Gaza Deal Brings Hope For Ukraine, Says Zelensky

US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP
US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP
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Gaza Deal Brings Hope For Ukraine, Says Zelensky

US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP
US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed the "extraordinary" Gaza ceasefire as bringing hope that US President Donald Trump could broker an end to the Russian invasion of his country.

"When peace is achieved for one part of the world, it brings more hope for peace in other regions," Zelensky said on social media, AFP reported.

He added: "If a ceasefire and peace have been achieved for the Middle East, the leadership and determination of global actors can certainly work for us too, in Ukraine."

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, setting off the largest conflict in Europe since World War II.

Tens of thousands have been killed, millions forced from their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated.

Trump had once vowed he could end the war in a matter of hours, but despite several rounds of talks and a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been no significant progress towards a peace deal.

Russia has refused multiple calls for a ceasefire and outlined hardline demands, essentially calling for Kyiv to capitulate in exchange for peace.

The US leader has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent weeks and recently said he could see Ukraine reclaiming every inch of territory seized by Russia.

Moscow's army currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula which it captured and annexed in 2014.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also urged Trump to carry the momentum from brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire into efforts on Ukraine.

"We also hope that the American president will now use the influence he has exerted on the parties involved in the (Middle East) to work with us on the Russian government," Merz said in Egypt, where he was to attend a summit of world leaders including Trump.

Merz added that he will discuss the Russia-Ukraine war settlement with Trump at the summit.



Kremlin Says It Will Review Trump's Invitation to G20 Summit, No Decision Yet

The Kremlin in Moscow (EPA)
The Kremlin in Moscow (EPA)
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Kremlin Says It Will Review Trump's Invitation to G20 Summit, No Decision Yet

The Kremlin in Moscow (EPA)
The Kremlin in Moscow (EPA)

Russia will review a US invitation for President Vladimir Putin to attend a ‌G20 ‌meeting in Miami ‌in ⁠December but no ⁠decision has been made yet, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry ⁠Peskov said ‌on ‌Thursday.

US Secretary ‌of State ‌Marco Rubio said in September that Putin ‌had been invited to Miami, ⁠where ⁠he could hold a summit with President Donald Trump.


4 People Die as Storms, Flooding Hit Southern France

This photograph shows a car parked on a flooded street in a residential area following severe rainfall in Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts, near Marseille, south-eastern France on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)
This photograph shows a car parked on a flooded street in a residential area following severe rainfall in Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts, near Marseille, south-eastern France on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)
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4 People Die as Storms, Flooding Hit Southern France

This photograph shows a car parked on a flooded street in a residential area following severe rainfall in Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts, near Marseille, south-eastern France on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)
This photograph shows a car parked on a flooded street in a residential area following severe rainfall in Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts, near Marseille, south-eastern France on October 20, 2026. (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

At least four people have died in storms and flooding in southern France, authorities said late on Wednesday, as western regions braced for another storm approaching from Ireland.

Dozens of people ⁠moved to emergency shelters in Mouries and Saint-Martin-de-Crau — two small towns between Montpellier and Marseille — and ⁠at least one person was injured, officials said

Roads and train lines in the area were disrupted, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot wrote in a post on X.

Forecasters said the weather ⁠would ⁠settle down in the south. But Storm Austen was expected to bring heavy winds across the northwest later on Thursday into Friday, weather agency Meteo France said.


Taiwan Issues Warnings as Typhoon Champi Nears

Typhoon Champi is expected to sweep past Taiwan's northeast coast, bringing strong winds and heavy rains. I-Hwa Cheng / AFP
Typhoon Champi is expected to sweep past Taiwan's northeast coast, bringing strong winds and heavy rains. I-Hwa Cheng / AFP
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Taiwan Issues Warnings as Typhoon Champi Nears

Typhoon Champi is expected to sweep past Taiwan's northeast coast, bringing strong winds and heavy rains. I-Hwa Cheng / AFP
Typhoon Champi is expected to sweep past Taiwan's northeast coast, bringing strong winds and heavy rains. I-Hwa Cheng / AFP

A powerful typhoon headed towards Taiwan on Thursday, triggering the cancellation of dozens of flights and prompting warnings for locals to prepare for heavy rain, strong winds and giant waves.

Typhoon Champi is expected to sweep past Taiwan's northeast coast on Friday and Saturday as it moves towards China and Japan, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.

Champi is packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 213 kilometers (132 miles) per hour, according to the latest update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, said AFP.

It was previously classed as a super typhoon, with reported maximum sustained wind speeds of nearly 300 kph, but it has since weakened.

"Everyone is urged to remain vigilant and be prepared for the strong winds and heavy rains brought by the typhoon," Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said in a Facebook post.

Champi is the latest in a busy Pacific storm season turbo-charged by the El Nino weather phenomenon that has caused unprecedented warming in the equatorial Pacific.

The storm is expected to dump up to 900 millimeters (35 inches) of rain in the mountainous regions of northern and northeastern Taiwan from Thursday to Saturday, and whip up waves more than six meters (20 foot) tall.

More than 23,000 military personnel are on standby to help with rescue efforts. Over 150 domestic and international flights were cancelled for Thursday ahead of the storm.

"Typhoon Champi is expected to have its most significant impact starting all day tomorrow through the first half of Saturday," CWA forecaster Jason Cheng told AFP.

"Currently, the typhoon has a storm radius of 320 kilometers... Compared to the previous Typhoon Bavi, Champi's storm area is not as vast," Cheng said.

Millions of people in eastern China also braced for torrential downpours and flash flooding in the coming days.

China's Ministry of Water Resources initiated a level four emergency response on Thursday for flooding in Shanghai and the coastal provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian.

Level four is the lowest in China's emergency response hierarchy.

The ministry warned that Champi could bring "a period of significant rainfall" from Friday to Sunday, with "heavy to torrential downpours" expected in some areas, including "most of Shanghai and eastern Zhejiang".

Japan's two major airlines cancelled more than 110 flights from Thursday to Saturday.

The United Nations said Wednesday that the El Nino gripping the planet is heading off the charts, and that countries should take urgent action to prepare for the worst.

El Nino is expected to peak in December, but the human impact is set to last into 2027 and beyond.

The warming phase of a natural climate cycle, El Nino temporarily raises sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific, triggering changes in weather that can increase the risk of drought and flooding, and exacerbate man-made global warming.