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What you need to know

Rubio & Lavrov cancel planned meeting

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have called off a planned in-person meeting that was meant to prepare the ground for the forthcoming summit between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin in Budapest.

The two officials had earlier held what both sides described as a “constructive” phone conversation, but their follow-up session has now been postponed amid disputes over how negotiations on Ukraine should advance.

The delay comes as Washington and Moscow try to define the terms of a potential cease-fire in Ukraine.

Officials in both capitals have cited “scheduling” and “logistical” reasons for the postponement, though diplomatic sources say the talks have faltered over differences concerning the extent of Ukrainian concessions.

The decision has cast doubt on whether the Trump-Putin summit will proceed as planned and highlights the difficulty in bringing Russia to the negotiating table.

It’s now the U.S. vs China, everyone else needs to choose a side

China accuses U.S. hacking its national time center

China’s Ministry of State Security on 19 October accused the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) of mounting a series of cyber-attacks against the National Time Service Center in Shaanxi Province, the body responsible for maintaining China’s national time standard. In a statement posted on social media, the ministry alleged that the NSA’s Office of Tailored Access Operations infiltrated the center’s internal networks over several years, starting with the exploitation of vulnerabilities in smartphone messaging applications in 2022, and later expanding to more advanced intrusions into internal servers between 2023 and 2024.

Officials in Beijing said the operation aimed to extract data related to national timekeeping systems, satellite synchronization, and secure communications. The ministry described the attacks as part of a broader campaign of U.S. cyber-espionage against Chinese critical infrastructure. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing declined to comment.

Move fast and break things

Court allows Trump administration to federalize Oregon National Guard

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the Trump administration’s request for a stay in Oregon v. Trump, a case concerning the federal government’s effort to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.

The case rests on the administration’s invocation of 10 U.S.C. § 12406, a statute allowing the president to federalize state Guard units to “repel invasion, suppress rebellion, or enforce federal law” when local authorities are unable to do so.

Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade, both appointed by President Donald Trump, sided with the administration, maintaining that courts should defer to the president’s judgment in national security and law enforcement matters. Judge Susan Graber dissented, cautioning that such deference could erode constitutional limits on executive authority.

The decision represents a significant test of federal control over state military forces and raises questions about the threshold for using military power to respond to domestic unrest.

A full hearing on the case’s merits is expected later this month, and further appeals to the Supreme Court are anticipated.

America First

Trump and Albanese reaffirm alliance with minerals pact

President Donald Trump met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Washington on 20 October, their first official encounter since Trump’s return to office.

Both sides described the talks as warm and constructive.

The discussions centered on an agreement worth $8.5 billion to expand cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths, a sector viewed in Washington as essential for reducing dependence on Chinese supply chains. The deal, negotiated over several months, was hailed by Albanese as taking the U.S.–Australia partnership “to the next level.”

The two leaders also discussed security and defense ties in the Indo-Pacific, including the AUKUS pact and Australia’s growing role in regional deterrence. Trump called for more resilient supply chains and “mutually beneficial trade and investment,” while urging U.S. allies to increase their defense spending, a position that may see Canberra pushed to raise expenditure toward 3.5 percent of GDP. The meeting was widely seen as a reaffirmation of the alliance.

A brief moment of awkwardness arose when reporters mentioned past remarks by Australia’s ambassador to the U.S., Kevin Rudd, who had previously described Trump as “the most destructive president” in modern history. Trump appeared to joke that he also didn’t like the ambassador either and “probably never will.”

Bolivia’s new leader seeks to rebuild ties with the U.S.

Bolivia’s president-elect, Rodrigo Paz, has said he plans to restore full diplomatic relations with the U.S., ending nearly two decades of estrangement that began under Evo Morales. Morales, who governed from 2006 to 2019, expelled the U.S. ambassador and the Drug Enforcement Administration, accusing Washington of political interference. Since then, relations between the two countries have remained largely frozen, with La Paz turning instead toward China, Russia, and regional leftist blocs.

Paz’s has described renewed ties with Washington as crucial to reviving Bolivia’s ailing economy, attracting foreign investment, and stabilizing fuel and energy supplies. During his campaign, he reportedly met with U.S. officials and energy firms, particularly in Texas, to discuss possible cooperation.

The challenges, however, are formidable. Paz faces a divided legislature, entrenched mistrust of U.S. influence, and strong nationalist factions that may resist closer engagement.

The planet will be fine, it’s the humans that should be concerned

WMO warns of record rise in greenhouse gases

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose by 3.5 parts per million between 2023 and 2024, the steepest annual increase since systematic records began in 1957. Concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide, two other major greenhouse gases, also reached new highs.

The WMO said the surge reflects both the continued expansion of fossil-fuel emissions and the declining capacity of natural carbon sinks, such as forests and oceans, to absorb excess CO₂. T

he agency warned that if this trajectory persists, it will intensify global warming, increase the frequency of extreme weather events, and erode efforts to stabilize the climate system.

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