Five Things to Know, Oct. 17, 2022 

1.     NATO on Monday began its long-planned annual nuclear exercises in northwestern Europe as tensions simmer over the war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use any means to defend Russian territory.

2.    Waves of explosive-laden suicide drones struck Ukraine’s capital Monday, setting buildings ablaze and sending people scurrying for shelter or attempting to shoot down the kamikazes — a week after Russia unleashed its most widespread strikes against the country in months.

3.     President Joe Biden’s options for re-evaluating U.S.-Saudi relations include “changes to our approach to security assistance to Saudi Arabia,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. Sullivan declined to elaborate in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, saying Biden would take his time, in part to consult with U.S. lawmakers when they return after the November midterm elections.

4.    An Armed Forces of Canada Boeing C-17A Globemaster III aircraft arrived in Haiti Saturday, delivering the first four of more than a dozen new armored vehicles for the Haiti National Police. The vehicles are among 18 Haiti’s government purchased commercially from a Canadian-based firm over the summer but for inexplicable reasons were delayed getting to the Caribbean nation. The government of Canada, which had guided Haiti through its purchase, later stepped in to ensure delivery of the vehicles.

5.      “A lot of them made huge sacrifices, and they've lived with the results of that war a lot of times without support." Local Vietnam veterans gathered at American Legion Post 62 in Texas on Saturday for a ceremony formally welcoming them home from the war.