Evening Brief, Wednesday 14 October

Russia struck Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure overnight, killing people across the country and cutting power in several Kyiv districts. Ukrainian authorities reported deaths in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Lutsk, where a jet-propelled drone hit a wholesale food store and rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble. DTEK imposed emergency outages in parts of the capital, while Moscow said it had targeted infrastructure used by Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, a claim Kyiv does not accept.

The military damage collided with a political complaint. Ukrainian officials said the United States had failed to warn Kyiv about incoming ballistic missiles and that SpaceX had limited Starshield terminals once they moved above about 160 km/h, disrupting drone and combat missions. Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the forces had received no warning about the restriction.

Russia also reported Ukrainian drone attacks. Moscow’s mayor said air defences repelled 180 drones heading for the Moscow region, while Saratov’s governor said one person died in a strike that also hit a Sberbank data centre in Balakovo. Sberbank said its systems still worked normally, but Ukraine’s recent campaign against Russian data centres has fed claims that Moscow’s online influence operations suffered disruption. A war of missiles is becoming a war over networks, warnings and the trust that lets allies fight as one.

Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Russia keeps colliding with allied sanctions policy. He announced that Russia would send more than 300,000 tonnes immediately, 500,000 tonnes in November, then larger follow-on volumes, while American sanctions on Russian fuel would be lifted. Twelve US senators demanded a reversal, and Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten said every extra dollar for Moscow hurts Ukraine and its allies.

The market backdrop explains the temptation, though not the politics. The International Energy Agency said diesel supply fell by 1.7 million barrels per day in the third quarter, with Middle East flows constrained by the Iran war and Russian output cut after Ukrainian attacks on refineries. It expects restocking to remain unlikely before the second half of 2027, even as oil demand weakens.

American inflation data showed why fuel now dominates domestic politics. Consumer prices rose 3.7% in September, gasoline was up 34% from a year earlier and diesel reached $6.30 a gallon, squeezing voters before the 3 November midterms. In Italy, Giorgia Meloni called Trump’s Russian diesel understanding very risky, arguing that it would legitimise Moscow and weaken sanctions while bombs still fall on Ukraine. Cheap fuel is the easy promise; the harder bill arrives in sanctions discipline and allied credibility.

Turkish police entered the Istanbul headquarters of Halk TV shortly after dawn and stopped the opposition channel’s live broadcast. The broadcaster said a trustee had been appointed to take control, while viewers saw a rerun instead of live programming. The operation followed an investigation into owner Cafer Mahiroglu over alleged corruption, bid rigging and money laundering, with 11 people placed in custody and arrest warrants issued for 17.

Editor-in-chief Suat Toktas was filmed urging the appointed trustee not to cut the live show. Halk TV shared the exchange online, and the broadcast was interrupted anyway. Toktas described the takeover as unlawful in plain language.

Opposition politicians cast the move as part of a wider squeeze on independent and critical outlets. The takeover came two weeks after access to T24, an independent news site, was blocked on grounds that included alleged LGBT propaganda. Özgür Özel condemned the dawn raid and the use of a trustee, while the reports did not mention any court ruling against Halk TV itself. A corruption investigation may yet produce evidence, but switching off a broadcaster before that public case is made turns law enforcement into a warning siren for the rest of the press.

France’s school revolt broadened again, with about 200 schools closed as pupils protested staff shortages, decaying buildings, heavy timetables and the Parcoursup university-entry system. Police have made more than 6,600 arrests since the movement began, and clashes have injured officers, pupils and teachers. Greta Thunberg joined students at a lycée in Saint-Denis, giving the movement a useful global face at a moment when Emmanuel Macron’s government wants order restored.

Spain saw its own escalation as teachers and students began an indefinite strike in Madrid’s public education system. The strike opened with a lock-in at the Complutense University of Madrid, a traffic cut and a rally at Puerta del Sol. Police arrested five people after charging protesters at the university, while unions demanded higher pay, smaller classes and lighter teaching loads.

Albania added a rougher edge to the same continental mood. Student protests in Tirana over university conditions and corruption turned violent, with 23 detentions and about 20 injured after demonstrators threw objects, police used water cannon and fires broke out near official buildings. The EU delegation urged restraint and investigations. Education rows rarely stay tidy when young people read broken schools as proof of a broken state.

ASML gave chip investors a calmer signal after an early-week sell-off. The Dutch equipment maker reported third-quarter sales of €11.66bn and net profit of €4.96bn, then forecast fourth-quarter sales of €14.2bn to €15.2bn with a gross margin near 57%. Demand from artificial-intelligence data centres is now so strong that ASML says it cannot fully meet customer needs in 2027 or 2028.

Netflix told a different story about scale. The streamer is cutting about 1,000 jobs, roughly 6% of its workforce, in its largest layoff round since 2022, with product, technology, legal and human-resources teams hit. The company still retains subscribers well, but its shares have lost more than 40% over 12 months as growth slows and competition for viewers intensifies.

Aviation moved toward consolidation. Portugal chose Lufthansa as the partner for TAP Air Portugal’s partial privatisation, in a deal worth €1.201bn for up to 49.9% of the flag carrier, while the state keeps majority control. Lufthansa beat Air France-KLM and promised fleet growth, investment in maintenance and protection for Lisbon’s hub role, pending EU approval. The corporate message is blunt: in AI, streaming and airlines alike, those without capacity or scale are being asked to pay for it.