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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk named President Donald Trump as “ultimately” responsible for limits on Ukrainian troops’ satellite internet after Ukraine’s president said a sudden slowdown left people dead.Musk made the remark Wednesday in a post on X, replying to former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had urged him to lift a speed limit on Starshield, the government version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service.Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told British broadcaster Piers Morgan in an interview that people were killed because interceptor drones relying on Starlink did not work.“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk wrote.“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company,” he added.“Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h is being restored. Removing Starshield’s speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine’s defense,” Fedorov had written, thanking Musk.SpaceX capped Starshield terminals in motion at 100 miles per hour overnight, without warning, disrupting several military missions, presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said, the Kyiv Independent reported.“This complicates drone missions — specifically those involving interceptors and mid-range strike drones — and hampers capabilities for frontline logistics, reconnaissance, and signal relay,” a Defense Ministry source told the outlet.Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the actual limits were “significantly lower” during the day, but service had stabilized by evening with the cap still in place, according to the Kyiv Independent.In the interview, Morgan pointed out that only four of 40 ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine had been shot down and asked whether Musk, who Morgan said had recently called for a new Ukrainian president, had deliberately slowed the service.“I’m sure that they knew what they did. Absolutely. Because it was 1 a.m.,” Zelenskyy replied.“And Starlink was blocked, of course, by SpaceX and ... by the United States. It is their right, but … what they did, [is] they made (sic) whole pressure on us ... No working information about ballistic [missiles] before attack, and then switch off the Starlinks,” he continued.“And when you destroy Shaheds [Russia’s Iranian-designed attack drones], and often when we destroy jet Shaheds, we use drones with Starlinks … So people were killed because not enough destroying, not enough interceptors, including interceptors with Starlink, which didn’t work, of course,” Zelenskyy said.Zelenskyy also told Morgan he hoped the slowdown was only a “mistake,” The Hill reported.“Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation,” Beskrestnov said earlier, according to the Kyiv Independent. The outlet noted that the White House has not commented on the restriction.The satellite slowdown came days after Trump publicly warned Zelenskyy to stop the refinery strikes, in remarks the White House shared on X.“We told Zelensky, ‘You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem.’ And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He better damn well stop,” Trump said Oct. 10.“Zelensky has gone too far,” Musk wrote the same day, sharing the clip.

President Donald Trump seems to be caught up in what The Guardian's editorial board describes as a "coordinated pressure" campaign to tip the Ukraine war in Russia's favor.The editorial board pointed to several "perilous circumstances" that have arisen in recent weeks. They pointed to Ukrainian forces losing access to Elon Musk's Starlink internet service, Ukraine suffering significant casualties after a Russian missile strike that the U.S. did not warn them about, and Trump's insistence that Ukraine hold elections despite the country still being at war, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has also called for. "This raises suspicion of coordinated pressure to tip the scales in Russia’s favor after many months when Mr. Putin’s forces have failed to deliver significant advances and his country’s economy has been suffering from the effect of Ukrainian missile and drone counterstrikes," the editorial argued. The editorial argues that there is good reason to suspect Trump would go along with such a campaign. For instance, Trump has sought to blame Ukraine's attacks on Russia's oil refineries as the reason for rising diesel prices to avoid scrutiny of his disastrous war against Iran, which resulted in the Strait of Hormuz being closed for several weeks. "Mr. Trump is unhappy with Ukraine targeting Russian oil refineries. He claims that this is the cause of high energy prices afflicting American consumers and threatening Republican prospects in next month’s midterm elections," the editorial reads in part. "The domestic imperative to keep pump prices down led Mr. Trump to do a grubby deal to import diesel from Russia, in flagrant breach of international sanctions.""Russia is failing to achieve its war aims because the invasion was conceived in delusional hatred for the very idea of independent Ukrainian nationhood, which routinely underestimates that country’s will to resist. That is a flaw in Mr Putin’s plans that no amount of collusion with Mr Trump can fix," it added.

Article in Atlantic claims The Blue Fighter was artificially generated, days after it won Caine prize for African writersThe Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using AI to write a prize-winning short story after an article in the Atlantic said software had flagged it as almost completely AI-generated.Kundizeza’s story The Blue Fighter was announced as the winner of the prestigious Caine prize for African writers on 6 October. Five days later, The Atlantic published an article by the author and journalist Vauhini Vara titled: “Yet Another Literary prize winner Seems to Be AI.” Continue reading...

A fresh wave of protests by India’s youth-led Cockroach movement has been met with a brutal crackdown by Narendra Modi’s government and the closure of a historic protest site in Delhi. Two of the movement’s leaders have been imprisoned for five days for violating suppression measures. The protests, which began over frustration about education and unemployment, are now focused on voting rights. Modi’s government denies claims it is seeking to disenfranchise millions of voters. But its treatment of protesters has been criticised by the UN and Amnesty International and raised concerns that India is sliding further into autocracy. Lucy Hough speaks to South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen – watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Kimberly Guilfoyle's final days as President Donald Trump's ambassador to Greece played out under the gaze of a very familiar face.Visitors to Jefferson House, the ambassador's residence in Athens that she decorated with large self-portraits, saw Guilfoyle peering past them at a television set on mute that was airing coverage of her growing political troubles, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The report came hours after the White House announced it was asking her to step down.The ouster followed a string of Journal investigations. The first, published late last month, found Guilfoyle had been promoting a Greek construction company while working closely with its top lobbyist. A second revealed text messages in which she asked Trump donor Eric Deters for $100,000 ahead of her confirmation hearing last year. A third, published Saturday, detailed private jet flights and stays at luxury European hotels provided by shipping magnate Nikolas Tsakos.Behind the scenes, Guilfoyle fought to keep her post. She placed calls to Trump administration officials and prominent Trump allies, frequently in the early morning hours Athens time, seeking support. After the Deters texts came out, she told White House officials the messages were AI-generated, The Journal reported. Officials did not buy it, and The Journal said its reporters confirmed the texts were authentic.She also hunted for the source of the leaks, pointing the finger at embassy staffers and her own security team, and reached out to Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle for help lobbying the Trump administration, according to the report.Publicly, she kept up appearances. On Monday, she shared a photo with Spain's ambassador to Greece marking his country's national day, captioned "Feliz Fiesta Nacional!" She also posted birthday wishes to Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, on Instagram. As late as Tuesday morning, she was telling associates she would weather the storm.Trump, however, had run out of patience. People who spoke with him said he was irritated by how blatant the accusations seemed and bothered that Guilfoyle was profiting off his presidency. Senior aides feared the headlines would reinforce perceptions of self-dealing just weeks before the midterm elections.Guilfoyle announced her resignation on social media, calling the allegations false and thanking Trump. The post was later edited to add a line of gratitude to the people of Greece for welcoming her "with open arms."

The United States was one of just three nations to vote against a declaration on “pandemic prevention, preparedness and response” that was adopted by the United Nations, drawing alarm from public health advocates.“They are going to kill us,” advocate Laura Miers, best known for her commentary on COVID-19, wrote in a social media post on X Tuesday.Adopted in a vote of 153-3, with two abstentions, the declaration outlines how countries can improve their response to future pandemics and includes 64 recommendations such as expanding access to vaccines, committing to protect vulnerable populations, and strengthening international coordination. The declaration is not legally binding.The United States, Israel and Argentina were the only nations to vote against adopting the declaration. New Zealand and Paraguay abstained from the vote.The text had been expected to pass by consensus at a high-level meeting in September, but objections from the United States and a few other countries forced a vote, according to UN News. The U.S. representative had cited “divisive ideologies that lack definitional consensus,” as well as the declaration’s references to ongoing negotiations over an annex to the World Health Organization’s pandemic agreement.“Now why would the US, Israel, and Argentina very specifically vote NO on a new global pandemic preparedness declaration?” Miers asked. “Let’s think about this for a moment.”Colorado-based journalist Mat Smith blamed Republicans.“Republicans stopped believing in science when it became profitable to do so,” Smith wrote, reacting to the U.S. vote against the pandemic preparedness declaration.For decades, the United States has often voted against the overwhelming consensus of the United Nations alongside Israel, particularly on issues related to Palestine.In 2021, the United States and Israel were the only nations to vote against a resolution affirming that having access to food was a human right. The United States and Israel were the only nations to vote against ending the longstanding U.S. embargo on Cuba in 2024, and in 2023, the United States and Israel were joined by just two other nations, Micronesia and Nauru, in voting against affirming Palestinians’ right to self-determination.The United Nations General Assembly adopted a new Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPPR) declaration. The United States, Israel, & Argentina stood alone & voted against it. They are going to kill us. https://t.co/3q7s0Ca260— Laura Miers (@LauraMiers) October 13, 2026

President Donald Trump astounded analysts on Monday after he uttered what some described as an "exceptionally stupid" claim about Russia's war against Ukraine. Trump was asked about his recently announced energy "ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine while speaking with reporters outside the White House. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russia carried out a barrage of attacks against the country's energy infrastructure after Trump announced the ceasefire. "How will you make Putin abide by the ceasefire?" the reporter shouted. "Well, I think that's happening is that [Putin] wants to make a deal, and we have to get Zelenskyy to want to make a deal," Trump replied. Trump has repeatedly blamed Ukraine for prolonging the war and blamed the country for the rising cost of diesel fuel in the U.S. because of its attacks on Russian oil refineries. The president's comments also seem to contradict recent history. In a recent call with Trump, Putin vowed to continue the war and rejected the idea of holding peace talks, The Kyiv Post reported. Trump's comments caused a firestorm on social media. "You have to be exceptionally stupid to believe this," Pradheep Shanker, a National Review contributor, posted on X. "How delusional and sinister," Laura Rozen, a foreign policy reporter, posted on X. "If only Trump defended Americans as hard as he defends Russia," Joni Askola, a Finnish geopolitical analyst, posted on X. "Based on what? Because Putin told you that in one of your long, loving phone calls?" Garry Kasparov, founder of Renew Democracy, posted on X. "Zelenskyy keeps agreeing to deals, Putin keeps rejecting them and increasing Russian attacks on civilians. Putin could end the war in an instant. He doesn’t want to."

A recent report from the New York Times sheds new light on the speedy marriage between a Turkish billionaire and one of President Donald Trump's former lawyers. Alina Habba, a former U.S. attorney in the Trump administration, and 29-year-old Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon married last month after getting together earlier this year. While the MAGA power couple's wedding was attended by high-ranking Trump officials like FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche, the timeline of the couple's relationship raises questions about some of the shady deals that were up in the air around the time Habba and Mildon got together, according to the report. For instance, the Times noted that Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez had her sights set on Mildon's business interests before she learned of his relationship with Habba. Rodríguez had planned to audit one of the state-owned cement factories that Mildon operated, "citing a failure to meet investment targets," the report noted. She had also supported the U.S.'s efforts to sanction Mildon, which could have crippled his businesses, according to the report. "But there was a bright spot: Mr. Mildon had met Ms. Habba, one of Mr. Trump’s most prominent legal defenders," the report reads in part. "They started dating this year, soon after Mr. Maduro’s downfall. By this past summer, the couple’s burgeoning romance had begun to draw attention. Specifically, it caught the eye of Ms. Rodríguez, according to two people close to her. Mr. Mildon was in a serious relationship with a woman who had high-level access to Mr. Trump — the one person keeping Ms. Rodríguez in power."Mildon also made some intentional steps to further integrate himself within Trumpworld, like frequently attending the Kennedy Center and networking with its president, Richard Grenell. Mildon met Habba at one of the events in 2025, according to the report. Mildon also used his experience as a back-channel diplomat between the Maduro regime and the Trump administration to get closer to Republican officials who helped him repair his relationship with Rodríguez, according to the report. "When Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax, a pro-Trump news channel, secured a meeting with her in February, Mr. Mildon tagged along. The spokesman for Mr. Mildon said he has spoken with Ms. Rodríguez several times since," it reads. These circumstances raised questions about the quick wedding that Habba and Mildon threw together, which the Times noted took just 60 days. Habba denied advocating for her husband's businesses in her meetings with Trump. “I have never, under any circumstances, got involved with this White House or administration on behalf of my husband, nor would he ever ask me to,” she told the outlet.