The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) urged the United States and Iran on Monday to resume dialogue to overcome their bilateral crisis and called for restoring security and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, during its 168th Ministerial Council session in Manama, Bahrain.
The foreign ministers also demanded that GCC member states participate in any negotiation or agreement that could affect their security and interests.
According to the final resolution, the ministers highlighted the need to address pending issues related to Iran’s nuclear program, missiles, drones and Tehran’s support for allied groups, while calling for respect for state sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs.
The statement comes amid the confrontation between Washington and Tehran that began on February 28, and the stagnation of diplomatic efforts due to differences over Iran’s nuclear program, U.S. sanctions and maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. In that context, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reiterated Iran’s willingness to reopen the maritime route within a week, provided Washington accepts Tehran’s conditions, including lifting the blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on its oil exports.
BREAKING: Iran announces an oil tanker has hit a naval mine while exiting the Strait of Hormuz through the US-backed southern Omani corridor, with a massive fire in the engine room. pic.twitter.com/kzMnoJr4Q0
On navigation, the GCC ministers called for the situation in Hormuz to return to the conditions existing before February 28, in accordance with international law, the sovereignty of coastal states and the rights of affected countries. They stressed the importance of guaranteeing maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb and the Red Sea, and warned against closing those routes, obstructing traffic, attacking merchant ships and crews, laying mines and imposing illegal fees or restrictions on passage. They also rejected making navigation subject to prior authorizations or imposed routes in contradiction with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and customary international law.
Marco Rubio on Iran:
They chose to take the straits hostage. They would have done it anyway.
Imagine if Iran had a nuclear weapon.
At that point, they could say, "And by the way, we own the Strait of Hormuz, and you guys can't do anything about it because we won't just hit… pic.twitter.com/OUgeE88qon
The meeting was chaired by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani, with the attendance of his counterparts from member countries and the organization’s secretary-general.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to a new low of 33% two weeks before the U.S. midterm elections, amid cost-of-living concerns, according to a new poll conducted by Ipsos, The Washington Post and ABC News.
Disapproval stood at 66%, including 52% who strongly disapprove. The rating was four percentage points lower than in July and 12 points below February 2025, when approval was 45%. It marked a lower level than at any point in his first term. Among likely voters, 38% approved and 62% disapproved.
Voters were concerned about the cost of living and about the president’s decision to start the war against Iran, which affected fuel prices. 71% of respondents called gasoline unaffordable, up from 28% in February before the war in Iran raised fuel costs. 72% said the country is heading in the wrong direction, an increase of five points from April.
Trump's declining approval ratings are exposing a growing divide within the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections.
A Fox News poll shows Trump retains 95% approval among MAGA Republicans, compared with just 47% among non-MAGA Republicans.
Approval ratings traditionally serve as a key factor in anticipating midterm results in the United States, and several Republican members of Congress are struggling in districts that were once conservative strongholds.
Likely voters surveyed backed the Democratic congressional candidate over the Republican, 52% to 44%. Among all registered voters, the margin was 50% to 42%, an improvement for Democrats from July, when the gap was barely three points.
Trump has redoubled his participation in campaign events around the country to maintain control of Congress.
U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder warned that European companies could face devastating retaliation in the U.S. market if the bloc proceeds with a proposal to reserve much of a key satellite-to-smartphone spectrum band for European operators, according to an interview with a specialized financial print publication.
The EU plan could limit access for foreign companies, including SpaceX, and the proposal could restrict U.S. companies such as SpaceX and Amazon.
SpaceX, which operates the Starlink satellite network, has criticized the proposed changes, warning they could undermine connectivity in Ukraine, where Starlink has played a fundamental role in civil and military communications since Russia’s special military operation.
Zelensky says Starlink terminals shut down at speeds above 161 km/h in Ukraine, while tests show they continue working above 180 km/h in the EU.
He calls the restrictions a “planned operation,” saying they prevent Ukraine from using some interceptor drones against jet-powered… pic.twitter.com/aC5mPr7UnG
Puzder acknowledged Europe’s right to protect sensitive government information but argued that legislation should not be used to harm U.S. competitors. He also questioned whether the EU’s enforcement of its Digital Markets Act was aimed at promoting competition or generating revenue through fines imposed on US technology companies. Puzder urged Brussels and Washington to cooperate in the race against China in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, warning that regulatory disputes risk undermining shared interests.
French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s resignation on Monday, after violent riots in several cities, BFM TV reported, citing the Élysée.
Nuñez’s handling is being questioned amid the violent unrest, the report said. The riots were the most violent France has seen in years and left one protester dead, 600 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters injured and 2,000 people detained, according to the Interior Minister.
The riots followed protests over the high cost of living.
Macron cited failures in anticipation and intelligence that led to the violence on Oct. 17, according to the report. In a televised appearance on Sunday, he condemned the violence and said those who tried to bring down the Republic would have to answer for it.
Minister Sebastien Lecornu confirmed the number of people detained during the police crackdown on protests in various parts of the country.
The Ministry of the Interior reported that 550,000 people took to the streets nationwide, 110,000 of them in Paris.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government would not be “intimidated” by violence and attributed the riots to the “far left” and criminals. The unrest has increased pressure on Macron ahead of presidential elections scheduled for next year.
Israel has arrested more than 2,000 Palestinian children since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip, with at least 350 still detained in severe conditions, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a report this week.
The organization warned of an escalation in attacks on Palestinian children through practices including intimidation, arrest, torture, starvation, isolation and denial of medical care. It said information on the number of children detained in Gaza since the war began remains unclear, particularly due to missing-person figures in the enclave and the continued practice of forced disappearance by Israeli forces.
The group said Israel’s administrative detention policy, under which Palestinians are held without publicly filed charges or a clear release timeframe, leaves children facing an uncertain future and deprives them of family and educational stability. It added that Zionist courts contribute to continued violations against children amid a lack of effective accountability.
— WAFA News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) October 18, 2026
The report cited the case of Walid Khaled Ahmad, who died in Megiddo prison in March 2025 amid medical findings indicating severe emaciation and signs of malnutrition and dehydration. The group questioned accountability for his death, noting the investigation had been closed.
It also highlighted Mohammed Hamid, 15, who contracted scabies while detained in Ofer prison, leading to severe infections affecting vital organs. He underwent heart surgeries and was admitted to intensive care in critical condition before one of his legs was amputated. The group said Hamid continued receiving treatment for about three months after Israeli authorities released him following his health deterioration, a measure it described as an evasion of responsibility for his medical care.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society called for international action to secure the release of arbitrarily detained children, end administrative detention and coercive interrogations, and stop torture, starvation and denial of medical treatment. It said protecting Palestinian children requires firm international intervention to guarantee respect for their rights, lives and dignity.
According to UN reports and the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israeli forces have killed at least 21,638 children in the Strip since October 2023, including more than 1,000 infants under one year old.
A report by an independent UN commission of inquiry released in June said continued attacks have caused unprecedented deaths, injuries and trauma to children, consolidating the legal characterization of these acts as war crimes and crimes against humanity through deliberate violations of global treaties prohibiting extermination and collective punishment.
Since October 2023, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 175,000 wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza, where around 90% of infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed by massive bombardment. Israeli Army raids and settler attacks against Palestinians and their property have intensified in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of Israel’s genocide against Gaza in October 2023.
Four Canadian military personnel were killed and dozens seriously injured in a fire at the Wainwright base in western Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed Sunday.
In a televised statement, Carney described a violent fire that spread rapidly as among the worst tragedies suffered by the Canadian Armed Forces on its territory. He said relatives had been informed and ordered flags on all federal buildings flown at half-mast, expressing solidarity with the families of victims and the injured.
Among those affected were reservists and soldiers from Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, one of the best-known infantry regiments in the Canadian Army.
Carney promised Canada would support victims and families for as long as needed, care for the injured throughout recovery and back Armed Forces members bearing the loss, saying they would not carry it alone because Canadians take care of one another.
LIVE: Statement on CFB Wainwright • EN DIRECT : Déclaration concernant la BFC Wainwright https://t.co/bMaGN3Xvl7
The Department of National Defence previously reported that the fire began around 4:00 p.m. local time Saturday in a training area of the base, located about 200 kilometers southeast of Edmonton, and spread rapidly beyond its boundaries, forcing military and civilian emergency services to deploy.
Global News, citing several military sources, reported that the explosion occurred during a live-fire exercise and may have originated when a projectile hit a gas pipeline or natural gas well. The account has not been officially confirmed. The toll given by Carney was the first official death figure.
The Canadian Armed Forces said Sunday that while the investigation continues, there is no indication the incident resulted from terrorist activity. NASA satellite images from its forest fire monitoring system captured at least seven clusters of fires at the camp in the early hours of Saturday.
At least 29 people were detained Sunday during a march in Santiago marking the seventh anniversary of Chile’s 2019 social outburst, the largest wave of protests since the return to democracy.
The march brought several thousand people to Plaza Italia, organized by social and student groups to remember the roughly thirty victims who died during the unrest and the thousands injured by security forces during the 2019 demonstrations.
The protests were originally triggered by a public transport fare increase during Sebastián Piñera’s government, adding to decades of accumulated discontent with the country’s neoliberal model.
This was the first commemoration of the social outburst during the term of far-right President José Antonio Kast, who has consistently criminalized the 2019 protests and refers to them as a “criminal outburst.” Slogans at the march targeted his government’s fiscal adjustments, and demonstrators called for a fairer economic model and greater social rights.
The government has decreed cuts in health, education, science, culture, scholarships, bonuses and subsidies, the closure of a program for women and the end of a plan that for 17 years provided computers to low-income schoolchildren.
🟥 Más de 5 horas llevan los manifestantes en Santiago de Chile, tras la fuerte represión contra la marcha en conmemoración por los 7 años de la revuelta popular de 2019, esta vez, en el marco de la grave situación social y económica que enfrenta el pais a la que se suman los… pic.twitter.com/7ysqKHDQOG
Kast, seven months into his term, has a 64% disapproval rating, driven by unfulfilled promises, falling economic indicators and rising unemployment, while rejection of social and public assistance cuts grows.
A poll by the firm Criteria published Sunday found that 68% of respondents believe the demands that sparked the 2019 unrest remain unresolved in Chile.
Public transport fares in Victoria will be capped at $30 a week if the Labor government is re-elected next month – but commuters will need to dust off their Myki cards to benefit.
The premier, Ben Carroll, on Monday said the fare cap would begin on 1 January, the day after half-price fares end. The discounted fares were introduced after a period of free public transport in response to the fuel crisis sparked by the US-Iran war.
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