Thursday, 23 October 2025

US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces: the Human Rights Reporting Gateway (HRG) acted as a formal "tip line" to the US government (LINK) 23 October 2025

Israel told US it will not allow UNRWA to operate in Gaza despite ICJ ruling — report (LINK) 23 October 2025

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

US President Donald Trump announced "tremendous" new sanctions against two of Russia's largest oil companies, in a bid to pressure Moscow into ending the war on Ukraine (LINK) 22 October 2025

Russian airborne assault on Kyiv region kills at least 6, injures 21: first major aerial assault on Ukraine's capital region in almost a month (LINK) 22 October 2025

— Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhia, Cherkasy and Sumy regions were also affected, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He drew a link between the attacks and U.S. President Donald Trump's decision not to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles and the subsequent collapse of a planned U.S.-Russia summit on Ukraine.

Putin directs drills of Russian nuclear forces as his summit with Trump is put on hold (LINK) — ground.news: 64 media reports (LINK) 22 October 2025

Trump's hopes for quick second summit with Putin have stalled out (LINK) 22 October 2025

International Court of Justice says Israel must allow UN relief agency to supply aid to Gaza (LINK) — ground.news: 7 media reports (LINK) 22 October 2025

— It issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel is under the obligation to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met. The panel of 11 judges added Israel is forced to support relief efforts provided by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip and its entities, including UNRWA, the United NationsRelief and WorksAgency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Advisory opinions of the ICJ carry legal and political weight, but they are not binding and the court has no enforcement power.

The International Court of Justice just rejected EVERY SINGLE LIE Israel told them (LINK) 22 October 2025

U.S. strikes 2 more alleged drug vessels, this time on the Pacific side, killing 5 people (LINK) 22 October 2025

Russia and China accused of damaging UN human rights funding: actively trying to block United Nations scrutiny into violations through obscure budget talks (LINK) 22 October 2025

Lebanon has the fastest rising rate of cancer cases — and deaths – in the world: Beirut has terrible air quality and is often submerged under a blanket of exhaust. And it's not just in the big cities (LINK) 22 October 2025

— According to the study, published in The Lancet, the frequency of new cancer cases in Lebanon has increased by an astounding 162% from 1990 to 2023, with cancer-related deaths increasing by 80% over that same period. In 2023, for every 100,000 people in the country, there were 233.5 new cancer cases.

Swiss government to restrict international travel for asylum seekers except Ukrainians (LINK) 22 October 2025

Swiss government rejects ban on children’s headscarves in schools (LINK) 22 October 2025

— The government believes that the state, and therefore also public schools, should remain neutral with regard to religious symbols. It argues that the current law sufficiently ensures that all girls can take part in school, sports and swimming lessons. In individual cases, cantonal authorities had issued headscarf bans for schoolgirls. In a landmark ruling in 2015, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that a general ban on children wearing headscarves in public schools would not be in line with the constitution.

Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time after record heat (LINK) 22 October 2025

White House releases list of donors for Trump’s multi-million-dollar ballroom: includes Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, Comcast and Meta (LINK) 22 October 2025

— Additional donors include co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his family; and the Adelson family. Trump awarded Miriam Adelson, a Republican megadonor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.

Gold prices keep falling after worst loss in 12 years: down 2.2% after tumbling 5.7% on Tuesday (LINK) 22 October 2025

India to cut Russian oil purchases, currently about 34% of India’s oil purchases, and U.S. to slash tariffs to 15-16% from 50% as they near trade deal, Mint reports (LINK) — ground.news: 27 media reports (LINK) 22 October 2025

Argentina's Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein resigns, Presidential Office confirms (LINK) — ground.news: 11 media reports (LINK) 22 October 2025

Pete Hegseth imposes new restrictions on Pentagon communications with Congress: first coordinate with a centralized office that reports to him (LINK) 22 October 2025

SpaceX says it has cut Starlink services to Myanmar scam camps (LINK) 22 October 2025

— More than 30 compounds are believed to be operating along the Thai-Myanmar border, where people from around the world are trafficked and forced to work on scams generating tens of billions of dollars annually.

Louvre reopens after €88 million jewel heist as manhunt expands (LINK) — ground.news: 214 media reports (LINK) 22 October 2025

— Sunday heist stole eight crown jewels worth about 88 million euros, including pieces tied to Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress Eugénie. Security reviews found gaps after investigators detailed how the four masked thieves used a freight lift, mechanical ladders, and a battery-powered disc cutter, then fled on motorbikes while one in three rooms lacked CCTV. Investigators say they have identified four people at the scene.

Pakistan navy seizes drugs worth nearly $1bn in the Arabian Sea near Karachi (LINK) 22 October 2025

U.K.: Richmond Council U-turn on £150 fine for coffee poured in drain (LINK) 22 October 2025

AI assistants make widespread errors about the news, 45% of the time, regardless of language or territory, new research shows (LINK) — ground.news: 42 media reports (LINK) 22 October 2025

— One out of every five answers contained major accuracy issues, such as hallucinated details and outdated information. The report highlighted that Gemini had significant issues in 76% of its responses, largely due to poor sourcing.

U.S. First Ladies made history in the East Wing razed for Trump's ballroom (LINK) 22 October 2025

— The Office of the First Lady was first professionalized by Eleanor Roosevelt during her husband's administration. Roosevelt used the East Wing for official functions, as a base of operations for her activism and as a space for interacting with groups representing the American people, from the Girl Scouts to the Women's Trade Union League. Betty Ford argued to increase pay for her staff in the East Wing. Rosalynn Carter became the first first lady to keep her own office there, in 1977. It was also in the East Wing that Laura Bush launched her literacy efforts, and where Michelle Obama oversaw her "Let's Move" campaign.

The unexpected winner from Trump's Swiss watch tariffs: London overtakes America as the world's largest luxury watch market (LINK) 22 October 2025

Study reveals the place where time moves 9% slower for humans: stationary bikes (LINK) 22 October 2025

Switzerland's massive hiring spree: 85,000 high-paying jobs up to €6,500 (LINK) 22 October 2025

Tuesday, 21 October 2025

New CHF4m funding from Switzerland for UNCTAD to boost inclusive digital economy for 2025-9 (LINK) 21 October 2025

— State Secretariat for Economic Affairs's Head of Trade Promotion Monica Rubiolo announced the contribution agreement alongside Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, during the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) hosted by Switzerland from 20 to 23 October 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Since 2021, UN Trade and Development and SECO have partnered to help developing countries such as Ghana, Peru and Tunisia assess their e-trade readiness and implement reforms.

Eight Americans arrested in the Bahamas after 'high-powered weapons' and cash allegedly found on their boat (LINK) 21 October 2025

Ukraine War, Day 1,334: Trump to Zelensky: Surrender to Russia or "Be Destroyed" (LINK) 21 October 2025

Ukraine says it struck Russia's chemical plant with Storm Shadow missiles (LINK) 21 October 2025

U.S. Government shutdown means many CDC experts are skipping a pivotal meeting on infectious disease (LINK) 21 October 2025

Hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi becomes Japan’s first female leader (LINK) 21 October 2025

Appeals court overturns conviction of Colombian ex-President Uribe for bribery and witness tampering (LINK) 21 October 2025

Author Michael Wolff sues Melania Trump over Jeffrey Epstein threat: accuses the first lady of trying to muzzle him by threatening a $1 billion lawsuit (LINK) 21 October 2025

Trump says he'd have final say on money he seeks over past federal investigations into his conduct (LINK) 21 October 2025

— President Donald Trump says the federal government owes him "a lot of money" for prior Justice Department investigations into his actions and insists that any decision on a payout would "have to go across my desk".

Amazon cloud computing outage on 19-20 October knocks out Zoom, Snapchat, Roblox and 1,000 other online services including major banks (LINK) — ground.news: 1077 media reports (LINK) 21 October 2025

— It is believed to have also affected Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. Amazon says its workers identified the source of the error at 12:26 a.m. on 20 October, blaming DNS resolution issues for the regional DynamoDB service endpoints. After that issue was resolved, Amazon faced additional problems, and had to throttle, meaning temporarily limit the power and performance, for certain operations.

Monday, 20 October 2025

Sea levels rising faster than they have in 4,000 years, Rutgers University study warns (LINK) 20 October 2025

Israel says resuming transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza after 24-hour suspension (LINK) — ground.news: 149 media reports (LINK) 20 October 2025

To hit back at the United States in their trade war, China borrows from the US playbook: China has expanded its export rules on rare earths, requiring foreign firms to get approval for exporting products containing even small amounts of China-originated materials. (LINK) 20 October 2025

— A South Korean smartphone maker must ask for Beijing's permission to sell the devices to Australia if the phones contain China-originated rare earth materials, said Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative. "This rule gives China control over basically the entire global economy in the technology supply chain," he said.

Dutch Intelligence has cut data sharing with US over trust erosion (LINK) 20 October 2025

— The restrictions, which began quietly earlier this year, limit the flow of data on counterterrorism, cyber threats, and regional instability, potentially hampering joint operations that have long defined NATO’s intelligence framework.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus wins $50 million verdict in defamation suit vs. ex-business partners (LINK) 20 October 2025

— According to the lawsuit, Nicklaus, 85, claimed executives at the company spread false stories that Nicklaus considered a $750 million deal to join the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League and that he was suffering from dementia and no longer mentally fit to manage his affairs.

"Nestlé's new no-nonsense CEO Philipp Navratil is rewriting the rules of CPG turnarounds" (LINK) 20 October 2025

— "We will be ruthless in assessing our talent," he told staff, stressing metrics, accountability, and rewards for delivery. The phrasing startled some. The markets loved it. Within days, Nestlé's share price jumped 9%. Within three weeks of taking the role, he'd announced 16,000 job cuts, roughly 6% of Nestlé’s workforce, paired with a substantial increase in marketing investment.

Britain's Channel 4 airs entire show hosted by AI presenter in UK television first (LINK) 20 October 2025

Lawmakers slam ICE after US military veterans are arrested, injured (LINK) 20 October 2025

Elon threatens to rage quit Tesla if he doesn't get his $1 trillion payday (LINK) 20 October 2025

The first 5x leveraged funds could open up a new era of high-risk ETFs (LINK) 20 October 2025

— The 5x ETFs would be tied to assets like bitcoin, ehtereum, and solana, and to some popular stocks including Alphabet and Tesla. Leveraged funds are riskier as they amplify gains and losses in the stocks that they track, in this case, by five times.

AWS 15-hour outage brought down the rest of the internet with it (LINK) 20 October 2025

Former DOJ lawyer says he was ordered by Trump administration to lie to a judge about Kilmar Ábrego García being a gang member after it mistakenly deported him (LINK) 20 October 2025

American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky dies at 29: the cause of death was not immediately known (LINK) 20 October 2025

— Fellow grandmasters credited Naroditsky with introducing the sport to a wider audience by livestreaming many of his matches and sharing live commentary on others.

White House begins demolishing part of East Wing for Trump ballroom (LINK) 20 October 2025

NASA confirms Earth now has two moons until 2083: a little asteroid named 2025 PN7, discovered by the University of Hawaii, is officially a rare "quasi-moon": it travels almost exactly in sync with Earth (LINK) 20 October 2025