Rabia Ali
October 22, 2025•Update: October 22, 2025
ISTANBUL
Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including US President Donald Trump downplaying prospects of a second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japan's first female prime minister being sworn in, and South Korea saying that North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.
TOP STORIES
US President Donald Trump downplayed a second summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin just as the Budapest sit-down was put on hold amid an impasse over a long-elusive Ukraine ceasefire.
"I don't want to have a wasted meeting. I don't want to have a waste of time. So I'll see what happens," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he was hosting a Diwali celebration.
The US president alluded to his demand for an immediate ceasefire that would freeze the frontlines in Ukraine, saying: "I said, 'Go to the line. Go to the line of battle, the battlefield lines, and you pull back, and you go home and everybody takes some time off, because you got two countries that are killing each other, two countries are losing 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers a week.'"
Earlier Tuesday, a White House official confirmed that a meeting between Trump and Putin that was expected within two weeks is now not likely to take place anytime soon.
Japan's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, was sworn in by Emperor Naruhito and unveiled her Cabinet, according to Kyodo News Agency.
As part of the new Cabinet, Toshimitsu Motegi was named the country’s new foreign minister and Shinjiro Koizumi, who ran against Takaichi in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election, was appointed defense chief.
Motegi previously served as foreign minister from 2019-2021 and is known for his strong stance on key regional and diplomatic issues.
Takaichi will have at least two other female ministers in her Cabinet.
North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, marking its first missile launch since President Lee Jae Myung assumed office in June, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing South Korea’s military.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles were launched around 8.10 am local time (2310GMT Tuesday) from Junghwa in North Hwanghae Province, traveling northeastward toward the East Sea.
The North’s latest test follows short-range ballistic and cruise missile launches on May 8 and May 22. This marks its fifth ballistic missile launch of 2025.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- Preserving the hard-won ceasefire recently achieved in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas is critically important, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- US President Donald Trump will meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed.
- China’s military said it expelled an Australian patrol aircraft that “illegally intruded” into its territorial airspace over the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, accusing Canberra of "provoking a confrontation."
- The Israeli army said the bodies of two more hostages were transferred by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza under a ceasefire agreement.
- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Mohammed Ismail Darwish, the head of Hamas' Shura Council, and Hamas political bureau members in Qatar.
- US Vice President JD Vance declined to provide a deadline for the Palestinian group Hamas to disarm, saying the situation remains "unpredictable."
- More than 20,000 Palestinian students were killed and over 31,000 injured in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank since October 2023, official figures showed.
- Dutch health authorities have confirmed the country’s first case of a new variant of the mpox virus, Health Minister Jan Anthonie Bruijn announced in a letter to parliament.
- Slovakia sentenced a 72-year-old man to 21 years over a criminal offense of a terrorist attack after he shot and injured Prime Minister Robert Fico in an assassination attempt last year.
- European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a joint statement backing US President Donald Trump's call for an immediate halt to fighting in Ukraine while insisting that Kyiv must enter any peace negotiations from a position of maximum strength.
- Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is officially in prison to serve his five-year sentence over "criminal conspiracy" in a case involving the Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign.
- Polish authorities said that 55 people have been detained in recent months on suspicion of activities undertaken for Russian intelligence, up from an earlier count of eight.
- US President Donald Trump ruled out meeting with the Democratic leadership until after an ongoing government shutdown, now on its third week, is brought to an end.
- The UN's mine action program chief in the occupied Palestinian territories said the organization is "deeply concerned about the heightened risk" posed by explosive ordnance in the Gaza Strip, warning that dangers will persist for years.
- A cholera epidemic is rapidly spreading across the Democratic Republic of Congo amid unequipped medical facilities, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said, calling for a swift coordinated international humanitarian response to contain the disease’s spread.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
War-torn Syria's reconstruction costs are expected to range between $140 billion and $345 billion, with a conservative estimate of $216 billion, the World Bank said.
The 13-year civil war physically damaged $108 billion worth of structures and infrastructure, amounting to one-third of the nation's gross capital stock (GCS), according to the development organization's The Syrian Conflict: Physical Damage and Reconstruction Assessment (2011-2024) report.
Infrastructure was the most severely damaged category, accounting for 48% of the total damage ($52 billion), followed by residential structures ($33 billion) and non-residential buildings ($23 billion).
Amazon is planning a significant automation expansion that could eliminate the need to hire more than half a million workers in the US over the coming years, The New York Times reported.
Internal company documents and interviews reviewed by the newspaper reveal that Amazon's robotics division aims to automate three-quarters of its operations.
The strategy could allow the US e-commerce giant to avoid hiring over 160,000 new workers until 2027 alone, with the efforts potentially saving $12.6 billion between 2025 and 2027.
