Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at more hoax bomb threats across Europe, the status of Russia-Ukraine peace talks, and Spain’s housing affordability crisis.

Classrooms, Airlines, Blood Banks, Etc.

False bomb threats once again disrupted thousands of Europeans on Wednesday in what officials and experts suspect may be part of an ongoing campaign of hybrid warfare against the continent. But rather than affecting airline passengers, this time, the threats targeted students.

Around 6,300 schools across Italy received anonymous bomb threats on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of institutions to evacuate their classrooms. Schools in Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland also received such warnings, though those emails were quickly classified as hoaxes and therefore did not disrupt learning.

The incident prompted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to convene an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday with cybersecurity experts to discuss next steps. “The reports appear to be part of a strategy aimed at causing alarm and concern, which is currently being investigated in depth,” Meloni posted on social media, adding that there is no evidence to suggest that the threats pose a concrete danger.

It is unclear who was responsible for Wednesday’s scare, though at least one email to an Italian school was reportedly signed by a “Mikhail Andropov,” the same purported author of last week’s bomb threats against newsrooms in Bulgaria and Ireland.

At least 21 European nations have experienced similar hoaxes or actual cyberattacks in the past few weeks. That includes false bomb threats on at least 27 different European airlines, hacking operations on supermarket refrigeration systems, and coordinated cyberattacks on blood banks. These incidents have disrupted air traffic for thousands of travelers, spoiled food, sparked fires, and threatened critical healthcare infrastructure.

“We obviously need to be vigilant,” Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told local media on Wednesday. “But we must also be aware that in a context where hybrid warfare is increasingly being used as a tool to destabilize nations and economies, we need to prepare ourselves.”

Some security officials suspect that Russia could be to blame, arguing that the recent slew of incidents may be targeting European countries that have armed or financed Ukraine. In recent months, Moscow has been accused of ramping up hybrid warfare operations in Europe, from a failed drone attack on Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport in August to repeated incursions into Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. Russia continues to deny any involvement in the incidents.

The Kremlin, however, isn’t the only suspect. On Monday, French authorities accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of being behind last month’s supermarket refrigeration attack, and the following day, the country’s foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador to Paris.

“We rule nothing out and will take all measures, including those we may not disclose publicly, that we deem proportionate and necessary to deter any further attacks,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Tuesday. Such measures could include new European Union sanctions on Tehran.

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What We’re Following

Little peace progress. Russia and Ukraine ended two days of U.S.-mediated peace talks on Wednesday with an agreement to exchange prisoners in the next few weeks. According to U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner, this will be the “biggest humanitarian release of prisoners” thus far, though exact numbers will not be finalized until Thursday.

However, the swap agreement was one of the only breakthroughs to emerge out of the talks in Abu Dhabi. Both sides remain bogged down by old sticking points, such as whether to impose a temporary cease-fire before a permanent truce and if Ukraine should relinquish Russian-occupied territory in the Donbas region.

The lack of a European presence in Abu Dhabi may also have hindered the conference’s progress; Moscow does not want any European involvement in direct negotiations, but both Kyiv and Washington wish to add them to future talks. “We believe that Europe must be represented at every stage of real diplomacy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X on Wednesday.

But this week’s diplomatic efforts aren’t over yet. On Thursday, Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before traveling to Dublin for similar talks with Zelensky.

Housing reform. Millions of Spanish residents took part in a general strike on Wednesday to protest the country’s housing affordability crisis. Backed by Spain’s two largest trade unions, the nationwide demonstrations are the first of their kind in 14 years and could help Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez steer the conversation back in his favor ahead of snap parliamentary elections later this month.

Spain’s housing reckoning kicked off in September, when an 87-year-old Madrid resident was forcibly evicted from her home. Her struggle became the symbol of a wider conversation over skyrocketing rents, stagnant wages, and weak tenant protections across the country. Sánchez’s efforts to enact stronger tenant rights were blocked by opposition parties, though, prompting the left-wing leader to call for a snap vote.

However, any political momentum that Sánchez earned from pursuing housing reform has come under threat in the wake of last month’s deadly train crash, which killed at least 69 people and injured more than 100 others. It was the country’s second deadly high-speed rail incident this year, raising questions about insufficient government oversight and maintenance. Sánchez’s administration is therefore likely hoping that Wednesday’s strike puts the public’s focus back on housing concerns before Spaniards head to the polls on Nov. 29.

The nuclear status quo. Iran vowed again on Wednesday not to allow any enriched nuclear material to leave its territory, prompting global oil prices to rise after a short-term reprieve. The declaration echoes a similar directive issued by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in May; however, Tehran reiterating the stance now could hinder efforts to restart U.S.-Iran peace talks, which largely hinge on the future of Tehran’s nuclear program.

The White House has insisted that any final deal with Tehran must involve Iran surrendering its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and accepting curbs on its nuclear program. “Crazy Islamists in Tehran will never, ever have a nuclear weapon,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday in a defiant address defending the Trump administration’s controversial handling of the Iran war.

Iran maintains that it does not seek a nuclear weapon and that it has the right to enrich uranium for civilian use. “We need the ​enriched material to design ships and submarines that work on nuclear energy,” Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Wednesday. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency estimated that before the United States and Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025, Iran had 440 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent—a level far higher than what is needed for civilian purposes. How much highly enriched uranium the country still has today is not clear.

Rezaei’s statement rattled energy markets, with both Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures rising 1.3 percent. In recent weeks, global oil prices dropped considerably amid hopes that the war will end soon, particularly after Trump appeared to rule out launching a fresh wave of strikes for now.

Odds and Ends

Formal business attire may be the standard for most Japanese lawmakers, but one legislator is proving to be the exception. Last month, professional wrestler Billy Ken Kid was elected to the city of Kawanishi’s municipal assembly. Not wanting to leave his old identity behind, Billy asked city council members to approve him wearing one of his iconic wrestling masks during sessions. On Friday, the chamber greenlit Billy’s request in a “dream … come true” for the 52-year-old. However, the new lawmaker has agreed to keep his identity uninhibited when attending ceremonies outside of the assembly hall, such as memorial services.