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

The rest of the day

21 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

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

   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]

2. 03

   Ukraine is $27 billion short for its army

   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]

3. 04

   Ukraine brings a sanctions list to the US government

   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]

4. 05

   A doctor counts 52 civilians dead in Alamata

   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]

5. 06

   Iraq's cabinet backs a law for its militias

   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]

6. 07

   Israeli strikes kill seven in Gaza

   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]

7. 08

   Israel's president condemns a settler riot

   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]

8. 09

   Lebanon's army takes back a strike claim

   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]

9. 10

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

   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]

10. 11

    US lets Syria ask to buy weapons

    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]

11. 12

    Afghanistan says it killed 41 fighters from Pakistan

    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]

12. 13

    Romania's parliament rejects President Dan's pick

    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]

13. 14

    French school protests spread

    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]

14. 15

    Macron's troops for Saudi Arabia meet opposition

    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]

15. 16

    $54 billion from South Korea for Alaska gas

    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]

16. 17

    Senate delays a ban on Chinese cars

    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]

17. 18

    Senators agree a deal on building permits

    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]

18. 19

    A vote on data centres and power bills

    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]

19. 20

    A US congressman warns about South Korea and China

    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]

20. 21

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

    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]

21. 22

    Gaza archaeologists rescue artefacts from rubble

    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]