Latest / The Rest of the World Podcast / The Rest of the World Report | October 20, 2026 — Morning Edition

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The Rest of the World Report | October 20, 2026 — Morning Edition · The Rest of the World Podcast

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning from Paris.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez with The Rest of the World Report for Tuesday morning, October 20.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: President Donald Trump said on Monday that Russia, quote, has been fine on Ukraine, close quote.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: On the same day, a Russian drone strike near Kharkiv killed six people, including children.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Trump told reporters that Russia has done little in Ukraine and little to help Iran.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: He said it was time for someone else to negotiate on Ukraine's behalf and
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: that Ukraine has given the United States nothing.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: He also said he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China next month.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: The talks would be about denuclearization, he said, and could cover the war in Ukraine.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Asked about a newspaper report that the three could meet,
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the idea,
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: quote, has indeed been mentioned, close quote.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Ukraine's foreign minister,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Ukraine's foreign minister,
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Andrei Sabia,
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: said such a meeting would,
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: quote, only encourage Putin to continue this war, close quote.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: The dispute traces to October 9 when Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: and to his demand that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: On Monday,
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky spoke by video to a bipartisan group of U.S.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: senators and House members organized by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Tom Tillis.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: He called the situation,
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: quote, the most difficult situation since the beginning of this war, close quote.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: He listed three problems.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Ukraine received no advance warning of three recent Russian attacks
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: and no explanation afterward.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: The Pentagon...
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: is delaying Patriot Interceptor missiles that allies have already paid for.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: They were bought through a NATO program that finances U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine,
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: and the shipment is waiting for the signature of U.S.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Several European countries are ready to send Patriots from their own stocks
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: and are waiting for U.S. approval.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: He said Ukraine had offered a 30-day halt to strikes on Russian refineries in return
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: for Patriot supplies and that neither Washington nor Moscow showed interest.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: In an interview on Sunday,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky said the United States delivers 12 Patriot Interceptors a month.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's about a quarter of the number under the Biden administration,
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: and Ukraine now pays for them.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: A senior Ukrainian official and two Ukrainian military officers speaking
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: on condition of anonymity said Hexeth has the contracts and is not signing them.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: A U.S. government official called the claim not true.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: A NATO official said deliveries through the program continue, including air defense.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: The Pentagon has not responded to a request for comment as of Monday.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Uzbekistan denied that
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: the United States has withdrawn intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Starshield,
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: the military version of the Starlink satellite network,
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: was speed capped on the night of October 13th to 14th.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky said on Saturday that a cap of about 160 kilometers per hour,
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: that's about 100 miles an hour, remains.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Ukraine uses the network to fly interceptor drones
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: against Russian jet-powered drones,
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: which Zelensky said travel at more than 400 kilometers per hour.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: He said the order was a message from the American government and that SpaceX carried it out.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Trump said it was not him and he did not think it was Elon Musk.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Rubio called the claim categorically false and Musk wrote that the U.S.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: government owns and controls the system and that decisions on its use rest with
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: the military and ultimately the president.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky is traveling to Oslo on Tuesday to meet Steve Witkoff,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Trump's special envoy, and Finnish president Alexander Stubb.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Garstor announced the meeting.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Representatives of Britain,
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: France, Germany, Poland, and the European Union and NATO are expected.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Witkoff is also reportedly expected to meet Putin in Moscow over the release
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: of Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old American held in Russia since 2022.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: The outcome of the Oslo meeting was not known when this edition was written.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: The Rest of the World Report will follow up.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Outside the United States,
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: the dispute since October 9th is read as a tilt toward Moscow and as a reason
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: for Europe to act without Washington.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: AFP reports that Trump has appeared to tilt toward Russia since returning to office,
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: including by calling for Zelensky to be replaced.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Bernard Guetta,
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: a French member of the European Parliament,
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: said on a French television program that,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: quote, America with this president is not our ally, close quote.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Poland's foreign minister accused Musk of playing politics over the Star Shield cap.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sabia said on October 12th that Europe should take its future in its own hands.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: The reading rests on Kiev's charge that Washington is using military aid and access
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: to technology to pressure it into halting strikes on Russian refineries,
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: which, of course, the White House denies.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: The Kremlin's remarks on the three-way summit adds to Kiev's fears of being sidelined.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Trump said Monday that Russia has been fine on Ukraine.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: The same day a Russian drone strike killed six people near Kharkiv.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky told U.S.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: lawmakers that paid-for Patriot missiles,
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Starship speeds, and missile warnings are all being held back.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: The White House denies ordering any of it, and a U.S. official calls the Patriot claim untrue.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky meets Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Oslo today.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday that Monday night's curfews,
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: quote,
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: helped keep the peace, close,
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: quote, and that local authorities can impose more tonight where they see a need.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Police said the night passed without major incidents across France.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: The Paris curfew covered Place de la République in Léal's shopping district
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Gatherings were banned there from 8 p.m.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Lyon barred movement in its central zone from 9 p.m.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: to 6 a.m. A tourist office there was set on fire.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, Lille, and several northern towns sent curfews for unaccompanied minors.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Le Corneau had asked for curfews that were very limited and local.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said over the weekend that police had lost control
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: in several cities.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: He offered his resignation on Sunday evening, and President Emmanuel Macron refused it.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Given the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context,
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: his office said,
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Macron told Nunez to ensure full transparency on the failures in planning
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: and intelligence gathering that led to the violence.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: He also asked for new policing tactics on the ground as quickly as possible.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Lecornu has defended the police response.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: He said nobody was killed despite severe violence, which he called a miracle.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: A man in his 40s was arrested in Limoges in the investigation of the town hall fire.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: He is known for ties to the ultra-left and was already on a security watch list
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: for earlier violence against a member of the public.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Authorities said the inside of the older section of the town hall,
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: which opened in 1883, was nearly 100% destroyed.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: The roof in Belfry collapsed.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Patrick Martin,
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: head of the Medef Business Lobby,
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: said the state failed businesses during the unrest and that it should cover
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: the operating losses of those without insurance.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Preliminary estimates put the number of businesses hit at 3,000 or more.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Finance Minister Roland Lescure pledged support for shopkeepers and craftspeople.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Stock indexes in Europe slid more than 1% on Monday,
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: and French bond yields rose faster than German ones on worries about
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: the government's already strained budget.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Le Cornu meets trade unions on Wednesday and hosts party representatives
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: on Thursday, with security during the presidential campaign on the agenda.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella of the National Rally,
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: the far-right party, said they will not attend and will not send representatives.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: The hard-left France unbowed,
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: which Le Cornu has repeatedly accused of fueling the unrest, has not responded.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: The Yellow Vest Movement has called for new protests on Saturday.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: At a rally in Kansas on Monday,
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Trump said France is being, quote,
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: conquered,
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: looted, and burnt to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists, close quote.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: He also wrote on Truth Social that migrants have taken over France and
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: that it must close its borders.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: The marches themselves were against rising living costs and in support
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: of high school students' demands over-education funding.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know French authorities imposed targeted curfews
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: in Paris, Lyon, and other cities on Monday night.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Police said the night passed without major incidents.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: The interior minister said police lost control over the weekend and that
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: the president refused his resignation.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: The government meets unions on Wednesday and party leaders on Thursday,
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: and a new protest is called for Saturday.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Alberta voters rejected beginning a process toward separation from Canada.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: With more than 1.5 million votes counted,
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: 76% backed remaining in Canada,
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: and close to 24% backed starting a separation process according
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: to unofficial results from Elections Alberta.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Monday's referendum was not a direct vote on independence.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Approval would have put the province on a path to a later vote on separation.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Results were delayed after late openings forced more than 100 polling stations
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: to extend voting hours.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Prime Minister Mark Carney said, quote, Albertans made a clear choice, close quote.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: He said they chose unity and that the result lets Canada move faster
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: on diversifying trade and building major infrastructure projects.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Premier Danielle Smith called the referendum under pressure from separatists
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: in her own party while opposing the independents.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: She wrote that Albertans voted, quote,
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: for a stronger Alberta and a united Canada,
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: close quote, and will address the province on Tuesday.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Separatist leaders said the movement will continue.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Keith Wilson,
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: one of its leaders,
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: said the numbers could still change and that at least a quarter of Albertans feel
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: the province needs to be treated better.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Jeff Rath of the Alberta Prosperity Project,
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: a separatist group, said he would have been thrilled with 30%.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Hewant Smith removed as leader of her governing party and said
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: the party could splinter, possibly creating a new pro-independence party.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Former Premier Jason Kenney said separatist parties have traditionally won one
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: or two percent of the votes.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: The vote took place while Trump's trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st U.S.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: state continue.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Alberta voters rejected starting a process towards separation,
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: with about 76% backing staying in Canada in unofficial results.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: The vote was not a direct vote on independence.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Prime Minister Carney said Albertans chose unity.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Separatist leaders say close to a quarter of voters is a movement that will not disappear.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: The UN World Food Program has had to deny food and cash assistance to 500,000 people
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: in Gaza and 200,000 in the West Bank.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: A funding shortage forced the cuts, its acting director Carl Skow said Monday.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Skow urged donors to provide $450 million for hot meals and food parcels over
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: the next six months.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: He said life in Gaza remains absolutely brutal and that UN teams recorded
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: about 50 attacks a day in the past week.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: In the West Bank, he saw burned olive fields, camps, and villages.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: He said there were more settler attacks in the first two weeks of the olive harvest
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: than in all of last year.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Israel's military said Monday that it would resume coordinating the entry
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: of commercial trucks into Gaza.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: The suspension began on Wednesday and cut off food and goods.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Kogat, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza,
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: said Hamas had withdrawn its demands.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: It warned that merchants reported to be paying taxes to Hamas would lose their licenses.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Truckers in Gaza said Israel used the disagreement as a pretext
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: to fight Hamas's taxation efforts.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: They said Gaza officials called the money a donation to pay civil servants.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Israeli strikes killed at least four people in Gaza on Monday, according to hospitals.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Two died in Gaza City,
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: according to Shifa Hospital,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: and two 17-year-olds died in Khan Yunus, according to Nasser Hospital.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants in each of the Gaza City attacks
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: and did not comment on the other.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: On Tuesday morning,
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: medical sources at Nasser Medical Complex said Israeli gunfire killed a child south
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: of Khan Yunus.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Britain's Foreign Secretary,
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ed Miliband,
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: warned companies against violating international law by helping
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: to build Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: He said the E-1 project,
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: which would cut the West Bank in two,
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: quote, is a direct threat to the prospect of a two-state solution.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: It was quote, Israel's top diplomat said Israel would not be intimidated by threats.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know,
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: The UN World Food Program says a funding shortage has forced it to deny aid
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: to 500,000 people in Gaza and 200,000 people in the West Bank.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Israel says it will let commercial trucks into Gaza again after a suspension
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: that began last Wednesday.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: The program's acting director says settler attacks in the first two weeks of
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: the olive harvest have exceeded all of last year.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi Arabia has postponed its flagship investment conference until next year
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: as Houthi strikes on the kingdom continue.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: The future investment initiative,
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: informally called Davos in the Desert, was due to run from October 26th to 29th.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: A statement on its website said a new date will be announced soon.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: The event is the kingdom's showcase for attracting investment.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi Arabia needs that investment to move its economy away from oil and
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: toward tourism, sport, and technology.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: In Riyadh,
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: The Kingdom Center,
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: a 99-story tower that houses the International Monetary Fund's regional office,
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: has asked workers to stay away until further notice.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Other sources said companies in King Abdullah Financial District,
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: which hosts office of major U.S. firms, have told employees to work from home.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: In Yemen's Shabwa province,
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: the government says three Houthi ballistic missiles hit a training camp
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: for new security recruits on Monday.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: At least 58 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: The government called it a terrorist attack on a site with no link to any front line.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: The Houthis say they struck a gathering of Saudi-backed forces and
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: that Saudi officers were among the dead.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: They have warned Yemenis to stay away from such camps.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: The Houthis claimed six operations on Monday against oil infrastructure,
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: airports, and military sites across Saudi Arabia.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi authorities say Houthi missiles and drone attacks have killed 19 people in the
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: On Tuesday,
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: the Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: toward Riyadh.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Houthi media reported eight airstrikes on the Sahar district of Sa'dah on the Saudi border.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know,
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi Arabia has postponed its flagship investment conference to next year
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: as Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom continue.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi authorities say the attacks have killed 19 people.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: In Yemen,
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: The Houthi strike on a training camp killed at least 58 recruits,
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: and the Houthis say Saudi officers were among the dead.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: The European Commission estimates
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: the Iran war has cost Europe roughly 100 billion euro through disrupted trade
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: and energy markets.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Reported price rises include about 140% for gas and a doubling for diesel.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Police in Milan clashed on Sunday with protesters who threw stones and looted stores
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: in demonstrations over poor public services and rising living costs.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: In southern Italy,
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: truckers,
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: farmers,
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: and steelworkers have blocked roads,
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: which has contributed to local fuel shortages and worries
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: about supermarket supplies.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Archangelo Gambino,
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: a farmers representative in Caltonissetta province in Sicily,
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: said fuel costs have more than doubled and farm work is at a standstill.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Tens of thousands marched in Lisbon on Sunday over low wages,
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: housing costs, and the cost of living.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: In Spain,
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: the eviction of an 87-year-old woman set off nationwide protests over housing
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: and rents, which helped trigger a snap election next month.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Belgium has seen demonstrations,
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: and Albania has seen large rallies over perceived corruption and lack of jobs
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: and poor education.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Elections are due next year in France, Italy, and Poland.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Political scientist Gil Ivaldi of SciencePo Called concern about purchasing power
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: a major driver of populist politics across Europe.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: In Germany, the Alternative for Germany leads national polls after gains in local elections.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: German inflation reached nearly a three-year high in September,
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: with energy price inflation at 14.9%.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: The party wants to restore energy ties with Russia.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: In Italy,
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney faces competition from National Future,
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: a new far-right party led by former Army General Roberto Venacci.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: In Poland,
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters,
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Confederation of the Polish Crown Leader Grzegorz Braun,
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: has called for a return to buying Russian oil and gas.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Politicians on both the hard right and the hard left argue
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: that restoring energy ties with Russia would lower costs,
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: which challenges Europe's mainstream consensus on supporting Ukraine.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Rising fuel prices tied to the Iran War are driving cost-of-living protests
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: across Europe from Milan and Sicily to Lisbon.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: The European Commission estimates the war has cost Europe about 100 billion euro,
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: and far-right parties in Germany, Italy, and Poland are gaining ground.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: And some want Europe to buy Russian energy again.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, briefs.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Iran and Russia.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Mohsen Rezai,
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on Monday.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Iran's state news agency said Rezai called for stronger cooperation,
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: including joint economic projects such as completing transport corridors.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Lavrov condemned the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: President Massoud Pizeshkian told Lavrov that the U.S.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: military bases in neighboring countries increased tension.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Iran also summoned Germany's ambassador
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: over what its foreign ministry called baseless accusations.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Germany had summoned Iran's ambassador after a German court sentenced two men
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: with ties to Iranian intelligence for plotting to kill the leader of
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: a Jewish organization.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Hormuz.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Iran's revolutionary guards say two tankers were set ablaze after hitting mines in
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: the Strait of Hormuz and that a U.S.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: MQ-9 drone was shot down over the Strait on Monday.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: That is the guards' account.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said negotiations between Iran
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: and the United States are continuing.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: U.S. Special Envoy Tom Barrack said he does not know whether the war was a mistake,
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: but that it has had unintended consequences.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in the Middle East on an unannounced trip.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: He posted late Monday,
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: U.S. time, that he was visiting troops on an unspecified historic mission.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: The post came several hours after a news outlet reported that he was
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: in Israel visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: The Pentagon declined to comment.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Francesca Albanese,
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: the UN Special Reporter for the Occupied Palestinian Territories,
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: condemned what she called crimes committed in Gaza reacting to
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: a purported video posted on X.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is described as showing a sniper shooting a Palestinian man as he tried
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: to retrieve the body of his child, whom the same sniper had just killed.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: The video reportedly includes audio of the attacker speaking in Hebrew.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Albanese wrote that many will only believe the crimes in Gaza when snipers confess on camera.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: The Rest of the World Report has not verified the video.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And finally,
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi Arabia has executed a Bangladeshi man and woman convicted of indecent acts in
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: a mosque in Mecca.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Bangladesh said it was not informed before the sentences were carried out
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: and has asked Saudi Arabia for information.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: The Saudi Interior Ministry cited the gravity of violating the sanctity of time
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: and place and did not elaborate.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for this morning's edition of The Rest of the World Report.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: I will see you all again this evening.
• 19:16
  [music]