25 October 2026

Pressure is building in Lithuania to write a clear commitment into the national security strategy to move to universal conscription by 2030. The president’s National Coordination Council for Universal Defence has already backed a referral to the State Defence Council to assess how to accelerate the shift. Presidential advisers say 2030 must be treated as a state obligation because training infrastructure, instructors and the national division all still have to be built up.

After this week’s drone incursion, Lithuania is reviewing its air-defence rules and consulting NATO on whether intruding objects could be engaged without visual confirmation. President Gitanas Nauseda says the air-defence system itself worked, but the public warning procedure needs fixing, while defence minister Robertas Kaunas said the object could not be shot down without visual identification. Lithuanian and Polish authorities have set up a joint investigation team, and debris found in the Pasvalys district has been added to a pre-trial investigation tied to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and alleged war crimes. Traffic restrictions around Kaunas airport were extended until 01:30 yesterday after radar markers consistent with balloons appeared in a sensitive area, which Lithuanian Airports linked to Belarus’s hybrid pressure.

Panevezys police are searching today for a girl who left for school and did not return home. In Vilnius, a woman born in 1951 died in a flat fire on Mokyklos Street yesterday, and police suspect faulty household appliances caused the blaze. On health, clinicians are again warning that Lithuania remains among Europe’s worst-hit countries for stomach cancer, while diagnosis requires testing and biopsy because early symptoms often resemble routine indigestion. Separate consumer warnings have also resurfaced over worn non-stick pans, plastic containers and melamine utensils, because damaged coatings and heated materials can release PFAS compounds and particles.

A Russian drone hit a residential building in Synelnykove district in the Dnipropetrovsk region yesterday, killing three civilians. The strike injured 12 people, including an 11-year-old girl, and three of those taken to hospital remain in serious condition.

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia launched nearly 2,000 strike drones, more than 1,600 guided bombs and 31 missiles against Ukraine over the past week. He spoke after a Russian strike on an ammunition depot near Kyiv killed at least 38 people. Moscow also said it was preparing fresh strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid. Ukraine meanwhile said it hit three facilities linked to missile production inside Russia, including a plant in Tver region and a centre in Nizhny Novgorod.

Russia also struck four Epicentr shopping centres in Ukraine in less than a day. Kyiv is weighing how far US support determines its ability to keep fighting, with experts saying Washington has no single lever to force a Ukrainian surrender even though US intelligence and the Starshield communications system remain central at the front. Zelensky told NBC’s Meet the Press that fighting Russia without American backing would be very hard. The New York Times says Donald Trump’s recent moves are already eroding decades of Ukrainian trust in the United States, while The Telegraph reported today that Kyiv’s access to the military Starshield system had been restricted.

France arrested nearly 1,000 people yesterday as protests over living costs turned violent. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the worst clashes were in Paris, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse, Montpellier and Nantes, where 70,000 security personnel had been deployed. Speaking in Vilnius today, historian Klaus Gestwa said Vladimir Putin is trying to destroy Ukrainian statehood and reshape Europe’s security order.

Ukraine struck the Avisma titanium plant in Berezniki in Russia's Perm region and the Energia missile and drone components company in Lipetsk region on Saturday. Perm region governor Dmitry Makhonin said 11 drones were shot down over the region, and the target lay more than 1,400 km from the Ukrainian border. Avisma is one of the world's biggest titanium producers, and its output is used in military aircraft, nuclear submarines, armoured vehicles and missile systems.

The U.S. State Department cut staff at four embassies in the Middle East on Friday after an intelligence warning that deadly plots against Americans had reached an advanced stage. A memo from national intelligence director Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran had sharply increased efforts to target U.S. personnel in the region and in some other countries. Riyadh's international airport resumed flights on Sunday after a two-week shutdown triggered by Houthi attacks, even as residents reported fresh explosions linked to missile threats from Yemen. Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that intelligence indicated Iran or its proxies could launch attacks to try to disrupt Israel's Oct. 27 election.

In Tallahassee, at least 12 people were injured in a shooting near Florida A&M University's Bragg Memorial Stadium late on Saturday. Six of the victims were children, and police said 11 of the 12 suffered gunshot wounds during the university's homecoming weekend. In Afghanistan, a woman in Herat said she sold a kidney on the black market last year for 100,000 afghanis, and now says her remaining kidney is failing. The United Nations says 14 million Afghans face hunger, while brokers often leave sellers with only 20% to 30% of the money paid by buyers.

Kimi Antonelli took pole for the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Friday with a lap of 1:34.035. In Abu Dhabi, Alexander Volkanovski retained the UFC featherweight title on Friday by stopping previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev at 4:54 of the second round.