Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the scene of a Russian missile strike in Pryluky, Ukraine, that killed 22 people.KYIV - President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct 8 that Ukraine expected Kyiv’s European partners to join talks with the US in coming days.Zelensky earlier said that Ukraine’s negotiators would hold talks in the United States on Oct 9 and 10, as part of efforts led by the United States to seek a settlement of the four-year-old war with Russia.The president, speaking to reporters in Kyiv, said Ukrainian negotiators would raise the issue of air defences in light of near-constant Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. More than 70 have been killed in strikes over the past two days.Zelensky also said Ukraine had “mirrored” Russian attacks on data centres, referring to a strike on a centre operated by Russian technology company Yandex.“You all know, they have been hitting and continue to hit our data centres. We are responding. I can’t share all the details.”Russian technology and AI company Yandex said on Oct 8 it could not yet determine whether equipment at a data centre hit by a Ukrainian drone attack could be restored. REUTERS
Read briefing WASHINGTON, Oct 7 - US President Donald Trump, who waged war with Iran and has yet to broker peace in Ukraine, said on Wednesday that he should win the Nobel Peace Prize but acknowledged doubt about his chances."I don't know what their decision is going to be," Trump said of the 2026 award, which the Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce on Friday. "They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me."Since his return to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly said he deserves what may be the world's most prestigious award."It is about that time," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "But I was very honored to receive it indirectly last time by the recipient, who said nobody in history deserves it more than President Trump."Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump in January as she sought US support for her efforts in Venezuela.Trump said he should get the prize after wading into eight conflicts since taking office last January.The leaders of Cambodia, Israel and Pakistan have said they nominated Trump, though there is no way of verifying that.Parties to some conflicts Trump claims to have resolved dispute the US president's diplomatic role, and fighting has flared again in some of those regions, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and along the border between Cambodia and Thailand.A resolution to Russia's war in Ukraine has eluded Trump, who promised to end it on the first day of his second White House term. US-Israel strikes on Iran have led to a seven-month simmering conflict that has upended global energy supplies and driven gas prices up before November's midterm elections.Pope Leo, the International Criminal Court, the special rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, are among the favorites to win this year. REUTERS
Read briefing WASHINGTON, Oct 7 - Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are expected to face new criminal charges in the US over the alleged torture of Americans held in the South American country, a US official said on Wednesday.The new charges could come as soon as Thursday, according to the official, who was briefed on the investigation.Maduro and Flores were captured by the US military from their homes in Caracas on January 3 and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty.A spokesperson for the Manhattan US Attorney's office, which brought the charges, declined to comment.Lawyers for Maduro and Flores did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Details of the new charges, including the identities of the alleged torture victims, were not immediately available.Maduro's 13 years in power in oil-rich Venezuela were marked by tensions with the United States. Washington said that several of its citizens were wrongfully detained in the South American country during his tenure.Venezuela has been led since Maduro's capture by his former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who has increased cooperation with the Trump administration. REUTERS
Read briefing Houthi fighters riding in a pickup truck on a street in Sana'a, Yemen, on Oct 7.RIYADH - Saudi authorities said on Oct 7 that three people were killed in attacks on two of the kingdom’s international airports including in the capital Riyadh, after Yemen’s Houthis claimed to have fired on both transport hubs.The Iran-backed fighters earlier took responsibility for a flurry of attacks that included firing a ballistic missile at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport as the conflict deepens with Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s government.“On Tuesday and Wednesday... Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport were subjected to attacks targeting their facilities,” the kingdom’s civil aviation authority said in a statement, without blaming anyone for the attacks.An Egyptian and an Algerian national were killed at Abha airport and a Sudanese national was killed at the airport in Riyadh, the agency said, with 36 people wounded in the attacks.The Saudi-led coalition that backs pro-government forces in Yemen said on X that it “destroyed the ballistic missile launch platform” used in the attack on Riyadh.The Yemeni group, which controls most of the country’s north-west, is battling for territory against the Saudi-backed forces after the civil war reignited in July and it captured swathes of coastal land.The fighting has displaced more than 200,000 people within the country, the United Nations said on Oct 7.Yemen’s internationally recognised government this week declared a major counter-offensive and claims to have pushed Houthi fighters out of strategic areas on the Red Sea and the port city of Mokha.But the Iran-backed Houthis say they are holding their territory, and military sources from both sides contacted by AFP have not reported any major changes on the ground.Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify with the situation moving fast and access for journalists difficult.“Our armed forces have just targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile. The strike was accurate, by God’s grace, and led to a disruption of air traffic,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Oct 7 in a post on X.The Saudi-led military coalition that backs Yemen’s government had said the missile was intercepted.In a separate post, the Houthis also said they targeted a military supply convoy near the airport in the Yemeni city of Aden, the interim capital for the government.The Yemeni government’s Saba news agency reported missiles and drones targeting that airport.The agency cited transport authorities as saying one of the missiles landed near the runway minutes before the scheduled arrival of a flight from Cairo, which was forced to divert to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.Houthi drones and missiles also targeted Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, spokesman Saree said, claiming they had “hit their targets accurately”.It is the second time this week that the Houthis claimed to have attacked the main airport in the Saudi capital.It is facing frequent temporary closures of its airspace, according to tracking website Flightradar24.Saudi Arabia leads an international coalition that has been fighting the Houthis since 2015, and is now trying to roll back the group’s latest advance.On Oct 5, the coalition said it was providing air support for the counter-offensive launched by the Yemeni government forces.After a four-year ceasefire, Yemen’s civil war re-erupted in July. In September, the Houthis seized the entire western coastline along the Red Sea in the country’s deadliest fighting in years.On Oct 7, new clashes in Yemen’s west left at least 62 combatants dead, including 37 Houthis, military sources from both camps told AFP.The government’s Saba news agency also said the Houthis fired a missile at the city of Taiz, which is held by government forces, wounding five civilians.“We went out into the street to check on the wounded and saw young civilians who had been hit. The Houthi shell landed in the middle of the street, right in an area crowded with civilians,” Taiz resident Al-Fateh al-Eisaei told AFP.Yemen’s government has announced a goal of retaking all Houthi territory – home to most of the country’s population, and much of it held for more than a decade.The humanitarian crisis caused by the war has left most of the nation’s population dependent on aid.Mohammed, a 33-year-old charity worker who fled from Mocha to Aden, told AFP on Oct 6 that “people there are terrified” of the Houthis.
Read briefing BRASILIA, Oct 7 - Brazil presidential candidate Senator Flavio Bolsonaro said on Wednesday his team was studying constitutional amendments to revise parts of a planned consumption-tax reform — alongside other fiscal measures — arguing the current design would leave the country with an excessively high tax burden."There are several constitutional amendments that are possible," Bolsonaro told reporters, citing "aspects of the tax reform" among measures he would pursue if elected, alongside lowering the age of criminal responsibility, ending presidential reelection and implementing a political reform.In 2023, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva approved the consumption-tax reform, a long-awaited overhaul of Brazil's tax system, set to begin taking effect next year, which will consolidate multiple levies into a dual value-added tax administered at the federal and regional levels."I support modernizing our tax system, which is genuinely too complex," Bolsonaro said.The reformed consumption tax's effective VAT rate — estimated to be about 28% by economists but not yet finalized by the government - would be too high, Bolsonaro said.Bolsonaro also said he wanted to reduce payroll taxes and ensure that "more of Brazilian workers' income stays with them rather than the government."On Tuesday, the senator's top economic adviser, Daniella Marques, told local media that a Bolsonaro administration would review a broad range of tax measures enacted under Lula, including a dividend tax that took effect in January.Marques served in the elder Bolsonaro's government. She said that administration had previously only proposed taxing dividends alongside a reduction in corporate income taxes.Bolsonaro would also eliminate the 12% tax on crude oil exports introduced this year by Lula's government, Marques said, describing the levy as an "aberration."Lula introduced the tax to help finance fuel-tax relief for Brazilians amid a global oil-price spike linked to the US-Israeli conflict on Iran.Other tax measures on the chopping block include reversing increases to the Financial Transactions Tax (IOF) on corporate credit operations, foreign-exchange transactions, and certain private pension investments, Marques said.By contrast, Lula's platform pledged to deepen efforts to promote "tax justice" and reduce inequality through the elimination of tax distortions and privileges, while implementing the consumption-tax overhaul approved during his administration.Lula this year introduced a tax on dividends to help finance an tax exemption on higher income for middle-income earners, while his administration has argued for further cuts to tax exemptions and the elimination of what it views as inefficient tax incentives.Bolsonaro, the eldest son of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, outperformed expectations to finish ahead of leftist incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sunday's first round. The rivals go head-to-head in an October 25 runoff.Amid near-record levels of household debt in Brazil, Senator Bolsonaro also said his government would buy debt from over-indebted consumers and refinance it through state-owned lender Caixa Economica Federal.Borrowers would also gain access to new credit lines to help finance small businesses, he said.Lula, like Bolsonaro, has also pledged to purchase debt as part of a campaign promise.The government said it will hold an auction in November to buy and restructure household debt, spending 15 billion reais to acquire up to 150 billion reais of delinquent loans at discounts of at least 90%. The program is expected to cover about half of the debt stock deemed eligible.Households would then be able to clear overdue obligations at the discounted value, with the full benefit of the write-down passed through to borrowers. REUTERS
Read briefing Maricarmen Abascal, 87, is transported on a stretcher to an ambulance, after she was evicted from the Madrid home where she had lived for more than seven decades.MADRID - An 87-year-old Madrid woman whose eviction triggered nationwide protests over Spain’s chronic housing crisis and a political debate that culminated in early elections died on Oct 7, a tenants’ union said.“We are sorry to announce that Maricarmen passed away today,” the Madrid Tenants’ Union said in a statement about Maricarmen Abascal, adding that her cause marked “a turning point in the history of this country”.Abascal became a symbol of Spain’s housing market on Sept 23 when she was evicted from her life-long Madrid home on a stretcher after the real estate firm that owned the apartment drastically hiked the rent.Demonstrators in Barcelona on Oct 5 holding signs that read “Not a single more Maricarmen”, in reference to Maricarmen Abascal, a pensioner evicted from her Madrid home after 71 years of living there.Outrage at her eviction triggered national demonstrations, with hundreds of people camping in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square in the most symbolic of the protests.The movement piled pressure on the minority leftist government to present urgent housing measures, including more restrictions on evictions and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts.But their rejection in parliament last week prompted Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap election for Nov 29 in which housing will feature prominently.“The housing debate is at the centre, but the cost to get here has been too high,” the tenants’ union said of the election, originally due in 2027.Abascal had been hospitalised with exhaustion after her eviction, but a deal had been reached with the company that owned her flat allowing her to return home.“This solution has come too late. A totally avoidable situation after a torturous process,” added the tenants’ union. AFP
Read briefing A police cordon in place after officers shot a man armed with a knife near the Royal Palace in central Stockholm, on Oct 6.STOCKHOLM - Swedish police said of Oct 6 they shot an armed man outside the Royal Palace in central Stockholm after receiving reports of a disruptive individual carrying a weapon.“The man was hit and taken to hospital,” Stockholm police spokeswoman Susanna Rinaldo told AFP.Rinaldo declined to specify the type of weapon involved, adding that the police operation remained ongoing but that there was no danger to the public.Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that the man approached palace guards armed with a knife and asked to be shot.In a later update, police said it had launched an investigation into “aggravated threats against a public official” and an aggravated knife offence without providing further details. AFP
Read briefing BRASILIA, Oct 6 - After a bruising first round of Brazil's presidential election, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is rushing to overhaul his campaign communications to engage millions of Brazilians who did not vote, according to people close to the campaign.Lula finished nearly 2 percentage points — about 2.2 million votes — behind right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in Sunday's vote, making the three-term leftist the underdog in an October 25 runoff.As markets cheered Bolsonaro's odds, Lula's allies met in Brasilia on Monday to regroup and plan a rebrand.At the meeting, Lula pushed what is being dubbed internally the "fear strategy" to remind voters of the risks a Bolsonaro presidency he says would pose to popular social benefits.People close to the campaign say Lula blames the messaging for failing to reach enough young people and women.Some party figures point to Lula's social communications minister, Sidonio Palmeira, whose business partner Raul Rebelo runs the campaign's messaging, for pushing less accessible themes like sovereignty and critical minerals. One TV campaign advert was devoted entirely to rare earths.Rebelo is staying for now, but Otavio Antunes, a more aggressive strategist, is expected to join the national team, two people with the campaign said.Lula's Workers' Party is courting the 9 million-plus voters who backed minor candidates, but mainly targeting the record 33 million who abstained on Sunday, which it attributes to apathy rather than opposition to Lula.A new Workers' Party social media ad warns that "some losses can't be undone," as slips of paper naming government programs, including one sending doctors to remote areas and above-inflation pension increases, blow from an open hand.Bolsonaro's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a recent interview, he pledged to keep Bolsa Familia — Brazil's flagship cash-transfer program created by Lula — and let recipients stay on it even after finding formal work or starting a business.With less than three weeks to go, campaign coordinator Paulo Okamoto said the campaign would build a network of left-leaning influencers to aid the social media push.Lula himself could prove an obstacle. The 80-year-old does not carry a phone and often criticizes screen culture.While he promised Monday to make more social videos — which he calls "selfies" — Lula also said he wants to do more radio interviews before the runoff. REUTERS
Read briefing MOSCOW, Oct 6 - Emergency crews on Tuesday rescued the 23-member crew of a Liberian-flagged tanker, the Aframax Rio, which was set ablaze off Russia's Black Sea coast after coming under attack from an unmanned vessel, the Russian Transport Ministry said.The ministry, in a report posted on Telegram, said the crew was made up entirely of Indian nationals. It said there were no injuries.The ministry said firefighters had sufficient means to tackle the blaze once it became less intense.Russian regional authorities in the settlement of Sirius had earlier reported the fire aboard the tanker. Beaches in the settlement in Russia's south Krasnodar region were closed to the public, the authorities said. REUTERS
Read briefing Riot police clashing with protesters in the French capital, Paris, on Oct 6, as nationwide protests over decrepit conditions in French high schools descended into sporadic violence.PARIS - Mass protests over decrepit conditions at France’s high schools descended into sporadic violence on Oct 6, leading to nearly 500 arrests and prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call an emergency meeting.The protests started in late September with students blocking entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds over complaints of dilapidated facilities and teacher shortages.US President Donald Trump weighed in on Oct 6 to blame the unrest in France on “mass migration” and Islam, as he pushed his global right-wing narrative ahead of tough midterm elections at home.In France, parents, teachers and union workers joined the high school students’ movement in the capital Paris and other cities.The interior ministry said 256,000 people protested nationwide, while union organisers put the figure at 450,000.A masked protester throwing an object, amid clashes with French police in Paris on Oct 6.Macron was expected to meet top officials late on Oct 6, including Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Education Minister Edouard Geffray, in response to the unrest, a government source said.At least 488 people were arrested and 43 members of the security forces were wounded on Oct 6, the interior ministry announced.French riot police removing elements of a burning street barricade in the French city of Lyon on Oct 6.Rights groups, unions and the students have accused authorities of using disproportionate force.A 14-year-old student in north-west Paris was hit in the face with a tear gas grenade at such close range that he lost several teeth. A policeman was charged on Oct 6 over that incident.“Gen Z has risen up and wants to be heard,” 19-year-old Lilia told AFP at a massive march in central Paris, adding she hoped Macron would listen.A protester holding a placard on Oct 6 that reads "Youth in struggle, workers join us" during a demonstration in Paris.At Paris’ Place de la Republique, protesters gathered beneath banners demanding better-funded schools, including one reading “Neglected schools, sacrificed youth”.An AFP reporter described the Paris march as largely peaceful, but tensions flared near its endpoint in the east of the capital as police fired tear gas and some demonstrators threw rocks at a line of officers carrying riot shields.Police officials said that “300 hostile individuals” attempted to confront officers.Yanis, 16, said students felt ignored until the demonstrations turned violent. “It makes us feel like everything gets solved through violence,” he said.The unrest comes ahead of a 2027 election to choose Macron’s successor, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen riding high in the polls despite a graft conviction.While many protests have been peaceful, some demonstrators have started fires, destroyed bus shelters, or clashed with riot police.Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu condemned violence linked to the protests, telling lawmakers the violence would not be tolerated.“Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings,” he told Parliament, rejecting accusations that the government had ordered “police repression” against protesters.He also said that high schools across the country would be closed for a half-day between Oct 7 and 9, to permit “internal democracy” in the establishments.The government says 215 students and 715 police officers have been injured since the start of the movement.The government has sought to address the students’ grievances, while accusing the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of encouraging the movement.Veteran LFI presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has strongly supported the protests, while calling for non-violent methods.Thomas, a 17-year-old student from the Paris suburb of Val-de-Marne, said some of the classrooms at his school were short of desks and chairs while the bathrooms lacked doors, toilet paper and soap.In Lyon, parents organised to support the youngsters, while teacher Rindala Younes said she wanted to help students “convey their message peacefully”.In neighbouring Belgium, students have started a similar protest movement in the city of Liege. On Oct 6, several of them were arrested after what police said were clashes and vandalism on the sidelines of a demonstration.Amnesty International on Oct 5 said the French authorities should “put an end to the disproportionate police repression seen in recent days during student protests”.Nunez said police had opened 10 internal investigations into allegations of misconduct.Since the start of the movement, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked, according to the education ministry.More than 6,500 people, mostly minors, have been arrested. The prime minister’s office said 85 teaching staff have also been injured. AFP
Read briefing Oct 6 - Cornell University has hired a top former US Justice Department lawyer for an internal investigation of how it handled a student's allegations that she was gang-raped, a case that has brought mounting scrutiny and triggered student protests at the Ivy League school.Sally Yates, who served as deputy US attorney general from 2015 to 2017, will conduct an independent review of how Cornell prevents and responds to sexual assault claims, university officials said on Tuesday.The investigation by Yates, now a partner at law firm King & Spalding, will include a “detailed review” of Cornell’s response to the student's claims that she was sexually assaulted by multiple men during a fraternity party in October 2024.The student, referred to as Jane Doe in a lawsuit she filed against Cornell and seven fraternity members, has said the Ithaca, New York university failed to adequately investigate and punish the fraternity members involved.Other Cornell students staged a mass rally on Monday voicing solidarity with Jane Doe and demanding that the school take firmer action against sexual violence on campus.A newly formed Special Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees said Yates will have “full independence” to conduct her review.A lawyer for Jane Doe, Thomas Giuffra, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday about the investigation.Yates was previously hired by the US Soccer Federation to investigate allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct within the National Women's Soccer League.Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff on October 3 called the alleged sexual assault case a “defining moment” and said the university "must do better."In her lawsuit, filed last month, Jane Doe said she was plied with drugs and alcohol and then sexually assaulted by several members of the campus chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024 after she had become incapacitated.She had reported the alleged assault to police several weeks after the fact, leading to an internal university investigation and a law enforcement probe, but the local prosecutor declined to bring criminal charges.Cornell, which has defended its response to the original report, shut down the Chi Phi chapter and imposed a range of discipline on the fraternity members involved, including expulsions and other sanctions. REUTERS
Read briefing Fast-food chain McDonald’s has denied using AI to set the price for its menu items and said franchisees make their own pricing decisions.WASHINGTON - McDonald’s has been sued in federal court in Chicago in a proposed nationwide class action alleging the fast-food company illegally coordinates menu prices across its franchises and company-owned restaurants through an AI-powered pricing system.The lawsuit, filed on Oct 2, said McDonald’s violated US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic data.Reuters reported last week that McDonald’s pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyse data from millions of daily transactions across its nearly 14,000 restaurants.The lawsuit cited the Reuters article, which said other fast-food companies are also turning to AI to help with pricing and other operations.McDonald’s, in a statement on Oct 5, called the allegations speculative and uninformed.“AI does not set the price of a Big Mac or any other menu item,” the company said. It said franchisees make their own pricing decisions, and that the use of pricing recommendation tools and analytics is widespread across industries.US plaintiffs have filed a wave of class actions in recent years alleging that companies used algorithms or AI to illegally coordinate prices for hotel rooms, apartment rentals and other purchases.Lark Turner, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said in a statement, that McDonald’s is “leveraging its troves of data and its franchised system to nickel-and-dime consumers down to the last French fry.”The plaintiff, an Illinois resident, is seeking to represent a class of potentially millions of McDonald’s customers, the lawsuit said. REUTERS
Read briefing A woman and a man walk past graffiti with the colours of the Cuban flag in Havana, Cuba, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Ricardo ArduengoWASHINGTON, Oct 5 - Cuba and the United States have maintained “channels of communication” but are not engaged in any formal negotiations, Havana’s top diplomat in Washington told Reuters, as the Trump administration pursues a pressure campaign against the Communist-ruled island.In an interview on Monday, Lianys Torres Rivera, chargé d’affaires at the embassy in Washington, said Cuba remains open to a “respectful” dialogue but is “not naive” about President Donald Trump’s threats and has increased preparations to defend itself against any US military action.The latest US-Cuba diplomatic contacts have involved meetings as well as phone calls and WhatsApp messages, but the two sides have made no progress toward a negotiating agenda or restarting official talks, she said.“What we have with the US is channels of communication,” Torres Rivera said. She declined to provide details on the timing, topics and participants.Her description of the communications appears to fall short of Trump’s assertion at the United Nations last month that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was “deep into negotiations” with Havana. Trump also called Cuba a "failed state” and predicted its government would fall. The Cuban delegation walked out in protest.Trump has openly stated that his goal is to fundamentally change Cuba's government. A US-imposed oil blockade has put the country under severe strain as it contends with fuel shortages and blackouts exacerbated by failing infrastructure. UN human rights experts have condemned the oil blockade as a violation of international law.Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said at the end of June that talks initiated earlier this year with the US had stalled, and in early September that no talks were under way or planned.In response to Reuters' questions, a US official provided no guidance on diplomatic contacts but said on condition of anonymity: "The United States is ready to open a new chapter in the relationship ... The only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control Cuba for their own gain at the expense of the Cuban people."Torres Rivera said Cuba’s “red line” remains that Havana is unwilling to negotiate any changes in its political system, seeing Trump’s demands for the removal of the Cuban leadership as a violation of sovereignty.She rejected the Trump administration’s claims that Cuba was a threat to US national security or is interfering in US domestic affairs, and said Washington was using such accusations as a pretext to continue squeezing the island economically in what she called “collective punishment.”The US official reiterated Trump's assertion that “we will not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep.”The Trump administration tightened the embargo against Cuba last week, further restricting travel there by Americans and access to US banking for its private sector.Those measures, said Torres Rivera, contradict US insistence that it wants Cuba to expand private enterprise.Facing US pressure, Cuba unveiled free-market reforms in June that, if fully implemented, would represent the biggest change to the island's socialist economy since former leader Fidel Castro took control in 1959.But Washington says the reforms do not go far enough and has also called for "free and fair" elections.Despite the gaps, Trump predicted late last month that the US and Cuba “will make a deal,” adding, ”I don't think we'll need the military.”“Cuba has always been preparing for an aggression from the US,” Torres Rivera said. “And we are increasing our capabilities now more than ever before … It is to defend ourselves.” REUTERS
Read briefing US President Donald Trump speaks with media before boarding Marine One as he travels to Grand Island, Nebraska, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., US, October 5, 2026. REUTERS/Eric LeeWASHINGTON, Oct 5 - US President Donald Trump on Monday at the White House told reporters that the United States will help Russia after a laboratory worker died at a plague research institute in Siberia.Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Nebraska that the outbreak is a "big problem for Russia."A laboratory worker at a plague research institute in Siberia fell ill and died in undisclosed circumstances, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of people.The death has sparked public health fears on social media, but Russian authorities said on Monday the situation was under control.He said the US would do what it could to help Russia. Trump has said he considers Russian President Vladimir Putin someone whom he can work with despite tensions over Russia's war against Ukraine."We'll help," Trump said. "Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we're always will to help." REUTERS
Read briefing The emergency order allows the state to respond more quickly to the outbreak as infections skyrocketed to 3,887 cases nationwide.NEW YORK - New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in response to rising measles cases on Oct 5, as infections skyrocket nationwide. The order allows the state to respond more quickly to the outbreak and speed testing and vaccination, Hochul said in a statement. As of Oct 3, New York has recorded 108 total cases, including seven in New York City. A majority of the infections were recorded since mid-July. “No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease,” she said. The announcement comes as the US is grappling with one of the worst measles outbreaks in decades.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 3,887 cases as of Oct 2 – the most reported in three decades.The majority of cases currently are centred in Pennsylvania, which reported more than 1,000 confirmed infections, including five deaths, on Oct 5. It’s become the largest singular outbreak in the US.The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is 97 per cent effective in preventing a measles infection after two doses, according to the CDC.Vaccination rates nationwide have been declining and are now below the threshold needed to protect immunocompromised or vulnerable people in many areas, leading to the growing number of outbreaks. BLOOMBERG
Read briefing BAGHDAD, Oct 5 - At least one Iraqi federal policeman was killed and four others wounded on Monday when Islamic State militants attacked a federal police site southwest of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, two security sources told Reuters.The attackers used semi-automatic machine guns and sniper fire against the federal police regiment stationed near Hawija, about 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, the sources said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But security and army sources said Islamic State militants, who are still active in the area, were involved in the attack.The attack is the first reported assault by Islamic State militants on Iraqi security forces since US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq on September 30, ending the military mission in the country.The United States had led a coalition that supported Iraqi forces in the fight against Islamic State, including efforts to prevent the militant group from regrouping.Washington said it would continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support after the withdrawal, while Iraqi forces would take full responsibility for the country’s security and for suppressing Islamic State remnants.Despite the defeat of Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate nearly a decade ago, the group retains sleeper cells in Iraq, Iraqi security officials told Reuters ahead of the US withdrawal.The withdrawal had raised concerns that a security vacuum could provide an opening for Islamic State to regain strength, with some officials warning that Iraqi forces would now have to contain the group without the coalition’s military presence. REUTERS
Read briefing Four of the earthquakes shook the Saimbeyli district in Turkey’s Adana province, with the tremors also felt in northern Syria.ISTANBUL - Five shallow quakes rattled southern Turkey on Oct 4 with the tremors also felt in northern Syria, but caused no injuries or damage, the authorities on both sides said.Three of them occurred during the early afternoon, with two more during the evening, Turkey’s AFAD disaster relief agency said on X, saying they caused “no adverse situation”.The area is about 150km from the epicentre of two massive earthquakes in February 2023 that killed at least 53,000 people in Turkey and around 6,000 in Syria.Four of them shook the Saimbeyli district in Adana province: a 4.8 magnitude quake at 2.19pm, one measuring 4.9 at 2.36pm, a third of 4.4 at 7pm and a fourth of 4.3 magnitude at 8.28pm, AFAD said.There was also a 5.2 quake in the Sumbas district, about 80km further south, at 2.43pm.In a statement on Telegram, Syria’s national earthquake centre said all five quakes had been felt in parts of northern Syria, without mentioning any injuries or damage.Turkey is crisscrossed by several geological fault lines that have previously caused catastrophes in the country. AFP
Read briefing Passengers from a diverted flydubai flight are seen after landing at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod on Sept 30.JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a security review of international flights to Israel on Oct 4, after an attempt by an Omani co-pilot to crash an Israel-bound plane from Dubai.Netanyahu “has instructed the head of the National Security Council, Shmuel Ben Ezra, to appoint an examiner to conduct a thorough review of all security aspects of foreign civil aviation to Israel”, a statement from the premier’s office said.Calls have mounted in Israel for an investigation into the security lapse that allowed the Omani co-pilot of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Sept 30 to attempt to bring down the aircraft after stabbing the Indian captain.Israeli media has reported that the co-pilot intended to crash the aircraft on Israeli territory.Critics have focused on how a pilot from a country with no diplomatic relations with Israel was cleared to operate a flight bound for Tel Aviv.Transport Minister Miri Regev rejected responsibility for the failure, saying security oversight for flights operated by foreign airlines falls under the remit of the Mossad and Shin Bet, Israel’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies.A 2024 report by the state comptroller found there was no clear division of responsibility for the security of foreign airlines operating in Israel, and recommended that the government address the issue.Israeli media have reported that pilots from countries hostile to Israel have repeatedly flown into the country in recent years.Keren Terner, who previously served as director-general of the transport ministry and is now running for Parliament for the opposition, blamed Regev for the security failure, noting that the Civil Aviation Authority was under the “direct subordination” of her ministry.“You are responsible for the security of foreign companies. Not the Shin Bet, not Mossad. You. That’s what the government decided, and that’s what the law stipulates,” Terner wrote on X.Opposition leader Yair Lapid dismissed Netanyahu’s announcement of a security review as a “sham investigation”.“The chain of failures that preceded the incident could have led to a disaster of historic proportions, and this is how an Israeli prime minister responds?” Lapid wrote on X.“Just as Netanyahu escaped an investigation into the October 7 massacre, he is now running away again,” he added.Gadi Eisenkot, a leading challenger to Netanyahu ahead of the Oct 27 election, wrote on X that “in a proper and functioning government, the minister of transportation would have submitted a letter of resignation last night”. AFP
Read briefing Mohsen Paknejad has been Iran’s oil minister since August 2024 and resigns as the seven-month war between Iran and the US puts pressure on the country’s economy.DUBAI - Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned and been replaced by the country’s top oil executive, the president’s office said in a statement on Oct 4, amid a blockade on Tehran’s oil exports by the United States.“Following the acceptance of Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation, Hamid Bovard”, the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, “has been appointed as acting Minister of Oil by a decree from the president”, said the statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB.In a news bulletin on the minister’s resignation, state television ran an interview with an official from the Iranian presidential office who said Paknejad initially offered his resignation a while ago “due to personal issues” but this was rejected.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had asked Paknejad to continue in his post but was now accepting his departure as the minister had insisted on leaving, the official added.He said that Pezeshkian “commended his efforts and sincere service” after accepting his decision to quit.The crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway has been the focal point of the Middle East war, as a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG passed through it before the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in late February.Tehran has been blocking the passage of commercial ships, firing on vessels it accuses of unauthorised crossings.Washington responded with a counterblockade of Iranian ports in an effort to prevent Tehran from exporting its oil.Earlier in the war, capital Tehran and other Iranian cities at times saw queues build up at petrol stations as Washington choked the country’s economy. AFP
Read briefing Britain's Green Party leader Zack Polanski speaks during a Green Party conference in Brighton, Britain, October 2, 2026. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYLONDON, Oct 4 - Britain's Green Party voted on Sunday to class Zionism as a form of racism, drawing criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government which said it now viewed the party as "a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism".The party – which received 6% of the vote in national elections in 2024 – said it regarded Zionism as "an ethnonationalist political project" and repeated its call for Britain's Labour government to end all arms trade with Israel."The motion also restates the Green Party's backing for the right to self-determination and calls for the establishment of a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine," the party said in a statement.The definition of Zionism – which inspired the foundation of the modern state of Israel in the 20th century – and what it implies for the rights of non-Jews in Israel and neighbouring territory, is contentious. Jewish groups sometimes define it as a right to Jewish self-determination.The Green Party motion passed by a majority of 1,022 to 813 despite opposition from many senior figures. Party leader Zack Polanski, who is seeking election to Parliament on Thursday in former Prime Minister Keir Starmer's now-vacant London constituency, did not vote."The Green Party has made antisemitism party policy and become a racist party," the Movement for Progressive Judaism said, adding that the support of some Jews for the motion did not mean it would not be used to discriminate against others.Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Green Party and a supporter of the motion, told Sky News on Saturday that the heavy Palestinian death toll in Israel's conflict with Hamas – which followed the Palestinian militant group's deadly 2023 attack on an Israeli music festival – was the key context for the vote."The motion defines Zionism quite clearly. It defines it as an ethnonationalist movement. It defines it as ethnic cleansing. It defines it as genocide," Ali said.Britain's government views Israeli settlers' actions in the West Bank as amounting to ethnic cleansing but has said courts must decide if other Israeli actions qualify as genocide.Israel – which rejects claims of ethnic cleansing and genocide – called on Sunday for other British political parties to condemn the Green Party vote. "The Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle," it said.Polanski and other senior Green Party figures said they would "continue to call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government" and that "there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people". REUTERS
Read briefing Saudi-backed Yemen government soldiers ride in a pick-up truck near the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz, following fierce battles earlier in the day on Oct 3.ADEN – Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government said on Oct 4 it was launching a major military campaign to recapture all areas of the country controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis.The government’s armed forces would press the offensive “until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia,” Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address. A military spokesman later called on the Houthis to lay down their weapons.The Houthis, known formally as Ansar Allah, have held Yemen’s capital Sanaa and vast parts of the north-west, where most of the population live, since 2014.They have so far withstood a series of attacks over the years by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their Western allies, and have updated their weaponry with the help of Iran.The movement launched a surprise offensive in September which captured the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait and some 150km of coast on the Red Sea in a matter of weeks, giving the Houthis new leverage over the international shipping route.That advance also opened a new front in the wider US-Israeli war launched in February against Iran, to which Tehran’s responses included choking oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, to the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.As the Yemeni government, known as the Presidential Leadership Council, made its announcement, the Houthis said they had launched ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco sites in Riyadh and the Khurais area of Saudi Arabia.They claimed the attacks caused major fires and were in response to what they said were 50 Saudi-led air and missile strikes in Yemen in the past 12 hours.Alimi said the decision to launch the counteroffensive came after all chances of de-escalating the conflict had been exhausted.He thanked Saudi Arabia for its support and called on Yemen’s regional allies and international partners to support PLC forces and institutions.Regional and western officials had told Reuters earlier this week that Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies were planning to launch an assault on the Houthis, with the Saudis leading aerial combat and Yemeni forces fighting on the ground.The US is already providing intelligence to support Riyadh’s operations in Yemen, while some regional and European nations are providing mainly defensive military aid to the kingdom, six people with knowledge of the Saudi preparations told Reuters.The United States’ war on Iran has decimated a layer of Iranian military and political leadership, but has also entangled Washington in a new engagement in the Middle East and depleted crucial military hardware.Yemen has been mired in conflict for years, with an array of local armed groups and factions backed by competing regional and international actors.After a popular uprising that was part of the Arab Spring movements in 2011, the Houthis, an armed group of Zaidi Shi’ite Muslims, captured Sanaa.The Saudi-backed PLC, which is also recognised by the United Nations, has since the Houthi takeover controlled the south and east of the country, based in the former South Yemen capital of Aden.Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition in support of the PLC, but failed to defeat the Houthis.A truce agreed between the warring parties in 2022 largely held until 2026, when the Houthis launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi shipping and oil infrastructure in a spillover from the Iran war.The Houthis have maintained the initiative on the ground since seizing control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in their lightning offensive last month that saw government forces collapse.Bab el-Mandeb is the southern exit passage of the Red Sea, a key shipping route between the Mediterranean and Asia that has assumed even more importance this year as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.In the last 48 hours, the Houthis have also made gains against government and local forces on strategic hilltops near Yemen’s Taiz, military sources said, advancing on the last road between the city and Aden on the southern coast.Houthi control over the Taiz-Aden road would lead to an effective siege of the city, Yemen’s third-largest, inhabited by hundreds of thousands of civilians and where thousands of government forces are also stationed.The city is important not just for its strategic location; Alimi is from the region, and a siege of Taiz would amplify an already-dire humanitarian situation in the country.Three in four families in parts of Yemen are going hungry from the impact of the surge in fighting, which has displaced tens of thousands of people and disrupted supplies to millions, the World Food Programme said last week. REUTERS
Read briefing SAO PAULO/SANTA BARBARA D'OESTE, Brazil, Oct 3 - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro wrapped up their campaigns on Saturday ahead of Sunday's first-round presidential election, each expressing confidence of victory despite polls pointing to a likely runoff.Lula ended his re-election campaign with a march through Sao Paulo that drew large crowds of supporters, while Bolsonaro took part in a motorcycle caravan through Santa Barbara d'Oeste and Americana in Sao Paulo state and later rallied in Rio de Janeiro.Lula's camp hailed the event as a record turnout, larger than the closing rally of his 2022 campaign.Organizers said some 150,000 supporters filled the two-kilometer stretch of Augusta Street between Paulista Avenue and Roosevelt Square, a traditional stage for political demonstrations in Brazil's largest city.Speaking from a campaign vehicle, Lula called Sunday's election a choice between "democracy and barbarism."The head of the leftist leader's Workers' Party, Edinho Silva, said the turnout reflected growing momentum for Lula."Unlike other Latin American countries, where we saw a right-wing wave at the end, here in Brazil we're seeing a wave in our favor," Silva said.Right-wing Senator Bolsonaro urged supporters to turn out to vote and predicted a first-round win."I am convinced that everything is in place for us to win this election in the first round," the lawmaker said.Flavio was photographed holding a placard bearing the image of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest after being convicted of attempting to overturn the 2022 election result, which he lost to Lula.If no candidate wins more than 50% of valid votes -- which exclude blank and null ballots -- in Sunday's first-round vote, the two frontrunners advance to a second-round runoff on October 25. REUTERS
Read briefing Warnings from inside and outside the AI world are that its agents are being developed so fast and becoming so smart they could soon elude control and conceivably wipe out humanity.NEW YORK - Another former OpenAI employee has added his voice to a chorus of frantic calls to make AI safe, saying the industry must mimic the aviation or nuclear power sectors with their layers of safeguards to avoid disaster.In an article published in The Atlantic Magazine, David Robinson echoed warnings from inside and outside the AI world that its agents are being developed so fast and becoming so smart they could soon elude control and conceivably wipe out humanity.Robinson said alarming incidents reported since the start of the summer – in which AI agents slipped out of their controlled spaces and went rogue to attack a variety of targets – show the industry is not taking safety nearly seriously enough as it sprints to develop faster and more powerful artificial intelligence capabilities.In the essay, Robinson said his credentials include overseeing the writing of safety reports on 12 advanced model product launches and leading the drafting of OpenAI’s Preparedness Framework.Robinson says he worked at OpenAI for three-and-a-half years and was among the longest-tenured employees at the company.The mistakes revealed recently are typical because of “the speed and flexibility with which people operate,” Robinson wrote.He added: “An environment where things like this can happen is no place to grow artificial minds that could be smarter than we are and that might not do what we want them to.”He argued that cutting-edge AI labs need to operate like the aviation or the nuclear industry with layers of redundant safeguards and careful planning “so that the occasional and inevitable human error does not open a door to disaster.”Robinson also insisted that the issue of “alignment” – the industry term for how AI can be trained to respect human values – is essential but something the industry has failed to even define, much less master.Then there’s this, he said: AI models are getting better and better at detecting when they are being tested and might behave differently when they are actually deployed, fooling their masters.After a meeting on Sept 29 at the White House, amid global worries about what AI means for humanity, top AI executives said they had committed to measures for self-regulation, as opposed to submitting to government rules. This includes internal controls on AI systems and bringing in outside analysts.President Donald Trump is vehemently against government regulation of AI and insists that criticism that AI is dangerous is just a “hoax.” AFP
Read briefing Israel’s Prime Minister wants flydubai captain Smit Machchhar (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) to light a flame for Israel’s Independence Day in May 2027.JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Oct 3 invited to Israel as a guest of honour the Indian captain of a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight who offered a dramatic account of how he saved the plane after being attacked.Netanyahu said he wanted Captain Smit Machchhar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of Israel’s key international partners, to light a flame at a national ceremony for Israel’s Independence Day next May, saying the role was usually reserved for Israeli citizens.“You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel and you are a hero of the entire world,” Netanyahu said, in a video his office released of his telephone conversation with the hospitalised captain.UAE investigators have said that the co-pilot planned the “terrorist act” by attacking Machchhar with an axe.Asked how the attack unfolded, Machchhar said the co-pilot had asked to take time to pray, as devout Muslims do five times a day.“A lot of locals, they do pray, which is not out of the ordinary. While he was praying, out of respect, I was just looking at the front and not at the back,” Machchhar said.“Suddenly, after I think I would say about four to five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head. My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft and something is not right.“But then after that the blows kept coming one after the other. That’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft, it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me.”While saying his memory was not entirely clear due to his injury, Machchhar said he managed to pull open the cockpit door “but I think he shut it back closed.”“I had that one last fight left in me,” Machchhar explained, saying he knew he faced certain death if not.“That’s when I pushed against everything. I gave everything that I had and just went for the door and opened the door and thankfully people were waiting.” AFP
Read briefing 