West Bank settler attacks on Palestinian olive farmers draw condemnation

This is the evening edition of the One News Page Global Briefing, for Sunday, the eighteenth of October, twenty twenty-six. Here is what matters now.

Masked Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian olive farmers across the occupied West Bank in a continuing surge of violence tied to the annual olive harvest. The assaults have included setting fire to vehicles and trees, hurling rocks and beating residents, and have drawn international condemnation. In one village, about eighty settlers set fire to olive trees and threw stones, injuring at least two people, including Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who said she was beaten. Reporters Without Borders condemned the assault as "brazen violence." Belgium said settlers also attacked European diplomats and a French mayor, adding to the diplomatic fallout. The broader pattern of attacks is ongoing as the olive harvest proceeds.

In Canada, a violent, fast-moving fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta killed four service members and injured dozens, Prime Minister Mark Carney said. The blaze, which broke out on Saturday, was one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada's armed forces on Canadian soil, he said. Defence Minister David McGuinty earlier confirmed fatalities and injuries but did not provide figures or a cause. Fire crews worked into the night as fierce winds carried flames beyond the base into surrounding rural areas; the cause remains under investigation.

In the United States, a sixteen-year-old gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, killing three children aged five, eight and eleven and a teacher, authorities said. Two other people, including another child and a teacher, were critically injured. A community member confronted and fatally shot the suspected shooter before police arrived, officials said. Residents later gathered for a candlelight vigil to mourn the victims.

At the Vatican, Pope Leo X I V was discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday, four days after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung to extract a cancerous tumour, his doctors said. Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritoria deemed him fit to leave. On Sunday he recited the Angelus prayer from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace and told faithful in St Peter's Square that he would gradually resume his duties, adding that a planned trip to Latin America in November remained on his schedule.

In Washington, President Donald Trump put on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting Russia that Congress had passed and he had signed into law, issuing an executive order waiver on Friday that cited national interest. The restrictions were due to take effect immediately. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the pause unfortunate and urged support for the sanctions, saying it would encourage Russia to continue its assault. Trump told Congress the pause was in the national interest but gave no further details.

In the Middle East, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called on lawmakers to authorize military assistance to Saudi Arabia, saying any support would be defensive, after a wave of Houthi attacks. The Egyptian presidency said Cairo would provide the necessary support to defend Saudi security and protect its resources.

In France, nationwide protests over rising living costs and declining public services descended into looting, arson and clashes with police across the country on Saturday. Several town halls were broken into, at least one was set on fire, and shops were vandalised and ransacked in Paris and other cities. Authorities reported about one thousand two hundred arrests and one hundred and fifty injured police officers. One demonstrator suffered a hand torn off, with reports suggesting it may have been caused by a crowd-control device.

In Britain, London's Metropolitan Police said no further action would be taken against Sarah Helm, the wife of the Prime Minister's national security adviser Jonathan Powell, over a social-media post that was accused of supporting the banned protest group Palestine Action. The force determined the post did not meet the criminal threshold. Helm, a journalist and author, posted on X in a discussion about author Sally Rooney.

Also in Washington, U S President Donald Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's October twenty-seven election, the first national vote since the October seven, twenty twenty-three Hamas attack. It remains unclear what effect the endorsement will have, with many Israelis reportedly disappointed by Trump's handling of the Iran war and his ceasefire proposal.

In sport, Daniel Dubois stopped Fabio Wardley in the second round at London's O2 Arena to retain his W B O heavyweight title, with Wardley's corner throwing in the towel. The victory was Dubois' second over Wardley in five months and reinforced his standing as Britain's leading heavyweight. A potential future challenge from I B O champion Hrgovic is among the options now being discussed for Dubois.

In cricket, rain delayed the start of day one of the second men's Test between South Africa and Australia at St George's Park in Gqeberha, with only very light rain falling but playing conditions preventing an opening.

That was the evening edition of the One News Page Global Briefing. Read the complete briefing and explore its supporting coverage at one news page dot com.