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North Korea’s dispatch of thousands of troops to Russia has left Ukraine and its allies racing to figure out exactly how far Kim Jong Un will go to help Vladimir Putin.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that some North Korean military units have been sent to the Kursk region of Russia which Ukrainian forces occupied this year, a move he called a “significant escalation.”

While it’s unlikely that 10,000 or so North Korean soldiers will tip the balance, fears are growing that Pyongyang’s direct involvement could expand the war. In response, the presidents of Ukraine and South Korea agreed to exchange intelligence.

WATCH: Rutte confirms North Korean troops have been sent to Russia. Source: NATO

Kim has numerous incentives to help Russia. He has received aid for North Korea’s sanction-hit economy and technical support to upgrade the nation’s weapons systems in exchange for sending millions of rounds of artillery shells and scores of ballistic missiles to Putin, according to the US and South Korea.

Kim is also getting a partner with a nuclear arsenal to back him up. Russia blocked a United Nations panel from continuing its sanctions monitoring on Pyongyang, forcing the US and its allies to launch a new mechanism outside the global body to keep an eye on North Korea’s activities.

This is concerning for Ukraine, the US and Europe. But it’s also a worry for China, one of Putin’s biggest diplomatic backers since the war began.

While President Xi Jinping supports Russia in pushing back against the US, Beijing has largely complied with American sanctions and requests to avoid direct military support.

China has stayed quiet on North Korea’s deployment to Russia, a sign it’s not happy with Kim adding more risks to the geopolitical landscape just as the Communist Party struggles to revive its domestic economy.

As much as Beijing opposes the US imposing its views on the world, it equally doesn’t like getting pushed into a corner by a smaller neighbor. — Soo-Hyang Choi

North Korean soldiers during a parade in Pyongyang. Photographer: Kyodo/AP Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s open to a short truce in the war against Hamas that would secure the release of a small number of the around 100 hostages held by the militant group in Gaza. At the same time, the Knesset passed a bill to sharply restrict the main UN organization supporting Palestinians, further threatening the flow of humanitarian aid to displaced people in Gaza.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Georgia’s disputed parliamentary elections were free and democratic as he urged the government to ignore criticism of the vote from his European Union counterparts. Orban, who holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the ruling Georgian Dream party should “not attach too much importance” to the controversy during a visit to Tbilisi today. Tens of thousands of Georgians protested against alleged fraud in the result last night.

Protesters gathered outside the parliament building in central Tbilisi yesterday.  Photographer: Mirian Meladze/Anadolu/Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s administration set final restrictions on US investments in advanced technology in China such as semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence in a bid to avoid giving Beijing a military edge. The framework, which takes effect Jan. 2, bans some American financing in those industries and requires the US government to be notified about others.

Japan risks entering a renewed phase of policy stasis just as the world prepares for the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House — and the pressure that would bring on key US allies. An election on Sunday left Japan without a clear winner for the first time since the 1990s, all but guaranteeing that a weak government will run the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, said the newspaper’s decision to stop endorsing presidential candidates addresses a “credibility gap” afflicting the media industry. He said the Post’s action was unrelated to Trump’s meeting with executives from Blue Origin, another of his businesses, on the day of the announcement. Editorial staff had been prepared to endorse Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Mozambican law-enforcement officials opened a criminal case against opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane after his supporters set fire to a police station in the wake of violent protests over claims of fraud in the Oct. 9 elections.

Bolivia’s government accused Evo Morales of shooting at police after refusing to stop at a checkpoint, while the former president described the confused events on Sunday morning as an attempt to assassinate him.

The new South African coalition government’s resolve to control debt and expedite reforms to fire up the lackluster economy will be put to the test when it unveils its first budget tomorrow. 

How will the US election impact your money? Bloomberg News experts will answer your questions in a live Q&A on Oct. 30 at 10:30am ET. Send questions to bloombergqa@bloomberg.net

While Harris will deliver her presidential campaign’s “closing argument” on the National Mall this evening, Biden will spend much of the day out of Washington.

The president, who will leave office in a little less than three months, has largely been in the shadows as the nation’s attention became riveted on the battle between Harris and Trump to succeed him.

The White House said Biden plans to speak at the Port of Baltimore on his policies to restore manufacturing in the US and projects to combat climate change. The reopening of the port less than three months after a container ship destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge earlier this year was one of his administration’s triumphs.

One thing to watch today: The release of the Conference Board’s gauge of consumer confidence will be the last before the election. The index unexpectedly dropped in September, reflecting anxieties about the labor market and the outlook for the broader economy.

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Builders in the US are growing anxious about Trump’s proposals to crack down on immigration — a key source of labor for the construction industry. The sector is grappling to find more workers to address a structural housing shortage and to rebuild communities torn apart by Hurricanes Helene and Milton that are left with billions of dollars in damages.

A once-jailed Chinese dissident living in Canada is providing clues to help predict how far Xi will go to revive his struggling economy. Lu Yuyu spends 10 hours a day scouring the internet to compile statistics on social instability before China’s censors scrub them. While Lu’s interests are political, his database — available for free — is among a growing number of metrics tracking dissent in China that investors are watching to figure out when Xi will open up the spigots to bolster growth. Economic protests have become more frequent in recent years as China’s youth unemployment rate soared and its housing crisis worsened.

A job fair at the University of Science and Technology Beijing in September. Photographer: VCG/Getty Images

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