NEW: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung threatened “further action” unless Ukraine publicly apologises for revealing that two North Korean prisoners of war had been transferred to South Korea.

Zelensky disclosed the transfer at the UN General Assembly, angering Seoul, which says it was supposed to remain secret partly to protect the soldiers’ families. Kyiv denies there was any confidentiality agreement.

Ukraine called the dispute a “diplomatic misunderstanding,” but Lee rejected that explanation and accused Kyiv of attempting to “bring war on the Korean Peninsula.”

Trump:

They’re going for communism. They skipped socialism. They have the worst people I’ve ever seen running.

But if the Republicans win the House and the Senate, I am going to give all adult citizens in the United States a check for $5,000 each.

Trump:

I wish we could have more of the media support in what they call the elite. We’re the elite. They’re not the elite.

They’re all going out of business.

Trump on the June 2025 strikes on Iran:

They were doing drugs, but they were doing the nuclear. But these drug factories, nuclear factories, were hit so hard.

Iran has continued near-daily attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, even as Middle East oil exports recover.

Since early August, Iran has launched about 30 drone attacks and 10 anti-ship missile attacks per week, according to confidential data shared with The New York Times.

At least four commercial ships were hit in the past 10 days, while British Navy monitoring recorded at least 13 ships struck by projectiles or debris since Sept. 10.

Source: NYT

NEW: Taiwan received the first two of 66 new F-16V Block 70 fighter jets ordered from the U.S. in 2019, after months of delays caused partly by software issues.

The $8 billion deal will bring Taiwan’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 aircraft.

Taiwan’s defense minister said more F-16Vs are expected to arrive before the end of 2026.

Source: Reuters

Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence learned that Putin had ordered Russia to remove previous constraints on its air campaign, telling the military there were “no rules now.”

He said Russia began deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in September, including schools, hospitals and data centers.

Source: FT

Brazilian President Lula:

I honestly think I’m going to win the election in the first round. I think this election will be decided on Sunday.

Flávio Bolsonaro has no past, no present and no future.

Brazilian President Lula:

Trump knows that we have strategic things that he needs. I still have not put the reciprocity law into practice.

But he imports niobium, and 60% of his niobium comes from Brazil. And he knows that the moment we apply reciprocity, I’m going to play the same way he played.

Brazilian President Lula:

From time to time Trump tells me: "Mr. President, I’m imposing tariffs on the world because I have the best army in the world, I have the best navy in the world, I have the best rockets in the world."

And I tell him: "Trump, I don’t want war with you. I don’t want war with you. I want to defeat you in the narrative. I want to defeat you."

That’s why I’ve already written, I think, three articles for The New York Times. I want to talk to the American people about him. And that’s why he treats me with respect.

And it’s good that he treats me with respect, because I treat everybody with respect. That’s all I want: respect.

Brazilian President Lula:

China can be our partner, bringing technology to us, and so can the United States. I have no restrictions regarding the United States.

But Trump has to understand that he takes care of the United States. I take care of Brazil.

Brazilian President Lula:

When Trump came to defend Bolsonaro, I told him: "Trump, if you were Brazilian and what happened in the United States had happened here, you would have been arrested too. You would have been arrested. You can be certain of that."

Brazilian President Lula:

We have now discovered more oil on the Equatorial Margin. You have no idea.

If it turns out the way we think, there is going to be a lot of oil. Trump is going to die of envy.

Brazilian President Lula:

If it weren’t for me confronting these fascists, they would win the election easily. So I am an obstacle to them.

As long as I am alive, I will work to make sure fascism does not return to this country.

Brazilian President Lula:

We are going to distribute the weight-loss injection too — not indiscriminately. We are producing it in Brazil now.

We’re not going to give it free to everybody. We will give it to people who, according to medical judgment, need to lose weight and cannot do it through diet.

Zelensky:

Over the past 24 hours, oil facilities in the Samara and Volgograd regions were hit.

Successful operations were carried out in the Black Sea and in the Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, Samara, and Krasnodar regions, targeting airfields, industrial facilities, oil refineries, a missile and space center, and an ammunition depot belonging to the occupiers.

France and Türkiye are blocking NATO plans to deepen cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan, leaving new partnership agreements stalled for more than a year.

France has blocked Azerbaijan’s NATO partnership over bilateral disputes, while Türkiye has blocked Armenia’s, insisting both plans be approved together.

The proposed partnerships would expand joint exercises, military training and political cooperation.

NATO diplomats warn the deadlock could undermine Armenia and Azerbaijan’s efforts to move closer to the West as both countries distance themselves from Russia.

Source: POLITICO

📸 Shahed drone mural near the UAE Embassy in Tehran reads: “This sound is closer than you think! Good night, UAE…”

UAE officials have warned the UK that a severe punishment for Man City could hurt future Emirati investment in Britain, according to people familiar with the matter.

Source: Bloomberg

BIG: The U.S. removed Syria from its blanket arms-export denial list, effective October 1.

This doesn't approve any specific weapons sale, it just means requests will now be reviewed case by case instead of automatically refused.

The change was made possible by the earlier removal of Syria's State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.