The World

ST. PETERSBURG — U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin on Oct. 21. A U.S. official said Russia and Ukraine agreed to resume trilateral talks with Washington at the technical level, and Moscow indicated they could restart in November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would study Witkoff's proposals but that the process would be long. Russian officials warned Ukraine's position will worsen if Kyiv does not make unspecified decisions. In a Fox News interview, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a freeze along current lines is a realistic route to a ceasefire. He rejected any settlement drafted by Washington, Moscow and Beijing without Kyiv, and said parliament must approve any deal. The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin floated a Trump-Xi-Putin summit; that is unconfirmed. Trump's Oct. 11 'energy ceasefire' was never confirmed by either side. Russia launched 186 drones overnight, of which Ukraine says it downed 150.

ABYEI — The death toll from Monday's drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region rose to 153, a local official told Reuters. That figure is expected to climb. The official blamed Sudan's army but offered no evidence. Reuters cited three diplomatic sources, an aid worker and a conflict expert who said the strike hit a fuel depot that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had reportedly used for supplies. South Sudan summoned Sudan's ambassador. The attack followed a drone strike in RSF-held West Kordofan that killed about 84 people. More than 250 people have died in what is described as one of the war's deadliest weeks. In Geneva on Wednesday, nearly two dozen countries met under UN and Swiss auspices on a ceasefire and political transition. A Swiss official said the conflict has become a drone war that kills mostly civilians. Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has rejected talks and vowed to retake all RSF-held territory.

MANILA — The Philippines summoned China's ambassador, Jing Quan, on Oct. 19 over his Oct. 15 remark that Beijing 'may easily win' a confrontation, though he said China would not use force. Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro called the comment provocative and unacceptable. Jing protested Philippine moves on Taiwan and criticism of China by officials. Some Philippine lawmakers have urged declaring him persona non grata. At sea, the Philippine navy reported two Chinese warships and a coast guard cutter near Scarborough Shoal on Oct. 15. Taiwan's coast guard reported 12 Chinese coast guard and research ships plus four fishing boats operating in or near its waters on Oct. 18. A separate standoff followed near the Pratas Islands. Meanwhile, about 12,000 U.S. and 45,000 Japanese troops began the Keen Sword 27 exercise. AEI analysts assess that Beijing is testing Manila and Taipei's resolve.

RIYADH — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the latest attack by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels on a Saudi airport killed one person and injured 11. A Dubai-based newsletter also reports further Houthi drone interceptions over Saudi Arabia in recent days. Crisis Group's October tracker lists both Saudi Arabia and Yemen among deteriorating situations and risk alerts. Its analysts say fighting intensified around Taiz, where the Houthis are trying to cut the road to Aden. Taiz has more than 2 million residents. They also warn that Houthi strikes on Saudi infrastructure may harden Riyadh's resolve rather than push it to step back. The World Health Organization has said Yemen's health system is near breaking point. Crisis Group expects the Houthis to resist de-escalation without concessions from Riyadh and the Yemeni government. Riyadh may seek limited gains first.

Symantec's Threat Hunter Team reported Oct. 20 that the Russia-linked group APT28, which it tracks as Swallowtail, compromised three organizations in two unnamed NATO countries: a naval shipbuilder, a military aircraft engine manufacturer and a law enforcement agency. The shipbuilder intrusion began in late July. Operators returned to one host repeatedly over about a week, stole credentials by two methods, opened a persistent SSH tunnel and installed a previously undocumented loader. Its encrypted payload was never recovered. The initial backdoor, called HOOKEDGE, arrives through macro-enabled Word documents and takes commands through a hidden browser window. Activity was last seen Sept. 24. Symantec could not say whether data was stolen. The company advises treating any HOOKEDGE detection as a possible ongoing intrusion. The victims were not named.

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is looking to build a more robust deep-cover spying program to wage economic warfare against China and other U.S. competitors, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing about six people familiar with the effort. The paper describes economic espionage as a new Pentagon priority. It also notes that the department has a poor track record in human spying, a field long led by the CIA. The report rests on unnamed sources, and no formal announcement or budget detail has been made public. Separately, the Pentagon said this week that 30 universities had resolved foreign research-security concerns, a sign of the broader push to counter Chinese technology acquisition.

WASHINGTON — A senior defense official told reporters Tuesday that the Pentagon is working with CENTCOM to assess damage at U.S. installations in the Middle East. The official said officials are weighing future global posture against cost in deciding which bases to rebuild. Iran and its proxies targeted U.S. bases after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February. Reported strikes at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar rendered the Combined Air Operations Center inoperable, and installations in Saudi Arabia and Jordan were also hit. The official had no cost estimate. Pentagon leaders have given lawmakers war-cost figures that omit a full count of base repairs, and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have asked for public disclosure. The official said drones and cruise missiles mean bases at home also need new protection, including coordination with the Golden Dome program.