The Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil shipping lane, has become the most dangerous waterway as Iran and the United States escalate, with seven tankers reportedly hit in a single night. Kyiv was pounded by missiles after a US envoy met Putin, Sudan endured one of its deadliest weeks of the civil war, France braced for another protest day, Gaza's ceasefire frayed further, Syrian forces battled an ISIL cell, and an earthquake rocked Tibet. Here is the world in the last 48 hours.
Strait of Hormuz: Seven Tankers Hit as US-Iran War Fears Mount
The Kuwaiti-flagged oil products tanker M/T Al Dasma was struck by an unknown projectile near the Strait of Hormuz on October 21, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The fire was extinguished and the vessel is at anchor. All 21 Indian seafarers aboard are safe, India's shipping minister confirmed, according to the Economic Times.
Overnight into October 22, the crisis deepened. Iranian state television, citing the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, reported that seven oil tankers were damaged or caught fire, according to the Associated Press. The Guards also threatened US military bases if Washington keeps helping commercial ships through the strait, while the US is sending a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops to the region. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said October 21 that Tehran remains open to diplomacy but is prepared to defend itself.
AP: Iran says 7 oil tankers attacked in the Strait of Hormuz as fears grow of a return to war
Kyiv Battered Hours After US Envoy's Peace Talks With Putin
Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight into Thursday, just hours after President Vladimir Putin told US special envoy Steve Witkoff that Moscow was ready to resume peace talks, CNN reported. The attack involved 21 missiles and 210 drones, killed two people and injured 34, according to Ukrainian officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky said three waves of ballistic strikes hit the capital, and confirmed that none of the ballistic missiles were intercepted amid a critical Patriot missile shortage.
Witkoff met Putin for three hours in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Trump said negotiators were "maybe now the closest we've been" to ending the war, while Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin conveyed Moscow's readiness "in principle" to resume trilateral talks "around the 10th of November." AFP reported seven dead across Ukraine in the overnight exchanges.
CNN: Massive strikes hit Kyiv hours after Putin agrees to fresh peace talks
Sudan: 53 Killed in Abyei Market Strike as Geneva Talks Stall
Authorities in the disputed Abyei district said a drone strike on Amiet market on October 19 killed 53 people and wounded at least 27, which local authorities blamed on the Sudanese army, AFP reported. The dead included women, children, the elderly, merchants, Ngok Dinka community members, South Sudanese returnees and Sudanese refugees.
UN peacekeepers in Abyei said the toll was expected to rise, while UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric condemned a drone strike on a market in Al Dibab, West Kordofan, and reported that three children aged two to six and their father were killed when a drone hit a residential area of Khartoum. Emergency Lawyers said more than 160 people had been killed in drone attacks across the country in recent days. The sixth round of international peace consultations, attended by more than 20 nations, ended on October 21 demanding a halt to foreign military interference, but the warring parties did not attend.
AFP: Sudan army strike kills 53 in disputed territory with S. Sudan
France Braces for More Unrest After Court Lifts Paris Protest Ban
France is on a "maximum level of vigilance" ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for October 24, after October 17 cost-of-living protests turned into the country's most violent unrest in years. More than 2,400 people were detained and nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured after the weekend protests descended into looting and arson, including the torching of Lyon's tourism office and the looting of 150 to 200 shops there, according to French authorities.
Authorities answered with bans: Paris police barred Thursday's demonstrations in key areas. But an administrative court overturned the Paris order after organizers challenged it, allowing thousands to gather peacefully in southeastern Paris on Thursday, the New Indian Express reported. President Emmanuel Macron recommended no demonstrations in the coming days and said the government would block gatherings by groups with "no legitimate authority." Lyon has banned all demonstrations on October 24, and deployments will be 20 percent larger than on October 17, with Sentinelle troops and special GIGN and RAID units on the streets.
Thousands gather in Paris after court lifts protest ban
Gaza: Deadly Strikes Continue Despite the Ceasefire
Israeli attacks killed at least three Palestinians across Gaza on October 21, according to medical sources cited by Anadolu. An Israeli drone targeted an electric bicycle in western Gaza City, killing its rider and a passerby, and a strike in al-Mawasi killed Ramadan Mohammed Abu Shahada. Israel's military said it had killed Ramadan Muhammad Ashahada Diab, the head of the Popular Resistance Committees in Khan Younis, accusing him of acting "in systematic violation of the ceasefire," the Times of Israel reported.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem on October 22 rejected an Israeli newspaper report claiming the group had threatened a new October 7-style attack through a UN official, calling it untrue and reiterating the ceasefire commitment. Gaza's health authorities say at least 1,522 Palestinians have been killed and 5,421 wounded in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, according to Al Jazeera.
Israeli attacks kill 4 Palestinians in Gaza amid ceasefire violations
Syria: Two Security Officers Killed in Raid on ISIL Cell
Two members of Syria's internal security forces were killed and five wounded in clashes with a suspected ISIL cell during a raid on the outskirts of Damascus on October 22, the Interior Ministry reported. Security forces launched the operation in the town of Rankous in the western Damascus countryside at around 6am, and fighting lasted two to three hours after the suspects refused to surrender and opened fire, according to Al Jazeera. Five alleged ISIL members were killed and six arrested, and weapons and explosive belts were seized.
The raid is the latest in a series of operations as the government tries to dismantle ISIL networks.
Al Jazeera: Two Syrian security officers killed in raid on ISIL cell near Damascus
Tibet Earthquake: 16 Dead, Hundreds of Homes Flattened
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck China's Tibet region late on October 22, killing at least 16 people and injuring 32 others, state news agency Xinhua reported. The quake hit at 10:33pm local time, with its epicenter about 190 kilometers east-northeast of Nagqu and 390 kilometers northeast of Lhasa, according to the US Geological Survey. Eleven of the injured were reported in serious condition and at least 339 houses collapsed, with the full damage still being assessed.
Rescue teams were dispatched to the remote, high-altitude epicenter area, rail services were suspended, and China activated a level-II earthquake disaster emergency response, its second-highest tier. The quake is the strongest to hit China since January 2024.
CNN: 7-magnitude earthquake hits China's Tibet, killing 16
What to Watch Next
Saturday's demonstrations in France will test whether bans and the massive security deployment prevent a repeat of last weekend. In the Gulf, all eyes are on whether the US and Iran return to the table or the tanker attacks and the third American carrier push the region back toward war, ahead of Israel's October 27 election. Ukraine hinges on whether trilateral talks materialize around November 10, while Sudan's drone war kills civilians with no peace process in sight.