Day News Recap: Russia and Ukraine trade fresh strikes as unrest and security fears spread

Russia and Ukraine exchanged fresh strikes on energy and logistics targets, with at least two people reported dead and 17 injured as the fighting again hit civilian infrastructure and power assets.  🔗 Russia also intensified missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, while a separate overnight Ukrainian drone assault set fire to oil and logistics facilities in St Petersburg.  🔗  🔗

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In Washington, President Donald Trump suspended planned sanctions on countries buying Russian oil or gas, first for 48 hours and then for 60 days, drawing criticism as the administration said it was still assessing the impact.  🔗  🔗 The move came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukraine does not yet have access to Starshield, although Kyiv's request is under discussion.  🔗

European security concerns deepened as officials warned that Russia's war in Ukraine could spill beyond the battlefield and affect neighbouring NATO states.  🔗 In Lithuania, NATO fighters were scrambled after a red air warning near Kaunas when an unidentified flying object was sighted, forcing the airport to close temporarily.  🔗

France was hit by a widening public order crisis, with more than 1,200 arrests reported as cost of living protests turned violent in several cities.  🔗 Later reports put the weekend total at about 1,800 arrests, with looting and mass unrest spreading nationwide and a historic town hall spire in Limoges collapsing in flames after a fire.  🔗  🔗

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Elsewhere in Europe, anti government protests in Tirana entered a fifth day, with police and demonstrators fighting pitched battles in central Albania.  🔗 In the West Bank, the European Union condemned an attack by masked Israeli settlers on a visiting delegation of European diplomats near Taybeh, adding to tensions around the occupied territory.  🔗

In the Middle East, Iran said two oil tankers caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, raising fresh concern over shipping security in one of the world's most sensitive waterways.  🔗 Tehran also approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi as its new defence minister as the conflict with the United States and Israel intensified.  🔗 Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted and destroyed four incoming drones, while Egypt signalled possible defence support amid the cross border threat linked to Houthi activity.  🔗 Gaza meanwhile saw food prices rise after commercial shipments were halted for a fifth consecutive day.  🔗

In Asia, at least 17 people were killed and 25 injured in a stampede at a Durga Puja gathering in north Kolkata, in one of the deadliest crowd disasters in India this year.  🔗 India also featured in diplomacy, with Marco Rubio due to visit Mumbai and Jamnagar for talks that have drawn attention amid tensions in the US India relationship.  🔗 In North Korea, satellite images showed Kim Jong Un's luxury yacht activity near Wonsan, while Pyongyang said it had tested two submarine launched cruise missiles off its east coast.  🔗  🔗 A separate report described an 80 metre luxury boat with a pool and slides repeatedly spotted near the Wonsan retreat.  🔗

In the Americas, a former Guatemalan prosecutor and anticorruption lawyer, Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa, was shot dead at a sports complex in Guatemala City, with police arresting two men.  🔗 In Canada, at least seven people were killed in a fire and reported explosion at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta, where the blaze spread quickly and casualties were taken to hospitals in Edmonton.  🔗  🔗

Further afield, Yemen saw heavy clashes on the al Maqatirah front in Lahij governorate, where eight soldiers loyal to the internationally recognised government were killed.  🔗 In the Pacific, two people were taken into custody after Greenpeace activists occupied a Woodside offshore gas platform about 200 kilometres off Western Australia.  🔗 Timor Leste said the long delayed Greater Sunrise gas project is finally moving ahead, with first agreements expected to be signed soon.  🔗

In US politics, Trump endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's 27 October election, adding a new international dimension to the campaign.  🔗 He also posted that Iran had been systematically destroyed and threatened to finish the job, while separately claiming the US was scammed in the Ukraine impeachment narrative and sending a Kentucky rally message backing Andy Barr for the Senate.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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