Reuters: World

Elon Musk wades into US immigration debate at Texas-Mexico border Billionaire Elon Musk waded into the U.S. immigration debate on Thursday, paying a visit to the Texas border with Mexico to meet with local politicians and law enforcement and obtain what he called an "unfiltered" view of the situation. Musk's visit came as thousands of migrants have ventured to northern Mexico in recent days on freight trains and buses, then crossed the U.S. border into Texas, Arizona and California in an upswing in arrivals of people seeking asylum in the United States. The sharp increase, notably around San Diego, California, and the Texas border towns of El Paso and Eagle Pass, follows an earlier lull in unauthorized border crossings following a new asylum policy imposed by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration to discourage such activity. read more

Bond markets brace as oil climbs toward $100 a barrel World stocks were on track for their longest losing streak in two years on Thursday as the sight of oil prices heading for $100 a barrel compounded concerns about persistently high global interest rates. There was brief respite from the dollar's strength in the currency markets /FRX but it was Wednesday's big drop in U.S. crude stocks that jangled the nerves of another supply-side shock just when the global economy needs it least. U.S. crude had hit $95 a barrel for the first time since August 2022 while Brent prices were nudging up in early London trading again after they had hit a one-year high of $97.69. read more

Partial US government shutdown just four days away as congressional standoff continues Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday rejected a stopgap funding bill advancing in the Senate, bringing Washington closer to its fourth partial shutdown of the U.S. government in a decade with just four days to go. That would lead to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers and the suspension of a wide range of government services, from economic data releases to nutrition benefits, until Congress manages to pass a funding bill that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, would sign into law. The Senate plan, which advanced on a wide bipartisan margin on Tuesday, would fund the government through Nov. 17, giving lawmakers more time to agree on funding levels for the full fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. read more

Iraq wedding fire kills more than 100, relatives identify bodies A fire ripped through a packed wedding hall in northern Iraq late on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people in a Christian town that had survived Islamic State occupation as authorities announced an investigation into the blaze. Fire fighters searched the charred skeleton of the building in Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniya, through Wednesday morning and bereaved relatives gathered outside a morgue in the nearby city of Mosul, wailing and rocking in distress. "This was not a wedding. This was hell," said Mariam Khedr, crying and hitting herself as she waited for officials to return the bodies of her daughter Rana Yakoub, 27, and three young grandchildren, the youngest aged just eight months. read more

Taliban weighs using US mass surveillance plan, met with China's Huawei The Taliban are creating a large-scale camera surveillance network for Afghan cities that could involve repurposing a plan crafted by the Americans before their 2021 pullout, an interior ministry spokesman told Reuters, as authorities seek to supplement thousands of cameras already across the capital, Kabul. The Taliban administration — which has publicly said it is focused on restoring security and clamping down on Islamic State, which has claimed many major attacks in Afghan cities — has also consulted with Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei about potential cooperation, the spokesman said. read more

Philippines condemns Chinese 'floating barrier' in South China Sea The Philippines on Sunday accused China's coast guard of installing a "floating barrier" in a disputed area of the South China Sea, saying it prevented Filipinos from entering and fishing in the area. Manila's coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources "strongly condemn" China's installation of the barrier in part of the Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela, a coast guard spokesperson, posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter. The barrier blocking fishermen from the shoal was depriving them of their fishing and livelihood activities", he said. read more

Polish PM tells Ukraine's Zelenskiy 'never to insult Poles again' Poland's prime minister told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday not to "insult" Poles, maintaining harsh rhetoric towards Kyiv after the Polish president had sought to defuse a simmering row over grain imports. Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv's relationship with a neighbour that has been seen as one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Zelenskiy angered his neighbours when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but that the "political theatre" around grain imports was only helping Moscow. read more

Ukraine attacks Russian Black Sea navy HQ in Crimea At least one Ukrainian missile struck the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea navy in the Crimean port of Sevastopol on Friday, and a major cyberattack interrupted internet services on the peninsula, Russian-installed officials said. Russia's defence ministry said one serviceman was missing after the attack, revising its earlier statement that the man had been killed. Air defences had downed a total of five missiles, the ministry said. Ukraine's military confirmed it had attacked the Russian Black Sea fleet's headquarters, but gave few details. "On September 22 close to 12:00 (0900 GMT) Ukraine's defence forces successfully struck the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet command in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol," it said on the Telegram messaging app. read more

Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jets land on motorway A pair of F-35A Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) fighter jets have landed on a motorway for the first time, footage from the Norwegian military showed, a step that enables them to reduce vulnerable time on the ground in times of war. The two Royal Norwegian Air Force aircraft landed in Tervo, central Finland, on Thursday afternoon as part of a military exercise. Immediately after landing, refuelling was carried out with the engines running, a so-called "hotpit refuelling", the Norwegian military said, before the planes took off again. "Fighter jets are vulnerable on the ground, so by being able to use small airfields – and now motorways – (this) increases our survivability in war," Major General Rolf Folland, chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, said in the statement. read more

Canada's Trudeau wants India to cooperate in murder probe, declines to release evidence Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday called on India to cooperate with an investigation into the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and said Canada would not release its evidence. Trudeau said on Monday that Ottawa had credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, prompting an angry reaction from New Delhi. Nijjar, 45, was a Canadian citizen. The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals intelligence in a months-long investigation into the Sikh separatist leader's murder, CBC News separately reported on Thursday citing sources. read more

India suspends visa services for Canadians as stand-off escalates India on Thursday suspended visa services for Canadian citizens, a foreign ministry spokesperson said, citing security threats to its staff in its consulates in Canada. The announcement came hours after Canada's high commission in India said it would temporarily "adjust" staff presence in the country after some diplomats received threats on social media platforms. The steps mark further escalation of tensions between the two countries set off by Canada's announcement that it was "actively pursuing credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in June. read more

Azerbaijan halts military action in Karabakh after Armenian separatists surrender Azerbaijan said on Wednesday it had halted military action in its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after Armenian separatist forces there surrendered and agreed to a ceasefire whose terms signalled the area would return to Baku's control. Under the agreement, confirmed by both sides and effective from 1 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Wednesday, separatist forces will disband and disarm and talks on the future of the region and the ethnic Armenians who live there will start on Thursday. Karabakh, a mountainous area in the volatile wider South Caucasus region, is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory, but part of it has been run by separatist Armenian authorities who say the area is their ancestral homeland. read more