Headlines: 12-18 October 2026

Wednesday, 14 October 2026

IMF chief urges US and wealthy nations to rein in debt to ease global economic pressure: economic growth alone cannot resolve the more than $40 trillion in national debt (ground news LINK) — 14 October 2026

US government cuts subsidies for 189,000 Obamacare enrollees identified as duplicate or deceased, preventing $738 million in improper payments this year — (ground news LINK) — 14 October 2026

— CMS Deputy Administrator Peter Nelson reported that 58,000 individuals already held Medicare coverage, while another 11,000 subsidized plans were terminated for deceased individuals.

Colombia opens embassy in Jerusalem, restores free trade deal with Israel (ground news LINK) — 14 October 2026

Malaysia court denies ex-PM Najib Razak's request to suspend 15-year jail term linked to the 1MDB corruption scandal (ground news LINK) — 14 October 2026

Vietnam buries remains of 731 war dead nearly 6 decades after the Tet Offensive (ground news LINK) — 14 October 2026

World's oldest shipwreck found off coast of Turkey: 4 ,400-4,700 years old (early Bronze Age), around the same timethat the Great Pyramid was being built (LINK) — 14 October 2026

— BBC: Ceramic storage pots it was carrying were lying on the sea floor and some still contain traces of what they held inside. Ship was about 10m in length and was a trade vessel carrying cargo across the Mediterranean Sea. The wreck is close to the shore of Kekova Island in Antalya, Turkey.

Tuesday, 13 October 2026

UN chief proposes $40.8m-slimmer $3.3 billion budget for 2027 — 1.2 per cent below the 2026 approved level:'Need for UN has never been greater' (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Pope Leo diagnosed with lung cancer: "surgery was completed successfully, within the expected timeframe and as planned, and the holy father has returned to his room" (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Human rights groups criticize uncontested election of 15 countries to top UN human rights body (ground news LINK) — 13 October 2026

Yemen plunges back into "full-scale civil war", Houthis trade strikes with Saudi Arabia (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Cyber attack hits hundreds of French supermarkets, heating fridges to 122°F (50 degrees Celsius) and sparking fires: hits include French supermarket chains Carrefour, Monoprix, the Les Mousquetaires-owned Intermarché, and Coopérative U, (LINK) — 12 October 2026

US: Judge extends order blocking Trump from banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters from White House (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Cyprus is ready to join the Schengen Area, says European Commission. Yet questions relating to the island's division and British military bases could still complicate accession (LINK) — 13 October 2026

— Together with Ireland, Cyprus is currently the only member of the European Union not to be part of Europe's border-free travel zone. On October 1, Cyprus's Deputy Minister for Migration and International Protection, Nicholas Ioannides, confirmed that "all recommendations made by the European Commission are now considered to have been implemented."

Trump ousts Kimberly Guilfoyle as US ambassador to Greece after corruption allegations (LINK) — 13 October 2026

— Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, was facing mounting scrutiny over reports she allegedly asked a Trump donor to pay her hefty credit card bill in exchange for access to the administration and behaved inappropriately while in Athens. Trump said on Tuesday that she had done a good job, but will "not be there" in Greece any longer. "I didn't like what I read," he said.

ABC News: Trump again attacks Rep. Ilhan Omar, a US citizen, over immigration allegations: up for reelection in three weeks (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Fox News: Ilhan Omar's wealth scandal takes a turn just one day after raid of her DC home — (LINK)

Bank of America hit with $1.2bn fine for money laundering failings (LINK) — 13 October 2026

— The banking giant failed to report over $5bn in suspicious activity to the government, $1bn of which posed national security and illicit finance risks, the Treasury said. Those failures included not flagging transactions that possibly involved Chinese money laundering networks or trade-based laundering "with a substantial nexus to the southwest border", according to the Treasury.

Investigators hunt hackers who heated 350 French supermarket fridges, sparking fires and spoiling food (LINK) — 13 October 2026

Monday, 12 October 2026

Ukraine says Russia violated Trump's 'energy ceasefire' (LINK) — 12 October 2026

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv power plant among the facilities hit after US president claims 'energy ceasefire', while Kremlin yet to confirm any deal.

Nobel prize in economics awarded to Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford of US for their work on the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabiliaztion: the laureates' "work has provided us with a stable theoretical foundation" for models used by central banks and governments worldwide (ground news LINK) — 12 October 2026

— Although technically not a Nobel Prize, it is presented on Dec. 10 alongside other honors announced last week in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.

Israeli strike on a tent in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, killed at least two Palestinians, health officials said (ground news LINK) — 12 October 2026

U.K. prime minister attributes plot against U.S. bomber base to Iran: "highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by the IRGC" (LINK) — 12 October 2026

Delhi shuts metro stations and seals central roads ahead of anti-election chief protests in India (ground news LINK) — 12 October 2026

EBU: 97th General Assembly scheduled to be held in Geneva on 3-4 December (LINK) — 12 October 2026