RUSSIA LAUNCHES DEADLIEST AIR STRIKES SINCE START OF UKRAINE WAR

President Putin of Russia unleashed the broadest aerial assault against Ukraine’s civilians and critical infrastructure since the early days of Moscow’s invasion in response to a blast that hit a key Russian bridge over the weekend. He threatened further strikes if Ukraine continued to hit Russian targets. Russia’s attacks killed at least 11 people nationwide and wounded 89 others, the Ukrainian authorities said. At least 11 Ukrainian cities came under attack, electrical stations and waterworks were among the main targets, leaving several cities with power and water outages. The explosions blew out the windows of buildings in Kyiv, set vehicles ablaze and sent residents scrambling for shelter at a time when many were heading to school or work.

Putin described Monday’s strikes as a response to Ukrainian “terrorist acts,” casting them as a one-time assault to deter future Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory. In his home city of St Petersburg, where he had travelled on Friday for his 70th birthday, Putin spoke on national television for just over three minutes in what the Kremlin characterised as the start of a meeting with his Security Council. He made a point of saying the strikes came at the military’s initiative.

“This morning, at the suggestion of the ministry of defence and according to the plan of the Russian General Staff, a massive strike with air, sea and land-based high-precision long-range weapons was launched against Ukrainian energy, military command and communications facilities,” Putin said. “If attempts to carry out terrorist attacks on our territory continue, the measures taken by Russia will be tough and in their scale will correspond to the level of threats posed to the Russian Federation. No one should have any doubt about it. ” In his speech, Putin made one notable omission: he did not mention the West as the ultimate culprit behind Saturday’s Crimean bridge explosion. The shift was a possible signal that Putin was interested in controlling the escalation of the war.

BELARUS PREZ: RUSSIAN TROOPS WILL RETURN

President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus said on Monday that Russian troops would return to his country in large numbers, a replay of the military buildup there that preceded Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine. “This won’t be just a thousand troops. ” He said work had already started on the formation of what he called a “joint regional group of troops” to counter “possible aggression against our country” by Nato and Ukraine.

CHINA CALLS FOR DE-ESCALATION

China expressed concern after the missile strikes across Ukraine on Monday and renewed calls for de-escalation. Mao Ning, an official for China’s foreign ministry, said “all countries deserve respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that “support should be given to. . . peacefully resolving the crisis. ”

MOLDOVA SAYS MISSILES CROSSED ITS AIRSPACE

Moldova said that Russian cruise missiles targeting Ukraine had crossed its airspace, and summoned Moscow’s envoy to demand an explanation.

Meanwhile Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, claimed on Monday that Ukraine was preparing an attack on his country’s territory.

“I’ve said already that today Ukraine is not just discussing but planning strikes on the territory of Belarus,” Mr. Lukashenko said. “We have agreed to deploy a regional grouping of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus,” he added.

FED EX-CHAIR BEN BERNANKE SHARES NOBEL WITH 2 OTHER U.S. ECONOMISTS

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, who put his academic expertise on the Great Depression to work reviving the American economy after the 2007-2008 financial crisis, won the Nobel Prize in economic sciences along with two other U.S.-based economists for their research into the fallout from bank failures.

Mr. Bernanke was recognised on Monday along with Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig. The Nobel panel at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm said the trio’s research had shown “why avoiding bank collapses is vital.”

With their findings in the early 1980s, the laureates laid the foundations for regulating financial markets, the panel said.

“Financial crises and depressions are kind of the worst thing that can happen to the economy,” said John Hassler of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.

“These things can happen again. And we need to have an understanding of the mechanism behind those and what to do about it. And the laureates this year provide that,” he added.

Danger of bank runs

Mr. Bernanke, 68, who was Fed chair from early 2006 to early 2014 and is now with the Brookings Institution in Washington, examined the Great Depression of the 1930s, showing the danger of bank runs — when panicked people withdraw their savings — and how bank collapses led to widespread economic devastation.

Mr. Diamond, 68, based at the University of Chicago, and Mr. Dybvig, 67, who is at Washington University in St. Louis, showed how government guarantees on deposits can prevent a spiraling of financial crises.

PROTESTS IN IRAN OVER WOMAN’S DEATH REACH KEY OIL INDUSTRY

Workers at refineries crucial for Iran’s oil and natural gas production protested on Monday over the death of a 22-year-old woman, online videos appeared to show, escalating the crisis faced by Tehran.

The demonstrations in Abadan and Asaluyeh mark the first time the unrest surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini threatened the industry crucial to the coffers of Iran. While it remains unclear if other workers will follow, the protests come as demonstrations rage on across Iran over the September 16 death of Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police in Tehran.

Early on Monday, the sound of apparent gunshots and explosions echoed through the streets of a city in western Iran, while security forces reportedly killed one man in a nearby village, activists said.

Videos showed students demonstrating, with some women and girls marching through the streets without headscarves as the protests continue into a fourth week. The demonstrations represent one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 2009 Green Movement protests.

4,000 BANGLADESH ACTIVISTS CHARGED IN CRACKDOWN, SAYS OPPOSITION

Dhaka : Thousands of party activists in Bangladesh have been hit with “fake” charges of violence in a widespread crackdown by authorities, the opposition said Monday as an international rights group expressed concerns. Opponents of PM Sheikh Hasina — whose government faces a general election next year and is accused of rights abuses— have held protests across the country in recent months over power cuts and demanding a poll under a neutral caretaker government. Some of the demonstrations have been marred by violence.

Sairul Kabir Khan, a spokesman for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said that since August 22, police had charged at least 4,081 named party supporters and leaders in what he called trumped-up or “fake” cases overviolence. Five activists have been killed and more than 2,000 injured at the protests, Khan said. Police say four people have died in at least three protests, but accused opposition of triggering violence.

N KOREA BUILDING UNDERWATER N-WEAPONS SILOS

Seoul : North Korea broke its silence on a recent flurry of missile tests on Monday as its state media reported that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had overseen the test launches of several nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles, including one that was fired from an underwater silo. The report was the first time that North Korea claimed it was building underwater nuclear weapons silos, suggesting that the country was developing technology that would make its missiles more difficult to detect and intercept. North Korean news media also published photos that purported to show a ballistic missile rising from under the waters of a reservoir.

One of the recent tests, it said, was a rehearsal for firing nuclear weapons at airports in South Korea. The North has launched 12 ballistic missiles in seven weapons tests in the last two weeks. All of them have been short-range missiles, except the intermediate-range ballistic missile launched on October 4 that flew over Japan, triggering alarms across the country’s north. On Monday, state-run media reported Kim’s presence at the testing sites for the first time in five months, releasing a ream of photos. The country has conducted a record 25 missile tests this year.

REPORT: TOP 3 DESTINATION COUNTRIES FOR INT’L STUDENTS IN ’20 WERE US, UK & AUS

Further, Indian students are strongly over-represented in STEM subjects, particularly in engineering.

The top destination countries for international students were the US (22% of all international students), followed by the UK (13%) and Australia (10%). Across OECD countries, international students made up 7% of students enrolled at bachelor’s, 17% at master’s, and 26% at the doctoral level in the academic year 2020.

The OECD is an association of 38 member countries, such as European countries, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. These countries attract a largeshare of immigrants, be it for work, studies or even asylum.

OECD’s report points out that while student migration is clearly of great benefit to the student, the host educational institution and the host country, also face risks relate to abuse of labour market regulations and even national security. Responding to press queries, Stefano Scarpetta, OECD’s director for employment, labour and social affairs, said countries that are top destinations for international students have a strong framework to monitor compliance with rules.