The world's biggest stories, explained.
What happened, why it matters, and the history behind it.
- 17 OCT 2026 · RUSSIA-UKRAINE WARHow is the war in Ukraine going, and can peace talks end it?The White House says Melania Trump got Russia and Ukraine to agree to stop fighting in Oleshky from October 29, letting aid in and civilians out. Neither side has confirmed it.
- 17 OCT 2026 · FRANCE COST-OF-LIVING PROTESTSWhy are people protesting in France and why are marches being banned?France is sending 70,000 police and gendarmes into the streets for Saturday's cost-of-living protests, 10,000 more than last week. The Louvre, Orsay, Picasso and the Grand Palais will stay closed, and Art Basel Paris cancelled its weekend. Only one union march is allowed in Paris.
- 23 OCT 2026 · RUSSIA-UKRAINE WARWhy are ships being attacked in the Black Sea?A Russian drone hit a cargo ship off Romania's Black Sea coast on Friday, sinking it. One sailor died, three are missing and nine were rescued, Romanian authorities say.
- 22 OCT 2026 · US-IRAN WARWhy are the US and Iran at war, and what is happening in Hormuz?Iran's state TV said seven oil tankers caught fire or hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, the most in a single day since the war began in February. Oil jumped to its highest price since May.
- 22 OCT 2026 · US-IRAN WARHow is the Iran-US conflict affecting the global economy?Iran's state TV said seven oil tankers caught fire or hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, the most in a single day since the war began in February. Oil jumped to its highest price since May.
- 22 OCT 2026 · DR CONGO EBOLA OUTBREAKHow bad is the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo?Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola case in more than a decade and tightened health checks at airports. The patient, a Ugandan-born Swiss diplomat's wife, flew from Uganda to Abuja. Switzerland says she did not visit Congo, contradicting Uganda. The outbreak has now reached four countries and killed about 4,700 people.
- 17 OCT 2026 · SAUDI-HOUTHI CONFLICTWhy is Saudi Arabia at war with Yemen's Houthis?Drone attacks on a Saudi airport and an Aramco oil field killed three people. The US has ordered non-emergency diplomats and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, and more Gulf missions may follow.
- 22 OCT 2026 · POPE LEO'S HEALTHHow is Pope Leo's health after his lung cancer surgery?Pope Leo rode through St Peter's Square in his open popemobile and led a 50-minute audience, his first since surgery to remove part of his right lung. He thanked crowds for their prayers.
- 22 OCT 2026 · UK-ISRAEL DIPLOMATIC DISPUTEWhy are the UK and Israel at odds over West Bank settlements?Britain has extended its global human rights sanctions regime to cover serious violations of international humanitarian law, obstruction of humanitarian aid and serious violations of the right to liberty and security of person. Illegal settlement activity is captured as a breach of international humanitarian law, and the powers reach those who facilitate, finance, promote or benefit from it, including banks and companies. The regime takes effect Thursday but needs parliamentary approval within 28 days.
- 22 OCT 2026 · ISRAEL-HAMAS WARWhy are Israel and Hamas at war, and is the Gaza ceasefire holding?The World Food Programme says funding shortages are forcing it to "drastically reduce lifesaving assistance" in Gaza, cutting the number of people it helps from 1.6 million to 1.1 million. Daily hot meals from community kitchens fall from 250,000 to 150,000, flour and ration boxes reach 600,000 people instead of 1.1 million, and families near the Yellow Line get a meal every other day.
- 22 OCT 2026 · US ICC SANCTIONSWhy is the US sanctioning the International Criminal Court?Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from enforcing sanctions against Democracy for the Arab World Now and Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide. The groups had gathered evidence for the ICC's Gaza war crimes investigations. Furman ruled the February 2025 executive order likely violates the First Amendment as a content-based regulation of speech, but declined to strike down the entire order.
- 22 OCT 2026 · INDIA INFLATIONWhy is India's inflation rising and why are food prices so high?State-run fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol for the supply year starting in November, but excluded ethanol made from sugarcane juice, sugar syrup and B-heavy molasses. The tender says sugar diversion for ethanol is cut to zero for 2026-27, as poor rainfall threatens output and prices hit records.
- 22 OCT 2026 · UKRAINE EU ACCESSIONHow is Ukraine's EU membership bid progressing?At a meeting of the Council of the EU's enlargement working party in Brussels on October 20, Hungary refused to approve the screening results for negotiating clusters 4 and 5, the last two of six for Ukraine and Moldova. The other 26 states asked for an explanation and received none; Budapest said only that its position was unchanged.
- 22 OCT 2026 · US MEASLES OUTBREAKHow bad is the measles outbreak in the United States?The CDC reported 4,410 measles cases nationwide as of October 15, up 330 in a week, with 451 hospitalisations. Pennsylvania, the outbreak's epicentre, has reported over 1,200 cases and five confirmed deaths. The CDC is sending an Epidemic Intelligence Service investigator to assist state health officials, who have administered more than 5,900 MMR doses at pop-up clinics.
- 22 OCT 2026 · MOROCCO COALITION GOVERNMENTHow is Morocco's new coalition government taking shape?King Mohammed VI presided over the appointment ceremony in Rabat on Friday for a 32-member government led by Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, Morocco's first woman prime minister. Her Authenticity and Modernity Party won the September 23 election and formed a coalition with Istiqlal, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the Party of Progress and Socialism. Seven cabinet members are women.
- 22 OCT 2026 · US-IRAN WARWhy are ships being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz?Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday that mines it laid in the southern Strait of Hormuz exploded under two oil tankers overnight, setting both ablaze and halting them. It named neither vessel nor reported casualties. The IRGC called the route near the Omani coast illegal and warned that ships crossing it would be burned. A UK maritime agency reported a separate Hormuz incident with no damage.
- 22 OCT 2026 · SYRIA RECONSTRUCTIONHow is Syria rebuilding its economy after the war?Syria and the World Bank Group announced in a joint statement that they will establish the Syria Recovery and Reconstruction Trust Fund, or START. It will provide concessional financing, investment guarantees and technical assistance, and support basic services, institutional capacity and private-sector activity. The World Bank will administer it with donors, in line with priorities set by the Syrian authorities.
- 22 OCT 2026 · CHINA EXPORT CONTROLSWhy is China restricting exports of its key technologies?China's Commerce Ministry announced Monday that new export controls on tunnel boring machines, rock borers and dredger components, plus revised rules on drones and their technologies, will take effect November 18. Exporters now need licences for beyond-line-of-sight drones, certain engines, propellers and swarm flight-control software, though qualifying drone exports get simplified registration procedures.
- 22 OCT 2026 · CHINA ECONOMYHow is China's economy really doing beyond the headline growth figure?People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said at the 2026 Financial Street Forum that the PBOC will study moving its main open-market operation to an overnight tenor, making the overnight repo rate the primary policy rate. He said the overnight rate, DR001, has effectively become the target rate but does not match the current seven-day benchmark.
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