The World

KINSHASA — Joseph Kabila, who led the Democratic Republic of Congo until 2019, has joined a rebellion in the east. Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that he took part in signing the founding document of the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, which it described as a political-military movement. France 24 reported that he will lead the new movement alongside M23 rebels. M23, which Crisis Group says is backed by Rwandan troops, holds the city of Goma. Both Kinshasa and M23 have kept buying drones despite a formal ceasefire. The move comes as President Félix Tshisekedi's government pushes a constitutional referendum that critics say would let him seek a third term. A protester was killed in Kinshasa in September in clashes over that plan. Kinshasa's response to Kabila's move has not yet been detailed.

SAMARKAND — Secretary of State Marco Rubio left Washington on October 17 for Uzbekistan and India. He is in Samarkand with a commercial delegation of nearly 300 American companies. RFE/RL reported that the group includes Boeing, Citibank and Franklin Templeton, along with firms in critical minerals and other strategic sectors. The trip drew criticism from observers who say it keeps him away from the most pressing crises, among them Iran, Gaza, Ukraine and China. Rubio also serves as national security adviser, but is not the public face of those files, as an AP report noted. The Diplomat argues that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan welcome Washington, and that both have backed initiatives such as the Board of Peace that traditional U.S. allies have avoided. Moscow and Beijing both compete for influence in the region.

CARACAS — The U.S. Treasury lifted sanctions on Jorge Rodríguez, head of Venezuela's National Assembly, on October 14, according to the Council on Foreign Relations' conflict tracker, which cites Reuters. He is the brother of acting president Delcy Rodríguez. She has governed under U.S. pressure since American special forces seized Nicolás Maduro in January. Hundreds of Venezuelans rallied in Caracas and other cities on September 27. They demanded that the government let opposition leader María Corina Machado return safely and schedule elections. Venezuela is also still recovering from twin earthquakes near Caracas on June 24, which killed thousands. Counts of the dead differ between sources. The sanctions relief signals that Washington is dealing with the existing power structure rather than pressing for an immediate handover. No election timeline has been announced.

SEOUL — South Korea has recalled its ambassador to Ukraine and is demanding a public apology from Kyiv, The Diplomat reports. The dispute followed a transfer involving North Korean prisoners that Kyiv made public against Seoul's wishes. Seoul has been trying to keep a channel open to Pyongyang, but North Korea has rejected any contact. A mine blast tested that policy recently. The rift comes as the South Korea-U.S. alliance is also under strain, according to a separate Diplomat analysis. It points to restricted intelligence sharing, a dispute over investment, and remarks by a U.S. commander as signs of a widening gap. The Diplomat also notes that North Korea's drones, missiles and nuclear forces are growing more dispersed and concealable, faster than Seoul can build the means to target them. Neither government has set out a timeline for resolving the dispute with Kyiv.

European security services say Russian covert activity has moved beyond symbolic acts. Estonia's counterintelligence chief told Foreign Policy this month that the aim is now to disrupt supply lines to Ukraine. He said Estonia has arrested 20 people who traveled to Russia and were recruited there, and that proxies can put up to seven layers between a saboteur and Moscow. The Financial Times, citing five European agencies, reported Oct. 11 that defense-industry executives face growing assassination risk. Those agencies link the activity to the GRU, which they say increasingly works through organized crime. In Latvia, outlet LSM reports that foreign investigative journalists have named Latvian citizen Oleg Levushkin as a possible organizer of the August Leipzig airport sabotage attempt, which Berlin has attributed to Russia. Levushkin has not been arrested, and the journalists' claims are not confirmed by the authorities.

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal magistrate judge ruled Monday that Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, must stay in custody pending trial. Judge Dulce Foster found him a danger to the community and a flight risk. Prosecutors say Mohamud, a U.S.-born citizen of Somali descent, planned an ISIS-inspired shooting at the Mall of America, possibly during an Oct. 24 Hmong arts celebration. He was arrested Oct. 6 after paying $600 to an undercover FBI employee for a rifle that agents had disabled, plus 200 rounds and four magazines. An FBI agent testified that he wanted to harm as many people as possible. His lawyer, Manny Atwal, said an informant began messaging him when he was 16 and that the FBI supplied his only access to weapons. He is charged with receiving a firearm and ammunition to be used in a federal terrorism crime.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The Justice Department says Alexander Suvorov was extradited from Sweden to the Northern District of New York on Oct. 15. He is charged with evading sanctions on Russia and was expected to make his first court appearance in Albany the next day. Prosecutors describe him as the alleged mastermind of an international procurement network. The network allegedly supplied buyers in Russia with American-made micro-electronic components that have military uses. The FBI and the Commerce Department investigated the case. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs obtained the extradition with Swedish help. The National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section is prosecuting the case alongside the local U.S. attorney's office. An FBI counterintelligence official said the extradition shows the bureau's resolve to keep export-controlled technology away from the Russian military. The charges are allegations, and no trial date has been reported.