U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting this weekend in Atlanta to strengthen efforts to advance practical cooperation on shared economic and security challenges, thereby setting the stage for the leaders’ meeting in December.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta on October 30-31.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is returning the G20 to its core economic mission of driving growth, strengthening economic security, and delivering results for the American people,” the Department of State said in a statement.

It said Mr. Rubio will convene Foreign Ministers from the world’s leading economies to advance practical cooperation on shared economic and security challenges.

“Throughout the ministerial, the United States will work with G20 partners to address geopolitical crises contributing to global economic shocks, including threats to freedom of navigation, energy and food security, and supply chains,” the State Department said.

It said global security and economic prosperity are inextricably linked, and these discussions will set the stage for U.S. President Trump’s G20 Leaders’ Summit and the broader economic agenda that leaders will tackle.

As a global hub of diplomacy, connectivity, and commerce, Atlanta offers the perfect backdrop for these discussions. U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to host the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Miami on December 14-15.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday (October 23, 2026) called for Cubans to make “discreet” contact with the American intelligence services as Washington seeks to force an end to the island’s communist government.

For months, President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. officials have openly hinted at a military intervention or takeover of Cuba, ramping up economic, political and legal pressure on the country.

“To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba — now is the time,” Mr. Rubio said on social media. “The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.”

The unusual post appeared to confirm that the CIA is currently active in Cuba after a long history of covert operations including backing the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

The call was mocked by Cuban officials.

“Now the United States is resorting to public recruitment for the CIA,” Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio wrote on X .“There must be a great deal of desperation or misery within the agency for it to be forced to sell its services like a tube of toothpaste.”

The CIA later uploaded a video to X offering instructions in Spanish for those who believe they have information of interest to the intelligence agency, encouraging them to first and foremost visit an official U.S. installation in person if they can safely travel to one.

For those hoping to contact the CIA online via the cia.gov website, the agency instructed users to access the internet on a secure network like a VPN using a private browser and a burner email account unassociated with any personal details.

Those sharing information should be prepared to include their city, job, level of access and contact information with their message.

Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Florida earlier on Friday (October 23), underlined his ambitions to impose regime change in Cuba.

“Those beautiful (U.S. military) ships will pass Cuba. We’ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast,” he said. “They’ll raise up their hands. And then we’re going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez quickly dismissed Mr. Trump’s threats.

“Our coastline is full of beautiful beaches, but there are also razor-sharp limestone spikes, an inhospitable environment for those who make it to our shores with hostile purposes and lust for domination,” he posted.

Energy blockade

In the latest U.S. move against the Cuban leadership, Florida’s top prosecutor this week announced an arrest warrant for former President Raúl Castro on State murder charges that echo a federal indictment unveiled earlier this year.

Mr. Castro, 95, is wanted on murder charges connected to the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft from “Brothers to the Rescue,” an organization assisting Cubans fleeing to the U.S. State by sea.

Mr. Castro, brother of the late revolutionary leader and U.S. nemesis Fidel Castro, was indicted on federal charges related to the incident in May.

Mr. Trump previously seized on a U.S. indictment to justify military action that toppled Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro, a staunch ally of the Cuban authorities.

Current Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said the U.S. federal indictment against Mr. Castro has “no legal basis” and was an attempt “to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”

Washington also imposed a de facto energy blockade on Cuba in January, threatening to sanction any country that supplies fuel to the island of 9.4 million people.

President ​Donald Trump said on Friday (October 23, 2026) ⁠the United States would take care of Cuba after dealing with Iran and would ‌send Secretary of State Marco Rubio to finish the deal.

“We’ll ‌take care of Cuba on ‌our ⁠way back from Iran … then ⁠we’re going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal,” Mr. Trump told a ​rally in Florida.

Mr. Trump predicted last month the U.S. and Cuba would reach an agreement and that he did not ‌think military action would be necessary.

​The Trump administration has previously stated its goal is to change ⁠Cuba’s communist government.

A U.S.-imposed oil blockade implemented earlier this year has put ‌Cuba under severe strain as it contends with fuel shortages and blackouts exacerbated by failing infrastructure.

Washington has maintained an embargo on Cuba for more than 60 years and ‌the Trump administration has been stepping up pressure ​on Havana after the U.S. military in January seized then-Venezuelan ⁠President Nicolas Maduro in a deadly raid.

⁠Cuba’s Foreign Minister told the UN General Assembly last month Cuba ‌would always be open for dialogue with Washington.

Wide-ranging discussions on potential opportunities for commercial partnerships across conventional and new energy as well as the global energy landscape were held during United States’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ambassador to India Sergio Gor’s visit to the Jamnagar refinery Wednesday, the company informed in a statement.

“The visit included wide-ranging discussion on the global energy landscape and opportunities for commercial partnerships across conventional and new energy,” the statement read, adding, “The exchange covered reliable and affordable energy supplies, technological advances, resilient supply chains and the investment required to meet growing demand.”

The discussions assume further significance especially because of Mr. Rubio’s comments prior to the visit wherein he described India as a crude oil refining “superpower” and advocated for processing more Venezuelan crude in India.

The company also informed that Reliance Industries’ Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Mukesh Ambani along with Executive Director Anant Ambani also discussed digital infrastructure, including the role of “dependable power in supporting data centres and the expansion of the digital economy”.

“Shri Mukesh Ambani and Shri Anant Ambani shared their perspectives on opportunities for collaboration with US companies, drawing on complementary strengths in technology, engineering and advanced manufacturing. The interaction provided a constructive opportunity to exchange industry perspectives and explore areas of mutual commercial interest,” the statement read.

The U.S. and India are “pretty close” to making a trade deal, which will be much different than the earlier pacts, U.S. President Donald Trump said in Washington.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday (October 20, 2026), Mr. Trump said India and the U.S. were pretty close to making a trade deal.

“They want to make a deal. We’re going to make a deal. Pretty close, yeah,” Mr. Trump said in response to a question.

“It’s going to be a much different kind of deal than we’ve done,” the President said.

Mr. Trump’s remarks came at a time Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visiting India and discussed further strengthening bilateral relations focussing on sectors such as trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people ties.

Earlier this month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Milwaukee and Washington to discuss the finer aspects of the trade deal.

India and the U.S in February announced the finalisation of the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). However, changes in the tariff landscape in the U.S. have led to further negotiations on the pact.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) said he had spoken to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and raised issues with the U.S. military satellite system Ukraine uses and missile delays.

The Ukrainian leader, expected in Oslo for talks with U.S. envoys, said he told Rubio that “Starlink/Starshield needs to be restored” and that ballistic missile interceptors “are needed to protect lives”.

Ukraine has called for advanced U.S. Patriot interceptors to defend itself against Russian attacks and reported a reduction in speeds on Starshield, which it uses for battlefield communications and strikes on Russian-occupied territory.

Starshield, developed by tech titan Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is controlled and managed by the U.S. government. Ukraine also uses the civilian Starlink system but not for military purposes.

Mr. Musk has said that changes to Starshield could only have been ordered by the White House, prompting denials but adding to already tense ties since Mr. Trump partially lifted sanctions on Moscow for a diesel supply deal.

Mr. Trump has also criticised Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and echoed the Kremlin’s calls for Zelenskyy to be replaced as leader.

Mr. Zelenskyy called his talks with Rubio “substantive” and “constructive”, adding: “I am grateful for his readiness to help and his clear position.”

Iran has “lost complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday (October 7, 2026), adding that Tehran’s economy was “in total and complete freefall”.

“The Straits of Hormuz are open. There’s almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began. So they’ve lost complete control of the Straits,” Mr. Rubio told reporters during a visit to Athens.

He argued that as a result of “crippling” sanctions, the Iranian economy was “about to reach a place few countries in the world have been”.

Every dollar received by the “radical Shia clerics” is spent on Hezbollah and Hamas, he said.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story,” Mr. Rubio said.

“And anything they agree to that would be acceptable to the United States has to be something that ensures that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”

He argued that what Iran “was trying to do was build up a conventional capability so massive that they would become untouchable”.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the “hands of a foreign actor” ‌were involved in an incident in which five men were arrested on suspected explosives ​and terrorism offences near a British airbase used by U.S. forces to strike Iran.

British ⁠police declared a major incident at the RAF Fairford base in western England following the arrests early on Sunday (September 27, 2026), and the government held a national emergency meeting.

However, the police released the five on bail on Monday (September 28), but said ‌the investigation was not over and they were examining whether individuals acting for a foreign State were involved.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that three large ‌white vans the men appeared to travel in had not contained viable explosives.

The source said ‌Sunday’s (September 27) ⁠police response had not been intelligence-led – an indication that the five were not under direct ⁠surveillance — but security had been beefed up at the base, suggesting there was information that it was being targeted.

“What happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the U.K. over the weekend is a very serious situation. It’s one that clearly ​involves the hands of a foreign ‌actor. I won’t get into great detail about that yet,” Mr. Rubio told the Fox News network’s “Hannity” program late on Monday (September 28).

He provided no evidence and did not give specific details.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday (September 28) that the incident “might be” connected to Iran, ‌with which the United States is at war since late February, and that he would not ​have released the suspects on bail.

“I wouldn’t have done that,” he said.

Iran denies involvement in RAF fairford incident

The five arrested are all British nationals in ⁠their early 20s from London. They were detained in the early hours on Sunday (September 27) after police were alerted by a local farmer to the three white vans parked near RAF Fairford.

Residents have said security ‌was significantly beefed up at the base in the days leading up to Sunday. The local farmer told reporters that one neighbour, driving past the base on Saturday night, had been ordered by U.S. security personnel to stop and put their hands out of their car.

The farmer, who asked not to be named, called the police after she returned home around 0100 local time and found three large vans parked in the road, one with a fake telephone number on it, and a group of ‌hooded and masked men running away.

On Tuesday (September 29) morning, a large cordon remained around the base, and roadblocks were in ​place, although local media reports said residents from nearby homes which had been evacuated were returning.

Western governments have warned in recent years of the threat of hostile actors from ⁠Iran, Russia and elsewhere organising destabilising activity or hiring proxies to carry out plots.

Britain raised its national terrorism ⁠threat level to its second-highest in April after a series of antisemitic incidents in north London, meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

It has also imposed sanctions on individuals ‌and entities linked to Iran, accusing them of involvement in hostile activity including plotting attacks and providing financial services to groups seeking to destabilise Britain and other countries.

Iran has denied involvement in attacks ​or plots in Britain and elsewhere, and on Monday (September 28) denied any involvement in the incident at Fairford.