A co-pilot stabs his captain on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, and passengers break into the cockpit to stop the dive

The stories

22 on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   A co-pilot stabs his captain on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, and passengers break into the cockpit to stop the dive

   14,000 ft

   how far the plane fell in about 30 seconds

   a Flightradar24 playback reported by Reuters; other trackers recorded a longer, slower drop [2][1]

   169 of 172

   passengers on board who were Israeli

   Israel's ambassador in Geneva told Reuters [4]

   27 days

   from the attack to Israel's election on 27 October

   the vote this attack was pulled into within hours [8]

   What happened

   • A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv dived over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after one pilot stabbed the other, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. [1][5]
   • Flydubai is a budget airline owned by Dubai's government, and 169 of the 172 passengers were Israeli. [10][4]
   • The plane fell about 14,000 feet in 30 seconds, according to a flight-tracking playback reported by Reuters. [2]
   • Cockpit doors stay locked during flights, a rule airlines adopted after the attacks of 11 September 2001. [7]
   • The wounded captain, Smit Machchhar from Mumbai, unlocked it from the floor. [3]
   • Passengers then rushed into the cockpit and held down the co-pilot, who was hitting the controls, a spokesperson for Netanyahu said. [2]
   • Two off-duty flydubai pilots who were on board landed the plane at Tabuk, in north-west Saudi Arabia. [3][1]
   • Saudi Arabia arrested the co-pilot, Netanyahu said. [4]
   • Machchhar is stable after surgery in a Tabuk hospital, India's embassy says. [3]
   • An Israeli official named the co-pilot as a citizen of Oman. [10][3]
   • That has not been independently confirmed, and authorities in Dubai have given no motive. [10][4]
   • Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, called it a jihadist terror attack. [12]
   • Flydubai said the reasons were unknown and asked everyone not to guess. [5]
   • Aviation experts were surprised the plane did not crash, because the dive tore off most of the rudder on its tail, AP reports. [7]
   • Israel will now check the identity of every pilot flying into the country, the prime minister's office says. [4]
   • Within hours it became an election fight.
   • Netanyahu's allies said it proved his warnings of pre-election attacks, and opposition leader Yair Lapid said nothing like it came up in his briefing. [8]

   Who is involved

   • Smit Machchhar the flight's captain, an Indian pilot from Mumbai; stabbed, he still opened the cockpit door
   • The co-pilot the flight's first officer, now held in Saudi Arabia; an Israeli official says he is from Oman
   • Flydubai a budget airline owned by Dubai's government; it says the cause is still unknown
   • Benjamin Netanyahu Israel's prime minister, facing an election on 27 October; he had warned of attacks before the vote
   • Yair Lapid Israel's opposition leader; he says the attack had nothing to do with that warning

   How it unfolded

   1. Tue night Netanyahu warns of possible attacks before the election and briefs Lapid [8]
   2. Wed 03:05 GMT flight FZ1073 leaves Dubai for Tel Aviv [1]
   3. 2.5 hours in the plane dives over Saudi Arabia and sends a hijack code [1]
   4. Wed morning two off-duty flydubai pilots land it at Tabuk [3]
   5. Wed evening the passengers reach Israel on another plane [7]
   6. Wed night Israel says it will check every pilot flying in [4]

   Why it matters

   Watch whether Saudi or Emirati investigators name the co-pilot and give a motive before Israelis vote on 27 October. [3][8]

   The truth

   • What is really going on A co-pilot stabbed his captain and dived a plane carrying 169 Israelis, and within hours Israel's defence minister called it jihadist terror while Netanyahu's allies said it proved his election warnings right. [4][12][8]The airline says the cause is unknown, nobody has officially named the co-pilot, and Netanyahu himself said there was no earlier intelligence about this attack. [5][10][3]
   • Who gains Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners — Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich used the attack to demand a harder military line across the region, four weeks before the vote. [8]
   • Who pays Foreign pilots flying to Israel — Israel will now check the identity of every pilot coming in, after one co-pilot's attack. [4]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Who the co-pilot is, and why he did it.

     An Israeli official named him as a citizen of Oman, which has not been independently confirmed. [10][3] An early DW report said the captain was Russian-born and the co-pilot Ukrainian; the captain was later named as Indian. [13][9]

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Netanyahu's pre-election warning had anything to do with this.

     Lapid says nothing like it came up in his briefing, and an unnamed diplomatic source says he was told of a big rise in terror activity abroad. [8] Netanyahu told Fox News there was no prior intelligence about this attack. [3]

   • Nobody knows yet

     How many people were on board.

     Netanyahu said 174 lives were saved, Israel's ambassador in Geneva said 172 passengers, AP says about 170 and a BBC live report around 150. [1][4][7][11] None of the counts says whether it includes the crew.

   • Nobody knows yet

     How far and how fast the plane fell.

     Reuters reports 14,000 feet in 30 seconds, the BBC more than 17,000 feet in under two minutes, and Haaretz a fall from 34,000 to 16,000 feet in under two minutes. [2][1][6]

   Good news

   • Everyone on flydubai flight FZ1073 got off the plane alive after the stabbed captain opened the cockpit door and passengers held down the attacker. Two off-duty flydubai pilots on board landed it at Tabuk, and the captain, Smit Machchhar, is stable after surgery.

1. 02

   Russia's biggest attack on Ukraine's power since spring

   What happened

   • Russia fired nearly 190 drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight into Wednesday, mostly at power plants around Kyiv, the capital. [16]
   • At least seven people were killed, including a child, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. [14]
   • Ukrenergo, the state grid company, ordered emergency power cuts in Kyiv and three nearby regions, the first in the capital since spring. [14]
   • Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said the energy system had been hit almost every day since summer, but never this hard since last winter ended. [15]

   Why it matters

   Last winter Russian strikes cut light and heating when temperatures fell to -20C, and Ukraine's weather service expects the first night frosts from Thursday. [17]

   Trams stopped and water pressure fell in Kyiv on Wednesday. [14]

   The truth

   • Who pays People in Kyiv and nearby regions — Emergency power cuts, stopped trams and low water pressure, just as the first frosts arrive. [14][17]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How much power Ukraine lost on Wednesday night.

     Russia says it hit the Trypilska power station, the biggest supplier of electricity to Kyiv, and Ukrainian officials have not confirmed it. [15]

   Good news

   • Engineers at DTEK, Ukraine's biggest private power company, restored electricity to 8,000 homes in Kyiv after Wednesday's overnight attack.

1. 03

   Ukraine is $27 billion short for its army

   What happened

   • Ukraine faces a $27 billion gap in defence funding this year, Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi told journalists. [19]
   • Ukraine's government hopes to raise about $7 billion at home and is asking foreign partners for the rest. [19]
   • Some European Union money will only come once Ukraine passes reforms the EU has asked for. [19]
   • Ukraine's government is delaying other spending and considering higher taxes, because it needs cash now to order next year's drones and ammunition. [19]

   • Hoped for from inside Ukraine$7bn · 26%
   • Sought from foreign partners$20bn · 74%

   Why it matters

   Soldiers' pay, pensions and the salaries of teachers and doctors come first, Koretskyi said. [19]

   After the grid attack, Zelensky asked allies again for air-defence missiles, saying Ukraine needs more as winter nears. [19]

   How it works

   Why a promise of money is announced long before anyone pays it

   Announcing money costs nothing on the day it wins the praise, while paying it happens years later and is decided by other people.

   The twist

   Trump gets the $54 billion headline this week, less than five weeks before Alaska votes. How much South Korea actually pays into a pipeline whose cost has been uncertain for years is settled later, by officials and lawmakers in Seoul.

   The picture

   Promised by South Korea in 2025$350bn

   Named for Alaska gas and more on Wednesday$54bn

   Step by step

   1. 1 A leader announces a big sum of money or a deal
   2. 2 The headline and the praise arrive that same week
   3. 3 The money is spread over years and tied to conditions
   4. 4 When it falls due, other people decide how much is paid
   5. 5 So checking what really arrived needs someone to count it years later

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • South Korea's $54 billion for Alaska gas

     The sum is named less than five weeks before a close Senate race. It comes out of a 2025 promise, and Seoul's trade committee chair says nobody checked the business case first.

   • Aid trucks into Gaza

     The ceasefire set a number of trucks last year. Gaza's media office says only 35% of them have entered, so the agreed number and the delivered number are far apart.

   • Ukraine's $27 billion gap

     Partners have promised money, but some EU funds wait until Ukraine passes reforms. Ukraine has to order next year's drones now.

   • Iraq's militia law

     The Iraqi cabinet's approval only sends the law to parliament. A 2025 draft was approved the same way and then stalled for more than a year.

   Where you've seen this

   Charity appeals

   money pledged during a televised appeal is collected over the following months, and some of it never arrives

   New schools and hospitals

   a council announces the building years before the budget to pay for it is approved

   Company climate targets

   a firm promises to cut its emissions to zero by 2050, long after today's managers have left

   The catch

   Some promised money does arrive in full. A fixed date, a named payer and a public record make a promise much harder to drop quietly.

   And the whole of it

   The voter in Alaska, the taxpayer in Seoul, the family in Gaza waiting for a truck and the soldier in Ukraine waiting for drones all hear the number on the same day. Each of them later sees only whether their own share arrived, and none of them, us included, sees the whole account.

1. 04

   Ukraine brings a sanctions list to the US government

   What happened

   • Ukraine will hand the Trump administration and the US Congress a list of Russian companies, ships and people it wants punished, a senior Ukrainian diplomat told AP. [20]
   • The list uses a new US law named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham, which Trump signed on 18 September. [20]
   • At the top are firms making parts for Russia's own version of Starlink, a satellite internet network. [20]
   • The US government must decide by 18 October whom, if anyone, it will sanction. [20]

   Why it matters

   Ukraine says a working Russian satellite network would let Russia aim attacks with live information this winter. [20]

   It also wants tougher action on the old tankers Russia uses to sell oil around sanctions. [20]

   The truth

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whom the US will sanction under the new Russia law.

     The Trump administration has until 18 October to decide, and it may choose no one. [20]

2. 05

   A doctor counts 52 civilians dead in Alamata

   What happened

   • A doctor at Alamata General Hospital told the BBC that 52 civilians were killed in fighting in and around the town between Saturday and Monday. [21]
   • Alamata is in the south of Tigray, the northern Ethiopian region whose ruling party, the TPLF, has been fighting the national army since last week. [21]
   • Twelve people died in one strike on the town's market, the doctor said. [21]
   • Videos online show army tanks in Alamata's streets, and government troops appear to be pushing north towards Mekelle, Tigray's main city. [21]

   Why it matters

   Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) says more than 700 wounded people reached hospitals it supports in Tigray in a few days. [21]

   Banks, phones and the internet are cut, so people who fled into Alamata cannot get money. [21]

   The truth

   • Who pays Civilians in Alamata, Tigray — Fifty-two dead by one doctor's count, with banks, phones and the internet cut. [21]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How many civilians have died in Tigray.

     One doctor in Alamata counts 52 dead, but phones and the internet are cut and the BBC cannot report from the region. [21]

3. 06

   Iraq's cabinet backs a law for its militias

   What happened

   • Iraq's cabinet voted for a law that would make the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) a permanent part of the state, and sent it to Iraq's parliament. [22]
   • The PMF is a group of mostly Shia Muslim armed groups formed in 2014 to fight Islamic State, and several of its factions are backed by Iran. [22]
   • The law would give its fighters benefits equal to the regular army's. [22]
   • It came as the US formally ended its military mission in Iraq after 23 years. [22]

   Why it matters

   The US government says the bill entrenches Iran's influence, and it blacklisted senior PMF leaders between 2019 and 2021. [22]

   An Iraqi official told The National the law would create a second armed force inside the Iraqi state. [22]

   How it works

   The Iraqi cabinet's approval only sends the law to parliament. A 2025 draft was approved the same way and then stalled for more than a year.

   The idea, in story 03: Why a promise of money is announced long before anyone pays it →

   The truth

   • Who gains The PMF's armed groups in Iraq — The law would give them permanent legal status and benefits equal to the army's, in the week US troops left. [22]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Iraq's parliament will pass the militia law.

     Iraq's cabinet only sent it to parliament, and the last draft stalled for more than a year over pensions and US opposition. [22]

4. 07

   Israeli strikes kill seven in Gaza

   What happened

   • Israeli strikes killed at least seven people in Gaza on Wednesday, Gaza's health officials said. [23]
   • A strike on a minibus of civilians in Gaza City killed at least four, medics said, and Gaza's civil defence agency put it at five. [23][24]
   • Another killed a woman in a Gaza City flat; Israel's army said it was aiming at a Hamas fighter planning attacks. [23]
   • A journalist, Mohammad Al-Najar, was killed near a mosque in Khan Younis. [23]

   Why it matters

   Gaza officials say 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since the US-brokered ceasefire began last year, and Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed. [24]

   Gaza's government media office says only 35% of the aid and rebuilding trucks agreed in the ceasefire have been let in, with winter coming. [24]

   How it works

   The ceasefire set a number of trucks last year. Gaza's media office says only 35% of them have entered, so the agreed number and the delivered number are far apart.

   The idea, in story 03: Why a promise of money is announced long before anyone pays it →

   The truth

   • Who pays Palestinians travelling inside Gaza — A strike on a minibus of civilians killed at least four, as winter nears with about a third of the agreed aid trucks let in. [23][24]
5. 08

   Israel's president condemns a settler riot

   What happened

   • Isaac Herzog, Israel's president, planned to visit the army's West Bank headquarters near Beit El on Wednesday and speak about attacks by Israeli settlers, his office said. [25]
   • The day before, he called a settler riot in the Palestinian village of Jalud 'a moral stain' and told the authorities to act decisively. [25]
   • Settlers there burned property, fought soldiers and stopped a Palestinian family going back to their home. [25]
   • On Wednesday dozens of settlers raided Awarta, near Nablus, under army protection, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. [24]

   Why it matters

   Herzog called the violence an attack on the rule of law, which puts the question to the police and the army who are meant to stop it. [25]

6. 09

   Lebanon's army takes back a strike claim

   What happened

   • Lebanon's army first said an Israeli drone strike on an army vehicle had wounded a soldier and three civilians in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, a southern town. [26]
   • Hours later it said an unknown object had exploded instead, while soldiers were taking residents to check their homes. [27]
   • Israel keeps striking what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire, and the town has been hit several times in recent weeks. [26]

   Why it matters

   The army changed its account after what it called an engineering inspection of the site. [27]

   Israel's military had not commented on the first claim. [26]

7. 10

   Sudan's army says a US plan would split the country

   What happened

   • An adviser to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan's army, told Reuters that a US ceasefire plan could split Sudan the way Libya is split. [28]
   • The plan, from US envoy Massad Boulos, starts with a 90-day ceasefire in the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia, which began in April 2023. [28]
   • The adviser said it leaves the RSF a place in Sudan's future. [28]
   • The RSF has been setting up its own government in Nyala, in Darfur. [28]

   Why it matters

   Libya has had two rival governments, in the east and the west, for more than a decade. [28]

   The US has accused the RSF of genocide and the army of war crimes, including using chemical weapons. [28]

8. 11

   US lets Syria ask to buy weapons

   What happened

   • The US State Department took Syria off its list of countries refused American weapons, from Thursday. [29]
   • Syria's requests will now be judged one at a time. [29]
   • Its interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former rebel leader, overthrew Bashar al-Assad nearly two years ago, and the US has been lifting sanctions on his government since. [29]
   • Seven countries remain on the list: Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Venezuela. [29]

   Why it matters

   With US troops gone from Iraq, Syria's government may play a bigger part in stopping Islamic State coming back, AP reports. [29]

   The US also plans to reopen its embassy in Damascus, closed for 14 years. [29]

   The truth

   • Who gains Syria's government under Ahmad al-Sharaa — It can now ask to buy US weapons and have each request judged, instead of being refused outright. [29]
9. 12

   Afghanistan says it killed 41 fighters from Pakistan

   What happened

   • Afghanistan's Taliban government said its forces killed 41 fighters and captured 62 in Nuristan province between Sunday and Tuesday. [30]
   • It said they crossed from Pakistan with Pakistan's support, and that some belonged to Islamic State. [30]
   • Pakistan has rejected such claims before, and none of them can be independently checked. [30]
   • Afghanistan's foreign ministry called in Pakistan's top diplomat in Kabul to protest. [30]

   Why it matters

   The UN mission in Afghanistan has counted more than 1,100 civilians killed or hurt by cross-border violence this year. [30]

   Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the Pakistani Taliban, which carries out attacks inside Pakistan. [30]

   The truth

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether the 41 fighters Afghanistan says it killed came from Pakistan.

     Both governments claim to have killed fighters from the other side, and none of the claims can be independently checked. [30]

10. 13

    Romania's parliament rejects President Dan's pick

    What happened

    • Romania's parliament refused to back Siegfried Muresan, a pro-European member of the European Parliament, as prime minister on Wednesday. [31]
    • He won 182 votes, short of the 233 he needed. [31]
    • He was the third person named for the job since the governing coalition collapsed in May. [31]
    • President Nicusor Dan says he will name another candidate on Monday to avoid an early election. [31]

    Votes Muresan won182 votes

    Votes he needed233 votes

    Why it matters

    The far-right AUR party, about a third of parliament, wants early elections and threatens to impeach President Dan if he does not call one once the rules allow it. [31]

    Romania has the European Union's highest public deficit and inflation, and an analyst says forming a government after a snap vote would take four months. [31]

    The truth

    • Who gains Romania's far-right AUR party — Each failed vote for a prime minister brings closer the early election it wants, and it leads the polls. [31]
11. 14

    French school protests spread

    What happened

    • Protests by high school students over crowded classes, missing teachers and run-down buildings have spread across France. [32]
    • About 400 of France's 3,700 lycees, the schools for 15- to 18-year-olds, have been hit, the education ministry says. [32]
    • Education Minister Edouard Geffray said 119 students and staff, mostly head teachers and teachers, had been hurt since the protests began. [33]
    • Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 440 people had been detained. [32]

    11 of 100

    of France's lycees hit by protests

    Why it matters

    The protests overlap with a public sector strike over the French government's budget plans, a year before France elects a new president. [32]

    Students say heatwaves in June showed how badly their school buildings are insulated. [32]

12. 15

    Macron's troops for Saudi Arabia meet opposition

    What happened

    • Emmanuel Macron, France's president, plans to send soldiers and air-defence systems to Saudi Arabia after missile and drone attacks by Yemen's Houthis, a group aligned with Iran. [34]
    • The Houthis hit Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and oil sites at Yanbu. [34]
    • Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader and favourite to be France's next president, said France has no defence pact with Saudi Arabia. [34]
    • The left-wing France Unbowed party wants France's parliament to debate it. [34]

    Why it matters

    Britain has already agreed to refuel Saudi fighter jets in the air. [34]

    France Unbowed warns the troops could make France a party to the war. [34]

13. 16

    $54 billion from South Korea for Alaska gas

    What happened

    • Donald Trump planned to announce on Wednesday that South Korea will put about $54 billion into a project to send natural gas from Alaska to Asia, and into other US projects, Trump's office confirmed. [35][36]
    • The money comes out of $350 billion South Korea promised in a 2025 trade deal, in return for lower US tariffs on its cars. [35]
    • The project is an 807-mile pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to an export terminal on the south coast. [35]
    • Its cost and financing have been in doubt for years. [36]

    Why it matters

    Alaska's Republican senator Dan Sullivan, a long-time backer of the project, faces a close race against Democrat Mary Peltola, with the vote less than five weeks away. [35]

    Kim Sung-won, who chairs the South Korean parliament's trade committee, said the business case should have been checked before putting such a burden on the public. [36]

    How it works

    The sum is named less than five weeks before a close Senate race. It comes out of a 2025 promise, and Seoul's trade committee chair says nobody checked the business case first.

    The idea, in story 03: Why a promise of money is announced long before anyone pays it →

    The truth

    • Who gains Alaska's senator Dan Sullivan — A $54 billion announcement for the gas project he has backed for years lands less than five weeks before his close race. [35]
    • Who pays South Korea's taxpayers — Their government's pledge pays for a US project whose cost has been in doubt for years, the head of their parliament's trade committee warns. [36]
14. 17

    Senate delays a ban on Chinese cars

    What happened

    • The US Senate left for the midterm elections without voting on a bill to permanently ban cars, software and parts linked to China, Russia or North Korea. [37]
    • Nearly every senator was ready to back it, Slotkin said, but Republican Rand Paul objected that it could catch Mercedes-Benz, which is almost 20% owned by Chinese investors. [37][38]
    • The bill bars carmakers more than 15% owned by Chinese companies. [38]
    • Its sponsors, Bernie Moreno and Elissa Slotkin, say they will try again in November. [38]

    Why it matters

    A rule from the Biden administration already keeps Chinese carmakers out of the US, and the senators want a law that is harder to undo. [37]

    Trump said this month he would accept Chinese companies building cars in the US. [38]

15. 18

    Senators agree a deal on building permits

    What happened

    • US senators from both parties said on Wednesday they had agreed a bill to speed up permits for big energy and building projects. [39]
    • Talks stopped in December, when Trump paused five nearly finished wind farms off the US east coast. [39]
    • They restarted after Trump told Democrats that wind and solar projects would be treated better. [39]
    • The vote will not come until after the 3 November midterm elections, and the US House of Representatives has not passed it. [39]

    Why it matters

    Republican Senator Mike Lee said the aim is to make it easier to build things in the US. [39]

    Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse said the fair treatment of wind and solar projects is still unresolved. [39]

16. 19

    A vote on data centres and power bills

    What happened

    • Senate Republicans put a bill on data centres, the huge buildings full of computers that run AI and the internet, up for one of the last votes before the midterms. [40]
    • It asks power regulators to consider charging very large users the cost of the grid upgrades they need. [40]
    • It passed the US House of Representatives by 417 votes to 3. [40]
    • Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called it a fraud because the charge is optional, and Democrats want it made compulsory. [40]

    For, in the US House417 votes

    Against3 votes

    Why it matters

    Its sponsor, Ohio Senator Jon Husted, is in a tough race against Sherrod Brown, who calls him the 'face of data centers'. [40]

    Voters worried about energy bills have made data centres a campaign issue. [40]

17. 20

    A US congressman warns about South Korea and China

    What happened

    • John Moolenaar, the Republican who chairs the US House committee on China, asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to watch South Korea's warming ties with China. [41]
    • His letter pointed to chip factories that Samsung and SK Hynix run in China. [41]
    • It also said South Korea treats Chinese online shops such as Temu more gently than the American firm Coupang. [41]
    • South Korea's foreign ministry said it treats all companies fairly and called the alliance with the US the cornerstone of its policy. [41]

    Why it matters

    Moolenaar wants a State Department briefing on South Korea and China by 31 October. [41]

    The letter was sent the day before Trump's office confirmed South Korea's $54 billion for Alaska. [41][35]

18. 21

    Seoul's spies say Zelensky's reveal was a bid for help

    What happened

    • South Korea's intelligence service told lawmakers that Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, probably revealed a secret transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to build South Korean support for more help to Ukraine. [42]
    • He disclosed it in his UN speech last week. [42]
    • South Korea says that broke a secrecy agreement, and Ukraine denies there was one. [42]
    • The soldiers, captured fighting for Russia, reached South Korea in mid-September and have no major health problems. [42]

    Why it matters

    South Korea sends Ukraine aid but no weapons, under its rule against arming countries at war. [42]

    Ukraine has not apologised, lawmakers were told. [42]

    Good news

    • Two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia reached South Korea in mid-September, where they had asked to live. South Korea's intelligence service says neither has any major health problem.
19. 22

    Gaza archaeologists rescue artefacts from rubble

    What happened

    • A team of Palestinian archaeologists is digging museum pieces out of the rubble across southern and central Gaza, Al Jazeera reports. [43]
    • UNESCO, the UN's culture agency, says at least 164 cultural sites in Gaza have been damaged since October 2023. [43]
    • The team works from a tent in al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis, cleaning, photographing and recording each piece. [43]
    • Some collections lie beyond the 'Yellow Line', the zone Israel's army controls, where 196 Palestinians had been killed by April. [43]

    Why it matters

    It is the first organised local effort to record what the war did to Gaza's 5,000-year history. [43]

    The team still does not know where it can store what it saves. [43]

    Good news

    • In Gaza, a team of Palestinian archaeologists is digging museum pieces out of the rubble and cleaning, photographing and recording each one, working from a tent in al-Mawasi.