World News

Engagement on Truth Social, social media platform owned by US President Donald Trump, declined with daily traffic plunging over 30% in the past year, according to a digital intelligence report from Similarweb. The platform averaged approximately 260,000 daily users last month, a steep drop from its peak of 420,000 daily users in June 2025. This comes ahead of midterm elections.

Ukraine is testing 'StarGate', a drone developed by manufacturer SkyFall to evacuate wounded soldiers from hard-to-reach battlefield positions. The system could reduce evacuation times by up to two hours. It has a 15-km range, can carry up to 150 kg and cruises at 65 km/h. Its AI-based navigation system can operate when satellite navigation is unavailable, the manufacturer said.

The US' Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations arrested a man named Mukesh Kumar Somabhai Chaudhari, a non-citizen, for allegedly making a false claim of US citizenship to vote in the 2024 US general election. In September, a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the two-count indictment, charging Chaudhari with allegedly making the false citizenship claim.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stayed mum and smiled on being asked if he was being made a scapegoat by US President Donald Trump as Trump's popularity is low ahead of mid-term elections. "This is my answer," Zelenskyy said, after which people started laughing. Notably, Trump signed an oil deal with Russia and said Ukraine needs a new president.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, nicknamed "mother of all bombs", is the largest non-nuclear bomb in US arsenal that it might use against Iran. Containing about 8,500 kg of high explosives, it explodes shortly before hitting ground, sending devastating blasts that can cause widespread destruction. It's typically deployed from Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft because of its size.

China responded to US President Donald Trump's new spokesperson, Katie Zacharia, after she said China lacked "proper toilets". "We welcome her to visit China more often when she has the opportunity," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. Zacharia reportedly lived in China with her husband and worked as an associate at Zhong Lun Law Firm from 2011 to 2013.

Lt. Lev Stupnikov, a Russian military officer, secretly provided battle plans and intelligence to Ukraine, helping its forces kill over 300 Russian soldiers, a Wall Street Journal report said. He used his position in Russian army to share sensitive military information with Ukrainian intelligence. Stupnikov escaped into Ukraine in July 2024. He was against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Pakistan, which borrows billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been named the 2027 chair of the Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank Group. In May 2026, the IMF approved around $1.32 billion aid to Pakistan, taking total aid to about $4.8 billion. Pakistan is expected to receive another $1.2 billion from IMF.

Nine former FBI employees who worked on classified documents investigation involving US President Donald Trump have sued FBI Director Kash Patel over their firings. The lawsuit alleged that they were dismissed because of their involvement in the investigation into Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving White House. The plaintiffs are seeking reinstatement.

Billionaire Harsh Goenka shared a cryptic post on X amid protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. "Let's get inspired by Japan for its culture, America for its innovation, Germany for its engineering...and Switzerland for its precision," he stated. "Let's learn from the best in the world. Yet, the irony is that some choose to be inspired by Bangladesh," Goenka added.