"Russia is expected to embark on another special operation, it will be very short." That is the headline on an opinion piece published by RIA Novosti, the official Russian state news agency. The stated reason is Lithuania's decision to cancel the law prohibiting the placement of nuclear weapons in the country. The piece also claims the Baltic states are working to raise the level of threats on Russia's borders in order to force Moscow to act.

US President Trump: Very productive meeting with President Xi for both the U.S.A. and China. Tremendous things will be happening. Like almost everyone else, he seemed to like calling the poorly and inaccurately named Artificial Intelligence to a far more accurate and important name, SUPER INTELLIGENCE. That would be “SUPER!” Everyone last night agreed, also.

Starbucks is shutting 250 weak-performing North American stores, about 1% of its footprint. The move carries $300 million in restructuring charges and finishes by the end of fiscal 2026. Reuters

Two North Korean soldiers captured fighting for Russia were transferred by Ukraine to South Korea. President Lee Jae Myung called Zelensky's public disclosure of that transfer a violation of a confidentiality agreement and "deeply regrettable." Lee: the matter is highly sensitive for diplomacy and national security, and such issues should be handled on national interests, not political gains.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says EU member states have agreed on terms to release €6.6 billion from the European Peace Facility for Ukraine. “That’s good news for Ukraine and bad news for Russia.”

Zelenskyy: "President Trump stressed that he had made his final decision: Ukraine will receive licenses to produce Patriot missiles." The Ukrainian president said the decision was confirmed at their meeting this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. He has previously estimated one to one and a half years to launch domestic production once licensing is finalized.

Groundwork for possible U.S. military action around Cuba is being laid, CBS News reports. An internal Army message reviewed by the network shows the Army Reserve assessing which forces could be needed within a 90 to 120 day window. The requests span medical, surgical, military police, engineering and logistics units, among them a combat sustainment support battalion, a medical brigade, a forward surgical detachment and a military police brigade. No deployment orders have been issued.

European vessels in the Red Sea will not be hit, the Houthis have assured the EU. Washington received the same assurances. The group says its activity near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait is not aimed at disrupting international shipping. Its focus now appears to be turning toward Saudi Arabian interests. Financial Times

U.S. Ambassador to Beijing: Trump made clear to his Chinese counterpart that any assistance China provides to Iran is completely unacceptable. CNBC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said most of a $27 billion defence budget is needed for drones and missiles in January and February of next year. He added that Kyiv has asked the EU to speed up the second tranche of its 90 billion euro loan.

United Russia is the official winner of the State Duma election with 349 seats. Behind it: the Communist Party of the Russian Federation on 37, LDPR on 23, New People on 19, the Social Democratic Party on 17, Rodina on 1, plus four independents. Turnout came in at 59.80%, or 67,448,094 voters, according to Pamfilova.

Perm oil refinery, one of Russia's largest, is burning at its AVT-5 unit after a Ukrainian drone attack. Ulyanovsk's Iskra plant and Voronezhsintezkauchuk in Voronezh were also hit.

Netanyahu on Iran during his UN speech: "It's only a matter of time that in Iran something incredible will happen." "The power of the people will overcome the people in power. I want you to listen to my words carefully. One day, and it may not be far away, the Iranian people will be free."

Marine Le Pen told POLITICO that a victory in the 2027 presidential election would end all French financial aid to Ukraine. She also faulted Emmanuel Macron for not doing enough to bring Russia back to talks.

Wednesday brought the largest one day volume of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz since July, per Al Arabiya. Around 60 vessels made the transit. About 40 of them coordinated with the U.S. military for protection.

EU's von der Leyen on Canada: We want to be as close as possible to Canada, and it’s not only values-based, it’s also interests-based.

Netanyahu: Trump's "bold leadership" and the partnership between the two countries helped "save civilization" and free the hostages in Gaza. He praised Israeli soldiers, flagged the danger of Iranian ballistic missiles, and accused Qatar and Turkey of supporting Hamas and spreading anti-Israel messaging.

Netanyahu: "There's an eighth front to this war. It's the war for truth. It is waged in the world's media and, most perniciously, in social media. Several foreign countries have spent untold billions to spread lies about my country. The first to do so was Qatar, decades ago. It started massively funding American universities and toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera. They did the same in Europe, by the way. And their goal was clear: brainwash young minds to hate Israel, hate America, hate the West."

On the sidelines of multilateral meetings in Geneva, New York and Casablanca, Morocco, U.S. officials have been pressing China over allegations it secretly carried out very low level nuclear tests. The confidential talks also cover Beijing's rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal and doubts over its compliance with a 30 year test ban. U.S. officials, per the Wall Street Journal.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama argued that if women were placed in charge of every government in the world for a two year period, global outcomes would improve.