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Friday 23 October 2026
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Asked whether he would describe Vladimir Putin as a humanitarian, as his envoy Steve Witkoff did after Russia freed American Stephen Hubbard, President Donald Trump said it applied to the release. Several Republican lawmakers criticised Witkoff's words.
In quotes posted on X from his interview with Steven Bartlett, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a ceasefire is "the only step" because "people's hatred isn't going anywhere", and said Trump should adopt towards Putin the rhetoric he uses about him.
Asked on Fox & Friends whether he would accept a deal freezing the war where it stands, with Ukraine keeping "75% or more" of its territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "Yes", calling a freeze the "minimum" needed from Russia before talks on security guarantees.
Chile's disaster agency Senapred says a frontal system has damaged homes from Valparaíso to O'Higgins, two weeks after a mudslide in Santiago's Las Condes district that the government declared a disaster zone.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would consider what US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner offer if it is economically and financially advantageous, but without political concessions. He said Washington's position could change under a future administration.
On the day the government approved production at the North Sea Jackdaw gas field, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Prime Minister Andy Burnham of "dithering" and pressed him on public debt, which passed £3 trillion. Burnham said he had asked the chancellor and energy secretary to look into removing standing charges from gas bills.
The US Treasury sanctioned law firm Karnakis and Karnakis, a ship operator, two shipping agents and nine vessels it says helped move Iranian oil, petrochemicals and steel. Its FinCEN unit issued its first administrative subpoena of this kind in an investigation into an unnamed Greek bank's potential ties to Iran.
MEPs voted 400 to 189, with 84 abstentions, for a negotiating position of about €194 billion in commitments and €203.3 billion in payments for 2027. Talks with member governments in the Council are due to start on 3 November, with a 16 November deadline.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Donald Trump said Volodymyr Zelensky "has to want to settle this war", that Russia "would like to get it done" and that he had asked Vladimir Putin at length to free US teacher Stephen Hubbard. On Iran, he said he had yet to decide whether to win "the nice way or the not nice way".
The Supreme Court declined to pause a federal judge's order that bars the Bureau of Prisons from enforcing a policy ending hormone therapy and other accommodations for transgender inmates. Justices Thomas and Alito would have granted the administration's request.
