From the Strait of Hormuz to Kyiv, Gaza and Paris, October 22–23 brought a concentrated burst of global crises: unverified Iranian claims of a record tanker attack, a Ukrainian cluster-munition accusation hours after a prisoner release, deadly strikes in Gaza, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and French courts overturning protest bans. Here are the day's biggest developments.
Strait of Hormuz: Iran claims seven tankers hit
Iranian state television reported on October 22 that seven oil tankers were hit or damaged overnight in and near the Strait of Hormuz, citing the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC said four tankers were struck while transferring oil in the northern Persian Gulf and three others hit naval mines west of the strait. The vessels were not identified, no casualties were mentioned, and the claims could not be independently verified — the British monitor UKMTO did not report the incidents, the AP reported. The IRGC warned that if the US keeps guiding ships through routes Tehran considers unauthorized, "the conflict will extend to its bases in the region." Brent crude rose about 3% to $112 a barrel, a five-month high, the Guardian reported. President Trump dismissed the claims on Truth Social, saying Iran is "making up fake hits, mines, and everything else" to drive oil prices before the US midterms, while a US CENTCOM spokesperson told Al Jazeera the strait remains open with 95% of vessels getting through. The US is sending a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops to the region, the AP reported.
Kyiv: Zelenskyy accuses Russia of cluster-warhead strikes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 22 that Russia struck Kyiv overnight with three ballistic missiles carrying cluster warheads, one hitting the historic Pechersk district between the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Holy Vvedensky Monastery. He called it a deliberate choice of weapon and target, saying there was "not even a single military facility nearby, even in theory." Ukraine's Air Force said Russia fired 21 missiles and 210 drones in the overnight assault. Zelenskyy said two people were killed and 34 wounded, including five children, in the capital and other regions; Kyiv authorities separately reported one killed and 22 injured in the city. Moscow had not commented on the claim, and it could not be independently verified. The accusation came hours after Russia released detained American Stephen Hubbard, 74, who Trump said was freed after a personal request to Putin with no prisoner swap.
Saudi Arabia: Houthi drone strikes kill four
Iran-aligned Houthis struck Saudi targets on October 21, the AP and Reuters reported: a drone hit King Fahd airport in Dammam, killing 2 people and wounding 8, and a separate drone attack hit Aramco's Shaybah oilfield, killing 2 more, with operations reportedly unaffected. The strikes prompted the US to order non-emergency personnel and families out of its missions in Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported. Saudi Aramco was reported to be evacuating its Dhahran headquarters, according to AXY citing Reuters. The attacks formed part of the same regional escalation pushing oil prices to their five-month high.
Gaza: four killed as ceasefire frays and famine risk grows
Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least four Palestinians in separate incidents across Gaza on Thursday, October 22, health officials in the enclave said, according to Reuters: a strike on a car in Gaza City's Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood, a man on a bike in Khan Yunis, a man near Nuseirat, and a woman shot near the Jabalia refugee camp — Al Jazeera reported one of the dead was a young girl. Israel's military said it struck Hamas militants in Khan Yunis, Nuseirat and Gaza City. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, according to Gaza health officials, while Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed. Separately, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor warned Gaza faces renewed famine risk as Israeli restrictions leave markets empty and flour short; the WFP announced funding cuts affecting about half a million Palestinians. The IDF presented US officers with an intelligence assessment, Haaretz reported, concluding Hamas is preparing for renewed fighting and can only be disarmed through combat — not by an international body.
France: protest bans, a court reversal, and a Macron-Trump row
Police banned demonstrations in parts of Paris on Thursday from 8am to 8pm — covering the Elysee palace, parliament, the Louvre, the Champs-Elysees, Bastille and Republique squares and Les Halles — after weekend cost-of-living protests degenerated into some of France's worst street unrest in years, with masked youths looting shops and torching cars; France has admitted it "lost control." But an administrative court overturned the Paris ban after organizers challenged it, and thousands gathered peacefully in southeastern Paris on Thursday, the AP reported. Similar bans were imposed in Lyon, Lille and Grenoble. President Macron, speaking in Doha, accused Trump of exploiting the unrest for the US midterm battle, calling such comments "stupid" and saying "there are people who campaign at France's expense." Trump has linked the unrest to "migrants, jihadists, and communists" and hailed far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu pledged a large-scale police deployment for protests expected Saturday, October 24.
US-Russia: prisoner release, sanctions and diplomacy
Russia released 74-year-old American Stephen Hubbard on October 21 after more than four years in custody, convicted in 2024 of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine — charges he and the US State Department deny. Trump said he secured the release via a personal request to Putin with "nothing in exchange," though he later linked the negotiations to his decision to waive a Russia sanctions package passed by Congress, saying sanctions would have halted the talks. The release was announced as Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg, with Moscow signaling willingness to resume direct negotiations with Ukraine and the US. Trump also agreed to import Russian diesel to lower fuel prices, the USA Today reported.
What to watch next
Israel's election on October 27 could decide whether Netanyahu survives — and whether the threatened US-Israeli strikes on Iran resume. In France, Saturday's planned nationwide protests will test whether the massive police deployment prevents a repeat of last weekend's violence. And in the Strait of Hormuz, markets will be watching whether independent confirmation of Tehran's tanker claims emerges — or whether the escalation rhetoric gives way to the diplomacy both Araghchi and Witkoff's mission claim to want.