Morning Brief, Tuesday 20 October

Volodymyr Zelenskyy told US senators that the Pentagon is holding up Patriot interceptors bought for Ukraine by European allies through the Purl programme. He said one shipment is ready but still needs Pete Hegseth's signature, while other European transfers also need American approval. The complaint landed after Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv and the surrounding region in several waves, cutting electricity to more than half a million households, according to Ukrainian officials.

The dispute now reaches beyond air defence. Zelenskyy also said warning data before ballistic attacks sometimes arrives late, and Ukrainian officials complained that Starlink service works at reduced speed on parts of the front. The White House says intelligence sharing continues as normal and denies ordering any slowdown. For Kyiv, the immediate consequence is simple: paid missiles and donated European interceptors cannot move without American clearance.

Donald Trump answered by urging Zelenskyy to change negotiators. He also said he would attend a trilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping if both leaders wanted one, possibly around the APEC summit in Shenzhen on 18 and 19 November. The Kremlin said the idea came up in a recent call but that no agenda, date or Ukrainian participation had been agreed. Kyiv warned that a summit excluding Ukraine would reward Vladimir Putin with status without a ceasefire.

Local curfews and resale-site clean-ups followed France's weekend riots on Monday. Emmanuel Macron refused Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez's resignation and asked him to lead law enforcement during the emergency, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told prefects to impose several curfews. Marseille banned protests and gatherings for most of Monday, and Lille imposed an overnight curfew covering nearby towns.

The unrest began around protests over living costs, school conditions and police violence. Most demonstrators were peaceful, but small groups looted businesses, set fires and attacked public buildings in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities. In Limoges, flames engulfed the 19th-century city hall and caused its roof to collapse. Government figures cited in the reports put Saturday's arrests at nearly 2,400, and more than 2,000 businesses were directly affected.

Vinted said it removed listings tied to looted goods, including cosmetics, perfumes and designer items, and stepped up monitoring of accounts. eBay said it had not seen a rise in such listings but was cooperating with investigators. Lecornu rejected a blanket Paris curfew and framed the response as local containment.

Valencia's regional government ended confinement in eight municipalities on Monday afternoon after Storm Adam's emergency situation improved. Bellreguard, Daimús, Miramar, Oliva, Piles, Xàbia, Pego and Els Poblets had remained under mobility restrictions. Juan Carlos Valderrama, the regional emergency chief, also lowered the emergency level and demobilised the Military Emergency Unit after the latest Cecopi meeting.

The easing did not return the coast to normal. Classes remain suspended on Tuesday in Miramar, Oliva, Bellreguard, Piles, El Verger and Els Poblets, while rescue teams were still evacuating people trapped in the Marina Alta and La Safor areas. A late report counted three deaths in the Valencian Community, one in Barcelona and one in Málaga, while an earlier count listed more than 1,700 incidents in Valencia.

Police also arrested four people in Oliva on Monday afternoon over burglaries at homes hit by the storm. Residents at Oliva beach described the floods as a nightmare, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo sent condolences to families of victims in the Valencian Community, Catalonia and Andalusia. The practical change for families is narrower than the lockdown announcement suggests: movement has resumed in the eight towns, but six school systems stay closed for at least another day.

A court in Mombasa found Paul Mackenzie guilty of murdering 191 people, 190 of them children, in the Shakahola cult case. About 30 co-accused were also found guilty, including his wife, and all had denied the charges. Mackenzie argued that he never forced anyone to starve, but Judge Diana Kavedza Mochache rejected that defence after reading a judgment that took more than eight hours.

The court said Mackenzie ordered followers to stop eating so they could meet Jesus, taught that education was forbidden and described modern medicine as evil. Witnesses said children were isolated and denied food while parents watched, and one co-accused testified that followers who resisted the fast could be sent to heaven by force. Authorities have found more than 400 bodies in shallow graves in the Shakahola Forest, and investigations into other deaths continue.

Police had searched Mackenzie's premises in 2017 and shut down his church in 2019, after which he moved to the forest. Families gathered at court for the verdict, including Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives. The ruling is the first against Mackenzie on the gravest murder charges, while terrorism, radicalisation and education-denial cases remain pending. Sentencing is set for 6 November 2026.

Independent federal MP Helen Haines was critically injured on Monday when a Toyota Landcruiser struck her outside her electoral office in Wangaratta, northeast Victoria. Police said the crash happened at about 15:35 local time, and her family confirmed her identity because police did not name the victim under privacy rules. Haines, 65, first entered Parliament in 2019 and represents the regional seat as an independent.

A passerby detained the 43-year-old male driver at the scene before police arrested him. Officers seized a knife from inside the vehicle, and a nearby worker told a journalist that bystanders had blocked the driver after the crash. Police said they were investigating whether the incident was intentional and did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident was not an accident and appeared to be a deliberate act. He confirmed that counter-terrorism police were involved, but said the inquiry was too early for him to discuss a motive. The case also lands during a sharper debate over the safety of public figures: reporting cited by the event says more than 1,000 threats of violence against Australian public figures were recorded over the past year. Police have not linked the attack to any wider campaign.

Truck drivers protesting diesel costs extended blockades from the A1 Milan-Naples motorway to the commercial port of Naples, while ports in Sicily and roads in Calabria also faced disruption. Protest sites appeared near Potenza and outside the Puglia regional government's seat in Bari. Antonio Decaro, Puglia's regional president, said he would convene southern regions before meeting the drivers.

The stoppage is already reaching shops and petrol stations. Fresh produce deliveries slowed in parts of Campania, Calabria and Sicily, and diesel ran out at most stations in Isernia. At the Vittoria wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Ragusa, one of Europe's largest, no lorries had moved since 16 October.

Confcommercio Sicilia estimated economic damage of between €40m and €50m in Sicily over five days. Farmers said fruit, vegetables, mushrooms and flowers were stuck in cold stores, and Coldiretti Puglia said ploughing an 11-hectare field now costs about €600 more than in February. Haulage representatives in Crotone asked the prefecture for a fixed diesel price for professional transport, tax relief and a revived transport-cost observatory.

Matteo Salvini said he was confident the government could release held-up funds and open talks. Trasportounito wants a 15% increase in freight rates or a total blockade, while Sicilian truckers said they were ready to call off their action.