Zero's Briefs

Foreign Affairs — Israel, Gantz withdraws eight days before the vote — Benny Gantz has left the race for Israel’s October 27 elections. The army chief of staff has put the military on maximum alert and cancelled soldiers’ leave ahead of the vote, while an Israeli drone killed a Palestinian man in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, in violation of the truce in force since October 10, 2025. Source: Anadolu Agency.

Foreign Affairs — Brazil, first TV debate between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro — The outgoing president and the runoff candidate faced off on October 18 at the Tv Bandeirantes studios in São Paulo. Lula demanded an account of the 134 million reais Bolsonaro requested from banker Daniel Vorcaro for a film about his father; Bolsonaro indicated Cláudio Lottenberg as a possible Health Minister. Source: Folha de S.Paulo.

Foreign Affairs — Cop17 on biodiversity opens in Yerevan — Official sessions of Cop17 of the UN Convention on Biodiversity began on October 19, bringing together 196 parties until October 30. Among the topics at the center of negotiations are the first global review of the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal framework and financing. Source: Armenpress.

Europe — San Marino signs association agreement with the EU — San Marino’s Foreign Minister Luca Beccari and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Šefčovič signed the agreement in Brussels on October 19 that paves the way to the single market, after eleven years of negotiations. Institutional steps for its entry into force remain to be completed. Source: Chiamami Città.

Europe — EU Council adopts first recommendation on housing exclusion — Meeting in Luxembourg, the Council of the European Union adopted its first recommendation entirely dedicated to combating housing exclusion, with measures combining prevention, emergency support and access to stable housing. Source: Informat.

Italy — Schlein ready to run for prime minister — Pd Secretary Elly Schlein has said she is available to run as the centre-left’s prime ministerial candidate, with or without primaries. The dispute between Palazzo Chigi and the National Association of Magistrates over back pay remains open, after government sources confirmed that the related decree will not be signed by Prime Minister Meloni. Source: Il Sole 24 Ore - Radiocor.

Culture — Pompeii, an eruption victim was a doctor — Analyses conducted on the remains of one of the victims of the Vesuvius eruption at Pompeii indicate the profession of doctor, according to the September-October 2026 issue of the magazine Archeologia Viva, based on research by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Source: Archeologia Viva.