Events in publication order
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the easing of American sanctions against Russia may continue, calling the diesel deal merely a 'first step.' He also spoke about negotiations with the US, Starlink restrictions, and frozen Russian assets.
According to the UN, at least 77 civilians were killed in September in a series of attacks attributed to ADF militants in the Mambasa territory in Ituri province in eastern DR Congo. The militants also abducted people and set houses on fire. This week, 10 more deaths were reported in an attack on mines.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking at the OIC session in Baghdad, said Tehran is ready for dialogue with the US, but only if there are guarantees against repeated military attacks. He referred to a seven-day proposal conveyed through Qatar and to the 'Islamabad Understanding' of June 17, brokered by Pakistan, whose implementation has stalled.
Head of Saudi ACWA Power Muhammad Abunayyan spoke about the outcomes of the Investors Council in Tashkent: the company signed a $1.5 billion contract for a 1 GW round-the-clock generation project and agreed on direct investments of up to $3.5 billion in 2027. In November, a visit by a delegation of more than 50 Saudi companies is expected.
24-year-old Briton Sonay Kartal defeated Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7-5) and became the lowest-ranked finalist in the history of WTA 1000 tournaments. She is returning after a six-month break due to a stress fracture of the spine.
Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust has increased the number of staff dismissed for improperly accessing medical records of victims of the 13 June 2023 Nottingham attacks from 11 to 15. The investigation is ongoing, including access to files of surviving victims. A public inquiry is running in parallel, with a report expected by May 2027.
Egypt's parliament will hold a plenary session on October 18, 2026, at the request of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who called for authorizing possible military assistance to Saudi Arabia should it request it. Sisi said any such action would require parliamentary approval. Saudi Arabia has recently come under attack by Yemen's Houthis.
Housing movements and unions of the CGTP federation are holding demonstrations on October 17, 2026 in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon under slogans of higher wages, pensions and affordable housing. Organizers link the protests to rising prices of housing, fuel and food. The Mayor of Lisbon called for the actions to be held 'within the law.' The protests take place amid large-scale demonstrations against the cost of living across Europe; in France, demonstrations on the same day escalated into clashes with police.
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet in Astana on October 17 — the first visit of a Cambodian prime minister to Kazakhstan. The sides discussed bilateral cooperation, adopted a joint statement, and exchanged six documents on digital government, trade, culture, tourism, and sister-city ties between Astana and Phnom Penh.
Lord Ricketts told the BBC that the UK should spend more on defence and infrastructure resilience as Russia's hybrid attacks become 'more reckless'. His remarks came after the MI5 chief's speech about a fourfold rise in state threats over a decade.
At the annual IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok, economists and policymakers discussed AI's role in global growth. According to the IMF, AI investment cushioned the shock from rising energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East, but a slowdown in investment could reduce global GDP by 0.4% by 2028.
Over the past 10 years, Uzbekistan's trade turnover with Central Asian countries grew from $2.5 billion to almost $8.5 billion, while the region's mutual trade turnover reached almost $11 billion. Economist Javlon Vahobov believes that the Fergana Valley, with a population of about 18 million, is not only a consumer market but also a base for industrial cooperation: Andijan — machine building, Namangan — light industry, Fergana — chemistry, Tajikistan's Sughd Region — metallurgy.
Iranian exports to Pakistan have been 'temporarily' halted due to sanctions against Iran's banking system, said Peyman Sanandaji, head of the transport commission of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce. Imports from Pakistan continue, and the land border remains open.
Specialists from the Institute of Information Security at the University of Graz and the Center for Secure Information Technologies tested data transfer apps from seven brands for wirelessly moving data to a new phone. In experiments, the researchers managed to intercept SMS messages, contacts, photos, health data, passwords and Wi-Fi keys, and in some cases to substitute installation files and inject malware. The results were presented at the ESORICS 2026 symposium; the vulnerabilities were fixed after notification of compa
According to Similarweb data cited by Visual Capitalist, in September 2026 the Gemini website was visited 2.6 billion times, and Claude about 1 billion. From October 2025 to September 2026, only Gemini and Claude increased their share among major chatbots, while the combined share of DeepSeek, Grok, Copilot and Perplexity fell from 11.4% to 8.1%.
Representatives of Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Digital Technologies held an online meeting with Ericsson's leadership. The company called Uzbekistan a strategically important market and outlined possible areas of cooperation: 5G networks, radio systems, and upgrading telecom infrastructure. A visit by an Ericsson delegation to the country is planned by the end of 2026.
A study published in the journal Pollutants covered the territory from the Altai foothills to the Arctic Circle. Snow samples were collected in 2021–2023 at 23 stations. Scientists noted an increase in average microplastic content, a predominance of fibers, and a rise in the chemical hazard index of polymers while the potential ecological risk remained low.
In September, archaeologists worked on the Dnipro near Khortytsia Island close to Zaporizhzhia, despite hostilities roughly 45 km away. Among the finds are a Bronze Age deer antler, ceramics presumably Scythian, a fragment of a Byzantine amphora, an 18th-century anchor, and a wooden dugout boat about a thousand years old. After the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023, the territory of Velykyi Luh was exposed, with monuments from the Neolithic to the 20th century. More than 100 organizations are advocating for the territory's inclusion on the UNESCO list.
Residents of the Fijian village of Naidiri have been restoring fish stocks since 2009: they created a protected zone on the Coral Coast, and since 2011 young people have been planting corals and mangroves — in 2023 alone, 18,000 corals and 10,000 mangroves. After a heat wave with water temperatures up to 39°C, about 20% of the corals survived — 'super-corals' resistant to warming, which are now being transplanted into deeper waters near Suva. Sharks have returned to the reef.
Social media reports claimed the building of the Alisher Navoi State Museum of Literature had allegedly been secretly transferred to another organization and that the heritage site faced risk of damage. On October 16, Uzbekistan's Cultural Heritage Agency said it had conducted a review: the building at 69 Navoi Street is listed in the national register of cultural heritage sites and was transferred to the State Youth Theatre under operational management by government decision.
In Tashkent, three young people were detained for smashing a surveillance camera at the entrance of a multi-story residential building. Two were sentenced to three days of administrative arrest, while the case of the minor was referred to the commission on minors' affairs.
Over two days of on-site receptions by the Cadastral Agency in Karakalpakstan, more than 200 citizens' appeals were reviewed: on October 15, 136 appeals were received from 12 districts and one city of the republic; on October 16 in Beruni, 72 appeals from four districts were reviewed. The main topics were land plot rights and cadastral documents for real estate. The reception will continue on October 17 in Urgench.
The building of the State Museum of Literature named after Alisher Navoi in Tashkent has been transferred free of charge to the Uzbek State Youth Theatre under operational management by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution dated 29 September 2026. Construction of a new building for the museum is planned in Yangi Tashkent, but it is not yet ready. Museum staff are concerned about the fate of manuscripts, wall artworks and research activities; part of the collections has already been transferred to the Center of Islamic Civilization, and the rest is planned to be relocated.
At a concert at Madison Square Garden, on the second anniversary of Liam Payne's death, Harry Styles debuted the previously unreleased song What Is Enough and addressed the audience with a speech about friendship and mutual support.
The nine-carat pear-shaped pink diamond 'Grand Condé' is shown at the Condé Museum in Chantilly for the first time since its theft in October 1926, when the stone was hidden in an apple and found after a maid bit into it. The exhibition runs until January 3.
Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (world No. 26) defeated tournament top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinal of the Shanghai Masters and advanced to the final, where he will play either Daniil Medvedev or Rafael Jodar.
Real's coach Jose Mourinho said that if he were in Vinicius Junior's place, he would have left the club this summer due to the abuse and racist insults. The Brazilian is suspended for four matches and will miss the Clasico on October 25, despite a new contract until 2032.
Australia's rugby team lost to New Zealand 21:43 in Sydney a week after a 19:50 defeat in Auckland. Head coach Les Kiss called the result unacceptable but expressed optimism ahead of the home 2027 World Cup.
