Russia threw 39 ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s grid the same night SpaceX quietly throttled Kyiv’s Starlink; a Houthi missile tore the top off an Aramco tower in Dhahran; and Pope Leo XIV is up and walking a day after cancer surgery. Ten stories as of Wednesday morning, October 14.
1. Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lutsk / Ukraine, plus London and Balakovo, Russia. Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones at energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv overnight, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, leaving at least 600,000 people without power and damaging 26 power-system sites and four oil and gas facilities, all despite President Trump’s claim of an “energy ceasefire.” Three people were killed in Kyiv, and later on Wednesday a Russian drone strike on a warehouse in Lutsk killed at least six, BBC News reported. The same night, SpaceX put a 160 km/h (100 mph) speed limit on Starlink terminals in motion without telling Kyiv, presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said, disrupting a number of drone missions; he said it “cannot be a coincidence.” SpaceX hasn’t commented, and the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps had to cancel some sorties, DW reported. Zelenskyy meets Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Downing Street on Wednesday; Burnham says he wants to “repair bridges” between Ukraine and the U.S. and promises Kyiv won’t leave “empty-handed,” per BBC News. Going the other way, Ukrainian drones hit Sberbank’s data centre in Balakovo on the Volga, Russia’s biggest, which the bank says kept running normally, Reuters reported.
2. Dhahran, Riyadh and Sanaa / Saudi Arabia and Yemen. A Houthi missile hit an administrative building at Aramco’s headquarters complex in Dhahran overnight after the Saudi-led coalition struck the Yemen Petroleum Company’s al-Sabaha depot near Sanaa, BBC News reported. The energy ministry called it a “limited fire,” but sources told Reuters a ballistic missile caused extensive damage and a blaze between the sixth and 10th floors; “top three floors have gone,” one employee told AFP. Debris from intercepted cruise missiles injured two women, a man and a child in Riyadh. Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites “will continue in the coming days,” and on Wednesday the coalition said it shot down another ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported. The IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva warned of “potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere.”
3. Rome / Vatican City and Italy. Pope Leo XIV, 71, has started walking and is back on a normal diet a day after surgery at Gemelli Hospital that removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and his recovery is “progressing as expected,” his doctors said; blood tests and an X-ray on Wednesday showed his recovery “proceeding normally,” BBC News reported. The tissue was confirmed as lung adenocarcinoma, and he’s expected to stay in hospital about a week. The open question is his early-November trip to South America, including Peru, his home for more than 20 years, which may now be in doubt given the risks of flying soon after lung surgery, BBC News said.
4. Bunia and eastern Congo / Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congo’s Ebola outbreak has passed 9,000 confirmed cases, with the Health Ministry reporting 9,066 cases and 4,381 deaths across seven provinces, AP reported. It’s the country’s worst outbreak on record, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there’s no approved vaccine or treatment; the WHO says a vaccine trial is due to start in Congo this month, per Africanews/AFP. Armed groups and community distrust keep complicating the response.
5. Dublin / Republic of Ireland. More than 300,000 public-sector workers, including nurses, doctors, teachers and civil servants, walked out Wednesday in a 24-hour strike over pay, with schools expected to close and hospital appointments cancelled, BBC News reported. Expenditure minister Jack Chambers called it “deeply disappointing.” Unions say the government never set up formal talks, and another strike is planned for October 21.
6. New Delhi / India. A Delhi magistrate sent Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days in judicial custody after they climbed a locked gate into Jantar Mantar, the protest site police just removed from the city’s authorised list, BBC News reported. They deny trespass and the other charges. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called the arrests “an act of cowardice,” and founder Abhijeet Dipke dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “declare the Emergency officially.” The Gen Z-led movement wants Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar out over alleged voter-roll irregularities, which the commission denies.
7. Brasília / Brazil. With the October 25 runoff between President Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro closing in, Meta has told Brazil’s electoral court it did not tilt Facebook or Instagram toward Bolsonaro, after Lula’s campaign accused it of throttling his posts, AFP reported. The court had given Meta 48 hours to explain, profile by profile. Meta conceded a global glitch that froze Instagram view counts and a wrongful suspension of the campaign’s ad account in September, but called the interference charge false, O Globo reported.
8. Acapulco and Cabo Corrientes / Mexico. Tropical Storm Trudy, about 375 miles south of Acapulco with 60 mph winds, is expected to become a hurricane tonight and a major hurricane by Friday, and it could approach southwestern Mexico on Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Watches will likely be needed later today or tonight. Hurricane Simon has weakened to 90 mph while drifting about 165 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, and Mexico dropped its hurricane watch for Las Islas Marías, per the NHC.
9. Kalimantan, Sumatra and Singapore / Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Indonesia is fighting its worst wildfire season in a decade, and the haze has turned the air over Kalimantan and Sumatra amber, hidden Singapore’s skyline and closed some schools in Malaysia, BBC News reported. Monitor Nusantara Atlas counts more than a million hotspots and 900,000 hectares burned, with an unusually strong El Niño making it worse. President Prabowo Subianto calls slash-and-burn clearing “ecological terrorism,” and authorities have suspended 26 companies’ licences.
10. Cairns / Australia. The Australian Defence Force has confirmed a hidden video recording device was found Sunday in a cabin aboard the navy ship HMAS Leeuwin in Cairns, Queensland, BBC News reported. Senator Jacqui Lambie told parliament that personnel told her concealed cameras had been found in female sailors’ showers and that footage may have been uploaded online. Defence wouldn’t say where the device was, but it said the ship stayed alongside for the investigation, which went to military police.
Coming Up
Confirmed dates on The Watch: October 15, G20 finance ministers in Bangkok, as the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings run through October 18. October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote.
Sources: BBC News; DW; Reuters; Al Jazeera; AP; Africanews/AFP; AFP; O Globo; U.S. National Hurricane Center; Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X.
