What happened
Russia has suffered one of the bloodiest months for its forces since the invasion of Ukraine began, according to a senior Nato official. The western alliance estimates that Russian military deaths in September totalled 28,000, with those wounded taking the country’s overall number of casualties to in excess of 50,000 – compared with about 5,000 for Ukraine.

Who said what
These are “staggering losses”, said Alisha Rahaman Sarkar in The Independent. The high death rate was attributed to Moscow’s repeated assaults on “kill zones” – heavily defended Ukrainian positions where drones, mines and artillery have created deadly obstacles.

The figures emerged as Donald Trump called for Ukraine to install a new leader, prompting Kyiv to defend Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the president retained popular support and that Ukrainians alone should determine their leadership. Russia has welcomed Trump’s call for a change at the top.

What next?
Andy Burnham has expressed his solidarity with Zelenskyy and pledged further measures to restrict Russia’s war efforts. Meanwhile, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could travel to Moscow within a fortnight as diplomatic moves continue.

What happened
Tom Cruise’s latest movie is expected to lose about $245 million (£185 million), analysts have said, which would make it one of the biggest flops in Hollywood history. Ticket sales for the satire “Digger”, directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu (known for “Birdman” and “The Revenant”) and starring Cruise as the eponymous oil magnate, fell by about 60% in its second weekend, giving it global box office takings of just $35 million (£26 million) so far.

Who said what
“I never thought of movies, when I’m making them, going ‘opening weekend’,” said Cruise in a podcast episode published on the film’s release date. “You’re going, how can I make a film that hopefully will translate and last and evolve?”

But the performance of “Digger” sits “in sharp contrast” with Cruise’s recent successes, said the BBC, such as the latest installments in the “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises.

Warner Bros spent an estimated $280 million (£211 million) to make and market the film, but a spokesperson said it needed to bring in closer to $300 million (£227 million) in order to break even.

What next?
“Digger” is projected to end its box office run with about $55 million (£42 million) in worldwide takings, according to Variety.

A phoenix planet – created from the remnants of a dying star – has been found around a white dwarf star for the first time. The second-generation planet could be an indicator of the future of our solar system.

The unnamed exoplanet was discovered circling the white dwarf HS 0209+0832, according to a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. White dwarfs are created when stars “exhaust the hydrogen in their cores needed to fuel nuclear fusion and create helium”, said Space.com (a sister site of The Week). HS 0209+0832’s atmosphere had an “unusual chemical signature” with “oddly heavy elements including zinc, copper and most notably, niobium”, which are “created during the death of a star”, said a news release about the study.

Many more phoenix planets may exist around white dwarfs. “Over 95% of stars in the Milky Way will evolve to become a white dwarf,” including our sun, the study’s lead author Jamie Williams told Reuters. In the future our own solar system could “host a second-generation planet formed from the ashes of our sun”, added the release.

While this particular phoenix is a gas planet, others could be rocky or even hold life. “White dwarfs cool predictably over time ⁠and as they get cooler, their cooling slows,” said Williams. “If a second-generation rocky planet formed close enough to the white dwarf then it could remain in the habitable zone for billions of years.”