Tens of thousands of women in Iceland are due to take part in the country’s first day-long strike in almost 50 years to raise awareness of gender-based violence and the gender pay gap. Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland’s prime minister, will participate in the protest which will involve women and non-binary people stopping paid and unpaid labour on Tuesday. Teachers, nurses and fishing industry workers have said they will take part in the women’s strike which is the first day-long protest since 1975 when women also downed tools and stopped work. The original protest, dubbed “Women’s Day Off” or “Kvennafrí” in Icelandic language, brought the nation to a standstill due to women refusing to work, do childcare, or cook. Some 90 per cent of Icelandic women are estimated to have stopped work for the day - with schools shut down and flights cancelled due to a dearth of staff. While children were brought to work by their fathers due to a lack of childcare. The protest triggered far-reaching change in the country - with Iceland subsequently electing the first woman to be an elected president in the world and rolling out its first Gender Equality Act. BSRB, the country’s biggest federation of public worker unions, as well as 31 associations, are taking part in the strike, according to local publication Mbl.is. “First and foremost, I am showing solidarity with Icelandic women with this,” the country’s PM told the news outlet. The protest’s organisers want the strike to raise awareness of sexual violence and domestic abuse as well as the undervaluing of sectors where women are over-represented. Campaigners hope more people will take part in Tuesday’s protest than those who took part in the 1975 strike. The World Economic Forum recently declared Iceland as the world’s most gender-equal nation for the 14th year in a row. Read More ‘18 more months, baby. Then I’m in Iceland’: The group helping trans people to leave the US

Ukrainian defence systems successfully destroyed all Russian air weapons fired in the east and south directions, including a cruise missile fired overnight, its air force said on Monday. A total of 14 attack drones, including 13 Iran-made Shahed drones and one unspecified drone as well as one cruise missile, were destroyed, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on its official Telegram channel, lauding Western-supplied air defence systems. “Western weapons have proven and continue to prove their effectiveness on the battlefield,” Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the air force, wrote in a statement on Telegram. However, debris from a downed drone struck a warehouse and damaged it at the Black Sea port of Odesa, officials said. No injuries have been reported so far, Odesa governor Oleh Kiper said. The attack in the short hours of Monday comes as a part of Russia’s campaign to target port and grain infrastructure since quitting a UN-brokered deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to ship its grain via the Black Sea. Russian forces also targeted the regions of Kherson in the south, Donetsk in the east and Sumy in the northeast in its overnight attack, the interior ministry in Kyiv said. For more than 600 days now, Russia has carried out frequent air strikes across Ukraine’s regions. Now soon to enter its second winter, the attacks have sparked fears that Russia is going to step up strikes on Ukraine’s power grid to cripple infrastructure as the winter begins to set in. This comes as at least six people were killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv after a Russian missile struck a mail depot, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. Another 17 people were injured in the blast. The explosion on the Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta is believed to have been caused by a widely used Russian S-300 rocket, said Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov. All victims killed in the attack were employees of the private postal service. Nova Poshta published the names of the six young employees between 21-31 years old who lost their lives “as a sign of commemoration and sorrow”. In a statement published after the attack, Nova Poshta said the air raid siren had sounded just moments before the missile struck, leaving those inside the building with no time to rush to a basement shelter. Russia scaled up attacks on Ukrainian cities and villages on Sunday as officials said two more people had been killed in a shelling attack in the Donetsk region. The casualties include a 58-year-old man who died in his home in the village of Kalinovka and a 61-year-old man was killed in the town of Vasiukovka from a direct hit to his car, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said. A 71-year-old man was killed in a separate incident while fishing at a local reservoir on Saturday, Nikopol military chief Yevhen Yevtushenko said. He said the victim had been found with a fishing rod in his hand. The mayor said Russian forces deliberately targeted the man with artillery fire. In southern Ukraine, the Russian military had used a record number of aerial bombs over the country’s Kherson region in the previous 24 hours, officials said on Sunday. At least 36 missiles were recorded over the area with some villages being hit by several strikes, said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South. The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces could be diversifying the mix of missiles, guided bombs, and drones used in strikes on Ukraine. The Washington-based think-tank speculated that the change could be part of an attempt to find gaps in Ukraine’s air defences ahead of further strikes over the winter. Read More Ukraine-Russia war - live: Putin forced to increase number of soldiers on ground as UK estimates death toll Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 82 times in a single day Six killed and 16 injured in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv mail depot

Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed more than 80 times on Sunday as fierce fighting was witnessed in three major fronts that saw the use of guided air missiles, drones, rockets, artillery and mortar shells, military officials in Kyiv said. The announcement by Kyiv’s officials comes amid reports that Russia rushed more troops to Avdiivka to replace their heavy losses. Officials have said fighting on three fronts has remained particularly “hot”. Fighting in the direction of Avdiivka, Marinka and Kupiansk has intensified in the past few months but aggravated assaults have been particularly strong this month as Russian forces are eyeing the capture of Avdiivka. “During the day, 82 combat clashes took place. In total, the enemy launched 10 missiles and 36 air strikes, carried out 35 attacks from rocket salvo systems on the positions of Ukrainian troops and populated areas,” the General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces said in a daily update on Sunday evening. The Russian military is deploying personnel from Russian territory directly to Avdiivka positions to replace personnel losses, Ukrainian spokesperson for forces in the south Oleksandr Shtupun said. Another military observer from Kyiv, Kostyantyn Mashovets, said the Russian military command has recently transferred several Russian regiments comprising mobilised personnel to the Avdiivka direction suggesting Moscow does not plan to abandon its military operations in this direction, noted The Institute for the Study of War. It added that Vladimir Putin’s forces failed in their renewed push on 19-20 October and are now funnelling additional forces to this front despite suffering challenges with frontal mechanised assaults. “Russian forces are likely once again pausing following a failed major push which suffered heavy losses. A prominent Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces ‘unexpectedly’ counterattacked in the direction of Pisky (8km southwest of Donetsk City) and pushed Russian forces from positions in the area,” the US based think-tank said in its latest assessment on Sunday. In Kupiansk, Ukrainian forces repelled 15 attacks by Russian troops in Kharkiv’s Sinkivka and Ivanivka districts. Russian forces also fired artillery and mortar on the region, the General Staff said. Similar artillery shelling and mortar attacks, targeting 15 settlements, were carried out by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk where the Lyman direction lies. The besieged city of Bakhmut also suffered Russian strikes. “At the same time, the Defence Forces of Ukraine continue offensive operations in the Melitopol direction, offensive (assault) actions in the Bakhmut direction, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops, exhausting the enemy along the entire front line,” the General Staff said. Troops amassed on both sides are engaged in daily shelling, but Russian forces are likely facing “positional deadlock”, a Kremlin-affiliated military blogger said, citing difficulties. “The milblogger claimed that it is difficult to conduct manoeuvre warfare on a static front line with a large number of personnel and fortified areas on both sides. The milblogger noted that Ukrainian drones and other precision weapons have made armoured vehicles increasingly vulnerable and have made ground attacks increasingly difficult,” the ISW said. He said Russian forces are “facing difficulties in overcoming Ukrainian minefields near Avdiivka and are unable to completely destroy Ukrainian logistics, allowing the Ukrainian command to quickly transfer personnel to critical areas”. Read More Ukraine-Russia war - live: Putin forced to increase number of soldiers on ground as UK estimates death toll Six killed and 16 injured in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv mail depot A price cap on Russian oil aims to starve Putin of cash. But it's largely been untested. Until now

Israeli warplanes are striking targets across Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive in the besieged Hamas-ruled territory. Fears of a widening war have grown as Israel struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon and traded fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group. Two aid convoys arrived in the Gaza Strip over the weekend through the Rafah crossing from Egypt. Israel said the trucks carried food, water and medical supplies. Israel has not allowed in fuel, which is critically needed for water and sanitation systems and hospitals. The war, in its 17th day Monday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 4,651 people have been killed and 14,254 wounded in the territory. In the occupied West Bank, 96 Palestinians have been killed and 1,650 wounded in violence and Israeli raids since Oct. 7. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians who died in the initial Hamas rampage into southern Israel. In addition, 222 people including foreigners were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, Israel's military has said. Two of those have been released. Currently: 1. Premature babies hooked up to incubators are at risk of dying because of dwindling fuel in the Gaza Strip 2. Biden walks tightrope with support for Israel as allies and the left push for restraint 3. A second convoy of trucks carrying desperately needed aid reaches Gaza 4. Blinken and Austin say the U.S. is ready to protect American forces should the war escalate 5. Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war Here’s what’s happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: EUROPE MINISTERS DISCUSSING GETTING AID INTO GAZA BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers are meeting Monday to discuss ways to help vital aid get into Gaza, particularly fuel, after two convoys entered over the weekend. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that “in normal times, without war, 100 trucks enter into Gaza every day. So it’s clear that 20 is not enough.” Borrell said the emphasis must be on getting power and water-providing desalination plants running again. “Without water and electricity, the hospitals can barely work,” he told reporters in Luxembourg, where the meeting is taking place. He said the ministers will also look at ways to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians longer term. “The great powers have forgotten about the Palestinian issue, thinking it was going to be solved alone, or it doesn’t matter. Yes, it matters,” Borrell said. WORLD LEADERS CALL FOR ADHERENCE TO HUMANITARIAN LAW Several world leaders on Sunday spoke about the was between Israel and Hamas, reiterating their support for Israel and its right to defend itself against terrorism and called for adherence to humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians. U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom also welcomed the release of two hostages and called for the immediate release of all remaining hostages. They committed to close coordination to support their nationals in the region, in particular those wishing to leave Gaza. The leaders welcomed the announcement of the first humanitarian convoys to reach Palestinians in need in Gaza and committed to continue coordinating with partners in the region to ensure sustained and safe access to food, water, medical care and other assistance required to meet humanitarian needs. They also said they would continue close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace. ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER WARNS HEZBOLLAH TO STAY OUT OF WAR Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops stationed near the border with Lebanon, where the Israeli army and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants also have traded fire during the Hamas-Israel war. A top official with Iran Hezbollah vowed Saturday that Israel would pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and said Saturday that his militant group based in Lebanon already is “in the heart of the battle.” Speaking to troops in the north on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would react more fiercely than it did during its short 2006 war with Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon. “If Hezbollah decides to enter the war, it will miss the Second Lebanon War. It will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state are devastating,” the Israeli leader said. ISRAEL SAYS 2ND BATCH OF HUMANITARIAN AID ENTERED GAZA Israel says Sunday that a second batch of humanitarian aid was allowed into Gaza, at the request of the U.S. and according to instructions from other political officials. On Saturday, 20 trucks entered in the first shipment into the territory since Israel imposed a complete siege two weeks ago. Sunday's batch included only water, food, and medical equipment, with no fuel, Israel said. U.S. President Joe Biden and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel “affirmed that there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza,” the White House said in a statement after a phone call between the leaders. Earlier Sunday, Egypt’s state-run media had reported that 17 aid trucks were crossing into Gaza on Sunday, but the United Nations said no trucks had crossed. On Sunday, Associated Press journalists saw seven fuel trucks head into Gaza. Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, and the Israeli military said those trucks were taking fuel that had been stored on the Gaza side of the crossing deeper into the territory, and that no fuel had entered from Egypt. UNRWA SAYS THERE WILL BE NO HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE WITHOUT FUEL AMMAN, Jordan — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says it will run out of fuel in Gaza in three days. “Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach many civilians in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance,” Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner General, said in a statement Sunday. A first delivery of aid that was allowed to cross into Gaza from Egypt on Saturday did not include any fuel. “Without fuel, we will fail the people of Gaza whose needs are growing by the hour, under our watch. This cannot and should not happen,” Lazzarini said. He called on “all parties and those with influence” to allow fuel into Gaza immediately, while ensuring that it is only used for humanitarian purposes. Read More Israel strikes across Gaza after allowing another small aid convoy into the besieged enclave A price cap on Russian oil aims to starve Putin of cash. But it's largely been untested. Until now Stock market today: Asian stocks fall as concerns rise over Israel-Hamas war and high yields Sen. Menendez returns to New York court to enter plea to new conspiracy charge Japan's Kishida plans an income tax cut for households and corporate tax breaks Australians' rejection of the Indigenous Voice in constitutional vote is shameful, supporters say

Vladimir Putin has been forced to increase the number of soldiers on the ground as Russia has amassed “150,000-190,000 permanent casualties” in the war with Ukraine, the UK ministry of defence has estimated. The Ukrainian ministry of defence also claimed the recent Russian assaults in Avdiivka have contributed to “a 90 per cent increase in Russian casualties”. It comes as Russian forces maintained pressure on the town of Avdiivka in the east and intensified shelling in the southern area of Kherson on Sunday. Avdiivka has become a watchword for resistance, viewed as the gateway to recapturing the Russian-held city of Donetsk and the rest of Donbas. The General Staff of Ukraine‘s Armed Forces said Ukrainian forces repelled nearly 20 Russian attacks around Avdiivka, its buildings now largely reduced to shells. Russian air strikes hit nearby villages, it said. In other developments, six people have been killed in a Russian missile attack that hit a postal distribution centre in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said, as Kherson has seen a record number of bomb attacks in the past 24 hours. Read More Six killed and 16 injured in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv mail depot Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six in Kharkiv Ukrainians prepare firewood and candles to brace for a winter of Russian strikes on the energy grid Ukrainian officials say civilians were killed and wounded in Russian overnight attacks

India stopped issuing visas to Canadians in September as tensions escalated between the two countries.

Singapore will centralize natural gas purchases in a bid to improve the stability and security of its power

A missile strike on a mail depot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has killed six people and injured 16 others, officials said on Sunday. The blast was caused by a Russian S-300 rocket, Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. All of the victims were employees of private Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta. In a statement, the company said the air raid siren had sounded just moments before the attack, leaving those inside the depot with no time to reach shelter. It announced that Sunday would be a day of mourning for the firm. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video showing the building with destroyed windows and construction materials strewn across the floor. He described the strike as an attack on an “ordinary civilian object”. “We need to respond to Russian terror every day with results on the front line. And, even more so, we need to strengthen global unity in order to fight against this terror,” he wrote on social media. “Russia will not be able to achieve anything through terror and murder. The end result for all terrorists is the same: the need to face responsibility for what they have done.” Elsewhere in the Kharkiv region, three people were injured in Russian shelling on the city of Kupiansk, Mr Syniehubov said. The Ukrainian-held frontline city has been at the heart of fierce fighting as both Moscow and Kyiv push for battlefield breakthroughs amid the looming onset of wintry conditions. Officials in southern Ukraine said on Sunday that the Russian military had used a record number of aerial bombs over the country’s Kherson region in the past 24 hours. Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South, said 36 missiles had been recorded over the area, with some villages being hit by several strikes. It comes as further south in the east, Ukraine has been trying to stop a new push by Russian forces to gain more territory there, amid Kyiv’s gruelling counteroffensive that has continued for months. Moscow’s drive to capture the town of Avdiivka encountered fierce resistance on Saturday, Ukraine’s military said, with defences bolstered by fortifications erected nearly a decade ago. “The enemy is becoming more active, but is incurring heavy losses,” General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukraine’s troops in the south, said on Telegram. Russia’s Defence Ministry, in its evening report, made no mention of Avdiivka, but reported strikes on areas outside Bakhmut, a town seized by Moscow’s forces in May after months of battles. Both towns are in the eastern Donetsk region. Avdiivka has withstood enemy attacks for months. Video footage shows buildings in ruins and streets barely distinguishable. The town was briefly captured in 2014 by Russian-backed separatists who seized large swathes of eastern Ukraine, but was retaken by Ukrainian forces who built solid fortifications. The Institute for the Study of War, a US think-tank, said Russian troops had “marginally advanced” near Avdiivka. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six Ukrainian officials say civilians were killed and wounded in Russian overnight attacks Russian attacks kill six in Ukraine as Kyiv ramps up drone counterstrikes NATO member Romania finds more drone fragments on its soil after Russian again hits southern Ukraine Russia claims `neo-Nazis' were at wake for Ukrainian soldier in village struck by missile killing 52 ‘Six killed in Kharkiv strike’ as Kherson sees ‘record’ bomb attacks - live

House Republicans set up a nine-man contest for the speaker’s post on Sunday, signaling what may be a

Watch live as hundreds of Israel supporters are expected to participate in a rally at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Sunday 22 October. The protest, entitled “Standing up against terror, hatred and antisemitism - in solidarity and compassion with Israel,” has been organised by Germany’s Central Council of Jews, political parties, unions and civil society. Demonstrations are continuing across Europe, a day after 100,000 people marched in a pro-Palestine rally in London. The British government on Sunday said it will speak to the Metropolitan Police about its decision not to act over a video showing protesters chanting “Jihad” on the streets of the capital, a Cabinet minister has said. No offences were identified in a video of a Hizb ut-Tahrir protest showing a man chanting “Jihad”. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said “a lot of people” will find the Met’s analysis “surprising”, adding: “That’s something that we intend to raise with them and to discuss this incident with them.” A video posted on social media shows a man speaking into a microphone in front of a banner reading “Muslim Armies! Rescue the People of Palestine”, with the name of the group “Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain” on it. Read More Chancellor Scholz voices outrage at antisemitic agitation in Germany 'of all places' Rabbi who lost family in West Bank shooting ‘feels safer in Israel than the UK’ A jury is deliberating the case of a man accused of killing a New Hampshire couple on a hiking trail

Police said Sunday that a fourth person has died in Britain during a storm that pounded the U.K. and northern Europe with gale-force winds and torrential rain. Derbyshire Police said a woman in her 80s was found dead at a home in Chesterfield, central England. Her death was being linked to flooding in the area. In nearby Derby, the River Derwent reached its highest-ever recorded level on Saturday during a storm that brought 8 inches (200 mm) of rain to parts of Britain. Since Thursday, at least five people have died in the storm -- named Babet by the U.K. Meteorological Office -- that battered Britain, northern Germany and southern Scandinavia with powerful winds, heavy rain and sea surges. In Britain, a man and a woman were killed after being swept away by floodwaters, and another man died when a tree fell on his vehicle. In Germany, a 33-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on her car on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn on Friday. A search was continuing for a man reported trapped in a vehicle in floodwater in Scotland. Some of the worst flooding was in eastern Scotland, where more than 300 homes were evacuated in the town of Brechin and residents told to leave before the River South Esk breached its banks Friday, surging almost 4 meters (13 feet) above its usual level and sending water pouring into the streets. Coast guard helicopters lifted more than half the staff off a North Sea oil platform almost 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of Scotland, after four of its eight anchors came loose during the storm on Saturday. Operator Stena Drilling said the Stena Spey platform was stable. The weather calmed Sunday but flooding continued to cause disruption to road and rail travel across a large swath of central and northern Britain. The Environment Agency issued more than 200 flood warnings for parts of England and said major rivers could remain flooded until Tuesday. Read More Pacific and Atlantic hurricanes Norma and Tammy make landfall on Saturday in Mexico and Barbuda A Detroit synagogue president was fatally stabbed outside her home. Police don't have a motive Iowa woman who made fake cancer claims on social media must pay restitution but stays out of prison

Six people have been killed and at least 14 injured in a Russian missile attack that hit a postal distribution centre in the war-devastated northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said. Oleh Synehubov, the region’s governor said on Telegram that several of the wounded were in serious condition in hospital, adding that all those killed and injured were postal workers. “Russian missiles hit the Nova Poshta centre - an ordinary civilian object,” President Volodymyr Zelenksiy said on the Telegram messaging app. It comes as Ukrainian forces damaged and destroyed almost 50 Russian tanks in just 24 hours as Vladimir Putin’s troops launched a fresh offensive in the Donetsk region, according to a US war think tank. The Insitute for the Study of War (ISW) said Russian forces launched a renewed attack near Adviika on Friday and “marginally advanced”, indicating Moscow’s commitment to offensive operations in the area “despite heavy materiel and personnel losses”. This includes the damage and destruction of almost 50 Russian tanks and over 100 armored vehicles by Ukrainian forces during the past day of fighting, reported the Ukrainian General Staff on Friday, according to the ISW. Read More Russian fighters ‘scrambled over Black Sea to prevent British warplanes approaching Russian airspace’ Biden calls to maintain ‘American leadership’ with aid package for Ukraine and Israel Ukraine's parliament advances bill seen as targeting Orthodox church with historic ties to Moscow Putin says Russia ‘will be able to repel’ Ukraine’s new weapons used to damage Kremlin’s air assets