PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, October 30: First, we take a look at reactions in the Brazilian press after the deadly police raid in Rio de Janeiro. Next, papers discuss US, Chinese and Russian nuclear plans and a new nuclear weapon dubbed a "doomsday machine". Also: "Russia's moral guardians" are trying to ban Halloween celebrations across the country. Finally, we take a look at a wild text exchange between a HuffPost journalist and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The Brazilian press react after the deadly police raids on drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro. Journal do Brazil writes that "witnesses report execution and torture," calling it a "carnage". The paper says this is the deadliest police operation in the history of the city. An opinion piece in O Globo says that "Rio is just the most visible wound on a rotting body". The piece says that until Brazil understands the magnitude of the problem and tackles it on a social level, "we will continue to fight a losing battle, killing people and horrifying ourselves with the news" – until the next wave of killings. Folha de São Paulo reports that the governor of Rio described the operation as a "success", claiming that the operation had preserved the lives of residents. The Guardian's correspondent reports from Vila Cruzeiro, the favela that was targeted. Many residents there searched for the dead bodies of their loved ones who were reportedly killed in the nearby forest. The paper explains that perhaps many of the dead men – mostly in their late teens, twenties and thirties – were members of a local drug faction called The Red Command. But locals who flocked to the scene said that Brazil doesn't have a death penalty and that even if they were involved in the local drug trade, the men should have been arrested and not executed. 

Next, just before meeting with his Chinese counterpart, US President Donald Trump announced that he has directed the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons. The Washington Post reports that Trump wants the testing to occur "on an equal basis" with Russia and China. The paper notes that the announcement signals a reversal of US policy. China, for its part, is planning to narrow the nuclear gap with the US and Russia, the South China Morning Post reports, in order to "safeguard the global balance". The article reminds us that the United States and Russia together hold roughly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.  

Russia, meanwhile, keeps testing its nuclear weapons. The New York Times reports that President Vladimir Putin has announced the test of a "tsunami-making nuclear weapon". The news came days after a trial of another Russian nuclear weapon. According to Putin, "there is nothing like this in the world in terms of speed" and there are "no ways to intercept it". Radio Free Europe writes that the weapon has been dubbed a "doomsday machine". Western analysts say that if it is deployed and actually detonated, it would shower radioactivity and render huge territories uninhabitable. 

Meanwhile, "Russia's moral guardians" are trying to ban Halloween, according to Russian independent paper Meduza. Officials and activists have told teachers to cancel any Halloween-related school festivities, saying the holiday goes against the country's "traditional values" and could even mean "promoting Satanism". A city councilman in Krasnoyarsk called it a "monstrosity" and "a perverse game with death and violence, disguised as entertainment".

Finally, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has insulted a HuffPost journalist. The New York Times reports that the Trump administration often criticises journalists, but when Shirish Date comes calling, "the White House insults go flying". When Trump recently said he could meet Putin in Budapest, Date asked who recommended the Hungarian capital. Karoline Leavitt responded "Your mom did" and even posted their text exchange on X. She continued with the insults, describing Date as a "far left hack who nobody takes seriously". The HuffPost fired back and promoted its membership programme by saying, "MAGA Makes 'Your Mom' Jokes, We Make headlines – Serious questions deserve better than middle school humour". 

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.