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Kyiv is attacked by Iranian-made drones
Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital yesterday with Iranian-made drones, continuing its campaign of strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets. The attacks came during morning rush hour, killing at least four people.
The strikes highlighted Russia’s growing use of the Iranian-made self-destructing drones, which make a buzzing sound like a moped or a lawn mower and explode on contact. The Shahed-136 drones have a range of about 1,500 miles and carry warheads of about 80 pounds, but are slow and easy to target. Western analysts say their use is a sign Russia’s stocks of precision missiles are running low.
Iran has officially denied supplying Russia with drones for use in Ukraine, but U.S. officials have said that the first batch of such weapons was delivered in August. Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had fired 43 of the drones yesterday, but that 37 were shot down by air defense systems.
Response: Ukraine called on the European Union to punish Iran with sanctions for supplying Russia with the drones.
Context: The targets in yesterday’s strike included the headquarters of Ukraine’s national energy utility and a municipal heating station, and they signaled Russia’s aim of crippling power and other key services as winter looms.
Other developments:
China delays release of economic data
As China’s ruling elite gathered for the twice-a-decade Communist Party congress, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics opted to delay indefinitely the release of economic data that had been scheduled for Tuesday morning, without an explanation.
The data was expected to include closely watched numbers for economic growth from July to September, which had been expected to show continued lackluster performance. The General Administration of Customs has also delayed indefinitely the release of export and import statistics for September.
Large countries seldom postpone the release of even a single economic statistic for fear of hurting financial confidence. After the close of trading on Chinese stock exchanges on Monday afternoon, the National Bureau of Statistics canceled its quarterly news conference, which had been scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Context: Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China is returning to its roots: a state-controlled economy that demands businesses conform to the aims of the Chinese Communist Party.
What’s next: Xi is poised to claim a groundbreaking third term as leader at the end of the congress, and his speech at its opening made it clearer than ever that China is moving away from liberalization.
Finance minister drops most of U.K. tax-cuts plan
In an effort to pump the brakes on the free-market economic agenda proposed by Prime Minister Liz Truss, Britain’s new chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced today that he would reverse virtually all the government’s planned tax cuts.
He also put a time limit on energy subsidies. The moves came in a desperate bid to steady the financial markets and stabilize the government. But as Hunt moved to take control of the economic levers of government, Conservative Party lawmakers were meeting to plot ways to force Truss out of power.
Truss’s Conservative government had planned to announce the tax and spending details of its fiscal plan on Oct. 31, but with the markets still gyrating, Hunt rushed forward the schedule.
Data: As a result of the announcement as well as several better-than-expected earnings reports, markets in the U.K. and U.S. shot upward on Monday.
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BTS to Enlist in South Korea’s Military
The members of the K-pop group BTS will enlist in South Korea’s military as required by law, the band’s label said on Monday, ending months of public debate about whether the group qualified for an exemption to mandatory conscription.
South Korea requires all able-bodied men to enlist by the time they turn 30 and to serve for about two years. Exceptions can be granted, for example to Olympic athletes and some high-level classical musicians, but pop music artists do not qualify.
The seven members will reconvene “as a group again around 2025” after completing their service, the label, Big Hit Music, said in a statement posted on Twitter. After the announcement, the stock price of Big Hit’s parent company, HYBE, fell 2.5 percent on Monday.
Millions of dejected fans, who call themselves the Army, took to social media to express their support, grief and disbelief. The move is also likely to have wider ramifications, depriving South Korea of the billions of dollars the band’s followers pump into its economy.
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