🔁 What's moving Europe today
- Trump is open to a summit with Putin and Xi Jinping on Ukraine without Kyiv, and wants "someone else" besides Zelenskyy for Ukraine – he would reportedly attend such a meeting, though nothing has been agreed, and Beijing says it has no information about a trilateral summit. Handelsblatt calls it a nightmare for Europe. We covered the Kremlin and the White House in a separate article. 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇵🇱 ↗ · 🇺🇦 ↗ · 🇬🇷 ↗ · 🇧🇬 ↗ · 🇪🇪 ↗
- 🇩🇪 Handelsblatt: a trilateral summit without Europe would be fatal for it. Handelsblatt ↗
- Zelenskyy accuses Washington of withholding already-paid-for missiles for Patriot systems – he told American senators and congressmen that Ukraine has now, for the third time, not received warning before a ballistic missile attack. Trump responds that Zelenskyy "doesn't know what he's talking about." A Polish daily writes that Secretary of War Hegseth has not confirmed the missile delivery delay. 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇵🇱 ↗ · 🇺🇦 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇳🇱 ↗ · 🇫🇮 ↗ · 🇧🇪 ↗
- Zelenskyy is traveling to Oslo to meet American envoy Witkoff amid worsening relations with the US, and called the missile delays "a political decision to slow down support for Ukraine" – in the Norwegian capital he is also set to meet Finnish President Stubb and the Norwegian prime minister. If the US cannot stop Russia, Zelenskyy says it should at least give Ukraine air defense. 🇧🇦 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇨🇭 ↗ · 🇩🇰 ↗ · 🇫🇮 ↗ · 🇫🇮 ↗ · 🇭🇷 ↗ · 🇺🇦 ↗
- After the unrest, France extended local curfews following a calm night, and police detained the first suspect in the arson of the Limoges city hall – according to BFM TV, the suspect is listed under the "fiché S" category for far-left affiliation, and the counter-terrorism unit SDAT has also taken over the investigation; Lecornu will visit Limoges on Friday. According to Le Figaro, 123 people are in custody after the weekend and around fifty judicial investigations have been opened, while the left criticizes the curfews as a "collective punishment." Trump is using the unrest as an argument against immigration and told Macron "I warned you," while Austrian Chancellor Stocker says the violence in France must serve as a warning for Austria. We have the details in our article. 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇨🇭 ↗ · 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇪🇸 ↗ · 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇳🇱 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇧🇪 ↗ · 🇧🇦 ↗
- 🇧🇪 De Morgen: France's unrest is above all a reckoning with ten years of Macron, De Standaard adds that it's a feast for anti-European propagandists. De Morgen ↗ · De Standaard ↗
- 🇩🇪 German Interior Minister Dobrindt sees the far left and migrants behind the violence, while Welt writes that France shows what threatens the whole West. Tagesspiegel ↗ · Welt ↗
- A Bulgarian court has approved European arrest warrants for two 19-year-old Germans who allegedly set fire to eight Starlink antennas near Sofia – the suspects entered the country as tourists and fled in a German car, and according to the Bosnian outlet Klix they crossed into Serbia; they face three to twelve years in prison. Lithuania is tightening protection of critical infrastructure after an attack on a Starlink facility, and a downed Ukrainian drone in Lithuania reportedly had explosives on board and flew in from Poland, according to Lithuanians. We covered the Bulgarian arrest warrant in a short report. 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇭🇺 ↗ · 🇭🇺 ↗ · 🇱🇹 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇵🇱 ↗ · 🇧🇦 ↗
- After unrest in Milan, Italy is sending another 500 soldiers and preparing preventive detention for minors – President Mattarella speaks of "new subjects" of violence and has commented cautiously on the new security decree, while luxury brands like Chanel and Dior reportedly emptied their shop windows. We covered developments in Milan in our report. 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇫🇮 ↗ · 🇧🇪 ↗ · 🇨🇭 ↗ · 🇺🇦 ↗
- In Albania, protests are intensifying: police in Tirana are dispersing demonstrators, and around 30 injured ended up in hospital – Prime Minister Rama says the protests have crossed a "red line," and American Senator Gary Peters is calling on authorities to refrain from aggression against protesters. 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇵🇱 ↗ · 🇦🇱 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗
- Christiane Amanpour is leaving CNN after 43 years, next June – according to the Spanish outlet eldiario.es, her departure coincides with a new era at the network, which is being taken over by Skydance, an ally of Donald Trump, and in a message to colleagues she urged them to be "always truthful, not neutral." 🇭🇺 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇨🇭 ↗ · 🇪🇸 ↗ · 🇮🇸 ↗
- The Portuguese Football Federation has banned Cristiano Ronaldo from national team matches for 30 days and fined him 255 euros – following a dispute within the national team and his early departure; Hungarian and Serbian media joked about the size of the fine. We covered the reactions in a report. 🇭🇺 ↗ · 🇭🇺 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇨🇭 ↗ · 🇷🇸 ↗
- Kenyan preacher Paul Mackenzie and 29 co-defendants were found guilty in the deaths of 190 children and one adult – they let them starve to death in the Shakahola forest, supposedly so they could "meet Jesus." 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇪🇸 ↗ · 🇳🇱 ↗ · 🇭🇺 ↗ · 🇨🇭 ↗
- At least 14 people died in a landslide at an illegal gold mine in Colombia. 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇵🇱 ↗ · 🇬🇷 ↗ · 🇹🇷 ↗ · 🇳🇴 ↗
- Japan's MMX probe launched toward Mars's moon Phobos, also carrying the French-German rover Idefix – it is expected to land on Phobos in 2027 and help determine the moon's origin. 🇫🇷 ↗ · 🇩🇪 ↗ · 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇨🇭 ↗ · 🇫🇮 ↗
- Benny Gantz is withdrawing his candidacy eight days before the Israeli elections – his party, Blue and White, has for months been failing to clear the electoral threshold, and Gantz says he will continue to fight for national unity. Meanwhile, Trump is predicting a decisive win for Netanyahu, and Pentagon chief Hegseth reportedly met with him during an unannounced visit to Israel, according to Axios. We covered Trump's support in a report. 🇵🇱 ↗ · 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇹🇷 ↗ · 🇧🇪 ↗ · 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇬🇷 ↗
- Trump: if Europe "gives in" to migrants, the US will abandon it – according to Italian news agencies, he said this in connection with the unrest in Italy and France, and Britain's Mirror adds that he was interrupted five times during the speech. 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇬🇧 ↗
- Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to a record low ahead of November's congressional elections – new polls show the worst numbers of his term. 🇦🇹 ↗ · 🇵🇱 ↗ · 🇷🇸 ↗ · 🇩🇰 ↗ · 🇫🇮 ↗
- Australian independent MP Helen Haines is in critical condition after being hit by a car, Prime Minister Albanese calls it a deliberate act – according to Iceland's RÚV, she lost a leg. We covered the case in a report. 🇮🇪 ↗ · 🇩🇰 ↗ · 🇭🇷 ↗ · 🇮🇹 ↗ · 🇮🇸 ↗
DE🇩🇪German media
- Berlin: SPD agreed to coalition negotiations with Die Linke and the Greens, the Greens were to decide the same evening and Linke only at the end of October – the negotiations are overshadowed by the debate on antisemitism, and a tough nut to crack could be the nationalization of 160,000 apartments. We covered the preceding developments in the report. n-tv ↗
- AfD confirmed it was hacked in September – the website published AI summaries of over 421,000 internal emails – not the actual messages. De Telegraaf ↗ · Onet ↗
- Merz: many Germans underestimate the Russian threat. Spiegel ↗
- Deutsche Bank and Linde suspend business contacts in Russia due to sanctions. Handelsblatt ↗
- Doctors warn of longer waits for appointments – the head of the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung expects longer waiting times after the health reform, the director of Charité complains of "massively more bureaucracy." FAZ ↗ · n-tv ↗
FR🇫🇷French media
- After a weekend of unrest, Justice Minister Darmanin reports 2,513 people in police custody – more than a quarter are awaiting sentencing. Nuñez in Marseille promised a very significant police deployment next Saturday if the protests are repeated. BFM TV ↗ · BFM TV ↗
- Lille – Galatasaray: the Turkish club demands security guarantees after the unrest of October 17. Ouest-France ↗
- 2027 budget: MPs suspend debate on the law due to lack of compromise – without agreement, the budget law made no progress. Ouest-France ↗
- The French Senate returns to the question of Indochina: repatriates received recognition and compensation after seventy years. Le Monde ↗
- Brazil's electoral court gave Meta 24 hours to prove it treats Lula and Bolsonaro equally – Lula is also demanding that the electoral tribunal cancel Flávio Bolsonaro's candidacy; we covered their televised debate in the report. Le Figaro ↗ · ANSA ↗ · El País ↗ · ANSA ↗
IT🇮🇹Italian media
- Giorgia Meloni's government is preparing a new security decree, truckers block the south over expensive diesel – the left-wing Manifesto speaks of the government's one-sided policy. Il Manifesto ↗ · Il Manifesto ↗
- The budget is behind schedule, Meloni promises banks dialogue, but no discounts. La Repubblica ↗
- Ex Ilva workers blocked the airport in Genoa. Il Manifesto ↗
- Journalist Sigfrido Ranucci is moving to Rainews, Rai announced the decision. Corriere della Sera ↗
- Parliamentary commission on the death of David Rossi: Mussari wanted to intimidate him. La Repubblica ↗
- Pina Picierno holds a hunger strike for civilians in Oleshky. La Repubblica ↗
ES🇪🇸Spanish media
- Heavy rains caused floods in eastern Spain, three victims reported – the Valencian government deployed five ES-Alerts during the storm, unlike in 2024. France 24 ↗ · El Mundo ↗ · Balkanweb ↗
- Sánchez has already broken the record for the number of decree-laws since the birth of democracy. El Mundo ↗
- Puigdemont may return, ABC details his privileges – a salary of 70,385, a driver and security. ABC ↗
- According to ABC, the pact with Vox did not harm Juanma Moreno in Andalusia, but Andalusians are punishing Sánchez. ABC ↗
- The government delegation in Madrid announced a further investigation into "violent" police actions against teachers; Ayuso is considering temporarily relocating her office for security reasons. El País ↗ · El Mundo ↗ · LRT ↗
BE🇧🇪Belgian media
- A 13-year-old boy was detained in Brussels after the unrest, a 17-year-old from Kortrijk was banned from entering the capital for nine months – protests against education cuts continue in Belgium as well, and according to HLN they are being taken over by rioters. Het Laatste Nieuws ↗ · VRT NWS ↗
- Liège defends its anti-violence measures: Mayor Demeyer says they worked. La Libre ↗
- PM De Wever is considering cutting pensioners' holiday bonus. De Morgen ↗
- Can Macron still be saved after the unrest? The gap between him and the population is too large, according to De Morgen, and De Standaard adds that a centrist like him always gets shouted down by someone. De Morgen ↗ · De Standaard ↗
- Mobile cells for overcrowded prisons will be delayed by years. De Standaard ↗
NL🇳🇱Dutch media
- Amsterdam's Floradorp is unsettled for a second night, stones and glass were thrown at police – a 39-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy were detained. NOS ↗ · De Telegraaf ↗
- PM Jetten and his partner are expecting a child with the help of a surrogate mother; after the announcement they were swamped with homophobic reactions. Telex ↗ · Luxemburger Wort ↗ · De Morgen ↗
- Trump, just before the November elections, is pouring billions of dollars onto farmers. Trouw ↗
- An American 18-year-old teenager is suspected of planning a terrorist attack on a large shopping mall. AD ↗
PL🇵🇱Polish media
- After a Russian attack on Ukraine, an RCB alert was issued in eastern Poland and Polish fighter jets took off – the warning was later withdrawn. Onet ↗ · Wirtualna Polska ↗
- Sikorski: President Nawrocki is already assembling a coalition with Grzegorz Braun; Mentzen accuses him of breaking a pre-election promise. TVN24 ↗ · Rzeczpospolita ↗
- General Polko condemns Hegseth's words about "trampling on soldiers' graves" and awaits the president's reaction – Hegseth downplayed the role of allies in Afghanistan; the criticism in Poland is also covered by Latvia's LSM. Rzeczpospolita ↗ · LSM ↗
- The dismissal of a respected prosecutor caused an uproar, the prosecutor's office did not disclose the reasons. Rzeczpospolita ↗
- Sejm Speaker Czarzasty called on the president in connection with "a new Yalta"; PiS demands the dismissal of Finance Minister Domański. Onet ↗ · Do Rzeczy ↗
HU🇭🇺Hungarian media
- The Tisza government's first budget is, according to Telex, groundbreaking in spending and cautious in revenue – the government is celebrating with Ursula von der Leyen on October 23. Magyar says of it that "the glass is half full, but some may be disappointed," and public procurement no longer falls under the finance ministry. Telex ↗ · HVG ↗ · Portfolio ↗ · Telex ↗
- Austria's PORR does not want to buy Lőrinc Mészáros's railway company V-Híd, it is only considering taking over its employees, machines and construction projects. 24.hu ↗ · 444 ↗
- Kubatov can be Fradi's boss again despite the conflict-of-interest rule. 24.hu ↗
- State-owned company NRÜ admitted that a Fidesz-affiliated organization's address appeared on its website – it calls it an error. Telex ↗
- Nscale is negotiating a $45 billion AI cloud deal with Anthropic. Portfolio ↗ · VG ↗
AT🇦🇹Austrian media
- The trial of Siegfried Wolf and former Finance Minister Schelling has begun in Austria. ORF ↗
- Slovenians rejected abolishing license fees in a referendum. ORF ↗
- Saudi Arabia postpones its investor conference due to the war with Iran until 2027. Der Standard ↗
- An ICE agent made hundreds of queries through Flock cameras after a woman gave him her login credentials. Der Standard ↗
- Gault&Millau 2027: chef of the year is Philip Rachinger. Der Standard ↗
CH🇨🇭Swiss media
- Successor to Guy Parmelin: Christian Imark withdraws bid for Federal Council, after frontrunner Rickli had earlier declined – Zurich's SVP, however, keeps hoping. SRF ↗ · Tages-Anzeiger ↗
- Swiss groups marched with rioters in Paris and want to bring the protest to Switzerland. Tages-Anzeiger ↗
- Lavrov in Tehran: Iran hopes for diplomacy. SRF ↗
- Reactor at the Gösgen nuclear power plant automatically shut down after a voltage problem. NZZ ↗ · Tages-Anzeiger ↗
- Hackers whom Fedpol had warned about are blackmailing Switzerland with data on former federal councillors. Tages-Anzeiger ↗
UA🇺🇦Ukrainian media
- Vance: Ukraine should not join NATO. Ukrayinska Pravda ↗
- Starshield speed restriction, according to Beskrestnov, hit data transmission for Ukrainian combat helicopters, senator demands explanation from SpaceX. Interfax Ukraine ↗ · Ukrayinska Pravda ↗
- FT: Europe could offer Putin a "freeze" of the war or a Donbas-for-NATO-membership swap for Ukraine. Censor.NET ↗
- Ukraine evacuates a wounded soldier by drone for the first time; Ukrenergo reports power outages in 12 regions after Russian attacks. Kurier ↗ · G4Media ↗ · Interfax Ukraine ↗
- Russian strikes killed nine people, including three children, in Kharkiv and occupied territory, and damaged the Chernihivska metro station in Kyiv. Le Figaro ↗ · Der Standard ↗
GB🇬🇧British media
- Racism scandal rocks Reform UK. Die Presse ↗
- North Korea released photos of Kim Jong-un as "proof of life" after death rumors – according to The Sun, the images show him inspecting pink sneakers; his sister had earlier spoken of a "serious situation." The Sun ↗ · Daily Mail ↗ · The Mirror ↗
- Labour faces expectations it will raise taxes in the budget, poll finds. Daily Mail ↗
🌍 Other countries
- 🇷🇸 Vučić claims he answered over 4,000 "insulting" questions from N1, while Slovenia's Delo writes that Putin is betting on Vučić and Brussels is pulling away from him – Estonia's Postimees warns that his bet on Putin could drag Serbia into violence. Politika ↗ · Delo ↗ · Postimees ↗
- 🇷🇸 🇭🇺 Slovakia and Hungary ask EU for flexibility on Russian gas. Politika ↗
- 🇷🇸 🇭🇺 Elon Musk announced that every child in America will get a stake in SpaceX. Danas ↗ · Portfolio ↗
- 🇬🇷 UN Security Council adopted Greek resolution on protecting children in armed conflict. Protothema ↗
- 🇬🇷 Minister Chrysochoidis: there is no longer an "unsolved case" in organized crime. Naftemporiki ↗
- 🇷🇴 Hundreds of schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Hungary and Serbia received fake bomb threats; it is unknown whether they are related. Digi24 ↗
- 🇷🇴 Romanian parliament is expected, after months of crisis, to grant confidence to Luc Niculescu's pro-European government, while President Nicușor Dan has convened the Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) for Thursday. La Libre ↗ · France 24 ↗ · Adevărul ↗
- 🇷🇴 Bolojan does not rule out filing a no-confidence motion against the government if it fails to stabilize spending; according to Citi, Romania enters 2027 with a shrinking economy and rising prices. Pro TV Stirile ↗ · HotNews ↗
- 🇵🇹 Housing protests continue in Lisbon and Porto, now in their tenth night in Porto – tents remain standing. RTP ↗
- 🇵🇹 Union: strike closed 1,370 schools. CM Jornal ↗
- 🇭🇷 Benčić raises concerns about media freedom in Croatia, minister denies breach of EU law. 24sata ↗
- 🇭🇷 Unions warn of alarming state of Croatian prisons. N1 Croatia ↗
- 🇧🇬 🇩🇰 Saudi engineer accused of hiding a microphone at OpenAI remains in custody, federal judge rules – Bulgaria's 24 Chasa writes about his contact with a Saudi royal. Le Figaro ↗ · Berlingske ↗ · 24 Chasa ↗
- 🇧🇬 Houthis claim they attacked oil facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia – the EU–Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh, planned for October 24, has therefore been postponed. 24 Chasa ↗ · Digi24 ↗
- 🇱🇹 After drone crash in Lithuania, municipalities are criticized: not all shelters were unlocked again. LRT ↗
- 🇸🇮 Delo: France's troubles are already affecting Slovenia too. Delo ↗
- 🇩🇰 Søren Gade left the Folketing; commentators say his departure does not resolve the rift within Venstre. Berlingske ↗
- 🇲🇩 Moldova denies sending Ukraine a protest note over Ukrainian border guards crossing the Dniester. Kyiv Independent ↗
- 🇲🇰 Major turn in Europe: petrol and diesel cars could survive beyond 2035. MKD.mk ↗
- 🇲🇪 Ukraine claims drones struck a data center near St. Petersburg. Vijesti ↗
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg Philharmonic discovered suspicious transfers worth 160,000 euros. Luxemburger Wort ↗
- 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇬🇷 Revolut and ING suffered outages: customers could not log in or pay by card. BBC News ↗ · Tagesspiegel ↗ · Protothema ↗ · 444 ↗
- 🇸🇩 Sudan: drone kills dozens on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, army attacks disputed territory, with at least 53 dead according to ANSA, while the Dutch NOS reports 160 killed in drone attacks. Yle ↗ · ANSA ↗ · NOS ↗
- 🇧🇪 Ryanair cancels twenty routes from Brussels and Charleroi starting this winter and expects "dramatically more expensive" tickets in 2027. 7sur7 ↗ · Het Laatste Nieuws ↗ · Postimees ↗
🔭 What barely made the news here
- Florida issues arrest warrant for Raúl Castro over the shooting down of two American planes in 1996 – a judge in Miami, according to ABC, found sufficient grounds to charge him with first-degree murder conspiracy over the downing of planes belonging to the humanitarian organization Hermanos al Rescate; four people died, three of them Americans. According to eldiario.es, the US government is thereby increasing pressure on Cuba. ABC ↗ · eldiario.es ↗
- Russian satellites "stalking" Western satellite Iceye-X36 in orbit – Austria's Der Standard writes of "orbital stalking," while Poland's Onet quotes a response that authorities are aware of the situation and monitoring it closely. Der Standard ↗ · Onet ↗
- Berlin's coalition with Die Linke could revive the nationalization of 160,000 apartments – Switzerland's Tages-Anzeiger calls it "Europe's most radical real-estate experiment," while Welt warns the dispute will end up in Karlsruhe. Our September analysis is here. Tages-Anzeiger ↗ · Welt ↗ · Il Manifesto ↗
*Illustrative photo: the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. Wikimedia Commons. Author: KenSwe72. License CC BY 4.0.*
