Fresh out of lung surgery, Pope Leo calls Vladimir Putin to appeal for the people trapped in the Russian occupied city of Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid and evacuation. EU leaders meet in Brussels to come up with a workable budget and pledge more support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy confirms that the Starshield defensive arm of Starlink services are partially restored but not fully up to speed, demurring on reporters’ questions whether the Ukrainian leader is being ill-used as a scapegoat by Trump over the upcoming election.
The Revolutionary Guard has re-mined the Strait of Hormuz with a super tanker exploding. More US senators demand action over illegal West Bank settlements as a UN reports cites the death of over three hundred fifty children and the continued suffering of eight hundred thousand Gazan residents since last year’s ceasefire. White House press secretary Katie Zachariah fired after five days on the job after inflating her credentials. Trump signs an EO exempting Russia from sanction legislation, the package passed in honour of Lindsey Graham over the summer. Saudi-led forces hold off Houthis from taking Taiz, claiming to have destroyed two of their missile launchers whilst the rebel group continues to shell the Yanbu in the Red Sea region of the kingdom.