World, in brief

Donald Trump, the US president, wrote on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed an 'energy ceasefire', a stop to attacks on each other's power and fuel sites, 'effective immediately'. [1][2]

He gave no details, and Russia's government had not confirmed any deal by the end of the day. [1][3]

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, said the truce was 'news' to him, but that Ukraine would accept it if Russia did. [4][2]

Hours later, Zelensky said a Russian drone had hit a power plant in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, causing power cuts, and that strikes on energy sites around Kharkiv followed. [1][5]

A Russian strike near a grocery store in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, killed three people, and an attack on Ivano-Frankivsk in the west killed two. [6][7]

Zelensky said Russia hit Ukraine's power plants and power lines more than 200 times this week, and its gas and oil sites 17 more times. [4]

The row began on Friday, when Trump lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel to bring fuel prices down before the US midterm elections on 3 November. [8][9]

Trump blames Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian oil refineries for high diesel prices, and on Saturday he said Ukraine needed a new leader. [10][4]

Seven US senators, four Republicans and three Democrats, said the diesel deal breaks a 2022 law that bans Russian energy imports to the US. [11][12]

The Financial Times reported, citing officials in Europe, that the US threatened to cut off a scheme Ukraine uses to buy American weapons unless it stops striking Russian energy sites. [7]

Zelensky said he would hold the election Trump wants if Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, agreed to a 60-day stop to all fighting. [10][1]

Britain, France, Canada and the EU backed an energy ceasefire, and oil prices fell more than 1% on the news. [1][13]

Why it matters. The next test is Russia: a statement from its government accepting the truce, or nights without strikes on Ukraine's power plants, would show that the deal Trump announced exists. [3]

A projectile hit a passenger hall at King Khalid airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, on Sunday, killing a Pakistani resident and injuring 11, Saudi officials said. [14] A day earlier a strike on the same airport killed 12 people and hurt about 300; an Indian man hurt in it died on Sunday. [14][16] The Houthis, an Iran-backed group that holds most of Yemen's people, said they also hit oil sites and Dammam airport. [14] They told airlines to avoid every Saudi airport except those in Mecca and Medina. [14]

Why it matters. The Houthis mix drones and missiles of different speeds to confuse air defences, Al Jazeera reported. [26] Saudi Arabia backs Yemen's government in a civil war that flared again in July, when a 2022 truce collapsed. [14]

A boat carrying 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen capsized near the port town of Obock late last week, the IOM, the UN's migration agency, said. [23] At least 139 people died, including 15 children, and 84 are missing. [27][23] About 82 survived, all of them Ethiopian. [23] The toll rose on Sunday after 30 more bodies were found. [28] The IOM called it one of the deadliest wrecks on the route from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. [24]

Why it matters. More than 20,000 people crossed into Djibouti from Ethiopia in the month from 10 September, most heading for work in the Gulf, even though Yemen is at war. [24][27] More than 900 people died on this crossing in 2025. [27]

Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, declared an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province on the border with Afghanistan, and suspended its elected government on Sunday. [20][29] It was run by the PTI, the party of Imran Khan, a former prime minister jailed since 2023. [29] Pakistan's federal government said the province had failed to fight Islamist militants, and sent in the army. [20][30] The PTI called it 'a coup disguised as emergency'. [20] Internet service was disrupted in parts of Peshawar, the provincial capital. [31]

Why it matters. The move came a week after PTI supporters set out to march on Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, to demand Khan's release. [20] Karachi banned gatherings of more than five people until 20 October, and bus services out of Lahore stopped. [32][33]

Air strikes killed at least 72 people digging for gold at Jabal al-Uqaydat, a mining area on Sudan's disputed border with Egypt, on Saturday, a Sudanese rights group said. [17][34] The group, Emergency Lawyers, blamed Egypt's air force. [17] Egypt has not commented, and AFP could not check the toll independently. [34] Strikes on the same site killed 23 miners in June, after which Egypt's army said it had acted against illegal gold mining inside its own borders. [34]

Why it matters. Both countries claim the land, an area called the Halayeb triangle. [35] Egypt is also a key ally of Sudan's army in its war with the RSF, a paramilitary force, and Sudan's army-led authorities have not commented either. [34][36]

Mohsen Rezaei, who runs Iran's top security council, said Iran sent the US seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz about two weeks ago. [37] He said the US had accepted some, left others open, and that its reply was 'insufficient'. [37] Iran has blocked the strait, which carries a fifth of the world's oil and gas in peacetime, since the US and Israel attacked it in February. [37][38] Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a supertanker hit a mine there on Saturday after taking an unapproved route. [38]

Why it matters. Rezaei said the US asked for Iran's terms through Pakistan, Qatar and Iraq, so those countries now carry the messages. [37] The US has rejected Iran's plan to run the strait jointly with Oman, and says ships must pass freely. [37]

A drone hit the MT Petro Dolphin, a tanker anchored off the port of Sohar in northern Oman, on Sunday, India's shipping minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, said. [15] Nine of its 11 Indian crew were rescued and two are missing. [15][39] Oman's coast guard is searching for them. [15] At least 16 Indian sailors have been killed since the Iran war began in late February. [15]

Why it matters. The UK's maritime security agency reported another projectile hitting a tanker leaving the Strait of Hormuz the same afternoon. [38] Ship captains near Ras al-Khaimah in the UAE were told by radio overnight to leave their anchorages. [38]

Saudi Arabia went ahead on Sunday with the International Energy Forum, a meeting of energy ministers, held alongside a big oil industry congress in Riyadh. [40] Reporters were kept out of the ministers' talks, and Italy's energy minister said he would join by video instead of travelling. [40] Flight trackers counted 655 cancelled flights to and from Riyadh on Sunday, and UAE airlines cancelled flights into Tuesday. [41] A Saudi league football match was postponed, and an Asian Champions League game for Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo's club, was in doubt. [42]

Why it matters. The BBC's analysis said Saudi Arabia's name as a safe, stable place to visit is taking a battering. [43] Saudi officials kept the airport shut until 1am on Monday. [44]

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it destroyed 136 military targets in areas they hold, in a 'large-scale operation' on Saturday. [45] Houthi television reported strikes in Saada, in Yemen's north-west. [45] The coalition called the airport attack 'a full-fledged war crime' and promised to respond. [44] Trump said the US 'may' join strikes on the Houthis, and later said Saudi Arabia could defend itself. [16]

Why it matters. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said an American citizen was among the dead in Riyadh. [44] The US is already caught up in three unfinished conflicts in the region, in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, the BBC noted. [43]

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, phoned Prince Faisal bin Farhan, his Saudi counterpart, on Sunday about the attacks on Saudi airports. [46] Araghchi said the region's crises have no military solution. [46] He said Iran was ready to help start talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. [46][14] An expert told Al Jazeera that the Houthis' missiles are mostly Iranian designs. [26]

Why it matters. Iran backs the Houthis and Saudi Arabia backs Yemen's government, so the two are on opposite sides of Yemen's war. [14] The call came as Saudi Arabia promised to answer the airport attack. [44]

Polish police arrested a man in the Lower Silesia region suspected of planning to kill Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the defence minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. [47] The plan came to light when the State Protection Service, which guards ministers, passed an email about it to the police. [47] A spokesman for Poland's security services said there was 'a strong likelihood' the threats could have been carried out. [47] Security chiefs met at short notice on Sunday after the tip-off. [48]

Why it matters. Poland, which borders Ukraine, has faced growing threats from 'hybrid' attacks by Russia in recent months, DW reported. [48] The arrest came in a week of three knife attacks at Polish schools. [49]

Police in Poland have arrested 117 people for carrying knives or other weapons, or for threatening to attack schools or other pupils, after searching tens of thousands of schools. [49] Three attacks at schools this week killed a woman caretaker and hurt others, including children. [49] On Saturday a woman injured three people while attacking a 17-year-old girl at a school in Warsaw. [49] Tusk said the attacks were often 'spontaneous' and inspired by violence praised online, not by an organised group. [49]

Why it matters. Tusk said that a fascination with violence has grown in Poland and around the world in recent years. [49] Thousands of police visited schools across the country on Friday. [49]

Lukasz Gibala, an independent, won the race to be mayor of Krakow, Poland's second-largest city, with 61% of the vote, an exit poll said on Sunday. [50] He beat Monika Piatkowska, a senator backed by Tusk's Civic Coalition, who took 39%. [50] The vote was held because Krakow's last mayor, from Tusk's camp, was removed in a referendum in May. [50] It was Gibala's fourth attempt. [50]

Why it matters. Tusk's party and its partner, the Left, hold 23 of the city council's 43 seats, so Gibala will have to work with them. [50]

Andy Burnham, Britain's prime minister since July, said it is 'clear' that Russia interfered in the 2016 vote in which Britain chose to leave the European Union. [51][52] He said he asked about it when he took office and was told yes. [51] He gave no evidence. [51] He is the first British prime minister to say so openly; Russia has denied it, and Boris Johnson said in 2020 there was no evidence. [53]

Why it matters. Burnham said he wanted voters in France and Germany to know that Russia stirs up some of their politics. [51] He has said Britain could one day rejoin the EU. [53]

Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church, said on Sunday he will have an operation to remove a small lump, called a nodule, found on his lung. [54] He said it was found early and is well contained. [54][55] The Vatican said surgery is set for early this week, with about a week to recover. [56] Fewer than 5% of lung nodules turn out to be cancer, according to the American Thoracic Society, a group of lung doctors. [55]

Why it matters. Leo, 71 and the first American pope, became pope in 2025, and this is his first big health scare. [55] He has a trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru planned for 6 to 17 November. [56]

North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Monday morning, South Korea's military said. [57] One flew more than 900km. [58] Japan's coast guard said two had come down in the sea. [58] South Korea's military called it a show of force after South Korea tested its first homemade hypersonic missile, a very fast weapon, last week. [58][57] North Korea has tested missiles on more than 10 occasions this year, four of them in October. [59]

Why it matters. Tension has grown since landmines wounded three South Korean soldiers in the border zone last month; a joint South Korea-UN inquiry says North Korea laid them. [57]

Raphael Glucksmann, a 46-year-old member of the European Parliament, won the primary of France's centre-left with 66% of the vote on Sunday. [60][61] He will be its candidate for president in 2027. [60] He said he stands for a break with Macron's politics and with Melenchon's hold over the left. [60] Olivier Faure, the Socialist Party leader, came second with 14%, and Segolene Royal third with under 8%. [61] About 120,000 people voted. [61]

Why it matters. Glucksmann now competes with Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the hard left, to be the left's main candidate against the far right. [60]

Only 15% of French people have a good opinion of President Emmanuel Macron, his lowest since he took office in 2017, an Ipsos BVA poll for La Tribune Dimanche found. [62] His prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, rose two points to 22%. [62] France's government faces school pupils' protests, a fuel crisis and a budget fight in a parliament where no side has a majority. [62] People named the cost of living as their top worry, at 54%. [62]

Why it matters. Macron has seven months left in his second and last term. [62] The far right's Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen also lost ground in the poll. [62]

Voters in Slovenia rejected a government bill in a binding referendum on Sunday, by 51% to 49%, with 99% of votes counted. [63] The bill would have made people called before parliament's inquiry committees appear at once, with no right to challenge the summons in court until the inquiry ended. [63] It was part of the plans of Prime Minister Janez Jansa, a nationalist. [63] The opposition had called those plans 'authoritarian'. [63]

Why it matters. Because the vote was binding, the bill falls, a blow to the rest of Jansa's reform plans. [63]

None of the five candidates who won Senate seats outright in Czechia's first round came from ANO, the party of Prime Minister Andrej Babis. [64] A third of Czechia's Senate, 27 seats, was up for election, with 154 candidates. [64] Thirteen ANO candidates go to run-offs for the other 22 seats, mostly against pro-Western opposition groups that joined forces. [64] Independents appeared to win most seats in local elections held at the same time. [64]

Why it matters. The vote was seen as a test of Babis's popularity, and the run-offs will decide how many seats his party gains in the upper house. [64]

A federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to stop any remaining TV adverts praising Trump that were paid for with public money. [18] The adverts, which began in late September, showed Trump promoting his policies and ended with a note saying the US government paid for them. [18] The Department of Homeland Security spent $20 million on them. [18] Judge Jennifer Rochon called them an illegal misuse of funds, in a case brought by groups including Common Cause, a democracy watchdog. [18]

Why it matters. The order lasts two weeks, and the Trump administration had told the court the adverts were ending anyway. [18] Trump's political fundraising group says it will pay for such adverts from now on. [18]

Trump and Marco Rubio are thinking of firing Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, a senior official told AP. [65] The Wall Street Journal has reported that she threatened an official of the host country and took improper gifts. [65] It also reported that she offered to use her influence in return for help paying a large credit card bill. [65] Her lawyer says she did nothing wrong. [65] A decision is expected this week. [66]

Why it matters. The official said Rubio was especially angry because she greeted him with a hug in Athens last week as the reports came out. [65]

Alvaro Pulido, a Colombian-born businessman wanted in the US for paying bribes to officials of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's former president, is in US custody. [67] Prosecutors say he and his partner, Alex Saab, used shell companies to pay bribes for contracts to import food, medicine and cheap housing. [67] The US had offered up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest. [67] He appears in a Miami court on Tuesday. [67]

Why it matters. Saab pleaded guilty last month and agreed to help prosecutors against Maduro, whom the US military removed in January. [67] Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, has said nothing about the arrest. [67]

Ethiopian Airlines flew to Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, on Sunday for the first time since rebels seized its airport on 23 September. [68] The rebels, led by the TPLF, the party that used to run Tigray, left on 3 October when government-allied forces entered the city. [68] Getachew Reda, a former Tigray leader who now advises Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, promised 'visible change' on arrival. [68] Passengers said the flights would reunite families and bring in goods and medicine. [69]

Why it matters. The fighting has weakened the 2022 peace deal that ended a war in which about 500,000 civilians died. [68] Ethiopia has told the UN Security Council that troops from Eritrea, its neighbour, have pushed 60km into Tigray. [70]

South Africa's government said it will ask the courts how to carry out a July ruling on asylum. [71] By 10 November it will also set up a system for people to register that they mean to apply. [71] The Constitutional Court had struck down parts of the Refugees Act that let officials deport asylum seekers who arrived without a transit visa. [71] Home Affairs withdrew an order to accept such applications on Friday, after protests in Soweto and Durban in which 24 vehicles were reportedly set alight. [72]

Why it matters. Long queues formed at refugee offices within days of the first order, and the protests followed. [72]

Three mourners shot dead by Kenyan police at last October's national farewell for Raila Odinga, a former prime minister, were far from the scuffle that set off the shooting. [73] A BBC Africa Eye investigation found they were 60m to 160m away. [73] The BBC studied more than 1,500 photos and videos from Nairobi's Kasarani Stadium. [73] It said an elite unit that guards Kenya's president may have fired the shots. [73] Kenya's police watchdog is still investigating, and no one has been held to account. [73]

Why it matters. Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya's interior minister, told the BBC the police had been 'restrained' after the crowd threw stones; the BBC found chairs thrown, but no evidence of stones. [73]

At least 22 people are feared dead after gunmen ambushed traders travelling under army escort in Zamfara, a state in north-west Nigeria, early on Sunday. [74] The traders were going to the weekly market in Gwashi. [74] A resident said security personnel were among the dead. [74] The attackers are suspected to be bandits, as Nigerians call the armed gangs that rob and kidnap for ransom. [74] The army did not answer calls for comment. [74]

Why it matters. Gwashi and the nearby Bukkuyum area have been attacked again and again, and the attacks have disrupted trade there. [74]