World News · Wednesday, 7 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

Germany arrests a former head of its foreign spy agency, accused of buying 2,000 secret files from his old aide

August Hanning ran the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service, until 2005. Prosecutors say his former chief of staff sold him secret files for years, and that he used them in paid work, including for two foreign spy services.

2,000

secret BND documents prosecutors say the aide passed to Hanning

many were meant only for the agency's top briefings, including those held at the chancellor's office [1][5]

14 years

that Manfred D ran the office of the BND's presidents after Hanning

from 2012 to March 2026; prosecutors say he passed files until at least mid-2022 [9][4]

1974

the last time Germany had a spy case this senior

Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned after a close aide was exposed as an East German spy [1][4]

The lead story — what happened

German police arrested August Hanning, 80, on Tuesday on suspicion of treason and spying for foreign intelligence services. [1][2] He ran the BND, Germany's foreign spy agency, from 1998 to 2005. [2]
His former chief of staff, named only as Manfred D under German privacy rules, was arrested the same day. [9][6] Prosecutors say he sold Hanning about 2,000 BND documents over the years. [2][10]
Manfred D did the same job for Hanning's successors from 2012 to March 2026. [9] That gave him access to some of Germany's most current secrets while, prosecutors say, files were leaving the agency. [4]
Prosecutors say the two men made their deal in 2010, five years after Hanning left the agency. [4][6] The newest documents found so far date from June 2022. [3]
Hanning is accused of using the secret material to write an analysis for an officer of one foreign spy service. [2] Prosecutors say they do not know whether it arrived. [11]
He is also accused of passing political information, partly built on the stolen files, to a contact at a second foreign spy service for several years. [2][7]
Prosecutors have not named either country. Several outlets were told Russia is not one of them, and Dawn's sources said China is not either. [7][4][12] Der Spiegel reported investigators are looking at a possible link to Azerbaijan. [5]
The files reportedly covered Iran's nuclear programme and Russia's army. [7] Some were secrets that allied spy agencies had shared with Germany, the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. [4]
The case surfaced by chance. In September 2025 police searched Hanning's home over a separate kidnapping case and found a storage device holding secret BND documents. [3][14]
In that case he is accused of taking more than 100,000 euros from Christina Block, heiress to the Block House steakhouse chain, to bring back her children from Denmark. [10] He denies it. [1][8]
Hanning and his lawyers also deny the spying charges. [1] Treason can carry a life sentence in Germany. [7]
A senior lawmaker warned that allies may now share less with Germany. [4] The arrests came a month after Germany's government approved wider powers for its spy agencies. [13]

2005Hanning leaves the BND

2010Deal with his old aide

2025Files found in a search

2026Both men arrested

Prosecutors say the deal began five years after Hanning left the agency. The files turned up fifteen years later, in a search about something else.

Who is involved

August Hanning

head of Germany's BND spy agency from 1998 to 2005, then the top official at the interior ministry until 2009; later a private security consultant. He denies the charges. [9][1]
Manfred D

Hanning's chief of staff, and later chief of staff to his successors until March 2026; accused of selling him the files [9][4]
Martin Jaeger

the BND's president today; he says the agency ran its own internal investigation as soon as suspicions arose [4][3]
Konstantin von Notz

a Green MP on the committee that oversees the spy agencies; he wants former top officials barred from private consulting [6][11]

How it unfolded

1998-2005 Hanning runs the BND [9]
2010 prosecutors say Hanning and his old aide agree a paid deal for files [6]
2012-2026 Manfred D runs the office of later BND presidents [9]
Sep 2025 police searching over a kidnapping find secret files at Hanning's home [3]
May 2026 federal prosecutors open a secret investigation [3]
6 Oct both men arrested; homes searched, including in Berlin [1]

Where this points

Hanning was due before a judge at the Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday. Watch whether prosecutors name the two foreign services, because that decides how much trust Germany's allies lose. [1][4]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Spies and plots in Europe High↑

Germany's former spy chief was arrested on suspicion of selling secrets to foreign spy services. [1] In London, three men went on trial accused of watching journalists for Iran so one could be attacked. [56] EU ambassadors are planning how to respond to a covert attack that kills people. [48]

The Iran war's bill High→

A projectile hit an oil tanker off Oman and injured 12 of its 19 crew. [23] The World Bank now expects the six Gulf states' economies to shrink 4.3% this year. [74] Qatar, which is helping with talks, said the whole world is paying. [75]

Drones at airports and ships Building↑

A Houthi missile landed near the runway in Aden, Yemen, minutes before a passenger flight was due. [25] Drones sank a cargo ship in Bulgaria's waters in the Black Sea. [35] Moscow's mayor said 650 Ukrainian drones flew towards the capital's region in one night. [34]

Crowds in the streets Building↑

More than 250,000 people marched in France for school funding, by the French government's count. [49] Spain's government approved 21 housing measures a day after violent protests in Barcelona. [52] Police in Delhi detained opposition MPs marching against India's election chief. [59]

Quarrels over shared rivers Steady→

Pakistan's foreign minister warned of serious consequences if Pakistan loses its share under a river treaty India has suspended. [61] Egypt's president called his country's share of the Nile a right that cannot be touched. [62] A Bangladeshi expert said the treaty sharing the Ganges with India runs out in December. [63]

The rest of the day

49 more stories on this beat.

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

02
Kenya records its first Ebola death

A Kenyan man who had lived in Congo for seven years died of Ebola in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, the health minister said on Tuesday. [15] He fell ill in Congo, travelled overland to Kampala in Uganda, and flew to Nairobi on 3 October. [15] It is the first Ebola case Kenya has ever recorded. [16] Officials listed 28 contacts, and are still looking for 23 passengers and four crew from his flight. [15]

Why it matters — The outbreak in Congo has killed 4,082 of 8,463 confirmed patients, and this strain, Bundibugyo, has no vaccine or treatment. [15] Uganda had 20 cases this year, almost all people who had come from Congo, and was declared free of Ebola in August. [15]
03
US vice-president says Iran must cut its uranium work

JD Vance, the US vice-president, told Reuters that Iran must make a meaningful cut in its ability to enrich uranium, the process that makes nuclear fuel, to end the war. [17] He asked why Iran needs fuel enriched to 60% if it does not want a bomb. [17] He also said the US is not sure who makes decisions in Iran. [17] On Tuesday President Trump said nobody knows who is running the country. [18]

Why it matters — The war began on 28 February, when US and Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader, and his son and successor has not been seen in public since. [18] Iran's foreign ministry said the problem is the mixed messages coming from US officials. [17]
04
Trump says Iran could 'take out' two US cities

At a rally in Nebraska on Monday, President Trump said of the Iran war: let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. [19] He called it a small price to pay for keeping the country safe. [21] California's governor, Gavin Newsom, called the remark dangerous and ordered the state's threat centre to watch for attacks. [19] Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, said Trump meant he is stopping Iran from being able to strike US cities. [21]

Why it matters — Both cities hold major US Navy and Air Force bases, and residents told the Guardian they were horrified. [19][20] The row comes four weeks before the US midterm elections, where fuel prices from the war already hurt Trump's party. [21]
05
Houthi missiles aimed at airports in Aden and Saudi Arabia

The Houthis, the Iran-backed group that holds Yemen's capital, fired two ballistic missiles and drones at Aden's airport at dawn on Wednesday, Yemen's transport ministry said. [25] One missile landed near the runway minutes before a Yemenia flight from Cairo was due, and the plane turned back to Jeddah. [25] The Houthis also claimed strikes on airports in Riyadh and Abha. [25] On Tuesday, airports at Jizan and Najran in southern Saudi Arabia were hit. [26]

Why it matters — Officials in Aden evacuated passengers and staff and moved two planes away from the danger. [25] Saudi Arabia's cabinet promised Yemen's government full support. [26]
06
Yemen's war kills more than 270 in a day

Fighting across Yemen killed more than 270 fighters in one day, sources on both sides told AFP on Tuesday. [27] Government sources counted 115 dead troops, and Houthi sources 160 dead fighters, mainly from Saudi air strikes. [27] Forces loyal to Yemen's government launched a push to take al-Waziiya, a mountain district in Taiz province. [28] It is part of an offensive announced on Sunday to retake all Houthi land, including Sanaa, held since 2014. [28]

Government troops115
Houthi fighters160
Deaths in one day, as each side's own sources counted them to AFP. Neither count can be checked.

Why it matters — The fighting is centred on the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the narrow sea passage that carries much of the world's oil and gas trade. [27] The Houthis deny being pushed back. [28]
07
Tanker hit near Oman, 12 crew hurt

A projectile hit the On Peace, an oil tanker owned by Onex, a Dubai shipping company, in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. [24] It struck about 17km off the Omani port of Limah and set the ship on fire. [22] Twelve of the 19 crew were hurt, 11 of them Indian. [23] Oman's air force flew 10 of the injured to hospital in Khasab. [22]

12 of 19
crew injured
Twelve of the On Peace's 19 crew were hurt. Eleven of the injured are Indian.

Why it matters — India, which has 17 of the 19 sailors on board, called for an end to attacks on ships. [23] The reports name no attacker. [22][23]
08
Ukraine sends hundreds of drones at Moscow

Russia said it shot down nearly 900 Ukrainian drones overnight into Tuesday, over several regions and occupied Crimea. [32] Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said 650 of them flew towards the Moscow region. [34] Unconfirmed reports said a big fuel depot near Moscow was burning, and the attack killed two people. [32] Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said intelligence shows Russia is preparing a massive strike of its own. [33]

Why it matters — Ukraine now builds its own long-range drones and has hit targets as far as Siberia. [32] Zelensky said how well Ukraine can defend itself depends on the weapons its partners send. [33]
09
Drones sink a ship in Bulgaria's waters

Air and sea drones hit two cargo ships in Bulgaria's economic zone in the Black Sea at about 3am on Tuesday, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. [35][36] The Alfa Watan, a Turkish-owned ship flying the flag of Togo, sank, and its crew is missing. [35] The second ship, the Able, caught fire. [37] Its 18 crew were rescued. [35]

Why it matters — Radev did not say who attacked, and Russia has not commented. [35] He warned the attack drives up insurance costs and makes shipping in the Black Sea extremely difficult. [36]
10
Sudan's army chief rejects talks

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads Sudan's army, promised on Tuesday to take back every inch of land held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a rival armed group. [29] He said fighting will go on until the RSF is removed. [29] The war began in April 2023 and has displaced about 13 million people. [29] The same day, an RSF attack killed 10 villagers in West Kordofan, a local group said. [29]

Why it matters — Massad Boulos, President Trump's Africa adviser, said on Monday that Sudanese must lead any talks themselves. [29] In Blue Nile state, 5,500 people fled their villages in three days, the UN migration agency said. [29]
11
Mali's army retakes Kidal

Mali's army, backed by Russian fighters from the Africa Corps, entered the northern town of Kidal on Tuesday. [30][31] The Azawad Liberation Front, Tuareg separatists who want their own state, said it withdrew without a fight. [30] It blamed heavy Russian air strikes. [30] The separatists and an al-Qaeda-linked group took Kidal in April, in attacks that also killed Mali's defence minister. [30][31]

Why it matters — Mali has been run by soldiers since coups in 2020 and 2021, who promised security and have not delivered it. [31] An analyst called the win symbolic, not decisive. [30]
12
World Bank says the war is shrinking Middle East economies

The World Bank said on Tuesday that the economies of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan will shrink 2.1% this year because of the Iran war. [74] The six Gulf states face an average fall of 4.3%, mostly from lower exports through Hormuz. [74] The same report says Pakistan holds almost half of the region's extremely poor people. [76] Qatar, which is helping with US-Iran talks, said the whole world is paying for the war. [75]

Why it matters — Tourism, flights and shipping have all been hit as well as oil, the bank said. [74] It is the only region of the world where poverty is still above its level before the pandemic. [76]
13
Tigray rebels accused of forcing boys to fight

People in Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, told the Guardian that a new rebel alliance is forcing men and boys aged 15 to 65 to join it. [65] The TPLF, the party that runs Tigray, went back to war with Ethiopia's federal government on 23 September. [65] That broke a 2022 peace deal. [65] Eritrea's army and Amhara militias, which fought against Tigray last time, now fight on its side. [65]

Why it matters — Federal forces took Tigray's capital, Mekelle, at the weekend. [66] An analyst at the International Crisis Group said the rebels may switch to an insurgency, and that tension with Eritrea could spread the war. [66]
14
South Sudan's food stores run nearly empty

About 3,000 refugees and returnees cross from Sudan into South Sudan every week, many of them hungry. [67] The World Food Programme says more than a million people could lose food aid unless more money arrives. [67] At Malakal, one of its main stores, stocks fell from 10,000 tonnes a year ago to under 300 now. [67] A WFP official also blamed illegal checkpoints for blocking aid. [67]

A year ago10,000 tonnes
Now300 tonnes
Food held by the World Food Programme at Malakal, one of its main stores in South Sudan.

Why it matters — Sudan's war has pushed up prices in South Sudan as well as sending people across the border. [67] The aid cuts arrive just as more people need help. [67]
15
Russia quarantines about 190 after a lab worker dies

Darya Shipilova, 28, a researcher at a plague research institute in Irkutsk, Siberia, died last Friday. [38] Russia's health watchdog says she died of pneumonia of unknown cause, not plague. [38] Even so, between 189 and 197 of her contacts were quarantined, and more than 60 colleagues were kept inside the institute. [38] President Trump said he has a call booked with President Putin about it. [39]

Why it matters — The World Health Organization says the risk outside Russia is very low. [39] Russia has given no reason for the quarantine, and first tests of the contacts were negative. [38]
16
EU plans a 15-year probation for new members

The European Commission, the EU's executive, proposed on Tuesday that countries joining the bloc could lose their voting rights for up to 15 years if their democracy slips. [45] Marta Kos, in charge of enlargement, pointed to Hungary under Viktor Orban. [45] The same plan would keep some Ukrainian farm products, such as wheat, out of the EU market even after Ukraine joins. [46] Ukraine's farm minister said Ukraine cannot agree to a permanent limit. [47]

Why it matters — Poland and other farming countries fear cheap Ukrainian grain. [47] The plan tells candidates such as Ukraine they may join as members with fewer rights than the rest. [45][46]
17
Far-right AfD wins a German parliament's top seat

Tobias Rausch, 35, of the far-right AfD party, was elected speaker of the parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, an eastern German state, on Tuesday. [40] He won 48 votes, nine more than his party's seats. [41] No far-right party has held such a post since the Second World War. [40] Rausch said the days of political firewalls should be over. [40]

Why it matters — German parties have refused for decades to work with the far right, and nine MPs from other parties broke that rule. [40] Germany's domestic intelligence agency classifies the AfD as right-wing extremist. [41]
18
Lithuania votes to allow nuclear weapons

Lithuania's parliament voted 106 to 18 on Tuesday to move ahead with removing a ban on nuclear weapons and foreign bases from its constitution. [42] The change needs at least 94 of 141 votes twice, with three months between. [42] The final vote is expected on 12 January. [42] Supporters say it lets Lithuania's army join all of NATO's planning on nuclear deterrence. [42]

For106
Against18
Needed94
Lithuania's parliament has 141 members. The change needs 94 votes twice, three months apart.

Why it matters — Lithuania borders Belarus and Kaliningrad, a part of Russia. [42] The change would bring its law closer to its neighbours'. [42]
19
France fires a new nuclear missile from a submarine

France test-fired its new M51.3 ballistic missile, built to carry nuclear warheads, from a submarine for the first time on Tuesday. [43] It carried no warhead and came down in the North Atlantic, far from any coast. [44] President Emmanuel Macron watched from a warship. [43] He wrote that to be free, one must be feared. [43]

Why it matters — France is the EU's only nuclear-armed country. [43] France's defence ministry said the new missile keeps its submarine force working for the long term. [43] It came the same day Lithuania voted towards allowing nuclear weapons on its soil. [42]
20
EU prepares for a deadly covert attack

Ambassadors from all 27 EU countries have met without phones or aides to plan a response to a covert, or hybrid, attack that kills several people, five diplomats told Politico. [48] They say such an attack looks increasingly likely. [48] The talks sped up after an explosives-laden drone was found at Leipzig airport in Germany in August. [48] Some governments say the EU risks copying NATO's job. [48]

Why it matters — The EU says Russia has stepped up sabotage, cyberattacks and covert operations since it invaded Ukraine. [48] Earlier EU plans covered cyberattacks and sabotage, and these talks are the first aimed at attacks that kill people. [48]
21
France's school protests reach 250,000

More than 250,000 people marched across France on Tuesday in support of school pupils, by the French government's count. [49] They protested over crowded classrooms, too few teachers and crumbling buildings. [49] Police used tear gas in Paris and Marseille and water cannon in Rennes. [50] Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said 215 students, 85 staff and 715 police officers have been hurt since the protests began. [50]

Why it matters — Pupils disrupted 891 high schools on Tuesday, almost a quarter of them. [50] What began in schools now includes parents, university students and unions. [50]
22
Spain approves 21 housing measures

Spain's government approved 21 urgent housing measures on Tuesday, a day after protests in Barcelona turned violent. [52] They include a new tax on seasonal rentals and a ban on buying homes purely to resell them. [51] Parliament rejected similar measures last week. [51] The protests began after an 87-year-old woman, Maria del Carmen Abascal, was evicted from her Madrid home last month. [51]

Why it matters — Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early election for 29 November after parliament voted down his housing plans. [52][51]
23
Spain lifts Puigdemont's arrest warrant

A judge at Spain's Supreme Court lifted the arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, the former leader of Catalonia, on Tuesday. [53][54] Puigdemont fled to Belgium in 2017 after leading a failed attempt to make Catalonia independent. [53] He was wanted for misusing public money on the vote. [53] Spain's top constitutional court ruled first that a 2024 amnesty also covers that charge. [53]

Why it matters — He can now come home before Spain's general election on 29 November. [53] Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez welcomed the ruling. [53]
24
Three men on trial in London for spying on journalists for Iran

Three men born in Iran and living in London went on trial on Tuesday, accused of spying on journalists at Iran International, a London-based TV channel critical of Iran's government. [56] Prosecutors say the aim was for at least one journalist to suffer serious violence. [56] The charges cover August 2024 to March 2025. [57] One man admits his role but says he acted out of fear, which prosecutors call false. [56]

Why it matters — Iran's government calls the channel a terrorist group. [56] All three were living in London, and prosecutors say one was paid and promised help with a criminal record in Iran. [56]
25
Latvia moves to expel a Russian journalist

Latvia's foreign minister, Baiba Braze, began steps on Tuesday to put Leonid Ragozin, a Russian journalist who has lived in Latvia for over ten years, on its list of unwanted foreigners. [55] Ragozin once worked for the BBC. [55] On a podcast he said Russia is compelled to answer the West with brute force. [55] The minister cited information from the security services. [55]

Why it matters — Latvia borders Russia and Belarus, and its leaders watch Russia uneasily. [55] Ragozin's remarks stirred fury in Latvia. [55]
26
British special forces evidence goes to military police

Evidence that British special forces may have committed serious crimes in Afghanistan has been passed to the military police, court papers showed on Monday. [58] It concerns detention raids between 2010 and 2013. [58] A public inquiry is looking at claims that the SAS, the army's special forces regiment, killed people unlawfully and that officials covered it up. [58] Police have paused any criminal case until the inquiry ends. [58]

Why it matters — It is the first time the inquiry has said its work could lead to prosecutions. [58] BBC Panorama has reported claims that handcuffed civilians and children were shot. [58]
27
Police in Delhi detain Rahul Gandhi

Police in Delhi detained opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, India's main opposition leader, as they marched to the Election Commission on Tuesday. [59] They want the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to resign over a nationwide revision of voter lists. [59] They say it could help Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, which both deny. [59] The MPs were released and sat down near the commission. [59]

Why it matters — The commission says the revision makes the lists accurate. [60] The protests began on Friday. [60]
28
Three countries press their claims to shared rivers

Pakistan's foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Tuesday that cutting Pakistan's share of river water would threaten regional peace. [61] India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in April 2025 after an attack in Kashmir. [61] Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said Egypt's share of the Nile cannot be reduced. [62] A Bangladeshi expert said the Ganges treaty with India expires in December and is flawed. [63]

Why it matters — Egypt gets almost all its fresh water from the Nile, and its quarrel is with Ethiopia, upstream. [62] In each case the country downstream depends on water that a neighbour upstream controls.
29
US Marines in Okinawa pause all operations

The US military in Okinawa, Japan, paused all operations for two days on Tuesday and limited troops from leaving base. [64] It follows the arrest of a US Marine on suspicion of killing a local woman. [64] The local commander, Lieutenant General Benjamin Watson, said serving on the island comes with responsibility. [64] The killing has renewed protests against the large US presence there. [64]

Why it matters — It could complicate Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's plan to build up Japan's own forces on Okinawa and work more closely with the US. [64]
30
ISIS kills an Iraqi police officer near Kirkuk

Fighters from ISIS attacked an Iraqi police post near Kirkuk on Monday and killed an officer, Bakr Majid Mohammed Al Lami, Iraq's interior ministry said. [71] They used machine guns and snipers. [71] It is the first reported ISIS attack on Iraq's forces since the US-led coalition left on 30 September. [71] Nobody has claimed it. [71]

Why it matters — Iraq's own forces are now responsible for keeping ISIS down, after the coalition formed in 2014 to help them left. [71]
31
An Iranian MP moves to impeach the foreign minister

Amirhossein Sabeti, a member of Iran's parliament, filed a motion to impeach Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. [72] He accuses Araghchi of meeting US officials in New York during the UN assembly without the supreme leader's permission. [72] A news agency, Tasnim, said Araghchi met US envoy Steve Witkoff on 22 September without approval. [72] The motion goes to parliament's security committee. [72]

Why it matters — It shows a fight inside Iran over who may talk to the US. [72] That is the same question Vance raised about who decides in Iran. [17]
32
Satellite photos show work at a bombed Iranian nuclear site

Satellite images show heavy traffic again at Minzadehei, an underground nuclear site near Tehran that Israel bombed this year. [73] The Institute for Science and International Security, a US research group, published them on Tuesday. [73] Cars and trucks were seen there from early September to early October, after rubble was cleared. [73] The group says this may mean Iran is trying to rebuild its ability to develop a weapon. [73]

Why it matters — It arrives as the US demands Iran cut its uranium work to end the war. [17] The group says only that the traffic may point to weapons work, so the pictures suggest it and do not prove it. [73]
33
Saudi oil pipeline back near full flow

Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline was carrying about 5.8 million barrels of oil a day again by Tuesday, the energy minister said. [77] It carries oil across the country to the Red Sea, avoiding the Strait of Hormuz. [77] It stopped after an attack last month. [77] It can carry up to seven million barrels a day. [77]

Why it matters — With Hormuz blocked, the pipeline helps refill world oil supplies, the minister said. [77] The Houthis are firing at Saudi targets near the same Red Sea coast. [26]
34
EU offers observers for a Palestinian vote

The EU is ready to send observers to Palestinian parliamentary elections on 28 November, its foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday. [78] President Mahmoud Abbas, 90, set the date. [78] It would be the first such vote in nearly 20 years. [78] Kallas said the vote should be credible and open to all. [78]

Why it matters — It would renew Palestinian institutions that have had no elected parliament for two decades, if it goes ahead. [78]
35
Israel tells its army to prepare for war with the Palestinian Authority

Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, told the cabinet that the army must be ready for a war with the Palestinian Authority, which runs parts of the West Bank. [79] He described a scenario in which its security forces turn their guns on Israelis. [79] He said the plan is a lesson from 7 October. [79] Israel votes in a general election on 27 October. [79]

Why it matters — Katz said the army must also prepare for attacks by armed groups on settlers and soldiers. [79] He has made more remarks like this as the election nears. [79]
36
Settlers beat an AFP photographer

Armed Israeli settlers beat Jaafar Ashtiyeh, 58, a photographer for the news agency AFP, with rifle butts in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. [80] About a dozen Israeli soldiers watched. [80] He was covering attacks on Palestinian olive pickers near the village of Aqraba. [81] He was taken to hospital with head and body bruises. [81]

Why it matters — Settlers attack olive farmers every harvest with few legal consequences, and this year is worse as Israel's election nears. [80]
37
Ex-UN food official says he was fired over Gaza

Benjamin Davis, a senior official at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), says his contract was not renewed because his team published a paper on hunger in Gaza. [82] He also joined weekly silent vigils for the dead. [82] Israel's mission had complained about a seminar on Gaza hunger. [82] The FAO's head, Qu Dongyu, said in public that he fires senior staff who play political games. [82]

Why it matters — Davis worked there for 26 years and is appealing. [82] The FAO did not answer the Guardian's questions. [82]
38
Nigeria lowers its plane crash toll to 25

Nigeria's air force said on Tuesday that 25 people died when its plane crashed into a swamp in Ondo state, not 32 as first announced. [68] It listed five crew and 20 passengers, including civilians. [68] The plane was flying from Benin City to Lagos. [69] It is the deadliest Nigerian military air crash since 1992. [69]

Why it matters — President Bola Tinubu declared three days of national mourning and ordered an investigation. [69] The first figure came from the aviation minister before all on board were counted. [69]
39
Egypt denies torturing jailed fact-checkers

Egypt's interior ministry called claims that six jailed journalists were tortured baseless. [70] The six work for Matsadaash, a website that checks what officials say. [70] Their lawyers say most reported beatings, forced stripping and threats to their families. [70] Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders have called for their release. [70]

Why it matters — Egypt's interior ministry said the claims are a way to avoid the charges against them. [70]
40
Argentina vows to stop Falklands oil

Argentina's foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said his government will stop the Falkland Islands drilling for oil offshore. [83] Britain's ambassador was in the audience and left soon after. [83] The target is Sea Lion, an oil project north of the islands, which Britain rules and Argentina claims. [83] President Javier Milei gave Britain two weeks on 28 September to stop it or face a UN sea-law tribunal. [83]

Why it matters — Quirno said stopping the oil is part of a peaceful plan to win back the islands, and that drilling would cement British rule. [83] The two-week deadline ends on 12 October.
41
Trinidad's journalists fight a new police law

Journalists in Trinidad and Tobago are asking for changes to a law passed on 24 September that widens police powers to search and seize. [84] They want their phones, notes and sources protected. [84] Trinidad's government says the law is needed against very high crime. [84] The country has been under a near-permanent state of emergency for over a year. [84]

Why it matters — Trinidad fell from 19th to 32nd this year on Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index. [84] Journalists fear sources will stop talking if police can take their phones. [84]
42
Venezuela's power cuts last seven hours a day

In Carabobo state, Venezuela, power now goes out daily for around seven hours, a dialysis patient told Al Jazeera. [85] Some cuts are deliberate, as the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez rations electricity. [85] The anger has fed protests. [85] On Tuesday the Cardon refinery, one of the country's biggest, stopped after a fire at one unit, Reuters reported. [86]

Why it matters — At one clinic in Valencia the emergency batteries are used up and the generator no longer works. [85] No workers were reported hurt at Cardon. [86]
43
US man charged over Canada's Tumbler Ridge school shooting

US prosecutors charged James Cody Bryant, 30, a resident of the US state of Washington, with conspiring to murder people in another country. [87][88] They say he gave money and technical advice to the shooter for six months before the attack in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on 10 February. [88] Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, killed eight people, six of them children. [87] She had used ChatGPT to plan it. [87]

Why it matters — It is the second-deadliest school shooting in Canada's history. [87] Until now the known help had come from a chatbot, and prosecutors now say a man in the US helped too. [87]
44
Israel's transport ministry turned down security help

In 2025, Israel's Shin Bet security service offered to lend the transport ministry an officer to judge the risk of foreign flights, Army Radio reported. [97] The transport ministry's security chief, Avri Cohen, refused, saying it did not want outside interference. [97] Israel's Finance Ministry gave it 10 million shekels and 10 new posts in this year's budget. None of the posts has been filled. [97] It is under scrutiny after a pilot tried to seize a flydubai flight to Israel. [97]

Why it matters — Israel's transport ministry decides who checks the crews flying into Israel. [97] The report shows it said no to help before the attack. [97]
45
Australia's top court blocks a coal mine expansion

Australia's High Court ruled 3 to 2 that the approval to expand the Mount Pleasant coal mine in New South Wales was invalid. [90] Planners failed to consider limiting the emissions from the coal when it is burnt overseas, the judges said. [90] The case was brought by two retired science teachers, Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan. [89] Campaigners say it is the first climate case to reach the court. [89]

Why it matters — Campaigners say it binds every fossil fuel project in the state from now on. [90] The expansion would have doubled the mine's output. [90]
46
Former bishop jailed in Australia for abuse

Christopher Saunders, 76, the former Catholic Bishop of Broome, was jailed for six and a half years for sexually abusing two young Aboriginal men. [91] A jury found him guilty in August of one rape and 12 indecent assaults between 2010 and 2019. [91] He used church money and church houses to groom them, the court heard. [91] He resigned in 2020, when first accused. [91]

Why it matters — He is one of the most senior Catholic leaders anywhere to face abuse charges. [91] He can apply for parole in February 2031. [91]
47
EU negotiators fly to China over cheap cars

The EU's trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, flies to China on Wednesday for two days of talks. [96] He wants to slow imports of cheap Chinese hybrid cars. [96] China's trade surplus is at a record of about 1 billion pounds a day, the Guardian reported. [96] Negotiators want results that are measurable before the leaders meet. [96]

Why it matters — EU leaders meet next Thursday with China high on their list. [96] A deal on cars could later be widened to other goods, sources told the Guardian. [96]
48
Christa Pike awake after a failed execution

Christa Pike, 50, is conscious and speaking a week after surviving two lethal injections in Tennessee, her lawyers said on Tuesday. [95] She is believed to be the only person ever to survive a lethal injection. [95] She remains handcuffed in hospital and receiving critical care. [95] She was sentenced to death for a murder in 1995. [95]

Why it matters — Her lawyers called her recovery medically unprecedented and expect it to be long. [95]
49
Nobel physics prize for a telescope made of ice

Francis Halzen, a Belgian-born physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday. [92] He led IceCube, a detector made of a cubic kilometre of ice at the South Pole fitted with light sensors. [92] It catches neutrinos, tiny particles from violent events far out in space. [93] He first proposed it in 1988. [92]

Why it matters — The prize committee honoured the discovery of high-energy neutrinos coming from space. [93] Halzen said very few people thought it would work. [92]
50
Work starts on a UAE-Jordan railway

Work began on Monday in Aqaba, Jordan's port, on a $2.5 billion railway linking the port to Al Shidiya and Maan in southern Jordan. [94] The UAE and Jordan are building it together through a joint company. [94] The UAE's president and Jordan's king discussed it by phone, state media reported on Tuesday. [94] Abu Dhabi's crown prince attended the ground-breaking. [94]

Why it matters — Both governments call it a cornerstone of their long-term plans. [94]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why the people with the most access are checked the least

Security checks are built to stop strangers, so a trusted aide, bishop or official can misuse their access for years before anyone looks.

The twist

Most security checks look at outsiders. A trusted insider passes them every day, so the person best placed to do harm is often the one least looked at.

The picture

BND files: deal to arrest16 years

SAS raids: first raid to police referral16 years

Bishop: first abuse to first accusation10 years

Years between the first wrong act described in each case and the first official step, from the dates in today's stories.

How it works

A job gives a person keys, files and trust
Most checks are built to stop strangers
Checking a trusted colleague feels rude and slows work
So misuse from inside can run for years
It is usually found by chance, in a different case

The same force, elsewhere today

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

The bishop jailed in Australia

Christopher Saunders used his church's money and houses to groom two young men from 2010 to 2019, and nobody accused him until 2020.
Israel's transport ministry

The office in charge of checking flights turned down a Shin Bet officer in 2025, saying it wanted no outsiders looking at its work.
The SAS evidence sent to police

Special forces work in secret, so claims about raids in 2010 to 2013 reached the military police only this year, through a public inquiry.

Where you've seen this

Banks

a trader trusted by bosses can hide losses for years, because nobody re-checks a star's books

Small businesses

the bookkeeper who has done the accounts for twenty years is the one person nobody audits

Computer systems

the staff member with the master password can copy files that alarms on the outside never see

The catch

Most trusted insiders are honest, and checking everyone all the time costs time and goodwill. Hanning has not been convicted, and he denies the charges.

And the whole of it

Every office, school and family runs on people trusted because of the job they hold. Each of us trusts some of them without checking, and some of us are trusted that way ourselves.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

German prosecutors say a man who ran the country's foreign spy agency paid his old aide for about 2,000 secret files for over a decade and used them in paid work, including for two foreign spy services. [1][2] It was found only because police searched his home over a kidnapping. [3] Elsewhere today the Iran war kept hitting people far from it: 12 sailors hurt on a tanker off Oman, airports under missile fire in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and a World Bank forecast of shrinking economies across the region. [23][25][74]

Why it works on us — A famous spy, an heiress and a kidnapping make this a story about one man, while the larger question, which foreign services read Germany's and its allies' secrets, has no name attached yet. [4][5]

Who gains

The foreign spy services Hanning dealt with — Prosecutors say one got an analysis built on secret BND files, and another got political information for years. [2]
Lawmakers who want ex-officials kept out of consulting — Konstantin von Notz has asked for years to bar former top officials from private consulting, and the case gives that demand a concrete example. [11]
Saudi Arabia's oil sales — Its East-West pipeline is back to about 5.8 million barrels a day, so it can ship oil from the Red Sea while Hormuz is blocked. [77]
Mali's military government and Russia's Africa Corps — They took back Kidal without a fight, a symbolic win after the town was lost in April. [30][31]
Carles Puigdemont — With the arrest warrant lifted, he can return to Spain before the 29 November election. [53]
The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt — Nine votes from other parties gave it the parliament's top seat, the first such post for the far right since the war. [41][40]

Who pays

Germany's intelligence partners — Secrets they had shared with Germany were reportedly among the files, and a senior lawmaker warned they may now share less. [4]
The crew of the On Peace — Twelve of 19 sailors were hurt, 11 of them Indian, when a projectile hit their tanker. [23]
People in northern South Sudan — Food stocks at Malakal fell from 10,000 tonnes to under 300, and more than a million people could lose food aid. [67]
Boys and men in Tigray — Witnesses say a rebel alliance is rounding up males aged 15 to 65 to fight. [65]
Pakistan's poorest people — The World Bank says Pakistan holds almost half of the region's extremely poor, in the only region where poverty is still rising. [76]
Venezuelans who rely on electricity to stay alive — In Carabobo, power goes out for about seven hours a day, and one dialysis clinic's backup power has run out. [85]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

Which two foreign spy services Hanning is accused of working with.

Prosecutors have named neither. Several outlets were told Russia is not one of them, Dawn's sources ruled out China too, and Der Spiegel reports investigators are looking at Azerbaijan, which prosecutors declined to discuss. [7][12][5]
02

What allied secrets left the BND, and whether the analysis Hanning wrote ever reached the foreign officer.

Prosecutors say they do not know whether it arrived. Reports say some files came from allied agencies, but no list has been published. [2][4]
03

Where the two men were arrested.

The BBC, the Guardian and DW say Hanning was arrested at home in Nordwalde near Muenster and Manfred D in Bavaria. AP's report says Hanning was held in Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria and Manfred D in Steinfurt, in western Germany. We could not tell which is right. [1][2][9][6][11]
04

Whether Ebola is spreading in Kenya.

Of 28 contacts traced, only the dead man has tested positive so far, but 23 passengers and four crew from his flight were still being sought. [15][16]
05

Who fired at the tanker off Oman and at the ships off Bulgaria.

Oman and India named no attacker for the On Peace. Bulgaria's prime minister did not say who sent the drones, and Russia has not commented. [22][23][35]
06

What killed the young researcher in Irkutsk.

Russia's health watchdog says pneumonia of unknown cause, not plague, yet about 190 contacts are in quarantine and no reason has been given. [38]
07

How many people died in Nigeria's military plane crash.

Nigeria's aviation minister and President Bola Tinubu first said 32. The air force later listed 25 names, five crew and 20 passengers. Day Lila's 6 October edition carried the first figure, 32. [68][69]
08

Whether Iran is rebuilding nuclear weapons work at Minzadehei.

The satellite pictures show cars and trucks, and the research group that published them says only that the activity may point to weapons work. [73]
09

Who makes decisions in Iran.

The US vice-president and President Trump both say they do not know. Iran says the US knows very well, and an Iranian MP is now trying to impeach the foreign minister for talking to US officials. [17][18][72]

04 Hope carry this

Francis Halzen first proposed catching particles from deep space with a cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice in 1988. The detector was built, it worked, and on Tuesday it won him the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Also true today

Oman's air force flew 10 injured sailors from a burning tanker in the Strait of Hormuz to hospital in Khasab.
All 18 crew of the grain ship Able were rescued after drones set it on fire off Bulgaria's coast.
Work began in Aqaba on a $2.5 billion railway that the UAE and Jordan are building together.