Patrick Stewart, the acclaimed British stage and screen actor renowned for both Shakespeare and sci-fi, has died. He was 86.
The Star Trek: the Next Generation and X-Men star died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles after “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia”, said Kelly Bush Novak, his longtime spokesperson, to the Hollywood Reporter.
Zaporizhzhia experienced a record number of Russian FPV drone attacks on 29 October, injuring 14 people, including a 14-year-old boy, regional authorities said.
Russian forces used FPV drones and multiple-launch rocket systems to attack civilian infrastructure, targeting municipal transport and damaging residential buildings, warehouses, and cars, prosecutors said.
Zaporizhzhia reports record FPV drone attacks
Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration head Mykhailo Semikin said Zaporizhzhia had experienced a record number of FPV drone attacks on Thursday. After meeting with military officials, he said the authorities were aware of the situation and relevant services and Ukrainian defenders were responding.
He said Russian forces had “changed their tactics and modified their drones,” adding that Ukrainian military personnel were working on countermeasures to address the new threats.
Semikin urged residents to remain calm, heed air raid alerts, and exercise particular caution.
Russian forces launched a record number of FPV drone attacks on Zaporizhzhia on 29 October, repeatedly targeting civilian public transport.
Drones struck a municipal bus, a minibus, and a trolleybus. Four people were injured in the bus attack alone. Across the city, at least 14… pic.twitter.com/WfemZSh7yr
The attacks included strikes on a municipal bus, a minibus, and a trolleybus, according to Semikin.
In the morning, a Russian FPV drone struck a municipal bus, injuring four people.
In a separate attack, Russian forces struck 15 vehicles, a warehouse building, and a power line, sparking a fire and damaging a nearby apartment building. Two men, aged 41 and 66, were injured.
At around midday, another FPV drone hit a minibus in central Zaporizhzhia, injuring one person.
Later, a Russian drone struck a municipal trolleybus, critically injuring a 56-year-old woman and lightly injuring two other women, aged 71 and 66.
Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia injured two men, aged 41 and 66.
The strikes set four cars and an open area on fire, damaged a warehouse, and damaged four cars and four buses.
Zaporizhzhia lies relatively close to the front line in southern Ukraine, leaving the city exposed to Russian attacks with weapons that can be used at shorter ranges, including FPV drones and multiple-launch rocket systems.
The proximity allows Russian forces to threaten civilian infrastructure more easily without relying solely on long-range missiles or drones.
Prosecutors investigate suspected war crime
The Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office said it had opened a war crimes investigation. Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine’s regional directorate are conducting the pretrial investigation.
The casualty count and damage reports were preliminary, and authorities said information was still being updated as the attacks continued.
Russian attacks kill civilians in several Ukrainian cities
Zaporizhzhia was not the only major city hit by Russian attacks on 29 October. In Dnipro, a Russian strike on the railway station killed at least 14 people.
In Chernihiv, two teenage girls were killed and 23 people injured, including four children. In Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, three people were killed and 15 injured, including three children.
The attacks damaged residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in all three cities.
Ukraine’s Navy said on 29 October that it destroyed two Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers in a Neptune missile strike on Marinovka airfield in Russia’s Volgograd Oblast.
The reported strike targets aircraft Russia uses to launch guided aerial bombs against Ukrainian cities, military positions, and frontline communities. Destroying the two jets would reduce Russia’s capacity to carry out these attacks.
Neptune strike hits Russian military airfield
Map: Euromaidan Press
According to the Ukrainian Navy, its units struck the site where Russian aircraft were stationed at Marinovka airfield using a Neptune coastal missile system.
The Navy said the strike destroyed two Su-34 fighter-bombers belonging to Russia’s 11th Mixed Aviation Regiment, based near the settlement of Oktyabrsky in Volgograd Oblast. The regiment is part of the 4th Mixed Aviation Division of Russia’s 4th Air and Air Defense Forces Army.
The Ukrainian Navy did not provide further details about the strike.
Su-34s are key to Russia’s guided bomb attacks
Russia uses Su-34 fighter-bombers to launch guided aerial bombs, known as KABs, against Ukrainian military positions and settlements, particularly in frontline areas. These attacks threaten both Ukrainian troops and civilians in communities near the front.
Aftermath of Russia's KAB bomb strike on a residential house in Kharkiv late on 30 October 2024. Photo: Telegram/Oleh Syniehubov
According to Ukrinform, Russia’s Aerospace Forces had approximately 140 Su-34 aircraft of various modifications in service as of 22 October.
The Ukrainian Navy said it would continue striking Russian military targets to weaken Moscow’s ability to wage war against Ukraine.
“Associate membership” is out and “ever closer association” back in.
The offer of the first phrase was made to Canada a month ago by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The phraseology, made during von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech, surprised many EU diplomats who claimed that they had not been consulted.
It was also never clear precisely what this would mean.
The idea of Canada having representatives or observer status in the EU institutions always sounded fanciful. Besides, there is no mention of ‘associate membership’ in the EU treaties, and this uncertainty appears to have persuaded Germany to demand that it be dropped ahead of Thursday and Friday’s (29-30 October) EU-Canada summit.
The draft communique circulated ahead of the summit talks of “work to define by the 2027 EU-Canada summit the concept of an ever closer association of Canada to the EU, short of full membership itself.”
Von der Leyen appeared not to have read the memo.
Officials would “start discussing how to make Canada the first associate member of the EU,” she said on arrival in Montreal, adding that “our ambition is to build the closest partnership we have ever had with a non-European country”.
Yet this is a dispute over language rather than substance. The EU and Mark Carney’s Canada see each other as their closest ally. Both have been repeatedly threatened with hefty trade tariffs by Donald Trump’s White House and the consequences of Trump’s foreign policy adventures in the Middle East and the Arctic. Carney’s remarks at the World Economic Forum in January that ‘middle’ powers should club together to avoid being squeezed between China and the US were aimed at the EU.
Commission officials may blench at the comparison, but the EU is a collection of middle ranking and small states. And it is yet to act like a world power on the political stage.
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Ukraine’s humanitarian mission to Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast has reached a key stage, with mine clearance along designated routes completed and a humanitarian convoy ready to depart, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on 29 October.
The mission aims to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians trapped in the occupied city facing humanitarian crisis, and provide a safe way out for those who want to leave. The operation is taking place under a localized ceasefire coordinated with the help of US First Lady Melania Trump.
Lubinets said the ceasefire has held for 54 hours without reported violations.
Aid convoy prepared, civilian evacuations planned
Lubinets said the humanitarian convoy was ready to leave and was expected to reach Oleshky’s central hospital. Residents would receive the assistance they need, he said.
Civilians wishing to leave the city would have an opportunity to do so until 2 p.m. local time, with security measures organized for their departure. Distribution of humanitarian aid was scheduled to begin after 2:30 p.m.
Delegations from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States had gathered to coordinate the next steps in the mission. Journalists from all three countries were also present, Lubinets said.
Lubinets travels to occupied Oleshky
Earlier on 29 October, Lubinets said he was still traveling toward Oleshky.
He said he wanted to be on the ground to see the situation firsthand and report on the mission’s progress. Lubinets also asked the public to rely on official sources and wait until he returned before raising further questions about the negotiations.
The Ukrainian ombudsman said the negotiations had been difficult and lengthy, adding that the mission had reached only the halfway point toward its goals.
“If I had to go for the sake of one person, I would go again,” Lubinets said, describing the mission as his duty to help Ukrainians in need.
The mission is being conducted jointly by Lubinets and Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova, with mediation and coordination by Melania Trump.
The localized ceasefire took effect on 27 October to allow mine clearance, humanitarian deliveries, and civilian evacuations.
Oleshky, on the east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, has been under Russian occupation since 2022. Russian occupation and restrictions on access to the city have left civilians facing severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essential supplies, while access to medical care has become increasingly difficult. The humanitarian mission aims to deliver urgently needed aid and help residents who want to leave reach safety.
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Thousands are starving in occupied Oleshky. People have no food, no way out, and Russian forces bomb incoming aid
Lubinets thanked Melania Trump and the Ukrainians and US citizens who helped bring attention to the situation in Oleshky and support the negotiations. He said the mission’s priority remained delivering assistance and helping civilians leave safely.
Ukraine’s Defense Forces inflicted an estimated 49,040 personnel losses on Russian forces in October as of 29 October, setting a new monthly record since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
The figure points to the growing human cost of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Ukraine’s military says Russian losses are rising faster than Moscow can replenish its units, making it increasingly costly for Russia to sustain its offensive operations.
October losses surpass previous record
The previous monthly record was set in December 2024, when Russian forces suffered an estimated 48,670 personnel losses, according to the General Staff.
October’s total had already surpassed that figure by 370 personnel as of 29 October, with three days remaining in the month.
The General Staff reported an average of about 1,750 Russian personnel losses per day in October so far.
Russian losses rise sharply in 2026
Ukraine’s General Staff reported 26,090 Russian personnel losses in February 2026, followed by 46,230 in September. By 29 October, the October figure had reached 49,040.
The figures indicate a sharp increase in reported Russian losses over the past several months.
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Russia now loses more soldiers than it recruits. But the war won’t end because of that.
Ukraine says losses exceed Russia’s ability to replenish units
The General Staff said the pace of Russian personnel losses exceeds Russia’s ability to replenish its military units. According to the Ukrainian military, the rising toll makes each month of the war increasingly costly for Moscow.
The figures refer to total personnel losses and do not distinguish between those killed and wounded. They are estimates published by Ukraine’s military and could not be independently verified.
Ukraine’s Defense Forces said they would continue inflicting losses on Russian forces until Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine ends.
Artificial intelligence is one of the economic sectors where the EU and China could be allies rather than foes; both are racing to close the gap with the United States. But until now, the EU has viewed China as a competitor and threat on AI and digital technology.
The two economies “have huge cooperation potential in new energy, AI, services trade, the digital economy and green low-carbon fields”, China’s ministry of commerce said in a statement following the second round of China-EU trade talks in Beijing earlier this month.
Those two days of talks between EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Chinese commerce secretary Wang Wentao were widely viewed as a successful first step forward by EU leaders at last week’s summit in Brussels.
In particular, China has agreed to reduce exports of electric vehicles and guarantees continued access to rare earths without new export controls. It also commits EU and Chinese officials to at least six more months of negotiations on a raft of trade disputes.
A visit to a robotics factory was part of the itinerary for a delegation from the European Parliament’s international trade committee who will make a three day visit to China from 27 October.
Committee chairman Bernd Lange told reporters that Unitree Robotics, a Chinese robotics company that uses its own humanoid robots—powered by embodied AI —to help manufacture and assemble more robots would be “at the heart of Chinese industry in the future.”
China is the world leader in the robotics market, with Lange’s Germany its main European rival.
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