Ukrainian drone strikes on St Petersburg killed at least one person and injured five, according to the city's governor, with fires at the St Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and warehouses in Kolpino. Flights were restricted at the main airport, an Ozon logistics hub burned and VK said its data centre in the Leningrad region was attacked. The regional governor said 145 drones were downed and about 20,000 people lost power. Moscow said 1,015 Ukrainian drones were neutralised overnight. President Zelenskyy said Russian strikes killed two people in Ukraine and that Moscow had hit energy sites 76 times since a US-brokered energy ceasefire was announced a week ago.
Russia launched 332 drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, and Ukrainian officials said at least eight people were killed and about 60 injured. Strikes hit two shopping centres and energy infrastructure in ten regions, cutting power to more than a million people as winter approaches. Governors in Vinnytsia and Odesa reported injuries and damage to civilian and critical infrastructure. The attacks came in a week when relations between Kyiv and Washington deteriorated, after President Trump blamed Ukraine for high US diesel prices and announced a deal to buy Russian fuel.
Brent crude touched $110 a barrel on Friday for the first time since 20 May, rising 3.7 percent as attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and continued strikes on Saudi and Russian energy sites kept supply tight. At least nine tankers and cargo ships have been attacked in the strait in a week, and crude exports through the waterway are running at about 70 percent of prewar levels. Traffic is shifting to alternative Gulf and Indian Ocean ports, with delays building at Indian gateways. Higher freight and insurance costs are feeding into fuel and food prices weeks before US midterm elections.
Missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi movement hit Saudi Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran, starting a fire in part of the complex and damaging offices used by the oil company's chief executive and other senior staff, two regional officials said. Four people were injured in Riyadh by debris from intercepted missiles. The Saudi-led coalition struck a fuel depot near Sanaa and an oil facility in Hodeida province, where the Houthi-run health ministry said two people died. The Houthis called the launches retaliation for Saudi aggression and warned civilians to leave areas near Aramco sites and airports.
Russian forces hit Kyiv with ballistic missiles and drones on 13 October, striking the Darnytsia combined heat and power plant and a residential building. Six people were killed in the capital and dozens wounded, and about 600,000 people lost electricity. Ukraine's Air Force said it received no warning from partners about missile launches from Russian territory, so no alarm was issued in time. Power plants in Kharkiv region, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Chernihiv were also hit. The attacks came days after US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt strikes on energy systems. Rescue work continued through the night in the capital.
Britain's domestic intelligence service says it now spends more on countering hostile states than it did during the Cold War. In his annual threat update, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said the state threats caseload has quadrupled in a decade and that artificial intelligence is raising the ceiling for spies and terrorists alike. He named Russia as the top aggressor, said Iran is moving against harder targets such as military sites, and warned that violent groups could try to use AI to build bioweapons. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Tehran was highly likely behind a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, a base used by US bombers.
Ukraine said Russian forces hit power plants and other targets less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump announced an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine. Trump wrote on social media on Sunday that both sides had agreed to stop striking energy infrastructure immediately. Moscow did not confirm the claim. By Monday, Ukrainian officials reported drone attacks across the country and fresh strikes on energy facilities, including damage in Kharkiv, with reports of at least six people killed. The Kremlin said it would halt strikes only on election day if Ukraine holds a vote, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a wartime election would be unlawful and would need security guarantees.
For a second day, a Houthi strike hit Riyadh's international airport on Oct 11, one day after an attack the Yemeni group claimed killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300, forcing authorities to suspend flights. Saudi officials described the Oct 10 strike as the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade. The Iran-backed group claimed several attacks within 24 hours and said the kingdom's transit hubs are "a theatre of operations for our forces". President Donald Trump said Washington may join Saudi retaliatory strikes, telling reporters the United States "moves very quickly". The escalation lands as Riyadh opens a major energy conference and pushes its plan to become a hub for business travel and tourism.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck southern Panama on Friday, shaking buildings in Panama City and prompting tsunami warnings along nearby coasts. The United States Geological Survey placed the epicentre about 10 kilometres southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, near the country's southern tip, at a depth of roughly 10 kilometres. Residents left towers and gathered in the streets while authorities checked bridges, ports and power lines. Reuters reported no deaths, and no major structural collapse was confirmed in the first hours. Tsunami alerts were issued for parts of the Pacific coast and later reviewed. Panama sits on several active fault systems, and the quake was felt far from the epicentre, including in neighbouring countries.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee named Navanethem “Navi” Pillay as the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate on October 9 in Oslo. The 85-year-old South African judge spent her career widening the reach of international law. She defended Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists, then served on the High Court of South Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. At the Rwanda tribunal her influence helped establish that rape and sexual violence can count as crimes against humanity and genocide. She was United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and chaired the UN inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She now sits on the International Court of Justice in the Myanmar genocide case.