World, in brief

Donald Trump, the US president, said on Friday that Russia will sell diesel to the US and the world, after a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Russia's president. [1][2]

Trump said Russia would send 300,000 tonnes at once, 500,000 tonnes in November and a million tonnes after that. [1][3]

The US Treasury then gave a licence letting Russian diesel be sold until April 2027. [4][3] It lifts sanctions, the rules that stop trade with a country to cut its income.

The US has bought no Russian oil or gas since 2022, when it banned them over the invasion of Ukraine. [5] Three weeks ago Trump signed a new law meant to squeeze Russia's oil and gas income harder. [6][4]

Diesel runs lorries, tractors and heating. [7] Its US price averaged $6.28 a gallon on Friday, against about $3.68 a year earlier. [7] The rise began when the US and Israel went to war with Iran in February and Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. [8][2]

Americans vote for Congress on 3 November. [2] Diesel prices have hurt Trump's party most in farm states such as Iowa, Kansas, Texas and Ohio. [6]

Analysts say the deal is small: 300,000 tonnes is about 2.25 million barrels, while the US burns about 3.6 million barrels of diesel a day. [2][6]

Russia may not even have the fuel. [9] Ukrainian drones have knocked out much of its refining, and its diesel exports fell to a ten-year low in September. [1][9]

A US official told Axios that Trump acted after Ukraine ignored half a dozen US requests to stop striking Russian refineries. [10] Those strikes raise fuel prices for Americans too, the official said. [10]

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, called the deal a gift to Putin that Russia would repay 'with further terror'. [11][12] He said Ukraine's negotiators, meeting US envoys in Miami the same day, were used as a 'smokescreen'. [12][13]

On Saturday morning Russian glide bombs hit two blocks of flats in Zaporizhzhia, a city in south-east Ukraine, killing at least 12 people including three children, Zelensky said. [14][15]

Democrats and some Republicans in the US Congress condemned the deal, and a Democratic senator said it went against the intent of the sanctions law. [16][17]

Why it matters. Watch whether Russian diesel actually leaves port this month, and whether the US still taxes the biggest buyers of Russian oil as its new law tells it to. [5][1]

The Trump administration put sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday. [23] The court, in The Hague, tries people accused of war crimes and genocide when their own countries will not. [23] US firms may no longer sell it goods or services such as banking or software, and have six months to wind down. [32][23] Until now the US had punished 13 of its judges and prosecutors one by one. [25] Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said: 'Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.' [23]

Why it matters. The court belongs to 125 member countries, and it asked them to defend it. [33] Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Britain said they 'strongly disagree', and the EU said it was ready to take 'any necessary measures'. [33][34]

Navi Pillay, an 85-year-old South African judge, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday 'for her efforts to promote peace and international law'. [35] She sat as a judge at the ICC and at the UN court for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, and later ran the UN's human rights office. [35][36] Last year a UN commission she chaired said Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. [35] She grew up under apartheid as a bus driver's daughter, and is South Africa's fifth peace prize winner. [36]

Why it matters. She dedicated the prize to survivors of international crimes. [37] Israel's foreign ministry called the award a 'grotesque weaponisation' of the prize. [38]

At a rally in Syracuse, New York, Trump called the Nobel decision 'an indelible stain on the country of Norway'. [39] 'We will not forget,' he added. [40] He called Pillay a 'mystery person' he had never heard of. [41] The prize is chosen by an independent committee, not by Norway's government, as Norway's prime minister explained to Trump last year. [39] Trump also said he would soon 'settle or win' the wars with Iran and in Ukraine. [40]

Why it matters. Trump has complained about missing the prize in every year of this presidency. [41] This time he aimed the complaint at a whole country, Norway, which is a NATO ally of the US. [39]

Russia's chief prosecutor asked the Netherlands and other countries on Thursday to hand over nine ICC officials, including the court's president, Tomoko Akane of Japan. [24] A Moscow court had sentenced all nine in their absence last year. [24] Russia brought the cases after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 over the war in Ukraine. [24] Japan's government protested, calling measures against ICC staff 'unjust and unacceptable'. [24]

Why it matters. In one week the court's president became the target of a Russian demand to hand her over. [24] In the same week her court was hit by US sanctions. [23]

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck south-central Panama on Friday, about 12km underground, the US Geological Survey said. [30][42] Its centre was near Pitaloza Arriba, a small place in Herrera province about 200km from the capital. [43][42] A spire of the cathedral in Penonome fell, homes cracked, and President Jose Raul Mulino said some roads had 'completely collapsed'. [44][42] Officials reported no deaths and at least 27 people hurt. [45] The Panama Canal kept working normally. [46]

Why it matters. About 4.6 million people felt moderate to severe shaking, the USGS said. [30] The quake struck three days before Panama's planned national earthquake drill. [30]

Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin, Florida, on Friday evening as a category 2 storm. [47][48] It is the first hurricane of this Atlantic season, and the first time in over 30 years that none formed before October. [48] By Saturday more than 860,000 homes and businesses had no power, most in Florida and Alabama. [29] Florida, Alabama and Georgia declared emergencies, and storm surges of up to 2.7 metres were forecast. [48]

Why it matters. Oil companies cut output in the Gulf of Mexico as the storm passed, and oil prices rose for the week. [49] The wars in Iran and Ukraine had already left the world short of fuel. [2]

Hurricane Simon grew to category 4, with winds of 140mph, off Mexico's Pacific coast early on Saturday. [31] It is forecast to come ashore on Sunday between Manzanillo, Mexico's largest port, and Puerto Vallarta, a beach city of nearly 300,000 people. [50] Forecasters warned of 25 to 50cm of rain and of floods and mudslides. [31] Jalisco state closed schools in 22 coastal towns, and Mexico's navy closed ports to small boats. [31][50]

Why it matters. Manzanillo is Mexico's main gateway for trade with Asia. [50] A forecaster said Simon could hit this coast harder than any storm since Lidia in 2023, which damaged thousands of homes. [50]

Police in Delhi, India's capital, detained the leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party as they landed on Saturday, before a protest the police had banned. [26][51] The party is a youth movement that began online as satire. [52] It wants the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to resign, after a recheck of voter lists struck off about 130 million names. [52] Police said about 500 people were detained on their way to the protest. [26] Metro stations were shut and trains to Delhi cancelled. [52]

Why it matters. The election commission says it removed only duplicate and ineligible names, and opposition parties say real voters lost their vote. [52] Senior lawyers told India's Supreme Court the shutting down of the capital was unprecedented. [53]

Saudi Arabia said three of its citizens, including a pilot for Saudia, the national airline, were killed when Yemen's Houthis hit Riyadh's main airport twice on Thursday. [54][20] The Houthis are an armed movement backed by Iran that holds Yemen's capital, Sanaa. [55] Officials said the attacks damaged three planes. [56] The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed three Houthi rocket launchers. [20] Houthi media said Saudi strikes on Sanaa's airport killed two people. [55]

Why it matters. Lufthansa stopped flying to Riyadh until 16 October, and Air India cancelled its flights there. [20][57] Europe's air safety agency told airlines to avoid more of Saudi airspace. [20]

Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy for Yemen, told the UN Security Council on Friday that Yemen 'has slid back into full-scale war'. [21] Fighting has spread since September, when the Houthis took the port of Mocha beside the Bab el-Mandeb strait. [58] About 12% of world trade passes through that strait. [58] The Houthis have also cut the main road into Taiz, a big city in the south-west. [58] A 20-litre can of black-market petrol there rose from 30,000 riyals to 90,000. [58]

Why it matters. At least 3,700 people have fled across the water from Yemen to Djibouti since September, the UN refugee agency says. [59] It is preparing for 10,000 more, in a dry region with no groundwater. [59]

Pakistan said on Friday that 'a substantial number' of its forces and resources are already in Saudi Arabia. [22] They are there under the Makkah defence agreement, a pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey. [22] Defence officials from the three countries met in Riyadh and agreed to move resources quickly when needed, a foreign ministry spokesman said. [22] He would not say how many troops are there. [22]

Why it matters. The spokesman was answering a question about the threat that Yemen's Houthis pose to Saudi Arabia. [22]

The UAE's attorney-general said on Friday that the co-pilot who attacked his captain on a flydubai flight on 30 September planned to crash into Israel's main airport. [60][61] Hamam al-Hammami, a 29-year-old from Oman, confessed to acting alone, though the search for helpers goes on. [61] He had flown to Tel Aviv twice before to learn the route. [61] The Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, though badly hurt, opened the cockpit door so passengers could overpower him. [60][62]

Why it matters. An Israeli airline has started its own checks on the foreign crews of planes it rents, because those crews fall outside Israel's security rules. [63] Israel will give Machchhar its highest civilian award for bravery. [62]

Police in Montenegro arrested Mikhail Zvinchuk, a Russian pro-war blogger, and four others on Friday on suspicion of trying to destabilise the country. [64][65] Zvinchuk used to work in the press office of Russia's defence ministry. [64] He founded Rybar, a Telegram channel with more than 1.5 million followers. [64] Montenegro, a small Balkan country, was once close to Russia but is now in NATO and wants to join the EU. [64]

Why it matters. Rybar said the group only planned to film a monastery. [64] The prime minister, Milojko Spajic, said attempts to destabilise Montenegro have followed its path towards the EU. [64]

Polish police detained 76 people and checked nearly 50,000 schools after two attacks this week. [66] On Wednesday a 19-year-old injured nine people with a sharp object at a vocational school in central Poland. [66] On Thursday a 15-year-old killed a school caretaker and wounded two others in the same province. [66] Rumours of more attacks on a 'bloody Friday' spread online, and 59 schools cancelled classes. [66]

Why it matters. Violence in schools by children is new in Poland. [66] Many parents kept their children at home on Friday. [66]

Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's president, said on Saturday that more defence spending is meant 'to deter war', not to provoke one. [67][68] His government plans a record NT$1.1 trillion, about $34.5bn, for defence in 2027. [67] That is more than 3% of the island's economy. [67] China claims Taiwan as its own and has threatened to take it by force. [67] Lai also welcomed talks between the US and China aimed at lowering the risk of war. [69]

Why it matters. China's office for Taiwan said the speech showed 'sinister motives'. [69] Taiwan's 23 million people live under the constant threat of an attack. [67]

The EU and China agreed on Friday to limit China's sales of hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars to Europe. [70] Maros Sefcovic, the EU's trade chief, said it 'opens the prospect of cutting China's exports by more than a half'. [70] The EU buys about one billion euros a day more from China than it sells there. [71] China also agreed to let in more EU goods, from car parts to olive oil, and to ease the supply of rare earths, metals used in motors. [71]

Why it matters. France and Germany had pushed for tough action if China did not move. [70] EU leaders will look at the details at a summit next week. [71]

Ireland, which chairs meetings of EU governments this half-year, proposed a smaller EU budget for 2028 to 2034 on Saturday. [72][73] Its plan is about 8% below the European Commission's draft of nearly two trillion euros. [72][73] Politico counted the cut at 159 billion euros and Euronews at 141 billion. [72][73] Farm subsidies and money for poorer regions were protected. [72] Most of the cut falls on foreign aid and on support for European industry. [72]

Why it matters. A German-led group of countries wants far deeper cuts, and southern and eastern states want none at all. [72] EU leaders argue it out at a summit next week. [72]

About 30,000 people marched in Brussels on Friday in a national strike against the Belgian government's spending cuts, police said. [28] Hundreds of young people clashed with riot police near the central station. [28] Police fired water cannon and tear gas, and rioters set fire to city bikes and scooters. [28] Union leaders said the rioters had nothing to do with their march. [28] More than 200 people were arrested in Liege this week after student clashes. [28]

Why it matters. Belgium, like France and Italy, carries heavy public debt and is struggling to agree next year's budget. [28] The Belgian student protests copied those in France. [28]

The UN human rights office said on Friday it was following France's high school protests 'with concern' as they entered a fifth straight day. [27] Nearly 7,000 people have been taken into police custody since mid-September, and 86% of them are under 18. [27] Students are protesting about missing teachers, packed timetables and classrooms that cannot cope with heat. [27] Police face 18 internal inquiries into claims of excessive force. [27]

Why it matters. A 17-year-old in Sevran, a poor suburb of Paris, said some students stand in class because there are not enough chairs. [74]

Ethiopia told the UN Security Council on Friday that it is acting in self-defence against Eritrea, its neighbour to the north. [75] Its foreign minister accused Eritrea of an 'all-out invasion' of Tigray, saying its troops had pushed up to 60km in. [76] Eritrea's information minister said his country faces 'an unprovoked war of aggression'. [76] The two fell out mostly over Ethiopia's wish to own a port on Eritrea's Red Sea coast. [76]

Why it matters. Eritrea fought on Ethiopia's side in Tigray's 2020 to 2022 civil war, so a war between them would be a new and wider one. [76] An AFP report cited by DW put 5,000 to 8,000 Eritrean soldiers inside Tigray, quoting a foreign security source. [77]

Ethiopian Airlines will fly to Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, again from Sunday, three weeks after it stopped. [78] Flights halted on 23 September, when the TPLF, the party that ran Tigray, took the airports at Mekelle, Shire and Axum. [78] Ethiopia's federal forces took Mekelle back last Sunday. [78] Flights to Shire and Axum stay suspended. [78]

Why it matters. The flights restore the main link between Tigray and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. [78]

A drone strike killed at least 40 people, including children, in Sudan's Blue Nile province near the Ethiopian border on Friday, a rights group said. [56] Emergency Lawyers, a group that tracks the war, blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). [56] The RSF is a paramilitary force that has fought Sudan's army since 2023. [56] The strike hit the Abu Shandi area. [56]

Why it matters. Blue Nile borders Ethiopia, where a separate war in Tigray widened this week. [56][75]

The US lifted a ban on direct flights between the US and Lebanon that had stood since 1985. [56] It was imposed after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 that year. [56] Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, said it shows US confidence in Lebanon's airport safety. [56] Trump ordered the change about two weeks ago, and it was made public on Saturday. [56]

Why it matters. It comes after two wars with Israel badly weakened Hezbollah, the armed group backed by Iran. [56]

The UN human rights office said Israel carried out 280 armed raids into southern Syria in September, the most of any month this year. [79] It said Israel is holding 49 Syrians, and released detainees describe beatings and threats. [79] Israeli troops moved into Syria after Bashar al-Assad's government fell in December 2024. [79] Syria says Israel is building fortifications along the occupied Golan Heights. [79]

Why it matters. The US is overseeing talks between the two on a peace deal and on Israel pulling back to the line agreed in 1974. [79]