Pakistan

• Citing security concerns, Pakistan suddenly ordered all illegal immigrants in the country to leave by November 1.
• The order was specifically directed at Afghan nationals, who Pakistani Interior Minister Bugti blamed for 14 of 24 suicide bombings in Pakistan this year.
• There are around 4.4 million Afghans in Pakistan, 1.7 million of whom Bugti alleged are there illegally.
• Pakistan-Afghanistan relations were already fraying, and this threatens to draw the two neighbors even farther apart. Afghanistan's Taliban government begged Pakistan to reconsider: "Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan's security problems."

• The EU is preparing to start talks about admitting Ukraine to the bloc as soon as December.

• Armenia's parliament snubbed Russia by voting to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).
• Armenia previously resisted signing on to the ICC out of deference to Russia - the ICC has an open arrest warrant for Pres. Putin and ICC members are obligated to enforce it and arrest him if he sets foot in their country - but after Russia failed to stand up for Armenia as Azerbaijan recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh last week, the Russia-Armenia alliance looks to be crumbling.
• Meanwhile, Azerbaijan arrested four former leaders of the ethnic Armenian breakaway Karabakh government, which already pledged to dissolve itself by the end of the year. Azerbaijan says the leaders "concocted endless lies about Azerbaijan and its people, brainwashed and poisoned them."

• The U.S. announced sanctions on 25 Chinese companies and individuals for their alleged involvement in producing and distributing ingredients for making fentanyl, which has killed over 250,000 Americans since 2018. China accused the U.S. of "scapegoating."
• After only a brief suspension, Chinese authorities let Evergrande shares resume trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Share prices promptly jumped on optimism that the company's property unit - and the broader Chinese real estate sector - isn't in as much trouble as it seemed last week (although the founder of Evergrande's property unit reportedly remains under police surveillance).