Nigeria: Security sources confirmed that 24 abducted girls from Maga Government Girls’ Secondary School in Kebbi’s Danko-Wasagu area have been rescued.

Interesting: A leaked recording reveals that Steve Witkoff held a short call with top Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov on Oct. 14, urging Russia to coordinate with the US on a Ukraine peace plan and suggesting Putin raise the idea directly with Trump.

Witkoff proposed modeling the plan on the recent Gaza agreement, telling Ushakov that he and Trump had created a “20-point plan for peace” and could develop a similar one with Russia.

He advised Putin to call Trump, congratulate him on the Gaza deal, and present Russia as eager for peace before Zelensky visited the White House.

Two days later, Putin called Trump in a discussion Trump described as “very productive.”

Source: Bloomberg

Zelensky’s Chief-of-Staff, Andrii Yermak:

US Secretary of the Army Driscoll will arrive in Kyiv this week.

NEW: Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to immediately begin serving his 27-year prison sentence for attempting to overturn the 2022 election.

He will stay in a special 12 m² room at Federal Police HQ in Brasília with a bed, bathroom, AC, TV, and desk, and no contact with other inmates.

Bolsonaro had been on house arrest but was jailed after trying to remove his ankle monitor.

The U.S. Navy has cancelled the last four Constellation-class frigates and is reviewing the remaining two after the program fell three years behind schedule and more than $1B over cost.

Navy leadership says the fleet needs faster, cheaper ships, so funds are being redirected to new classes that can be built quickly at more shipyards.

Reporter: Do you think that Ukraine is being asked to give too much land to Russia?

Trump: The front is going in one direction.

Trump on Ukraine:

I don't have a deadline.

Reporter: Have you heard this audio that Bloomberg has of Witkoff coaching the Russians on how to appeal to you?

Trump: That’s a standard thing, you know, because he’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what he’s… that’s what a dealmaker does.

Trump on Maduro:

I might talk to him. We’ll see… We’re discussing that with the different staffs. We might talk.

If we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way, that’s fine. And if we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine, too.

U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll warned Ukrainian officials in Kyiv that their forces face imminent defeat and urged them to accept a U.S.-backed peace plan that Kyiv saw as heavily favoring Russia.

Driscoll told them Russia’s military advantage was growing and the U.S. could no longer supply weapons at the needed pace.

Source: NBC News

Maduro rallied supporters in Caracas while brandishing a sword, vowing to resist any U.S. attempt to remove him from power.

Poland plans to deploy surveillance and counter-drone fleets to protect railways and key infrastructure.

Source: FT

France’s Development Agency (AFD) has provided a €300 million loan to South Africa’s Transnet for renewable-energy and infrastructure upgrades.

The move reflects Pretoria’s shift toward European partners following recent trade tensions with the United States.

NEW: Taiwan announced a $40B boost to defense spending to counter growing military pressure from China.

President Lai said there can be no compromise on national security, aiming to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2030.

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The U.S. peace plan for Ukraine was partly based on a Russian document outlining Moscow’s demands, including territorial concessions Ukraine had already rejected.

Many U.S. officials were skeptical, and after global backlash, nine of the plan’s 28 points were removed in talks with Kyiv and European partners.

Source: Reuters

Singapore announced that it will open its first embassy in East Africa and its third in Africa in Ethiopia.

NEW: Colombian President Petro told CNN that the Trump administration’s pressure on Venezuela is really about gaining access to its vast oil reserves—not about democracy or drug trafficking.

Petro says Venezuela isn’t a major drug producer and argues Trump is targeting him personally, including sanctions and a revoked visa, because of political disagreements.

Kremlin aide Ushakov:

I talk to Witkoff quite often, but the substance of these conversations — they are of a confidential — I do not comment on.

And no one should comment on them.

Someone is leaking, someone is eavesdropping.

Italy’s parliament has unanimously passed a new law creating a distinct crime of femicide — the gender-motivated murder of a woman — punishable by automatic life imprisonment.

Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow next week.

Maduro is under U.S. pressure—including military deployments, sanctions, and terrorism accusations—but he thinks Washington won’t risk a ground invasion.

He believes he can only be removed by force and views U.S. threats as largely bluff.

Source: WSJ