Russian missiles kill at least 24 across Ukraine, 18 of them in one block of flats in Pryluky

The rest of the day

57 more stories on this beat.

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

1. 02

   Houthi strikes kill three at Saudi airports

   Attacks on two Saudi airports on Tuesday and Wednesday killed three people and wounded 36, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said. [13] The Houthis, the Iran-backed group that holds most of north-west Yemen, claimed both attacks. [13][24] Two women died at Abha airport, and a Sudanese man died at King Khalid airport in Riyadh, the capital. [25][26] The Saudi-led coalition said it shot down a ballistic missile north of Riyadh and destroyed a launch site in Sanaa, Yemen's capital. [27]

   Why it matters — Saudi Arabia is now being hit in its capital as it backs Yemen's government in a war that restarted in July. [13] New fences now surround fuel tanks of Aramco, the state oil company, near Riyadh's airport. [27]

2. 03

   Houthis besiege Taiz

   Houthi forces have cut the roads into Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, since Sunday. [28] About 30 staff of the Halo Trust, a British charity that clears landmines, are trapped inside. [28] The Institute for the Study of War, a US research group, said the Houthis had stopped the Yemeni government's advance on the coast. [14] The Yemeni government's army says it has 'neutralised' 1,860 Houthi fighters since its offensive began on Sunday. [29] The UN says the fighting has driven more than 200,000 people from their homes. [13]

   Why it matters — The siege cuts Taiz off from Aden, the Yemeni government's main city, so supplies cannot come in by road. [28] Yemen already has the world's third-highest number of landmine casualties over ten years, and Taiz is among the worst-hit areas. [28]

3. 04

   Syria weighs sending help to Saudi Arabia

   Syria is considering military help for Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, a US official and a Syrian military official told Reuters. [30] The US official said Saudi Arabia had asked Syria to send forces to fight. [30] Syria's information ministry said it stands with Saudi Arabia but is 'not opening new fronts'. [31] Pakistan's military spokesman confirmed that Pakistani troops are already in Saudi Arabia and said they have been there 'for decades'. [32]

   Why it matters — Pakistan and Turkey agreed on Tuesday to activate the Mecca Pact, a defence deal they signed with Saudi Arabia in August. [24] Each new partner brings Yemen's war closer to becoming a fight between countries.

4. 05

   Tanker hit deep in the Gulf, off Qatar

   A tanker was struck by several projectiles about 94km off the north coast of Qatar on Wednesday, and casualties were reported. [15] The UKMTO, a British agency that tracks shipping, did not say who fired or how many were hurt. [15] The ship was about 500km from the Strait of Hormuz, where most attacks on ships have happened since the war began in late February. [33] Only seven cargo ships crossed Hormuz on Tuesday, the fewest in over two months. [16]

   74 of 100

   Oil crossing Hormuz, as a share of before the war

   Why it matters — Attacks on tankers last week were the most in any week of the war, shipping data showed. [16] Oil crossing Hormuz fell to about 10.1 million barrels a day, 74% of its level before the war. [16]

5. 06

   Iran threatens to strike first

   Iran's army spokesman said on Wednesday its forces are ready to carry out 'pre-emptive' strikes against the US. [34] A senior adviser to the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's most powerful armed force, said Hormuz is closed and fully under Iran's control. [34] US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the same day that Iran had 'lost complete control' of the strait. [35] Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, faced three hours of questions in parliament over a meeting with US officials in New York. [36]

   Why it matters — An MP has filed a motion to impeach Araghchi, and the questions show a split inside Iran's leadership. [36] Its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the war, and his son and successor has not been seen in public since. [37]

6. 07

   Europe's diesel promise turns out smaller

   France and Germany said on Wednesday that the diesel they promised under last week's G7 deal will come from stocks pledged in March. [38] So it may add no new fuel. [39] The G7 agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels after US officials threatened a ban on diesel exports. [39] EU countries want the IEA, which runs rich countries' emergency oil stocks, to assess the market before any further release. [39] France will still sell 10 million barrels of diesel, which its prime minister said will cut pump prices by 12 to 18 cents a litre. [20]

   Before the war1.59 euros

   Record this month2.24 euros

   Why it matters — Diesel in Europe reached a record 2.24 euros a litre, up from 1.59 euros before the Iran war. [40] Drivers, farmers and lorry firms pay that price every day.

7. 08

   Iraq cuts the value of its dinar

   Iraq's cabinet set a new official rate of 1,500 dinars to the US dollar late on Tuesday. [18] It is the country's second big devaluation in six years. [18] Iraq gets more than 90% of its budget from oil, and nearly all of that oil leaves through the Strait of Hormuz. [18] With the strait squeezed, Iraq's government has delayed salaries and payments to wheat farmers and builders. [18] Its finance ministry told parliament it could not fund the 2026 budget without the change. [18]

   Why it matters — Iraq's government had been covering its deficit with short-term loans from state banks. [18] A weaker dinar also makes everything Iraqis buy from abroad dearer.

8. 09

   Iraq's prime minister adds four deputies

   Iraq's political blocs have agreed to finish Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi's government by creating four deputy prime ministers, three political sources told The National. [41] Two would be Shiite, one Sunni and one Kurd. [41] Al Zaidi, a businessman, was sworn in in mid-May. [41] Nine ministries, including defence and interior, still have no minister. [41]

   Why it matters — Top jobs in Iraq are shared out by sect and ethnic group, and the bargaining has left ministries empty for almost five months. [41]

9. 10

   Libya's parliament removes its speaker after 12 years

   Libya's parliament in the east voted out its speaker, Aguila Saleh, 82, on Tuesday after almost 12 years in the job. [42][43] A day earlier, 98 members voted to limit the speaker to one 12-month term. [42] His replacement is Al Salhin Abdulnabi, an engineer from Tobruk who comes from Saleh's own tribe. [42][43] Saleh called the vote 'not official'. [42]

   Why it matters — Libya has had two rival governments since Muammar Gaddafi fell in 2011, one in Tripoli and one in the east backed by the military leader Khalifa Haftar. [43] Analysts say Saleh was weakened as Haftar's sons, especially Saddam Haftar, took more power. [43]

10. 11

    Ex-spy chief Hanning ordered held in jail

    A federal judge in Karlsruhe ordered August Hanning, 80, a former head of the BND, Germany's foreign spy agency, to stay in detention until trial. [44][20] Investigators say his former chief of staff, Manfred D., took more than 2,000 secret documents between 2010 and 2023 and passed them to Hanning. [44] Hanning, by then a private security adviser, is accused of using them to advise a foreign spy service. [44][20] His lawyer told Die Welt that Hanning had confidential papers but did not pass on what was in them, and not for money. [20]

    Why it matters — Manfred D. worked for every BND chief after Hanning until he retired in March. [45] Countries that share secrets with Germany now have to ask what reached a foreign service. [45]

11. 12

    Woman whose eviction set off Spain's protests dies

    Maricarmen Abascal, 87, whose eviction set off protests across Spain over rents, has died, the Madrid Tenants' Union said on Wednesday. [23][46] Police carried her out of her flat of more than 70 years on a stretcher on 23 September. [23] An investment firm had bought the flat and tried to raise her rent by 230%. [47] The owner later offered a lower rent, but she was in hospital and never signed. [23] Rents in Spain have risen 80% in ten years. [47]

    Why it matters — The row over her eviction helped bring an early election on 29 November, after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's housing measures failed in parliament on 2 October. [23][48] Polls show Vox, a far-right party, gaining most, at about 18%. [49]

12. 13

    France stops stun grenades at school protests

    France's interior minister, Laurent Nunez, suspended police use of stun grenades at high school protests on Wednesday. [21] On Monday a 15-year-old lost a hand after picking one up and it went off. [21] More than 6,500 people, most of them under 18, have been arrested since students began blocking schools in late September. [50] They complain of teachers absent for weeks and school days that run until 6pm. [51] Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the anger 'didn't come out of nowhere' and promised first answers by the end of October. [52][20]

    Why it matters — A poll for the TV channel BFMTV found 55% of French people back the students. [20] France and Iran also summoned each other's ambassadors, after France accused Iran's foreign ministry of spreading false posts about the protests. [20]

13. 14

    EU and China start trade talks in Beijing

    The EU's trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, meets China's commerce minister, Wang Wentao, in Beijing on Thursday and Friday. [53] The EU buys more than 1 billion euros a day more from China than it sells there, and China has limited exports of rare earths, metals that factories need. [53] The EU hopes for a first deal on one sector, most likely cheap Chinese hybrid cars. [54] China has refused an EU request to curb those car exports itself, the Financial Times reported. [55]

    Why it matters — EU leaders meet on 15 and 16 October with China high on their list. [53] On Wednesday the European Parliament voted 454 to 86 for a tougher line, calling China a 'decisive enabler' of Russia's war. [56]

14. 15

    Kosovo picks a president just before the deadline

    Kosovo's parliament elected Justina Shiroka Pula, an economist and academic, as president late on Tuesday. [57] The vote came moments before a deadline that would have forced a snap election. [57] She won 81 votes in the 120-seat parliament. [57] Kosovo's lawmaking has been stuck for over 19 months, through two early elections. [57] Just before the vote, lawmakers passed a law limiting a special court in The Hague that tries war crimes by the Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1998-99 war. [57]

    Why it matters — Thousands of protesters outside parliament had demanded the law on the court. [57] It weakens the court set up to try former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters for crimes in the war with Serbia. [57]

15. 16

    Russia denies a second plague case

    Russia's government called reports of a second suspected case of pneumonic plague in Siberia 'false information' on Wednesday. [58] The first case was Darya Shipilova, 28, a worker at an anti-plague research institute in Irkutsk, who died two days after falling ill. [59] Russia says she died of pneumonia of unknown cause, yet it locked staff inside her institute for three days. [59] US President Donald Trump said he would discuss the case with Putin by phone. [60]

    Why it matters — The WHO calls the risk outside Russia 'very low', but says it does not have the 'full picture' from Russia. [60][59] It has asked Moscow for a formal answer about the second case. [58]

16. 17

    Bulgaria ends the search for a sunk ship's crew

    Bulgaria called off the search on Wednesday for the missing crew of a cargo ship. [17] A drone hit the ship on Tuesday about 130km off Bulgaria's coast, and it sank. [61] 'There are no traces of the sailors from the first ship,' said a vice-admiral at its maritime agency. [2] A second ship, carrying grain, was hit in the same area, and its 18 crew were rescued. [4] On Monday a Turkish-owned ship carrying Ukrainian grain sank off Romania, and two people died. [61]

    Why it matters — Bulgaria's president, Iliana Yotova, said after an emergency security meeting that Russia's war has made the Black Sea much less safe for merchant ships. [62] Bulgaria has not said who it thinks sent the drones. [4]

17. 18

    EU adds 1,650 names to its Russia sanctions

    EU envoys on Wednesday approved about 1,650 new people and firms for sanctions over Russia's war, Reuters reported, most of them linked to Russia's arms industry. [20] In the US, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Roger Wicker asked the Trump administration to enforce a Russia sanctions law faster. [63] They want it to go after the 'shadow fleet' of old tankers Russia uses to sell oil around sanctions. [63] Most of the law takes effect on 18 October. [63]

    Why it matters — Trump signed the law nearly a month ago, and the senators say the Trump administration has stayed mostly quiet since. [63] A sanction only bites if a government enforces it.

18. 19

    Rubio tells Europe to wake up

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a speech in Athens, with the Parthenon behind him, calling on Europe to 'awaken from its long slumber'. [64] He said the West will either keep its place 'at the head of the world' or decline, and said there is nothing wrong with loyalty to your own nation. [20] He was in Greece for talks on defence, energy and trade. [65] More than 1,500 people marched against him in Athens beforehand, angry about the war in Iran. [20]

    Why it matters — Rubio is asking European governments to carry more of the cost of their own defence. [65]

19. 20

    US pressure pulls three out of a Vilnius conference

    The EU, Canada and Lithuania pulled their officials out of a conference on false information in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, after pressure from the Trump administration, Politico reported. [66] A US State Department cable objected to sessions describing the US as a source of 'foreign information manipulation'. [66] US embassies were told to ask governments whether they agreed with that label. [66]

    Why it matters — Lithuania, the host, is asking the US for a permanent military base on its soil. [67] Trump said he would 'certainly look at it'. [67]

20. 21

    Student hurts several people at a Polish school

    A 19-year-old student attacked people with a sharp object at a vocational school in Ostroleka, north-east of Warsaw, on Wednesday morning. [68][69] Police arrested him nearby. [68] Counts of the injured ranged from seven, given by police, to ten, given by the regional governor. [69][70] Prosecutors said students, teachers and passers-by were hurt, none with life-threatening wounds. [68]

    Why it matters — The attacker was a student at the school and was himself among the injured, officials said. [69][70] No motive has been given. [68]

21. 22

    Israel marks three years since 7 October

    About 50,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park on Wednesday for a memorial run by survivors and bereaved families, apart from the state's own ceremonies. [71] Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and took 251 hostages to Gaza. [72] At Kfar Aza, a kibbutz where 64 people were killed that day, relatives asked who else should answer for it. [72] 'I need my country to take responsibility,' said Inbar Goldstein, who lost her brother and niece. [72]

    Why it matters — Families want to know who failed to stop the attack. [72] That question now runs into an election on 27 October, in a campaign where security drowns out other issues. [73]

22. 23

    Gaza still has no fully working hospital

    Gaza has no fully working hospital and no MRI scanner a year after the ceasefire, Physicians for Human Rights Israel said in a report. [74] Intensive care has grown by one bed, from 103 to 104. [74] Gaza's health ministry says at least 1,570 patients, 264 of them children, have died waiting to be sent abroad for care. [74] On Wednesday Israeli strikes killed three people in Gaza, Palestinian officials said, and Israel said it killed two Hamas fighters. [75]

    Why it matters — Israel controls Gaza's borders, so only a small share of the sick have been able to leave for treatment. [74]

23. 24

    Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem shuts

    Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem is due to close on Thursday after Israel ordered it shut. [76] Israel acted after Britain banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and put sanctions on people who help build them. [76] The consulate is separate from the UK embassy in Tel Aviv, which stays open. [76] It serves Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. [76]

    Why it matters — Palestinians lose the British office that served them, an analyst at the International Crisis Group said. [76] Britain is reported to be weighing the expulsion of 27 Israeli diplomats in return. [76]

24. 25

    Shots fired at a UN post on Lebanon's border

    UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, said small-arms fire hit one of its posts near Kfar Shouba, on the border with Israel, on Wednesday morning. [77] No one was hurt, and the force called the attack deliberate. [77] It is investigating and did not say who fired. [77] Under pressure from the US and Israel, the UN Security Council has set 31 December as the end of the force's mission. [77]

    Why it matters — UNIFIL was set up after Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon and has been renewed every year since. [77] It now has less than three months left on the border.

25. 26

    Saudi Arabia opens a safety probe into the flydubai flight

    Saudi Arabia has opened an air-safety inquiry into the 30 September flydubai flight on which the co-pilot is accused of stabbing the captain, Reuters reported. [78] Such inquiries look for lessons, not blame, and are not required when an act is deliberate. [78] New Zealand police said the co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, 29, from Oman, trained to fly there in 2018 and 2019. [79] New Zealand has opened its own investigation. [79]

    Why it matters — Passengers and crew stopped the attack on the plane, which was flying to Tel Aviv with 182 people on board. [79]

26. 27

    US approves 2 billion dollars of arms for three Arab states

    The US State Department approved arms sales worth more than 2 billion dollars to Egypt, Kuwait and the UAE. [80] The UAE can buy up to 10,000 laser-guided rocket kits for 1.04 billion dollars. [80] Egypt can buy more than 2,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles for 832 million dollars. [80] Kuwait gets 400 million dollars of repairs and parts for its Patriot air-defence systems. [80]

    Why it matters — The US State Department said the sales will not change the basic military balance in the region. [80]

27. 28

    Pakistan reaches a 1.2 billion dollar IMF deal

    The IMF reached a staff-level deal with Pakistan on Thursday that would release about 1.2 billion dollars once its board approves. [81][19] The money comes from a 7 billion dollar loan programme and a 1.4 billion dollar climate fund. [81] The IMF said higher energy prices from the Middle East war slowed growth, to an estimated 3.6% this year. [19] Inflation eased to about 10.3% in September. [19]

    Why it matters — If the board agrees, Pakistan can draw the money in four to five weeks. [81] Pakistan faces spiking food and fuel prices and high unemployment, DW reported. [19]

28. 29

    Pakistan's north-west chief minister clashes with the governor

    Sohail Afridi, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, called for a law letting its assembly impeach the governor. [82] The governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, had met the province's top civil servant and police chief without him. [82] Kundi said emergency rule would 'definitely' be imposed if the prime minister and president thought it necessary. [83] Afridi says he rejects military operations in the province. [82]

    Why it matters — Pakistan's army said it killed 13 fighters of the banned Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan, in the same province, in one operation. [84] The quarrel over who runs the province is also a quarrel over how to fight those militants. [82]

29. 30

    Sri Lanka arrests a former first lady

    Sri Lanka's anti-corruption commission arrested Shiranthi Rajapaksa, wife of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Wednesday. [85] She is accused of misusing money her charity got from a state bank to buy a scanner for a government hospital. [86] A court ordered her held until 13 October. [85] Her son, the MP Namal Rajapaksa, has also been detained on bribery charges. [86]

    Why it matters — The Rajapaksa family held top government posts for years and led the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009. [86] Its members are now being called to answer corruption charges one by one. [86]

30. 31

    Nepal to record 5,285 flood victims as dead

    Nepal is changing two laws so families can register the deaths of 5,285 people still missing after the 26 August floods. [87] Nepal's government ended its 40-day search two days earlier. [87] The Bhotekoshi-Trishuli floods killed at least 1,455 people. [87] Without a death record, families cannot get relief money, compensation or other legal help. [87]

    Still missing5,285

    Confirmed dead1,455

    Why it matters — More of the flood's victims are missing than confirmed dead. [87] For six weeks most families have had no official answer.

31. 32

    Japan raids its four big brewers

    Japan's Fair Trade Commission searched the offices of Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory this week. [88][89] It suspects they agreed together to raise the price of beer and other drinks. [89] The four control more than 90% of Japan's beer market. [89] Shares in Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo fell after the news, and all four said they will cooperate. [88]

    Why it matters — If the four did agree prices, drinkers may have paid more than they would have, media reports said. [89]

32. 33

    Chinese attack jets seen at a new base in Laos

    Satellite images show eight light attack jets at a new Chinese military site at Ban Keun airport in Laos, which opened last week. [90] It gives China's air force its first foothold in mainland south-east Asia. [90] The jets match the Chinese-made JL-8, a trainer that can carry bombs, and Laos is reported to own only four. [90] China calls the site a joint 'support and training centre' not aimed at any other country. [90]

    Why it matters — China rarely puts forces abroad, which is why this site worries the region. [90]

33. 34

    Indonesia sued over the haze over its region

    Indigenous and civil groups in Indonesian Borneo are suing Indonesia's government for 'gross negligence' over wildfires whose smoke covers much of South-east Asia. [91] They named President Prabowo Subianto and the governor of West Kalimantan among ten defendants. [91] None of them came to the first hearing in Pontianak on Wednesday, so the judges adjourned until 21 October. [91] The haze has shut schools and caused a rise in breathing illness. [91]

    Why it matters — The case asks Indonesia's government to pay residents' health costs and repair burnt land. [91]

34. 35

    France opens talks with the Taliban on deportations

    France has begun 'technical' talks with Afghanistan's Taliban government to send home Afghans who are in France illegally and seen as a threat, a diplomat said. [92] France has had no diplomatic ties with the Taliban since they took power in August 2021, and its embassy in Kabul is closed. [92] About 20 EU countries, including Germany, Belgium and Sweden, are working to speed up such returns. [92]

    Why it matters — The Taliban, whom the EU does not recognise, want more standing abroad, and these talks give them dealings with European governments. [92]

35. 36

    Kenya quarantines ten after its first Ebola death

    Kenya has quarantined ten people who had contact with a man who died of Ebola in Nairobi, and is tracing 57 contacts in all. [93][94] He travelled from Buta in northern Congo through Kisangani, Beni and Uganda before flying to Nairobi, sick for a month without being caught, the head of Africa CDC said. [93] Health Minister Aden Duale insisted there is 'no Ebola outbreak in Kenya'. [94] In Congo's North Kivu province, MSF says the spread is 'out of control'. [95]

    Why it matters — Three-quarters of Ebola deaths in North Kivu happen at home, outside any clinic, MSF said. [95] Family and friends care for those patients, which gives the virus more chances to spread. [95]

36. 37

    Eritrean troops move into Tigray

    Eritrean soldiers have crossed into northern Ethiopia and deployed around Adigrat, a Tigray town about 115km north of Mekelle, residents told AFP and the BBC. [96][97] Fighting between Ethiopia's army and the TPLF, the party that runs Tigray, broke out on 23 September. [96] Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of backing the TPLF, which Eritrea has denied. [97] The two neighbours cut diplomatic ties last week. [96]

    Why it matters — Two weeks of fighting already threaten a wider regional war. [96] Eritrean troops inside Ethiopia would make it a fight between two countries.

37. 38

    Gunmen kill over 100 miners and 25 soldiers in Nigeria

    Gunmen on motorbikes killed more than 25 soldiers and over 100 small-scale gold miners in Zamfara state, in Nigeria's north-west, sources told Reuters. [98] In Borno state, in the north-east, troops fought off an attack by fighters linked to Islamic State and said they killed more than 25. [98] Some soldiers died there too, but the army gave no number. [98] In Borno, families sell livestock and property to pay ransoms to kidnappers. [99]

    Why it matters — Insecurity is likely to be a main issue in Nigeria's election early next year. [98]

38. 39

    A swamp slows the search at Nigeria's crash site

    Divers are searching a swamp in Ondo state where a Nigerian military plane crashed on Monday, killing all 25 people on board, including civilians. [100] Mangroves and murky water have slowed the work. [100] The black boxes, the flight recorders, have not been found. [100] Villagers said the tail broke off with a loud noise before the crash. [100]

    Why it matters — Until the recorders are found, nobody can say why the plane came down. [100]

39. 40

    Africa sets up its own credit rating agency

    The Africa Credit Ratings Agency, AfCRA, backed by the African Union after nearly ten years of talks, was set to launch on Wednesday. [101] Based in Mauritius, it will judge how safe it is to lend to African countries, firms and institutions. [101] Its backers say the 'big three' agencies, Fitch, Moody's and S&P, have marked African economies down unfairly. [101] They say 23 African countries are not rated by those agencies at all. [101]

    Why it matters — A worse rating makes borrowing more expensive, so African governments hope a second opinion will lower what they pay. [101]

40. 41

    Ghana will apply to join BRICS

    Ghana's cabinet has approved a formal application to join BRICS, the group of emerging economies started by Brazil, Russia, India and China, its foreign minister said. [102] He made the announcement while visiting India's foreign minister, and said Ghana had asked for India's support. [102] Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia are among countries that have joined in recent years. [102]

    Why it matters — Ghana says it wants a wider spread of trade and diplomatic partners. [102]

41. 42

    Floods delay the school year in Senegal

    Senegal has put off the start of the school year across the country after heavy rain and floods from Friday to Monday. [103] At least five people died, and parts of Dakar, the capital, came to a standstill. [103] The education ministry said schools must first be cleaned, disinfected and repaired. [103] Senegal is due to host the Youth Olympics in a few weeks. [103]

    Why it matters — No start of term has been put off like this in recent years. [103]

42. 43

    ANC leader survives an ambush in KwaZulu-Natal

    A gunman shot at Samora Ndlovu, 43, a senior ANC leader in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on Tuesday night near the town of Richmond. [104] A car blocked his way on the R56 road, and a man got out and fired at his car. [104] He survived and is being treated for gunshot wounds. [104] He is a former mayor of Richmond. [104]

    Why it matters — KwaZulu-Natal has a long record of political killings, and the attack has raised fear that they are coming back. [104]

43. 44

    Maduro may face torture charges in New York

    US prosecutors are expected to bring new charges against Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's former president, and his wife Cilia Flores, CBS reported. [105] The charges would accuse them of a role in the torture of Americans held in Venezuelan prisons. [105] US forces seized the couple in a raid on 3 January and took them to New York, where they face weapons and drug charges they deny. [105] Others may also be charged over the torture of more than a dozen detained Americans. [105]

    Why it matters — Torture charges would add the treatment of prisoners to a case that so far rests on drugs and weapons. [105]

44. 45

    Thousands march in Rio against Flavio Bolsonaro

    Thousands of students marched through Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday against Flavio Bolsonaro, the far-right senator who came first in Brazil's presidential election on Sunday. [22][106] He won 47% to 45% for President Lula da Silva, and the two meet in a runoff on 25 October. [107] He is the son of Jair Bolsonaro, the former president jailed for 27 years for plotting a coup. [108] He has promised to use the bigger far-right group in Congress to change the constitution and 're-democratise' Brazil. [108]

    Why it matters — Brazil returned to democracy in the 1980s after a 21-year military dictatorship that Jair Bolsonaro has praised. [108] That is why his son's promise worries his opponents. [108]

45. 46

    Canada will not extend assisted dying to mental illness

    Canada's justice minister, Sean Fraser, said on Wednesday that Canada's government will bar people whose only condition is mental illness from medically assisted dying, with no end date. [109][110] That group was due to become eligible in March. [110] A parliamentary panel recommended against the change earlier this year. [109] Fraser said there is 'not a perfect consensus' but called it the correct approach. [109]

    Why it matters — A court case argues that keeping them out breaks their rights under Canada's constitution, and Fraser said Canada's Supreme Court could weigh in. [109]

46. 47

    Texas carries out an execution after Pike's failed one

    Texas executed Jamaal Howard, 46, on Wednesday evening, the first US execution since Tennessee's failed attempt to put Christa Pike to death last week. [111][112] Howard was convicted of murdering a shop clerk, Vickie Swartout, in a 2000 robbery. [113] His lawyers argued the drug, pentobarbital, was the same one that failed on Pike. [111] The courts, including the US Supreme Court, refused to stop it. [112]

    Why it matters — He was the 30th person executed in the US this year. [113] Pike survived two doses of the same drug. [112]

47. 48

    Democrats sue Trump over taxpayer-paid ads

    The Democratic National Committee sued the Trump administration on Wednesday over TV ads paid for with public money. [114] The suit, in a federal court in Washington, says the ads break a law against government-funded propaganda and that Trump directed them. [114] Common Cause, a group that watches over US democracy, filed a second suit over the same ads. [115] The ads run while voters cast early ballots for the 3 November midterm elections. [114][115]

    Why it matters — The DNC says the ads use taxpayers' money to help Republicans in November. [115]

48. 49

    US proposes a 70,000 dollar fee for foreign graduates

    The US Department of Homeland Security proposed that foreign students on F-1 visas pay at least 70,000 dollars to work in the US after graduating. [116] The fee would go to a certified institution for on-the-job training known as OPT, plus 30,000 dollars for any further training. [116] DHS said the rule is meant to fight fraud. [116] It is part of the Trump administration's wider crackdown on visa holders. [116]

    Why it matters — For decades, students from India and China above all have turned US degrees into US jobs and a path to permanent residence. [116]

49. 50

    Most Republicans doubt the midterms will be honest

    Only 37% of Republicans and 35% of independents trust the US election system, against 63% of Democrats, a Gallup poll found. [117] The midterms are less than a month away. [117] Gallup said the link between approving of the US president and trusting elections has disappeared since Trump returned in 2025. [117] At a rally in San Antonio on Wednesday, at least six protesters interrupted Trump. [118]

    Democrats63%

    Republicans37%

    Independents35%

    Why it matters — Trump was in Texas to help Ken Paxton, a Senate candidate in trouble in his race. [118]

50. 51

    US bans a Fiji-based man over Chinese bribes

    The US State Department barred Zhao Fugang, director of the Overseas Chinese Service Center in Fiji, from entering the US. [119] It says he paid bribes to people in Fiji to advance Chinese government, business and criminal interests. [119] His close family are barred too. [119]

    Why it matters — The US embassy in Suva, Fiji's capital, said his actions left Fiji open to 'malign foreign influence'. [119]

51. 52

    US holds an award-winning Kashmiri filmmaker

    US immigration officers detained Arfat Sheikh, 42, a filmmaker from Kashmir, at Washington's Dulles airport on 24 September. [120] The Department of Homeland Security says he entered legally in 2019 on a student visa and overstayed. [120] His films about conflict in Kashmir have won awards. [120] His family says it expects him to be freed soon. [121]

    Why it matters — Friends and relatives call the detention unlawful and are campaigning for his release. [120]

52. 53

    British couple jailed in Iran get a visit

    Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple held in Iran's Evin prison, have had their first visit from British officials in months. [122] They were arrested in January 2025 on a round-the-world motorcycle trip and sentenced to ten years for spying. [122] UN experts call their detention 'state hostage taking'. [122] Craig has put back 10kg after losing 17kg on hunger strike. [122]

    Why it matters — Lindsay is still waiting for medicine she was prescribed. [122]

53. 54

    Pakistan's top court widens women's right to divorce

    Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a court can end a marriage at a woman's request on grounds of shiqaq, deep discord, even when cruelty is not proven. [123] It used a catch-all clause in the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act of 1939. [123] A five-judge bench led by Justice Shahid Waheed gave the ruling. [123]

    Why it matters — A woman who wants to leave a broken marriage no longer has to prove she was treated cruelly. [123]

54. 55

    Two men freed after 20 years on two-year terms

    Two men given open-ended prison sentences in England as teenagers were freed on Wednesday after about 20 years each. [124] Their minimum terms had been 24 and 21 months. [124] A judge at Wolverhampton crown court cancelled the sentences, called IPPs, after the Criminal Cases Review Commission sent their cases back. [124] A third man's sentence was replaced too. [124]

    Why it matters — The judge said the men had already served far longer than the sentences that replaced them. [124]

55. 56

    Far right takes the EU Parliament to court

    Patriots for Europe, a far-right group in the European Parliament, asked the EU's General Court to overturn secret votes that kept it out of committee chair jobs after the 2024 election. [125] The Parliament's lawyer said the results are final and its rules have no way to redo them. [125] The centre-right, the Socialists, the liberals and the Greens have kept a 'firewall' to keep the far right out of such posts. [125]

    Why it matters — If the court sides with the Patriots, the main groups lose one way they keep the far right from leading committees. [125]

56. 57

    Nobel chemistry prize for the mirror puzzle of life

    Henri Kagan, 95, from France and Kenso Soai, 76, from Japan won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday. [126] Some molecules, such as amino acids, come in two forms that are mirror images, but living things use only one. [126] The two showed how one form can come to win out on its own, a puzzle more than a century old, the Nobel committee said. [126]

    Why it matters — Their work has been decisive for chemists who design the reactions used to make medicines, the committee said. [126]

57. 58

    India gives cheetahs a third home

    Two cheetahs, named Vyom and Neera, were released into the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in India's Madhya Pradesh state on Wednesday. [127] It is the state's third home for cheetahs, after Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar sanctuary. [127] The release closed the state's Wildlife Conservation Week. [127]

    Why it matters — Madhya Pradesh's chief minister, Mohan Yadav, called it a historic day for the state's wildlife. [127]