Evening Brief, Saturday 24 October

French anti-terror prosecutors extended the custody of Kévin T. on Saturday after a first hearing, and police also detained four relatives, including his mother and father according to a source close to the case. The 39-year-old man is suspected of firing from a grey Renault Clio in Trappes and La Verrière on Friday, killing Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old mixed martial arts prospect, and wounding five others, including a 12-year-old girl hit by eight bullets.

Investigators found a Sten submachine gun and a tear-gas canister in the car, and a police source said the suspect had booby-trapped his flat in Plaisir with gas bottles and electric wires connected to a timer. Le Monde reported that he told officers he wanted to avenge shopkeepers affected by the 17 October clashes and had targeted Black and Arab people, while other reporting said investigators found a copy of Mein Kampf at his home.

The victim's family, through lawyer Yassine Bouzrou, asked whether the authorities had monitored the suspect, describing him as already known to police and justice and as holding weapons of war. Several hundred people gathered in Trappes on Saturday to honour Pengo Bossio Wangi, and his Aubervilliers club planned a minute of silence on Saturday evening and a white march on Sunday afternoon.

Israeli forces evacuated around 250 Palestinian families overnight in Hebron after two armed men fired for about twenty minutes at a temporary Israeli military checkpoint at the city's exit. The attack killed two soldiers and wounded three others, and troops shot both attackers, who reports said were 27-year-old members of the same family.

The Israeli Defence Forces and the Shin Bet security service launched what the army described as an anti-terror operation lasting several days. Forces are searching for infrastructure and weapons, questioning suspects and letting residents leave affected areas only through three designated exits after checks. Hebron's deputy mayor said families could take only essential belongings, while the municipality opened shelters and ran a round-the-clock operations centre.

The raids spread across the northern West Bank, where Al Jazeera reported Israeli operations in at least 15 localities including Nablus and Jenin. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a total closure of the West Bank and said the attackers' neighbourhood would be evacuated and its infrastructure razed to make way for a settlement. Italy said five Italian women detained in the West Bank had been repatriated on Saturday morning after embassy officials visited them at the airport.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Starlink and Starshield links were stable above 400 km/h after several days in which terminals stopped working or lost connection when drones moved faster than roughly 130 to 161 km/h. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the limits were imposed without warning and hurt both attack and defensive operations using drones and battlefield communications.

Donald Trump defended Elon Musk at the White House on Friday, called him a great person and said he would pass Ukraine's complaints to the SpaceX chief if the problem had not been fixed. The Wall Street Journal, citing American officials, reported that Donald Trump had asked Elon Musk to lift the limits and had been unhappy with a cap of about 160 km/h, while the White House and Elon Musk each denied being behind the restrictions.

Kyiv is keeping its language careful. The ministry said the 400 km/h reading did not prove that the maximum speed had been reset or that all limits had been lifted, and it will keep testing higher speeds to find the upper boundary. The dispute also leaves open who set the cap, with one account pointing to Elon Musk and Donald Trump and another to SpaceX's own infrastructure team.

Jordanian authorities classified the shooting at the Greek Orthodox church of St George in Hamoud, in Karak governorate, as a terrorist attack after two armed men opened fire during a funeral on Friday. Security-camera footage recorded shots in the church courtyard and inside the building, and a survivor told Greek media that some wounded worshippers tried to hide during the service.

The toll reached eight on Saturday when a wounded man died at Prince Ali military hospital, and health minister Ibrahim al Badour said 27 people were still receiving care. Eight remained at Prince Ali, two of them in intensive care on ventilators after surgery, while others were flown by army helicopter or treated at hospitals in Karak and Amman.

Security forces kept checkpoints across Karak governorate and left the area around the church closed while the police operation continued. No group claimed responsibility, and Jordan declared three days of national mourning from 24 October. The United States embassy in Amman increased security at shopping centres, foreign embassies and other sites, while King Abdullah II visited the injured in hospital and promised punishment for the perpetrators.

Czech deputies sent a bill scrapping public media fees to committees at 4:36 on Saturday after the ANO, SPD and Motorists coalition added it to the Chamber of Deputies agenda on Friday. The move surprised opposition parties, and SPD parliamentary leader Radim Fiala said the coalition needed surprise because opponents had threatened to block proceedings.

The bill would abolish household broadcasting fees and fund Czech Television and Czech Radio from the state budget. Households now pay 55 crowns a month for radio and 150 crowns for television, while the proposal would cut funding for both broadcasters by about 15% and keep nominal funding unchanged for several years. Andrej Babiš said the Supreme Audit Office should oversee broadcasters whose budgets are close to 10 billion crowns a year.

Opposition deputies said the vote began while 65 registered speakers had not reached the lectern, and analysts called the pace unusual because the bill had not gone through a broad public debate. Several hundred demonstrators stayed outside the Chamber of Deputies overnight, civic groups planned a large protest in Prague on Sunday, and staff at Czech Television and Czech Radio announced a one-day strike for 3 November.

Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to Dandong on Saturday, crossing the newly opened bridge over the Yalu River in what South Korean government sources described as his first trip to China in a year. Chinese social media showed his motorcade on the span, CCTV showed him walking across the bridge as people waved flags, and Xinhua later confirmed the visit.

Wang Huning, the fourth-ranking official in China's hierarchy, received Kim Jong Un in the border city and passed on greetings from Xi Jinping. The two laid a wreath at a monument to Chinese soldiers killed in the Korean War and visited a car factory. Wang proposed using the bridge opening to expand trade and exchanges, though no concrete agreements were announced.

The bridge opened on 15 October, nearly 12 years after construction finished, because North Korea lacked access roads and customs facilities on its side. China financed the roughly three-kilometre, four-lane link between Dandong and Sinuiju, and the opening should ease road trade across a border of more than 1,400 kilometres. The visit also countered unsupported rumours that Kim Jong Un had died after a reported brain haemorrhage.