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Oct 14, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump seems to be caught up in what The Guardian's editorial board describes as a "coordinated pressure" campaign to tip the Ukraine war in Russia's favor.The editorial board pointed to several "perilous circumstances" that have arisen in recent weeks. They pointed to Ukrainian forces losing access to Elon Musk's Starlink internet service, Ukraine suffering significant casualties after a Russian missile strike that the U.S. did not warn them about, and Trump's insistence that Ukraine hold elections despite the country still being at war, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has also called for. "This raises suspicion of coordinated pressure to tip the scales in Russia’s favor after many months when Mr. Putin’s forces have failed to deliver significant advances and his country’s economy has been suffering from the effect of Ukrainian missile and drone counterstrikes," the editorial argued. The editorial argues that there is good reason to suspect Trump would go along with such a campaign. For instance, Trump has sought to blame Ukraine's attacks on Russia's oil refineries as the reason for rising diesel prices to avoid scrutiny of his disastrous war against Iran, which resulted in the Strait of Hormuz being closed for several weeks. "Mr. Trump is unhappy with Ukraine targeting Russian oil refineries. He claims that this is the cause of high energy prices afflicting American consumers and threatening Republican prospects in next month’s midterm elections," the editorial reads in part. "The domestic imperative to keep pump prices down led Mr. Trump to do a grubby deal to import diesel from Russia, in flagrant breach of international sanctions.""Russia is failing to achieve its war aims because the invasion was conceived in delusional hatred for the very idea of independent Ukrainian nationhood, which routinely underestimates that country’s will to resist. That is a flaw in Mr Putin’s plans that no amount of collusion with Mr Trump can fix," it added.

Oct 14, 2026 - World

Article in Atlantic claims The Blue Fighter was artificially generated, days after it won Caine prize for African writersThe Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using AI to write a prize-winning short story after an article in the Atlantic said software had flagged it as almost completely AI-generated.Kundizeza’s story The Blue Fighter was announced as the winner of the prestigious Caine prize for African writers on 6 October. Five days later, The Atlantic published an article by the author and journalist Vauhini Vara titled: “Yet Another Literary prize winner Seems to Be AI.” Continue reading...

Oct 14, 2026 - World

A fresh wave of protests by India’s youth-led Cockroach movement has been met with a brutal crackdown by Narendra Modi’s government and the closure of a historic protest site in Delhi. Two of the movement’s leaders have been imprisoned for five days for violating suppression measures. The protests, which began over frustration about education and unemployment, are now focused on voting rights. Modi’s government denies claims it is seeking to disenfranchise millions of voters. But its treatment of protesters has been criticised by the UN and Amnesty International and raised concerns that India is sliding further into autocracy. Lucy Hough speaks to South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen – watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Oct 14, 2026 - World

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) drew a public rebuke from Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski after parroting a Kremlin talking point by asking whether he was part of the problem in Ukraine peace talks.The exchange played out Wednesday on X, where Luna responded to a post Sikorski had aimed at SpaceX owner Elon Musk.Sikorski had asked whether Musk was “playing politics” with Starlink after Ukrainian officials said SpaceX restricted their access without warning, the Kyiv Independent reported.SpaceX imposed a 100-mile-per-hour speed limit on Ukraine’s moving Starlink terminals overnight, disrupting several missions, Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said, according to the outlet. Ukraine’s military relies on the satellite internet service for communications and drone operations, the Kyiv Independent reported.“Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation,” Beskrestnov said.President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold intelligence and other aid from Kyiv, but Beskrestnov offered no evidence that the restrictions were tied to U.S. pressure, the outlet reported. The White House has not commented, the Kyiv Independent said.“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you,” Sikorski wrote.Sikorski and Musk clashed over Starlink in March 2025, when Musk wrote that Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse” if he turned the service off.“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” Sikorski replied at the time.Luna lobbed an attack at Sikorski.“That goes both ways @sikorskiradek. Have you at all assisted [Trump] or [Secretary of State Marco Rubio] in the peace negotiations or are you PART of the problem??” Luna wrote on Wednesday.Sikorski responded about two hours later.“Madam, as a neighbour of both Ukraine and Russia, we would be delighted to support [Trump] in peace negotiations. Please note, however, that to get to a deal pressure should be put on the aggressor and not on the victim of aggression,” the Polish official said.The attack followed a year of Luna’s meetings with Russian officials, including Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s economic envoy to President Vladimir Putin. Dmitriev met Luna in Miami in October 2025 and gave her flowers and chocolate printed with Putin quotes, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported.In March, Luna hosted Russian lawmakers in Washington who face U.S. sanctions for voting to back Russia’s 2022 invasion, The Moscow Times reported.Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Nikonov, who led the delegation, said the two sides discussed a possible visit by U.S. lawmakers to Moscow, the outlet reported.

Oct 14, 2026 - World

A retiring House Republican issued a blunt warning to President Donald Trump's administration after Ukraine lost access to the military version of the Starlink satellite network, a key piece of its battlefield communications.Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force general who has served in Congress since 2017, is so far the only Republican lawmaker to publicly criticize the administration over the restrictions, which Ukrainian officials blamed on the U.S. president.“The Administration’s decision to reduce intel sharing to Ukraine & access to Starlink equates to aiding the invader & the war criminal who bombs cities,” Bacon posted on X. “Does the Administration think it will get ANY support for the remainder of the 119th Congress? Their agenda is dead unless they change paths.”Ukraine said its military lost access without warning overnight to Starshield, the Pentagon-funded version of Starlink. Ukrainian officials and analysts concluded the move came from Washington, reported the New York Times. SpaceX, its chief executive Elon Musk and the Pentagon did not respond to the newspaper's requests for comment.The restrictions cut off terminals moving faster than 100 miles per hour, and Ukrainian officials said that disrupted drone missions against Russian supply lines and interceptors used to shoot down Russian drones.“Clearly, this action cannot be a coincidence and is linked to the current political situation,” wrote Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky on weapons technology.“In effect, our partners’ actions are depriving us of one of the few ways we have to defend the country against jet-powered Shaheds,” Beskrestnov added.The cutoff came as Russia launched 39 ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s energy grid overnight, according to Zelensky. That would be the largest such salvo of the war, according to the Times. The attack left 600,000 people in Kyiv without power.Ukraine has stopped striking Russian oil refineries at Trump’s demand, even as Russia keeps hitting Ukrainian power plants.Serhii Sternenko, a former Ukrainian defense ministry adviser, said Kyiv had gotten nothing in return.“Trump was looking for any opportunity to undermine our defense capabilities,” Sternenko wrote on social media.Zelensky has also said Ukraine stopped receiving early warnings about some Russian missile strikes. Trump said Tuesday that intelligence was still being shared, and Ukraine’s air force said it did receive warnings ahead of several later attacks that night.