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Friday 23 October 2026
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Politics, diplomacy, security, elections and the forces reshaping the world.
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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova likened the EU to mice that "kept gnawing on the cactus" after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the European Parliament the 22nd sanctions package would target Russia's shadow fleet, energy and banking sectors.
After a security council on Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron said only union-organised demonstrations would be authorised on Saturday, and marches in Lyon and Marseille were banned. Left-wing parties said they left a meeting with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu angry, while the right called for a state of emergency. Unions have called strikes for 5 November.
Vladimir Putin told Chinese Premier Li Qiang that Russia–China ties "are not directed against anyone" and said he would meet Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a three-way meeting of the Russian, US and Chinese leaders was possible but had no clear agenda.
After about three hours of talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Russia was ready in principle to resume trilateral negotiations with Washington and Kyiv around 10 November, possibly in Abu Dhabi. Russia released retired US teacher Stephen Hubbard as the meeting began.
Ukrainian regional officials said Russian attacks killed at least nine people and injured 45 over a day, including two in a drone strike on a Kyiv high-rise. Russia's Defence Ministry said it had taken two villages in Zaporizhzhia region. The Institute for the Study of War assessed that Russian forces have lost more ground than they gained since 1 September.
International aid staff are relocating from Sittwe to Yangon as clashes between the Arakan Army and the military move closer to the city, local media report. Resistance groups and local outlets report deadly airstrikes in several regions, while the defence minister says military operations are steps toward peace.
Iraq closed the Al-Sheeb crossing, known in Iran as Chazabeh, to passengers and trade until further notice, an Iraqi border official said. Two Iraqi political sources told AFP that Washington was pressing Baghdad to close more crossings. Separately, the UK maritime agency UKMTO said a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile near the Strait of Hormuz.
In a report to lawmakers, Taiwan's National Security Bureau counted more than 1,450 Chinese military aircraft sorties around Taiwan from January to September, down from more than 3,000 a year earlier, and said Chinese coast guard patrols had spread to waters east of the island. Taiwan's defence ministry reported 29 Chinese aircraft around Taiwan in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister said new firepower units had taken up firing positions along the border with South Korea and that propaganda loudspeakers would operate along its full length in October. South Korea's top military officer has ordered troops to respond 'decisively' to any provocation.
Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ruled out talks with the Rapid Support Forces, while around two dozen countries met in Geneva on a path to a ceasefire. The RSF-led alliance said it had captured the Al-Baraka base in Blue Nile; the army said it repelled the attack.
