October 2026

President Donald Trump said the Iran question "must be decided," framing the choice as either reaching an agreement or ending it outright. He issued what coverage described as an ultimatum to Tehran: a deal, or complete destruction. International oil prices fell back from a six-month high after the demand.

The commander of US Central Command made a rare trip to the White House to brief President Donald Trump on options for attacking Iran, while 10 transport aircraft flew into Israel. Trump also cancelled a weekend campaign appearance, and The Wall Street Journal reported that a front-line Iranian commander made a rare visit to the White House to give a briefing.

Serbia's parliamentary election has changed the country's government, with a student-led anti-corruption alliance winning and President Aleksandar Vucic conceding defeat. The result ends 14 years of his rule, according to the vote count reported after the ballot.

Taiwan's legislature passed a third reading of amendments to drug-driving penalties under which a repeat offender who causes a death can face the death penalty. Legislators including Shen Po-yang did not vote, and the bill cleared the chamber.

Pakistan has closed its airspace to Taiwan's national carriers, forcing their Europe-bound flights to reroute through Russian airspace. The ban is the first time Pakistan has blocked commercial flights from Taiwan. China Airlines and Mandarin Airlines were the carriers affected, according to the reports.

Typhoon Champi weakened from a strong typhoon to a moderate one as its land warning area expanded to cover all of Taiwan, with the storm's wind radius forecast to touch land early the next morning. Forecasters said the most severe wind and rain are expected on Friday and Saturday.

A poll by the Hsin-min Association, conducted by Tai Li-an, put Democratic Progressive Party candidate Shen Po-yang at 50.3 percent support and Kuomintang incumbent Chiang Wan-an at 33.3 percent in the Taipei mayoral race, a gap of 17 percentage points. The survey marked the first time the two candidates' support curves have crossed.

New Taipei prosecutors have indicted five suspects over a staged car crash that injured comedian Huang Yi-hao before a performance, and asked the court to impose heavy sentences. Investigators found the case involved cross-border repression linked to China, with Huang targeted after mocking Xi Jinping.

A newly disclosed US Army operational guideline calls for American forces in the Western Pacific to be able to fight from the first day of a conflict, rather than waiting for a large force to assemble. Units positioned along the First Island Chain would be required to engage immediately if war breaks out over the Taiwan Strait. The guideline is aimed at deterring China in the Indo-Pacific.

Four investment trust subsidiaries of Taiwan's state-linked financial groups will merge, with First Financial Holding's investment trust surviving as the absorbing entity. Mega Financial, Taiwan Cooperative Financial and Hua Nan Financial will fold their trust units into it, and First Financial Holding will hold 50.3 percent of the combined company and lead it.

Taiwan's legislature gave a third reading to a bill exempting people aged 65 and over from National Health Insurance premiums on a conditional basis, with the central government covering the cost. The bill had earlier cleared a second reading, and supporters cast it as delivering on a promised policy.

Premier Cho Jung-tai responded to the payout proposal by stressing that the government will not leave debt to future generations. The Democratic Progressive Party has said the payout should not be raised in a bidding war with opposition parties, warning that competitive increases will never end, and the Executive Yuan has set out three principles for any cash distribution.

Typhoon Champi has developed a visible eye and is rapidly intensifying, with forecasters saying it could be upgraded to a strong typhoon as early as tonight. Former Central Weather Administration chief Cheng Ming-de said the storm has strengthened, and the weather agency has not ruled out issuing a maritime warning.

帛琉總統惠恕仁表示，帛琉與台灣保持外交關係是帛琉自己的選擇，並拒絕了北京方面要求其斷絕與台北關係的施壓。他將中國的壓力描述為一種威脅，會破壞區域互信。

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said a tanker attempting to pass illegally through the Strait of Hormuz struck a mine, caught fire and burned. The vessel was a Singapore-flagged cargo ship that sank in the strait, according to coverage of the incident.

US President Donald Trump said he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and offered US assistance for epidemic prevention efforts. The offer came as the cause of the laboratory workers' deaths remained under dispute.

Hsu Chia-ching announced she is resigning as head of the Overseas Community Affairs Council effective immediately and has asked for an administrative and judicial investigation into allegations that she misused overseas mission resources during her tenure. Premier Cho Jung-tai approved the resignation, saying he respects her decision to protect her reputation.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to two scientists, one French and one Japanese, for work on organic asymmetric synthesis and the puzzle of chirality — the mirror-image nature of molecules. The field has now taken the chemistry Nobel three times. The award makes the Japanese laureate the country's 31st Nobel chemistry winner.

The Coast Guard Administration unveiled its JUMP 20 unmanned aerial vehicle and M18 unmanned surface vessel for the first time during a National Day rehearsal. The display also featured a special police wheeled armored vehicle. The event was held as part of preparations for the Double Ten National Day celebrations.

Students say schools are short of teachers and class timetables are overloaded. The protests have escalated as the grievances have gone unaddressed.

The Democratic Progressive Party caucus said the rejection leaves the public's petitions without a resolution and asked the opposition to state clearly the reasons the nominees were unfit. DPP legislators asked who would decide the continued backlog of petition cases while the Control Yuan member posts remain vacant. Chen Yung-hsing said the vote killed the opportunity to reform the Control Yuan.

Beijing told Washington that approving arms sales to Taiwan before the summit would lead it to cancel the late-month Xi-Trump meeting, according to Japan's Kyodo News. The warning set the condition that Washington must not approve Taiwan arms sales before the meeting, and that Xi would cancel his visit to the United States if the sales go ahead.

Premier Cho Jung-tai responded to the proposal by stressing that the government will not leave debt to future generations, and the Executive Yuan set out three principles for any cash distribution. The Democratic Progressive Party said the payout should not be raised in a bidding war with opposition parties, warning that competitive increases will never end.

US and Iranian officials confirmed that negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war will restart. The talks are being pursued as Washington and Tehran seek a way to halt the conflict.

Taiwan High Speed Rail trains were packed over the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend, with passengers describing the return home as an escape and complaining that the problem should not be pushed back onto travellers. Transport Minister Chen Shih-kai acknowledged that passengers' experience was not good and said a transport review meeting would be held the next day.