Ships in Black Sea come under attack again, protests intensify in France and more: The week in 5 charts

(1) Attacks in the Black Sea increaseA string of attacks on vessels last month in the Black Sea near Romania and Bulgaria came in the aftermath of controversial energy agreements between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia, yand Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealing to European countries to extend their support in its war against Russia.The recent attacks had some members of the NATO alliance wondering if Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking escalation to test their support for Ukraine.Earlier, he summoned the Russian ambassador after HS Dignity and Chelsea 3 were attacked in the Black Sea. The ambassador told him that he had no information from Russia’s defence ministry about the attacks. While Russia did not claim responsibility for the attacks, Bulgarian Prime Minister suspected its role when speaking in Bulgaria’s Parliament, according to the Associated Press.The attacks in the region have increased NATO involvement in the conflict, with the alliance deploying additional planes, drones, and radar systems to the Black Sea.(2) Protests intensify in FranceProtests in France intensified, prompting the government to deploy over 70,000 police officers nationwide on October 24. The deployment follows incidents of violence during protests earlier this month. Protesters have criticised the lack of infrastructure available in government schools, with some boycotting school.The protests have come at a critical moment for France six months ahead of elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron, with a new poll underlining far-right candidate Marine Le Pen as the frontrunner and indicating her position has been strengthened by the latest events. A map showing the number of protests in France More protests were recorded in southern districts, all of which were won by Macron in the presidential elections in 2022, except Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur, where Marseille is. Macron’s lead in percentage points over his rival Le Pen ranged between seven to 19 percentage points. In Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur, Macron lost by one percentage point.(3)India bags 114 medals in Asian Para GamesIndia took home 114 medals from the Asian Para Games held last month, and ranked the fourth best in terms of medal haul. The 114 medals included 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze medals. Athletics and swimming gave the most medals. This year’s showing was the best for India since 2010, the first edition of the Asian Para Games.This year, too, China won the most medals, with Japan and South Korea following. These three countries have stayed in the top three for all years since 2010, except in 2022 when Iran was ranked second and South Korea came in fourth. This year, too, South Korea failed to make top three, coming in at fifth.(4) Cyclone Arnab wreaks havoc in Andhra Pradesh and OdishaA cyclone formed in the Bay of Bengal and made landfall near Andhra Pradesh’s south coast as a very severe cyclonic storm on October 28. A map showing cyclone Arnab’s forecast path, as of Oct. 28 At least five people were killed in the State. More than 42 weather stations across the northern districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Anakapalli recorded over 200 mm of rain between 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday (October 28, 2026).Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who briefed Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the damages caused by the cyclone, said crops, mainly paddy, across more than 70,000 hectares have been inundated, and horticultural crops spread over 10,500 hectares have also been affected. After landfall, rainfall shifted towards the central parts of the State, especially in the districts of Krishna, West Godavari and East Godavari. Challapalli in Krishna district recorded the day’s highest rainfall of 121 mm as of 7:00 p.m.(5) Arab parties deliver historic showing in Israel’s Knesset electionsIn a fractured verdict, outgoing Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost majority in the country’s Knesset elections, and Arab parties along with the Joint List won 19 seats, the most for the group in recent times.This year’s elections came in the backdrop of a roughly 3-year long war Israel has been waging in Gaza against the Hamas following an attack by the latter in 2023. Opinions on the handling of the war and its effectiveness have been split across lines. This is also the election in which Israel’s voter turnout (77.7%) increased to a level not seen since 1999.What remains now is the process of parties building a coalition to reach the majority of 61 seats in the Knesset, a number no single party has managed to reach in the past.(With inputs Nellore Sravani, and from agencies)