U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned of an urgent need to reach a diplomatic resolution to the war in Gaza and Lebanon as the UN refugee agency raised concerns over Israeli air strikes, saying they endangered those fleeing the war.

Speaking before a meeting in London with Arab leaders on October 25, Blinken stressed the need to end the conflict on a day when Israeli strikes killed 38 people in Gaza and three journalists in Lebanon.

"We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, such that there can be real security along the border between Israel and Lebanon," Blinken said, referring to a resolution in place following the last major Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Israel has pledged to neutralize Iran-backed Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States the European Union, since last October when Hamas militants crossed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.

The conflict has since spread to Lebanon, where fighters from Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, have launched almost daily attacks on Israel in support of Hamas, another Tehran-backed group.

Lebanese authorites say more than 2,500 people have been killed in the fighting in the country, while more than 1.2 million have been displaced, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

Israel's weekslong aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon began by targeting Hezbollah's leadership and military capabilities.

But it has recently expanded its targets to civilian infrastructure -- including banks -- affiliated with Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party.

Blinken said on October 24 that Israel had accomplished its objective of "effectively dismantling" Hamas as he pushed the two sides to renew negotiations to reach a truce.

Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes pounded southern Lebanon, with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) saying targets near the border with Syria included areas that the IDF claims the group uses to smuggle weapons into Lebanon.

Rula Amin, the spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), said the strikes were threatening the lives of many not involved in the conflict, given that some 430,000 people have crossed to Syria since the war started.

"The attacks on the border crossings are a major concern," Amin said.

"They are blocking the path to safety for people fleeing conflict."

A knife-wielding teenager has killed a police officer and wounded a second one in a town in western Bosnia-Herzegovina, authorities reported on October 25, in what the Interior Ministry called "an act of terrorism."

The attack by a 14-year-old boy occurred at police station in Bosanska Krupa, a town of some 14,000 people late on October 24th, the ministry's office in the Una-Sana Canton told RFE/RL.

The wounded police officer was in stable condition in hospital, authorities said.

There had been no threats addressed to local police in Una-Sana and authorities had no prior knowledge of an imminent attack on the Bosanska Krupa police station, police and prosecutors said at a joint press conference on October 25 in the city of Bihac.

The minor, who carried out the attack at around 9 p.m. local time, was not previously known to the authorities.

“This attack on a public institution was an act of terrorism meant to frighten the public," Merima Mesanovic, the chief prosecutor of Una-Sana told the news conference.

Authorities neither confirmed nor denied local media reports alleging the suspect, whose identity was not revealed because of his age, is a religious extremist. They gave no further information because the investigation is still ongoing.

Mesanovic said the suspect's home had been searched and some items had been taken in connection with the probe. His motive remains unknown.

Mesanovic added that the penalty for murder ranges from at least 10 years in prison up to life imprisonment but, as the suspect is a minor, he may only be sent to reformatory for a five-year period, if he is convicted.

Cantonal police chief Amel Kozlica said the security level in the city and its surroundings has been raised, with armed police patrolling the streets.

The attack left people in the small town in a state of shock.

"We really don't understand what his reason was. It's terrible what's happening among children, social networks probably had an influence, TikTok in particular," local resident Amra Kajtezovic told RFE/RL, describing the whole event as "terrible for such a small place where everyone knows each other."

There have been prior attacks on police in Bosnia.

In June 2010, in Bugojno, in the central part of the country, one officer was killed, and six were wounded in an attack on a police station.

In April 2015, in Zvornik, in eastern Bosnia, an attacker killed one police officer and wounded two before being shot dead in turn.

The construction of a new military camp in the Homel region of Belarus, which some analysts warned could be used as an attack base targeting Ukraine, has ground to a halt, RFE/RL has learned. Using local sources and citing satellite images, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported that activity at the site of the "Chaika" facility -- a former communist-era children's holiday camp located just 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine -- appears to have been suspended for no reason. Under government plans, the state investment program was to fund the project, which was to be completed in 2027. At the start of the year, the site was filled with construction equipment and local residents told RFE/RL that building had commenced. A satellite image from October 10 shows that no new buildings have appeared on the territory of the former camp. Russia used Belarus as a staging area to launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Minsk says it has not allowed Belarusian forces to participate in the conflict. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that Russia intends to deploy troops from North Korea in combat areas as early as October 27.

He also called for "tangible" international pressure on the two countries to get them to respect UN legislation.

Ukraine's military intelligence service said on October 24 that it had detected the presence of North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, where the first units arrived on October 23.

Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August in Kursk, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, and are holding territory there.

Kyiv says this territory is being used as a buffer zone against Russian strikes on Ukraine.

According to intelligence, Zelenskiy said on X on October 25, "the first North Korean soldiers are expected to be deployed by Russia to combat zones as early as October 27-28. He called the move "a clear escalation by Russia."

"The world can clearly see Russia’s true intentions: to continue the war," he said. "This is why a principled and strong response from global leaders is essential."

The United States said on October 23 that 3,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to Russia.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also said on October 23 that evidence of North Korea sending troops to Russia was the "next step" after Pyongyang provided Moscow with arms.

Analysts are still assessing the situation, Austin said, but Pyongyang, which has denied the accusations, could face consequences for aiding Russia directly.

Asked about whether any North Korean troops were in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin neither confirmed nor denied the claim.

When asked about satellite photos of troops at a news conference after a summit in Russia's Kazan, Putin said, "images are a serious thing, if there are images, then they reflect something."

Meanwhile, Russian strikes killed two people and wounded six in two areas of Ukraine, regional officials said early on October 25.

In the eastern Donetsk region, Russian troops struck a post office, killing two people and wounding a third, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

"The Russians have once again launched a deliberate attack on a civilian facility -- a post office -- and have also damaged administrative buildings," Filashkin said.

In the southern region of Kherson, heavy Russian shelling of 27 localities, including Kherson city, wounded five civilians, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on Telegram.

"The Russian military targeted critical infrastructure, cell towers, and residential areas," Prokudin said.

Ten members of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) were killed and three others were wounded in a militant attack early on October 25 in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, security sources told RFE/RL. Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, confirmed the attack in a statement, without mentioning the number of deaths. The Pakistani Taliban (TTP), a radical Islamist group that has been a U.S.-designated terrorist organization since 2010, has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was carried out by a large group of gunmen, according to police sources. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.

Moldovan police have accused convicted fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor of transferring $39 million into the bank accounts of thousands of Moldovans over the past two months allegedly to buy votes for the pro-Russian camp in a referendum and the first round of presidential elections last week.

Investigators said on October 25 that they uncovered about 1 million bank transfers, which reached the personal accounts of Moldovan citizens in September and October through the Russian bank Promsvyazbank (PSB), Moldovan police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told a news conference in Chisinau.

He added that some 500 people had already been fined for "passive electoral corruption," without clarifying what that means. No direct evidence of vote buying has been released, but under Moldovan law, it is illegal to accept large sums of money from abroad for political purposes.

Shor, who also holds Russian and Israeli citizenship, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison by a Moldovan court in April 2023 over a $1 billion bank fraud. He is believed to be in Russia.

Despite expectations of a landslide "yes," the October 20 referendum on Moldova's integration into the European Union only passed by a razor-thin margin of less than 1 percentage point, prompting accusations from pro-EU President Maia Sandu of massive vote buying and disinformation orchestrated by criminal groups backed by "foreign forces."

The referendum was held simultaneously with a presidential vote, won by incumbent Sandu with some 42.5 percent of the vote -- less than the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff.

She will face pro-Moscow ex-Prosecutor-General Alexandr Stoianoglo in a crucial runoff on November 3.

On October 21, Sandu indicated that the stronger-than-expected showing of the pro-Moscow camp in both elections was due to what she said was an "unprecedented" assault from "criminal groups," which she said tried to buy off as many as 300,000 votes with tens of millions of euros in an attempt to "undermine the democratic process."

Russia has denied any interference, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling on Sandu to "produce proof" to back up her accusations.

Cernauteanu said police investigators and prosecutors had established that the disbursement of the funds started in April at the latest.

He said that money from Russia came either through PSB bank transfers or via couriers who pay people directly.

However, Shor is believed to have established a network of trusted people in Moldova to whom he has been sending funds ostensibly for various social activities.

The police investigation found that, in September, PSB bank, which has been under international sanctions for its support of Russia's war in Ukraine, sent $15 million followed by a further $24 million this month.

Cernauteanu said investigators had established the identities of some 138,000 Moldovan citizens in whose bank accounts the money ended up.

The real number of those allegedly bribed by Shor, however, "is even higher" than the 300,000 mentioned by Sandu, because transfers made to one account were then shared between more people, he said.

Cernauteanu warned that those accepting money from Shor would be considered part of his "criminal organization" and urged Moldovans to cooperate with the authorities.

The investigation is still under way, Cernauteanu said, adding that on October 23 police searched 19 Moldovan districts and found envelopes with cash inside.

Cernauteanu said investigators were looking into instances of potential vote buying for the crucial presidential runoff on November 3.

Dozens of people have been detained in the city of Korkino about 35 kilometers from the southern Russian city of Chelyabinsk after mass riots on October 24.

The unrest began after a local woman who worked as a taxi driver was apparently stabbed to death. Her body was found in her car.

Residents of Korkino gathered near a house believed to belong to members of the Romany diaspora and claimed two visitors were guilty of the crime. According to local Telegram channels and eyewitnesses, the house was pelted with stones and Molotov cocktails.

Special forces arrived at the scene to cordon off the building and drive away the angry crowd. People then scattered throughout the city and set fire to two more houses and several cars that they believed belonged to Romany.

The Emergencies Ministry Department for the Chelyabinsk region reported that the fires were quickly extinguished by the department's employees.

Regional Governor Aleksei Teksler said two of his deputies and special forces units of the Russian Guard had left for Korkino, and he promised "support and assistance" to the family of the deceased woman.

The local publication 74.ru reported that representatives of the Romany diaspora were leaving for the neighboring city of Yemanzhelinsk, and that at least 30 people had been taken to the Korkino police department. Local residents were also heading to the police department to support the detainees.

One news report said a 17-year-old had been detained in the killing. The suspect allegedly was a passenger in the victim’s car when a conflict arose, and he stabbed her at least four times in her chest.

The regional office of the Investigative Committee said the teenager’s involvement has not yet been confirmed.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 24 that his invasion of Ukraine violated the UN charter and international law, according to a UN statement following their meeting at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

The statement said Guterres reiterated his position on the Russian invasion during their meeting, which was their first since April 2022.

The UN chief, whose visit to Russia as the country's forces continue their indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, was photographed shaking hands with Putin ahead of their meeting.

In an earlier speech to the summit's delegates delivered in front of Putin, Guterres called for a "just peace" in Ukraine.

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"We need peace in Ukraine. A just peace in line with the UN Charter, international law, and [UN] General Assembly resolution," said Guterres, whose presence at the summit drew an angry reaction from Kyiv.

"The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on X on October 22. "He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN's reputation."

Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya also slammed Guterres for meeting Putin, labeling the Kremlin boss a "murderer."

"It was the third year of the war, and the UN Secretary-General was shaking hands with a murderer," Navalnaya said on X, posting a photo of Putin greeting Guterres.

She has blamed Putin for the death of her husband, opposition politician and outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, in a Russian prison in February.

The three-day summit in the city of Kazan was attended by representatives of the other BRICS countries -- Brazil, India, China, and South Africa. The leaders of or representatives of 36 countries, including Iran and Turkey, also attended the meeting.

Russia touted it as a show of force among the world’s major developing countries that are still willing to meet with Putin despite massive Western sanctions and efforts to isolate Moscow in response to its illegal war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Jablanica, a village in Bosnia-Herzegovina that was among the worst hit by deadly flash floods and landslides earlier this month. "I came to see with my own eyes what happened and how the property of these people in this region was destroyed. Be sure that we stand by you, that Europe is with you," von der Leyen said in Jablanica on October 24. Von der Leyen spoke with representatives of state and local authorities and met with rescuers. Heavy rains hit the area on October 4, causing flooding and landslides that killed 19 people in Jablanica, four in Konjic, and three in Fojnica. Von der Leyen's visit was part of a four-day tour to discuss the EU Growth Plan with the authorities of Western Balkan countries and their progress toward European integration. To read the original story on RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit despite advice given to EU candidate countries to refrain from such contacts. Vulin met with Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, the Serbian government said in a press release. Vulin also spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and the presidents of Egypt and Venezuela on the sidelines of the summit, the government said without specifying the topics of the conversations. Vulin attended the summit representing President Aleksandar Vucic, who despite a personal invitation from Putin declined to go to Russia. EU spokesman Peter Stano on October 23 said that all EU candidate countries "are expected to refrain from contacts with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin." Serbia also has not joined EU sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine even though it is a candidate for EU membership. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, click here.

A group of governments and international organizations from around the world raised $1 billion to aid the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his tour of the Middle East saying Washington was open to "different options" to ending the war in the Gaza Strip, which has spilled over into neighboring Lebanon.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said $800 million had been raised at the conference in Paris on October 24 to help the hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon displaced by fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.

Another $200 million was pledged at the conference to help the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), a national-security force that aids in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state.

"The storm we are currently witnessing is unlike any other, because it carries the seeds of total destruction," Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said at the donor conference.

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The current war between Israel and the Iran-backed groups Hezbollah and Hamas -- which have been designated as terrorist organizations by the United States -- was triggered after Hamas militants made an incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people. They also took some 240 people back to Gaza as hostages.

Israel has since launched a withering offensive that, according to the Hamas-led Heath Ministry in Gaza, has seen around 43,000 people killed while displacing virtually all of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

The European Union has also designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, and while it blacklists Hezbollah's armed wing, it does not give its political party the same designation. Hezbollah’s political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament.

Many Western officials have said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this month opened room for reviving peace talks.

Blinken, in Qatar on October 24, said after talks with officials from Egypt and Qatar that the focus was on "options to capitalize on this moment and next steps to move the process forward."

"Going back to the negotiations on cease-fire and the hostages, one of the things we're doing is looking at whether there are different options that we can pursue to get us to a conclusion, to get us to a result," Blinken said.

The talks in Doha are scheduled to include Israeli officials on October 25, while Qatari officials have met with officials in Hamas' political office in the Qatari capital in recent days.

The European Parliament on October 24 denounced what it called violations of human rights and international law by Azerbaijan, saying Europe needs to end its dependency on gas from the Caucasus nation.

In a tersely worded resolution, 453 MEPs voted in favor of the statement that condemned Azerbaijan's "repression" of activists, journalists, and opposition leaders at home and abroad, which has "noticeably intensified" ahead of Baku hosting the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP29) next month.

"Azerbaijan's ongoing human rights abuses are incompatible with its hosting of the climate conference, and [we] encourage EU leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to use the gathering as an opportunity to address the country's poor track record in this field," a press release from the European Parliament said.

"Parliament also calls on the government in Baku to cease all forms of repression in and beyond Azerbaijan, release all persons arbitrarily detained and drop all politically motivated charges."

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Oil-and-gas powerhouse Azerbaijan was controversially granted hosting duties for the 29th UN Climate Change conference, known as COP29, despite critics' concerns about its democracy and rights record.

Criticism of President Ilham Aliyev's administration has intensified in recent months, with nearly 60 U.S. lawmakers signing a letter earlier this month that urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to "press for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians, to enable a more conducive environment for successful diplomacy at COP29."

Aliyev, who has rejected criticism of his country's human rights record, called the letter "disgusting."

The resolution approved by the MEPs also called for the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia and the signing of a long-awaited peace agreement.

Azerbaijan retook control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in September 2023 following a lightning offensive. Since then, Azerbaijan and Armenia have held negotiations on a peace treaty that the two sides said in September was 80 percent complete.

Azerbaijan lost Nagorno-Karabakh -- an ethnic Armenian enclave that lies fully within Azerbaijani territory -- to Armenian forces in the 1990s.

Ukraine's military intelligence service said on October 24 that it has detected the presence of North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region.

According to intelligence data, the first military units from North Korea arrived in the combat zone on October 23.

The intelligence service said their presence "was recorded in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation," a border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August.

Such a deployment raises the possibility that North Korean soldiers could join Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as the war there, triggered by Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, grinds on.

The Kremlin has previously dismissed reports about the North's troop deployment as "fake news." But Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 24 did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia.

Putin added it was Moscow's business how to implement a strategic partnership treaty with Pyongyang agreed by Putin and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in June.

Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, earlier on October 24 approved the treaty, which allows for "military and other assistance" from one country to the other.

The treaty brings cooperation between the two countries to a higher level, including a line stating that if one side is attacked and finds itself in a state of war, the other must "immediately provide military and other assistance with all means at its disposal."

It's not clear how that clause is to be interpreted, but both South Korea and the United States have recently said they have evidence that North Korean troops are in Russia and appear to be holding training exercises.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on October 23 that the evidence of North Korea sending troops to Russia was the "next step" after Pyongyang provided Moscow with arms.

Analysts are still assessing the situation, Austin said, but Pyongyang, which has denied the accusations, could face consequences for aiding Russia directly.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on October 24 reiterated Austin's comments, telling reporters at a briefing that the U.S. military has seen evidence of North Korean troops going to Russia.

“What exactly they’re doing has yet to be seen," she said, adding that the actions "really highlight Russia’s desperation [and] show that Putin has failed in his strategic objectives on the battlefield.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on October 23 that the White House believes at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East in early to mid-October.

"If they're co-belligerents, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia's behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said the allies are discussing the matter, noting that if true, "it would mark a significant escalation in North Korea's support for Russia's illegal war and yet another sign of Russia's significant losses on the front lines."

Last week, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had tracked the movements of North Korea's military from October 8 to October 13 and had captured images of it transporting special forces to Russian territory via a Russian transport ship, the first time a Russian Navy vessel had been detected entering North Korean waters since 1990, "confirming the start of the North Korean military's participation in the war."

Speculation over North Korea's role in the conflict has grown amid signs of tightening relations between Moscow and countries such as North Korea and Iran almost 32 months after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based U.S. military think tank, also recently reported that several thousand North Korean troops had arrived in Russia and were being prepared for deployment in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has previously dismissed claims by South Korea that Pyongyang has supplied artillery shells and short-range missiles to Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on October 14 warned that North Korean assistance to Russia "is no longer just about transferring weapons."

Alexandr Stoianoglo, who faces pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu in the runoff of Moldova's presidential election early next month, has defended acquiring Romanian citizenship and lashed out at media revelations that his daughters have been working in Western Europe.

The U.S.-educated Sandu won the first round on October 20 with 42.49 percent of the vote, while Socialist Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor-general facing accusations of corruption, garnered 25.9 percent, final results showed, after a campaign marred by allegations of vote-buying as well as manipulation and disinformation campaigns allegedly orchestrated by Russia.

The runoff is scheduled for November 3.

Most of Moldova was part of Romania until the end of World War II and many Moldovans also hold Romanian citizenship, which gives them the opportunity to travel freely to the European Union and work there.

Stoianoglo boycotted a referendum for Moldova's integration into the EU held simultaneously with the presidential vote, which passed by a wafer-thin margin at 50.38 percent.

While the referendum has no legal impact on Moldova's negotiations with Brussels, the very narrow approval margin came as a surprise to many observers, who had expected a more decisive vote in favor of the former Soviet republic's path toward Euro-Atlantic integration and departure from decades of Russian influence.

After media reports revealed that Stoianoglo possesses a Romanian passport, he argued that he obtained it in 2019 in an "apolitical context," without elaborating.

Stoianoglo also lashed out at the media for revealing that both his daughters are working in the West.

According to public data on social media, his older daughter, Cristina, acquired a master's degree in economics and business in Vienna and works for a Switzerland-based company, while the younger one, Corina, studied at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and works for the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany.

She appears in a photo on LinkedIn in the company of ECB President Christine Lagarde.

In a reaction on social media on October 23, Stoianoglo claimed incorrectly that his daughters studied and were working in Europe because "this is a right that every Moldovan youth has."

Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries with a sizeable Russian minority and a Moscow-backed separatist region, Transdniester, located on the left bank of the Dniester River.

EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak is meeting in Brussels with representatives from Kosovo and Serbia in an attempt to organize a new round of high-level talks as part of international mediation on implementing past commitments aimed at normalizing relations between the Balkan neighbors. According to the meeting agendas, Lajcak will meet individually with Serbia's Petar Petkovic and Kosovo's Besnik Bislimi, but it's not clear whether the two Balkan representatives will meet together. A day earlier, EU spokesman Peter Stano stated a day earlier that the discussions to move the process forward "largely depend on the readiness of both parties to meet." Petkovic and Bislimi met last month to try and arrange a similar high-level meeting, but those talks collapsed with both sides blaming each other for the lack of progress. Kosovo and Serbia have been negotiating normalization since 2011 through the Brussels dialogue, supervised by the EU. They reached an agreement on normalization steps in early 2023, but key elements of the deal remain unfulfilled. Kosovo insists that this agreement must be signed first, although the EU says it is binding on the parties regardless of signature. To read the original stories by the Balkan and Kosovo services, click here and here.

A Russian air strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupyansk on October 24 killed one person and wounded 10 others, regional authorities said.

"The enemy struck near a shop and the town market," regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said in his initial statement about the morning attack on the city in the Kharkiv region.

A 73-year-old woman was admitted to hospital in serious condition and it was not possible to save her, he added.

Russian shelling later in the day killed three people in the area around the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

The people killed were two men aged 58 and 65 and a 63-year-old woman, he said.

Filashkin said Pokrovsk and its surrounding area are the target of Russian troops, and he urged local residents to evacuate.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military also said the most intense Russian assaults along the front line were taking place in the Pokrovsk area, including near the coal mining town of Selydove.

Russian media and war bloggers reported on October 24 that Russian forces had advanced into Selydove, which is about 20 kilometers southeast of Pokrovsk.

Earlier on October 24, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 40 of the 50 drones launched by Russia at 11 of its regions, while another seven lost their way due to electronic jamming of their navigation systems, The Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement.

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The drones were shot down in the Odesa, Mykolayiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsya, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskiy, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Poltava, and Chernihiv regions, it said, adding that one drone was still in Ukrainian airspace while two more returned in the direction of Russia and Belarus.

Russia also launched two guided missiles and two cruise missiles, which missed their targets, the military said.

With reporting by Reuters

Serbia's Interior Ministry has reversed an earlier decision to expel Russian anti-war activist Anton Bobryshev, the Russian Democratic Society, an anti-war organization of Russia's Serbian diaspora, has announced.

Bobryshev, who moved to Serbia eight years ago with his wife, participated in anti-war rallies in Belgrade and organized a rally in June last year in Pancevo, a city northeast of Belgrade where he lives, in support of opposition politician and Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, who died in prison in Russia in February.

On September 16, the Interior Ministry had rejected Bobryshev's request for a temporary residency permit based on ownership of real estate and ordered him to leave the country.

Three days later, the ministry gave Bobryshev 30 days to leave Serbia, while last week it rejected his request to have his residence permit extended, arguing that the activist "threatens Serbia's security."

However, following appeals by Bobryshev and his lawyer, the ministry on October 23 rescinded its own expulsion order pending the assessment of his appeals, the Russian Democratic Society said on Telegram.

"This means that Anton will remain in Serbia legally until a decision is made on his main complaint regarding the denial of residence on the grounds of him being a 'threat to the security of the country.' If this decision is confirmed, a lawsuit will be filed in the administrative court," the anti-war organization said in its statement.

Serbian authorities began to cancel the temporary residency permits of certain members of the Russian diaspora who participated in anti-war protests in the summer of last year.

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The move came after the United States imposed sanctions on the then-director of Serbia's Security Agency (BIA), Aleksandar Vulin, due to his ties to Russia and other things.

Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against its traditional ally Russia for 2 1/2 years, and Serbian officials are among the few in Europe who meet with Kremlin officials.

In July 2023, a temporary residency permit was denied to anti-war activist Vladimir Volokhonsky, and then a month later to Yevgeny Irzansky. Both had publicly come out against Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In both cases, the ministry said that there were "security obstacles" to extending their stay.

In March, a request for a permanent residency permit by the three members of the Russian family Tereh was rejected, also on security grounds.

In August, Russian citizen Yelena Koposova's application for permanent residence was rejected for a second time. Authorities said Serbian security services had data "that is an obstacle to the approval of its request."

Koposova, a literary translator from St. Petersburg, moved to Serbia with her husband and two children in 2019 and purchased a house.

At least two people were killed and several wounded on October 23 in Kabul in a blast near a government office where ID cards are issued, a Taliban source told RFE/RL.

The source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter, said the blast occurred when a man holding a plastic bag wanted to go to the ID office and the bag exploded. The man, who was injured, has been detained, said the source.

“Two people were martyred, and several others were injured," the source said. "It appears that someone was carrying explosive materials with him and it exploded against him.”

A video that was posted on the X account of Afghanistan International showed that the explosion took place near street vendors in the area where the ID office is located.

A statement issued by Kabul’s Emergency Surgical Center said 11 people were injured in the explosion, but did not mention any fatalities. The emergency hospital has not returned a call from RFE/RL to request more information, including whether there were any deaths.

The statement said the explosion occurred at around 2 p.m. local time in the Pamir Cinema district.

Stefano Gennaro Smirnov, deputy director at the Emergency Surgical Center said the injured included a 3-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy, and a 16-year-old boy. One of the injured is in critical condition, Smirnov said in a statement.

He said the explosion occurred at a secondhand clothing market as customers crowded to enter when it opened.

“This is the Pamir Cinema neighborhood, one of the most densely populated in Kabul. Many of those affected by this attack will be living in conditions of severe poverty,” he said in the statement.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the incident. But the Khorasan branch of Islamic State (IS-K) claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Kabul and elsewhere since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

The Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations are moving ahead with a $50 billion loan package for Ukraine, and the U.S. contribution of $20 billion will be split between economic and military support, a White House official said on October 23.

G7 leaders agreed earlier this year to engineer the loan using profits from the interest on Russian frozen assets.

“To be clear, nothing like this has ever been done before,” said Daleep Singh, White House deputy national-security adviser for international economics. “Never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country and then harnessed the value of those assets to fund the defense of the aggrieved party all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity.”

"The United States will provide at least $10 billion of our loans via economic support," Singh said, adding that this could involve projects on energy assistance or infrastructure.

The other $10 billion is expected to be in the form of military support, although Singh noted that this will require approval from Congress.

Either way, the United States will provide $20 billion in support to Ukraine through this effort, Singh told reporters.

The remaining $30 billion in loans are set to come from other G7 partners -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The expectation is for the funds to start heading to Ukraine by the end of this year.

The G7 announced in June that most of the loan would be backed by profits being earned on roughly $260 billion in immobilized Russian assets. The vast majority of that money is held in European Union nations.

The decision came after months of debate on the legality of confiscating the money and sending it to Ukraine.

SEE ALSO:

EU Summit Eyes Frozen Russian Assets, Migration, And Moldova

Russia has protested the use of its frozen assets, calling it illegal and threatening retaliation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced on October 22 that the United States planned to contribute $20 billion to the G7 loan package but didn’t describe the breakdown on how the funds would be split.

Yellen, who is taking part this week in annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington, is set to host a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.

With reporting by AFP and Reuter

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire on October 23 in a deadly "terrorist attack" on the facilities of the Turkish state-run aerospace and defense company TUSAS near Ankara.

Yerlikaya said both attackers were "neutralized" in the attack on TUSAS Ankara Kahramankazan, which killed five other people and wounded 22. Three of the injured have been discharged from hospital, and 19 remain under treatment, he said.

Yerlikaya said the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is suspected of being behind the incident.

"The style of the act shows that it's highly likely the PKK that carried out the attack. Once identification is completed and other evidence becomes clearer, we'll share more concrete information with you," he said.

An investigation has been launched, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Defense Minister Yasar Guler also pointed the finger at the PKK, saying its militants receive "the punishment they deserve every time, but they never come to their senses.” He added that Turkey "will pursue them until the last terrorist is eliminated.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the "vile terrorist attack.”

"Our nation should know that the dirty hands reaching out to Turkey will definitely be broken; no structure, no terrorist organization, no evil center targeting our security will be able to achieve their goals," he said on X.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also condemned the attack on X.

"The United States stands with our Ally Türkiye and strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack," he said.

TUSAS designs, manufactures, and assembles civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other defense industry and space systems.

Video on social media showed what appears to be a large explosion in the area of the company. Security camera video, which was later broadcast on television, showed a man in plainclothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle.

Local media also reported that gunshots could be heard after security forces entered the site. Helicopters were seen flying above the premises. But news media coverage of the attack was temporarily blacked out and authorities also took steps to block access to social media websites.

Kurdish militants, Islamic State, and leftist extremists have carried out attacks in the country in the past.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on October 23 that there is evidence North Korea has sent troops to Russia, calling it a “next step” after Pyongyang provided Moscow with arms.

“We are seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops” that have gone to Russia, Austin told reporters during a visit to Rome. “What exactly they’re doing? Left to be seen.”

Analysts are still assessing the situation, Austin said, but Pyongyang could face consequences for aiding Russia directly.

“If they’re co-belligerents, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said allies are discussing the matter.

"If these troops are destined to fight in Ukraine, it would mark a significant escalation in North Korea's support for Russia's illegal war and yet another sign of Russia's significant losses on the front lines," Dakhlallah said in a statement.

"We are actively consulting within the Alliance on this matter, and the North Atlantic Council will receive a briefing from [South Korea] and further discuss this matter soon," Dakhlallah said.

At the White House later on October 23, national-security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. believes that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East in early to mid-October.

“These soldiers then traveled onward to multiple Russian military training sites in eastern Russia, where they are currently undergoing training,” Kirby said. “We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is certainly a highly concerning probability.”

Kirby said the North Korean troops could go to western Russia and then engage in combat against Ukraine's forces. He added that if the North Korean troops are deployed against Ukraine, "they will become legitimate targets."

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on October 22 that North Korea sending troops to Ukraine would mark a “significant escalation.” He added that he had asked South Korea's president to send experts to Brussels next week to brief the military alliance.

In Seoul, National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong told South Korean lawmakers on October 23 that 3,000 North Korean troops are now in Russia receiving training on drones and other equipment before being deployed to battlefields in Ukraine. Cho said his agency assessed that North Korea aims to deploy a total of 10,000 troops to Russia by December.

Russia and North Korea have denied the troop movements. But the two countries have sharply boosted their cooperation in the past two years and signed a defense pact in June.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned Hungarians on October 23 that they must "resist" the European Union, saying Brussels is trying to topple his government.

Speaking on a holiday marking the 1956 uprising against Soviet repression that was brutally crushed by the Red Army, Orban, seen as Moscow's closest ally in the European Union, said the bloc wants to install a "puppet government" because "independent Hungarian politics are unacceptable to Brussels."

He provided no evidence to support his claims during the holiday speech, which in the past Orban has used to compare the EU with the Soviet Union, to thousands of his supporters. In this year's speech he said the lessons of 1956 "tell us that we can only fight for one thing: Hungary and Hungarian freedom."

He also said that the "entire European economy has been drawn into" the war in Ukraine and its "getting bloodier and more desperate" with no sign of when it will end, while European leaders "are indulging in the illusion" of winning.

"We know they want to force us into the war, that they want to impose their migrants upon us...and hand over our children to gender activists," he said in a speech from a stage set up in Budapest's Millenaris Park.

The nationalist leader claimed there is a plan that once "victory is achieved on the eastern front," Ukraine with its reinforced military will replace the Americans to guarantee the safety of Europe.

"It means that we, Hungarians, could wake up one morning and see Slavic soldiers once again coming from the east and being deployed in Hungary," he said. "We don't want that."

The EU has withheld billions of euros in financial aid to Hungary amid clashes over Orban's policies, which have widely been criticized for eroding the rule of law in the Central European nation. The two sides also have sparred for months over aid to Ukraine, migration, allegations of the misuse of bloc funds, and breaches of its laws.

Later on October 23, opposition politician Peter Magyar spoke at length to thousands of supporters at a separate commemoration of the 1956 uprising, saying Hungarians had been "tricked and deceived" by Orban's Fidesz party.

Orban had "no authority to betray the heritage of 1956, has no authority to serve Russian interests," Magyar, the president of the pro-European Union Tisza party, told the rally.

With reporting by Reuters and RFE/RL audiovisual news producer Petr Kubalek

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on Israel and the Iran-backed groups it is fighting in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon to call a truce after the Israeli military said it had killed a top official for Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, who had been widely expected to be the group’s next leader.

"Now is the time to turn those successes into an enduring strategic success," Blinken told reporters as he prepared to leave Jordan on October 23 for Saudi Arabia on a tour of the region for talks on how to bring the current fighting to an end.

Late on October 22, Israel said Hashem Safieddine, a senior figure inside Hezbollah, was killed in an air strike on the Lebanese capital on October 3, ending weeks of speculation as to whether the man expected to take over the group was alive. The previous Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in Israeli air strikes in Beirut on September 27.

Safieddine headed Hezbollah's executive branch, which oversees the group's political affairs. He was also a member of the decision-making Shura Council as well as the Jihad Council, which runs the group's military operations.

The United States designated Safieddine a terrorist in 2017. Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by Washington, although the European Union has only blacklisted its armed wing. Hezbollah’s political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament.

The current war between Israel and the Iran-backed groups Hezbollah and Hamas -- which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union -- was triggered after Hamas militants made an incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people. They also took some 240 people back to Gaza as hostages.

Israel has since launched a withering offensive that, according to the Hamas-led Heath Ministry in Gaza, has seen almost 43,000 people killed while displacing virtually all of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

Israeli forces have killed many senior figures from Hezbollah and Hamas, including the Palestinian militant group's leader, Yahya Sinwar, who was suspected of being the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks.

Sinwar was killed last week by the Israeli Defense Forces, prompting senior officials from the United States and other Israeli allies to seize on what they see as an opportunity for a new scenario for the region.

Israel has also been under pressure from many allies, including the United States, for the rising number of civilian casualties in Gaza as a result of the war, and accusations that it has been hindering aid supplies to the territory, where hundreds of thousands are living in a growing humanitarian crisis.

SEE ALSO:

Palestinians Count The Toll Of Israel's Devastating War In Gaza

"The focus needs to be on getting the hostages home, ending this war and having a clear plan for what follows," Blinken said on October 23.

Neither side, however, appears prepared, at least publicly, to seize on the so-called opportunity Blinken and others say is there for the taking.

Just hours before Blinken spoke, the Israeli military leveled a suburban Beirut building that it said housed Hezbollah facilities.

The strikes and a later one that sent thick columns of flames shooting into the night sky came shortly after an Israeli military spokesman issued evacuation warnings for the neighborhood.

Another strike came with no warning hitting the nearby office of a pro-Iran broadcaster, the station said. It said the office had been empty since the conflict began. Lebanon's Health Ministry said one person was killed and five others, including a child, were wounded.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement late on October 23 that it had escalated its attacks on Israel, using "precision missiles" for the first time, and launched new types of drones on Israeli targets.

It later said it had targeted an Israeli military factory on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military said four projectiles were identified as having been fired from Lebanon. Two were intercepted and one fell in an open area. There was no immediate indication of any defense facility around Tel Aviv having been hit.

Meanwhile, Hamas continues to refuse to release the remaining hostages it holds unless Israel stops its attacks in Gaza.

With reporting by Reuters

Belarusian lawmakers have set a presidential election for January 26, the first presidential vote since balloting in 2020 triggered mass unrest after authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka was declared the winner despite claims by the opposition and many Western governments that the vote was rigged. The decision setting the date for the election, which is also the first presidential vote since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Lukashenka has supported, was approved on October 23. At Lukashenka's direction, security officials cracked down hard on those demonstrating against the election results, arresting thousands and pushing most leading opposition figures out of the country. Several protesters were killed in the violence, and rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used against some of those detained. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.

Incumbent Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Russian-backed candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo have agreed to hold a public election debate on October 27 ahead of a tense November 3 presidential runoff amid warnings of continued Russian interference.

The televised debate will take place after the pro-European Sandu won the first round on October 20 with 42.49 percent of the vote, while Socialist Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor-general facing accusations of corruption, garnered 25.9 percent, final results showed, after a campaign marred by allegations of vote-buying as well as manipulation and disinformation campaigns orchestrated by Russia.

In third place was businessman Renato Usatii, a former mayor of Moldova's second-largest city, Balti, with 13.79 percent of the votes.

A referendum for Moldova's integration into the European Union held simultaneously with the presidential vote passed by a wafer-thin margin -- 50.38 percent -- despite the "no" camp being ahead until the early hours of October 21, apparently due to decisive pro-EU votes cast by Moldova's staunchly pro-EU diaspora.

While the referendum has no legal impact on Moldova's negotiations with Brussels, the very narrow approval margin came as a surprise to many observers who had expected a more decisive vote in favor of the former Soviet republic's path toward Euro-Atlantic integration.

Many observers billed Moldova's dual elections as crucial to helping decide the country's future direction -- whether it will feature closer ties to Europe and the West or continue in Russia's shadow.

Some analysts saw the result as a setback for Sandu, who had bet on a strong pro-European showing to cement her chances at a second four-year mandate after Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, secured EU candidate status in 2022 and opened membership negotiations with the bloc earlier this year.

The United States, in a message commending Moldovans for a high turnout and the pro-Western choice, acknowledged Moscow's interference in the electoral process.

"Russia did everything in its power to disrupt the election and referendum to undermine Moldova's democracy, including through illicit financing and vote buying, disinformation, and malicious cyber-activities," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Russia, which was accused by Western officials of election interference ahead of the vote, has rejected the accusations, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claiming that the final results of both the presidential election and the referendum were "rigged" and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling on Sandu to present evidence to back up her accusations of vote-buying.

The debate, to take place at the Palace of the Republic in the capital, Chisinau, will give the U.S.-educated Sandu an opportunity to reinforce her pro-Western message with Moldovan voters as she locks horns with Stoianoglo.

The debate will also likely give her an occasion to elaborate on her statement on election night that the balloting came under an "unprecedented" assault from "criminal groups," which tried to buy as many as 300,000 votes with tens of millions of euros in an attempt to "undermine the democratic process."

Ahead of a tense runoff that could decisively set Moldova's course for the years to come, Blinken voiced Washington's backing for a vote without outside interference.

"The United States will continue to support Moldova’s efforts to ensure a credible, transparent, and democratic process on November 3," he said.

"Alongside our allies and partners, the United States stands with the Moldovan people in their desire for a secure, prosperous, and democratic future."