Global Express | October 17, 2026 — Ukrainian Drones Shut All Four Moscow Airports Overnight

1. Ukrainian Drones Force All Four Moscow Airports to Close Overnight

Source: Euronews

Ukrainian drones forced all four of Moscow's main airports — Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo — to suspend operations overnight into October 16, with shutdowns lasting up to seven hours and more than 160 flights cancelled. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 94 drones heading toward the capital had been shot down.

Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg was twice forced to halt operations during the same night, and Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region, said four drones were destroyed over the region. Euronews said it could not independently verify the claims. According to Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo, Moscow's four airports were closed for a total of 101 hours in the first 14 days of October, compared with 46 hours across the whole of September.

On Tuesday, Ukraine carried out one of its largest drone operations against the Russian capital, deploying close to 500 drones. On 9 October, according to multiple reports, the presidential aircraft carrying Vladimir Putin — returning from a summit in Turkmenistan — was unable to land in Moscow because of a drone attack and was diverted to St Petersburg; Russian officials have neither confirmed nor denied the reports. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, reiterated his criticism of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries in an interview, calling them "a disgrace".

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2. Zelenskyy Warns 20 Million Ukrainians Could Flee If Russia Wins

Source: POLITICO.eu

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on October 16 that as many as 20 million Ukrainians could be forced to flee to Europe if his country falls to Russia. "Russia is killing us," Zelenskyy told reporters at a press conference during a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, adding that Ukrainians were being "pushed" out of their country. "They don't want to stop."

More than 4 million Ukrainians currently live in EU countries under temporary protection status, with the largest populations in Germany, Poland and Czechia, according to Eurostat. In the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, millions of Ukrainians fled their homes in Europe's fastest and largest refugee crisis since World War II.

Zelenskyy travelled to Brussels to shore up financial support for his country as Ukraine heads into a brutal fifth wartime winter. Projections from the International Monetary Fund show Kyiv still faces a budget shortfall next year even after accounting for the €90 billion loan Brussels agreed to provide last year.

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3. Pope Leo XIV Calls Putin to Plead for a Truce in Oleshky

Source: Euronews

Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 16, calling for a ceasefire in a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine while recovering in hospital from lung cancer surgery. The Vatican said the Pope "expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of food and medical assistance, and the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population".

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said it was "the Holy Father who took the initiative" to call Putin "to plead the case of this besieged city, where around 2,000 civilians need safe routes out and humanitarian corridors." He added: "I hope that when faced with a request from the Holy Father, President Putin will agree to implement what has been asked of him."

According to a statement reported by Russian news agencies, Putin thanked the Pope for his willingness to help resolve the conflict in Ukraine and for his humanitarian initiatives, and wished him a speedy recovery. It is the second time the two leaders have spoken; their previous call was on 4 June 2025, less than a month after Leo XIV's election.

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4. Denmark, Italy and Poland Push EU to Harden Migration Stance

Source: POLITICO.eu

The leaders of Denmark, Italy and Poland are pushing the European Union to significantly harden its stance on irregular migration, according to three EU diplomats and draft language seen by POLITICO. Migration "represents a concern for many European citizens and poses a challenge for the cohesion of our societies … and [is] negatively affecting crime rates," reads the draft of summit conclusions.

The draft, backed by Italy's Giorgia Meloni, Denmark's Mette Frederiksen and Poland's Donald Tusk, also states that "the European Council further underlined the importance of ensuring full control of irregular arrivals, including by avoiding measures that could create incentives for illegal migration."

The discussion stems from a special session on Thursday requested by Meloni and Frederiksen following a tense back-and-forth with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in June. Tensions have risen further after Spain's Ceuta exclave was overwhelmed by migrants during the summer and as far-right parties have made gains around the bloc. The draft also calls on the Commission to explore a possible consultation mechanism to encourage coordination on national measures potentially affecting other member states.

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5. Fed Chair Warsh Warns AI Spending Is a "Shock" to the US Economy

Source: ABC News

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh warned on October 16 that a surge in artificial intelligence spending could deliver a "shock" to the US economy, pledging to contain price increases as a flood of private sector funds drives up demand. "If you're a central banker ... you've got to recognize this as a shock," Warsh said in Bangkok at a conference organized by the International Monetary Fund.

Warsh said AI investment "is obviously hitting the demand side of the economy before it's hitting the supply side." He reiterated his optimism about the technology, saying it would ultimately generate added productivity and wealth, but added that "the path from where we are to there is likely to be a very bumpy one," and that "we really don't know what the market structure will be of these new technologies" or who will be making the money.

Warsh took the helm of the Fed in May. He also acknowledged other shocks facing the US economy, including "shocks of war and military conflict". The report noted that the outbreak of the Iran war in February imposed a historic oil supply shock.

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6. AI Infrastructure Stocks Sold Off as CoreWeave Plunges 12%

Source: Yahoo Finance

CoreWeave (CRWV) stock plunged 12% on October 16, putting the AI infrastructure company on track to finish the week down 25% as concerns over AI funding continued to weigh on market sentiment. Bloomberg earlier reported a sharp rise in CoreWeave's bond yields, with the cost of insuring its five-year debt against default rising by as much as 74.5 basis points to 1,194.5 basis points, an all-time intraday high.

CoreWeave's bond yields climbed to around 15%, which could mean odds of more than 60% that the company would default sometime in the next five years. The company has been spending heavily on data centers and Nvidia chips to meet soaring demand for AI computing power, requiring substantial upfront investment.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had said at a Bloomberg event in Stockholm that "CoreWeave's strength is improving every day" and that he was optimistic, but the reassurance failed to sustain a rebound. Peer Nebius dropped about 12% on the same day. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brett Knoblauch believes investors are focusing too heavily on CoreWeave's debt and maintained an overweight rating and $176 price target, recommending that investors buy the dip; the stock trades at around $61.

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7. Istanbul Hit by Worst Floods in More Than 80 Years, Four Dead

Source: NBC News

Catastrophic flooding in Istanbul was the worst in more than 80 years, Turkey's interior minister said on October 16 as the death toll rose to four. "We are trying our best to help our citizens, but we are also experiencing the biggest flood disaster since 1942," Mustafa Ciftci said during a visit to one of the areas hit hardest.

Istanbul, a city of 16 million, was hit by more rain in the 48 hours up to Thursday morning than the combined historical average for September and October, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The body of a 66-year-old man was found on October 16 under a bridge in Istanbul's Sariyer district; three other deaths had been reported previously, including a teenager who was electrocuted in the storm.

Homes and businesses were flooded as water covered streets and parks across the city, vehicles were washed away and many ended up piled up at the bottom of hills. Ciftci told reporters in Sariyer's Ayazaga neighbourhood that four people remained missing.

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8. Singapore Battles Relentless Haze as PM Wong Warns of Action

Source: CNBC

Air quality in Singapore remained unhealthy on Thursday, October 15, as smoke from widespread fires in Indonesia's Kalimantan region continued to drift toward the city-state, according to the National Environment Agency. Singapore's air quality first deteriorated to unhealthy levels on September 4, the first time in nearly three years.

In a post on X on Thursday night, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the government was looking into companies potentially responsible for the forest and peatland fires in Indonesia. He said authorities could take legal action under Singapore's Transboundary Haze Pollution Act where warranted, while also exploring joint action with other countries.

Singapore's Seletar Airport has seen 16 diversions due to low visibility, spokespeople for Changi Airport Group and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in a joint media reply. The prolonged haze is taking a toll on daily life and businesses, with some outdoor dining establishments and hawker centres reporting a drop in business. A Marina Bay Sands spokesperson said "certain outdoor experiences that involve prolonged exposure to the outdoors have been temporarily suspended", and that the hotel is providing masks and air purifiers to guests.

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9. US Banks Block AI Agents From Moving Clients' Money

Source: Gizmodo

Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster said on October 16 that the brokerage is actively blocking Meta's Muse AI bot from moving money because it poses unacceptable risks to the firm and its clients. "We don't want someone just giving their password to Muse, and letting Muse come in and take action on that client's behalf. We can't control it, the client can't control it, something could go wrong and who's liable?" he told Bloomberg TV.

Wurster said he personally receives data on AI agents that were detected and rejected on a weekly basis, with the figure "in the tens and twenties — per week" and yet to cross into the hundreds. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on an earnings call that the bank bans AI agents based on risk: "We're not going to allow just any... outside agent to come in inside the company, because it's just too risky for clients and for JPMorgan." He added: "You don't want rogue agents, and it could be thousands of them."

Schwab's in-house AI assistant Charley, unveiled last month, will only handle administrative and informational tasks out of the gate, not trading. Wurster said Schwab is preparing to allow external LLM connections, but only through Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers with controlled authentication: "We're not going to allow them to move money, but if they want to come in and see their account balances and do research, they will be able to do that through their LLMs."

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10. North Korea Says It Tested a New AI-Guided Torpedo

Source: DW

North Korea said on Saturday, October 17, that it had recently tested a new "AI precision-guidance torpedo system" for target detection and guidance, according to state media. The report said Kim Jong Un demanded a higher "level of artificial intelligence" in the country's weapons systems.

The announcement came days after Pyongyang said it had test-fired two types of cruise missiles from a submarine. It follows weeks of heightened inter-Korean tensions after landmine explosions along the border.

Analysts believe North Korea's missile and weapons technology may be advancing rapidly, and that some of the technical support it has obtained may be linked to Pyongyang sending soldiers to fight in Russia's war against Ukraine.

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