Top World News

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.

Oct 14, 2026 - World

Health minister says government ‘did not authorize’ Danish-led hepatitis B trial in babies backed by RFK JrGuinea-Bissau has not approved the controversial hepatitis B study in newborns that would be funded by the US government and private partners, the African country’s minister of health said on Tuesday.The study, which would not investigate the safety or effectiveness of vaccines but would instead track “nonspecific” health outcomes like overall mortality or neurodevelopmental conditions, has been championed by Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a longtime anti-vaccine activist. Continue reading...

Oct 14, 2026 - World

Outrage poured in Wednesday after Elon Musk’s SpaceX abruptly limited Starlink services in Ukraine, jeopardizing Ukrainian combat drone missions without warning, while critics suspected President Donald Trump may have been behind the mysterious move.Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, said Ukrainian defense forces “did not receive a warning” about the abrupt limitation to Starlink services, which have helped guide their longer-range drone strikes, Reuters reported. Furthermore, he suspected the disruption was connected to Trump’s ongoing spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which has flared up in recent days.Trump has increasingly pressed Zelenskyy to give up territory to Russia as part of an agreement to end the Russo-Ukraine war. Zelenskyy has responded with defiance, drawing a threat from Trump to cut Ukraine off from U.S. intelligence. Trump has also demanded that both Ukraine and Russia halt attacks on energy infrastructure, a demand that has repeatedly gone ignored by both parties.“It’s clear that this action cannot be a coincidence and is connected to the current political situation,” Beskrestnov said Wednesday, The Guardian reported.Beskrestnov wasn’t the only notable figure connecting the Starlink disruption to Trump. Serhii Sternenko, a prominent Ukrainian military adviser and activist, said SpaceX “likely took these measures at the request of the Trump administration,” according to Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.“It is clear that Trump is furious that Zelenskyy has refused to surrender and give away eastern Ukraine, and now Trump is trying to break Ukraine’s resolve by actively supporting Russia,” alleged the progressive media organization MeidasTouch in a statement published Wednesday on social media.“He seems to take that refusal as a personal insult, an attack on his image as the dealmaker who can end the war. Once again, Trump is blaming his own failures on others. This time, the consequences are deadly.”???? BREAKING: Ukrainian military sources are reporting that Elon Musk’s SpaceX abruptly restricted Starlink satellite communications during Ukrainian military operations overnight, disrupting critical missions as Russia unleashed a massive missile and drone barrage against Kyiv.Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko reports that Starlink connections began dropping when terminals were moving faster than 100 mph (160 km/h), causing multiple missions to fail.Ukrainian military communications expert Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov says the restrictions were imposed WITHOUT WARNING.Sternenko suspects SpaceX acted at the request of the Trump administration, though that allegation has not been independently confirmed.It is clear that Trump is furious that Zelenskyy has refused to surrender and give away eastern Ukraine, and now Trump is trying to break Ukraine's resolve by actively supporting Russia.He seems to take that refusal as a personal insult, an attack on his image as the dealmaker who can end the war. Once again, Trump is blaming his own failures on others. This time, the consequences are deadly.— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) October 14, 2026