20 October 2025
Israel-Gaza
On Saturday, the U.S. warned that Hamas was planning attacks against Palestinians in Gaza that would violate the terms of the cease-fire already under stress from strikes Israel has carried out against militants. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed in southern Gaza, leading to dozens of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Sunday. Israel also halted humanitarian aid to Gaza.
France
On Sunday, the Louvre was robbed by four individuals who broke into the museum using a furniture elevator and angle grinders. They cut into display cases containing Napoleonic and royal jewelry. In the seven-minute heist, eight pieces of jewelry were successfully stolen. Fortunately, the thieves dropped the crown of Empress Eugénie, with nearly 1,400 diamonds, before they sped away. The crown was recovered, though it was damaged.
South Korea
President Lee Jae Myung pledged bold investment in research and development for South Korea’s defence and aerospace by 2030. South Korea aimed to be one of the top four defence exporters globally, so an expansion of government support is to be expected.
Amazon Web Services
AWS had roughly three hours of disruptions, with internet services like Amazon, Signal, Lyft and Reddit. Systems were gradually coming back online as of 6 a.m. ET, with AWS saying it was seeing “significant signs of recovery” for some impacted services. The AWS outage is the first major internet disruption since last year’s CrowdStrike malfunction that hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports globally.
China
China’s economic growth has slowed, growing by 4.8% in the three months to the end of September. The latest growth figure marked a slowdown from the annual rate of 5.2% seen in the three months to July. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he expects to meet Chinese officials this week in Malaysia in an attempt to ease tensions and set up a meeting between Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping.
Afghanistan-Pakistan
The Taliban and the Pakistani government have come to a ceasefire agreement after talks in Doha. Not much is known other than that the two countries will “respect each other’s territory”. Both sides will meet again on the 25th to discuss matters further.
The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa blames the Pakistani federal government for withholding funds earmarked for counterterrorism and claims that is why terrorist activity is on the rise in the area. The ruling PTI party in KP has opposed military operations as a counterterrorism measure on humanitarian grounds.
While the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has stated that the KP government should protect its citizens and stop “begging Afghanistan” for its security.
Social Media Wires
An unsettled peace…
A Venezuelan naval ship ran aground during an exercise.
Feature Photo: “Suicide blast in KP, 2023” – Wikimedia Commons, 2025
The Wires Brief is a daily breaking news report incorporating wire service news and social media updates. DefRep cannot verify the authenticity of social media reporters nor the accuracy of social media updates.