World News · Sunday, 11 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

India shuts much of Delhi and detains thousands to stop a protest over 130 million names cut from voter lists

Police held the Cockroach Janta Party's leaders on their plane and closed dozens of metro stations; a court freed the leaders on Sunday as India's Supreme Court met.

130 million

names removed from India's voter lists so far

Millions of people have appealed, and critics say the papers asked for are hardest to find for the poor. [6][5]

9 million

names cut in West Bengal before its state election, about 12% of voters

Modi's party then won the state for the first time. [5]

45 to 57

Delhi metro stations shut for the protest, by different counts

India's Supreme Court had said there should be no blanket closure of metro stations. [2][3][6]

The lead story — what happened

Police in Delhi, India's capital, detained thousands of people on Saturday to stop a protest against the head of the country's election body. [1][4][7]
The protest was called by the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth movement that is not a registered party. [7][3]
It began online in May, after India's Chief Justice compared some jobless young people to cockroaches. [3][7]
In July its street protests forced India's education minister to resign. [4][13]
It now wants Gyanesh Kumar, the chief election commissioner, to resign over a check of voter lists that has removed more than 130 million names. [4][6][9]
The Election Commission says the check removes dead, duplicate and ineligible voters. [5][7]
Critics say it falls hardest on Muslims and on poorer people who lack old documents, and so helps Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. [1][5]
Authorities closed about 50 metro stations, cancelled trains into Delhi's two main stations for 10 hours and cut mobile internet near the protest site. [1][2][11]
Loudspeakers said gatherings of five or more people were banned, and schools and courts were told to work online for the day. [4][1]
Police boarded the plane of the movement's founder, Abhijeet Dipke, as it landed, and held him and two other leaders for nearly 24 hours. [2][4]
On Sunday a magistrate freed the three on condition of 'no breach of peace for one year'. [9][3]
Counts of people held run from about 200 near the site, to 3,000 and 7,000 in news reports, to more than 15,000 by the movement's own count. [12][11][3][10]

1Police source, near the site200
2The Hindu, in Delhi3,000
3Media reports, by night7,000
4The movement's count15,000

Four counts of the people detained on Saturday. They cover different places and hours, and police have published no full figure.

Who is involved

Abhijeet Dipke

founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth protest movement; held on his plane, freed on Sunday
Gyanesh Kumar

India's chief election commissioner, picked by a committee led by Modi; the protesters want him to resign
Narendra Modi

India's prime minister for 12 years; his party denies gaining from the voter-list check
India's Supreme Court

the country's top court; it told India's government not to shut all metro stations, and met on Sunday

How it unfolded

May The Cockroach movement starts online [3]
July Its protests force the education minister out [4]
September A newspaper reports that two of three election commissioners objected, and Kumar overruled them [5]
Fri 9 Oct Delhi announces metro and train closures [6]
Sat 10 Oct Delhi is shut down and thousands are detained [1][4]
Sun 11 Oct A magistrate frees the leaders; India's Supreme Court meets [9][2]

Where this points

Watch what India's Supreme Court says about the metro closures and the detentions, and whether the movement's call to return to Jantar Mantar brings crowds back. [2]

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.

Fights over who gets to vote High↑

India's check of voter lists has removed more than 130 million names. [4] The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, pushed elections planned for November to September 2027. [35] US President Donald Trump said Ukraine, which has held no vote since 2022 because of the war, needs a new president. [23]

Governments stopping marches High↑

Delhi closed dozens of metro stations to keep marchers away. [2] Pakistan's government said it would not let a march for the jailed former leader Imran Khan reach the capital, Islamabad. [41] The city next to it, Rawalpindi, banned all public gatherings for 30 days. [40]

Airports and ships under attack High↑

A strike on the airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, killed 12 people. [14] A US fighter jet disabled a cargo ship leaving Iran in the Gulf of Oman. [33] Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they hit a gas tanker in the Strait of Hormuz the same day. [33]

The US government pushing its critics Building↑

The US Justice Department opened a competition probe into five TV networks that paused their coverage of Trump. [44] Navi Pillay, the new Nobel Peace Prize winner, called US sanctions on the International Criminal Court 'unacceptable'. [58] Trump said Ukraine needs a new leader a day after its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, criticised Trump's diesel deal with Russia. [24]

The rest of the day

35 more stories on this beat.

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

02
Strike on Riyadh's airport kills 12

A strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, killed 12 people and injured 309 on Saturday, Saudi aviation officials said. [14][18][92] The dead came from eight countries, including four Saudis and one American. [15][19] A missile hit the building that holds two domestic terminals, a regional official said. [16][19] The Saudi-led coalition blamed the Houthis, the Iran-backed group that holds most of northern Yemen, and vowed to respond. [14][18] It was the third attack on the airport this week, and the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since 2015. [14][15]

Why it matters — Trump said the US 'may' join Saudi strikes on the Houthis and would decide quickly. [15][19] More than 600 flights to and from Riyadh were cancelled on Sunday. [17]
03
Trump says Ukraine needs a new president

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday it is 'time for Ukraine to get a new president' who can make a peace deal with Russia. [23][24][27] A day earlier he lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel until April, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a gift to Russia. [23][24] Trump blamed Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian oil refineries for high US diesel prices before next month's US elections. [25][28] Ukraine has held no election since 2022, because voting stops under martial law. [23][26]

Why it matters — An envoy of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, called Trump's words 'iconic and historic'. [23][27] Trump said Putin wants a settlement and Zelensky does not. [26]
04
Glide bombs kill 20 in Zaporizhzhia as Europe keeps sanctions

Five Russian glide bombs, large bombs dropped from planes miles away, hit blocks of flats in Zaporizhzhia, a city in south-east Ukraine, on Saturday. [29][30] At least 20 people died, including children, and more were missing under rubble. [29] Zelensky called it Russia's 'thanks' for the US diesel deal. [29][30] Germany said it remains committed to its sanctions on Russia, and the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said EU ministers will approve their biggest sanctions list yet on Monday. [31][30]

Why it matters — Russian strikes killed more than 55 people in Ukraine in four days, the AP counted. [32] A Ukrainian official said Ukraine will keep hitting Russian oil refineries despite the US deal. [30]
05
Houthis warn Pakistan as Saudi allies close ranks

Yemen's government said its forces killed 1,150 Houthi fighters in a day, a figure Al Jazeera could not check. [20] Al Jazeera's reporter in Yemen said the Houthis will treat Pakistan as they treat Saudi Arabia if it joins the fighting. [20] On Sunday Pakistan's foreign office gave a 'firm and unshakeable' promise to defend Saudi Arabia. [21] Both are in the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a pact with Turkey, signed on 7 August, that treats an attack on one as an attack on all. [21]

Why it matters — Qatar's former prime minister, Hamad bin Jassim, told Gulf states to drop their quarrels and back Saudi Arabia. [22] Each country that joins the Saudi side may become a Houthi target. [20]
06
US jet disables a ship leaving Iran

A US fighter jet hit the stern of the Ocean Molica, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, stopping its engines. [33][34] US Central Command, which runs US forces in the Middle East, said the crew ignored warnings and tried to run its blockade of Iran's ports. [33][34] It said no crew were hurt, and that since 14 July it has disabled four ships and turned back 135. [33] Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they struck a gas tanker in the Strait of Hormuz for using an 'illegal route'. [33]

Why it matters — Ships near Hormuz now face two blockades at once, one by the US and one by Iran. [33] US Senator Chris Murphy asked why taxpayers are paying 'billions to hit commercial ships'. [33]
07
Abbas delays Palestinian elections again

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, put off legislative elections planned for 28 November and set them for 11 September 2027, on the same day as a presidential vote. [35][36][37] Palestinians last elected a parliament in 2006, when Hamas won. [36] Abbas has ruled by decree since his term ran out in 2009. [35] His decree blamed Israeli 'obstacles', including settler violence and Israel holding back Palestinian tax money. [35] Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, called it 'a ridiculous lie'. [35]

2006Last vote for parliament
Sept 2027New date for the vote
If the new date holds, Palestinians will have gone almost 21 years between votes for their parliament.

Why it matters — Abbas had promised France's president and Saudi Arabia's crown prince in writing that elections would be held. [35] The delay keeps the same leaders running the Palestinian Authority, which donor countries fund. [37]
08
Pakistan's government plans to take over a province

Pakistan's ruling coalition agreed on Saturday on a plan to put Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), a province in the north-west, under federal control through emergency rule, Dawn reported. [38] KP is run by the PTI, the party of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. [38][41] Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called a cabinet meeting for Sunday, a holiday. [38] KP's chief minister, Sohail Afridi, who is leading a PTI march to demand Khan's release, said he would not accept 'any illegal move'. [39]

Why it matters — Emergency rule would remove an elected government run by Pakistan's main opposition party. [38] Rawalpindi, next to the capital, banned all public gatherings for 30 days as the march approached. [40]
09
Taiz hospitals near collapse under a siege

Yemen's health ministry warned on Saturday that hospitals in Taiz, a city in south-west Yemen, are close to running out of medicines, drips, oxygen and fuel. [42] The Houthis cut the last main road between Taiz and other government-held areas on 4 October. [42] It said surgery, kidney dialysis and care for newborn babies could stop. [42] About 2.8 million people live in the part of the province held by Yemen's government, and 200,000 more have fled there, a local official said. [42]

Why it matters — Fuel runs a hospital's generators, its ambulances and the fridges that keep vaccines usable, Yemen's health ministry said. [42] It asked the UN and aid groups to bring supplies in. [42]
10
Myanmar's army snatches young people off the streets

Young people in Hpa-An, a city in Myanmar's Karen state, say army supporters in plain clothes seize people in their teens to thirties and force them to serve, the BBC reports. [43] Leaked papers seen by BBC Burmese show officials were told to meet recruitment quotas aggressively. [43] A 2024 law makes men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 serve two years. [43] Missing-person notices on Facebook for January rose from 4 in 2021 to 82 in 2025, a research group found. [43]

January 20214
January 202582
Missing-person notices posted on Facebook in January, counted by the research group Myanmar Witness.

Why it matters — Myanmar's army seized power in a 2021 coup and is fighting many armed groups. [43] About 100,000 people have been taken in, many by force, and the new soldiers have helped it win back ground. [43]
11
US opens a competition probe into TV networks

The US Justice Department said on Saturday it is investigating ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News under competition law. [44][45][46] Last month the five stopped their shared coverage of President Trump for several days. [44] They did it after the Trump administration took away the passes of reporters from CNN, MS Now and Politico. [44][45] A judge later ruled the ban was likely unconstitutional, and the passes were returned on 24 September. [45]

Why it matters — The department says a joint boycott by rival companies can break competition law. [45] The Committee to Protect Journalists said the US government should not use such probes 'to intimidate news outlets'. [45][46]
12
Gunman kills eight at a home in Pennsylvania

A 45-year-old man shot dead eight people at a house in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday, then killed himself, police said. [47][48][49] Seven of the dead were his relatives, among them a five-year-old boy, a one-year-old girl and a pregnant woman. [48][49] Two women who came to the house were shot in the street. [47][49] The Gun Violence Archive counts it as at least the 19th mass murder in the US this year. [47]

Why it matters — The same day, five members of one family died in an apparent murder-suicide in Douglas, Georgia. [50] The US Congress has passed none of the gun limits that such killings keep raising. [47]
13
Third school knife attack in a week in Poland

A 21-year-old student hurt three people at a school in Warsaw, Poland's capital, on Saturday, police said. [51] It was the third knife attack at a Polish school in a week. [51] On Thursday a 15-year-old killed a school caretaker north of Warsaw, and on Wednesday a 19-year-old wounded nine at a school in central Poland. [51] Police visited schools across the country on Friday and detained 76 people. [51]

Why it matters — Police said the attacks may be linked to an internet challenge, but could not say whether Saturday's was. [51] Prime Minister Donald Tusk said there is 'no room for compromise' on school safety. [51]
14
Germany says the EU budget plan is still too big

Ireland, which chairs EU talks this half-year, proposed on Saturday to cut about 159 billion euros from the EU's next seven-year budget, for 2028 to 2034. [52][53] That takes it from nearly 1,985 billion euros to 1,826 billion, about 8% less. [31][52] Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said within hours that it is 'no basis for an agreement'. [52] Germany pays about a quarter of the EU's shared budget and leads six 'frugal' countries that want cuts of several hundred billion euros. [52]

European Commission plan1,985 bn euros
Ireland's new plan1,826 bn euros
Ireland's plan is about 8% smaller. Germany and five other countries want it hundreds of billions smaller still.

Why it matters — Ireland left farm payments and money for poorer regions untouched, and cut defence, research and foreign aid instead. [53][54] EU leaders will argue it out at a summit on Thursday and Friday. [52]
15
EU plans tighter visas for Russian tourists

EU officials are preparing tighter visa rules for Russians who visit as tourists, Politico Europe reported on Saturday. [55] EU countries gave Russians about 478,000 tourist visas last year, many allowing repeated trips. [55] Poland, Sweden and Estonia pushed for the change, citing Russian-backed sabotage and arson in Europe. [55] Estonia wants a ban on about 650,000 Russian ex-soldiers who fought in Ukraine. [55]

Why it matters — The EU's migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, said 'you never know who these tourists actually are'. [55] A proposal is expected in January. [55]
16
Eritrea asks the UN to act against Ethiopia

Eritrea asked the UN Security Council on Saturday to 'forcefully condemn' what it called Ethiopia's 'declaration of war'. [56] Its foreign minister, Osman Saleh, asked for steps under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows anything from sanctions to military force. [56] A day earlier Ethiopia told the council it is acting in self-defence, and accused Eritrea of sending troops across the border. [56][57] The AP could not check Ethiopia's claims. [57]

Why it matters — The two countries fought on the same side in Tigray's 2020-22 war. [56] Ethiopia, which has no coast, wants access to the Red Sea, and Eritrea sees that as a threat to its land. [56]
17
Nobel winner calls US court sanctions 'unacceptable'

Navi Pillay, the South African judge who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, called US sanctions on the International Criminal Court 'unheard of' and 'unacceptable'. [58][59] The court, in The Hague, tries people for war crimes and genocide, and Pillay said hundreds of its staff feel threatened. [59] The US sanctioned the court itself hours after she won, having already sanctioned 17 of its judges and officials. [58] Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands said they 'strongly disagree'. [58]

Why it matters — Some of the sanctions start only in six months, so member countries can keep paying the court for now. [58] Trump said he had 'never heard' of Pillay. [59][60]
18
Pike back in prison as the Pope condemns executions

Christa Pike, the only person known to have survived a full lethal injection, left hospital on Saturday and went back to the Tennessee prison where she has lived for 30 years. [61][62][93] Her execution failed on 30 September, and she woke up only this week. [61] A lawyer for Tennessee told a judge this week that he did not know whether the state will try again. [61] The same day Pope Leo XIV called the death penalty 'inadmissible', as the US plans to stream a firing-squad execution live. [63]

Why it matters — The US carried out 30 executions in the first nine months of 2026, after 47 in 2025, the most in 16 years. [63][64] Vice-President JD Vance said he will not watch the live broadcast. [63]
19
Isaias kills four in the US south

Hurricane Isaias killed four people, two in Florida and two in Alabama, after it came ashore near Destin, Florida, late on Friday. [65][66][67] Two died when trees fell on their homes, and one from the fumes of a generator run in a closed garage. [65][66] About 500,000 people were still without power on Saturday evening. [65][67] Isaias was the first Atlantic hurricane of a season held back by El Nino, a pattern of warm water in the Pacific. [65]

Why it matters — Many coastal roads were open again by Saturday morning. [66] The weakened storm is moving towards the Appalachian mountains, where landslides are possible. [67]
20
Two tornadoes hit Marsala in Sicily

Two tornadoes came in from the sea and hit Marsala, a coastal town in western Sicily, on Friday. [68] Dozens of people were hurt, and at least 11 went to hospital. [68] One struck a school with 273 pupils inside; six children had minor cuts and all were brought out safely. [68] A 70-year-old man was in a critical condition. [68]

Why it matters — Scientists warn that a warmer Mediterranean Sea gives storms more energy. [68] In 2024 a sudden storm off Sicily sank the Bayesian, a superyacht, killing seven people. [68]
21
A man named Hitler Mussolini becomes a mayor in Peru

Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores, a 45-year-old freight businessman, won the race for mayor of Queropalca, a remote district in Peru's Andes mountains. [69] He took 229 of 663 votes in the 4 October local elections, against 204 for a far-right rival. [69] He takes office on 1 January. [69] Other Peruvians named Hitler have won office before, including a member of parliament in 2021. [69]

Why it matters — He ran for a left-wing party, Ahora Nacion, after leaving the party of Peru's right-wing president, Keiko Fujimori, in 2025. [69] The race was decided by 25 votes. [69]
22
France's centre-left votes online after a cyberattack

France's centre-left is holding an online primary to pick one candidate for next year's presidential election. [70] A cyberattack slowed voting on Friday, and by that evening only about 20,000 people had voted. [70] By Saturday midday 87,841 of 140,282 registered voters had voted, and voting was extended to Sunday evening. [70] Raphael Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament, is seen as the favourite against four rivals. [70]

Why it matters — Polls put the far right's Marine Le Pen first for the 2027 election, on 35%. [71] Student protests over crowded, run-down schools continue, with another day of marches on Tuesday. [71]
23
WHO finds no plague case after a Russian lab death

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that no case of plague has been registered after a lab worker died at a Russian plague research institute. [72] Darya Shipilova, 28, died of pneumonia on 2 October at the institute in Irkutsk, in Siberia. [72] Russia told the WHO that tests on her and on the people she met were negative, and none of them is sick. [72] The WHO said the cause of her death is still not known. [72]

Why it matters — About 200 people had been put in quarantine, and fear spread online. [72] The WHO said it sees no sign that the illness is spreading. [72]
24
Ebola reaches a new district in eastern Congo

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached Alimbongo, a health district in North Kivu province, for the first time, the WHO said. [73] Congo has recorded 8,728 confirmed cases and 4,205 deaths, and about 48% of confirmed patients have died. [73] The medical charity MSF says treatment centres lack beds, so some patients are treated in ordinary clinics. [73] Kenya is tracing 28 contacts of its first imported case, a man who died in Nairobi. [73][74]

48 of 100
of every 100 confirmed patients in Congo have died
About 48 of every 100 people with a confirmed infection in this outbreak have died.

Why it matters — North Kivu now has nearly 40% of Congo's new cases, up from 24% at the end of August, MSF says. [73] Kenya has asked churches to help spread warnings. [74]
25
Doctors protest against Israel's medical association

Hundreds of doctors gathered outside the World Medical Association's meeting in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, asking it to suspend the Israeli Medical Association. [75] Eighty-one health workers hung up scrubs, each with the name of a Palestinian health worker held by Israel. [75] Organisers said more than 6,500 health workers signed their petition. [75] A rights group, the Hind Rajab Foundation, asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli officials and doctors over abuse at the Sde Teiman detention camp. [76]

Why it matters — The protesters accuse Israel's medical association of staying silent while Gaza's hospitals were destroyed. [75] The association's president is among those named in the court request. [76]
26
Gaza strikes go on a year into the ceasefire

Israeli strikes killed five people in Gaza City on Saturday, Gaza health officials said. [77] Israel's army said it killed members of Hamas's Nukhba force at a meeting there, and an Islamic Jihad commander. [78] At least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the US-brokered ceasefire a year ago, health officials say. [77][79] In London, organisers said 250,000 people marched for Palestinians, and police made 20 arrests. [79]

Why it matters — Talks have not settled how Hamas would disarm or Israel withdraw, so rebuilding has barely begun. [77]
27
Netanyahu's aide asked to change a 7 October time

Israel's Channel 12 aired a transcript in which Tzachi Braverman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff, asks an office stenographer to change the time of a call on 7 October 2023. [80] He wanted 6:40 changed to 6:29, the minute Hamas's attack began, the report says. [80] She told him twice that she was not allowed to. [80] He then changed it by hand, Channel 12 reported. [80]

Why it matters — Israel votes on 27 October, and Netanyahu's record on the day of the attack is a main argument used by his opponents. [81]
28
Rubio promises help in an Okinawa murder case

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised Japan's foreign minister full cooperation in a murder case against a US Marine. [82] Devin Jacob Ballard was arrested on 4 October, accused of robbing and killing Anna Yagi, 39, in a hotel in Naha, Okinawa's main city. [82] He denies it. [82] US troops on Okinawa are under a month-long curfew and a drinking ban while they take discipline training. [82]

Why it matters — Most of the 18,000 US Marines in Japan are on Okinawa, and crimes by US troops have angered people there for decades. [82]
29
Indonesian headmaster held after students gather evidence

Police on Lombok, an Indonesian island, detained Ahmad Imanuddin Sumar, a former head of an Islamic boarding school, as a suspect in a sexual abuse case. [83] They reopened the case after a BBC investigation showed how two former students had collected evidence themselves. [83] After it aired, 12 more former students gave statements to police. [83] He denies the claims and has resigned from the school. [83]

Why it matters — The students say the group that ran the school pressed them to drop their claims; it denies any cover-up. [83] Some parents took their children out of the school the day after the report. [83]
30
Rescuers save orangutans from Borneo's fires

Rescuers in Indonesia have saved dozens of orangutans from wildfires on Borneo and Sumatra in recent months, the AP reports. [84] One young female, Novita, was found clinging to a bare tree with burned hands and feet, and is being treated at a rescue centre. [84] Indonesia's forestry ministry says more than 270 wild animals in Kalimantan, Indonesia's part of Borneo, have been rescued or moved to safety. [84] El Nino has made this year's dry season longer. [84]

Why it matters — Smoke from the fires has drifted as far as the Philippines, and Malaysia declared an emergency in Sarawak, its part of Borneo. [84]
31
Mauritania's prime minister quits, then returns

Mauritania's prime minister resigned on Friday after a report blamed officials for two fires that cut power to the capital, Nouakchott. [85] Hours later President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani reappointed him and asked him to form a new government. [85] The August fires at two power substations left large areas without electricity for three to five days. [85] The report blamed faulty imported connectors, the company that brought them in and Energy Ministry officials. [85]

Why it matters — The report found no sign of sabotage, and said overheating on three newly built power lines was the most likely cause. [85]
32
Tehran freezes the prices of basic goods

Tehran's mayor, Alireza Zakani, said a city scheme that freezes the prices of essential goods for six months will be extended across Iran. [86] He called it a 'shield' against what he called a US 'economic war' on Iranians. [86] The US began a campaign in late August to cut Iran off from world trade completely. [86] The US Navy has also been blockading Iran's ports again since 14 July. [33]

Why it matters — Zakani said the aim is to ease the pressure on ordinary people while Iran is in what he called an all-out war. [86]
33
Panamanians sleep outside as aftershocks go on

People in rural Panama slept in the streets on Friday night as dozens of aftershocks followed two earthquakes, of magnitude 7.7 and 6.6. [87] A historic church collapsed in La Villa de Los Santos, and part of the cathedral in Penonome fell. [87][88] Several people were hurt, but Panama's government has linked no deaths to the quakes. [87] Panama City reported no damage. [87]

Why it matters — A Mexican seismologist said Panama's strict building rules may explain why its toll was so much lower than in Venezuela's June quakes, which killed more than 6,500. [87]
34
Israeli airline checks foreign crews after flydubai attack

An Israeli airline has hired a tech firm to check the social media of about 2,500 pilots and cabin crew on planes it rents from foreign airlines, Channel 13 reported. [89] Such rented crews do not have to follow the Shin Bet security agency's rules, such as armed guards on board. [89] The step follows the attempted attack on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv on 30 September. [89] In July, 70% of Arkia's flights and 56% of Israir's used rented planes and crews. [89]

Why it matters — The airline acted without waiting for the transport ministry, the Shin Bet or the Mossad spy agency to decide. [89]
35
UAE coast guard rescues 22 from a burning tanker

The coast guard of the UAE National Guard rescued 22 crew members after a fire broke out on an oil tanker in the Gulf. [90] All of them, Asian nationals, were in a stable condition after first aid. [90] Separately, a tanker leaving the Strait of Hormuz was hit by a projectile and caught fire on Sunday, a UK maritime agency said, and its crew were reported safe. [33] Ships near the strait have faced repeated attacks since the war on Iran began in February. [33]

Why it matters — The coast guard's statement did not say what caused the fire. [90]
36
Australia marks 25 years since it went to Afghanistan

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led a service in Canberra on Sunday marking 25 years since Australia sent troops to Afghanistan. [91] More than 35,000 Australian military personnel served there over two decades, and 47 died. [91] Ben Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross winner accused of murdering five unarmed prisoners, attended. [91] He denies the accusations, and a judge changed his bail so he could go. [91]

Why it matters — The Taliban took power again in 2021 and have sharply limited the rights of women and girls. [91]

02 Lesson why it matters

Officials put a rule on everyone when they cannot spot the few

When officials cannot tell which few people are a danger, they make one rule for everybody, and most of its cost falls on everyone else.

The twist

A rule for everyone looks fair, but almost all of its cost lands on people who were never going to cause harm.

The picture

1 of 20

1 person in 20 is a danger

Made-up numbers: when nobody can tell which one of these 20 people is a danger, a rule for all 20 is the quick choice. Nineteen of the 20 were never a danger, and all 20 must follow it.

How it works

A few people may cause harm
Officials cannot quickly tell which few
Checking each person is slow and costly
So one rule is put on everyone
The many who were never a danger lose time, money or a right

The same force, elsewhere today

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

The EU's plan for Russian visas

To stop a few saboteurs, EU countries plan tighter rules for all Russian tourists, about 478,000 visas a year, because officials say they cannot tell who the tourists are.
The Israeli airline's crew checks

After the attack on one flydubai flight, an airline began checking all 2,500 crew on its rented planes, since nobody knows which one, if any, is a danger.
Rawalpindi's ban on gatherings

Officials who feared trouble from one march banned every public gathering in the district for 30 days, not only the march.
Poland's school checks

After three attacks by single students, police visited schools across the whole country and detained 76 people.

Where you've seen this

Airport security

every passenger's drinks are limited because of a few past bomb plots

A whole class kept in

the teacher cannot find who threw the eraser, so nobody goes out at break

Spam filters

a filter set to stop a few scammers also blocks some real emails

Food recalls

a whole batch is thrown away when a few packs may be bad

The catch

Sorting people one by one can be worse, because officials may guess by religion, race or looks, and a rule for everyone at least does not pick on one group.

And the whole of it

Most people stopped at a checkpoint or struck off a list were never the danger the rule was written for. The official who wrote it thinks about the one who might slip through, and rarely meets the thousands who missed a train or a vote.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

India's government shut much of its capital and detained thousands of people to stop one protest against the official whose check of voter lists has removed more than 130 million names. [1][4] On the same day, Pakistan's government planned to take over a province run by its main opposition party. [38] The Palestinian president also put off, again, a parliament vote last held in 2006. [35][36]

Why it works on us — The Election Commission calls its check a clean-up of dead and duplicate names, and a word like clean-up makes 130 million removals sound like tidying a list rather than people who may no longer be able to vote. [5][7]

Who gains

Narendra Modi's party, the BJP — Critics say the voter-list check removes more people likely to vote against it, before state elections next year; the party and the Election Commission deny this. [5][4]
Russia's government — It gets US sanctions on its diesel lifted until April, and Putin's envoy welcomed Trump's call for a new Ukrainian leader. [23][27]
Pakistan's ruling coalition — Emergency rule would let it remove an opposition-run provincial government without an election. [38]
The Palestinian Authority's current leaders — The delayed vote leaves them in office and unchallenged until at least September 2027. [37]

Who pays

Indian voters without old documents — The check asks voters for papers to stay on the lists, and critics say the poor and minorities find these hardest to produce. [5][6]
People living and working in Delhi — About 50 metro stations shut, trains were cancelled for 10 hours, and schools and courts went online for the day. [1]
Families in Zaporizhzhia — Glide bombs killed at least 20 people in blocks of flats the day after the US eased sanctions on Russian diesel. [29]
Patients in Taiz — The Houthi siege has left hospitals close to running out of medicines, oxygen and fuel. [42]
Travellers through Riyadh — More than 600 flights were cancelled on Sunday after the airport was hit. [17]
Young people in Myanmar's Hpa-An — They are seized off the streets to fill army quotas, so many stay home after dark or flee. [43]

What nobody knows yet

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

01

How many people were detained in India on Saturday.

A police source said about 200 near the protest site, Al Jazeera said more than 1,000, The Hindu as many as 3,000, other reports 7,000, and the movement more than 15,000. [12][8][11][3][10] The counts cover different places and hours, and police have published no full figure.
02

How many of the 130 million removed names belonged to living people who had the right to vote.

The Election Commission says the check removes dead, duplicate and ineligible names, and millions of people have appealed. [5][6] No breakdown of who was removed, or how many appeals won, is in any source we read.
03

What India's Supreme Court will decide about the metro closures and the detentions.

A petition says officials shut metro stations although the court had said there should be no blanket closure, and the court was due to hear it on Sunday. [2]
04

Who fired the missile that hit Riyadh's airport on Saturday.

The Saudi-led coalition blamed the Houthis, but the Houthis claimed Thursday's strike on the airport and said nothing about Saturday's. [14][21]
05

Whether the US will join the strikes on the Houthis.

Trump said the US 'may' join and would decide quickly, but gave no date or plan. [15][19]
06

How many people died in Zaporizhzhia.

Counts rose through the day: the AP reported eight, Politico 17, and the BBC at least 20, with more missing under rubble. [32][30][29]
07

Whether Pakistan's government will impose emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Dawn reported the plan from unnamed sources, and the interior minister said there was 'no room left' to avoid it. [38] No order had been issued when the cabinet was called for Sunday. [38]
08

Whether Palestinian elections will happen in September 2027.

This vote has been put off before, and the decree ties the date to conditions that Israel's government controls, such as access to East Jerusalem and Gaza. [35][36][37]
09

What killed the lab worker at Russia's plague institute.

The WHO says no plague was found but her diagnosis is still not confirmed. [72]

04 Hope carry this

Two strong earthquakes, of magnitude 7.7 and 6.6, shook Panama, and Panama's government has linked no deaths to them. A historic church and part of a cathedral fell in the countryside, and Panama City reported no damage.

Also true today

The World Health Organization found no case of plague after a Russian lab worker died, and none of the people she met has fallen ill.
The coast guard of the UAE National Guard rescued 22 crew members from a burning oil tanker in the Gulf, and every one of them was in a stable condition.
On the Indonesian island of Lombok, two former students gathered evidence against their old headmaster themselves. Police have now detained him, and 12 more former students have given statements.
Rescuers in Indonesia found a young orangutan, Novita, clinging to a bare tree in a scorched, smoke-filled forest, and she is being treated for burns. More than 270 wild animals in Indonesia's part of Borneo have been rescued or moved to safety.