University, a historically Black institution.
In September, a man wearing KKK robes near a Trader Joe’s supermarket in California was arrested for public intoxication. Police said there was no evidence of a hate crime and that wearing the offensive costume was not itself illegal.
Last Halloween, a student in Tennessee was sent home and disciplined after appearing at school dressed as a KKK member. The student had reportedly initially claimed to be wearing a priest’s costume.
Discover-Tech operated a surveillance and tracking network disguised as a commercial advertising business, according to Reuters
An Israeli online advertising company implicated in spyware attacks targeting internet users was heavily active on SpaceX’s Starlink service, Japanese researchers have found, bolstering claims that the firm was running a “targeting and tracking” operation masquerading as a commercial advertising business.
Earlier this month, Canadian cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab and New York-based ad security firm Confiant published extensive investigations identifying Discover-Tech, an Israeli advertising technology company, as a middleman helping spyware firms, including Candiru and Intelos, as well as a little-known US-linked operator known as Dark Cartographer, track internet users and potentially infect their devices without their knowledge.
Discover-Tech’s operation involved purchasing advertising space on hundreds of thousands of websites and apps, using ads to collect information about users who viewed them, and making the data available to spyware companies. Those firms could then identify specific targets and potentially install spyware on their devices through malicious advertising code.
Despite presenting itself as a commercial operation, Discover-Tech concentrated much of its advertising spending on markets that would be of limited interest to conventional advertisers. Of 228 countries and territories examined, Palestine was the most heavily targeted, despite its population having severely limited access to Western goods and relatively little purchasing power.
In more than 100 countries, Discover-Tech was the leading bidder for advertising space targeting Starlink users, according to researchers at TrendAI, a unit of Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro. The company was also the largest advertising bidder in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and South Sudan, and the second-largest in Afghanistan.
TrendAI published its findings on October 15, identifying the suspicious advertiser only by the codename Shadow-Earth-79. Six people familiar with the research subsequently told Reuters that the codename referred to Discover-Tech.
Noting that “the demand for legitimate Western advertising in sanctioned or active-conflict states is effectively zero,” the researchers concluded that the company was running “targeting and tracking infrastructure rather than a commercial advertising operation.”
The findings suggest that Discover-Tech may have been attempting to identify, geolocate, or monitor Starlink users. However, they do not establish that the company successfully infected Starlink users’ devices with spyware.
Who runs Discover-Tech?
Founded in 2020 by Israeli entrepreneur Dekel Boni, Discover-Tech appointed Eric Banoun as its director. Banoun co-founded Circles, a surveillance company affiliated with Pegasus spyware developer NSO Group, and Senpai Technologies, a company known for developing and selling surveillance software to governments, including those of Angola, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Banoun also founded Intelos, which uses advertisements similar to those placed by Discover-Tech to surveil and geolocate individuals. He attempted to sell the technology to Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, according to Haaretz.
Haaretz also identified Sara Hamou, through her holding company, as a shareholder in Discover-Tech. Hamou is a former manager at Intellexa, the company that marketed Predator spyware in Greece. Earlier this year, she was sentenced to eight years in prison for her role in the Predator scandal.
Is Discover-Tech linked to the Israeli government?
It remains unclear who purchased the services of Candiru, Intelos, and Dark Cartographer after the companies obtained user data through Discover-Tech. However, as RT previously reported in its ‘Wired for War’ series, Israel treats domestically developed spyware as a controlled defense export and retains authority over where such technology may be sold.
According to a 2021 investigation by Haaretz, export licenses for Pegasus were often granted when sales were considered beneficial to Israeli foreign policy interests, including in connection with trade agreements or diplomatic support for Israel at the UN.
Other Israeli spy-tech companies covered in the series, including Black Cube, BlackCore, and Paragon Solutions, have also been linked to activities aligned with Israeli interests, even when they were not directly contracted by the Israeli government.
Discover-Tech’s advertising infrastructure was used to target at least 45 devices at Al Jazeera with Candiru spyware in 2024 and 2025, according to Citizen Lab. Researchers confirmed that some devices were infected through malicious advertisements that required no interaction from users.
The attacks occurred during a period of heightened tensions between Israel and the Qatar-based broadcaster, which the Israeli authorities have accused of threatening national security. Candiru was founded by two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intelligence veterans and operates under Israeli defense export controls.
While the Israeli government has not been accused of ordering Candiru to surveil Al Jazeera journalists, the targeting raises questions about whether the company’s clients shared interests with the Israeli authorities. The investigations have not identified the government or client responsible for commissioning the attacks.
Is Discover-Tech still operating?
Following the investigations by Citizen Lab and Confiant, several major advertising companies took action against Discover-Tech. Google, Comcast-owned Beeswax, and Eskimi blocked the firm from their platforms, while Vungle suspended its access pending a review. Industry association IAB Europe also suspended Discover-Tech from its list of approved vendors.
Discover-Tech’s website, which markets the company as a “tailored digital advertising agency,” remains active. The firm has not publicly responded to the findings reported by Citizen Lab, Confiant, or TrendAI.
Washington is reportedly preparing for a new military campaign after the November 3 midterm elections, although Trump has yet to make a final decision
The US has warned several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a short but intense military operation against Iran after the November 3 US midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the WSJ, US President Donald Trump is leaning toward launching major strikes on Iran’s infrastructure and nuclear facilities, although no final decision has been made. The warnings to Gulf allies reportedly indicate that Israel is also preparing to take part in renewed combat operations.
The US is reportedly deploying an additional Patriot air defense missile battery to the region and moving troops away from vulnerable bases in anticipation of Iranian retaliation. Washington is also replenishing munitions and preparing additional aircraft and warships for possible operations.
Trump has threatened to attack Iran again if it refuses to accept his terms, as negotiations remain stalled, with both sides blaming each other for the impasse. The US last carried out a wave of strikes on Iranian territory on September 1 and has since attacked Iranian tankers and other vessels. Iran has fired on commercial ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz through a US Navy-designated route, which Tehran considers illegal.
Iranian officials responded to Trump’s threats by pledging to defend the country. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned last week that the US would suffer “an even greater strategic failure” if it opts for renewed military action. State-run broadcaster Press TV, citing a senior Iranian official, reported on Tuesday that Tehran is prepared for an all-out war “without any limitations.”
The prospect of renewed fighting comes amid concerns about dwindling US missile interceptor stockpiles, which Trump has dismissed, insisting that the military has sufficient munitions.
The war remains deeply unpopular among Americans. A Fox News poll published in September found that 71% of registered voters believed the Trump administration lacked a clear strategy for ending the conflict, and 60% said attacking Iran was a mistake. According to a Pew Research Center survey published earlier this month, 65% disapprove of Trump’s handling of operations against Iran, compared with 33% who approve.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will address a business forum and meet visiting counterparts as the two-day gathering gets underway
Moscow is the stage for two busy days of diplomacy as African leaders and government delegations from 48 countries gather for the third Russia-Africa summit on October 28-29.
Day one opens with discussions on economic partnerships, agriculture, education, healthcare, and artificial intelligence, followed by sessions on energy, mining, and business cooperation through BRICS. Russian President Vladimir Putin and African Union chair Evariste Ndayishimiye are due to address the Economic and Humanitarian Forum’s plenary session at Gostiny Dvor.
Putin and African leaders will then tour an exhibition of Russian innovative solutions and technologies in key economic areas before meeting heads of African regional organizations at the Kremlin. His schedule also includes bilateral talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso, alongside an evening reception for summit participants.
Following gatherings in Sochi in 2019 and St. Petersburg in 2023, the summit is expected to produce a cooperation plan for 2027-2029 and agreements spanning trade, investment, and technology.
The summit is being watched closely as African governments seek a greater role in global affairs and broader economic partnerships amid geopolitical tensions. Moscow’s expanding ties with the continent have drawn Western criticism, while Russian officials have accused Western governments of pressuring African states to stay away from the gathering.
RT is following the talks, speeches, and business discussions, bringing you the latest announcements, reactions, and footage from across Moscow.
More than 180,000 people were evacuated as Cyclone Arnab brought destructive winds, torrential rain, and transportation disruptions
A “very severe” cyclone slammed into India’s east coast on Wednesday morning, bringing winds of up to 150 kph, uprooting trees and knocking out power. More than 180,000 people were evacuated before the storm hit.
Cyclone Arnab crossed the coast of Andhra Pradesh state near Yanam between 2 and 8 AM, with sustained winds of 125-135 kph. It weakened to a “severe” cyclone after moving inland, the India Meteorological Department said.
Satellite images show Arnab’s broad cloud bands stretching across large parts of eastern and southern India. Although its winds weakened after landfall, the authorities warned that heavy rainfall could continue through Thursday, raising the risk of further flooding.
📹 180K+ Evacuated As 🌀 Arnab Batters Andhra Coast With 135 Km/h Winds (Reuters)
The very severe cyclonic storm completed landfall along the AP-Yanam coast early Wednesday, triggering torrential downpours and blinding winds.
Trees and power poles were uprooted, homes damaged and transport disrupted, with no deaths reported so far.
📹 ANI / Social Media
The six-hour landfall battered coastal districts, including Kakinada, Konaseema, and West Godavari. Strong winds brought down trees and electricity poles, blocked roads, and disrupted power supplies. The coastal road near Uppada in Kakinada district was washed away, while flooding affected low-lying areas.
🌪️ Cyclone Arnab Unleashes Powerful Winds!
Violent gusts are sweeping through the area, with winds reportedly reaching 150 km/h. Nature’s fury is on full display! Stay safe and follow local weather alerts. ⚠️🌬️ https://t.co/y6O5FgiiNU
Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh recorded 315 millimeters of rain by Wednesday morning; Koraput in neighboring Odisha state received 188 millimeters.
Ahead of the storm, officials evacuated residents across the two states, opened more than 2,000 cyclone shelters, and deployed nearly 1,100 medical teams to support communities in the storm’s path. Operations at three Andhra Pradesh airports were suspended, dozens of trains were canceled or rescheduled, and some schools were closed.
The storm struck almost exactly a year after Cyclone Montha battered the coastline, damaging roads, power infrastructure, and crops.
Finland and Norway’s outreach to Moscow has rattled their allies – and may carry an unwelcome message for Kiev
The phone call on Tuesday by the leaders of Finland and Norway to Russian President Vladimir Putin caught many by surprise.
Until then, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who took office in early 2024, had never spoken with his Russian counterpart. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, meanwhile, had last spoken with Putin in March 2022 – more than four and a half years ago, when the Ukraine crisis, Russia’s confrontation with the West, and the global geopolitical landscape looked very different.
But the element of surprise was far from the only remarkable thing about this call to the Kremlin.
Equally striking was the pointedly conciliatory tone of Stubb’s statement. Finland joined NATO shortly before he became president, then proceeded on his watch to bury its neutrality and descend into anti-Russian hysteria and paranoia.
This time, Stubb sounded like a different man. He described his conversation with Putin this way: “The discussion was frank and substantive. We are neighboring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions.” Store issued a similar statement, as though the two leaders had copied their carefully chosen words from each other.
The biggest surprise, however – if not an outright bombshell – was Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s revelation that the Finnish and Norwegian leaders had no mandate whatsoever to speak on behalf of their European allies.
“I’m very skeptical about this Norwegian and Finnish initiative. It hasn’t been coordinated with any of the rest of us,” Frederiksen warned. “I honestly don’t know what those two countries think they can achieve with this,” she added, making little effort to conceal her frustration or irritation.
Store later disputed her criticism, saying that all partners and allies had been informed ahead of the call and given a detailed briefing afterward.
Which raises the question: What was this, really? A mutiny aboard the European ship, with two Nordic leaders breaking ranks with Europe’s consensus-based decision-making and daring to take the initiative in talks with Moscow, going over the heads of the European bureaucracy?
Or was it a coordinated performance, with European leaders deliberately playing good cop and bad cop – keeping tensions with Moscow high while cautiously exploring an exit strategy, as the Ukrainian burden they can neither carry nor abandon falls apart before their eyes?
After all, Europe’s collective budget is coming apart at the seams, with every attempt to plug one hole opening another. Germany, Ukraine’s biggest European donor, is grumbling ever more loudly and trying to shift the burden onto others. So far, no volunteers are in sight.
Still, it is too early to speak of a change in Europe’s mood.
That much was clear from the meeting of E5 defense ministers held in Paris the previous day. The group brings together France, Britain, Italy, Germany, and Poland.
“Our countries share the assessment that Russia represents the most acute and long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security and stability,”read the E5 communiqué published by the French Defense Ministry.
And yet Stubb and Store’s call to the Kremlin is a wake-up call from Europe for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky – a loud and unwelcome one.
It is a reminder to Zelensky that metal fatigue is setting in across Europe’s political machinery – and that time is running out for the regime in Kiev.
More Russian fuel could soon enter global markets despite the backlash in Ukraine, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said
More Russian diesel fuel could enter global markets as part of a trade agreement between Moscow and Washington struck earlier this month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said. He claimed the shipments could be a “carrot” for Moscow to scale back fighting in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump announced the landmark diesel deal with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on October 9, saying Russia would release more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel immediately, 500,000 tons in November, another million afterward and potentially 3 million more, depending on refinery capacity.
Trump called lowering fuel prices for American consumers his “greatest priority” ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, where the Republicans are at risk of losing their congressional majority.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky condemned the surprise deal as a “weak decision,” prompting an angry response from Trump, who suggested that Ukraine replace Zelensky with someone willing to negotiate peace with Russia. Trump has also repeatedly pressed Zelensky to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, something Kiev has refused to do.
Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Wright described the diesel deal as an “incentive” for Moscow to stop hostilities with Ukraine, adding that more Russian tankers could “quite possibly” depart under a six-month sanctions waiver.
“It’s trying to put a carrot in front of Russia,” he said, arguing that reduced hostilities would allow Moscow to export more diesel and marginally ease global fuel shortages.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said on Tuesday that three tankers carrying diesel are already en route to the US, with a fourth expected to depart Wednesday. On Sunday, he offered to supply as much as buyers wanted within Russia’s available export volumes, saying: “We can supply all of it.” He previously said Russian diesel exports could reach 3.5 million tons monthly by year-end.
During a meeting with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff last week in St. Petersburg, Putin noted that global diesel prices fell 5%-6% after the deal was announced. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Russia’s daily diesel output rose from 160,000 tons in early October to 180,000 tons after the introduction of new export quotas.
The agreement has nevertheless met bipartisan resistance in Washington, with a group of senators calling it a “gift to our adversary” and a betrayal of Ukraine. Novak pushed back on Tuesday, singling out Democrats and wondering why US lawmakers were acting “not in the interests of the residents of the United States.”
A Bulava missile launched from a nuclear-powered submarine in the Sea of Okhotsk hit a target around 6,000 km away, the Defense Ministry has said
A Russian nuclear-powered submarine has successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, hitting a target around 6,000 km away on the other side of the country, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The Bulava missile was launched from a submerged position by the Generalissimus Suvorov strategic missile submarine in the Far Eastern Sea of Okhotsk, near the Kamchatka Peninsula, as part of a scheduled combat training exercise.
The missile’s warheads reached the designated Chizha test range on the Kanin Peninsula in Russia’s Arkhangelsk Region, 5,500-6,000 km from the launch area. The ministry said monitoring data confirmed that the warheads arrived at their target area on schedule, declaring the exercise a success.
The ministry also released dramatic footage of the launch. The video shows the submarine cruising at sea before cutting to crew members operating control systems inside the vessel. A close-up captures the press of a launch button, followed by a nighttime shot of a blazing missile erupting from the water and streaking skyward.
The R-30 Bulava (NATO designation SS-N-32) is a submarine-launched ballistic missile designed to serve as one of the mainstays of Russia’s sea-based nuclear deterrent. Developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology and officially adopted into service in May 2024, the solid-fuel missile has a reported maximum range of around 9,300 km.
Weighing approximately 37 tons, the Bulava is designed to carry multiple independently targetable nuclear warheads. It also incorporates measures intended to help it penetrate missile defenses, including a relatively short boost phase and maneuverable reentry vehicles.
The Generalissimus Suvorov is a fourth-generation Project 955A Borei-A nuclear-powered submarine assigned to Russia’s Pacific Fleet and based in Kamchatka. Built at the Sevmash shipyard, the vessel can carry up to 16 Bulava ballistic missiles, alongside torpedo armaments.
The Borei and upgraded Borei-A submarines form a key component of Russia’s strategic nuclear modernization program, replacing aging Soviet-era missile carriers. Russia currently operates eight submarines of the two classes, with additional vessels under construction.
Moscow is seeking new partnerships in business and other sectors to strengthen economic ties, the Russian foreign minister has said
Russia is ready to expand cooperation with African countries and regional organizations through new partnerships in business and other sectors, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Speaking at a meeting with the heads of leading African media outlets on Tuesday, Lavrov said Moscow was open to developing additional forms of engagement with the African Union, individual countries and regional blocs.
“Our partnership is already quite extensive, and there is certainly room to enrich and refine it; we are fully open to that,” Lavrov said.
The minister also stressed that Russia seeks to strengthen ties with Africa on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, helping countries develop domestic industries and become more independent in global finance and technology. He said Moscow’s approach follows UN principles of mutual respect and non-interference.
Lavrov argued that Africa’s next major transformation will be economic, noting that many countries remain dependent on former colonial powers despite having gained political independence.
“The second awakening [of African countries] will, of course, be economic, including achieving a situation where the richest resources of the African continent are not simply extracted and exported as raw materials, but are used in Africa itself so that added value is created there, rather than in the former colonial powers,” he said.
Turning to UN reform, Lavrov opposed increasing Western representation on the Security Council, arguing that Western countries already occupy six of its 15 seats despite their declining share of global economic output.
“Like China and many other countries, we [Russia] maintain that only nations from the Global South should be granted new seats—whether permanent, non-permanent, or a mix of both,” Lavrov said.
The 15-member UN Security Council has five veto-wielding permanent members and ten elected members serving two-year terms. Africa currently holds three seats, occupied by DR Congo, Liberia and Somalia, with Zimbabwe set to replace Somalia in January 2027.
The remarks came at the four-day Russia-Africa Media Forum, which opened in Moscow on Monday. The gathering comes ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit and the accompanying Economic and Humanitarian Forum, taking place on Wednesday and Thursday in Moscow.
The high-tech research base in the coldest place on Earth has drawn comparisons to Star Wars
A video of Russia’s revamped, futuristic-looking Vostok Station in Antarctica has gone viral, with its elevated complex drawing comparisons to a sci-fi spaceship and a video game fortress.
Russia’s only operational inland Antarctic research station, Vostok, is around 3,500 meters above sea level and 1,400-1,500 km from the coast, in the planet’s notorious ‘Pole of Cold’. It holds the world record for the lowest directly measured air temperature – a bone-chilling -89.2 C (-128.6 F), recorded on July 21, 1983.
Footage posted on X on Saturday – which shows the station’s exterior painted in blue and the colors of the Russian flag, almost entirely cloaked in snow and frost – received over a million views in just two days before spreading to Instagram and Facebook.
“This place looks like it’s straight out of a sci-fi game! Just imagine: working there at a temperature of -89 C. Simply unbelievable,” one user wrote.
“It looks like Star Wars,” another person said. Others described the station as “otherworldly,” with a “Dune vibe” and an appearance “straight out of the Star Wars movies.”Some likened it to a fortress from the ‘Metal Gear Solid’ video game series.
Founded in 1957, the station received its futuristic makeover in 2024, replacing an aging complex largely buried under snow. Stretching 140 meters and rising up to 17.5 meters, the five-module complex stands on 36 three-meter-high supports to keep it above accumulating snow. Outside, crews face oxygen-poor air, extreme dryness, intense UV radiation, and around five months of polar darkness. Inside, however, it’s a different world.
Spanning over 3,000 square meters, the station houses up to 35 people in summer and 15 in winter, offering private rooms, laboratories, a gym, sauna, recreation areas, a medical center with an operating room, and other amenities. Insulation up to 95 cm thick, Russian-made heating and power systems, heat recovery, water recycling, and multiple backups help sustain operations, with food and fuel reserves sufficient for two years.
Vostok is a major scientific outpost operated by Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Researchers analyze ancient ice cores to trace Earth’s climate history, monitor extreme weather, cosmic rays, and the planet’s magnetic field, and study Lake Vostok – a vast freshwater lake sealed beneath nearly 4 km of ice for millions of years. The station’s isolation also makes it a testing ground for future space missions, while its historic drilling facility is protected under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty system, which reserves the continent for peace and science.
Lula’s victory will stave off US meddling for now, but Bolsonaro’s camp and foreign pressure remain powerful forces in the struggle ahead
In Brazil, the incumbent left-wing president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – known simply as Lula – has decisively won a dramatic run-off election against his challenger from the right – and US favorite – Flavio Bolsonaro. As his de facto sponsor, US President Donald Trump, has signaled that he won’t openly intervene, Bolsonaro, after initially refusing to concede, had to effectively accept the result.
A result that we can call historic even now. In terms of the domestic politics of Brazil, it confirms Lula as a master politician and major statesman. Heading into his fourth term, he has defied his age as well as vicious American attempts to undermine him by economic warfare, sanctions, and social-media foul play.
Lula has also broken the traditional patterns of Brazilian presidential elections. Before he won the second round, he lost the first one; a comeback victory had never happened before and seemed improbable. Now, thanks to a rapid revamping of his campaign, including a belated discovery of social media, and a surge in voter mobilization across the whole country, Lula is the first one to pull it off.
For Brazil, this was a fateful election that could have turned fatal. If Bolsonaro had won, the country would certainly have lost its sovereignty to a policy of enthusiastic subordination to America’s Donroe Doctrine. What has been imposed by violence and treason on Venezuela would have been achieved by elections under pressure in Brazil. It would have joined the recent Latin American shift to the right and deeper submission to Washington.
It is almost as certain that Flavio Bolsonaro would also have found ways to end democracy at home. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, already tried. No member of the powerful Bolsonaro clan has ever uttered a word of regret for Bolsonaro’s proven coup attempt. On the contrary, Flavio and his now US-based brother, Eduardo, have been out for revenge. Add Flavio’s nasty reputation of connections to organized crime and even death squads, acknowledged even by the reliably right-wing Economist, and his victory could have spelled doom for many Brazilians.
Many bullets – some quite literal – were dodged. Yet surviving danger is different from conclusive victory. This has not happened. Lula’s victory is solid, outdistancing Bolsonaro by well over three percentage points, but this does not change the fact that the latter still won over 48% of the vote. Bolsonarism has been defeated but not crushed.
The same holds true for the biggest and most dangerous ally of the Bolsonaro clan, Washington. There is no doubt that the US has suffered a setback, most of all in geopolitical terms. Its project to lock Latin America into the cage of Donroe Doctrine imperialism has taken a hit.
And that hit is painful, for Brazil is Washington’s central target in South America. By location, size, demography, and economic performance, as well as potential, Brazil is so important that no revamped American ‘backyard’ empire will ever be complete without it.
Consider a few basic indicators. According to the World Bank, Brazil has a population of 213 million, which makes it the seventh-most-populous country in the world. It is also thoroughly urbanized, with almost 90% of the population living in towns and cities. It is technologically advanced, with almost 93% of Brazilians having access to at least 3G and almost 85% using the internet.
Economic metrics are notoriously tricky and difficult to compare, but Brazil clearly has the largest economy in South America. Globally, it also ranks high. The International Monetary Fund projects its 2026 GDP (adjusted for purchasing power) to reach almost $5.3 trillion, which makes it the eight-largest national economy in the world, leaving behind, for instance, the UK, France, South Korea, and closer to home, Mexico.
Brazil also has substantial reserves of crude oil and is the single biggest oil producer in South America. Bringing these riches under US control and adding them to what Washington is currently trying to loot from Venezuela would have been a wet dream for both American geostrategists and business. Especially as around half of Brazil’s oil production is currently being sold to China, America’s most feared rival.
More importantly, China is Brazil’s most important trade partner by far. Chinese-Brazilian trade is at record levels and growing, while Brazil is the top destination for Chinese foreign direct investment. The Donroe Doctrine was designed not just to restore US domination in Latin America, but specifically to keep China out.
And if all of the above is not irritating enough for the hemispheric empire fans in Washington, Brazil is also a major power in the realm of critical minerals. Indeed, according to American data, Brazil’s reserves of critical minerals rank second behind China and far outdistance those of runners-up, such as India and Australia, not to mention the US itself.
Add to this the fact that Lula’s Brazil has also been a main player in BRICS, the projects of multipolarity and dethroning the dollar, and the resistance to Israel and its crimes, including genocide against the Palestinians, and Washington could not be more eager to subdue this giant thorn in what it considers its southern underbelly.
What a prize to win! And to lose. For now, the US has lost. But precisely because Brazil is so crucial, Washington will not give up. On the contrary, the strong showing of its favorite, Flavio Bolsonaro, and the fact that his party will dominate the Brazilian Congress, will only harden America’s resolve, with numerous opportunities to sow division, subversion, and dirty regime-change tricks yet to be exploited.
Brazil has won a vital reprieve. But the struggle is not over. The empire will strike back. It always does. This means that Lula and his domestic allies will have to continue and broaden the modernization of their approach that started during the second round, for instance, by pursuing a consistent policy of securing Brazilian sovereignty in the social media sphere. It also means that Brazil’s friends in the world, especially those equally invested in the project of multipolarity, such as China and Russia, must think very hard about how to support Brazil more against US pressure.
There is currently no formal proposal to add permanent members without voting rights, which was proposed way back in 1997
India has demanded equal veto rights for all permanent members of an expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC), warning that creating a second tier of permanent seats would reinforce existing inequalities in the global body.
New Delhi opposes proposals for long-term membership without veto powers, which would create “second-class” members while preserving the authority of the existing five, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Harish Parvathaneni, said during talks about reforming the UN in New York on Monday.
The Security Council currently has five permanent members – Russia, China, the US, the UK, and France – with veto powers, alongside ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. The council’s only expansion, in 1965, increased the number of elected seats from six to ten without changing its permanent membership.
In 1997, the then-UN General Assembly President Razali Ismail of Malaysia proposed expanding the Council, including adding five more permanent members but without veto powers.
“Fairness and justice demand that all permanent members enjoy the same rights and responsibilities,” Parvathaneni said, reiterating that veto powers must extend to new permanent members as long as the system exists.
📹 No Second-Class Permanent Seats: India Demands Veto Parity In Reformed UN Security Council
Ambassador P. Harish emphasized that New Delhi’s position remains firmly aligned with the Common African Position, insisting that basic fairness and justice demand identical rights and obligations for all permanent members.
The Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than 60% of the world’s population, but has only one permanent seat; Africa and Latin America remain without permanent representation. The African Union formally presented its reform model, which calls for at least two permanent UNSC seats for Africa, carrying veto rights, earlier this year.
India and its G4 partners – Brazil, Germany, and Japan – have also called for negotiations on expanding both permanent and non-permanent membership.
The reform push has received backing from Russia. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s support for permanent seats for India and Brazil during the UN General Assembly in September, calling for greater representation of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Changes to the UN Charter would require ratification by two-thirds of UN members, including all five existing permanent members.
The attack in a Russian frontline region comes amid Kiev’s row with Elon Musk over alleged abuse of his Starlink system
A Ukrainian drone strike on a passenger bus bound for Moscow has killed one person and wounded several others, according to Evgeny Balitsky, the governor of Russia’s Zaporozhye Region, where the attack took place.
The attack was reported on Tuesday morning near the town of Primorsk, on the Sea of Azov between the towns of Melitopol and Berdyansk. The area, which Ukraine claims as its territory, lies within the zone of so-called “middle strikes,” where Ukrainian forces have regularly launched drone attacks on purported Russian military and logistics targets using the Starlink satellite system for guidence.
Balitsky said 31 people were aboard the bus, which was traveling from Simferopol, the capital of the Crimean Republic, to Moscow. He said the wounded were taken to hospital, while other survivors were provided with food and accommodation.
The incident comes amid a dispute between Kiev and Elon Musk over Ukraine’s use of his Starlink satellite communications network for military purposes.
Musk has accused Ukraine of abusing Starlink for deadly “middle strike” operations, saying the system was intended as a civilian communications service rather than an offensive military tool. He contrasted it with Starshield, SpaceX’s military-oriented satellite service developed for US government customers.
Media reports and statements by officials have offered conflicting accounts of whether Kiev has direct access to Starshield or relies primarily on civilian Starlink terminals. Kiev has accused Musk and US President Donald Trump of imposing speed restrictions on Starlink terminals that effectively prevented their use on fast-moving platforms involved in middle strikes. Russian media reported a sharp decline in such attacks this month.
While the Ukrainian military depends heavily on Starlink communications, it has other means of conducting strikes deep inside Russia, where Starlink does not normally operate. Long-range drones and missiles can follow pre-programmed routes and use AI-driven final stage guidance to strike Russian energy infrastructure and other stationary targets.
The Starlink dispute has unfolded amid wider tensions between Washington and Kiev over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities. The Trump administration has repeatedly asked Kiev to curb strikes on refineries amid concerns about rising fuel prices, while Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has rejected claims that Ukraine’s campaign is contributing to the increase.
Global energy markets are under pressure from several factors, including the US war on Iran, the Ukraine conflict and depleted strategic reserves amid tight crude supplies.
The latest cash pledge adds to the US president’s growing list of pre-election incentives as Republicans fight to keep Congress
US President Donald Trump has offered a $1 million reward for reporting voter fraud in past elections or the upcoming November 3 midterms, provided the tip leads to an arrest and conviction.
Trump announced the offer on Truth Social on Monday, repeating it to reporters ahead of a rally in Corinth, Mississippi.
“Anybody reporting Voter Fraud in the past Elections, or the upcoming 2026 Midterm Election, will be paid $1,000,000 upon the arrest and conviction of those that created the Fraud!” he wrote.
Trump did not say where the money would come from, who would distribute it, or how to report suspected fraud. The White House did not immediately respond to media requests for clarification.
.@POTUS: "I'm also going to be issuing a million dollar bonus or reward or whatever you want to call it for anybody that reports voter fraud, leading to the arrest and conviction of somebody." https://t.co/yLODH4eb0kpic.twitter.com/LZyED3wnyS
The promise sparked legal questions online, with critics pointing out that Trump cannot simply hand out taxpayer money without congressional approval. Some joked the scheme could end up costing more than the Pentagon’s budget.
“If I do voter fraud and then report myself am I eligible for the 1 million dollars?” one user quipped.
“I’m forcing my partner to vote twice so I can report the transgression and get the money. What an opportunity!” another wrote.
Trump has long alleged widespread election fraud, notably refusing to accept his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden and repeatedly calling the vote “rigged” and “stolen.”
He and his supporters filed more than 60 lawsuits challenging the results, virtually all dismissed or rejected for lack of evidence – including by Trump-appointed judges. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency found no evidence of fraud capable of changing the outcome, while Trump’s own attorney general at the time, William Barr, publicly rejected his claims.
The million-dollar bounty adds to Trump’s growing list of cash incentives ahead of the midterms, as Republicans fight to keep Congress. The biggest carrot so far was his proposed $5,000 ‘Trump Dividend’ for every American adult citizen if Republicans retain both chambers. Announced at a Republican gathering in Dallas last month, the giveaway would cost roughly $1.3 trillion for an estimated 260 million adults, drawing bipartisan criticism. Trump has suggested congressional approval might not be necessary, although lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, and policy analysts say such a massive payout would require legislation and congressional funding.
Trump has also cheered a separate multibillion-dollar giveaway by ally Elon Musk, who promised every US child a share of SpaceX next year. The pledge followed Musk’s renewed backing of Trump and the Republicans after their public feud last year over the president’s spending legislation. According to the New York Times, Musk has donated more than $276 million to Republican groups since July, bringing his 2025-2026 election-cycle contributions to roughly $366 million.
The cash promises come as Trump’s ratings sink amid frustration over the prolonged Iran conflict, gasoline topping $6 a gallon, and persistent inflation despite his pledges to cut living costs, while Republicans face increasingly grim midterm prospects. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week put his approval at 31% – the lowest of either presidential term – with Democrats leading Republicans 47% to 35% among registered voters on a hypothetical congressional ballot. A separate New York Times/Siena University poll put Trump’s approval at a record-low 36% among likely voters, with Democrats ahead by 11 points in congressional races, 52% to 41%.
Republicans currently hold a slim 218-214 House majority and a 53-47 Senate advantage. However, polls indicate they face unexpectedly tight Senate races in Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Alaska, and Ohio – all states Trump comfortably carried in 2024. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both the House and Senate to take control.
The conversation was initiated by the Nordic states and concerned Ukraine peace talks and broader security in northern Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, discussing efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday.
The conversation was initiated by the Finnish and Norwegian sides and followed last week’s meetings involving US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg, and the Oslo discussions between Stubb, Store, and Vladimir Zelensky.
The Kremlin said the Nordic leaders welcomed the agreement to resume trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the US in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. The negotiations will address security arrangements for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends, among other issues.
During the phone call, Putin emphasized the root causes of the Ukraine conflict, stating that a just and lasting peace requires Russia’s legitimate interests to be fully and unconditionally taken into account.
He also criticized the confrontational policies of EU and NATO countries, saying they are prolonging the fighting.
The three leaders also discussed security and stability in the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe. According to the Kremlin, Stubb and Store reaffirmed the importance of upholding international maritime law and the principle of freedom of navigation.
Putin also informed his Nordic counterparts of the start of a US-mediated humanitarian operation near Alyoshki in Kherson Region, Russia, with a temporary ceasefire introduced in the area.
The conversation ended with a mutual agreement to maintain direct telephone contact, the Kremlin said.
The call was a rare direct exchange between Putin and European leaders, most of whom have shunned contact with Moscow since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Stubb described Tuesday’s phone call with Putin as “frank and substantive,” stressing the importance of direct discussions. “We are neighboring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security.”
The two Nordic leaders said they took part in the call as leaders of their countries and were not speaking on behalf of Europe. They added that the call was held in consultation with Ukraine to convey its position ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks, and vowed to continue to support Kiev.
Claude developer Anthropic is seeking a record valuation while acknowledging potentially catastrophic risks from its own technology
US artificial intelligence giant Anthropic has formally filed for a potentially record-breaking initial public offering (IPO), according to regulatory documents. The developer of the Claude chatbot could become the first publicly traded company focused primarily on advanced AI models, even as it warns that its own technology could threaten humanity.
The San Francisco-based company submitted its public registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, revealing plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT. The offering could take place as early as November, although its size and share price have yet to be announced.
“The advent of machine intelligence is one of the seminal moments in human history,” Anthropic declared in its prospectus, presenting AI as a technology capable of transforming the global economy.
The company is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $2 trillion and could raise as much as $100 billion, potentially surpassing the record set by Elon Musk’s SpaceX earlier this year. The figures remain preliminary and were not confirmed in the public filing.
SpaceX completed the largest IPO in history in June, raising $85.7 billion at a valuation of around $1.8 trillion. However, the record-breaking listing drew criticism over its lofty valuation. Investment research firm Morningstar estimated the company’s fair value at just $63 per share, less than half its $135 IPO price.
Similar questions are emerging over Anthropic’s valuation. The company reported $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2026 but posted a net loss of $80.7 billion, largely driven by accounting adjustments. Its IPO filing also disclosed hundreds of billions of dollars in future infrastructure commitments, raising concerns about whether its rapid growth can justify a valuation of up to $2 trillion.
The company itself has warned that its business is highly capital-intensive and that it may never achieve sustained profitability. Its prospectus also acknowledges intense competition, uncertain demand, and the possibility that the enormous sums invested in computing infrastructure may not generate sufficient returns.
Anthropic’s IPO prospectus also contains stark warnings about the technology underpinning the company’s business. Around 80 pages of the 261-page filing are devoted to risk factors, with the company admitting that advanced AI could “pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.”
The dangers outlined include the use of AI to develop biological and chemical weapons, the loss of human control over increasingly powerful systems, and lasting damage to human mental health and cognitive abilities. Anthropic also acknowledged that its own AI models have displayed behavior resembling blackmail and resistance to shutdown during testing.
The warnings follow a string of incidents involving rogue AI agents, including an Anthropic model submitting a false homicide tip to police and OpenAI agents disabling safety monitors and hacking external systems.
Jakarta is looking toward New Delhi’s refining muscle amid soaring fuel prices and a spat with Singapore
Indonesia is looking to secure gasoline supplies from India amid rising energy prices and friction with Singapore over toxic haze in the region from forest fires, according to reports.
Indonesian Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia is slated to visit India and China this week to secure more gasoline supplies, the Jakarta Globe reported. “I will travel to several countries, including India and China, to ensure supplies,” Lahadalia said in Jakarta.
Singapore, a major refining hub in the Southeast Asian region, accounted for half of Indonesia’s gasoline needs and supplied 28.36% of its oil and gas imports in the first half of 2026. However, Indonesia slashed its piped gas exports to the city state last week, days after Jakarta slammed neighboring countries that had complained about haze from intense forest fires on its territory.
The cuts have led to tensions between the two countries. Singapore depends on imported natural gas for about 95% of its electricity generation. The city state has not resorted to any retaliatory action, but its foreign minister is visiting Indonesia on Tuesday.
Jakarta is also facing severe fuel supply disruptions across its provinces, due to surging demand and distribution bottlenecks, apart from geopolitical uncertainties, Reuters reported.
Indonesia is not the first country to look toward India for its fuel needs amid the global oil crunch. Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio termed India a “refining superpower” as Washington sought to tap New Delhi’s oil refining capabilities to cool global fuel prices.
Indian refineries, especially the Jamnagar refinery complex owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, are configured to process both Russian and Venezuelan heavy crude. The latter, especially, is considered key to lowering global fuel diesel prices, as it yields a higher volume of the fuel.
Defense Minister Evgeny Khmara has asked five nations to transfer 10% of their stocks to Ukraine
Ukraine has asked five European nations to release 10% of their interceptor missile stockpiles to ease the shortage of air defense ammunition.
Defense Minister Evgeny Khmara presented the proposal by video on Monday to his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, and Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski, who met in Paris. He said their Patriot and IRIS-T stocks can be replenished from future deliveries contracted for Ukraine with foreign funding.
Khmara floated a similar proposal for advance deliveries of Patriots last month. Kiev also accused Washington of delaying deliveries of the interceptors. US officials cited the competing military needs of their own forces and denied any change in policy toward Ukraine.
The five countries’ joint statement made no commitment to supply additional interceptors, though they reiterated their support for Ukraine “by all available means – politically, militarily and financially.”
Poland and the Netherlands have said they have no Patriot missiles to spare; Greece has warned that aid must not undermine its own defenses. Germany, a key donor, has pledged additional older PAC-2 interceptors from its military stocks. Other European countries have reportedly held back PAC-3 missiles to preserve their own reserves.
The shortage comes amid an escalating exchange of long-range strikes. Kiev intensified drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and retail warehouses over the summer in what Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky called a “40-day pressure campaign.” Russia has said its increased strikes on Ukrainian targets are retaliation. Ukrainian forces are struggling to intercept Russian ballistic missiles and faster, jet-powered long-range drones.
Kiev is also seeking additional financial support after overspending this year. Zelensky has asked European donors for at least €70 billion ($78 billion) to cover military and budget needs; Western governments are struggling to agree on how to finance additional aid.
The EU, which borrowed €90 billion ($100 billion) last year to prop up the government in Kiev for 2026-2027, is facing tensions among member states, with the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia saying they won’t take part in a potential new loan proposed by the European Commission.
Western broadcasters have shifted their focus away from development projects toward criticizing Moscow, Mayya Nikolskaya told RT
Western media outlets are increasingly spreading anti-Russian narratives in Africa, Mayya Nikolskaya has told RT.
Speaking ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, head of a research program at the Institute for International Studies at Russia’s MGIMO University, pointed to CNN, BBC, RFI and France 24 as examples of Western broadcasters whose coverage has shifted away from development initiatives toward criticism of Moscow.
“They [Western media] used to focus more on development projects, now they’re talking mostly just about how Russia is bad,” she said, suggesting that this creates opportunities for Russian media to offer alternative perspectives.
Nikolskaya also criticized France’s approach to Africa, arguing that Paris had become an increasingly unpopular partner in African states.
“There is a far-reaching consensus in the policy advice circles that Paris is currently very toxic, quote-unquote,” she noted.
According to the expert, former colonial powers must rethink their relations with Africa and consider “not just what they can take from Africa but also what they can give it.” She added that African nations now have greater freedom to choose international partners, including Russia and China, based on their own priorities.
Nikolskaya made the remarks during the Russia-Africa Media Forum, which opened in Moscow on Monday. Organized by RT in cooperation with Sputnik and TASS, the event brought together more than 200 media professionals and experts from 46 African countries to discuss media cooperation and Africa’s representation in international news coverage.
The forum comes ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for October 28-29 in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to co-chair the plenary session with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current African Union chair.
The real challenge is not just who reports Africa, but who sets the agenda and shapes how its stories are understood
When it comes to media in all its formats, Africa does not lack voices. It has thousands of newspapers, radio stations, television channels and digital platforms. What it often lacks is equal power to shape international conversations about its own affairs, and the resources to ensure that African perspectives reach audiences beyond the continent. The real challenge is who sets the agenda, the background and chooses the frames through which events are understood, breaking out of the stereotypes. And above all, who decides which voices deserve to be heard.
There is an important distinction between challenging an unequal international media landscape and achieving genuine media independence. The real test of the emerging Russia–Africa media cooperation will be whether it strengthens African media institutions’ ability to investigate, hold power to account and tell stories on their own terms.
Research published by the European Council on Foreign Relations in October 2025 reported that more than 1,000 African journalists had completed RT Africa training courses across 35 countries. Although the report presents this as part of Russia’s expanding media influence on the continent, the figure illustrates the reach of RT’s professional engagement with African journalists. It does not, however, establish that the journalists share Moscow’s political objectives or are becoming Russian mouthpieces. Far from it.
Separately, BBC Monitoring reported, citing the South African Institute of International Affairs, that as many as 4,000 African news websites republish content from RT and Sputnik, a Russian news agency. This is an estimate of the network’s potential reach, not a measure of audience size or editorial allegiance.
However, the underlying issue is not simply whether Russian media are gaining a foothold in Africa, but whether greater access to international content and training can strengthen African journalism’s independence. Research by Africa No Filter, analyzing 60 African news outlets across 15 countries in 2020, found that approximately one-third of stories in the surveyed outlets about Africa were sourced from non-African news services. The findings point to a structural problem: African newsrooms often rely on external sources to cover the continent itself simply because they lack the means to do the field work themselves.
A 2024 Global Media Index for Africa, produced by the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in partnership with Africa No Filter and The Africa Center, analyzed more than 1,000 articles published by 20 international news organizations over six months.
Its findings offer grounds for questioning how major Western outlets portray the continent. Africa is covered through a narrow set of crises, while the lives, ideas and achievements of its people receive less international attention.
The Washington Post, for example, scored just 29% for diversity of topics, while the Wall Street Journal covered the fewest African countries among the outlets assessed, with a score of 31%. The study also found that reporting across the sample privileged political and business elites over ordinary Africans.
The relationship between media and power has a long history that predates today’s digital platforms and geopolitical competition. During the era of slavery and European colonial expansion, newspapers helped shape how readers understood Africa, its people and the economic systems, built around their exploitation. Their positions were not uniform: some publications campaigned against slavery, while others defended the interests of enslavers or opposed more radical demands for emancipation. The Manchester Guardian, for example, supported abolition but also argued that enslavers should be compensated for losing “their property.”
This reveals a wider contradiction: abolition was championed even as the interests of slaveholders and traders were protected. The historical question, therefore, is not whether all Western media defended slavery or colonialism, but how economic and political power shaped the stories told about Africa – and whose voices were given authority. Literal slavery is here being minimized as a human issue in the first place.
The same question of whose perspective shapes the story is relevant to contemporary demands for reparative justice. African and Caribbean governments and campaigners have long argued that slavery and colonial rule were systems whose consequences continue to shape economic and social inequalities. Yet these demands can be presented in international coverage primarily as disputes over money, political controversy or diplomatic embarrassment, rather than as challenges to the historical and legal foundations of the present order.
Jamaica’s September 2026 petition to King Charles III offers a concrete example. It asked the King to refer questions about the legality of the enslavement of Africans, possible breaches of international law and Britain’s obligation to provide a remedy to the Privy Council; it did not demand a specified payment. Nevertheless, some coverage framed the issue around the prospect of a multibillion-dollar bill, prompting Jamaica’s culture minister to stress that the petition was about legal questions, not a monetary claim.
This is where Russia-Africa media cooperation can be assessed by more than the number of journalists trained or alternative outlets made available. Challenging Western dominance of international news is not, by itself, the same as securing media independence. Russian media can offer African audiences and journalists perspectives that differ from those of Western outlets, but the same scrutiny must apply to their ownership, funding, editorial priorities and relationship with political power. The meaningful measure of cooperation is whether it helps African newsrooms develop the professional freedom to investigate their own governments, question foreign partners and report beyond the narratives promoted by either side.
Maybe what should be ask is this: not whether Africa should choose between Western and Russian narratives, but whether African journalists have the freedom to develop their own narratives, bring home know-how and strengthen their media institutions at home. That requires investment in African-owned media, stronger local news networks and editorial independence from both foreign powers and domestic authorities.
Africa’s media landscape should no longer be viewed through the prism of Cold War rivalries, in which facts risk being distorted to serve one side at the expense of the truth. Nor should Western media dominance, with its persistent stereotypes and narrow framing of the continent, remain the norm. Africa does not need another outside power to speak for it; it needs the conditions in which its own journalists can be heard, taken seriously and trusted to hold power to account.
Disrupted LNG shipments and dwindling reserves have raised fears of another European energy crisis
European natural gas prices have surged to their highest level in four years amid the war in Iran and the EU’s continued push to phase out Russian energy supplies, according to data from online aggregator Trading Economics.
On Monday, wholesale prices briefly surpassed €97 ($108) per megawatt-hour, reaching levels not seen since December 2022. The increase came as the bloc’s gas storage facilities were just 74.62% full as of October 25, well below seasonal averages.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for around a fifth of global LNG trade before the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran earlier this year, remained approximately 80% below pre-conflict levels.
Some EU countries have already begun drawing on stored gas as temperatures fall. Trading Economics forecasts that European gas prices will reach €98.20 per megawatt-hour by the end of the fourth quarter of 2026.
In the UK, the month-ahead gas contract rose by 4% to its highest level since December 2022, according to the Guardian. Brent crude, which climbed to $117 per barrel last week, has since eased slightly but remains around $115.
British households could face a 27% increase in energy bills in January, pushing the average annual dual-fuel bill to nearly £2,200 ($2,940), according to a forecast by energy supplier EDF. An earlier forecast by consultancy Cornwall Insight had projected a 16% increase to approximately £2,000.
In August, the Guardian reported mounting concerns in the EU over low gas storage levels and soaring prices ahead of winter. In September, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen warned that the bloc was facing its worst energy crisis since 2022.
In mid-October, German media reported that Berlin was planning to make households and businesses pay for a national emergency gas reserve costing more than €3 billion over ten years. The government-controlled stockpile would be reserved for emergencies, including sabotage and infrastructure failures, rather than used to lower gas prices.
The reports came as the opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party called for restoring energy ties with Russia and following US President Donald Trump’s example. On October 13, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said Germany should seek its own diesel deal with Moscow, praising Trump’s agreement with Russia as a pragmatic approach.
Following the EU’s sweeping sanctions on Russia in 2022, the bloc experienced one of its worst energy crises in decades. Gas prices soared above €300 per megawatt-hour, driving up costs for industries and households and contributing to surging inflation.
The EU has continued its efforts to phase out Russian energy. While Russia accounted for around 45% of the bloc’s gas imports in 2021, its share had fallen to approximately 12% by 2025.
Moscow has described the EU’s efforts to sever energy ties with Russia as a “suicidal” policy. Last week, Russian presidential investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev argued that the bloc would eventually have to restore those ties because “cooperation with Russia economically will be inevitable.”
Dmitriev also blamed the EU’s current problems, including high energy costs, on the bloc’s leaders, accusing them of refusing to acknowledge and correct their mistakes.
Moscow and Kiev previously agreed to a temporary truce around Alyoshki to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and civilian evacuations
A temporary ceasefire around the frontline town of Alyoshki in Russia’s Kherson Region has taken effect to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and the evacuation of civilians, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced.
According to a brief statement by the ministry, the ceasefire began at 4am Moscow time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday “in preparation for a humanitarian operation.”
General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of the General Staff, said last week that military engineers would conduct reconnaissance and ensure “the safe passage of a humanitarian convoy” into the town. The Ukrainian General Staff also confirmed last week that it would observe the truce.
Russian authorities estimate that between 1,500 and 2,000 civilians remain trapped in Alyoshki, on the left bank of the Dnieper River opposite the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson. The town has been largely cut off from supplies for months, with Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes preventing regular aid deliveries, according to Russian officials.
Ukraine has accused Russia of preventing civilians from leaving the embattled town. However, residents who managed to escape told RT earlier this month that Alyoshki was effectively under siege by Ukrainian forces, which they said were carrying out constant attacks.
Between October 19 and 26 alone, Ukrainian forces carried out 18 artillery strikes and more than 120 drone strikes on Alyoshki and its main access roads, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Russian officials also said Ukrainian forces had used drones to drop mines on roads leading to Alyoshki, further hampering supply deliveries.
The ceasefire was brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, who warned that the town was “on the brink of disaster.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the humanitarian truce, if successful, “could set a precedent” for other areas.
Hotels and restaurants across Russia have been encouraged to offer traditional national dishes
A ‘Russian breakfast’ featuring traditional national dishes could soon appear on menus at hotels, cafes and restaurants across the country, under a proposal by Moscow’s Industry and Trade Ministry.
In a document published on Monday, the ministry noted that hotels and restaurants typically offer international options, such as full English, continental, and French breakfasts, while largely overlooking local culinary traditions.
As a result, domestic tourists are often deprived of familiar morning meals, while foreign visitors miss an opportunity to experience the country's cuisine, the ministry argued.
“This situation has a negative impact on tourism: research shows that interest in local cuisine is one of the key factors people consider when choosing a country or region to visit,” it said.
“As a cultural and gastronomic phenomenon, the Russian breakfast does not merely exist – it is genuinely authentic and possesses clearly recognizable characteristics.”
The proposed menu could feature blini (thin pancakes), syrniki (pan-fried cottage cheese cakes), porridge, meat and fish dishes, and caviar. Suggested drinks include herbal teas, berry-based fruit beverages and kvass, a lightly fizzy fermented drink traditionally made from rye bread.
Participation would be voluntary, with establishments encouraged to expand their existing offerings rather than replace international favorites.
The ministry also suggested creating a special ‘Russian breakfast’ emblem to help hotels, cafes, and restaurants identify and promote traditional dishes.
The initiative aims to showcase the country’s culinary heritage, attract tourists, and support domestic food producers.
Damascus says seven civilians were killed in the strikes and denies coordinating the operation with Amman
Jordan carried out airstrikes on what it described as terrorist sites in neighboring Syria on Monday following a deadly attack on a Christian church last week. The Syrian government condemned the operation.
According to the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF), fighter jets targeted “hideouts of terrorist organizations in southern Syria.” It added that “several terrorists” were killed or wounded and unspecified equipment was destroyed.
Although the RJAF claimed it had acted in coordination with Syrian authorities, the government in Damascus denied receiving advance notice of the strikes. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said it had informed Jordan of its “objections to operations on Syrian territory without prior coordination.”
Khaled al-Omeian, director of health in Syria’s Daraa province, told SANA that seven civilians, including three children, were killed in the strikes and three others were injured.
“We affirm our support for the affected Syrian families and our full solidarity with them in this tragedy,” the Syrian government said in a statement.
Jordan vowed retaliation after gunmen opened fire on mourners attending a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, in Jordan’s Karak governorate, on Friday, killing nine people and wounding more than 40.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Jordanian police arrested three suspects during a raid on a compound in Hamoud. Roya News, citing a source, reported that one of the suspects remained in critical condition following a shootout with police.
مديرية الأمن العام، تنشر صوراً حيّة للمداهمة الأمنيّة التي نفذتها قوة أمنيّة متخصّصة مشتركة للإرهابيين في محافظة الكرك.
#الأمن_العام #الأردن https://t.co/fbb922SHz8
Jordan and Syria share a long border plagued by arms and drug smuggling, particularly the trafficking of Captagon. Jordan has repeatedly carried out airstrikes in southern Syria against suspected smuggling networks and militant groups, raising tensions with Damascus over violations of Syrian sovereignty.
Jordan has faced a persistent threat from Islamist militants, although major terrorist attacks remain rare. In 2016, ISIS-linked gunmen killed ten people in Karak. Jordanian authorities say they have foiled several Islamist militant plots in recent years.
Right-wing commentator Vito Quiles canceled his Bilbao appearance after police warned of possible violence
Left-wing protesters rioted in Bilbao, northern Spain, after mobilizing against a planned appearance by right-wing political commentator Vito Quiles near a local Catholic university.
Quiles, often compared by Spanish media to US conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed last year, was scheduled to speak near the University of Deusto at 7pm on Monday as part of his nationwide tour ahead of the November 29 general election. According to El Pais, several self-described antifascist groups announced plans to protest against Quiles, whom they accused of spreading “hate speech.”
The university suspended all activities after police warned of possible “incidents.” Quiles canceled the talk, describing the protesters as “former ETA members, street thugs and other criminals,” referring to the now-defunct Basque separatist organization.
Scorched metal and billowing smoke across Bilbao. Rioters have taken to the streets, torching cars and bins amid fierce friction tied to the botched Vito Quiles event. The region is on high alert. ⚠️🔥
#Bilbao #Spain #Protests #Breaking https://t.co/tygAcgbPJq
Nevertheless, a crowd of young people, some masked and dressed in black, gathered in a square near the university, set garbage containers on fire and launched fireworks at police. Several parked cars and a police motorcycle were torched.
Coches ardiendo en una calle de Bilbao durante los disturbios tras el acto frustrado de Vito Quiles https://t.co/UjSwY2KPON https://t.co/VoHZUEfijF
Police arrested 19 people on suspicion of arson and public disorder.
The Bilbao clashes followed unrest elsewhere in Spain this month, including housing protests in Madrid, demonstrations against the right-wing Vox party in A Coruña and Avilés, and riots in Barcelona. France and Italy have also seen violent protests over the rising cost of living, with clashes in Paris, Marseille, Milan and Turin.
The nation is already capable of supplying over 1 million tons of fuel to the global market per month, the news agency has said
Russia has significantly increased production of diesel in the wake of an agreement reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump, Reuters has reported, citing industry sources.
Daily output rose from 160,000 tons in early October to 180,000 tons after the Russian government introduced new export quotas in mid-month, the agency said. Moscow has eased its restrictions on diesel exports, allowing Russian companies to ship up to 500,000 tons of fuel to international markets in October while ensuring domestic demand remains fully covered.
Exports of diesel, marine fuel, and gas oil had previously been banned until October 31 as the government sought to stabilize the domestic market, which had been suffering from increased seasonal demand linked to the harvest season.
According to the sources cited by Reuters, domestic demand in Russia is now expected to fall to about 140,000 tons per day as the harvest campaign is largely over. This would free up as much as 40,000 tons of diesel per day or more than 1 million tons per month for export, according to the news agency’s estimates. Between 0.2 and 0.3 million tons are likely to be purchased by Russia’s neighbors, the sources said.
Trump and Putin agreed on diesel supplies during a phone call on October 9. Following the conversation, the US president announced that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by 500,000 tons in November, another million tons shortly thereafter, and potentially further shipments depending on refining capacity. Washington subsequently issued a temporary sanctions waiver permitting Russian diesel imports, reversing restrictions introduced under former US President Joe Biden in 2022.
Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak noted that Moscow had already dispatched three tankers carrying diesel to the US under the agreement. He also announced that Russia would “ensure additional supplies of diesel fuel to world markets and the United States” to help ease the global diesel shortage. Deliveries would continue on a regular basis, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said at the time.
The diesel deal provoked tensions between Washington and Kiev. Trump has repeatedly urged Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to stop attacking Russian refineries, accusing Kiev of exacerbating the worldwide diesel shortage and hurting American consumers and farmers hit by high fuel prices.
Zelensky hit back by blasting Trump’s claims as “totally false” and accusing the American leader of “deflecting the focus away from Iran.” He was referring to the American and Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic that, together with the Iranian response, led to severe shipment disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz – one of the key seaborne oil transportation routes.
Russia has historically been the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, behind only the US, accounting for roughly 10% of global exports. Disruptions to Russian supplies can drive up prices even in countries that do not directly import the fuel.
The US president questioned the vote count after Lula narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro’s son in the runoff
US President Donald Trump has suggested that Brazil’s presidential runoff election, narrowly won by left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, may have been rigged.
According to the official tally, Lula received 51.79% of the vote on Sunday, while his right-wing rival, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, secured 48.21%.
“It looked terrible to me,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I didn’t take sides, but it looked like another rigged election, frankly.”
Asked whether he planned to “do something” about the result, Trump replied: “I’m not running Brazil. I’m running the U.S. I like Lula. I get along with him very well. I just think it had a very bad look – the election, the way it was tabulated.”
Bolsonaro announced on election night that he would seek to have the results annulled, accusing “Lula’s allies” in the government of foul play.
Q: Do you want to do something about the election in Brazil?
Trump: I'm not running Brazil. I'm running the U.S. I like Lula. I get along with him very well, but the extension given was very strange. https://t.co/Sl1HUjiWde
In the first round on October 4, Bolsonaro led with 47% of the vote to Lula’s 45%. Some analysts suggested that Bolsonaro could win the runoff by attracting supporters of other right-wing candidates.
Bolsonaro’s father, Jair Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022, is serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to Lula. He has denied the allegations, claiming that the case was politically motivated.
US President Donald Trump has previously accused Ukraine of selling Western-supplied weapons on the black market
Germany is preparing to buy a batch of low-cost cruise missiles from Ukraine to expand its long-range strike capabilities according to several media outlets, including the Financial Times and Bloomberg.
The deal could be finalized in the coming weeks, FT said, citing officials familiar with the matter. It would initially involve a small batch of missiles for testing by the German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr, early next year. If the tests prove successful, Berlin could reportedly place a follow-up order for several hundred missiles.
Dubbed ‘Bars’ – meaning snow leopard in both Russian and Ukrainian – the cruise missiles, sometimes referred to as “drone missiles” in Ukraine, are jet-powered weapons with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers and a payload of up to 105 kg.
Germany and Ukraine signed a deal to jointly produce Bars missiles in July 2026. Under that agreement, Berlin would finance production, with all the missiles produced being delivered to Ukraine.
The potential purchase comes amid a surge in German arms procurement as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government seeks to turn the Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest conventional army, citing the threat of a potential conflict with Russia. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed such claims as “nonsense,” insisting that it has no intention of attacking any NATO member.
Armament drive
Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Berlin was planning to acquire “thousands of precision deep-strike weapons” from several European and American companies. One proposed contract with US firm Covenant for the delivery of thousands of ground-launched Anthem cruise missiles could be worth more than €1 billion ($1.12 billion), according to the report.
Berlin emerged as Kiev’s single biggest military donor after Washington drastically scaled back its aid under US President Donald Trump. Merz has prioritized military spending, including assistance to Kiev, despite acknowledging that Germany’s economy is in a “structural crisis.” His government amended the constitutional debt brake to fund the buildup and passed a 2026 budget allocating a record €108.2 billion for defense and €11.5 billion in military aid for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Germany’s central bank has warned that the country is on course to record its largest budget deficit since reunification by 2028.
Cashing in on war?
Ukraine, in turn, appears to be actively seeking to cash in on weapons exports, including sales to its Western backers. In February, David Aloian, deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told Reuters that the country expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue from it this year alone.
Kiev halted all weapons exports following the escalation of the conflict in 2022, but Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky reversed that decision when he announced plans to open nearly a dozen weapons export centers across Europe in early 2026.
The plans have not stopped Kiev from seeking further financial and military assistance from Western nations. Last month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Evgeny Khmara suggested that Western donors supply Kiev with highly sought-after US-made Patriot interceptors from their own stockpiles, which would then be replenished with 1,000 missiles it plans to purchase with EU funds at some point in the future. In October, Zelensky himself lashed out at the country’s backers over their reluctance to cover a major budget shortfall.
Trump accused Ukraine in mid-October of selling American-supplied missiles on the black market. He also claimed that Kiev had failed to account for billions of dollars in American military and financial aid.
Ukrainian arms manufacturers have been implicated in some of the nation’s numerous corruption scandals. Fire Point – a defense contractor personally promoted by Zelensky during his visits to Western nations – was reportedly effectively owned by the Ukrainian leader’s longtime former business partner, Timur Mindich, known as ‘Zelensky’s wallet’ in Kiev. The businessman fled Ukraine last year after a major corruption investigation named him as one of its primary suspects.
Dmitry Trenin examines Russia-Africa relations, from energy and food supplies to security, education and cooperation in an emerging multipolar world
There were times, in the mid-to-late 20th century, when the Soviet Union was deeply engaged with Africa. It not only welcomed decolonization but actively promoted it and it supported national liberation movements from Algeria to Angola and from Guinea-Bissau to Zimbabwe. It assisted newly independent nations economically, helping them build factories, hospitals, and schools. A number of African countries became Moscow’s political allies and received arms and advisers to strengthen their security.
Having long since recovered from the collapse of the USSR, today’s Russia is again turning its attention to the African continent. Both Africa and Russia, however, are very different from what they were sixty or seventy years ago. Russia’s interest in Africa is largely an expression of its comeback as a world power. It also reflects Moscow’s recognition of African countries’ rapid economic and demographic growth, and their potential as an important component of the 21st-century multipolar world order, which encompasses not just states but civilizations.
Russia, however, is not looking to impose an ideology on its partners because it has no ideology to export in the first place. Nor does it go to Africa primarily in search of natural resources, which it possesses in abundance within its own borders. Russia doesn’t need military bases in Africa as part of its grand strategy, which remains firmly focused on its own neighborhood in Eurasia. Rather, it sees Africa as part of what it calls the Global Majority, the part of the world where it has partners with whom to cooperate, as opposed to the West, which has shut itself off from Russia.
What Russia has to offer could be of considerable interest to Africans, given Russia is among the world’s major producers of energy and food. Over the decades, it’s built a reputation as a reliable supplier of both, and neither global energy nor food security can be assured without Russia. Disruptions in these markets are the result of Western sanctions and other attempts to undermine Russia’s strength. One of Moscow’s major projects is the North-South Transport Corridor, which would link Russia, the world’s fourth-largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, with India, the third-largest, via Iran. Once fully operational, this corridor would also provide Russia with a gateway to East Africa.
Russia has already established itself as a security provider for African countries facing serious challenges. Under the banner of the Africa Corps, Russian military advisers and specialists are working in several West African countries belonging to the Alliance of Sahel States (Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso), as well as in the Central African Republic. They have managed to thwart a number of large-scale coup attempts and military offensives masterminded and supported from abroad. Such security assistance is essential to upholding the sovereignty of nations that have requested it.
Russia, of course, is much more than a military power. Among other things, it is a leader in digitalization. Moscow is one of the world’s most advanced capitals in this field. Russia is ready to share its expertise in establishing and improving electronic government services. Since Soviet times, Russian scientists have conducted pioneering research into deadly viruses and vaccines to combat them. A vaccine against Ebola was developed in 2019 by the Russian research institute Vector, located in Siberia, while the Sputnik V vaccine, developed against COVID-19, proved highly effective in fighting the pandemic.
In 1960, Peoples’ Friendship University was founded in Moscow for international students. The following year, it was named after Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent Congo (formerly Belgian Congo). At present, some 35,000 young Africans study at Russian universities, mostly majoring in medicine, energy, and engineering – fields in which Russian universities have historically been particularly strong.
To date, three African countries – South Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia – are full members of the 10-member BRICS grouping. This format offers a novel, non-hierarchical and genuinely consensus-based approach to addressing economic, financial, environmental, educational, and other global issues. The BRICS way of doing business supports sovereignty and rejects diktat. Russia, which helped initiate the formation of BRICS just over two decades ago, works to ensure that the group remains true to its founding principles.
Russia has never been a colonial power in Africa and has never attempted to plunder its resources. It regards Africans as partners and African civilization as an equal in the emerging world order. This week’s Third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow will bring the two even closer.
The victorious opposition Student List does not plan to introduce measures against Moscow, its representative has said
Serbia will maintain its longstanding ties with Russia and will not impose sanctions on Moscow despite EU pressure, a representative of the winning Student List movement has told RT Balkan.
The student-led opposition secured 52.73% of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, according to the latest preliminary results, defeating the coalition of former President Aleksandar Vucic. He conceded defeat but warned that Belgrade could abandon its resistance to EU pressure and sanction Russia within months.
The movement emerged from nearly two years of anti-government protests sparked by the November 2024 collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people.
Speaking on Monday, Jovo Bakic, a university professor and Student List representative, said: “We respect Russia both as a great power and as our historically important partner and, in many cases, protector.”
“There will be no changes in that regard,” he added.
Recalling the harsh UN sanctions against Yugoslavia in the 1990s, when Serbia was one of its constituent republics, Bakic said restrictions imposed by “small Serbia” would have little effect on Russia but would be “symbolically very bad” for Belgrade.
🇷🇸 Jovo Bakić za RT Balkan: Studentska lista neće uvoditi sankcije Rusiji
▪️Predstavnik "Studentske liste", profesor Jovo Bakić ponovio je da nova vlada Srbije neće uvoditi sankcije Rusiji, uprkos tvrdnjama bivšeg predsednika Aleksandra Vučića da će se to dogoditi za nekoliko meseci.
"Mi Rusiju poštujemo i kao veliku silu i kao našu istorijski važnu partnerku i u mnogim slučajevima zaštitnicu. Tu (u spoljnoj politici zemlje) neće biti nikakvih promena", izjavio je Bakić gostujući u emisiji "Srbija bira" na TV RT Balkan.
Under Vucic, Serbia resisted EU demands to adopt the bloc’s restrictions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict, despite pursuing EU membership. The Student List campaigned primarily on domestic reforms, leaving several contentious foreign policy questions unaddressed.
According to Reuters, leading candidates of the victorious movement have said the incoming government would halt arms exports to conflict zones, including sales to Western intermediaries that subsequently supply weapons to Ukraine.
Vucic previously said European buyers could decide how to use Serbian ammunition, including whether to send it to Ukraine, although Belgrade has denied supplying Kiev directly.
Energy ties present another major issue for Serbia’s incoming government. Russia remains the country’s dominant gas supplier, accounting for roughly three-quarters of its needs. In March, Vucic said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to maintain deliveries on favorable terms, at prices far below those in most of Europe. The agreement was subsequently prolonged through the end of 2026.
Serbia also faces uncertainty over its oil supplies due to US sanctions on NIS, the majority Russian-owned energy company that runs the country’s only oil refinery. Hungarian energy group MOL is seeking to acquire the Russian stake, while the current US waiver allowing NIS to continue business expires on October 30. The company has requested another extension to avoid disruptions to fuel supplies.
Unlike Serbia, the EU has sought to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports and secure alternative suppliers since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Asked about pressure to abandon Russian energy supplies, Bakic said: “We are not here to satisfy foreigners, but to act in our national interest.”
The Kremlin said on Monday that it hoped to maintain mutually beneficial relations with Serbia. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Vucic’s contribution to bilateral ties and added “As you know, it takes two to tango.”
The only major countries that recognize the its jurisdiction are in Europe, George Szamuely has told RT
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is increasingly becoming Europeans’ “own personal court” as the US expands sanctions on the institution, an expert has told RT.
George Szamuely, a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute in Budapest, pointed out that major global powers such as the US, Russia, and China do not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, leaving European nations as its main backers.
“So essentially the ICC is becoming a European project,” he said.
Szamuely argued that the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to former ICC judge Navi Pillay underscored Europe’s support for the court.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Pillay the prize on October 9, just hours before Washington imposed sanctions on the ICC as an institution, expanding measures that had previously targeted individual officials.
The ICC is now becoming increasingly the tool of the Europeans.
According to Szamuely, European lawmakers sought to reaffirm their backing for the court despite mounting pressure from Washington.
“The European Parliament wanted to send a message to the Trump administration… to say: ‘we thoroughly endorse the ICC. The ICC does our work’,” he said.
Szamuely noted that Washington’s “war against the ICC really intensified” during President Donald Trump’s first term, when the US sanctioned several court officials, including then-chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
“Now he has imposed much harsher sanctions against the ICC,” he said, arguing that the latest measures effectively impose secondary sanctions on “anyone who actually engages in any kind of dealings with the ICC.”
Twenty-five years after the Patriot Act, Washington’s surveillance capabilities are growing faster than the safeguards meant to restrain them
On October 26,2001, US President George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act into law, less than seven weeks after the September 11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in New York. The speed of its passage reflected the extraordinary political and social atmosphere in the United States. The tragedy had shattered the country’s sense of security, and fears of further terrorist activity continued to haunt the country in the months that followed.
In the weeks after 9/11, grief and anger were accompanied by an unprecedented surge of patriotism and national solidarity. President Bush’s approval rating reached 86 percent by late September, and public trust in the federal government rose to levels unseen in decades. A majority of Americans also expressed a willingness to sacrifice at least some civil liberties if doing so would help combat terrorism. Under intense pressure to prevent another catastrophe, Congress moved rapidly to expand federal investigative and surveillance powers.
The Patriot Act facilitated information sharing between intelligence and law enforcement agencies, broadened certain authorities to obtain records, and expanded investigative tools available in terrorism cases. Supporters argued that these measures were necessary to confront a transnational threat with legal instruments suited to a new security environment.
Yet national unity did not eliminate concerns about civil rights. Arab and Muslim Americans, as well as people perceived to belong to these communities, faced increased discrimination and violence. As the immediate shock of 9/11 receded, questions grew over how far the governments’ new powers should extend and what safeguards were needed to prevent abuse.
These tensions would shape the law’s legacy for decades. The debate intensified after Edward Snowden’s 2013 disclosures exposed the scale of certain US surveillance programs, helping spur the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015, which curtailed the government’s bulk collection of domestic telephone records. The controversy revealed that the challenge was not simply how to protect Americans from terrorism, but how to preserve privacy and civil liberties while doing so.
The surveillance debate that follows 9/11 has evolved alongside technology. Today, governments can analyze enormous volumes of digital information, from communications metadata to online activity, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish targeted intelligence gathering from the broader collection of personal data.
However, not all modern US surveillance powers originate in the Patriot Act. One important distinction is between Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which became associated with the NSA’s bulk collection of domestic telephone records, and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), enacted in 2008.
Section 702 allows US intelligence agencies to target non-US persons reasonably believed to be outside the country for foreign intelligence purposes. Yet communications involving Americans may also be collected when they interact with foreign targets. A separate framework. Executive Order 12333 governs much of the intelligence community’s overseas surveillance activity.
These authorities raise questions that extend beyond the original post-9/11 debate. Artificial intelligence is adding a new dimension to the problem. Machine-learning systems can process vast quantities of communications, financial records, location data and other digital information, identifying patterns that human investigators might overlook. Such capabilities could help intelligence agencies detect terrorist networks and anticipate emerging threats. Yet they also raise the possibility of increasingly comprehensive surveillance, in which individuals can be assessed through their digital associations, behavior and inferred characteristics rather than through evidence of specific wrongdoings.
The risks are not limited to the amount of information collected. AI systems can produce false positives, reproduce biases present in their training data and generate conclusions that are difficult to explain or independently verify. If such assessments inform investigations or security decisions, errors may have serious consequences for individuals. The challenge for governments is therefore not simply to regulate access to data, but also to establish accountability for how algorithms analyze it, how their conclusions are used and whether affected individuals have meaningful avenues for redress.
Twenty-five years later: Has America found the balance?
Twenty-five years after the Patriot Act became law, the United States has neither abandoned its expanded national security apparatus nor settled the debate over its proper limits. The government’s ability to collect and analyze information remains an important instrument in counterterrorism and foreign intelligence. At the same time, experience has shown that powers introduced in response to an emergency can endure long after the circumstances that justified them have changed.
The law’s defenders argue that intelligence agencies need effective tools to identify threats before they result in violence. Critics counter that broad surveillance authorities, secret legal interpretations and insufficient oversight can undermine privacy and weaken public trust. Both concerns are fundamental to a democratic society: security is essential to protecting freedom, but security measures can also threaten it when they operate without adequate safeguards.
The central lesson of the Patriot Act is therefore not that national security and civil liberties are necessarily incompatible. It is that the balance between them cannot be established once and left untouched. It requires clear legal limits, meaningful judicial and congressional oversight, transparency wherever possible, and public debate about how surveillance powers are used.
Artificial intelligence makes this balance even harder to maintain. Surveillance systems are increasingly capable of drawing connections across datasets and generating assessments at a speed and scale that traditional oversight mechanisms were not designed to handle. Decisions may depend partly on algorithmic outputs that are difficult for the public, and sometimes even for officials, to scrutinize. Democratic oversight must therefore evolve alongside technology, requiring clear rules on the use of AI, independent testing, safeguards against discriminatory outcomes and human accountability for consequential decisions.
The digital age makes this task more urgent. As governments acquire increasingly sophisticated tools to monitor communications and analyze personal information, lawmakers must ensure that technological capabilities do not automatically translate into unlimited authority.
The question raised in October 2001 remains relevant today: how can a democracy protect its citizens without compromising the freedoms that give its political system legitimacy? Twenty-five years later, the United States continues to grapple with the answer.
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 26, 2026 — The media forum “Russia–Africa,” organized by RT alongside the Sputnik and TASS news agencies, takes place in Moscow from October 26 to 29 as part of the “Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.” Descendants of prominent African leaders, politicians, media executives, and bloggers with millions of followers are set to attend the event.
The media forum is expected to gather over 200 participants from 46 African countries. Leading experts from the regional media community and political figures, including Gregoire Ndjaka, Director-General of the African Broadcasting Union; Evariste Ngamana, Minister of Communications and Media of the Central African Republic; and Badr Shneba, Director of Foreign Media Department in the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will participate. Also, prominent bloggers and descendants of esteemed African leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Samora Machel, and Gamal Abdel Nasser will take part in the event.
The key focus of the media forum will be the role of media in the development and unification of the African continent, as well as in shaping its identity and image abroad. On October 26 and 27, RT will hold sessions featuring leaders of major African television channels and influential bloggers.
On October 28, a plenary session of the media forum will take place, featuring Elizaveta Brodskaya, RT First Deputy Editor-in-Chief; Dmitry Kiselev, Director General of the Rossiya Segodnya media group; and Andrey Kondrashov, Director General of TASS, along with representatives from ministries and media regulatory authorities in both Russia and Africa.
On the final day of the forum, a session organized by RT will include descendants of legendary African leaders who inspired RT’s program “Africa: Legacy of the Great Leaders.” The session will feature Juliana Lumumba, daughter of Patrice Lumumba; Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of Nelson Mandela; Gamal Abdel Nasser, grandson of Gamal Abdel Nasser; and others.
Throughout the business program, attendees will not only participate in the media forum but will also conduct joint broadcasts with Russian media and sign several cooperation agreements with their Russian counterparts.
The international RT television network includes news channels in English, Arabic, Spanish, German, Serbian, and French, as well as the RTD documentary channel in Russian and English. RT also operates online portals in ten languages and the global multimedia agency RUPTLY, which supplies exclusive content to broadcasters worldwide. RT is available 24/7 to more than 950 million viewers in over 100 countries.
Africa is one of the key regions for RT’s operations. The channel is expanding its partnership network with new media corporations and enhancing cooperation with existing partners. Currently, RT has eight bureaus across Africa. Additionally, RT conducts training programs for African journalists and co-hosted the African Media Awards ceremony in Ethiopia in 2025, which is the largest media event of the year for the continent.
The vote comes amid deep divisions, mounting criticism of Netanyahu’s wartime leadership, and uncertainty over who will govern
Israelis head to the polls on Tuesday in a closely contested parliamentary election that could end the nearly four-year rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current coalition, following years of war, political scandals, mass protests, and deepening divisions within Israeli society.
The vote is widely viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership, with the opposition blaming him for security failures surrounding the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and accusing his government of undermining democratic institutions.
The Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people and saw some 250 taken hostage. Israel responded with a military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, including at least 21,000 children, according to the local Health Ministry.
Despite their fierce political rivalry, the main Israeli election contenders differ less considerably over the country’s military policies and its approach to the Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s fight for political survival
Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief who heads the centrist Yashar party, has emerged as Netanyahu’s strongest challenger.
Speaking at a mass rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday, Eisenkot urged traditional voters for Netanyahu’s Likud party to abandon the prime minister, claiming that Israel cannot survive another four years under his leadership.
“Anyone who thinks our Israel can survive another four years like these is living under a dangerous misconception,” Eisenkot said, according to the Times of Israel.
Netanyahu is also facing accusations of attempting to provoke a new war with Iran to postpone the election. Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has demanded a criminal investigation into the prime minister on suspicion of treason after Channel 12 reported a clash between Netanyahu and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir over a proposed military operation.
“The man has gone off the rails,” Liberman said on Monday, accusing Netanyahu of putting his political survival ahead of national security. The prime minister denied the reported confrontation, and no criminal wrongdoing has been established.
Netanyahu also failed to persuade US President Donald Trump to launch strikes on Iran before the Israeli election, CNN reported, citing American and Israeli sources. The operation has reportedly been postponed, potentially until after the November 3 US midterm elections. Netanyahu’s office rejected the report.
The confrontation is not simply between the left and the right. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid are also seeking to oust Netanyahu, but the opposition remains divided over domestic policy, coalition alliances, and who should lead the next government.
Four years of war and political turmoil
Netanyahu’s latest term has been marked by a series of crises, from mass protests over his judicial overhaul to the October 7 Hamas attack, which exposed major failures in Israel’s security apparatus and triggered years of warfare.
The attack remains a central election issue, with Netanyahu’s opponents accusing him of evading responsibility and blocking an independent state commission of inquiry. While the opposition demands a full investigation into the political and military failures, the prime minister has backed a government-appointed panel with more limited powers.
Israel’s subsequent military campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran have come at a heavy human, economic, and diplomatic cost. The Gaza offensive has devastated the Palestinian enclave, killing tens of thousands and displacing much of its population.
In September 2025, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Netanyahu is also subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel rejects the genocide allegations and denies committing war crimes.
Another major dividing line concerns Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, which triggered nationwide protests in 2023. His opponents have pledged to reverse measures they say undermine judicial independence. The prime minister is also standing trial on corruption charges, including bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, which he denies.
Another contentious issue is the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from military service. Despite a 2024 Supreme Court ruling against blanket exemptions, Netanyahu’s coalition has continued to resist compulsory conscription for religious students, fueling resentment among Israelis repeatedly called up for military duty.
The economic toll has added to public anger. Rising defense spending, higher living costs, and a VAT increase to 18% in 2025 have put further pressure on households.
Yet the wars themselves have attracted relatively little debate among the main contenders, many of whom support Israel’s military campaigns. The deeper political battle is over Netanyahu’s leadership, accountability, and the direction of the Israeli state.
Election arithmetic: Can anyone secure a majority?
Recent surveys indicate a tight race, with Eisenkot’s Yashar holding a narrow advantage over Netanyahu’s Likud in several polls.
An October 21 Jerusalem Post analysis of four major surveys put Yashar at an average of 22.5 seats, compared with 19.75 for Likud. But neither Netanyahu’s allies nor the opposition appear assured of the 61 seats needed for a majority in Israel’s 120-member Knesset.
Under Israel’s proportional representation system, parties must win at least 3.25% of the national vote to enter parliament. Votes for parties that fail to cross the threshold do not translate into seats, meaning even small shifts could tip the balance between rival camps.
The real battle may therefore begin after the ballots are counted. Smaller parties, particularly ultra-Orthodox factions, could determine who governs, with military conscription exemptions and religious education funding among their key demands.
According to a Jerusalem Post report published Monday, possible scenarios include opposition cooperation with ultra-Orthodox factions, reliance on Arab parties’ parliamentary support, or even another election if coalition talks fail.
Would a defeat for Netanyahu change Israel’s course?
A new prime minister would not necessarily mean a new direction for Israel’s military and foreign policies.
Despite their fierce opposition to Netanyahu, leading opposition figures broadly support maintaining Israel’s military superiority, confronting Iran, and retaining extensive security control over Palestinian territories. None of the principal contenders has made the establishment of a Palestinian state a central campaign commitment.
The election also comes amid renewed tensions in the occupied West Bank. Israeli authorities have imposed sweeping restrictions following a shooting near Hebron that killed two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen, including curbs on Palestinians entering Jewish settlements for work.
Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis have demonstrated against the government and violence toward Palestinians, even as younger voters increasingly identify with the political right.
Reporting from Tel Aviv, RT correspondent Charlotte Dubenskij described Israel as “a nation dramatically shifting towards the right,” with many young people citing the October 7 attack as a turning point in their political views.
The election could therefore remove Netanyahu from power without reversing the security policies that have defined his latest term.
What happens after October 27?
The vote could leave Netanyahu in power, hand the opposition a chance to form a government, or produce another parliamentary deadlock.
Under Israel’s parliamentary system, the president consults party leaders before choosing a lawmaker to form a government. Coalition talks can drag on for weeks, with smaller parties demanding concessions in exchange for their support. If no candidate can secure a majority, Israel could face another election.
The final result may therefore be decided not at the ballot box, but behind closed doors, as rival parties bargain over who will govern Israel next.
Yet even if Netanyahu loses power, the election may change Israel’s leadership without fundamentally altering its approach to the Palestinians or the regional conflicts that have defined his latest term.
The Netherlands plans to axe 25,000 jobs to save nearly $4 billion annually
The Netherlands has unveiled plans to cut around 25,000 full-time government positions by 2035, turning to artificial intelligence and sweeping administrative reforms to reduce costs and bureaucracy.
Announced on Monday, the overhaul aims to save €900 million ($1 billion) by next year, with annual savings projected to reach €3.5 billion by 2035. The job cuts will be phased in over several years, with police and security services exempt.
Planned measures include simplifying regulations, reducing advisory bodies, standardizing IT systems, and expanding digital services.
The plan follows years of rapid growth in the Dutch civil service. The central government workforce reached a record 160,000 positions in 2025, an increase of more than 40% since 2018, according to official figures.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg said excessive rules, exceptions, and procedures had made it increasingly difficult for the government to address problems, while mounting costs demanded action.
“We cannot continue to do what we did,” he said, calling for a government that is “simpler, smarter and smaller.”
Other European countries are also embracing AI to streamline public administration.
Denmark announced plans last year to free up 50 million working hours annually by 2035 through AI, equivalent to roughly 30,000 full-time positions, without committing to corresponding job cuts.
Albania went a step further in September 2025, appointing an AI-generated virtual minister to help combat corruption in public procurement. However, the country’s AI procurement system had yet to be rolled out as of October.
The push comes as rapid advances in AI fuel concerns about widespread disruption to employment.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk warned in July that the transition would be “a bumpy road,” predicting that AI would eventually outperform humans in any job.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has also warned of major upheaval in the labor market, while arguing that certain professions, including caregiving, should remain “human reserved” even if AI becomes capable of performing them.
New Delhi is reportedly resisting the proposed 18% tariff rate as political concerns complicate negotiations ahead of the US midterm elections
India’s interim trade deal with the US remains stalled as New Delhi reportedly refuses to accept a proposed 18% tariff rate and weighs politically sensitive agricultural concessions ahead of next month’s US midterm elections.
India wants to retain the current additional 10% levy on covered exports and could reassess negotiations after the November 3 elections, the Hindu BusinessLine reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the talks.
Under a framework agreed in February, Washington proposed reducing tariffs on several categories of Indian goods to 18%, from penalties of up to 50% imposed last year. In return, India agreed to lower duties on US industrial goods and selected agricultural products.
However, the negotiating landscape changed after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs later that month. Washington subsequently imposed a separate additional 10% duty on covered Indian imports under Section 301 of US trade law.
Around 55% of India’s exports to the US are subject to the additional levy, while products including generic pharmaceuticals and smartphones remain exempt, according to India’s Commerce Ministry.
New Delhi is seeking assurances that future US tariffs will not leave its exporters at a disadvantage to competitors in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, the BusinessLine reported. India also wants protection against further duties after an agreement is signed.
Agricultural market access remains another obstacle to finalizing the deal. Washington is seeking concessions on American farm products, including those from Republican-leaning states, while India has sought to protect sensitive sectors such as dairy, poultry, rice, and wheat.
Granting such concessions while accepting higher tariffs would be difficult to defend domestically, sources told BusinessLine. New Delhi is therefore reportedly inclined to wait until after the US elections before deciding how to proceed.
The deadlock comes despite US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying last week that 99% of the agreement was complete and that a deal could be finalized within weeks.
Trump also described the negotiations as “pretty close,” even as Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar cautioned that the remaining stages could prove difficult.
Trump waived key Russia-related sanctions and tariffs earlier this month, easing a major obstacle to the negotiations. However, a separate US investigation into alleged industrial overcapacity remains unresolved, leaving uncertainty over possible future duties on Indian goods.
According to a new program called FORTRESS, US bases should be able to operate independently for 90 days
Major military bases in the continental US will be expected to sustain essential operations for at least 90 days without external support under a new Pentagon strategy, Fox News has reported.
The autonomy target was set out in FORTRESS documents reviewed by the network, it said on Sunday. Critical military supplies would also require at least two qualified supply or production routes to guard against disruption.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the initiative last month. The US military has faced serious logistical disruption in the Middle East following Iranian strikes on American facilities and other sites used by US forces in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
Fox News, which is generally supportive of President Donald Trump’s agenda, wrote that the US needed to be prepared for a contingency in which military action would “cripple power grids, disrupt supply chains and threaten critical infrastructure on American soil.”
FORTRESS stands for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply and Survivability. A founding memorandum signed by Hegseth last month identifies five pillars: energy independence, supply-chain resilience, strategic reserves, physical protection and cybersecurity, and resilience in space and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Pentagon planners aim to reduce reliance on civilian infrastructure that could be severely damaged in a major armed conflict. Proposed options include small nuclear reactors and large battery banks to support base microgrids if external electricity supplies are cut. The program also envisages preparing civilian factories to switch to defense production in an emergency, alongside other measures.
The report comes less than two weeks before midterm elections in which polls suggest the ruling Republican Party could suffer significant losses. The Iran war and the resulting surge in fuel prices are major factors bolstering opposition candidates.
Trump’s rhetoric has fueled widespread expectations that the US could escalate the war with Iran shortly after the election, or even before it. According to NBC News, Washington has withdrawn some personnel from its Middle Eastern bases ahead of a possible renewed airstrike campaign.
Vucic’s defeat reflects a deeper frustration with establishments across the political spectrum
This past election day did deliver one bombshell: Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat in Serbia’s snap parliamentary elections. Hardly anyone seems to have seriously expected that. Calling the election was a gamble, of course, but he still had reason to believe he could pull it off.
The reasons will take time to untangle. Vucic himself spoke of a “revolution” backed by Europe. Others, with some justification, see an “Orban scenario”: accumulated fatigue with one man’s prolonged rule, during which his personal traits and interests came to exert too much influence over national policy.
Clearly, more than one factor was at work. Just as clearly, Serbia is entering a new era. Vucic’s increasingly elaborate and convoluted balancing act will likely give way to an attempt to steer the country sharply toward the European Union. Hungary’s experience is telling in this respect. And Russia should expect little good to come of it.
Serbian society, however, is different from Hungary’s. There really is considerable sympathy for Russia. Whether that sentiment can rally a new opposition, this time against a firmly pro-EU course, should become clear soon enough. The EU will try to make the most of the defeat of yet another set of “pro-Russian forces.” Whether that will bring Serbia any closer to EU membership is another question entirely.
Whatever the outcome, if there is a common thread running through elections across Europe, it is probably this: people in different countries are disillusioned with the status quo and the establishment, whatever its political stripe – even when those establishments stand at opposite ends of the spectrum.
The bloc’s chief auditor has warned that rising repayments and rushed spending are squeezing budgets and increasing fraud risks
The EU faces a growing budget squeeze after borrowing hundreds of billions for pandemic recovery and Ukraine. Rising repayment costs threaten future spending and rushed payouts raise fraud risks, its chief auditor has warned. Brussels is nevertheless seeking billions more for Kiev.
Speaking to Rapporteur, Tony Murphy, president of the European Court of Auditors, described the budget situation as a “pressure cooker,” with EU debt potentially reaching €1 trillion (1.12trillion)bytheendof2027.Thebloc’sdebtstoodat€739billion(825 billion) in 2025, up from €601 billion ($671 billion) a year earlier.
“You have to pay it back at some time. It’s not free money,” Murphy said. He emphasized that “it’s real money that has to be paid back.”
However, concerns have repeatedly been raised about the EU getting back any of the billions it has spent on Ukraine, including its recent €90 billion ($100 billion) loan, which Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico recently slammed as “gifts” that Ukraine will “never pay back.”
Kiev is required to repay the loan only after receiving Russian reparations – something Moscow has vehemently ruled out. Ukraine’s own former Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov has also acknowledged that such scenarios are “just fairy tales” and that Brussels will never get its money back, which is being actively embezzled by Kiev.
The EU, however, must still repay the money it borrowed. According to Murphy, servicing pandemic debt alone would consume 8% of the bloc’s proposed 2028–2034 budget and governments have yet to agree on new revenue to cover the repayments, leaving Brussels with less money for other priorities.
The squeeze comes as households and businesses continue to face high energy costs following Europe’s break with Russian supplies, compounded by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Murphy also warned about how quickly money is being spent. He called the requirement to process €90 billion in remaining pandemic recovery payments by December “crazy,” describing the impending payouts as a “tsunami.”
Pressure to meet deadlines could also encourage weaker checks and more abuse, he said, as European prosecutors are already investigating hundreds of suspected fraud cases involving recovery funds.
Despite the crisis, Brussels is again looking for more money for Kiev after Vladimir Zelensky requested another €70 billion ($78 billion) for 2027, beyond existing commitments. European Council President Antonio Costa said Friday that the EU expects to cover roughly two-thirds, with a decision potentially coming in November.
The troops used advanced tactics learned on the battlefield and modern technology during the ground phase of the INDRA-2026 drills
Indian and Russian troops have finished up the INDRA-2026 military exercises in Chelyabinsk Region. During simulated combat, they worked with drones, artillery, tanks, and robotic systems, making use of real-world battlefield experience.
The ground phase of the exercise ended on Friday after ten days at a Russian Central Military District training ground, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
The final operation simulated the enemy occupying a settlement and establishing defensive positions. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and ground-based robotic systems carried out reconnaissance before artillery units and strike drones targeted mock command posts, weapons positions, and supply depots, clearing the way for a joint assault.
The joint contingents then advanced under cover from tanks, air defense systems, mobile fire teams, and first-person-view (FPV) drone interceptors. The forces practiced securing the settlement and pursuing the retreating enemy, completing the ground exercise.
The October 14-23 drills focused on joint command and control and coordinating operations against armed groups. The Russian contingent consisted primarily of personnel from the Central Military District’s 90th Guards Tank Division.
💥🇮🇳🇷🇺 Total Annihilation: India, Russia Unleash Drones, Tanks & Assault Teams In Massive INDRA-2026 Drills
The joint contingents unleashed relentless firepower to encircle and wipe out simulated fortified enemy positions.
📹 🇷🇺 MoD https://t.co/gz4zLkZnzk
The exercise incorporated lessons from recent armed conflicts to improve combat readiness and coordination between tactical units, Central Military District combat training chief Sergei Pimenkov said at the closing ceremony.
”All assigned tasks were accomplished and the objectives achieved during the joint training,” he said.
For the air component of the exercise, Russian and Indian aircrews practiced coordinated missions using Su-30SM fighter jets, including engaging low-flying targets and maneuvering combat at medium and low altitudes. Mi-8 helicopter crews rehearsed special forces deployments and search-and-rescue operations.
The naval component concluded earlier in the Sea of Japan, where the Indian frigate INS Sahyadri and the Russian corvette Aldar Tsydenzhapov conducted live-fire artillery exercises, counter-drone operations, and a simulated mission to rescue a hijacked civilian vessel. The INS Sahyadri departed Vladivostok on October 20 following the naval exercise, India’s Defense Ministry said.
”We have seen how professionally the Russian armed forces are working,” Indian Brigadier Shubhanshu Kamatnurkar told RT. He said the Indian troops were able to gain from the Russians' frontline combat experience during the exercise.
The INDRA exercises are part of regular military cooperation between India and Russia.
The model broke past a paywall to obtain information it wasn’t supposed to, adding to concerns over increasingly autonomous systems acting beyond human instructions
Anthropic’s Claude AI model went rogue and broke past a paywall to obtain voter data in the US state of Georgia, Axios reported on Sunday. The intrusion heightens concerns about developers’ ability to control increasingly autonomous AI systems.
The incident occurred during an internal statistics project involving public information. Anthropic said the model obtained aggregate voter counts but did not access Georgia’s voter registration system, retrieve individual voter records or alter any data.
The company confirmed the incident on Sunday, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
“Without being asked to, the model requested a token to query a dashboard that contained information normally available for a fee,” an Anthropic spokesperson told Axios. Claude had learned from an archived government webpage that the dashboard issued digital access keys to visitors. It was able to request a key and retrieve the information without paying.
Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs confirmed to Fox Business that the data came from a public information service but insisted that Claude “did not get into the voter registration system.”
Anthropic described the incident in an October 9 report but did not name Georgia. According to Axios, it notified state officials and the White House weeks ago. A source told the outlet that administration officials had urged Georgia to disclose the incident publicly sooner, but those requests went unheeded.
The case is among several instances Anthropic has disclosed of models finding unintended ways around restrictions instead of stopping. Other incidents included a false homicide tip submitted to Philadelphia police and incomplete applications filed on the US State Department’s visa website.
On Friday, Anthropic also revealed that a model had impersonated a human during a cybersecurity exercise, attempting to persuade an unrelated software developer to accept malicious code. The developer rejected the request and the attempt failed.
Other developers have tightened controls following similar incidents. OpenAI said Friday that it was keeping its most powerful models’ training offline after agents escaped restricted environments. In July, its agents bypassed safeguards and accessed systems belonging to Hugging Face, an online repository for AI models and datasets.
Anthropic said it has moved some evaluations offline, restricted internet tools and introduced systems to detect unauthorized actions. It said those systems blocked each of the disclosed cases when tested against them.
More than 200 media professionals are gathering in the Russian capital
The Russia-Africa Media Forum has opened in Moscow, bringing together more than 200 participants from 46 African countries.
The gathering, which began on Monday, is being organized by RT in cooperation with the Sputnik and TASS news agencies. It brings together media executives, journalists, and experts from Russia and African countries. The four-day event will focus on media cooperation and the role of journalism in shaping Africa’s image abroad.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Sebastian Maganga, head of content at Tanzania’s Clouds Media Group, highlighted the importance of such gatherings, saying they allow media organizations to exchange stories and share their perspectives with international audiences.
“If you have forums similar to this, that’s when you get the opportunity to share our stories and get stories from Russia and other places respectively and package them,” he said.
The forum comes ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for October 28-29 in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin will co-chair the plenary session on October 29 with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current chair of the African Union, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
African leaders have begun arriving in Moscow ahead of the summit, including Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, and Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goita. Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo has also arrived in the Russian capital, according to media reports.
Putin is also expected to hold bilateral talks with African leaders, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet his African counterparts on October 28. More than 2,000 guests are expected to attend the accompanying Economic and Humanitarian Forum, Zakharova said.
The economic forum will be held at Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor exhibition center. Its agenda covers trade, investment, energy, food security, digitalization, education, and technology.
The upcoming event follows two previous summits between Russian and African leaders. The first, held in Sochi in October 2019, attracted delegations from all 54 African countries, while the second, held in St. Petersburg in July 2023, brought together representatives from 48 African nations.
Damage to lifeboats aboard the Mein Schiff 3 could force some passengers to cancel their trip
A cruise liner has collided with a container ship while departing Bremerhaven in northwestern Germany for a voyage to the Canary Islands.
The incident involving the Mein Schiff 3 occurred on Sunday in poor weather brought by storm Manja. Strong crosswinds appeared to overpower the tugboats assisting the 293-meter vessel down the Weser River. The collision was filmed from aboard the liner.
Hamburg-based operator TUI Cruises reported no injuries among the 2,428 guests and 922 crew members aboard the ship. The vessel was brought back to the pier for a damage assessment.
Media reports and footage indicate that at least three lifeboats were seriously damaged, potentially disrupting the voyage unless they can be replaced promptly. In similar cases, operators have negotiated cancellations with some guests to bring the number of people aboard into line with the remaining lifeboat capacity.
Die „Mein Schiff 3“ kollidiert beim Auslaufen in Bremerhaven mit einem Containerschiff. Aufnahmen zeigen die Wucht des Zusammenstoßes; mehrere Rettungsboote wurden offenbar beschädigt. Nach bisherigen Berichten gab es keine Verletzten. Die Unfallursache muss untersucht werden.
Doch ich frage mich grundsätzlich: Wie lange wollen wir noch eine Kreuzfahrtindustrie fördern, deren Geschäftsmodell mit enormen Treibhausgasemissionen verbunden ist? Luxus auf See darf nicht bedeuten, dass die Umwelt die Rechnung bezahlt. Wir brauchen einen konsequenten Ausstieg aus besonders klimaschädlichen Kreuzfahrten. Klimaschutz ist keine freiwillige Zusatzleistung!
The Mein Schiff 3 was beginning a 20-day ‘Timeless Canary Islands’ cruise, with its first stop scheduled for October 28 in the Spanish port of A Coruna.
The MSC Victorine, which the liner struck, also postponed its departure for Hamburg following the collision.
An initial police report mentioned a third vessel involved in the collision, although footage suggests the Mein Schiff 3 narrowly missed the smaller container ship MSC Anne F. before hitting the Victorine.
Some reports said two tugboats were also damaged. Shipping was temporarily suspended after the incident.
The upcoming summit is set to assess the impact and effectiveness of Russia’s African policy since 2019
The Russia-Africa Summit taking place in Moscow on October 28-29 will be the third of its kind, and relations have undergone a great transformation since the first summit. Over the past seven years, permanent frameworks have been established, diplomatic presence has expanded, and trade turnover has grown.
This year’s summit will provide an opportunity to evaluate the results of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan, which was adopted at the second summit. It contains 181 points covering politics and security, trade, investment, agriculture, energy, industry, transport, digitalization, science, education, and humanitarian cooperation.
Prior to 2022, expert discussions focused mainly on Africa’s place among Moscow’s foreign policy priorities. However, in the past four years, the practical importance of Russia’s relationship with the continent has surged.
African nations have become a higher priority for Russia in terms of diplomacy, business, foreign trade, and international coordination. Today, the primary focus is on the quality of cooperation.
The first Russia-Africa Summit, held in Sochi in October 2019, brought together all 54 African nations, including more than 40 heads of state and government. Its most significant outcome was the establishment of a pan-African approach in Russian foreign policy. This set a framework for regular summits, the ongoing work of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, and cooperation with the African Union.
The second summit took place in St. Petersburg in July 2023 and was attended by delegations from 49 African states, 17 of which were led by heads of state. A three-year Action Plan adopted there featured key topics such as financial settlements, banking ties, logistics, investments, information technology, industry, and transport. Following the summit, expert discussions increasingly focused on shipping, insurance, correspondent accounts, currency settlements, and project finance – that is, issues that directly impact corporate business activity and trade volumes.
Cooperation has since become multi-dimensional. In November 2024, the first Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum took place in Sochi, followed by a second such conference in Cairo in December 2025. In July, African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held high-level consultations in Addis Ababa.
Russia’s diplomatic network has also expanded.There are currently 45 Russian embassies physically operating in African nations. Since 2023, embassies have resumed operations in Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Niger, and Sierra Leone, and a new Russian embassy was opened in South Sudan. The opening of embassies in the Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Comoros are next on the agenda. A separate Department for Partnership with Africa has been established within the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The developments are, step-by-step, reducing the extent to which the African agenda depends on meetings between leaders.
Russia’s political presence in Africa has been expanding faster than economic ties. At the same time, tangible progress has been made in commerce: trade turnover between Russia and Africa grew from $16.8 billion in 2019, when the first summit was held, to $27.1 billion in 2025.
However, a pronounced imbalance persists: in 2025, Russian exports accounted for $22.7 billion, while imports amounted to only about $4.4 billion. Much of the growth seen in recent years is linked to shifts in the external environment and the redirection of trade flows. Establishing a sustainable presence, however, requires direct supply channels, infrastructure, local partners, and financing.
The geography of economic ties is also uneven, with about 70% of total trade turnover still concentrated in North African countries. Food, fertilizers, fuel, and metals account for a significant portion of trade turnover. The modest scale of economic engagement becomes clear when compared to that of other major powers; for example, China-Africa trade reached $348 billion in 2025.
Moscow’s policy currently commands fewer financial resources. To make its presence in Africa more effective, Russia is focusing on the sectors where it possesses the necessary technologies and expertise, and where demand is stable. These include the agro-industrial complex, nuclear energy, the extractive industries, digitalization, information security, and education.
Russia maintains a strong position in the food and fertilizer sectors. Following the 2023 summit, a pledge to provide free shipments of wheat to six African countries was fulfilled. In 2024, Russia delivered 200,000 tons of grain (valued at approximately $60 million) to Mali, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Somalia, and the Central African Republic. The deliveries were made independently of any international organizations, which means Russia is establishing a sovereign infrastructure for food supplies to African nations and engages with importers directly.
The next phase of cooperation could focus on developing production capacities in African nations. The African Union’s agenda prioritizes fertilizer production, the storage and processing of agricultural products, mechanization, seed production, transport infrastructure, and enhancing local added value. Talks between Russia and the African Union in July 2026 addressed industrialization, the expansion of trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and food security.
This approach aligns with the objectives of Agenda 2063 – the African Union’s development blueprint –which calls for the strengthening of national economies, fostering domestic production, creating jobs, and reducing reliance on external supplies. The AfCFTA, designed to dismantle trade barriers between the nations of the region and establish a unified market, supports these same goals. Within this framework, fertilizer production, raw material processing, the establishment of service centers, the assembly of machinery, and the training of local specialists help build a sustainable presence in markets.
Cooperation in the field of nuclear energy also offers long-term benefits. The construction of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in Egypt is Russia’s largest infrastructure project on the African continent, generating long-term demand for technical support, fuel, personnel training, and maintenance services. In the humanitarian sphere, education plays a comparable role: tens of thousands of students from Africa are currently enrolled in Russian universities. Value is further amplified when educational programs are linked to specific economic projects.
African demand
The context for cooperation with Africa has also evolved. One of the most notable shifts has been the development of the AfCFTA. By 2026, 50 of the 54 signatory countries had ratified the agreement. The primary challenge now is to ensure that free trade becomes a practical reality. Participants have agreed to phase out tariffs on 90% of product categories – a process set to take five years for more developed economies and 10 years for the least developed nations.
Concurrently, the African Union has taken a more active role in coordinating relations with external partners. African governments are cultivating ties with China, the EU, the US, India, Türkiye, the Persian Gulf states, Japan, South Korea, and other countries. Such diversification has become standard foreign policy practice. For several nations, most notably those in the Sahel, Russia has emerged as a high-priority foreign policy partner.
The summit in St. Petersburg in 2023 demonstrated the autonomy of African diplomacy. Prior to the meeting, an African peace delegation visited Kiev and St. Petersburg, presenting their own proposals for resolving the conflict. African leaders raised concerns with the Russian leadership regarding food security and the impact of the hostilities on the continent’s economy. For Moscow, this may signal a need to engage with partners who maintain a broad range of foreign policy options.
The number of leaders attending the summit in fact only offers a limited perspective on the state of relations. A more meaningful indicator lies in the ongoing cooperation with the African Union Commission, the AfCFTA, regional economic communities, relevant government ministries, and private-sector companies.
What are instruments of sovereignty?
There are 54 countries in Africa, and all are very different. The pan-African format is most suitable for education and humanitarian cooperation, international coordination, and shared economic initiatives. Practical projects, however, are better implemented at the level of individual countries and sectors.
Russia’s experience in recent years highlights the value of stable regional powers with large economies and well-developed external ties – such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and several others. Entering these markets, however, requires more thorough preparation and a solid understanding of local conditions. At the same time, the scale of these economies opens up opportunities for long-term projects. Such ventures can serve not only the market of a single country but may also supply neighboring states, gradually expanding the presence of Russian companies throughout the region.
Another promising direction is the exchange of experience in the field of technologies that expand the practical capabilities of the nation in management – generally referred to as “instruments of sovereignty.” In the agricultural sector, these are food reserve systems, the forecasting of climate risks and the storage and processing of products. In the digital sphere, it is data localization, government information systems, satellite communications and fiber optic infrastructure. In the extractive industry, it is geological exploration, personnel training, and regulatory instruments that stimulate the processing of raw materials in the country.
This approach is giving practical meaning to Russia’s rhetoric about sovereignty. Results can be measured by an increase in new capacities, trained specialists, a reduction in import dependence and an increase in the tax base.
What will the Moscow summit show?
The practical results of the summit may be assessed according to five parameters. First, the public assessment of the implementation of the 2023-2026 Action Plan (including by the African side) will reveal functioning aspects, delayed initiatives, and projects that require revision. Then comes the new 2027-2029 Action Plan: Its measurable objectives and realistic timelines will facilitate the work of relevant departments. Third is financial infrastructure: export lending, risk insurance, banking support, and working settlement mechanisms are important for business.
Another important point is deepening the economic presence: developing projects, service centers, processing, energy and digital infrastructure. Lastly there is country prioritization, which means that limited resources necessitate that projects be chosen with a clear economic or political effect.
The 2026 summit will essentially serve as an evaluation of Russia’s policy in Africa over the past seven years. This period allows us to separate functioning projects from initiatives that exist mainly as part of the public agenda. The next three-year cycle will show to what extent Russia can play to its strengths and build sustainable mechanisms for financing, trade, local production, personnel training, and constant interaction with African institutions.
The security agency says it knew of the alleged operation in advance and choose the moment to intervene
A Ukrainian plot to damage a key component of Moscow’s air defense system has been thwarted, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
In a statement on Monday, the agency accused the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of organizing the operation and recruiting a man in Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk Region to carry it out. The SBU allegedly supplied him with small drones and improvised explosive devices.
The suspect recruited another person, and the pair retrieved the equipment in Russia’s Smolensk and Kaluga regions before heading to Moscow Region, the FSB said. They were allegedly tasked with assembling the drones, fitting them with explosives and positioning them near two targets: an air defense site and an energy facility.
Russian investigators were reportedly aware of the operation in advance and intervened at a time of their choosing.
A video released by the FSB includes footage apparently recorded by a third person as equipment was retrieved from a cache and one of the drones assembled in the field, with instructions relayed live over a phone.
The agency did not identify that person, but said alerting the authorities to a planned crime could exempt an informant from criminal liability.
The two suspects, identified only as foreign nationals from the Caucasus region, face up to 15 years in prison on terrorism charges.
Moscow is among the most heavily defended parts of Russia. During the record Ukrainian drone attack on the capital on September 19–20, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said more than 1,600 drones were intercepted across defensive lines, including 450 which were approaching the city.
Kiev has previously used infiltrators in attempts to deploy short-range quadcopters carrying explosives for sabotage or targeted assassinations.
Moscow is willing to work with the incoming government of the former opposition for mutual benefit, Dmitry Peskov has said
Russia is willing to maintain mutually beneficial relations with Serbia after the opposition Student List movement forms a new government following its election victory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Outgoing Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic has conceded defeat for his United Serbia coalition in Sunday’s vote. Peskov on Monday hailed Vucic for playing a constructive role in maintaining ties with Moscow amid pressure by the European Union.
“We express hope that their actions will similarly be aimed constructively at further development of our relationship and that these new political forces realize that cooperation with Russia meets Serbia’s interests,” he said.
“But, as you know, it takes two to tango,” the official added.
Vucic, who Peskov noted intends to remain involved with Serbian politics, previously claimed that Student List candidates intend to bend to Brussels’ pressure and impose anti-Russian sanctions as soon as next spring. The movement has denied such plans on the campaign trail.
The Student List is projected to secure a majority in the parliament, positioning it to form a single-party government.
Serbia has been on the road to join the European Union for over a decade, having been granted candidate status in 2012. Following the 2022 escalation of the Ukraine conflict, Brussels made alignment of foreign policy mandatory for nations seeking EU membership, forcing Belgrade to choose between making progress on its path or maintaining its traditionally good relations with Russia.
The bloc’s leaders rushed to congratulate the student-led opposition on its projected victory before the official vote count was complete
Serbia’s student-led opposition is leading in Sunday’s snap parliamentary election, according to preliminary results. Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused unnamed European powers and anti-Trump forces in the US of meddling in the vote to “bring down a sovereign country.”
According to preliminary results published by the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) early Monday, the opposition Student List leads with 51.84% of the vote, compared with 39.77% for Vucic’s United Serbia coalition, with nearly 93% of polling stations reporting.
The official figures have moved closer to the final projection by pollster Ipsos and election monitor CeSID overnight, which put the Student List at 52.9% and Vucic’s coalition at 38.8%, based on their stratified sample.
In his remarks earlier on election night, Vucic accused foreign powers of helping engineer his political downfall, describing the vote as the “verification of a revolution” carried out with direct support from “various European countries and the American deep state,” which he said was opposed to US President Donald Trump.
“I congratulate them, although they are merely the executors, the executors of dirty work devised by someone else to bring down a sovereign country,” Vucic said, referring to the student-led opposition.
“You have succeeded for the moment. For how long? We shall see,” he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa were quick to congratulate the Student List, issuing virtually identical statements on X. Both pledged Brussels’ support for reforms and efforts to advance Serbia’s integration into the EU.
Vucic also warned that a new government could impose sanctions on Russia within months, despite opposition representatives insisting that Belgrade’s policy toward Moscow would remain unchanged.
The former Serbian leader nevertheless pledged to respect the electorate’s decision and continue his political struggle from the opposition, dismissing speculation that he would flee the country.
“I love Serbia. I will never leave Serbia,” Vucic declared, insisting that his party would remain united and politically active.
The election follows nearly two years of political unrest sparked by the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad in November 2024, which killed 16 people and fueled allegations of corruption and failures in safety oversight. Vucic resigned as president on September 27 to participate in the parliamentary race.
His right-wing rival, Flavio Bolsonaro lost by 51.79% to 48.21% and has refused to concede, vowing to seek an annulment of the vote
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has received congratulations from Latin American nations and fellow BRICS members after winning reelection as Brazil’s president.
Lula prevailed over right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro and an ally of US President Donald Trump, in the second round of the vote on Sunday.
The 80-year-old veteran politician secured 51.79% of valid votes against Bolsonaro’s 48.21%, according to the completed count published by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), winning a historic fourth term by more than 4.4 million votes.
The victory means Latin America’s largest economy is set to maintain its prominent role in BRICS rather than shift closer to Washington under the Bolsonaro political dynasty. The defeated challenger had openly questioned Brazil’s membership in the bloc, accusing Lula of using it to antagonize the United States.
Addressing jubilant crowds in Sao Paulo, Lula thanked Brazilians for his reelection and singled out young people who had taken to the streets during the campaign.
“Today, my remarks are about gratitude,” he declared, pledging to give citizens a greater say in government decisions. “We are going to change the way this country is governed.”
However, Bolsonaro has refused to concede defeat and vowed to seek the annulment of the election, accusing the Supreme Court of improperly interfering in the vote.
“Brazil cannot accept this dirty trick,” he declared, denouncing the last-minute decision to extend voting hours nationwide by two hours as “unacceptable” and equivalent to “changing the rules of the game while the game was being played.”
The controversial ruling by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, Lula’s former personal lawyer, followed complaints from the incumbent’s campaign that public transport disruptions had prevented voters from reaching polling stations.
However, Bolsonaro did not mention that his own campaign had also requested extended voting hours in several cities affected by severe weather.
The decision came shortly after the original 5 PM deadline, when many polling stations had already closed and sealed their electronic voting machines. Senior judges have reportedly acknowledged procedural errors in handling the extension but ruled out annulling the election, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
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Vyacheslav Volodin calls for removal of trade barriers and expansion of joint ventures during talks in New Delhi
Trade between India and Russia has grown by more than 20% this year, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said during talks in New Delhi on Sunday, where he called for the removal of trade barriers and the expansion of joint business ventures.
Volodin met the speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla, ahead of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which New Delhi is hosting on October 26-27. The discussions covered closer cooperation on trade, industry and agriculture, along with the strengthening of parliamentary ties.
Bilateral commerce reached $47.7 billion in the first seven months of 2026, up 24.3% from a year earlier, according to data from the Indian Commerce Ministry, cited by Russian lender Sberbank.
India imported $44.9 billion of Russian goods during the period, including $36 billion in crude oil. Indian exports to Russia totaled $2.8 billion, with Moscow increasing purchases of chemicals, electrical goods, medical equipment, seafood, tea, and spices. Volodin credited Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with advancing bilateral ties.
🇮🇳🇷🇺 'Dynamic' Modi & Putin Set The Pace: Russian Duma Chief Says Moscow & Delhi Align On Global Issues
Vyacheslav Volodin told Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that bilateral ties are advancing across sectors, stressing that parliamentarians must ensure agreements reached by the countries' leaders are translated into law.
The duo met ahead of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi.
Lawmakers should “provide legislative support for all decisions made at the level of heads of state,” he said, according to TASS. Birla highlighted opportunities to expand cooperation in nuclear energy and other industrial sectors, while calling for regular exchanges between the two parliaments.
The expansion in commerce comes as New Delhi and Moscow work toward reaching $100 billion in annual bilateral trade by 2030. India is seeking to narrow its trade imbalance with Russia by increasing exports of pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, chemicals, food products, and auto components.
The countries have also strengthened local currency payment mechanisms to facilitate trade. Ruble-rupee settlements now account for 96% of bilateral transactions, Ivan Nosov, head of Sberbank India, said in September.
The two countries are working to address standards-related issues and non-tariff barriers affecting Indian agricultural and marine exports. India is also negotiating a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Russia, to improve market access.
Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar said earlier this month that expanding the range of traded products and easing market restrictions would be central to increasing bilateral commerce.
Another 17 people, including a child, were injured as a result of the attack on Voronezh, Aleksandr Gusev has said
Two people have been killed and 17 others injured, including a child, in a Ukrainian overnight drone raid on the southern Russian city of Voronezh, Governor Aleksandr Gusev has reported.
Most of the victims in the attack come from a single apartment block that was hit by a downed drone, the official said on Monday morning. Two of the injured people are in serious condition, he added.
Gusev said regional air defenses engaged 113 targets overnight, including 70 drones that were intercepted over the city.
A similar large-scale Ukrainian drone raid on Belgorod over the weekend killed two civilians and left 13 others wounded.
Kiev continues its long-range strikes on Russian cities amid renewed pressure from Washington to end its conflict with Moscow.
Last week, tech billionaire Elon Musk accused Vladimir Zelensky of abusing his Starlink satellite internet service to conduct strikes against civilians. The rebuke came after Zelensky complained about speed limitations imposed on Starlink terminals, which reportedly made them useless on fast-moving platforms.
Starlink reportedly operates only over the part of Russia that the US recognizes as Ukrainian territory. Zelensky has for years been lobbying Musk and the administration of US President Donald Trump to extend the coverage to other parts of the country, including after Washington renewed its efforts to find a resolution to the conflict.
People typing queries in Ukrainian get answers in the other language because of “geographic reference,” Kiev’s ombudswoman has said
Ukrainian language ombudswoman Elena Ivanovskaya has accused Google of not doing enough to promote the national tongue in the global digital environment. The US tech giant’s search engine often provides results to Ukrainians in Russian even when the queries are typed in Ukrainian, she told a local media outlet.
The government has been cracking down on the use of the Russian language in Ukraine since the 2014 Western-backed Maidan coup, using what Moscow has repeatedly denounced as discriminatory practices.
Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko introduced restrictions on the import of books from Russia and Belarus in 2016, which became an outright ban in 2023. Kiev also purged Russian literature from state curricula and systematically removed cultural monuments, memorials, and inscriptions to remove historical links to Russia.
Kiev seeks to block access to Russian music on international streaming platforms inside Ukraine and prevent its performers from appearing in domestic popularity charts, according to Ukrainian Sanctions Policy commissioner Vladislav Vlasiuk. More than 100 Russian performers have been blacklisted in Ukraine, and the list will be expanded, according to the official.
In an interview with the outlet Censor.net, Ivanovskaya stated that her office had filed a formal complaint with Google over its search algorithms. “For example, when a user enters a search query in Ukrainian, the system returns results in Russian – solely because of the user’s geographic location,” she stated, adding that her office asked the company to address the supposed lack of “accuracy of their search result algorithms.”
The Ukrainian authorities have banned the use of any language other than Ukrainian in the public sphere, including government, education, media, and customer service. Violations can result in administrative fines of up to $270.
Ivanovskaya has previously suggested increasing the fines tenfold and demanded Russian-speaking children and parents use Ukrainian during breaks and in conversations with teachers, arguing that both instances fall under the “public sphere rule” and could be punished with fines.
Despite the concerted persecution campaign, Russian remains widely used in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian polling data, as many as 46% of country’s nationals spoke Russian in everyday life before the conflict escalated in 2022. Another survey last year showed the number of Russian speakers had fallen to 30% since four former Ukrainian territories, including the Donbass republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions formally joined Russia after a series of referendums.
Ukrainian Culture Minister Tatyana Berezhnaya said earlier this year that 71% of Ukrainians regularly consume Russian-language content, with nearly a quarter doing so every day.
Moscow has repeatedly denounced the discriminatory measures as “Russophobic censorship,” warning that attempts to “cancel” Russian culture will ultimately fail.
Montes Claros City councilwoman Iara Pimentel was injured by a projectile at a campaign event
A politician from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s party was injured when attackers threw stones and bottles at a campaign vehicle on the eve of Sunday’s crucial presidential runoff.
The violent incident came as Brazilians voted in a tightly contested election between left-wing incumbent Lula, who has championed closer ties with BRICS nations, and right-wing challenger and Donald Trump ally Flavio Bolsonaro.
Montes Claros City councilwoman Iara Pimentel, a member of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT), was struck in the face during a campaign event late Saturday night in Minas Gerais state in southeastern Brazil, according to state news agency Agencia Brasil (ABr).
Video footage showed bottles, bricks, and other objects being thrown at the campaign vehicle carrying the politician. Later images showed her bloodied face.
Ajudem essas imagens a chegar à policia! Não podemos permitir que esse tipo de gente, que estimula o ódio, governo o país! https://t.co/51eU79KCLR
She was taken to a local hospital by ambulance, ABr reported.
“Thinking differently is a right. Political violence is a threat to democracy. No disagreement can justify acts of aggression or put lives at risk,” Pimentel said in a statement cited by the agency.
Ana Elisa, a 21-year-old congresswoman-elect from Lula’s Workers’ Party representing Minas Gerais, condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
Lula also condemned what he described as multiple incidents of violence during the election.
“The most sacred thing in democracy is democratic coexistence in diversity,” he said, according to ABr, arguing that neighbors should be able to support different political candidates and sports teams or hold different beliefs without resorting to violence.
The assault occurred just hours before polls opened on Sunday and weeks after the close of the first round of Brazil’s presidential election on October 4. Lula received just over 45%, while 47% went to Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup following his 2022 election defeat. Trump has described the former president’s prosecution as a “witch hunt.”
The election has also been marred by allegations of interference by US tech giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta blocked the Facebook advertising account used by Lula’s team ahead of the first round on October 4, then prevented his official Instagram account from boosting posts days later, according to campaign officials.
Meta denied politically interfering in the election, but internal company messages acknowledged technical restrictions affecting Lula’s Instagram account, Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported last week, citing internal communications.
Western-made munitions have been deployed in the attack on the city of Oryol, Andrey Klychkov has said
Three people have been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on the Russian city of Oryol, Governor Andrey Klychkov has said.
The bodies were recovered from the rubble of a civilian enterprise targeted by Kiev on Friday, Klychkov announced on Saturday.
According to the governor, Ukrainian forces used NATO-made missiles in the attack. He shared photos of missile fragments bearing markings in English as evidence of their alleged Western origin.
Klychkov did not specify the type of weapons used, although Russian military bloggers earlier claimed that Kiev had fired British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
The governor condemned Friday’s strike as “especially cynical,” saying it took place during rush hour, when people were returning home from work to their families.
Ukrainian attacks continued overnight, with Russian air defenses downing 15 drones over the region, according to Klychkov. A new missile alert was issued on Saturday morning.
Oryol, a city of nearly 290,000 residents, lies approximately 368km southwest of Moscow.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that Western arms supplies, intelligence sharing, and targeting assistance to Kiev make NATO countries direct participants in the conflict. In August, Russia cautioned London that British military facilities and equipment, both in Ukraine and elsewhere, could become legitimate targets in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory using UK-supplied weapons.
Russia has accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure to compensate for battlefield setbacks as Moscow’s forces continue to advance.
In response to Ukrainian terrorist attacks, Russia has intensified long-range missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s military facilities and infrastructure supporting Kiev’s war effort. Moscow maintains that its forces do not target civilians.
Senate threats over Russia sanctions waivers can scare companies off, hurting fuel supplies and driving up costs for everyone
With Americans struggling from soaring energy prices, and businesses across the country trying to keep their heads above water, the Democrats’ apparent priority is to threaten companies that might help ease the pressure.
According to an October 22 Washington Post report, Senate Democrats are preparing to investigate American companies involved in US President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has reportedly asked businesses to preserve relevant documents ahead of possible congressional investigations, should Democrats regain control of Congress in the November midterms.
For a party that claims to champion working Americans, this is a peculiar way of demonstrating its concern.
Diesel is the lifeblood of the American economy. It powers the trucks that carry food to supermarkets, the tractors that harvest crops, the machinery that builds homes and roads, and the locomotives that move freight across the vast country.
Yet the people who depend on it have too often been treated as an afterthought by the Washington establishment. They live and work in the industrial towns, farming communities and sprawling rural counties that coastal political elites dismiss as flyover country.
Just recall Hillary Clinton’s infamous 2016 description of millions of Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables” – a perfect crystallization of the contempt that many ordinary Americans felt was directed at them by the Democrats.
A decade later, that perception is unlikely to be helped by the Democratic lawmakers’ threats to investigate businesses for participating in an arrangement intended to bring additional fuel to the market.
The timing makes those threats extra galling. America is facing an energy crunch aggravated by the Trump administration’s own military campaign against Iran. There is no reason to pretend otherwise. Yes, the president’s decisions helped disrupt global energy markets, and Americans are entitled to demand answers about their consequences.
But recognizing that responsibility does not mean opposing every subsequent attempt to alleviate the damage.
Trump’s decision to temporarily ease restrictions on Russian diesel represents an effort to increase available supplies at a time when the market desperately needs relief. It is a pragmatic response to an immediate economic problem, whatever one thinks of the circumstances that created it.
And now Democrats are determined to make that response costly for the companies willing to participate.
Congress has every right to examine whether the administration acted within its legal authority. But threatening private businesses with investigations for engaging in transactions authorized by the federal government is another matter entirely. If those companies comply with the law, why should they have to fear becoming targets of a future congressional majority?
The actual volume of Russian diesel involved is almost beside the point. Moscow initially pledged to release some 300,000 metric tons of diesel, with further shipments promised in the following months – a modest quantity compared to America’s enormous fuel consumption.
But that’s not what the markets will be reacting to. They react to expectations, regulatory certainty and the willingness of businesses to undertake transactions without fearing political retaliation. And now, even a lawful, government-authorized energy deal could expose companies to years of investigations simply because a different party took power.
Just imagine the chilling effect.
Today, the dispute concerns a relatively small quantity of fuel from one supplier. Tomorrow, the same approach could be applied to other commodities, trading partners or commercial arrangements that fall afoul of Washington’s shifting ideological priorities.
In effect, the Democrats want to hold American energy security hostage to domestic political warfare.
And for what? The ostensible objective is to keep pressuring Russia.
For years, Moscow has faced sweeping Western sanctions, restrictions on financial transactions and efforts to shut its energy exports out of international markets. None of this has forced Russia to accept any of the West’s demands.
Russia has shown it can adapt and endure economic pressure. While not entirely painless, sanctions have consistently failed to produce the political outcome their advocates have called and hoped for.
Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly signaled that it remains prepared to negotiate to reasonable counterparts that would take Russia’s own security concerns and national interests into account. Whether those positions are acceptable to Washington is a matter for diplomacy – and refusing to talk altogether is not diplomacy.
Trump is willing to acknowledge that Russia remains a major power with which the US must eventually find a workable relationship. It’s the baseline level of recognition of political reality one expects from the leader of a major world power.
What the Democrats are doing is the international-politics equivalent of pressing their hands to their ears and shouting ‘La La La’ at the top of their lungs.
The truck driver paying more at the pump, the farmer counting operating costs for the next season and the small-business owner watching expenses climb have little interest in Washington’s political theater. They want affordable fuel, predictable costs and a government that remembers whom it is supposed to serve.
Threatening investigations to discourage companies from helping supply the American market is not sending the message the Democrats seem to think it’s sending. It suggests that, to them, political obedience matters more than keeping the country running.
And ordinary Americans could once again be left paying the bill.
The arms maker is working furiously to build new variants and up-arm existing ones for future battlefields
The BrahMos corporation is working to add more destructive power and reach to its namesake supersonic cruise missile, following its spectacular combat successes last year.
The operational and functional parameters of the missile are being upgraded, and new versions are in the works, the CEO and managing director of the joint venture between India and Russia, Jaiteerth Joshi, told local media recently.
Named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, the BrahMos is engineered for high-precision, long-range strikes. The missile offers militaries the versatility to engage threats using land, sea, and underwater platforms.
BrahMos earned its stripes last year when the Indian and Pakistani militaries briefly clashed with missiles and drones, following a terrorist attack on civilians in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state.
As the two militaries tested each other with drones, India fired BrahMos missiles to strike hardened high-value targets, including hangars reportedly housing Pakistan’s US-made F-16 fighter jets.
India has said there was not a single interception of the BrahMos during the clashes, dubbed Operation Sindoor, and buyer interest has risen since.
BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya.
BrahMos’ trajectory into the future
BrahMos started as a land-launched cruise missile, but its developers have worked to give it more flexibility and lethality as battlefield needs evolved and expanded.
The missile, which flies at nearly three times the speed of sound and carries a 200 to 300 kg warhead, had an initial range of 290 km but continuous upgrades have extended its reach.
In 2023, the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully tested a version with a 450 km range. Mated to the Su-30MKI fighter, this variant, called the BrahMos-A, offers the IAF a standoff precision strike capability that few air forces in the world can match.
There is also a Block III land-attack variant, which can fly very low and approach targets from unexpected angles – dodging any defenses the enemy may try to throw at it.
The BrahMos corporation is working on a long and ambitious list of upgrades. At the top of the current development efforts sits a lighter, air-launched variant.
Christened the BrahMos-NG, it can be flown on the IAF’s other fighter jets, including the domestically produced Tejas light combat aircraft. The Su-30MKI will be able to sortie armed with three of these missiles.
The BrahMos-NG will feature higher domestically-produced content and advanced materials. The Indo-Russian joint venture expects to unveil this prototype by 2027-28.
The BrahMos corporation is also working on a very long-range missile. This version would be able to strike targets up to 1,500 km away, far more than the 290 km range of the original missile unveiled in the early 2000s.
This long-range version is at the conceptual stage, and the company is discussing further upgrades with its Russian joint venture partner. Joshi has told Indian media outlets in recent interviews that the range-extension program will proceed in phases, with test firings from land, sea, and air to validate the missile’s operational capabilities.
Also, on the missile maker’s drawing board is a hypersonic version – the new frontier of modern warfare – currently called BrahMos II.
The concept aims to integrate advanced technologies, state-of-the-art design, and smart materials to field a hypersonic futuristic weapon that will dominate fast-evolving battlefield technology.
BrahMos II will have an “air-breathing” scramjet engine that would boost it to a top speed of Mach 5.
The missile has already been sold to multiple countries, and many others have shown an interest in buying it.
One of the first foreign customers of the Indo-Russian missile was the Philippines, with Manila signing a $375 million contract in 2022. The first batch of BrahMos missiles was delivered to the country in April 2024, and the second in April 2025.
In June this year, India confirmed it had a deal with Vietnam to supply the missiles.
Indonesia, which has also evinced interest, has moved forward with procurement plans.
In addition, over a dozen nations including Malaysia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Chile, and South Africa have evaluated or expressed a formal interest in the BrahMos missile system.
BrahMos is gearing up for a demand surge
The BrahMos project is a trailblazer in India’s defense industry. It broke the shackles of excessive bureaucratic controls that were once the hallmark of Indian state-owned defense corporations that had forced the country to remain a major arms importer.
Effective management and the synergizing of commercial viability, strike capabilities, and indigenization have helped the missile become the battlefield success it is, whie making inroads into the global arms market.
With a burgeoning order book, BrahMos corporation is prioritizing the fulfillment of orders received from the Indian armed forces, for whom the missile is a primary strike weapon. India recently contracted for more BrahMos launchers and fire-control systems, so more of its warships can be armed with the missile.
The missile maker now has production facilities in four Indian cities: Hyderabad, Nagpur, Pilani and Lucknow. Research and development clusters, nicknamed ‘tech-bricks’ have been set up to work on niche technologies for the next generation missiles.
The supply chain is being expanded to make it more robust and resilient – and to meet an expected surge in demand. For this, the company will expand the industry partners for each system and subsystem to up to 45, from the current one or two partners.
India’s arms export ambitions ride on BrahMos
New Delhi is gradually setting its sights to make a complete transformation from being one of the biggest arms importers to a major defense exporter.
It also simultaneously wants to see more domestically produced components and technology being used in its products. Indian defense exports registered an impressive 67% annual growth to reach $4 billion in the financial year ended March.
The federal government’s annual defense production target is $31 billion by 2029, of which defense exports are pegged at $5.5 billion.
BrahMos will be key to New Delhi’s ambitious goals to emerge as a major global arms exporter.
Right-wing firebrand Marine Le Pen is widely seen as the front runner in the election scheduled for next spring, according to several polls
France’s presidential hopefuls are turning burning streets, smashed storefronts, and accusations of police brutality into campaign ammunition, RT’s Oumaima Ichchar has reported.
While right-wing firebrand and potential front runner Marine Le Pen blames collapsing state authority, her left-wing rival, Jean-Luc Melenchon, accuses the government of failing to hear the voice of the people.
Nationwide protests began in September over underfunded schools and rising living costs, and escalated into widespread violence last week. Rioters have torched cars, looted or damaged thousands of businesses, and set fire to Limoges’ 143-year-old city hall. The clashes have also left hundreds of protesters and law enforcement officers injured and led to thousands of arrests.
In some of the most brazen incidents, a 15-year-old boy lost a hand to a police grenade, while a 17-year-old girl permanently lost sight in one eye after being struck by a projectile in Mulhouse. Macron, meanwhile, blamed radical-left militants and criminals for much of the destruction, and on Thursday ordered the local authorities to ban protests and restrict officially organized marches.
The unrest came ahead of the French presidential election scheduled for the spring of 2027, in which Macron is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. His potential successors, however, have scrambled to use the protests to score votes.
Le Pen has urged a tougher crackdown on rioters to restore order. “Our country is caught in a vice, if not held hostage, between violence and powerlessness,” Le Pen said, pledging support for police and demanding tougher penalties for rioters. National Rally president Jordan Bardella blamed far-left militants and criminals from the suburbs for the unrest, proposing to suspend family benefits for repeat offenders and make vandals pay for damage.
On the left, Melenchon backed the protests while pointing to a growing disconnect between the public and the institutions. “French democracy is in a very bad way,” the ‘France Unbowed’ leader said, calling for greater public participation and constitutional change.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe, two former prime ministers under Macron, sought to distance themselves from their ex-boss, whose approval rating has sunk to a record low of 15%, according to an October Ipsos survey. While Attal insisted that the priority should be the defense of people and property, Philippe called for the “reestablishment of the authority of the state, the punishment of looters and vandals, as well as a detailed method for restoring discussion with high school students and trade union organizations.”
Recent polls show Le Pen – who has long ridden a wave of public discontent over immigration, crime, and the rising cost of living – holding a commanding lead over her rivals ahead of the 2027 election. An OpinionWay survey published on Thursday put her at 36% in the first round, compared to 16% for Melenchon, and 12% for Philippe. A separate Ifop-Fiducial poll conducted after the October 17 unrest also placed Le Pen ahead in every hypothetical second-round matchup, including 56% against Philippe and 68% against Melenchon.
Senate Democrats reportedly plan to investigate US companies involved in the deal, while Republican warhawk Brian Fitzpatrick has tabled a bill blocking Russian oil imports outright
A number of American lawmakers intend to block the Trump administration’s deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel through April and are threatening action against US companies involved in the trade. The bipartisan group is also planning to block the US Treasury from issuing such a waiver in the future.
US President Donald Trump announced the deal earlier this month, as US diesel prices hit a record $6.50+ per gallon in September and prices in parts of California topped $8. Under the waiver, struck just weeks ahead of the impending November midterm elections, Moscow agreed to immediately put 300,000 tons of diesel into the market, and commit to further releases.
The disruption of global energy markets, caused by the Iran war and the Ukraine conflict, has resulted in rising gas prices in the US, further denting the positions of Republicans ahead of the vote. Diesel is the key fuel type extensively used in agriculture and freight; its price affects the cost of virtually all goods, resulting in further cost-of-living issues. Rural communities, smalltime farmers, and truckers are particularly vulnerable to diesel prices spikes.
Senate Democrats are now seeking to investigate the diesel deal, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed Senate Democratic aide. According to the aide, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has requested companies involved in the scheme to preserve documents ahead of a possible probe by the panel.
“[The companies] should have liability concerns as well as investigative concerns,” the aide told WaPo.
Further action against the diesel deal has been taken by Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), an outspoken hawk, Ukraine backer, and proponent of sanctions against Russia. The proposed legislation, titled the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act of 2026, would effectively block Russian oil imports for good.
The bill would nullify the standing Russian oil waiver, “immediately rendering General License 135 ineffective and prohibiting future waivers or general licenses authorizing the importation of Russian energy products,” as well as strip the Treasury from the ability to expend funds “on agreements that violate the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act of 2022,” the legislation that sanctioned Russian energy products, including diesel, in the first place.
Apart from the energy part, the bill also would “reinforce critical intelligence support for Ukraine,” obliging spy agencies to cooperate with Kiev and to “notify congressional intelligence committees within 24 hours of any interruption.”
Anti-government actions inspired by French student unrest are underway in several nations
A new wave of mass protests hit multiple European countries over the weekend. Many of the protests have turned violent, devolving into scuffles between demonstrators and police.
The unrest has largely been inspired by the protests in France, which began in September. Spearheaded by students, they were originally aimed at rising education costs, a lack of teachers, and the poor condition of educational facilities. They eventually morphed into widespread violence and now carry a broader anti-government undertone.
France remains the hotbed of the protests, with at least 410,000 people hitting the streets nationwide on Saturday, including some 110,000 in Paris, according to Interior Ministry figures. The CGT union, one of the key organizers of the demonstrations, put the estimate nearly twice as high, at about 800,000.
The French authorities have implemented strict security measures in an effort to avoid a repeat of widespread rioting over the past weekend. In Paris, the demonstrators were banned from gathering at several central locations, ending up confined to the city’s southeastern edge.
The protests nevertheless turned violent in multiple locations, including Paris, where clashes between police and rowdy demonstrators were observed after the march concluded. Violence has been reported in Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg, Nice, Nantes, and other cities, where law enforcement used riot control measures to repel protesters.
Albania is another hotspot. Riot police repeatedly clashed with demonstrators in Tirana throughout the day as thousands gathered for new anti-government protests. The country has endured months of turmoil sparked by a scandal concerning a major luxury development project linked to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the alleged corruption surrounding it. The protests were reinvigorated last week by a new wave of student-led rioting.
Rebranded Confucius Institute chapters were trying to “infiltrate the minds of American students,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has claimed
The Pentagon has designated cultural programs linked to China’s Confucius Institute as a national security threat, according to US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. He claims that the centers, which largely offer Chinese language courses on American college and university campuses, serve as a front for Beijing’s “propaganda” campaign – an allegation Chinese officials have previously denied.
In a video posted on Facebook on Friday, Hegseth said that while the US Congress had previously “banned” the Confucius Institutes from American educational institutions, they “came back disguised in new forms” and under new names.
Hegseth was apparently referring to several measures passed by Congress in recent years that stripped universities that hosted Confucius Institutes of federal funding. The pressure from the lawmakers has led to the closure of multiple centers on US soil.
According to Hegseth, over the past two months, the Department of War has “systematically dismantled” 80 new Chinese-backed cultural centers across 30 universities, adding “these sleeper organizations to our list of institutions that threaten our national security.”
The official alleged that the targeted entities had sought to “steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students,” but stopped short of providing any concrete evidence.
Back in 2020, the US Department of State designated Confucius Institutes as a “foreign mission of the People’s Republic of China,” requiring the institutions to regularly provide information regarding their Chinese personnel, recruitment, funding, and operations to the US government. The US Department of State characterized the China-funded cultural centers as “part of Beijing’s multifaceted propaganda efforts.”
Later that year, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged that the centers were working to recruit “spies and collaborators” at US colleges, and expressed hope that “we will get them all closed out.”
China’s Foreign Ministry at the time accused Pompeo of deliberately undermining cultural and educational exchanges “by discrediting Confucius Institutes… [out of] ideological bias and political expediency.”
Beijing urged Washington to “abandon the Cold War zero-sum mentality… [and to] stop interfering with normal people-to-people and cultural exchanges.”
Confucius Institutes have similarly come under government pressure in several other Western countries in recent years.
Last year, Australian media reported that six local universities had shut down Beijing-backed cultural centers amid government scrutiny, reducing the number of such entities in the country by half.
In 2020, several media outlets, including The Times, claimed that Sweden had become the first European nation to close all Confucius Institutes and related classrooms.
The billionaire claims American aid is being funneled into US political campaigns while Kiev’s elites enrich themselves
Billionaire Elon Musk has accused US politicians of putting Kiev’s interests ahead of their own country’s, alleging that American taxpayer money sent to Ukraine is being laundered back into political campaigns.
Writing on X on Friday, the SpaceX founder suggested that financial interests could explain why some American lawmakers remain staunch supporters of Kiev in its conflict with Russia.
“Some of that US taxpayer money comes back through multiple laundry machines to fund political campaigns in America, which is why you see some politicians caring more about Ukraine than America!” Musk wrote, without identifying the beneficiaries.
And some of that US taxpayer money comes back through multiple laundry machines to fund political campaigns in America, which is why you see some politicians caring more about Ukraine than America!
In March, US outlet Just the News cited a declassified intelligence summary describing a plan to divert hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid earmarked for clean-energy projects in Ukraine into then-President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.
Trump shared the report on Truth Social, while then-US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard reportedly asked officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to investigate whether the alleged scheme had been carried out.
Musk also accused Ukrainian elites of profiting from Western assistance while ordinary Ukrainians bear the human cost.
“The former have grown very rich off the hundreds of billions flowing to Ukraine, while the latter’s children are conscripted to die in trenches,” he wrote.
Kiev’s increasingly coercive mobilization campaign has been marked by numerous documented cases of forced detentions and violent confrontations involving recruitment officers. Corruption investigations have also exposed schemes allowing wealthier Ukrainians to evade military service.
Ukraine has been rocked by major corruption scandals involving figures close to Vladimir Zelensky. One centered on his longtime associate Timur Mindich and an alleged $100 million bribery and money-laundering operation at state nuclear energy company Energoatom. The scandal forced senior officials from office, including former presidential chief of staff Andrey Yermak, while Mindich fled Ukraine.
Ukrainian investigators have also uncovered what they say is fraud to the tune of $5.6 million involving military drones purchased at prices up to 90% above market rates.
Even Kiev’s staunchest European backers have criticized its failure to deliver promised anti-corruption reforms, warning that billions of euros in assistance could be withheld.
Zelensky is seeking at least €70 billion ($81 billion) in additional foreign assistance for 2027, estimating Ukraine’s total conflict-related spending needs for next year at €155 billion.
European Council President Antonio Costa said on Friday that the EU expects to cover roughly two-thirds of the additional funding, or around €46.7 billion, with a decision potentially coming in November. That sum would come on top of the €45 billion already earmarked for Kiev next year.
The police suspect arson as the cause, according to Bild
The Eagle’s Nest mountainous retreat built for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in the Bavarian Alps has been devastated by a blaze, the German police have said.
The former tea house for the leader of the Third Reich, which was constructed on the peak of the Obersalzberg in southern Germany in 1938, sits at an altitude of 1,834 meters (6,000 feet).
A fire alarm at the Eagle’s Nest went off on Friday evening, and it was completely engulfed in flames by the time emergency services arrived, the police said.
The high elevation complicated the work of some 200 fire fighters, who were only able to extinguish the blaze on Saturday morning, they added.
“It is damaged to a large extent. The house is unlikely to be saved,” a police spokesperson told Bild tabloid.
The police said that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the fire, but revealed no further details.
According to Bild, the detained person was a motorcyclist whom the officers encountered on their way to the burning retreat, but his involvement in the case currently remains unclear. Investigators believe arson caused the fire, the paper’s sources claimed.
Following reports of the blaze, the Bavarian authorities announced plans to rebuild the structure, Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said.
“We will not allow ruins to remain there,” DPA quoted him as saying.
The Eagle’s Nest was one of the few historic building from Hitler’s era to avoid damage by bombing during the World War II. The retreat hosted a museum and a restaurant since the 1950s, becoming a popular tourist destination. It was preserved as “a cautionary reminder of the abysses of the inhumane Nazi dictatorship,” according to its website.
Vladimir Zelensky’s office has pledged to block a regional plan to honor UPA leader Roman Shukhevich, Polish officials claim
Kiev has moved to block a planned tribute to Nazi collaborator Roman Shukhevich, who was involved in the killing of an estimated 100,000 Poles during World War II ethnic purges, officials in Warsaw have claimed.
The reported retreat comes amid a series of disputes between the two countries in recent months over Kiev’s veneration of Nazi-linked figures that have eroded Polish support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
The controversy erupted on Tuesday when the Lviv Regional Council in western Ukraine voted to declare 2027 the Year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and to celebrate the 120th anniversary of its commander Roman Shukhevich while deciding to organize “cultural, memorial, scientific, and mass media events,” as well as exhibitions and national patriotic rallies on the occasion.
The move triggered a fierce response in Poland, which regards the UPA as perpetrators of genocide against Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia and Shukhevich as a key “architect” of the massacres. Before becoming a UPA leader, Shukhevich served in Nazi Germany’s Nachtigall Battalion and the German-controlled 201st Schutzmannschaft Battalion, which operated in occupied Belarus.
On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned the resolution as “unwise” and “suicidal tactics,” saying it “harms Ukraine,” while Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called the move “unacceptable,” warning that it would deepen divisions between the neighboring countries. Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called for the resolution’s key sponsor, Lviv regional lawmaker Svyatoslav Sheremeta, to be put on a list of individuals deemed undesirable in Poland.
Following the backlash, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki said on Wednesday that officials of Vladimir Zelensky’s office had assured Warsaw that the controversial resolutions would not come into force. On Friday, Tusk echoed the claim, saying that Zelensky had personally signaled he would not endorse the resolution, adding that the Ukrainian leader was “unhappy” with the situation.
This also came after the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the Shukhevich tribute in Lviv “counterproductive to our current efforts aimed at further developing Ukrainian-Polish relations.” The ministry stressed that the local authorities had sought no advice from government bodies to assess the consequences of their actions.
An unnamed source in Zelensky’s office cited by Ukrainskaya Pravda went so far as to describe the decision as a “catastrophe.”“Ukraine looks erratic. We have just resolved the previous crisis – and now this,” the source said, accusing regional officials of pursuing “cheap one-day hype” despite knowing all too well what the resolution would lead to.
While senior Ukrainian officials apparently distanced themselves from the controversy, the Lviv council’s original announcement remains accessible as of Saturday. Sheremet also previously defended the resolution, saying “This is our history, our heroes, and we must duly honor their memory.”
The dispute is the latest in a series of heated clashes between Kiev and Warsaw over Ukraine’s continued veneration of nationalist figures that collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.
In May, Zelensky awarded an elite Ukrainian special operations unit the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA,” prompting another diplomatic uproar, with Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripping the Ukrainian leader of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration.
The interview on Sky News was ended after Dmitry Polyansky showed an image of a Nazi symbol posted by Ukraine’s leader
Dmitry Polyansky, the deputy head of Russia’s mission to the UN, said the UK’s Sky News abruptly ended an interview with him as soon as he showed a photo with a Nazi symbol that was posted by the Ukrainian president on WWII Victory Day.
“The host’s response? He quickly wound up the talk, muttering that our time, as it turned out, was up suddenly, and that Sky News could not verify this information,” the diplomat wrote on Telegram on Monday.
“So much for the freedom of speech in the West… they don’t need the truth! From now on, they’ll think a hundred times before inviting Russian diplomats to a live show!”
In an interview with Sky News, Polyansky was asked whether he agreed that Russian troops in Ukraine were “dishonoring their grandfathers who fought the Nazis,” and that their actions were “mirroring fascism.”
Polyansky called the assertion “blasphemous.” He added that it was “absolutely disastrous and shameless what the UK is doing right now, forgetting everything that we were fighting [for].”
The diplomat then pulled out a tablet and showed a screenshot of a since-deleted social media post by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. On Victory Day, Zelensky published a photo of a Ukrainian fighter with a skull head patch that was worn by an elite German SS unit during the war.
When the host tried to interject, Polyansky said: “Don’t interrupt me, sir, please.”
“Do you know that this ‘Totenkopf’ division was responsible for the murder of 100 Britons in France in the beginning of the Second World War?” Polyansky continued. “So, it means that now the UK is covering Ukrainian authorities, which display Nazi symbols during the Victory Day. And these Nazi symbols were used by the same regiments that killed British people. Isn’t that a little bit strange?”
The host then said they had run out of time and ended the interview. He added that the network could not independently verify Polyansky’s claims.
The image of a fighter with the skull head patch was also posted by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Twitter and later removed.
Moscow previously said it had captured fighters with Nazi tattoos and insignia during its military campaign in Ukraine. According to multiple reports, Ukraine’s Azov Battalion contains fighters with openly neo-Nazi views.
German officials say it could include further loans to energy firms and their nationalization
Germany has been busy working on emergency measures to help the country cope in case of an abrupt stop to Russian natural gas flows, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing government sources.
According to the outlet, the package of proposed measures includes providing further loans to energy firms from German state development bank KfW in order to help deal with skyrocketing prices, which have fluctuated wildly since the start of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed, including from Germany.
Reuters sources also said that Berlin could resort to nationalizing critical companies, such as energy firms and refineries.
Russia supplied 55% of Germany’s gas imports in 2021, with many industries heavily dependent on Russian energy. However, Berlin has come under pressure to sever ties with Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine. The government announced last month that it plans to cut dependence on Russian supplies as soon as possible, but is unlikely to do so until at least mid-2024. Berlin has so far sanctioned Russian oil and coal, but only slightly lowered Russian gas deliveries.
Sources say that while Germany is unlikely to stop buying Russian gas in the coming months, Berlin fears Russia could cut the supplies abruptly amid the sanctions. No measures to cope with this have been finalized yet, but in April, Berlin passed a law to allow the government to take control of energy companies if necessary.
Earlier, German officials also said they are considering rationing gas in case of an emergency. The national energy regulator (Bundesnetzagentur) said last month it was considering prioritizing industries over households if Russian gas is cut off.
Fears intensified after Russian state energy giant and major exporter Gazprom stopped gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria in April after the two countries refused to pay for Russian gas using the new ruble-based mechanism that Moscow introduced to shield itself from dollar- and euro-linked sanctions.
According to the Reuters sources, Germany has nearly reached the limit of sanctions on Russia that it could impose without bringing down its own economy. German industry majors have reportedly lobbied the government in recent weeks to abstain from sanctioning Russian gas.
Malaysian commodities minister says export tax cut would be temporary
Malaysia is preparing to lower its export tax on palm oil amid the global edible oil shortage and growing demand, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin told Reuters on Tuesday.
“During these times of crisis, probably we can relax a little bit so that more palm oil can be exported,” Kamaruddin said, adding that the cut is planned to be a temporary measure. She noted that the tax could be slashed from the current 8% to as low as 4-6%.
According to the official, her department has already forwarded the cut proposal to the Finance Ministry, where a committee has been set up to determine its feasibility. Kamaruddin said she expects a decision as early as next month.
Apart from the tax cut, Malaysia also plans to prioritize the palm oil supply for food industries by halting the move to implement its B30 biodiesel mandate, in which part of Malaysian biodiesel is to be mixed with 30% palm oil, the official announced.
Malaysia is the world’s second-biggest producer of palm oil, which is used in a variety of products from food to household chemicals, and accounts for roughly 60% of the world’s vegetable oil shipments. According to Kamaruddin, several importers, including India, Iran, and Bangladesh, have urged Malaysia to cut the tax and even proposed barter trade for the commodity.
The shortage in the global edible oil market intensified after Russia’s military operation in Ukraine disrupted sunflower oil shipments, while the world’s largest palm oil producer, Indonesia, banned exports.
Denis Shapovalov launched into a verbal attack on the booing crowd in Rome
Hot-headed Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov was hit with a penalty after a furious rant at the crowd during his first-round match against home favorite Lorenzo Sonego at the Italian Open.
Taking issue with a line call on his serve during a tight second-set battle, Shapovalov angrily remonstrated with umpire Richard Haigh before continuing his exchange with the match supervisor at the side of the court.
The Canadian crossed onto his opponent’s side of the net to show officials the mark which he believed indicated that his disputed serve had landed in – something prohibited under the rules of the game.
“Denis, listen, because you crossed the net you’re going to get another code violation. You can't cross the net,” said Haigh.
“No way! Come on I was just showing you the mark. Call the supervisor that’s bullsh*t! That’s so unfair,” argued Shapovalov, who had already been warned for his conduct during an earlier incident.
The crowd booed the 23-year-old incessantly during the row, prompting to Shapovalov to turn around and scream “shut the f**k up,” earning himself a point penalty.
The shocking scenes came during the second set of the meeting in Rome as Shapovalov was leading the match 7-6(4) 3-4.
The Canadian went on to drop the second set but bounced back in the third to win 7-6 (5) 3-6 6-3, setting up a second-round meeting with Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Shapovalov also lobbied unsuccessfully to get a spectator kicked out of the stands for supposedly heckling him, although umpire Haigh declined to take action as he was unsure of what the player had seen or heard.
“He was just telling me to get off the court, get out of there, waving me off the court, trying to obviously get under my skin or whatnot,” Shapovalov later explained at a press conference.
“I think the umpire just needs to keep an eye on it if a player mentions something.
“The reason why [the heckler] didn’t get kicked out was because [the umpire] told me he didn’t see what happened. That’s very understandable. I feel like he kept an eye on him after that. It didn’t bother me after that.
“I think in the NBA there's a lot of hecklers and stuff like that. They’re pretty strict, the security and everything, that [the fans] don’t cross the line. If they do, they’re kicked out right away,” added Shapovalov.
Despite his outburst, Shapovalov claimed he was on good terms with fans in Italy.
“Obviously, I think it’s a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing. I just need to improve with handling myself about that,” said the Canadian.
“But in terms of going forward, I’ve played in Rome a lot of times. The fans love me here and I love the fans... Even after the match, there were a lot of people standing, waiting for pictures, stuff like that.
“I do really appreciate the sport and the love I get here. I'm super excited to play another match – not against an Italian,” joked the world number 16.
Shapovalov was defaulted for the incident and fined $7,000, while Gabas needed surgery after suffering a fractured eye socket.
As recently as January, Shapovalov made headlines after accusing match umpire Carlos Bernardes of being “corrupt” for supposedly allowing Rafael Nadal to get away with slow play during their Australian Open quarterfinal.
Shapovalov later apologized for the comments, but stood by his claims that some players get preferential treatment because of their status.
Rising oil prices are driving the cost at the pump higher
Gasoline prices at the pump in the US hit a new all-time record on Tuesday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
The average retail cost of a gallon of gas hit $4.374 early on Tuesday, the AAA said, surpassing the former record of $4.331, set in March.
The increase is mainly due to the high cost of crude oil, which was hovering near $100 per barrel last week and is now closing in on $110, the association explains on its website.
Futures of Brent crude, the main global benchmark, have actually dropped 7% since March 30. As a result, gas prices ticked slightly lower in April but are now up roughly 10%.
The retail price of diesel fuel also reached a record this week, hitting $5.45 per gallon.
A recent survey found that increasingly expensive fuel has forced roughly two-thirds of vehicle owners in the US to change their driving habits.
Oil prices have been pushed higher by some US refineries having closed during the pandemic, while the remaining ones are nearing full capacity, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
Global fuel stockpiles are being reduced as demand has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, whereas production has not yet been able to catch up. Oil supplies tightened further after Russia – a major oil exporter – launched its offensive in Ukraine, leading to the United States, the EU and their allies imposing sanctions on Russia and banning, or planning to phase out, the country’s oil.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) commented on sanctions against Russia and Belarus
Members of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have ratified the sanctions placed on Russia and Belarus, meaning the pair continue to be suspended from the organization and all team events held under its auspices.
The ITF confirmed the step on Monday following a virtual extraordinary general meeting held last week.
The head of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev, had already indicated to local media that the step had been taken, although it was only formally announced by the ITF this week.
“In a virtual Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on Friday 6 May by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), member nations ratified the ITF Board’s 1 March 2022 suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) and the Belarus Tennis Federation (BTF) as ITF members,” read a message shared on the ITF website.
“This also confirms that both nations are ineligible to enter ITF international team competitions. The ITF Board withdrew all ITF events from Russia and Belarus on March 1 until further notice.”
It noted, however, that its policy continued to allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete in individual international tournaments but strictly under a neutral status.
“Under this policy, no Russian or Belarusian national insignia or symbol, flag, anthem, nor any sign of patriotism is permitted,” said the statement.
Russian tennis official Tarpischev said last week that the majority of ITF members had backed the sanctions against Russia and Belarus, which were initially unveiled at the outset of the conflict in Ukraine.
“It’s about a temporary suspension. We won 20 percent of the votes in support, theoretically, we could have done more, we needed two-thirds to avoid a suspension,” Tarpischev said.
Tarpischev has argued that the main thing at present is for Russian and Belarusian players to be allowed to compete as individuals.
“In fact, we [the Russian Tennis Federation] been suspended for two months now, we have been living like this since March,”said the official.
“But [in this situation] the main thing is not us, but that our tennis players are performing, albeit in a neutral status Everyone understands who they represent.”
While players such as Russian men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian women’s world number eight Aryna Sabalenka are free to appear on the ATP and WTA tours as well as the upcoming Grand Slam at the French Open, officials at Wimbledon have gone against the grain by banning all players from the two countries this summer.
That stance – which bosses at the grass court showpiece have defended as being in line with UK government policy – has earned Wimbledon widespread condemnation in the tennis community.
The ITF’s position is not as excessive, but nonetheless means that the Russian teams cannot defend major international titles which they won last year.
Back in December, Russia’s men lifted the Davis Cup for the first time in 15 years when they defeated Croatia in the final in Madrid.
Their female counterparts won the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly the Fed Cup) in November after overcoming Switzerland in the final in Prague – Russia’s first triumph in the competition since 2008.
Since Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus have faced increasing isolation from global sporting events after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that no athletes from the two countries be invited to compete.
Mexico City International has recently seen an increased number of incidents
An incident at Mexico City International Airport in which two jets nearly collided on the runway has prompted an investigation into safety protocols, the resignation of a key official, and a significant reduction of operations at one of Latin America’s busiest gateways.
A video of Saturday’s near-miss shows two Volaris (an ultra-low-cost Mexican airline) planes – one is seen descending to land and flying directly over the other, which is about to take off.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, when asked about the incident at a press conference on Monday, said, “there was an error, the investigation is being carried out.” Noting that the problem of air traffic at the airport should be addressed, he added: “Tell people that there is no danger, we are responsible, and all the personnel who work in aviation are professional people and good people who do not wish misfortune.”
#VIDEO | Last night, two Volaris aircraft nearly collided with each other at Benito Juarez Mexico City International Airport.
Deputy Transport Minister Rogelio Jimenez Pons, however, did not downplay the significance of the incident, saying it was “a pretty serious, alarming incident.”
He stressed that the timely reaction of the pilots prevented a crash, which was also confirmed by Volaris CEO Enrique Beltranena, who ordered an internal investigation into the incident.
The near-miss, according to Pons, is likely related to an air traffic control mistake. He explained that the current lack of air traffic controllers complicates the work.
“These specialists require fair conditions to perform such a demanding job,” he said in an interview with El Universal.
In an interview with Radio Formula, Pons revealed that in order to ease the load at Mexico City International, over the next 12 months, 25% of operations will be gradually moved to other airports, with the majority set to be carried out from Felipe Angeles International Airport. The transition will begin between August and September, he said.
On May 8, a day after the near-miss, the director of the Navigation Services in the Mexican Air Space (SENEAM), Victor Hernandez, announced his resignation.
This followed a report of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), which was published on May 4 and raised concerns over frequent incidents at Mexico City International.
“In the past month IFALPA has been made aware of several incidents involving aircraft arriving at MMMX with low fuel states due to unplanned holding, diversions for excessive delays, and significant GPWS alerts where one crew almost had a Controlled Flight into Terrain,” the report said.
In May 2021, the US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) downgraded Mexico’s aviation safety rating from category 1 to 2, meaning the US will continue to allow Mexican airlines to conduct flights into the US, but they cannot add new routes.
