Breakfast News Recap: Russia escalates Ukraine warnings as Gaza toll rises and Iraq mission ends

Russia has warned NATO it could use its full arsenal, including nuclear weapons, if the alliance tried to cut off Kaliningrad, as Moscow also stepped up its assault on Ukraine with a major strike on the energy grid that killed at least seven people and left winter power supplies under fresh strain.  🔗  🔗

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There is still no sign Vladimir Putin is preparing to stop the war, according to the latest assessment of his public remarks, reinforcing the view that Moscow is doubling down on its full scale invasion rather than seeking a settlement.  🔗

In the Middle East, Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least seven Palestinians in separate attacks, deepening ceasefire tensions, while hundreds of Israelis entered the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem during Sukkot amid access restrictions.  🔗  🔗

The US led coalition has formally ended its anti Islamic State mission in Iraq after more than a decade, with the Pentagon saying the final American and coalition troops have now left the country and the withdrawal is complete.  🔗  🔗

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Elsewhere in the region, the pilot stabbed on a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv has been identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar, after the aircraft was diverted to Saudi Arabia.  🔗

In Europe, French school protests spread nationwide, with security forces detaining 625 people on Wednesday during blockades and clashes outside high schools, while Norway's parliament opened a probe into 11 current and former senior officials over alleged Epstein linked files and grants.  🔗  🔗

In the UK, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are strong indications Iran played a part in the incident near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, with police keeping the suspects under investigation.  🔗

Across the wider international picture, Nepal has been hit by another wave of landslides and heavy rain that killed about 30 people and stranded trekkers, while India is taking a harder line toward the Trump administration amid disputes over tariffs, terrorism and Washington's approach to Pakistan.  🔗  🔗

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In the United States, the Senate rejected a bill on AI data centre electricity costs, the Justice Department filed an ethics complaint against seven Minnesota federal judges, and federal prosecutors brought new cases including a hate crime indictment over Oceanside Pier attacks, a money laundering plea involving more than $17m in drug proceeds, and a guilty plea by a former NYPD sergeant accused of impersonating an ICE official.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

Washington also moved to ease pressure on Syria by removing it from the list of countries barred from buying or importing US weapons, while President Donald Trump said the US and South Korea had agreed major investment and energy projects in America, including a planned $200bn package and an Alaska LNG project.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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