Crisis.Zone: The Conflict Brief

On Friday 30 October, a convoy of buses left Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region, on the fourth day of a local truce brokered by Melania Trump. Residents travelled through Crimea and Russia, flew to Gomel in Belarus and crossed into Ukrainian-held territory, where families met again on Saturday. At the same time, a much bigger deadline hung over the Gulf: several Gulf states have reportedly been told to prepare for a US campaign against Iran after the 3 November midterms.

In this episode of The Conflict Brief, the weekly audio edition from crisis.zone:

- Iran and the Gulf: the reported warning to Gulf states, Mojtaba Khamenei's order to prepare a response without geographic limits, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and diplomacy through Tehran and Doha. With Layla Hassan.

- Israel's week: a UN commission's findings and an election with no majority, plus Jordan's strikes in southern Syria.

- Crisis of the week: Congo's Ebola outbreak, now the second deadliest on record, and a famine warning for Sudan.

- Ukraine: the Oleshky truce and evacuation, a Nordic call to Putin, the strike on Dnipro station, sanctions and a Patriot deal, and alleged Russian sabotage in Romania. With Elena Kowalski.

- Person of the week: Poland's president, Karol Nawrocki, and the fight over the Constitutional Tribunal.

- Also: the Urda train crash in Spain, the end of the UN mission in Western Sahara, Algeria's troops in Niger, El Salvador's soldiers in Haiti, Machado's return to Venezuela, North Korea's missile launch and a reported EU return hub in Rwanda.

Read the newsletter and the underlying articles at crisis.zone.

About this episode: The Conflict Brief audio edition is made with AI. The hosts' voices and the conversation are generated by AI from our fact-checked newsletter, the week's Crisis.Zone articles and an AI research update. Crisis.Zone is an experimental newsroom where AI correspondents report under human editorial oversight, guided by our public Constitution for Crisis Zone AI. Where the audio and our written reporting differ, the written reporting is leading. Read how we work: https://crisis.zone

Just after two in the morning on Sunday, October 25, police cleared more than a hundred tents from the Rossio, one of Lisbon's main squares, hours after thousands had marched for affordable housing. The same Saturday, people took to the streets across Europe, and Donald Trump said new US strikes on Iran could come "maybe tomorrow".

In this episode of The Conflict Brief, the weekly audio edition from crisis.zone:

- Trump weighs new strikes on Iran as Tehran threatens undersea cables, airports and pipelines across the Gulf

- Houthi missiles over Saudi Arabia, from Aden to Riyadh, and oil at its highest close since April

- Crisis of the week: Europe on the streets, from France and Italy to Spain, Portugal and Belgium

- Israel votes under a West Bank lockdown, with Layla Hassan

- Person of the week: Aleksandar Vučić, on the ballot today in Serbia

- Also: Ebola in Abuja, Mali, a church attack in Jordan, Haiti, a deadly fire at a Canadian army base, Tibet and Venezuela

Read the newsletter and the underlying articles at crisis.zone.

About this episode: The Conflict Brief audio edition is made with AI. The hosts' voices and the conversation are generated by AI from our fact-checked newsletter, the week's Crisis.Zone articles and an AI research update. Crisis.Zone is an experimental newsroom where AI correspondents report under human editorial oversight, guided by our public Constitution for Crisis Zone AI. Where the audio and our written reporting differ, the written reporting is leading. Read how we work: https://crisis.zone

On Sunday 11 October, Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, effective immediately, with no terms, no duration and no way to monitor it. Within hours, Ukraine said a power plant in Kharkiv had been hit. Russia has not confirmed it, and within days both sides were striking energy targets again. Five days later, Trump waived the tariffs and most sanctions of the Graham Act, with no end date.

In this episode of The Conflict Brief, the weekly audio edition from crisis.zone:

• The energy ceasefire that, by Ukraine's account, never held, and Washington easing pressure on Russia: Kharkiv, Ryazan, Starlink, the diesel deal and the Graham Act waiver
• Sudan: a growing risk of famine in Darfur and Kordofan, and a disputed airstrike on a gold mine
• Ships, airports and airspace under attack: drones off Bulgaria, a red air alert in Lithuania, ships sunk near Hormuz and missiles on Aden
• Person of the week: Joseph Kabila, the former Congolese president who now openly leads a rebel front in Goma
• Also: US-backed talks in Venezuela, emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Cockroach Janta Party in Delhi, protests in Tirana and settler attacks in the West Bank

Read the newsletter and the underlying articles at crisis.zone.

About this episode: The Conflict Brief audio edition is made with AI. The hosts' voices and the conversation are generated by AI from our fact-checked newsletter, the week's Crisis.Zone articles and an AI research update. Crisis.Zone is an experimental newsroom where AI correspondents report under human editorial oversight, guided by our public Constitution for Crisis Zone AI. Some episodes discuss war, violence and loss of life.

On Saturday, October 10, a missile struck the complex housing Terminals 3 and 4 at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. At least 12 people were killed and 309 injured, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said, and the toll may rise. The Saudi-led coalition blames Yemen's Houthis, who had not formally claimed the strike by Sunday morning. It capped a week in which attacks on Saudi airports killed at least 18 people.

In this episode of The Conflict Brief, the weekly audio edition from crisis.zone:

• Yemen's war reaches Riyadh: a government offensive, contested gains near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and missile strikes on airports in two countries
• A death at a plague research lab in Irkutsk, Siberia: no confirmed diagnosis, no further cases, and questions about how open Moscow has been with the WHO
• Washington and Moscow: a diesel deal Russia has not confirmed, Trump's call for a new Ukrainian president, and US sanctions on the International Criminal Court
• Person of the week: Rashad al-Alimi, the chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council who declared the offensive

Also: Eritrean troops near Adigrat in Tigray, a drone strike on displaced people in Sudan's Blue Nile state, cargo ships sunk in the Black Sea, the arrest of former German spy chief August Hanning, warnings of Russian sabotage and assassination plots in Europe, the Nobel Peace Prize for Navi Pillay, and new torture charges against Nicolás Maduro

Read the newsletter and the underlying articles at crisis.zone.

About this episode: The Conflict Brief audio edition is made with AI. The hosts' voices and the conversation are generated by AI from our fact-checked newsletter, the week's Crisis.Zone articles and an AI research update. Crisis.Zone is an experimental newsroom where AI correspondents report under human editorial oversight, guided by our public Constitution for Crisis Zone AI. Some episodes discuss war, violence and loss of life.

On Sunday, September 27, police declared a major incident at RAF Fairford, the British air base that hosts US bombers. Five men were arrested, no explosives were found, and a sixth man was later held in London. That week, the US-Iran war seemed to reach every border.

In this episode of The Conflict Brief, the weekly audio edition from crisis.zone:
- Iran weighs a US counterproposal while Trump's top aides meet in secret at Camp David
- Saudi Arabia prepares a Yemen offensive and asks Washington to join
- Ebola in Congo passes 4,000 deaths, with no approved vaccine for this strain
- Russia sends NATO a written warning over Kaliningrad, as US-Russia talks turn to a Lukoil asset sale
- Person of the week: Donald Trump
- Also: the US exit from Iraq, Myanmar, Ethiopia's war reaching Mekelle, France, Venezuela and Nigeria

Read the newsletter and the underlying articles at crisis.zone.

About this episode: The Conflict Brief audio edition is made with AI. The hosts' voices and the conversation are generated by AI from our fact-checked newsletter, the week's Crisis.Zone articles and an AI research update. Crisis.Zone is an experimental newsroom where AI correspondents report under human editorial oversight, guided by our public Constitution for Crisis Zone AI. Where the audio and our written reporting differ, the written reporting is leading. Read how we work: https://crisis.zone