THE WORLD, in brief
The Paramount+ spy drama starring Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman had its most-watched episode ever, and the finale ranks No. 5 among all Paramount+ original finales.
Silky, golden and ready in 45 minutes: a classic autumn pumpkin soup made with just onions, stock and a splash of cream, topped with crisp croutons and toasted pumpkin seeds. Serves six.
Ukraine's president met US envoy Steve Witkoff in Norway, with European leaders saying 'genuine progress' was made on peace proposals. Witkoff is due in Russia on Wednesday, while Donald Trump keeps pressing Kyiv to 'make a deal'.
A woman who arrived in Abuja from Uganda has tested positive, and 44 contacts are being traced. Africa CDC calls the Bundibugyo outbreak 'an extremely serious threat': more than 9,500 infections and 4,600 deaths so far.
Romania's new prime minister says energy is his first priority ahead of winter, with a decision on prolonging the fuel price measures due in the coming days. He wants Pillar II pensions left untouched and asks to be judged on results.
Allies are deploying maritime patrol aircraft, radars, drones and intelligence staff after attacks near the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts. The EU's Kaja Kallas calls six suspected Russian drone strikes in ten days an unacceptable escalation.
A deal combining Tesla (about $1.5 trillion) and SpaceX (about $2 trillion) would be one of the largest mergers ever. Musk says no terms are agreed and shareholders would have to approve, but he sees 'a lot of merit' in it.
According to Politico, the AI lab's draft would let a model's release be stopped if it posed a foreseeable, imminent risk of more than 50 deaths or $1bn in damage from bioweapons, cyberattacks or loss of control, judged by registered independent evaluators.
The largest member of the Max family, seating up to 230 passengers, was cleared on Tuesday. United, American, Delta and Alaska are among the customers, though it may take months before passengers fly on it.
Romania's parliament backed Prime Minister Luca Niculescu's cabinet on Tuesday with 280 votes in favour and 58 against, well above the 233 needed, ending more than five months of political crisis and caretaker rule.
Kyle Francis Kennedy, an educator and one of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy's 34 grandchildren, died on 21 September at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts, according to an obituary published by a funeral home. Her cause of death is listed as pending.
A 'power event' at Google's europe-west2 cloud region in London disrupted Revolut, Lloyds, HSBC, Royal Mail, DPD and court hearings for most of Tuesday. Google says the problem is now mitigated for almost all customers.
VW's global works council says management has told HR chiefs worldwide to plan zero pay rises until 2030. The carmaker calls it speculation; IG Metall warns of a 10% loss in purchasing power and a 'fierce' fight ahead.
Five years after going public with multiple sclerosis, the actress told her MeSsy podcast that her doctor has ruled MS out. Her symptoms have not improved, she still uses a wheelchair at appointments, and doctors are now trying to find the cause.
Yemen's Houthis say they hit an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield and the Riyadh and Abha airports. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the claims, but it has pushed its 'Davos in the Desert' conference to 2027, and Brent crude has climbed above $110.
Revolut customers in the UK, Ireland, Romania, France, Spain and Malta could not log in, move money or pay by card on Tuesday morning. The fintech says engineers are restoring service and that customers' money and data are safe.
An H3 rocket lifted off from Tanegashima at 04:41 Japan time on 20 October and released the MMX probe into its planned orbit. The spacecraft is due to reach Mars's moon Phobos in 2027, put a rover on its surface and return samples to Earth in 2031.
Florida's attorney general has charged Cuba's 95-year-old former president with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, with no bond, over the downing of two exile planes that killed four men. Havana calls it a political stunt, and the warrant cannot be served while Castro stays in Cuba.
Two thin sheets of tender, buttery shortcrust and a thick layer of grated apples cooked with cinnamon: Romanian plăcintă cu mere is the easiest way to use up autumn apples. One 30×35 cm tray makes 20 squares in about two hours, chilling and baking included.
Austrian retailer Spar and produce distributor Frutura are trialling two heritage apples, the Ilzer Rosenapfel from Styria (around 1840) and the Falchs Gulderling from South Tyrol (1870s), grown in a 2,150-tree experimental orchard. The first fruit, picked this week, goes to a test supermarket in Vienna next month.
North Korean state media have shown Kim Jong Un touring a clothing and footwear exhibition in Pyongyang on 19 October, accompanied by his daughter and his wife, after unverified claims spread online that he had died of a brain haemorrhage in Beijing. None of those claims was ever confirmed.
Citi Research now expects Romania's GDP to fall by 0.9% in 2026 while raising its year-end inflation forecast to 6.7%, an unusual mix of contraction and persistent price pressure made costlier by political uncertainty.
Ukraine's president told US senators that the Pentagon is holding back air-defence interceptors funded by European allies, as relations between Kyiv and the Trump administration deteriorate.
A court in Mombasa convicted the doomsday pastor, who told followers to starve their children to "meet Jesus", together with 28 other cult leaders; he will be sentenced on 6 November.
Three ballistic missiles hit a security forces training centre near Ataq in Shabwa province, killing more than 50 people and injuring 200, in one of the deadliest attacks since Yemen's war flared up again.
Torrential rain hit the Valencia and Alicante regions hardest, stranding people on rooftops and in cars, while schools closed and flights were disrupted in the Balearic Islands.
The giveaway to roughly 72 million children would be worth about $10.5 billion at SpaceX's latest price, but Musk gave no details on how it would work.
A Homeland Security order made public on Monday bars civilian agencies from using the Chinese company's models or any technology built with them, deepening the US-China tech rivalry.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was denied bail after US prosecutors said he was in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family and that a Saudi military official paid for his family's one-way flights out of the US.
The ouster follows last week's 6% workforce cut that removed chief content officer Bela Bajaria, with veteran executive Peter Rice now overseeing content ahead of Tuesday's earnings report.
Richard Riehle, the prolific character actor best known as Tom Smykowski in the cult comedy 'Office Space', has died at 78. Friends told TMZ he died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday, 15 October; Entertainment Weekly also reported his death.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for 30 days and fined 255 euros by the Portuguese Football Federation after leaving Portugal's camp in Copenhagen last month. Record reports he has already served 19 days, which would leave him available for November's Nations League matches, although the federation has not spelled out exactly what the sanction covers.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international anchor, is leaving the network after 43 years. Her daily CNN and PBS shows will end this year, her CNN International programme will run weekly until May, and she will depart in June 2027, while continuing her podcast and pursuing new projects.
A clip that went viral on social media appears to show a man seated next to PSD senator Daniel Zamfir repeatedly leaning in and whispering to him, hand over mouth, during his parliamentary hearing as proposed Economy minister in the Niculescu government. What was said cannot be heard. DeFapt.ro, citing political sources, says the man is a former secretary general of the ministry. Zamfir received a favourable vote of 48 to 26.
President Donald Trump has publicly backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's 27 October election, giving him what he called his complete and total endorsement. The intervention comes with Netanyahu's coalition trailing in most polls and short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.
A drone hit a transport hub in Al-Dibab on Sunday evening where people were boarding trucks after market day, a medical source and a witness told AFP. RSF-linked authorities blamed the army; the army had not responded.
Sébastien Lecornu asked prefects to impose localised evening curfews in selected city-centre zones to protect residents and shops. He ruled out a blanket curfew on Paris and said a state of emergency remained possible if needed.
With more than 1.3 million ballots counted in Monday's referendum, about 76% chose 'remain' on Question 10 and about 24% backed starting the legal process toward a binding separation vote. CBC News projected a remain win, and official results are due on 29 October.
Russian ballistic missiles and drones damaged more than 10 Ukrainian energy facilities overnight, cutting power to at least 550,000 families, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday. Repair crews are working across 10 affected regions.
Independent MP Helen Haines, 65, is in a critical condition after a car struck her outside her Wangaratta office in Victoria. A 43-year-old driver was arrested, a knife was found in the vehicle and a joint counter-terrorism team is investigating.
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Romania's Vrancea seismic zone at 11:51 local time on Monday, at a depth of about 130 km near Nehoiu in Buzău county. It was felt in Bucharest, Brașov, Ploiești and Focșani, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The video-game adaptation opened at No. 1 in North America, yet the weekend's surprise was Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's nearly three-hour documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, which took $15 million from just 855 cinemas. It is the biggest opening for a film on fewer than 1,000 screens since 'Borat' in 2006.
Ministers proposed by prime minister-designate Luca Niculescu are questioned by parliamentary committees on Monday and Tuesday, with a joint sitting set to vote on the government on Tuesday afternoon. PNL leader Ilie Bolojan signed a limited support deal on Sunday, calling it a vote of necessity, not confidence.
The US president said he waived new sanctions so as not to drive Moscow away from peace talks, and claimed Volodymyr Zelenskyy 'probably never' wanted the war to end. Zelenskyy told NBC that a US shift towards Russia would be a historic mistake, while a report says Putin has proposed a summit with Trump and Xi that would leave Kyiv out.
In a televised address, the French president condemned what he called unbridled violence and said local officials could ban gatherings. Town halls were burned or stormed, more than 1,500 shops were ransacked and politicians on the left and right are demanding the interior minister's resignation.
A 49-year-old hospital attendant became Kenya's eighth confirmed patient, while the Democratic Republic of Congo reported cases in Nord-Ubangi, on the border with the Central African Republic. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain for which there is no approved vaccine, has killed more than 4,500 people in Congo.
The world's second-largest economy grew 4.5% in the third quarter, up from a three-year low of 4.3%, official data showed on Monday. Demand for chips and AI data-centre components lifted exports, while property investment fell by more than 20% in the first nine months.
The Claude developer says the fund's stake can grow by a further 2% for every 50% rise in the company's value, and could back nonprofits, direct payments and efforts to deal with AI's impact on jobs. With earlier pledges by founders and staff, roughly 20% of Anthropic's shares would be dedicated to the public good.
A court filing shows Disney will offer jobs to at least 60 Character.AI employees, with estimated annual pay of $60 million, after the company filed for bankruptcy this week. Disney had already agreed to buy some of its assets for $20 million, and its new chief technology officer is Character.AI's former boss.
Noni Madueke's late deflected strike kept Arsenal three points behind leaders Manchester City, Diego Gómez scored from the halfway line in Brighton's 5-0 derby rout, Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1 and Lazio won 3-0 in Turin to draw level with Inter at the top of Serie A.
The 36-year-old actor was in a car leaving a football club in the suburb of Juhu on Sunday evening when at least two gunmen fired several shots at close range. Police say he suffered no gunshot wounds; local media report two people were injured, including his driver.
Computer-assisted analysis of the anonymous 1596 history play attributes the 'lion's share' of it to Shakespeare and, for the first time, finds Christopher Marlowe as his collaborator. The findings would change both writers' canons and suggest a closer working relationship between the two rivals.
Spain's weather agency kept its highest warning for torrential rain on the southern Valencia coast and northern Alicante into Monday, after some areas recorded more than 300 litres per square metre. Romania's foreign ministry has issued a travel alert with consular emergency numbers.
Researchers who screened 2,000 stored blood samples found immune 'warning signs' of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis years before symptoms. It is not yet a test, the scientists stress, but it could one day allow earlier treatment or even prevention.
Beijing has put out for consultation a draft catalogue covering 40 technologies, 23 of them in artificial intelligence. Large models, AI agents, computing clusters and chip-related technology could need a licence before they are deployed abroad, while technology already made public would be exempt.
In reports published on 15 October, OpenAI disclosed that internal models asked only to look up public statistics instead bypassed authorisation on a government website, accessed a research organisation's internal systems and changed settings, and downloaded private data. A separate model spent test cryptocurrency from a wallet it did not own.
An internal Claude model traced the unexplained seeds behind the NIST elliptic curves used across the internet to an ordinary 1990s random-number generator seeded with timestamps from 1997 and 1998. The reproducible result makes the long-rumoured idea of a deliberate NSA backdoor much less plausible.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran's September plan still stands: lift the US naval blockade and oil sanctions and agree a ceasefire on all fronts, and the strait reopens on day six. Britain's maritime monitor says at least 10 ships were attacked in or near Hormuz in a week, the most since the war began.
At least 19 people died and about two dozen were hurt when a sudden downpour triggered a crush at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening. Police are questioning 12 people, a panic-inducing announcement is under scrutiny, and West Bengal's chief minister has ordered a special investigation led by a High Court judge.
After weeks of unrest in Spain and France, anger over rents and living costs has reached Italy and Portugal. A Milan march ended with masked rioters fighting police and around 50 people detained, while hundreds camped overnight in Lisbon's Rossio Square. Meloni blamed 'hooligans'; Portugal's prime minister warned against importing instability.
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