From a deadly strike on a Gaza university to mass arrests in France, a powerful earthquake in Tibet and a looming Moscow summit between Iran and Russia, the last 48 hours have delivered a relentless run of major global developments. Here are the biggest stories from around the world.
Seven killed in Gaza as university campus struck
At least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Sunday, October 25, including three security guards killed in an air strike on the Islamic University campus in Gaza City — the second attack on the institution within hours, according to Al Jazeera. An earlier drone strike on the same campus injured seven female students with flying shrapnel, one of them seriously. Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud described "bloodstains, the pieces of flesh of the bodies that were torn apart" on the ground. Separately, the Nasser Medical Complex reported two people killed by shelling in al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, including a child among the wounded, while one person was killed in a drone strike east of Deir el-Balah and another near Hamad Hospital in northern Gaza. Gaza's civil defence agency said the Israeli military was looking into reports of the university attack.
France: 1,314 arrested as cost-of-living protests spread
French police arrested 1,314 people during Saturday's nationwide cost-of-living protests, the interior ministry said Sunday, with 53 officers hurt in clashes. It was the second consecutive weekend of unrest ahead of presidential elections in April and May. Police responded to 75 fires and reported 24 shops looted; two protesters suffered serious hand injuries, one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand. Some 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed nationwide. The Yellow Vests movement has now called for mass rallies next Saturday, including sit-ins outside town halls and the National Assembly, while protest leaders say the government's talks with unions and students have produced no adequate response. The unrest spilled beyond France's borders: Belgian police used tear gas and pepper spray against demonstrators in Brussels, and Italian cities saw a second week of skirmishes.
Italy: protesters storm the Colosseum
Hundreds of students and young demonstrators entered Rome's Colosseum for several minutes on Saturday evening, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against the police and the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to NDTV. The brief occupation came as thousands of young people marched through Milan, Rome and Turin against the war in Gaza. Authorities deployed soldiers in Milan following previous violent unrest, but Saturday's demonstrations there remained peaceful. Rome also saw clashes and water cannon use in separate incidents, as Italy's protest wave entered its second week.
Tibet earthquake: 16 dead, 12,000 evacuated
Rescuers combed through a remote area of Tibet on Friday after a magnitude 7 earthquake killed at least 16 people, injured 76 and collapsed at least 339 homes, according to Chinese state media. The quake struck Nagqu, a city some 4,800 metres above sea level, at 10:33 pm local time on Thursday, with its epicentre 191 kilometres east-northeast of Nagqu. More than 12,000 residents were evacuated, and more than 5,000 rescuers from three counties were deployed. China sent satellites and drones to support the search, along with 2,000 prefabricated housing units, around 3,400 tents and 2,000 folding beds. Nearly 400 aftershocks have been recorded, and freezing temperatures near minus 9 degrees Celsius are complicating the operation. It was the strongest earthquake to hit China since January 2024.
Iran's president to meet Putin in Moscow on Tuesday
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will travel to Moscow on Tuesday, October 27, to attend a meeting of gas-exporting countries and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines, Tehran's ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told the Tasnim news agency. The two leaders will discuss economic cooperation, energy security and geopolitical issues, Jalali said. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced the meeting after hosting his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Tehran, describing Russo-Iranian cooperation as closer than ever. The meeting comes as negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain stalled, with both the US and Israel threatening to resume strikes on Iran, and as Putin has offered to help mediate an end to the conflict.
Thousands rally against Netanyahu days before Israel votes
Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday for a large anti-government demonstration, three days ahead of a general election widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The protest was organised by the October Council, a group founded by families of victims and hostages taken on October 7, 2023, demanding accountability for the failure to prevent the Hamas attack. Leaders of the four main opposition parties attended, including Gadi Eisenkot, the former military chief of staff, who received a warm reception. The latest polls, published before a gag period took effect on Friday night, showed neither bloc winning a majority: public broadcaster KAN put Eisenkot's bloc at 52 seats and Netanyahu's at 50 out of 120.
Ukraine restores Starlink speeds after front-line disruptions
Ukraine has restored Starlink speeds after a week of disruptions on the front line, the Associated Press reported on October 24. The satellite internet service has become a critical communications lifeline for Ukrainian forces and civilians near the fighting, so even a partial outage carries immediate operational consequences. The restoration follows days of degraded service reported along the front, though the cause of the disruption was not detailed in the AP report. The development comes as the war grinds on and both sides lean heavily on satellite connectivity for drones, artillery coordination and civilian communications in areas where terrestrial networks have been destroyed.
What to watch next
Tuesday brings a double flashpoint: Israel votes, and Pezeshkian meets Putin in Moscow. Watch whether France's promised "Act III" rallies on October 31 draw bigger crowds, whether the Tibet rescue operation finds further survivors as temperatures fall, and whether the US-Iran standoff moves from reported strike plans to action after the November 3 midterms.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Arab News, Business Standard, Malay Mail