Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery as leader Ibrahim Traoré pushes to keep more mining profits and processing inside the country.

The $19 million Raffinor-BF plant in Ouagadougou can initially refine 164 tonnes of gold a year, with plans to expand capacity to 515 tonnes and potentially process gold from across West Africa.

The government has increased state control over mining, requiring foreign companies to give it a 15% stake and tightening oversight of artisanal gold trading.

Traoré says the goal is to build the entire gold value chain domestically and reduce dependence on foreign companies.

Source: Reuters

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman invited UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan to visit Saudi Arabia, as Riyadh faces growing pressure from Houthi missile and drone attacks.

Germany boycotted the UN Durban Process anniversary meeting on racism in New York, citing past antisemitic incidents at the 2001 conference and follow-ups.

France and many other states also stayed away.

US Ambassador Waltz called it a "shameful commemoration."

Israel had mobilized against the event beforehand.

UN Secretary-General Guterres used the meeting to call for stronger action against racism worldwide.

Source: Zeit

Russia plans a record 17.1 trillion ruble ($203 billion) defense budget for 2027, 27% higher than previously planned.

Combined with security/police spending, 43.9% of the federal budget goes to the military-security apparatus.

State debt will cross 20% of GDP.

The 2027-2029 defense total: ~50 trillion rubles ($590 billion).

The numbers imply Moscow is budgeting for high-intensity war well into 2029, not a drawdown.

Source: Reuters

Iranian Army Spokesperson:

If any Iranian captures an American soldier dead or alive, we will give her a reward of 10 billion tomans.

UAE UN Representative:

The Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa of the Arab Gulf are islands that are part of the UAE and are under Iranian occupation.

We completely reject continued Iranian occupation of the three islands.

NATO's Rutte:

Russia is not in a good place. Their economy is not in a good place. When you look at Ukraine, they’re losing at the moment over 40,000 a month, dead or seriously wounded a month.

These numbers are staggering. They are huge. Terrible news for the families involved here, obviously.

But this also shows you that you have to deal with a president who is willing to sacrifice now up to 1.2 million of his own people in a totally unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.

NATO's Rutte:

Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against NATO allies. It is trying to weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine.

But Russia is failing. It is failing on the battlefield in Ukraine and it is failing to undermine our unity and support for Ukraine.

Our message to Moscow is clear: We will do even more for Ukraine and not less.

North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Hendrik Wüst met Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara.

Talks focused on bilateral social and economic ties, as well as current foreign policy issues.

Sudan’s UN Representative:

All of these paragraphs are related to the countries that are worsening the conflict.

And at the head of them is the country of evil, the UAE.

First two Turkish Air Force pilots began Eurofighter Typhoon jet training at RAF Coningsby as part of the £8 billion deal for 20 Eurofighter Typhoons.

They'll spend up to 9 months on conversion training with 29 Squadron, then 3 more months as instructor training.

After graduation they'll stay as instructors at Coningsby until Türkiye receives its first Typhoon delivery in 2030.

Israeli Navy Commander:

We have been keeping an eye on the Turks for many years. In the not-so-distant past, we even trained together.

We see the scale of the fleet they have built, and it is on a much larger scale than the Israeli fleet. This is something that concerns us.

Sudan's UN Representative on the UAE:

Their claim to be neutral and innocent will not aid in covering their crimes and atrocities, where they are in a bloodied partnership with the RSF.

Every time we do not say something, we are forced to say something against them. Sudan has a long history in revolutions and in politics.

We ask the UAE to work on their own political regime so that they are more representative of their people, instead of being a familial governing regime headed by military officials.

The UAE is holding an international campaign to target the Sudanese Armed Forces, which are currently working against the mercenaries’ attacks.

Serbia becomes the first Balkan country to have an openly gay president.

Ana Brnabić, who is openly lesbian, assumed acting presidential duties after Vučić resigned to run for Prime Minister in the October 25 election.

Brnabić is now the only person in Serbian history to have held all three top offices: PM, Parliament Speaker, and President (acting).

An early presidential election must be held by year's end.

BIG: US forces exit Iraq by tomorrow after 20+ years, ending a presence where 4,500 Americans died.

Iran-backed groups call it "a historic victory" and "a crushing defeat for the American project."

Iraqi security officials warn the withdrawal is premature.

The last US soldier killed in Iraq died in July during a drone detonation near Erbil.

Seven of 18 US service members killed in this year's Iran war died in Iraq.

Source: Reuters

Iranian airline Caspian Airlines’ Boeing 737 was seized at Istanbul Airport over an unpaid €3 million debt to Turkish aviation services company ACM Temsil Gozetim.

The aircraft was preparing to fly to Iran when court enforcement officers arrived, ordered passengers to disembark and kept the plane at the airport under a seizure order.

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