World, in brief

Ethiopia's federal army has taken back the airport at Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, people in the city and an Ethiopian general told the AP on Saturday. [1][2]

The Tigray Peace Force, a Tigrayan militia that fights on the Ethiopian government's side, said late on Friday that it held the airport and was 'clearing' the city. [3]

Fighters and leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that runs Tigray, were seen leaving Mekelle on Saturday, a local journalist told AFP. [4][5]

Federal troops had not yet been seen inside the city. Police stations and government offices were left with no guards, and residents said they feared looting. [4][6]

The TPLF seized the airport and two others in Tigray on 23 September. That began an offensive by a seven-group alliance it leads, which wants to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. [7][1]

The army then pushed along three routes towards Mekelle, says the Critical Threats Project, a US research group. A humanitarian source said the TPLF had been driven out of Afar, the region next door. [5]

TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said on Thursday his fighters would keep up guerrilla attacks. They did that after losing Mekelle in 2020, and took the city back in mid-2021. [5][2]

The war that ended in 2022 killed more than 600,000 people. This is the worst fighting in Tigray since then. [2]

At least 52 civilians have been killed in northern Ethiopia since the fighting restarted. Amnesty International says it has credible reports of shelling of homes and of forced conscription. [6]

Ethiopia accuses Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan of backing the rebels, and all three deny it. Ethiopia and Eritrea cut diplomatic ties on Thursday. [7][8]

Debretsion called it 'a war to control the Red Sea'. Eritrea, which has a Red Sea coast, says Ethiopia, which has none, plans to invade to take it. [5][7]

The presidents of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia and the head of Sudan's army were due to meet in Alamein, Egypt, on Sunday, a diplomat told AFP. [5]

Why it matters. Watch whether federal troops enter Mekelle without a fight, and whether the TPLF turns to the guerrilla attacks its leader promised, as it did after losing the city in 2020. [5]

Houthi television said Saudi aircraft hit Sanaa, Yemen's capital, with 26 strikes on Saturday. [10] Yemen's own army, which Saudi Arabia backs, said it carried out 257 strikes that day on Sanaa and other Houthi areas, killing at least 700 fighters. [17] The Houthis, an Iran-aligned movement that has held Sanaa since 2014, said they fired missiles and drones at an Aramco oil site near Riyadh, and AFP saw it burning. [9][10] A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition called the claim misleading. [9] The UN says at least 150,000 people have fled their homes since the fighting restarted. [19]

Why it matters. Before this round, more than 5.2 million Yemenis already lived away from their homes. [19] Aid workers say the newly displaced are in places they can hardly reach. [19]

Brazilians vote on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election. [20] Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the 80-year-old left-wing president, wants a fourth term. [20] His main rival is Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, whose father Jair, the former president, is serving 27 years for plotting a coup. [21] Datafolha's last poll had Lula on 45% and Bolsonaro on 42% of valid votes. [14] If nobody wins more than half, the top two meet again on 25 October. [14]

Why it matters. One poll has Bolsonaro winning that runoff by two points and another has Lula winning it by one. [14] Lula has warned against 'meddling' by the US government, which has backed closer ties with Brazil's right wing. [20][22]

A Russian strike damaged the Northern Bridge in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, early on Saturday, and traffic was stopped. [23] The day before, Russian attacks had closed fully or partly three of the city's six road bridges over the Dnipro river. [23] Russia's defence ministry said the bridges carry troops and military cargo. [23] Russian attacks killed at least six people across Ukraine that day. [24] President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters that Russia wants to push people out of cities before winter, and that Ukraine will answer by hitting Russian oil refineries. [11]

Why it matters. The Dnipro runs through the middle of Kyiv, and these bridges join its east and west halves. [11] This is the first week Russia has aimed at them. [11]

At least three tankers were hit by unidentified projectiles in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow way out of the Gulf, from Thursday to Saturday. [18] That is the count of UKMTO, a British navy agency that tracks attacks on ships. [18] On Thursday a supertanker carrying 2.5 million barrels caught fire after being hit off Oman, Iran's Fars news agency said. [18] UKMTO has counted 91 cases of damage to ships since February. [18] US defence secretary Pete Hegseth called the US blockade of the strait 'ironclad'. [25]

Why it matters. Iran and the US have fought since US and Israeli attacks on 28 February. [26] A truce in April ended 40 days of war, but attacks have not stopped. [26]

Iran opened a military training centre for civilians in Tehran, its capital, on Saturday. [26] An official of the Basij, Iran's volunteer militia, said 1,000 battalions are ready to train, to face a US or Israeli ground attack. [26] A source in Tehran told The National that Iran is preparing for 'a major round of fighting' with the US. [27] Talks in New York last month ended with no breakthrough, and a third US aircraft carrier group is heading to the region. [27]

Why it matters. Iran has also offered to send its stock of 60% enriched uranium to another country, as part of a step-by-step plan. [27] The same source said the door to talks is still open. [27]

Andris Kulbergs's party, United List, won about 35.6% in Latvia's parliamentary election on Saturday, an exit poll by the public broadcaster LSM showed. [15] Kulbergs has been prime minister only since May, after Latvia's last government fell over stray Ukrainian drones. [15][28] Latvia First, a populist party that courts the country's large ethnic Russian minority, came second with 11.3%, nearly double its 2022 share. [15] Kulbergs ruled out governing with it. [29]

Why it matters. Latvia borders Russia and Belarus, and by law it spends at least 5% of its economy on defence. [15] It is one of Ukraine's closest partners. [15] Official results are due on Sunday. [29]

Marches took place in about 50 Spanish cities on Saturday, a day after parliament voted down two emergency housing bills. [30][31] The bills would have widened protection from eviction and renewed rental contracts automatically. [16] The protests began after an investment firm evicted Maricarmen Abascal, 87, from the flat she had lived in since 1956. [16] Spain's government counted 70,000 marchers in Madrid, and the tenants' union that organised them said 500,000. [16] In Valencia, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas. [31]

Why it matters. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is weighing an early election, which is not due until next summer. [16][30] Protesters blamed the conservatives who blocked the bills, and also his own eight years in office. [16]

US talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine have grown to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal, the New York Times reported on Saturday. [32] It would sell oil fields, refineries and petrol stations around the world owned by Lukoil, a big Russian oil company. [32] The buyers include US billionaire Todd Boehly, an arm of the US government and two Middle Eastern groups that have done business with negotiator Jared Kushner or with Steve Witkoff's family. [32] Putin raised the deal with Witkoff and Kushner on 5 September, the paper said. [32]

Why it matters. The sale needs approval from both the US and the Russian governments. [32] The US president's office, the US Treasury and Lukoil did not comment. [32]

Ukraine has four ceasefire proposals, from India, Turkey, Egypt and the US, and India's is the broadest, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Friday. [33] He said Ukraine is ready for a pause in attacks on energy and in the Black Sea, but only the two together. [33] A day earlier, Russia's president Vladimir Putin said India's prime minister Narendra Modi has 'very good ideas' for a settlement. [33]

Why it matters. Sybiha said any deal must cover the fighting, the attacks on power plants and ports, and the Black Sea. [33] Putin said Modi raises ending the war at every meeting between them. [33]

Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, arrived in Kyiv by train on Sunday morning with business leaders. [34] German media say he will announce another billion euros of military aid, and 350 million euros to repair Ukraine's energy system. [34] He is also expected to set out joint production of drones that shoot down Russia's fast jet drones, and of missiles that fly more than 1,000 km. [34] Ukraine said this week it is 24 billion euros short of what it needs to buy weapons. [35]

Why it matters. Germany is the biggest giver of money and weapons to Ukraine, Politico reports. [35] Merz has warned that the war's fifth winter will likely be its hardest. [35]

Ukraine's farm minister, Taras Vysotskyi, asked EU countries this week to help move millions of tonnes of grain held up by attacks on Black Sea ports and ships. [36] He also asked for 1.1 billion euros to cover higher shipping costs. [36] Poland and Romania, which have the most useful routes and storage, said they can or will do no more. [36] Romania's farm minister said its own farmers come first, because Ukrainian grain is already crowding its ports. [36]

Why it matters. Less than half of Ukraine's exports get out by European rail and road. [36] Farmers who cannot sell cannot pay to plant next season's crop. [36]

Three Russian missiles and two drones flew over Moldova, Ukraine's neighbour with a pro-EU government, on Saturday morning, President Maia Sandu said. [13] Their debris exploded in three eastern districts and started a fire, but hurt nobody. [13] The same morning, Lithuania closed Vilnius airport for about an hour after an object was seen in the sky, possibly from Belarus. [13] Moldova had three separate airspace violations on one day last week. [13]

Why it matters. 'Its war is dangerously reaching Moldova,' Sandu wrote. [13] Europe has seen more airspace violations, sabotage attempts and hybrid attacks as tension with Russia climbs. [13]

The co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 used the cockpit's crash axe to attack his captain, in an attempted terrorist attack, a UAE prosecutor said on Saturday. [37] The plane, flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 182 people on board, dropped 16,625 feet in about 30 seconds on Wednesday before passengers and crew stopped him. [37] Media name him as Hammam al-Hammami, from Oman. [37] Australian counter-terrorism police are looking into the two years he spent there as a student. [38]

Why it matters. Oman had barred him from flying over his views, the Wall Street Journal reported, and it is not clear how far flydubai checked him before hiring him. [37] A deleted account in his name posted pictures of al-Qaida figures after the attack, CNN reported. [39]

The Israeli strike that killed five people in a Gaza City building overnight on Friday was aimed at Ali al-Amoudi, Hamas's de facto leader in Gaza, a security source said. [40] It was not clear whether he was killed. [40] The dead included Maisaa Abu Dawood and her daughter Mary, members of Gaza's Greek Orthodox church. [40] Amoudi was freed from an Israeli prison in a 2011 prisoner swap and later ran the office of the slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. [40]

Why it matters. Amoudi now runs Hamas's affairs in Gaza after the killing of more senior leaders. [40] Rescuers were still searching for missing people on Saturday. [40]

About 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested across France since Monday in protests over missing teachers and crowded classrooms, Reuters reported. [41] More than 600 police officers have been injured, a police spokeswoman said. [41] On Friday alone 1,747 people were arrested, and 735 of 3,700 schools were affected, ministers said. [42] Paris police chief Patrice Faure said on Saturday the movement was 'out of control'. [41]

Why it matters. More protests are planned from Tuesday, and teachers' unions have called for a strike. [41] Damage to property is put at tens of millions of euros. [41]

North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile on Saturday, in a test watched by leader Kim Jong Un, state media said. [43] South Korea's military said it flew more than 700 km. North Korea said it hit a target 1,000 km away. [44][43] Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the missile uses AI and can change course at low altitude, and that South Korea and Japan failed to track it. [45][43] The launch followed a row over a landmine blast that wounded South Korean soldiers. [44]

Why it matters. If the claim is true, the missile was built to slip past the radars South Korea and Japan use to give warning. [43] South Korea's president, Lee Jae Myung, had asked North Korea on Thursday to return to talks. [44]

Talks between Pakistan's government and the opposition ended in 'deadlock' at about 3am on Sunday, after some 11 hours. [46] They were meant to calm a march on Islamabad, the capital, that Imran Khan's party, PTI, planned from 4 October. [46][47] An opposition negotiator said they split over visits to Khan, including by his own doctors. [46] Tallal Chaudhry, a junior interior minister, blamed PTI's government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for not promising to help fight militants. [46]

Why it matters. Islamabad's officials have put hundreds of shipping containers on the roads to keep marchers out. [47] They have asked for 3,000 paramilitary Rangers to stay in the city until 15 October. [47]

Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the force that rules eastern Libya, is accused of running a 'terror cell' that sent drones against fuel depots and power stations in the west, the Guardian reports. [12] The attacks in August deepened blackouts in the west, which Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah's government runs from Tripoli. [12] Libya has been split in two since Muammar Gaddafi fell in 2011. [12] A US plan would make Saddam's father, Khalifa Haftar, president, and a Dbeibah family member prime minister. [12]

Why it matters. The claims have upended the Tripoli government's plan to keep working with Haftar on joining the country back together. [12] The US plan is the work of Massad Boulos, Trump's Africa adviser. [12]

Sudan is short of fuel, which has hit buses, lorries and factories and pushed up food prices, Africanews reports. [48] The shortage comes from oil disruption caused by the war in the Middle East, and from Sudan's own import rules. [48] Importers must deposit the value of 200 kilograms of gold with Sudan's central bank. [48] Prime Minister Kamil Idriss has ordered more fuel sent to petrol stations. [48]

Why it matters. The al-Jaili refinery has been shut for a long time, and black-market fuel is spreading in areas held by Sudan's government. [48] Sudan is also fighting a civil war. [48]

Iraq's state tanker company carried two million barrels of its own crude beyond the Strait of Hormuz on a giant tanker, the first such voyage in decades, its director said. [49] Iraq used to sell its oil at Basra, its southern port, and leave buyers to ship it. [49] The war with Iran has disrupted Iraq's exports and forced it to offer discounts. [49] Oil pays for at least 90% of Iraq's state income. [49]

Why it matters. Selling oil that is already outside the strait gets Iraq better prices, its director said. [49] The company now wants to buy tankers of its own. [49]

China opened an anti-dumping investigation on Saturday into p-nitrotoluene, a chemical from the EU used to make dyes, medicines and pesticides. [50] Dumping means selling abroad for less than at home, or for less than it costs to make. [50] Chinese producers asked for the probe, which can last up to 18 months. [50] The EU's trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, meets China's commerce minister Wang Wentao in Beijing on Thursday. [51]

Why it matters. The EU opened its own probe into Chinese PVC, a common plastic, in September. [50] Each side now goes into the talks holding a case against the other. [51]

The US expelled two members of Iran's delegation to the UN General Assembly who stayed in New York after being told to leave, the US State Department said on Saturday. [52] US media said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation had been told to leave by Monday. [52] One of the two left on Friday night and the other on Saturday morning, Axios reported. [52]

Why it matters. A US official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio 'means business'. [52] The expulsions come as both countries prepare for a possible new round of war. [27]

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned the UAE over its claim to three islands in the Gulf. [53] The UAE raised its claim to Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa at the UN General Assembly. [53] Velayati said the islands will stay Iranian forever, and mocked the UAE as a country not yet 50 years old. [53]

Why it matters. He told the UAE not to rely on foreign powers for its security, saying 'imported security has an expiration date'. [53]

More than 3,500 troops from Azerbaijan, Turkey and Uzbekistan held their first joint exercise, in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region. [54] They practised stopping swarms of drones, cyberattacks and an attempt to seize a ship, using more than 130 unmanned vehicles. [54] Turkey's defence minister, Yasar Guler, praised its planning. [54]

Why it matters. The drill was built around drone swarms, hacking and false information, the threats these armies now face, Euronews reports. [54]

Iran executed Siavash Jamshidi on Saturday, its judiciary said. [55] He was convicted of firing a military-grade weapon at police during the protests that peaked in January, in which thousands of people were killed. [55] The charge was moharebeh, a legal term meaning 'waging war against God'. [55] The judiciary said he was also convicted of crimes not linked to the protests. [55]

Why it matters. Iran has stepped up executions of people convicted over the January unrest. [55] Others held over those protests face the same risk. [55]