Musk restricted Starlink operations over Ukraine last night

Ukrainian drone units were caught off guard during the night. Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals, which are used to control their drones, began to lose signal at speeds exceeding 160 km/h, and several missions had to be cancelled. A senior official described frontline logistics and medium-range strikes as “severely limited” since these restrictions were imposed “without warning, in the middle of the night”. These strikes target the Russian army’s supply lines.

The 7th Rapid Reaction Corps of the Air Assault Forces states that the restriction also affects Starshield, the military version of SpaceX’s network, which until now had no data rate limit. Its pilots have reported signal interruptions lasting 10 to 20 seconds at speeds of 110 km/h, which complicates take-offs and slows the drones down, making them more vulnerable to Russian air defences.

In Kyiv, some officials suspect that SpaceX acted at the request of the Trump administration. Elon Musk had just written that Volodymyr Zelenskyy had “gone too far”, in response to a video in which Donald Trump criticised Ukraine for striking Russian refineries, which he accused of driving up global diesel prices (which is untrue). The US president also threatened to cut off intelligence-sharing, before assuring that Washington would continue to support Kyiv. The Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, asked Elon Musk whether he was “still using his products for political purposes”.

For the second night running, Ukraine received no warning from its partners prior to a Russian attack, and its own systems only detected the missiles as they approached Kyiv. According to Volodymyr Zelensky, 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones targeted energy infrastructure – despite it being covered by the “energy truce” announced by Donald Trump – particularly around Kyiv and Kharkiv. Only four missiles were intercepted; 30 sites were damaged; and at least 600,000 people were without electricity this morning. Financial Times

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia - 🇾🇪 Yemen • The Houthis have claimed responsibility for further attacks on an Aramco site in Dhahran, the airport and a refinery in Riyadh; the Saudi capital has been subjected to daily strikes for over a week – the first such sustained campaign since 2015. On Saturday, an attack on the airport left 13 people dead and hundreds injured, and debris from intercepted missiles has injured at least five more people this week. The Riyadh-led coalition retaliated by striking oil facilities in Sana’a. In Yemen, fighting has cut off the WFP’s access to some 800,000 people, and the WHO reports that suspected cases of cholera have tripled in three weeks.

🇮🇱 Israel • On Monday, Israeli bulldozers razed a mosque and dozens of homes in the unrecognised Bedouin village of al-Dahiya, in the Negev, where around 400 people lived according to the mayor of the neighbouring town of Rahat. The residents’ lawyer has condemned a policy of accelerating demolitions championed by the far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and some of the families are already taking shelter in tents.

🇷🇺 Russia - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • Overnight Russian strikes left at least seven people dead, including four in Kyiv, whilst a drone attack killed six people at a wholesale store in Lutsk, in the west of the country. Moscow claims to have targeted thermal power stations “used in the interests of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex”, and says it shot down 902 Ukrainian drones in a single night, including 180 near the Russian capital. Donald Trump also continues to defend his diesel deal with Russia, saying it is “not for us, but for the world” – a “gift” to Vladimir Putin, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, which both Republican and Democratic lawmakers consider to be at odds with restrictions on energy imports.

🇧🇬 Bulgaria • 11 sailors are missing following the sinking of the HS Dignity, a cargo ship flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau that was struck by a drone off the coast of Krapets on Monday night; five other crew members were rescued. A second vessel, the Chelsea 3, was struck by three drones, though no casualties were reported. Sofia summoned the Russian ambassador, and Prime Minister Roumen Radev stated for the first time that the attack “benefits Russia”. Ten sailors remain missing following a similar attack last week.

🇦🇱 Albania • Tirana has seen a second day of unrest today, with demonstrators calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation throwing paving stones and Molotov cocktails, erecting barricades and setting fire to the Ministry of Education and a bank branch. Stemming from student anger over tuition fees, the movement is the latest chapter in four months of protests triggered by plans for a luxury hotel linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. The EU has condemned an “escalation of violence” and called for an investigation into possible excessive use of force by the police.

🇩🇪 Germany - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • The trial of Sergei Kuznetsov, a former Ukrainian commander accused of orchestrating the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, has begun in Germany. The prosecution accuses him of a war crime for attacking civilian infrastructure “at the request of the Ukrainian authorities”, a claim which Kyiv denies. His lawyer described the gas pipelines as a political and economic “weapon” of Russia. The hearings are set to continue until February 2027.

🇹🇷 Turkey • Police today took control of the headquarters of Halk TV, the country’s leading news channel and the main voice of the opposition, whose live broadcast was replaced by a classic Turkish film. Eleven people have been taken into custody on suspicion of corruption and money laundering, and an arrest warrant has been issued for the CEO, Cafer Mahiroglu, who is based in London. Human Rights Watch notes that the operation coincides with the day on which Istanbul’s imprisoned mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, is due to begin his defence.

🇪🇸 Spain – 🇲🇦 Morocco • King Felipe VI stated yesterday in Ceuta that the two Spanish enclaves in North Africa, claimed by Morocco, were “inseparable” from Spain and that their sovereignty was “non-negotiable”, during the first visit by a monarch since 2007. Cheered by the crowd, he paid tribute to the migrants who died during the influx of more than 70,000 people in late July, before travelling to Melilla with Queen Letizia, whilst calling for “good relations” with Rabat.

🇩🇪 Germany • Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he is prepared to sacrifice his popularity to reform the social security system, insisting he does not wish to become “the nation’s darling”. He believes the country is 30 years behind on pension reform and is proposing a temporary increase in contributions. His coalition remains weakened by the resignation on Monday of the SPD Labour Minister, following heavy losses in the regional elections to the far right.

🇸🇪 Sweden • Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson acknowledged once again yesterday that she does not have sufficient support to form a government, despite the centre-left bloc’s narrow victory in the 13 September general election, with 176 seats to 173.

🇭🇺 Hungary • On Tuesday, Parliament repealed, by 139 votes to 51, the 2021 law banning discussions of homosexuality and gender identity with minors – the first sign of a shift in policy on LGBT+ rights since Peter Magyar came to power. Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party voted against the move, but the Tisza party holds two-thirds of the seats. The EU hailed this as an “important signal”, whilst organisations point out that “there is still much to be done”.

🇷🇺 Russia - 🇪🇺 European Union • The European Commission estimates that the EU’s purchases of Russian hydrocarbons since February 2022 amount to 197 billion euros, a far cry from the 320 billion dollars claimed by Moscow. The share of Russian gas in imports has fallen from 45 per cent in 2021 to 12 per cent in 2025, but Russia remains the continent’s second-largest supplier of LNG, accounting for around 17 per cent of volumes in 2026, behind the United States. Brussels plans to phase out Russian gas completely by autumn 2027.

🇫🇷 France • Christine Lagarde stated that the solution to France’s difficulties in the bond market lay “within France itself”, through fiscal policy, ruling out the idea of ECB intervention. International financial institutions are primarily expecting Paris to resolve the political uncertainty that is exacerbating the global rise in interest rates, in the run-up to the presidential election.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom • The IMF praised the UK as the only major advanced economy with a clear debt reduction plan, and urged it to “stay the course” ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s first budget, due at the end of October. The institution has raised its UK growth forecast to 1.3 per cent for 2026, but the country’s borrowing costs have reached their highest level since 1998, and the markets are anticipating a Bank of England rate rise in November.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom • Baroness Jane Campbell, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, yesterday became the first parliamentarian in history to deliver a speech using an AI-generated voice, recreated from her pre-illness voice. “Allow me to introduce Baroness Campbell version 2.0,” said the member of the House of Lords, who worked with the European company ElevenLabs.

🇺🇸 United States • With 19 days to go until the 3 November mid-term elections, Donald Trump is setting new records for unpopularity, weighed down by the cost of living and the war against Iran, which is disapproved of by nearly two-thirds of Americans. The Democrats remain favourites to retake the House of Representatives, but only 40 to 50 seats are genuinely contested; their majority is expected to be narrow, and the Senate appears more uncertain.

🇧🇷 Brazil • The authorities are investigating a “deliberate criminal act” behind the fires ravaging the state of Amazonas, where 1,608 fires have been detected since the start of the month, compared with 874 throughout October 2025. The Environment Minister has not ruled out a link to the presidential election, the second round of which on 25 October will see Lula face Flavio Bolsonaro, who is tipped to win.

🇺🇸 United States - 🇬🇷 Greece • Yesterday, Donald Trump secured the departure of Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece and former fiancée of his eldest son, whose position had been weakened by revelations in the Wall Street Journal regarding her dealings with a wealthy donor embroiled in a tax dispute and luxury holidays paid for by Greek businessmen.

🇿🇦 South Africa - 🇺🇸 United States • South African judge Navi Pillay, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has described as “illegal” the sanctions announced on Friday by Washington against the International Criminal Court, which are due to come into force in six months’ time. She sees this as a “reaction” to the fact that the prize was not awarded to Donald Trump, and urges him to ask his advisers “what international law is”.

🇺🇸 United States – 🇬🇱 Greenland • Donald Trump announced on Truth Social the forthcoming launch of “massive” oil, gas and mining exploration in Greenland, three weeks after the security agreement signed with Denmark and Nuuk, without providing any concrete details.

🇸🇻 El Salvador • The El Niño-related drought is affecting 60 per cent of the country’s cattle herd, and farmers in Central America’s “dry corridor” are selling off their emaciated animals at rock-bottom prices before they die. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the current episode could become the most severe on record.

🇧🇩 Bangladesh – 🇷🇺 Russia • Bangladesh’s counter-terrorism police have uncovered a network of people-smugglers who lured dozens of Bangladeshis with promises of attractive wages, before sending them to the Ukrainian front as cannon fodder; Russia was using them as “decoys” to pinpoint Ukrainian positions.

🇮🇩 Indonesia – 🇲🇾 Malaysia – 🇸🇬 Singapore – 🇹🇱 East Timor • The forest and peatland fires ravaging Borneo, Sumatra and Papua have caused more than 283,000 cases of respiratory problems in Indonesia since August. The toxic cloud has pushed pollution levels to “very high” in Singapore, which is distributing N95 masks, whilst East Timor is closing its schools for three days. Peatlands drained by industrial plantations, particularly palm oil plantations, are producing most of the smoke, and the fires have already released 140.5 megatonnes of carbon – a record since 2019.

🇰🇵 North Korea - 🇰🇷 South Korea • Last week, South Korea carried out a test launch of its first domestically developed hypersonic weapon, just days after North Korea claimed to have fired an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, marking a new stage in the arms race between the two neighbours.

🇨🇳 China • Chinese exports soared by 36.3 per cent year-on-year in September, pushing its monthly trade surplus to $133.5 billion – a level not seen since January 2025 – whilst the cumulative surplus of $938.1 billion points to a new annual record. Sales to the EU rose by 25.3 per cent, and Brussels considers its deficit “unsustainable” despite a recent agreement capping imports of Chinese hybrid vehicles at 350,000 per year.

🇨🇩 DR Congo • The Ebola outbreak has now surpassed 9,000 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths, making it the worst in the country’s history and the second worst in the world after the 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa.

🇨🇳 China • Chinese President Xi Jinping has stated that Africa’s mineral resources “belong to Africa”, in response to criticism of Beijing’s aggressive strategy regarding the supply of critical minerals and against a backdrop of fierce rivalry between major powers for access to the continent’s resources.