Geopolitics

Qatar's prime minister was due to meet President Trump in Washington on Monday. Iran and the US remain far apart.

Russia, Ukraine and the US negotiate in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. Trump says Ukraine will end up with a "little bit different shape".

Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline was attacked on Monday, a day after Houthi missiles damaged the Aramco Tower in Riyadh. Houthi-run authorities say at least 44 people died in an airstrike near Sanaa.

An explosion at the Habas steel plant in Aliaga near Izmir killed at least 16 workers on Monday. President Erdogan promised to establish who is responsible.

The 24-year-old who killed six on Krakow's main square on Saturday died of his wounds on Monday. Government and opposition clash over his ideology and the police response.

Ukrainian drones set fire to Russia's Kirishi refinery overnight, and Rosneft capped fuel sales. Russian strikes hit Ukrainian substations and Dnipro bridges.

France says Iran's Revolutionary Guards were behind the October cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration. Estonia separately accuses Russia of state-sponsored terrorism over hybrid attacks.

Delegates from more than 190 countries began two weeks of climate talks in Antalya on Monday. The US sent no delegation, and UN chief Guterres said a new age of climate extremes has begun.

A sand embankment collapsed onto tents at a displacement camp near Deir al-Balah on Sunday, killing five people during the winter's first storm. Gaza authorities blame Israeli limits on shelter supplies, while Israel ties reconstruction to Hamas disarming.

Trump said he expects to meet Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin during his trip to China next week. Beijing says only that it is in communication with the parties.

A fire in a 40-storey residential building in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, has killed 14 people, Xinhua reported on Monday.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, and a House vote is expected this week. Trump called his deportation policy possibly too tough and questioned the midterm result.

A migrant boat from Saint-Louis capsized off northwestern Senegal on Sunday. Reports put the dead at 34 to 39.

Greece's coast guard recovered 12 dead migrants from a boat south of Crete on Monday, according to Reuters, while Al Jazeera reports at least 21 deaths. The coast guard also rescued more than 100 people in several operations, with Frontex aircraft joining the search, according to Politika.

Data taken in a cyberattack on Russia's statistics agency Rosstat suggests more than 400,000 Russians have died fighting in Ukraine, according to The Guardian, while Politika cites more than 450,000. Le Monde reports that Belarusian and Ukrainian hackers got into Rosstat's computers and that Bloomberg published the figures.

South Africa's ANC won 30.76% of the vote in municipal elections, its worst result since 1994, according to Telesur. Reuters reports that voters rebuffed the party, accelerating a shift toward coalition politics.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday the minimum wage will rise by 1.6% from 1 December instead of January, in an effort to defuse a cost-of-living crisis. The CGT and CFDT unions called the increase insufficient, according to Le Monde.

Authorities raided the mansion of Paraguay's former president Santiago Peña on Monday and found a hidden vault, according to Al Jazeera, in the investigation into the collapse of Ueno Bank. The New York Times reports that prosecutors accuse Peña of funneling nearly a billion dollars of government funds to the bank.

Al Jazeera reports that more than 50,000 people have been displaced by deadly clashes on the Ethiopian border. Families arriving in Kenya have little food or shelter, and host communities are struggling to cope.

A collision between two trains in Giza killed seven people and injured 112, according to Global Times. The National reports growing calls for the transport minister to resign, while authorities investigate the cause.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has threatened to block the EU's 2028-2034 budget unless all member states commit to long-term financial support for Ukraine, the Financial Times reported. Meduza, citing that report, names Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic as the holdouts.

Netanyahu has said any Zionist party could join his government and that, as head of the largest party, he should lead it, according to the Jerusalem Post. Eisenkot is seeking support from Shas and UTJ to oust Knesset speaker Ohana, the paper reports, citing letters.

Le Monde reports that clinical trials of several vaccines and treatments are under way in Bunia, in eastern Congo, where the epidemic is hitting hard. The Telegraph reports that Islamic State militants killed dozens in a raid on a health post, leaving medical staff and patients in fear.

Mexican authorities arrested Rafael Alvarez, known as 'R2', an alleged major leader of the Jalisco cartel, Al Jazeera reports. He was captured with intelligence shared by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the paper of Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, ceased publication on Monday, citing a government clampdown. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the closure a 'normal process of turnover' and said it is wrong to say the era of independent Russian media is over.

The National reports that the Khor Mor gas field in Iraqi Kurdistan was targeted in renewed attacks. The material available does not name who carried them out.

Israel has authorized an initial deployment of 250 soldiers for a multinational force in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post reports. Foreign military officers accompanied by US troops have been spotted near Gaza as preparations advance.

Pope Leo XIV said in Buenos Aires that the economy must serve people and not the other way round, FAZ and Le Monde report, in an address alongside President Javier Milei. Al Jazeera reports the pope also urged Argentina to protect democracy, while Reuters reports huge crowds at an outdoor Mass.

Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested a new passport and identity card on Monday so a return from self-imposed exile in India becomes possible, according to a letter seen by Reuters. A war-crimes court in Bangladesh sentenced Hasina to death in absentia in November last year for ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising.

Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders agreed to open two new crossing points across the island's dividing line during UN-brokered talks in Lefkoşa, according to Daily Sabah. Politika describes it as the first such step in almost a decade, and Reuters reports the leaders also agreed on future talks.

Colombia's state ombudsman issued an urgent alert on Monday over deteriorating security in southern Bolivar, two days after an attack on an army base killed three soldiers, Telesur reports. Folha de S.Paulo reports that a rebel group launched the attack with drones on Saturday, and that authorities say more than a dozen people were wounded.

Iran reports more tanker fires in the Strait of Hormuz, while the US adds a land blockade. Trump calls renewed war highly unlikely if talks progress; Rubio reports no progress.

Houthi missiles damaged the Aramco Tower in Riyadh on Sunday. Houthi authorities say Saudi strikes near Sanaa killed dozens.

Russia says it struck power substations in Ukraine and a ship off Odesa on Sunday, while 113 drones were downed over the Leningrad region overnight. US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi are due on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A 24-year-old Polish man shot six people dead on Krakow's main square on Saturday. Prime minister Donald Tusk called it an act of terrorism.

Democratic leaders back impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and plan investigations of Trump's circle after winning Congress. Trump says his immigration approach was too tough.

President Isaac Herzog gave Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to form Israel's government on Sunday. He has 28 days, extendable by up to 14, but no bloc holds 61 seats.

France says Europeans will be at the US-mediated Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. Trump says ending the war could change Ukraine's borders.

A winter storm flooded about 70,000 tents in Gaza on Saturday, according to the Hamas-run government media office. On Sunday a sandbank collapse in Deir el-Balah killed at least five people, local health authorities said.

A Giza-Fayoum train rammed another passenger train near al-Ayyat on Sunday. Seven people died and more than 110 were injured.

A migrant boat capsized off Kébémer in northwestern Senegal, and the provisional toll has risen from 21 to as many as 35 dead. Searches continue.

The ANC won 31 percent nationally with 99 percent of votes counted, according to Al Jazeera, and lost sole control of all major cities, FAZ reports. Reuters says coalition talks are due to follow.

The COP31 UN climate conference opens on Monday in Antalya, with delegates from more than 190 countries attending. The US is absent without an official delegation, according to Politika, while Turkey chairs the summit and Australia leads the negotiations.

Iran executed three men on Sunday over charges linked to the January 2026 protests, the judiciary said, after the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences. Rights groups describe the trial as unfair, while the Jerusalem Post reports the men were accused of working for Israel and the US.

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday that some of his personal data had been published on the dark web, and Giorgia Meloni denounced pro-Russian hackers, according to Le Monde. Defence minister Guido Crosetto called for offensive action instead of only reacting, FAZ reports.

A drone attack suspended production at the Khor Mor gas field in northern Iraq, according to sources cited by Reuters, and left more than 70 percent of the Kurdish region without power, Al Jazeera reports. The Jerusalem Post notes that Kataib Hezbollah had reportedly referenced the field less than a day before the strike.

Former president Santiago Peña must go into pretrial detention in the Ueno bank scandal, Handelsblatt reports, after his impeachment was announced on Friday, according to Folha de S.Paulo. Prosecutors seized airplanes, luxury vehicles, a yacht and documents in the investigation, Telesur reports.

Drones hit a military base in Santa Rosa del Sur over the weekend; Al Jazeera reports three soldiers killed and 16 wounded, Telesur four dead and 44 wounded. The New York Times, citing officials, says the ELN carried out the attack, while President de la Espriella said those responsible will have "nowhere to hide".

The plant lost its only remaining external power line, Ferosplavnaya-1, early on Sunday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said, and backup diesel generators were activated. TASS attributes the disconnection to damage to the line.

More than 1,700 cost-of-living demonstrations have taken place in 31 European countries since mid-September, led by France, according to Al Jazeera. Politika reports up to 250,000 demonstrators across France and 74 arrests in Paris, with mostly peaceful protests but clashes with police in several cities.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel's defense establishment is shocked and that details are unclear, with US government and private-sector officials possibly freezing certain weapons transfers or approvals until clarity emerges. Axios reports that Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a heated recent call to take steps toward implementing the US peace plan for Gaza.

In Montevideo's Casavalle neighborhood, the pope blessed 12 new homes and urged Uruguay's Church, civil society and government to work together against poverty, violence and exclusion. His four-day trip to Argentina opens with a meeting with President Javier Milei, whose views differ from the pope's on many issues, according to The Guardian.

Protesters dressed in red marched through Amsterdam on Sunday, carrying signs reading "Stop the Genocide" and demanding that the Dutch government take a firmer stance toward Israel. Organisers say about 200,000 people took part, while several outlets report tens of thousands.

Neither side secured a clear victory in New Zealand's election, and the country will not know for weeks who won, The Hindu reports. Bloomberg says the ruling party gained an edge, which lifted the New Zealand dollar, while Handelsblatt notes an unusually large parliament.

Sudan has detained Ahmed Haroun, chairman of the former ruling party, according to two party officials cited by Reuters. The National describes him as wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The US hit Iranian air defences on Qeshm island and launched a task force against Iran's land trade routes. Qatar says its mediation is making progress.

A man fired at random from a car on Krakow's main market square on Saturday, killing six people. Police shot and arrested the suspect, a 24-year-old Polish citizen.

Russia hit Kyiv's Northern Bridge and energy sites with 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles overnight to Saturday. Power cuts followed in five regions, days before US-Russia-Ukraine talks.

The Houthi-run health ministry says airstrikes it blames on Saudi Arabia killed at least 22 people, mostly women and children, east of Sanaa on Saturday. Counts differ, and the New York Times reports more than 50 dead in Yemen within 24 hours.

President Isaac Herzog will formally task opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government on Sunday afternoon. Neither camp won a majority in the 27 October election.

Russia sends senior diplomats and officers to US-mediated talks with Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first since February. Zelensky calls Trump's European security plan dangerous.

Heavy rain flooded about 70,000 tents in Gaza on Saturday, according to local authorities. Rescuers say they lack the equipment to respond.

Prosecutors charged Paraguay's ousted president Santiago Peña with breach of trust on Saturday, a day after the Senate removed him. FAZ reports that a judge ordered him into pretrial detention.

Paris prosecutors are investigating whether foreign powers are behind the bomb hoaxes that disrupted European flights. Separately, Italy's Tajani says pro-Russian hackers published data on him and his family.

An attack by an Islamic State-linked group killed at least 44 people in a hotspot of Congo's growing Ebola outbreak, officials told the New York Times. Ebola patients fled the clinic.

Congressman Julio Portillo and three police officers were shot dead on Friday in Rio Hondo, eastern Guatemala. President Bernardo Arévalo ordered security forces to help identify those responsible.

About 146,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday, according to Handelsblatt, fewer than a week earlier, on the fourth consecutive Saturday of cost-of-living protests. Police used tear gas in Paris and Lyon, and the government has called talks with unions, employers and students for next week.

Stephen Miller, architect of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, replaces Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff after the Republicans' midterm defeat. Democrats and some Republicans have criticised the move, and Miller has pledged 'total devotion'.

President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate Democrats for 'threatening' people, in a Truth Social post days after the party won control of Congress. The department meanwhile plans to withdraw its lawsuit over California's election, and Democrats are preparing scrutiny of the Pentagon, including a possible impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

National and Labour were level in early counting after Saturday's election, according to Nikkei Asia and The Guardian. The Guardian reports that no coalition is expected to win a majority of seats, with a minor party cast as kingmaker.

An estimated 40,000 people attended Pope Leo XIV's Mass in Paysandú on Saturday, near the Argentine border, according to Breitbart. Reuters and Folha de S.Paulo report that the pope urged South America to overcome divisions between its countries.

The UN climate summit COP31 begins in Antalya, Türkiye, on Monday, according to Le Monde. The Guardian reports that the Paris agreement's key temperature goal has been missed ten years on, while Turkish academics quoted by Daily Sabah want measurable results on water security and food waste.

Police used water cannon to disperse masked protesters in Tirana on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera. The protesters set off firecrackers and blocked roads, and Bloomberg reports that the protests turned violent as pressure on the prime minister continues.

On Saturday, Malaysia's king warned that any attempt to challenge his order letting former prime minister Najib Razak move from jail to house arrest could amount to defying his decree. Al Jazeera reports that the attorney general had postponed the transfer after a court cleared Najib for house arrest on Friday.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Canadian firms over links to Iran, Politika reports. According to the same report, Washington says Canada will not be a safe haven for financial intermediaries of Tehran.

Trump said on Thursday he will decide soon whether to resume strikes on Iran. Qatar-led mediators meanwhile push for a diplomatic deal.

Trump announced a sweeping agreement after meeting Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and Europeans fear exclusion. US-mediated Russia-Ukraine talks open in Abu Dhabi on 10 November.

A governor raised the death toll from Monday's Russian bombing of an aid point in Komyshuvakha to 53. New Russian strikes left Kyiv and six other regions without power.

A suspected missile strike on the tanker Velos Sapphire killed one seafarer in the Gulf on Thursday. Iran's Guards say two more tankers hit mines in Hormuz.

Paraguay's Senate rejected President Santiago Peña's request for three more days and continued his impeachment trial on Friday. Congress had refused to accept the resignation he announced a day earlier.

Armed men blamed on the ADF killed at least 33 people in Cantine, North Kivu, and burned a health post. Ebola patients fled the attack.

Hoax bomb threats hit European flights for a third time this week, and on Friday emails also reached newsrooms in Ireland, Britain and Bulgaria. No explosives were found.

A strike on a market in Taiz governorate killed dozens on Friday. The Houthis blame Saudi aircraft, the government blames a Houthi missile.

Trump replaced Susie Wiles with hardliner Stephen Miller three days after Republicans lost Congress. Senior Justice Department officials also resigned this week.

The UN warns that fewer than 1 million of the 15.4 million people in Sudan who need emergency shelter have received assistance, as funds run low. According to the UN humanitarian office OCHA, more than 980,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad since April 2023.

The ANC took about 32% in Wednesday's South African local elections, its worst result, ahead of the DA at about 24%.

Serbia's electoral commission (RIK) allocated seats on Friday: the Student List won 140 of 250, Vučić's list 103. The result ends the hold of the bloc around Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party on parliament.

President Herzog is due to name a candidate to form Israel's government on Sunday, after a majority of lawmakers endorsed Eisenkot over Netanyahu, according to Al Jazeera. Liberman has signalled willingness to compromise on the military draft law for the ultra-Orthodox, and UTJ chairman Yaakov Asher welcomed the flexibility.

The Prime Minister's Office did not dispute Trump's claim that US aid to Israel is being halted and described it as a "mutual investment". Spokesman Spielman said Netanyahu has been working with Trump on the transition from aid towards partnership, while the South China Morning Post reports that direct military aid is to be phased out over the coming two years.

Japan has protested and demanded that Russia reverse its seizure of Japan Tobacco units, according to Nikkei Asia and Bloomberg. A Nikkei Asia commentary separately urges Tokyo to speak up over a Japanese journalist taken by Russia.

The US has warned China that it must "immediately" meet the terms of the Busan trade deal, saying Beijing is not fulfilling commitments to increase the supply of rare earths and other critical products, according to the Financial Times. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer held a video call with Vice-Premier He Lifeng to finalise preparations for the Trump-Xi summit in Shenzhen.

Democrats plan investigations into Trump and Musk and first want to establish a legal basis before pushing impeachment, TASS reports citing a news agency. Rep.-elect Cait Conley said on Thursday that impeaching Hegseth should be a top priority if he is not removed in the lame-duck session, and Sen. Bernie Sanders said he believes every Democrat will vote to defund the Iran war.

The EU's Copernicus climate service says 2026 is virtually certain to exceed 1.5C of average warming, the Financial Times reports. October ranked as the warmest on record at 1.75C above pre-industrial levels, days before COP31 opens in Turkey.

Only 209 patients and wounded people left Gaza for medical care abroad in October, while more than 21,000 await evacuation, Telesur reports, citing restrictions imposed by Israeli forces. Gaza's Civil Defense warned on Thursday that heavy rain and strong winds this weekend could threaten displaced Palestinians living in tents, which Daily Sabah puts at nearly 950,000 people.

Ethiopia's federal army retook the Tigray capital Mekelle in early October, after rebels led by Debretsion Gebremichael revived the fighting in late September, Le Monde reports. The Tigrayan fighters have since entrenched themselves in the region's mountainous areas.

About 575,000 people marched across France on Thursday according to government estimates, the biggest day of protests since unrest began in September; media reports put the figure near 600,000. The Yellow Vest movement has called blockades for Friday and mass demonstrations for Saturday, while the government weighs an early minimum-wage rise, with labour minister Jean-Pierre Farandou calling it important to try to pass 1,500 euros net.

A court in Macau sentenced former lawmaker Au Kam San, 69, to 12.5 years in prison on Friday. The pro-democracy figure was convicted of subversion and spreading false information in a bid to disrupt the 2024 elections, in the first case under the national security law.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, delivered a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, as the Kremlin confirmed. Al Jazeera reports on a rocket-launcher deal between the two countries while they discuss a cooperation treaty.

A Tanzanian court sentenced opposition leader Tundu Lissu to four years in prison on Friday for incitement over statements made before the October 2025 presidential election. The treason charge was dismissed, so Lissu avoids the death penalty; the case is widely condemned as politically motivated.

Kenya's High Court sentenced Paul Mackenzie, leader of a doomsday cult, to 200 years in prison on Friday for the murders of 191 people, 190 children and one adult. Followers had been ordered to starve themselves and their families, in what media called the Shakahola forest massacre.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating possible fraud involving EU funds meant for renovating and improving safety, signalling and communication systems on a Spanish rail line where a crash killed 69 people. According to Reuters, investigators searched the offices of Spanish rail entities.

Israeli settlers seized eight Palestinian homes in Jericho and displaced dozens of people, Al Jazeera reports; the UN says settlers reportedly used live ammunition and beat Palestinians. Israel also closed Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians for a Jewish holiday and reopened it exclusively for Israelis.

Foreign minister Sikorski accused President Nawrocki of trying to usurp power in the dispute over the Constitutional Tribunal, Politika reports. Handelsblatt reports that Prime Minister Tusk sees a way out of the crisis.

Pope Leo XIV landed in Uruguay on Friday at the start of a 12-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, less than a month after lung surgery. In Peru, where he lived for twenty years, Le Monde says he is expected as a native son.

Indonesia named a fourth senior police officer as a suspect in the wiretapping scandal, which Al Jazeera says is driving divisions between President Prabowo Subianto and predecessor Joko Widodo. The South China Morning Post reports a growing push among lawmakers to investigate the academic credentials of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Ten countries, including the Five Eyes allies, have called for an immediate end to "unjust prosecutions" under Hong Kong's national security law after opposition activist Joshua Wong was sentenced. Hong Kong rejected the criticism as "malicious attacks", according to the South China Morning Post.

Democrats won the House and Senate in Tuesday's midterms, with some counts still open. Republicans are now arguing over who caused the defeat.

Iran says five tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after striking mines. A Turkish soldier was also killed by fire from the Iranian side of the border.

Democrats won Congress in Tuesday's midterms, leaving Trump to choose between a negotiated exit from the Iran war and escalation. Tehran celebrates but signals no concessions.

Ukrainian police raised the death toll from Russia's strike on an aid site to 42. Ukrainian drones hit Ryazan overnight.

Unions say 1.6 million people marched across France against living costs, far more than official counts. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will receive unions and employers on Monday.

Yemen's government sacked ministers and front commanders after its offensive stalled. Nearly 310,000 people have been displaced since August, the UN says.

Gadi Eisenkot has 67 recommendations from lawmakers against 46 for Netanyahu after an ultra-Orthodox party declined to back the prime minister. President Herzog will name his choice on Sunday.

Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House on Thursday and urged a lasting truce before Abu Dhabi talks.

Bavaria's deputy premier Hubert Aiwanger, 55, was found dead in a Berlin hotel on Wednesday. Prosecutors say a preliminary autopsy points to natural causes.

Hoax bomb threats forced diversions and emergency landings of European flights on Thursday, two days after a first wave. All planes landed safely and searches found nothing.

A British man has tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is to be flown to the UK for treatment. London says the risk to the public remains low.

Hong Kong's High Court sentenced activist Joshua Wong on Thursday to ten years for conspiring to collude with foreign forces. He had been due for release in January 2027.

Israeli strikes and gunfire killed four to five people in Gaza on Thursday, including a child. Gaza's Health Ministry counts 1,602 dead since the ceasefire began.

Early results from South Africa's local elections show a sharp drop in ANC support compared with 2021. Reuters reports the party narrowly leading the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Moscow agreed to supply 90 missile launchers to Iran. The US sanctioned three parties for aiding Iranian air defences, and Putin met the secretary of Iran's Security Council in Moscow, TASS reports.

Indonesia deployed thousands of troops in Jakarta to secure a trial amid an alleged wiretapping scandal targeting the phone of President Prabowo Subianto. The police chief said on Thursday the inquiry is a matter for law enforcement, while parliament considers an inquiry into the vice president.

A Nigerian court voided the candidacy of opposition figure Atiku Abubakar for the 2027 presidential election, Reuters and Le Monde report. Atiku, the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), finished second in the 2023 election with 29 percent of the vote.

A Helsinki court on Thursday sentenced the Russian captain of the cargo ship Fitburg to three and a half years in prison over damage to two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland. An Azerbaijani crew member received two years and 10 months.

Saudi Arabia and Syria signed a defence cooperation agreement on Wednesday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, as Syria's President al-Sharaa visited Riyadh for the second time in under a month. Loans worth $403m were also agreed, while details of the military pact have not been made public.

According to a report covered by the Jerusalem Post, Israel will need about $10 billion in additional funding to pay for existing US equipment orders after 2028, when the current military aid agreement expires. Phil Gordon, a former Biden administration official, told the paper that US financial aid to Israel is not politically sustainable after the midterms.

President Herzog warned Israel's leadership in a letter that escalating violence in the West Bank may lead to civil war, the Jerusalem Post reports. The letter followed a visit to the West Bank, during which Herzog met IDF commanders, police officers and Shin Bet personnel.

Seoul will ask parliament to extend the Cheonghae anti-piracy unit's area to about 650 km from the Strait of Hormuz, after criticism from Donald Trump over its support in the Iran war. According to Le Monde, the plan includes a destroyer, a maritime patrol aircraft, a mine-clearing team and drones.

The European Commission transferred €4.36bn to Ukraine from its €90bn loan package, according to TASS and Politika, to fund items such as drones, missiles and air defence equipment. Volodymyr Zelensky says Kyiv aims to close all negotiating clusters by the end of the year, while Hungary calls accession by 2030 unrealistic.

Democrats won both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterms, flipping Republican Senate seats in states such as Texas and South Carolina.

Trump says he has no immediate plans to attack Iran, but US forces are "locked and loaded". Iran's leaders present the Democratic midterm win as a rejection of the war.

Zelensky said on Wednesday that 40 people died in Monday's Russian strike on an aid site in Komyshuvakha. Overnight, Russian attacks cut power in Ukraine, while Ukrainian drones hit an Ozon hub and Crimea's grid.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that four tankers hit mines south of the Strait of Hormuz and are still burning.

The Houthi siege of Taiz has lasted 30 days, and the group claims a missile strike on Riyadh airport. Yemeni government forces say they are gaining ground in al-Jawf.

Vice President JD Vance wrote on Wednesday that the Iran war is why Republicans lost the midterms. President Donald Trump called that largely true but said he would start the war again.

Israel's Central Elections Committee certified the 27 October results on Wednesday, dismissing Netanyahu's fraud claims. President Herzog began consulting parties on who should try to form a government.

A British health worker infected with Ebola in Congo is being flown to the UK. The WHO approved trials of two vaccines designed for the Bundibugyo strain.

An airstrike on a Colombian ELN camp in Venezuela's Apure state killed at least 20 people, according to rights groups. The New York Times reports that the US backed it with intelligence and drones.

Zelensky honoured Melania Trump with a state order for the Oleshky truce, and Moscow named its envoys for a meeting she is hosting. The Kremlin hopes Donald Trump keeps mediating after the Republican midterm defeat.

President Prabowo Subianto dismissed chief of staff Listyo Sigit Prabowo on Wednesday, a day after his arrest over alleged illegal wiretapping. The government says the case may amount to treason.

Beijing said on Wednesday that it is in communication with the parties about a meeting of the Chinese, Russian and US leaders. It would be the first such trilateral meeting.

North Korea fired multiple missiles on Wednesday in its fourth weapons launch in a month, Seoul says. Kim Yo Jong refused dialogue with the US and denied responsibility for the theft of more than $6bn in crypto assets, which US authorities blame on a hacker group linked to Pyongyang.

South Africans voted in local elections on Wednesday, with polls suggesting the ANC could fall below 40 percent (Al Jazeera) amid anger over water outages and power cuts, while the Guardian expects it to win less than a third of the vote. Helen Zille, 75, is running for mayor of Johannesburg, which could get its first white mayor since 1994, according to FAZ.

The Israeli military and Shin Bet killed six Palestinian militants in strikes near Khan Younis, the Jerusalem Post reports: four from Hamas, one from Jaish al-Islam and one from Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israeli forces also arrested 45 people in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera, while a UN report says genocide continues in Gaza.

Trump said in a Fox & Friends interview that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to cut off US aid by December 2026, the Jerusalem Post reports. A former NSC US affairs chief says ending it early risks signaling a retreat from Israel, and another interview warns it could shake Gulf confidence in US security commitments.

The European Commission says Montenegro could become an EU member in 2028 and sign its accession treaty in June 2027, according to Handelsblatt and Koha. Koha also reports that the Commission wants Ukraine to speed up reforms, while TASS, citing a document obtained by Politico, says Brussels presses Kyiv on the rule of law and on opening new negotiating clusters.

Taiwan expressed concern on Tuesday over more than 100 People's Liberation Army naval vessels and mainland Chinese coastguard ships sailing across the western Pacific, including the Liaoning strike group, according to the South China Morning Post. Separately, Reuters reports that the Philippines and China pledged to maintain dialogue despite tensions.

Bandits reportedly killed a soldier and a pregnant woman and abducted 15 residents at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday in the Kuka Sarkin Yamma and Ruwan-Zafi communities, according to Premium Times. Separately, suspected armed bandits killed four people and injured five at Abeda Shitile market in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, residents say.

Thousands of young Danes protested on Wednesday under the banner "Enough is Enough" against a government plan to cut student allowances, according to the South China Morning Post. Al Jazeera reports the proposal would scrap the allowance scheme for students from wealthier families, while FAZ reports that French presidential candidates are arguing over the causes of violence ahead of a new protest day.

According to FAZ, Polish prosecutors are now investigating President Karol Nawrocki, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk having the probe opened amid the power struggle over the Constitutional Tribunal. Nawrocki accuses Tusk of a "serious constitutional crisis" and of "crimes against the Constitution", Breitbart reports.