World

File photo: Photo: The White House, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

At 31 percent, Trump's approval has never been lower

A Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday puts the president at the lowest approval of either term, with gasoline prices doing the damage and a 12 point Democratic lead on the generic ballot, fourteen days before the midterms.

Washington, United States · October 20, 2026

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At least 18 killed in a Houthi strike on a Yemen training camp

Three ballistic missiles hit a government military training camp in Shabwa province during morning training, according to Reuters, in one of the deadliest single strikes on Yemeni government forces in months.

Shabwa, Yemen · October 20, 2026

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France puts its biggest cities under curfew, and buys itself one quiet night

Overnight curfews now cover parts of Paris, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Nice and Marseille after the worst unrest in years. The government calls it control restored. Its critics call it a confession, and the movement has already called the next march for Saturday.

Paris, France · October 20, 2026

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Alberta answers, and it is not close: three in four choose Canada

The province that was asked whether to start walking out of Canada voted by a landslide to stay, handing Mark Carney the decisive result he campaigned for and leaving the separatist movement beaten, but measured at one voter in four.

Edmonton, Canada · October 20, 2026

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A thousand drones over St Petersburg, and a message for Washington too

Ukraine struck oil sites, a shopping warehouse and a data centre in and around Vladimir Putin's home city. Moscow says it downed 1,015 drones in one night, a claim Kyiv was happy to let stand, because scale was the point.

St Petersburg, Russia · October 19, 2026

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Nine years out, and Puigdemont can finally come home

A Supreme Court judge has confirmed the arrest warrant is gone, so the Catalan leader who fled Spain in 2017 can return without being detained. The amnesty itself is still undecided, and an early election is six weeks away.

Barcelona, Spain · October 19, 2026

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Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban trade heavy fire on the Kurram border

Hours of shelling followed what Pakistan called a militant crossing attempt into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Casualty claims from Pakistani security sources have not been independently verified, and that gap matters for how this reads.

Kurram, Pakistan · October 19, 2026

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France counts the cost of a weekend of unrest, and Macron tries to split the marchers from the wreckage

Officially 550,000 people marched across France on Saturday. By Sunday night the president was on television promising talks for the peaceful majority and prosecutions for the people who burned and looted, with an election six months away.

Paris, France · October 19, 2026

File photo: Photo: Ricardo Liberato, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Egypt offers its army as a shield for Saudi Arabia

After Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport and Saudi Aramco, President Sisi asked parliament to authorise the military to help defend the kingdom if Riyadh asks. The offer is real. Whether it is ever used depends on the next strike.

Cairo, Egypt · October 19, 2026

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Sixteen days out, the markets have called the midterms

Prediction markets price Democrats at about 90 percent to take the House, the polls point the same way, and the president's approval sits at 35.1 percent. The unusual thing this close to election day is how little disagreement there is.

Washington, United States · October 18, 2026

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Student protests are spreading across Europe. The map tells the story.

France is the epicentre, but Serbia, Greece and Albania are marching too. What the demonstrators want, country by country.

Paris, France · October 18, 2026

File photo: Photo: Daniel Torok, Official White House Photo, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (US federal government work).

A sanctions waiver, and what it quietly changes

Washington signed, few noticed, and the consequences run through energy markets far from the capital. A law meant to squeeze Moscow was switched off days before it bit.

Washington, United States · October 18, 2026

File photo: Photo: Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (ToSter), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The war has reached NATO waters, and Romania is shooting back

Romanian F-16s shot down two fast drones over the Black Sea on Saturday, after a fortnight in which at least seven commercial ships were hit near the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts. The shipping lane Ukraine depends on is becoming a front line.

Bucharest, Romania · October 18, 2026

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Five days at the podium: the press secretary who broke Scaramucci's record

Katie Zacharia lasted less than half of Anthony Scaramucci's 11 days, undone by questions about the one credential she could not show.

Washington, United States · October 18, 2026

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The olive harvest has begun. So have the attacks on the people picking it.

For Palestinian farming families, the harvest is the year's income. This season it is also a confrontation, grove by grove, in the hills of the occupied West Bank.

West Bank · October 18, 2026

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Two tankers are burning in the Strait of Hormuz, and nobody agrees whether it is open

Iran's Revolutionary Guards say two tankers hit naval mines after taking a route Tehran never authorised. Washington says ships are still getting through. Brent crude closing just short of 110 dollars a barrel suggests traders are pricing the risk, not the reassurance.

Strait of Hormuz · October 18, 2026

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One long table in Brussels, and the decisions Europe can no longer put off

The leaders arrived with the same agenda they left with last time: Ukraine, energy, and who pays. What has changed is how little room is left to keep deferring the answers.

Brussels, Belgium · October 18, 2026

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The fire at CFB Wainwright

Fire season is supposed to be over. In Alberta it is not. A serious incident on the training area sparked a major fire, the defence minister has confirmed fatalities and injuries, and high winds carried the blaze beyond the base fence.

Wainwright, Alberta · October 18, 2026

Alberta votes Monday on whether to start the road out of Canada

Prime Minister Mark Carney closed his campaign in his home province by calling the referendum a dangerous gamble at the worst possible time. Monday's vote would not separate Alberta by itself. It would tell its government to start the legal process toward a binding vote on leaving.

Edmonton, Canada · October 18, 2026

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Albania's Flamingo Revolution stops being peaceful

For 140 days the movement stayed peaceful, and patience was the whole strategy. This week that strategy gave way in Tirana, and the demand shrank to a single word: resign.

Tirana, Albania · October 18, 2026