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Four Philippine Air Force Pilots Killed as Two SF-260 Trainers Collide Over Batangas Air Base: October 24, 2026

LIPA CITY, Philippines — Four Philippine Air Force pilots were killed when two SF-260 training aircraft collided during a training flight over Fernando Air Base in Batangas province on Friday afternoon, the military said, according to The Associated Press and GMA News.

The mishap happened at about 3:51 p.m. local time on Friday, Oct. 23, and both aircraft went down inside the base in Lipa City, Air Force spokesperson Col. Alvin Jay Capinguian said, GMA reported. The Air Force has grounded its SF-260 fleet while the cause is investigated.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the investigation would cover flight planning, training, maintenance and command leadership, describing “four fatalities and two aircraft that were totally destroyed,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

The SF-260 is a two-seat propeller aircraft the Air Force uses for pilot training.

Sources: The Associated Press, GMA News, Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Twin Earthquakes Strike Off Vanuatu, Triggering a Tsunami Warning That Is Later Cancelled: October 24, 2026

PORT VILA, Vanuatu — Two strong earthquakes struck in quick succession off northern Vanuatu on Saturday, prompting a tsunami warning that was cancelled later in the afternoon, ABC News (Australia) and RNZ reported.

The first quake hit at 12:31 p.m. AEST about 200 kilometres west of Sola, at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially put its magnitude at 7.2; the USGS revised it to 6.9. A second quake of magnitude 6.3 followed about five minutes later. RNZ placed the epicentre about 200 kilometres north-west of Port Olry on Espiritu Santo.

The warning centre said hazardous tsunami waves were possible along coastlines within 300 kilometres of the epicentre and urged people in threatened coastal areas to follow instructions from local authorities. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said there was no threat to Australia.

By Saturday afternoon, the Vanuatu Geological Hazards Department said: “Based on latest available sea level and observational data, there is no longer tsunami threat from this earthquake to the Vanuatu coastal areas.” Initial reports did not mention damage or injuries.

Earthquakes are common in Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Sources: ABC News (Australia), RNZ

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Kim Jong Un Crosses Newly Opened Yalu River Bridge Into China, Meets Premier Li Qiang in Dandong: October 24, 2026

DANDONG, China — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday by way of the newly opened New Yalu River Bridge, South Korean officials said, according to Reuters and AFP via Al Jazeera.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang met Kim in the border city, Reuters reported, citing a South Korean official. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency also reported the visit. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The visit comes about a week after the bridge was officially opened — 12 years after it was finished. The 3-kilometre (1.9-mile), four-lane span was completed in 2014, but its opening was held up by a lack of connecting roads and customs facilities on the North Korean side, South Korean media reported. It is expected to carry round-the-clock two-way traffic, including container shipments and heavy cargo trucks.

“The opening of the bridge has resolved a major bottleneck in China-North Korea trade logistics,” Lu Chao of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences told Reuters. “With the logistics constraint eased, bilateral trade is likely to increase further.”

The trip falls a day before the anniversary of China’s entry into the 1950–1953 Korean War. China is North Korea’s largest trading partner and main diplomatic backer, though Pyongyang has drawn closer to Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kim’s last known visit to China was in September 2025, for Victory Day celebrations in Beijing, and Xi Jinping made a state visit to Pyongyang in June.

Sources: Al Jazeera / Reuters / AFP

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Fire Engulfs Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest Above Berchtesgaden as German Police Detain a Suspect: October 24, 2026

BERCHTESGADEN, Germany — A fire tore through the Kehlsteinhaus, the Bavarian mountaintop building known as Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, on Friday night, and police have detained a suspect, BBC News, Al Jazeera and DW reported.

Police said the alarm came in at about 9:15 p.m. local time on Friday. “The fire brigades, who were alerted immediately, could already see flames clearly visible at the Kehlsteinhaus as they approached,” the police statement said, as quoted by DW.

About 200 firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed, and crews struggled to get their engines up to the building, which sits at roughly 1,800 metres (about 6,000 feet) above sea level. The fire was still burning on Saturday morning, the BBC reported. Police said the building and its immediate surroundings could only be entered with breathing equipment, and no injuries were known.

A criminal investigation is under way, and police are examining whether the detained suspect is connected to the blaze. No motive has been given.

The Kehlsteinhaus was built in 1938 as a retreat for Nazi officials on the Obersalzberg, where Hitler kept his heavily fortified country residence. It is one of the few Nazi-era structures to survive World War II bombing unscathed and today is a listed historical monument operating as a popular mountain restaurant for tourists.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera, DW

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World Brief, Evening: October 23, 2026

Netanyahu says the biggest West Bank operation since 1967 is “on the way” as Israel’s top court briefly halts Hebron demolitions; Trump floats “another little Epic Fury” on Iran as oil passes $117; and Macron calls the Trappes shooting a racist terrorist attack. Ten stories as of Friday evening, October 23.

1. Hebron / occupied West Bank. A day after two Israeli soldiers were killed at a checkpoint outside Hebron, Benjamin Netanyahu said plans are drawn up for the largest Israeli military operation in the West Bank since 1967. No date is set, “but it is on the way,” he said, The Guardian reported. He’s put Hebron and nearby Halhul under siege and said residents of the gunmen’s home neighbourhoods would be forced out, while Defence Minister Israel Katz said “the Jenin refugee camp model arrives in Hebron.” Bulldozers started on Palestinian homes within hours, before Israel’s high court issued a temporary order to stop the demolitions after a rights lawyer petitioned. Israeli forces have since launched what they call a “targeted and thorough” operation in the city, per Al Jazeera. Israelis vote Tuesday, and Netanyahu’s Likud cancelled campaign events set for Friday morning, BBC News reported.

2. Fort Myers, Istanbul and the Gulf / Iran. At a Florida rally on Friday, Donald Trump said, “We may do another little Epic Fury,” the name of the U.S.-Israeli operation that started the Iran war in February. He didn’t elaborate, France 24 reported, but he’s signalled openness to new strikes after the November 3 midterms. Hours earlier in Istanbul, foreign ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Britain, France, Germany and Italy urged Washington and Israel not to restart the attacks, warning it would spread the war, The Guardian reported. Brent crude passed $117 at one point, its highest since April, before easing to about $116, per The Guardian. The Saudi-led coalition said it shot down a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh, per Al Jazeera. And oil from the tanker Gem No.2, hit near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month, is now washing ashore near Umm Al Quwain in the UAE, closing some beaches, BBC News reported.

3. Karak / Jordan. The death toll from Friday’s attack on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak rose to seven, with about 40 wounded, two of them critically, The Guardian reported. CCTV footage verified by BBC News appears to show three gunmen walking from a road toward the church. Jordan declared three days of national mourning, and Prime Minister Jafar Hassan blamed “terrorist ideology and blind extremism.” Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said a group of “extremists” carried out the attack and that authorities already have the suspects’ names, though they haven’t released them, DW reported. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called it “especially heinous.”

4. Trappes and La Verrière / France. Emmanuel Macron went to Trappes on Friday and called the drive-by shooting west of Paris “a terrorist and racist attack” that “marks a turning point for our country,” saying the gunman picked victims by the colour of their skin, The Guardian reported. The man killed was named as Pengo Bossio Wangi; a 12-year-old girl was shot eight times and is in hospital. Prosecutors named the 39-year-old suspect as Kevin T. and said he had a Sten gun, a World War II submachine gun, plus teargas grenades, and had booby-trapped his home with gas canisters wired to a timer. Meanwhile, France is deploying 70,000 police for Saturday’s protests, DW reported. Macron posted:

5. Oleshky / Ukraine, and Moscow. Russia has confirmed the local truce for occupied Oleshky that the White House says Melania Trump helped broker, and says it will halt fire at 4 a.m. on October 27, earlier than the October 29 start Washington announced, DW reported. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said the plan is a ceasefire first, then aid, then free movement out of the city. In Russia, all four Moscow airports shut down twice on Friday during a drone raid, and Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 17 drones were shot down approaching the capital, the Kyiv Independent reported. Ukrainian defence ministry sources say Starlink is still having problems after Trump said Elon Musk had “put it back”; Trump said Friday, “If there is a problem, I will get it straightened out,” per BBC News.

6. Nairobi / Kenya, and Bunia / DR Congo. Kenya recorded its second Ebola death, a 65-year-old woman who was a close relative of the first victim and was already in quarantine, BBC News reported. Seven other patients are being treated, and the health ministry says all cases are in one cluster with “no evidence of community spread.” In Bunia, the WHO says the first people were vaccinated in a trial testing whether the Ervebo vaccine protects against the Bundibugyo strain behind this outbreak, which has no approved vaccine, Al Jazeera reported. Separately in Nairobi, a multistorey building under construction collapsed in the busy Eastleigh district; about 11 people in ground-floor shops are unaccounted for, and police are hunting the owner, per Al Jazeera.

7. Buenos Aires / Argentina. A federal judge dropped the criminal investigation into President Javier Milei and his sister Karina over the $Libra cryptocurrency, which crashed after Milei posted about it in February 2025, BBC News reported. Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, acting at prosecutors’ request, said “the reported events do not constitute a criminal offence.” He also dismissed the case against U.S. businessman Hayden Davis, the token’s self-described launch adviser. The presidential office called it “absolute proof of his innocence,” per Al Jazeera.

8. Canuto / Ecuador. A judge ordered opposition leader Luisa González held in pre-trial detention, a day after her arrest in the rural town of Canuto in a money-laundering probe into about $500,000 of 2023 campaign advertising, Al Jazeera reported. She calls the charges “absurd.” Her Citizen Revolution party, whose president said Ecuador is “living under a dictatorship,” has been barred from next month’s local elections.

9. Washington and Ottawa / Canada. The White House is lifting some of its 50% tariffs on Canadian goods from October 30, including plywood, some paper products, certain machinery and refrigeration equipment, while adding levies on others such as carpets, BBC News reported. Maine Republican Susan Collins, in a tight Senate race, says she lobbied for the relief for her state’s farmers. Canada’s Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa “stands ready to work constructively.” Trump said Canada “is working very hard to make a deal with us,” per DW.

10. Taiwan, and Nagqu / Tibet. Typhoon Champi raked Taiwan’s north-east, killing one person and injuring at least 350, with more than 4,300 evacuated and over 400mm of rain in Yilan County on Friday, Al Jazeera reported. Forecasters say the worst comes Saturday as it heads toward Okinawa and China’s east coast. In Tibet, the injured count from Thursday’s magnitude 7 quake rose to 76, with the death toll still 16, and more than 5,000 rescuers deployed, per ABC News.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: October 25, Brazil’s presidential runoff (Flávio Bolsonaro vs Lula) and Serbia’s snap parliamentary election. October 27, Israel’s election for the 26th Knesset, as the Fed’s two-day meeting opens in Washington (October 27–28). Full board at the link.

World Brief: October 23, 2026

Israel is tearing down homes in Hebron after two soldiers were killed at a checkpoint; oil is back above $115 on talk of new U.S. strikes on Iran; and gunmen hit a church funeral in Jordan. Ten stories as of Friday morning, October 23.

1. Hebron / occupied West Bank. Two Israeli soldiers were killed when two suspected Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint at the entrance to Hebron; the attackers were shot dead, BBC News reported. A preliminary military investigation says the gunfight lasted more than 20 minutes, and the army believes the pair meant to hit civilians on nearby Route 35. Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would “destroy” the attackers’ neighbourhood, and by Friday afternoon Israeli diggers were seen demolishing Palestinian buildings in the city. His office ordered Hebron cordoned off and a full closure of the West Bank starting Friday, The Guardian reported; Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a campaign “exactly like in Gaza and Lebanon.” The UN says at least 96 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank this year. Israel votes Tuesday.

2. The Gulf / Iran. Brent crude rose above $115 a barrel Friday, its highest since May, The Guardian reported, after Tehran said it would attack oil facilities, undersea cables, datacentres and AI facilities in the Gulf if a new U.S.-Israeli offensive is launched. Traders are reacting to widespread reports that Washington is considering renewed strikes after the November 3 midterms. Oil was about $72 in February, before the war, and hit $126 at the end of April. NPR reports U.S. military reinforcements are moving into the region, and Reuters reports ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz have hit a record high this month.

3. Oleshky / Ukraine, and Abu Dhabi. The White House says First Lady Melania Trump has secured a localised ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky, on the Dnipro in the Kherson region, set to begin October 29, BBC News reported. Russia hasn’t commented; a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters a ceasefire there would be established soon. Ukraine estimates about 6,000 people remain in and around the city, including 200 children. Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said trilateral talks with Ukraine and the U.S. are planned for “the first half of November in Abu Dhabi,” and Russia and Ukraine each swapped 270 prisoners of war, Al Jazeera reported.

4. Off Constanța / Romania, Black Sea. A drone strike sank the Comoros-flagged cargo ship Khoryv about 13 nautical miles off Romania’s port of Constanța, just outside Romanian waters, Romania’s naval authority said. One sailor was killed and three are missing; nine of the 13 Ukrainian and Azerbaijani crew were rescued, DW reported. President Nicușor Dan blamed Russia, calling it “part of Russia’s escalation process in its war in Ukraine.” Reuters counts at least seven cargo ships hit off Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, with some 30 sailors dead or missing; NATO said Tuesday it would send more patrol aircraft, radar and drones to the Black Sea.

5. Karak / Jordan. Gunmen opened fire on a funeral inside a church in the village of Hmoud, in Karak governorate, killing six people and injuring 28, a government spokesperson said, BBC News reported. The attackers arrived by car and fled; no one has claimed responsibility. Karak has a sizeable Christian community, and attacks like this are rare in Jordan. Al Jazeera also covered the attack. King Abdullah II vowed the harshest response:

6. Trappes and La Verrière / France. A gunman shooting from his car killed one person and wounded five, three seriously, including a 12-year-old girl, in a spree of almost 15 minutes in the suburbs south-west of Paris, BBC News reported. The suspect was arrested. France’s anti-terror prosecutors are investigating “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise,” with the aggravating circumstance of targeting people over race, ethnicity, nation or religion. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called it “clearly a terrorist crime.” Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh said the attack had a “racist, probably Islamophobic overtone.” DW has more.

7. Nagqu / Tibet, China. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Baqên County in Tibet’s Nagqu region Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and injuring 65, 11 of them severely, according to Chinese state media, BBC News reported. Some 339 homes collapsed and more than 12,400 people were relocated; more than 400 aftershocks have followed. The area sits around 4,800 metres up, and survivors spent the night outside in subzero temperatures. The Guardian has more.

8. Taiwan, and Okinawa / Japan. Typhoon Champi shut schools, offices and Taiwan’s stock exchange and cancelled hundreds of flights across the region as it skirted the island’s north-east coast, BBC News reported. One person was swept away by waves and died, 171 were injured and 1,000 evacuated. Forecasters expect up to 90cm of rain, with the worst on Saturday morning; the eye may pass without making landfall. Nearly 8,400 households lost power in Okinawa.

9. Abuja / Nigeria, and Uganda. Switzerland confirmed that the woman with Ebola in Nigeria is the wife of a Swiss diplomat, BBC News reported. The 42-year-old, Ugandan-born, tested positive October 20 after about a week at a private clinic in Abuja; the Swiss say she didn’t travel to DR Congo, contradicting accounts from Uganda. Her husband is isolating without symptoms. Africa CDC is checking whether she crossed paths with a Kenyan man who died of Ebola and passed through Uganda’s main airport the same day. DR Congo’s outbreak has killed some 4,600 people. The Guardian has more.

10. Brazil. Brazilians vote Sunday in the presidential runoff between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 80, seeking a fourth term, and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, Al Jazeera reported. Bolsonaro took 47% to Lula’s just over 45% in the October 4 first round, and polls now show the race within the margin of error, with Lula closing the gap. A survey released Wednesday found 10% of voters still open to changing their minds, NPR reported.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: October 25, Brazil’s presidential runoff (Flávio Bolsonaro vs Lula) and Serbia’s snap parliamentary election. October 27, Israel’s election for the 26th Knesset, and the Fed’s two-day meeting in Washington (October 27–28). Just past that, November 3, the U.S. midterms. Full board at the link.

Australian-Led Trial Finds Personalised mRNA Melanoma Vaccine Cuts Risk of Recurrence or Death by 42%: October 23, 2026

SYDNEY — A personalised mRNA cancer vaccine cut the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% in an Australian-led phase 3 trial, researchers said, in results described as “transformational,” ABC News reported.

The trial of 1,137 patients whose melanoma had been surgically removed, run at 157 sites worldwide, compared the immunotherapy pembrolizumab alone with pembrolizumab plus intismeran, an investigational mRNA-based neoantigen therapy jointly developed by MSD (Merck & Co.) and Moderna.

“We did not expect it to be that high … this is phenomenal,” said principal investigator Georgina Long, medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia. The vaccine is built from a biopsy of each patient’s tumour, encoding its top 34 unique differences so the immune system can target them — “like a wanted poster,” she said.

Long is due to present the findings at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress this weekend, and the results are to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Australia has the world’s highest melanoma incidence.

Other experts urged caution: the Centenary Institute’s Jessamy Tiffen said a significant portion of patients do not respond, and the treatment is not preventative. Melanoma Institute Australia said regulatory review could take several years and the therapy is not yet available.

Sources: ABC News (Australia)

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Lula Asks Brazil’s Electoral Court to Disqualify Flávio Bolsonaro Over Alleged Meta Bias, Days Before Sunday’s Run-Off: October 23, 2026

BRASÍLIA, Brazil — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign has asked Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court to disqualify right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, alleging Meta limited Lula’s content to boost his rival ahead of Sunday’s presidential run-off, BBC News reported.

The petition, filed Wednesday, asks the court (TSE) to investigate Bolsonaro and running mate Alfredo Gaspar for “abuse of economic power and improper use of social network” and to bar Bolsonaro from running for eight years. Bolsonaro answered with his own petition seeking Lula’s disqualification, accusing the government of using data from official databases to send mass WhatsApp messages promoting social programmes.

Meta has denied treating the campaigns unequally and said it would comply with a Brazilian court order to treat both candidates equally. On Wednesday a report led by the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression said information, “including from Meta employees, suggests that accounts linked to one side of the presidential race were disproportionately curtailed.”

Bolsonaro, son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro, narrowly led Lula in the Oct. 4 first round but fell short of 50%. Polls suggest Sunday’s vote among Brazil’s 159 million registered voters will be extremely close, with the economy and corruption top of mind, CBC News reported.

Sources: BBC News, CBC News

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Judge Orders Trump to Sit for Deposition in His BBC Lawsuit by Dec. 11 or Face Possible Sanctions: October 23, 2026

MIAMI — A federal magistrate judge has ordered President Donald Trump to answer questions under oath in his lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11 or face sanctions, BBC News reported.

Trump is suing the broadcaster over a Panorama episode that edited together two separate sections of the speech he gave on Jan. 6, 2021, before the riot at the U.S. Capitol. The BBC has apologised for the edit, saying it gave “the mistaken impression that Trump made a direct call for violent action,” but has asked the court to dismiss the suit.

Trump cancelled a scheduled deposition on Oct. 16, citing “matters of national importance.” BBC lawyer Charles Tobin told the court in Miami on Thursday that Trump was campaigning in Georgia that day and had “prioritised that.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett said the most extreme possible sanction could be dismissal of the lawsuit, unless the discovery period is extended. In a filing Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers proposed a deposition between Jan. 11 and 22 and said the BBC was “wrong to claim that President Trump is avoiding his deposition.”

In July, Trump’s lawyers conceded they had no evidence the documentary was available in the U.S., and Trump dropped his claims against BBC Studios, the broadcaster’s commercial arm.

Sources: BBC News

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Malawi’s Opposition Demands Answers as President Mutharika, 86, Stays in South Africa for a Third Week Amid Fuel and Power Shortages: October 23, 2026

LILONGWE, Malawi — Malawi’s main opposition party has demanded an explanation for President Peter Mutharika’s prolonged stay in South Africa as the country struggles with fuel shortages, power cuts and economic strain, BBC News reported.

Mutharika, 86, left Malawi on Oct. 6 for what officials described as a private visit — his fifth trip there this year, with little information released about any of them. On Thursday he delegated the trade minister to lead Malawi’s delegation to the Comesa summit in Zimbabwe.

“The issue is not that the president has traveled,” Malawi Congress Party campaign director Moses Kunkuyu told reporters in Lilongwe. “The issue is that people are suffering and want reassurance that somebody is in charge.” The party wants Vice-President Jane Ansah to address the nation.

Information Minister Shadric Namalomba denied any leadership vacuum, telling local media that “a state president is always in charge at any time, anywhere,” and that “a private trip is private.” Officials earlier dismissed social media reports that Mutharika had gone to India for medical treatment; he has called health speculation “silly and laughable.”

Malawi faces a severe foreign-currency shortage that has disrupted fuel imports, leaving long queues at petrol stations, alongside unreliable electricity and shortages of medicines. Mutharika returned to power last year after defeating Lazarus Chakwera.

Sources: BBC News

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