Ukraine’s continued counter-offensive in both the east and south has prompted rare public criticisms of senior Russian officials. Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-appointed deputy governor of the annexed province of Kherson, has lashed out at Russia’s “incompetent military leaders” in a video message. Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike on a residential building killed at least three people in Zaporizhia, a Ukrainian-held city.
The EU and Norway agreed to “jointly develop tools” to normalise the energy market and reduce prices. Norway is now the EU’s largest external gas supplier as the bloc reduces its reliance on Russian energy following the invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile Britain’s national grid will ask households to lower their energy use, warning of potential blackouts this winter.
Annie Ernaux, a French author known for her intensely personal works, won the Nobel prize for literature. The Swedish Academy cited her “courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory”.
America said it would redirect inbound travellers from Uganda to five designated airports for Ebola screening starting on Friday. In the past two weeks Uganda has recorded more than 60 confirmed or probable cases of the disease and 29 deaths. Its Ebola outbreak is caused by a strain of the virus for which there is no licensed vaccine—the existing vaccine targets a separate strain.
President Joe Biden pardoned all Americans convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law, a move affecting more than 6,500 people that fulfils a campaign pledge. He also ordered a review of whether marijuana should remain, for sentencing purposes, in the same class of drugs as heroin and LSD. Recreational marijuana use is legal in 19 states and Washington, DC.
A former police officer killed at least 38 people, including 22 children, in a gun attack at a day-care centre in north-east Thailand, according to police. Reports suggest the gunman, who was armed with a shotgun, pistol and knife, killed himself and his family after the attack. Thailand’s prime minister, Prayut Chan-ocha, called the attack “horrifying”.
Porsche overtook its former parent company, Volkswagen, to become Europe’s most valuable carmaker a week after its initial public offering. Shares in Porsche rose to €93 ($91), giving it a valuation of €85bn compared with Volkswagen’s €78bn, after the banks involved in the company’s IPO bought nearly 3.8m shares.
Fact of the day: 72, the number of ministers Peru’s president, Pedro Castillo, has gone through in just 14 months in office. Read the full story.
Could the Ukraine war turn nuclear?
PHOTO: AP
The further Ukraine forces advance, the higher the risk that Russia will respond with nuclear weapons. So America’s admonitions against doing so are becoming harsher. In September senior American officials warned Russia of “catastrophic” and “horrific” consequences if it went nuclear. Some whisper that America might then have to respond militarily, probably with conventional rather than nuclear weapons.
For months American officials said they detected no change in Russia’s nuclear posture. Now, less reassuringly, they see no change “that would cause us to alter our posture”. One recently said there was no sign of the “imminent” use of nukes. All this leaves open the possibility that America sees something stirring in Russia’s nuclear establishment, but is not reacting to it. One analyst has spotted movement in a unit that stores and transports Russian nuclear warheads. An Italian newspaper reported that Russia may soon test a nuclear-capable torpedo. Other officials insist these are false alarms. But the jitters are growing.
Chasing Arizona’s political centre
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Statewide elections in Arizona, where a third of voters claim no party affiliation, have recently been won by razor-thin margins. Yet Mark Kelly, the Democratic incumbent seeking re-election in November’s Senate race, comfortably leads his Republican rival. Independents seem unconvinced by Blake Masters, a venture capitalist whose racist dog-whistling during the primary secured him Donald Trump’s endorsement. So Mr Masters will try to soften his image, and broaden his appeal, when he debates Mr Kelly on Thursday.
Mr Kelly, by contrast, understands how to woo the political centre. Recognising that Democrats’ perceived weakness on border security could cost him votes, he takes a tough line on immigration. He supports building out the wall along Arizona’s border with Mexico and has co-sponsored a bill to help recruit and retain more border-patrol agents. That defensive posture should serve him well: The Economist’s forecasting model gives him a 92% probability of winning on November 8th.
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A new European talking-shop
PHOTO: DAVE SIMONDS
The leaders of 44 European countries are gathering in Prague on Thursday for the first meeting of the “European Political Community” (EPC). The format, floated by Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, allows for a looser continental grouping of the EU’s 27 members alongside 17 outer-circle countries: aspiring members (Serbia, Ukraine), happy outsiders (Norway, Switzerland) or the recently departed (just Britain).
That is a tricky crowd to manage. The summit will feature different discussion streams to keep apart pairs of countries best not left in the same room, such as Greece and Turkey. But the EPC has received an early endorsement from Liz Truss, Britain’s new prime minister, who will attend despite her country’s fluctuating relationship with the continent. EU leaders will stay on after the meeting ends to discuss tightening sanctions against Russia, after EU ambassadors approved a long-awaited deal for an oil-price cap on Wednesday. A closer-knit Europe, then, both in format and in substance.
Disease and political turmoil flood Pakistan
PHOTO: REUTERS
Pakistan’s devastating floods may be receding, but their costs are compounding. This week the UN raised its aid appeal for the country to $816m, up from $160m. The revision was prompted by fears of hunger and a surge in water-borne diseases. More than 140,000 cases of malaria were reported in its southern Sindh province in the first three weeks of September. Swathes of farmland remain submerged.
Pakistan’s government appears ill-equipped to cope. The climate minister, Sherry Rehman, has admitted that government coffers are running dry. The botched response is leaving officials red-faced. On Monday Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, refused to start using a government dashboard monitoring flood relief, saying it was shoddily designed. The opposition, led by Imran Khan, a former prime minister, is adding to Mr Sharif’s problems. Mr Khan has called on his party’s officials to assemble millions of supporters to descend on the capital this week to rally for fresh elections.
“The Woman King”: a female-led African epic
PHOTO: CAPITAL PICTURES
Marvel Studios’s “Black Panther” proved that Hollywood could sell an action movie with an African setting and a predominantly black cast. “The Woman King”, which is already out in American cinemas and released in Britain this week, goes one step further. Gina Prince-Bythewood, an American director, has made a rip-roaring historical epic, set in the prosperous west African kingdom of Dahomey (now part of Benin) in the 1800s, and populated it largely with black women.
Viola Davis, who won an Oscar for “Fences” in 2017, stars as General Nanisca, the leader of an all-female military regiment which defends Dahomey from neighbouring warlords. (The regiment actually existed; Nanisca didn’t.) Most of the key behind-the-camera roles are taken by women, too. While “The Woman King” is perhaps too forgiving of Dahomey’s part in the international slave trade, otherwise it is inspirational: an historical epic that makes history.
Daily quiz
Our baristas will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give us all five answers and, as important, tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 BST on Friday to QuizEspresso@economist.com. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown one winner per continent on Saturday.
Thursday: Which astronomer was the first to discover Jupiter’s moons?
Wednesday: Which hit musical is based on the songs of Abba?