LONDON (Reuters) - UK households are being urged to stock up on bottled water, canned food, and other essential supplies to prepare for emergencies amid growing concerns over severe weather, cyberattacks, and potential disruptions to food supplies. Speaking at a wildfire resilience summit in Liverpool, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday that people should take sensible measures to ensure they have enough supplies at home to cope with difficult situations as storms batter parts of the country. He said “unexpected events seem to be becoming more and more common,” adding, “it’s not about panic buying... It’s about just taking sensible measures to have enough in the house to tide you over should there be a difficult situation.”

*** 
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday dismissed accusations that Canada planned to interfere in next month’s U.S. midterm elections and said he was disappointed in comments made by the American ambassador. Carney’s remarks underline the chilly state of bilateral relations since Canada walked away from talks on a possible trade deal in late August, citing unreasonable U.S. demands. The U.S. embassy in Canada on Wednesday said Ottawa “brushes off concerns about potential interference in U.S. elections, even as its ministers and premiers openly describe plans to influence American politics.” A week earlier, Ambassador Pete Hoekstra had told a podcast that his message to Canadians was to “keep your nose out of American politics.”

*** 
MOSCOW (AFP) - Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are “planned” to resume in November in Abu Dhabi, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. Russia indicated its readiness to resume the talks, which have been at a standstill since the beginning of the year, following a meeting this week in Saint Petersburg between President Vladmir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

*** 
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday that seven individuals had been arrested or surrendered in connection with an alleged large-scale racketeering, drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy, including Virginia state Sen. Lillie Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate. “This morning, seven individuals were arrested or surrendered for allegedly participating in a large-scale RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy,” Blanche said at a news conference. Lucas has been indicted on five counts: racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and maintaining a drug-involved premises, said Blanche.
 
*** 
PARIS (Reuters)– Storm Austen cut power to nearly 300,000 French homes and disrupted train and plane services with heavy winds and rain on Friday, while also knocking out electricity for some 12,000 homes in Britain. A low-pressure front brought 179kmh winds and rains across Europe overnight with towns facing power outages as trees and debris littered roads, causing traffic issues, airport and train delays and reduced access to bridges. Utility Enedis said in a situation update on Oct 23 that nearly 300,000 clients had no electricity from the storm, with most of disruptions located in Brittany on the western coast and Normandy in the north. Britain’s National Grid said engineers had to restore power to more than 12,000 homes.