Missiles hit Kyiv only hours after Moscow said it was ready to talk again; oil jumped past $110 as Iran says seven tankers were hit in and around the Strait of Hormuz; and Nigeria now knows a bit more about how Ebola got to Abuja. Ten stories as of Thursday morning, October 22.
1. Kyiv / Ukraine, and St Petersburg / Russia. Ukraine’s capital came under a new missile attack Wednesday night, hours after Russia said it was “ready in principle” to resume peace talks and President Trump said the world was “the closest we’ve been” to ending the war, BBC News reported. Several houses were hit and six people were injured, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said. The strike followed about three hours of talks between Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg; Putin aide Yuri Ushakov called the American ideas not very “useful” and floated a new round around November 10 in Abu Dhabi. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’d accept a deal freezing the war along the current front line. On Thursday he said Russia used ballistic missiles with cluster warheads against Kyiv:
2. Strait of Hormuz and the northern Gulf / Iran. The navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Thursday that four vessels it accused of illegal oil transfers were struck and caught fire in the northern Gulf, and three more hit mines west of the strait, Al Jazeera reported. Brent crude climbed above $110 a barrel on the fear of more disruption. The Guard has also announced what it calls an “offensive” doctrine: if attacked again, spokesman Hossein Mohebi said, Iran will “both respond and launch an offensive,” including against neighbouring countries hosting U.S. bases. Media reports say the U.S. and Israel are weighing strikes on Iran in the coming weeks, nearly eight months into the war.
3. Dammam / Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Saudi authorities say an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday evening killed two people, a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident, and injured eight; Yemen’s Houthis say the airport was among the sites they hit with drones and missiles over 48 hours, BBC News reported. Two more people, from the Philippines and Nepal, were killed by debris from a drone intercepted near an Aramco facility at the Shaybah oil field. At least 21 people have been killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports since the start of October. Washington has ordered some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia, and the U.K. is deploying jets to help defend it.
4. Marseille, Corsica and Lyon / France. At least four people are dead after Storm Adam flooded southern France, including two women aged 86 and 26 found drowned in a cellar in the Bouches-du-Rhône, BBC News reported; the same storm killed at least three in eastern Spain. Storm Austen is next, with an orange wind warning for five western departments from Thursday evening. Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron says only authorised union marches will be allowed on Saturday after last weekend’s riots, with Lyon, Toulon, Grenoble and central Rouen banning demonstrations outright, per BBC News. At least 2,500 people have been arrested, and Macron blamed “seditious acts organised by far-left groups.”
5. Abuja / Nigeria, and Kampala / Uganda. Nigeria’s first Ebola patient in more than a decade is a 42-year-old diplomat’s wife who spent two and a half weeks on holiday in Kampala and fell ill three days after getting home to Abuja on October 3, BBC News reported. Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate says she’s stable and improving; 44 contacts are being traced and 46 people have been barred from flying. Uganda rejects the link. It’s the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatment, and Africa CDC has called an emergency meeting of health officials for October 28, per DW. More than 9,500 people have been infected since May.
6. Agadez / Niger, and Benghazi / Libya. Two women kidnapped in northern Niger, Austrian aid worker Eva Gretzmacher, 76, and Swiss community worker Claudia Abbt, 69, have been freed after more than a year in captivity and handed over in Benghazi, BBC News reported. Both governments confirmed the releases, but nobody has said who held them or what was asked. On Libyan TV the women thanked eastern commander Khalifa Haftar and his son Saddam. Kidnappings of foreigners have soared across the Sahel.
7. The inter-Korean border. North Korea says it will restart propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the border “within October,” Kim Yo Jong said after touring front-line fortification work, NPR reported. Tensions are up after land mine blasts injured three South Korean soldiers, and she warned of “no mercy” if South Korean warning shots harm North Korean troops. Seoul’s defence ministry says it would take “proportionate measures.”
8. Brasília / Brazil. Brazilians vote Sunday in a presidential runoff between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the jailed former president, BBC News reported. Bolsonaro narrowly won the October 4 first round but fell short of 50%, and polls now have them neck and neck. A record 21% of eligible voters stayed home in round one, even though voting is mandatory.
9. Ottawa / Canada, and Washington. The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa has accused Canadian officials of trying to influence the November midterms, citing meetings with Democrats and talk of tariffs aimed at politically important states, BBC News reported. Prime Minister Mark Carney noted Washington started the trade fight and announced a nearly C$9bn aid package for businesses hit by U.S. tariffs; Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he has “no interest at all” in U.S. elections.
10. Wangaratta / Australia. Independent federal MP Helen Haines remains in critical condition three days after being hit by a four-wheel drive outside her electorate office in north-east Victoria; she has lost both legs, ABC News reported. Brendan Nugent, 43, has been charged with three offences and is due back in court February 4. Police say the motive is still unknown. Donations to Save the Children in her name passed $400,000 in a day.
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). Also October 28, Africa CDC’s emergency Ebola meeting. Full board at the link.
