Global Express | November 8, 2026: Russia strikes Ukraine's energy grid ahead of trilateral talks

1. Russia pounds Ukraine's energy grid ahead of trilateral talks, Zelensky says

Source: The Guardian

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russia is intensifying strikes across the country to pile extra pressure on Kyiv before upcoming talks. "By intensifying its attacks on Ukraine and our infrastructure at this very moment, Russia is trying to additionally lay the groundwork for putting pressure on Ukraine's position and that of its partners," he said, adding that "Russia perceives diplomacy in its own peculiar way – as a form of aggression."

Ukraine's energy ministry said a "massive attack on a number of energy facilities" on Saturday plunged five regions into darkness and significantly hampered electricity transmission in Kyiv and surrounding regions. Zelenskyy said Russia launched 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles overnight, including KN-23 missiles manufactured and supplied by North Korea.

A US-brokered trilateral meeting is scheduled in Abu Dhabi next week, with Ukrainian officials expected to sit down with Russian negotiators and US envoys on Tuesday and Wednesday — the first such talks in months. The diplomatic track has been stalled since February, when Washington shifted attention to its war with Iran. Zelenskyy urged the US to boost aid, citing a serious shortage of Patriot interceptors. Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani said he had been targeted by pro-Russian hackers, with his personal data published on the dark web; PM Giorgia Meloni voiced support.

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2. Drone attack on Colombian army base kills three soldiers

Source: Al Jazeera

A drone attack on a military base in northern Colombia killed three soldiers and wounded at least 16, the country's armed forces said in a statement on Saturday. The strike hit a base in Santa Rosa del Sur, a small town in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range. No group has said it carried out the attack.

"Those who were behind this attack… will have nowhere to hide," President Abelardo de la Espriella wrote on X. "Every attack against our soldiers strengthens our resolve to defend Colombia." Violence has intensified in rural areas since the conservative president took office in August; he cancelled peace talks with rebel groups and has taken a confrontational approach, including more air strikes, more troops and joint task forces to protect strategic assets such as a pipeline.

State forces and illegal armed groups carried out 34 attacks with bombs or explosives in the four weeks to October 16, a 9 percent increase on last year's four-week average, according to ACLED. Last week a military base in Tolima province was hit with missiles made from gas canisters, killing four civilians, including a two-month-old baby.

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3. South Africa's ANC heading for worst election result in its history

Source: DW

Near-final results show South Africa's African National Congress winning just over 30% in Wednesday's municipal polls — its lowest-ever share. The party also lost its majority in six of the eight metropolitan regions, the Electoral Commission said on Saturday after 98% of votes were counted.

Voters are angry about water and electricity shortages, with the ANC taking the blame for the poor state of municipalities; high unemployment, crime and corruption are other pressing issues. President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC leader, admitted in his weekly letter that "municipal failures have contributed to declining public trust and confidence in democratic governance." ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters: "We cannot ask the people to trust us merely because of our history," calling the outcome "catastrophic."

Analyst Daniel Silke called it "the most severe result that the ANC would have feared" and "the ANC's worst result in history," saying it will undermine the party's authority locally and nationally and could signal voter sentiment ahead of the 2029 general election. The ANC took just over 40% in the 2024 national vote and 46% in the 2021 municipal elections.

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4. Poland reels as Kraków mass shooting leaves six dead

Source: CNN

Communities in Poland are in shock after a rare mass shooting in the country's south, prompting days of national mourning and heightened security. A gunman killed at least six people in Kraków's historic main square on Saturday and injured 16 others; authorities say the attack was likely driven by far-right ideology.

Police began receiving reports of a shooting at around 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) when the suspect drove into the main market square and started firing randomly, killing four women and two men. Three bodies were later found at his home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 120 miles northeast of Kraków — his sister, mother and father. The 25-year-old Polish citizen was shot and injured by police and is in a "stable but very critical condition" after multiple surgeries.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the shooter was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held "very radical views." Two police officers were among the injured, as were five foreign nationals from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Britain. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the two officers "likely saved many lives, without regard for the risk of losing their own." Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz denied reports that the suspect was a soldier.

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5. Magnitude 5.7 quake in western Shizuoka injures more than 20

Source: Kyodo News

Japan's Meteorological Agency said a quake with a maximum intensity of 5-strong on the Japanese scale was observed in Chita, Aichi Prefecture, at around 1:04 a.m. on November 8. The epicentre was in western Shizuoka Prefecture at a depth of 41 kilometres, with the magnitude estimated at 5.7. Intensity 5-weak was recorded in parts of Nagano, Gifu, Hamamatsu and Aichi.

Aichi fire authorities said at least 20 people were injured, mostly by falling while evacuating; three women in their 30s to 90s sustained minor injuries in Shizuoka. None of the injuries were life-threatening and no tsunami was triggered. The agency urged caution for about a week, especially the next two to three days, warning of possible quakes up to intensity 5-strong, and said the link to a future Nankai Trough megaquake is "possibly low" at this stage, with experts to investigate further.

The Tokaido Shinkansen slowed between Shizuoka and Gifu-Hashima, delaying 29 trains by up to 52 minutes and affecting about 17,000 passengers. No injuries or facility problems were reported at Chubu Centrair airport, and no abnormalities were found at the Hamaoka nuclear plant. The government set up a liaison office at the prime minister's office.

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6. Floods swamp tens of thousands of tents in Gaza

Source: BBC

Heavy rains have flooded tens of thousands of tents where displaced residents are living in Gaza. Jonathan Veitch, Unicef's representative for Palestine, said the "desperate" situation was being made worse by Israeli restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery and supplies such as engine oil, describing conditions as "just horrific."

Some 90% of Gaza residents have been displaced by the war, many of them multiple times, with limited access to clean water and sanitation. The Hamas-run government in Gaza said about 70,000 tents had been flooded and that the "collapse of dozens of cracked walls and roofs" had caused injuries, some critical.

Veitch said there were fewer tarpaulins, plastic sheeting and tents available because of UN budget cuts, forcing aid groups to be "much more choosy" about where they support, "but unfortunately, heavy flooding this morning means that nearly everyone needs help." Maryam Odeh, 34, and Khaled al-Najjar, 41, both told AFP they fear for their children not only from flooding but from the cold and disease. A ceasefire took effect in October last year, but Israeli air strikes have continued almost daily.

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7. NASA unveils $10 billion Moon base contracting framework

Source: Fox Business

NASA announced on Saturday that SpaceX, Blue Origin and six other aerospace companies are eligible to compete for up to $10 billion in lunar delivery contracts over 10 years as the agency advances plans for a permanent base at the Moon's south pole. The figure is a ceiling for future task orders, not money already awarded.

The other companies are Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, iSpace US, Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems and Voyager Technologies. "We are building the Moon Base mission by mission," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. NASA also raised the maximum value of its existing CLPS contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion.

Blue Origin secured a separate $94 million base contract, with an additional $140 million available through a performance-based option, to deliver NASA's nuclear-powered PROMISE rover to the lunar south pole using its Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, targeting a late-2028 launch for an 18-month mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will build the six-wheeled rover using spare flight components and engineering test models from its Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers.

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8. Anthropic presses ahead with trillion-dollar IPO as voters rebuke AI

Source: CNBC

After voters delivered a stinging rebuke to artificial intelligence and data centers in this week's midterm elections, Anthropic is about to try to go public. The AI company is preparing a potentially historic IPO, likely targeting mid-November for its Nasdaq debut, with investors seeing a valuation of $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion — down from a $2 trillion target floated in recent months.

The Nasdaq on Thursday suffered its steepest drop in 19 months, and October was its worst month since March 2025, with chipmakers and neoclouds hit hardest. More than half of voters said AI data centers were a "crucial" or "major factor" in who they supported for Congress, according to an NBC News exit poll, and local communities opposed data center-related ballot measures in 40 out of 41 cases.

"People don't want a data center going near them if it's just going to house AI that's going to help a big tech company profit," Maura Austin, a behavioural scientist at the University of Virginia, told CNBC, adding that going public at such a high valuation leans into "that big tech, billionaire kind of caricature." Anthropic, founded by CEO Dario Amodei and researchers who left OpenAI, is best known for its Claude models and sells mainly to businesses. The company declined to comment.

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9. UK may add Vinted and eBay to under-16 social media ban

Source: BBC

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the government is "looking seriously" at including second-hand marketplaces Vinted and eBay in the ban on under-16s using social media "in order to keep children safe." The UK ban is set to come into force in March next year, barring children from platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

The comments follow a Sunday Times report that the ban was being expanded to include the two resale platforms. eBay said it was looking forward to "understanding more and continuing to work constructively with the government"; Vinted did not respond to requests for comment. Vinted, which says users must be at least 18, has 17 million UK users.

The government announced the ban in June, covering 10 of the biggest platforms. YouTube will also be banned for under-16s, but YouTube Kids will not be included. A complete list has not been released, but ministers say it will cover platforms "whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material," including sites with livestreaming or features that let strangers contact children. Australia introduced a similar ban last year.

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10. Thai agency warns climate change is threatening workers' health

Source: China News Service

Nanchai, director of Thailand's Institute for the Promotion of Occupational Safety, Health and Working Environment, said in Bangkok on Sunday that climate change — driving higher global temperatures and more unstable weather — is creating risks for workers' health and safety, with outdoor and high-risk workers especially exposed.

He grouped climate-related occupational safety risks into six areas: extreme heat, ultraviolet radiation, extreme weather, air pollution, vector-borne diseases and other indirect risks. Sustained heat can cause heat stress, heat exhaustion and heatstroke; storms, floods and landslides can affect workplaces and commuting routes; PM2.5, PM10 and ground-level ozone threaten respiratory health.

Thai Labour Minister Chulaphon stressed the need to strengthen monitoring and preparedness and raise risk awareness among companies, employers and workers. Nanchai recommended integrating climate risk into occupational safety and health management systems — including shaded rest areas, drinking water, better drainage, adjusting working hours to the weather and proper protective equipment — noting construction, transport and agriculture workers face the highest risks.

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