World, in brief

Yemen's government forces began a ground offensive on Monday on the Red Sea coast, with Saudi-led jets bombing ahead of them. [1][2]

The target is the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the narrow sea passage between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which ships use between Asia and Europe. [3]

Officials say government forces retook Dhubab, the town just north of the strait, and the nearby towns of Bab and Hadeid. [2][4]

The forces took Dhubab's airstrip and cut the road from Dhubab to Mocha, a port the Houthis seized last month. [5][6][7]

Late on Monday Yemen's defence ministry said Mocha had fallen. [8] A Houthi official then filmed himself in Mocha's streets, saying the city was still theirs. [9]

The Saudi-led coalition says 100 jets flew in support and destroyed more than 300 targets, including a store of 20 ballistic missiles. [10][6][11] Reuters could not check the gains. [8]

The Houthis gained ground too. Near Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, they took parts of a mountain road and left government forces cut off, five military sources said. [8]

The Houthis fired at King Khalid airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and said all Saudi airspace except over Mecca and Medina is now a target. [12][13]

The same day Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey agreed to send 'the agreed military forces and capabilities' to Saudi Arabia quickly, under a defence pact signed on 7 August. [14][15]

The pact says an attack on one member is an attack on all three. [15] The statement named no enemy and gave no numbers. [14]

A US official and a regional official say the US helped plan the offensive and shared intelligence and targets. [16] Rubio, the US secretary of state, would say only that the two countries have a defence agreement. [1]

The fighting has pushed 184,000 people from their homes since the war restarted, the UN migration agency says. [8]

Why it matters. Watch whether government forces can hold Mocha and Dhubab once the jets move on, since an analyst says their army is spread thin on old equipment, and whether any Pakistani or Turkish forces actually arrive. [7][14]

The Parti Quebecois, which wants Quebec to leave Canada, won Monday's election in the French-speaking province. [27][28] It fell short of the 64 seats needed to rule alone, so it will need other parties' votes to pass laws. [27] Its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has promised a third vote on independence, after 1980 and 1995, but only once Donald Trump has left office. [29][27] Only about 30% of Quebecers back leaving, polls show. [27]

Why it matters. Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, now faces two unity tests at once, because Alberta votes on 19 October on whether to hold its own separation referendum. [27] Quebec's last independence vote, in 1995, failed by a very narrow margin.

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, called an early general election for 29 November. [19][23] Parliament had voted down two emergency housing decrees on Friday, which aimed to cut evictions and speculation. [19][30] Rents have nearly doubled in a decade, and more than 70,000 people marched over housing in Madrid on Saturday. [23] His Socialist party also faces corruption cases, and his wife is due to stand trial. [31]

Why it matters. Polls suggest the conservative People's Party, with the far-right Vox, is the most likely winner. [23] If that happens, a far-right party would enter Spain's government for the first time since the dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975. [23]

The Royad Mammadov, a 139-metre Turkish-owned ship carrying corn, caught fire and sank in Romania's part of the Black Sea on Monday. [32][17] Two crew died and 11 were rescued. [17] Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said two Russian drones hit it. [33] Romania, a NATO member, gave no cause and did not answer whether a drone was involved. [32]

Why it matters. The Black Sea carries Ukraine's grain to the world, and a sinking inside a NATO country's waters makes the war harder to keep contained. [17][33] France's president said the same day that Russia has chosen to hit more civilian targets in Ukraine. [34]

Massad Boulos, President Trump's adviser on Arab and African affairs, met Sudan's army chief, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, at a lunch in Egypt on Saturday. [35] The meeting came less than two weeks after the US held back Burhan's visa for the UN, over a ceasefire plan his side has resisted. [36] Sudan's army has fought the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group, since April 2023. [36] At least 59,000 people have been killed and some 13 million displaced. [35]

Why it matters. On Monday the UN Human Rights Council voted 28 to 10, with nine abstaining, to keep investigating abuses in Sudan and called for a ceasefire. [37] The same day an air attack hit a World Food Programme truck in North Kordofan, killing one person. [37]

A 15-year-old protester in Lens, in northern France, had his hand blown off on Monday, and an investigation has been opened. [38] A police union source said he appeared to have picked up a tear gas grenade, which exploded. [39] Pupils have blocked 400 to 500 high schools over crowded classrooms, broken buildings and missing teachers. [22][40] At least 190 students have been hurt and more than 5,000 people arrested. [40]

Why it matters. Unions called a national day of protest for Tuesday. [40] The movement now sits at the centre of the race to replace President Macron, months before the election. [39]

Police used tear gas and water cannon on protesters outside Kosovo's parliament on Monday night, and 12 people were hurt. [21][24] The crowd wanted a law to weaken the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, an internationally staffed court in The Hague. [21] That court recently jailed former president Hashim Thaci and three other ex-rebel commanders for 13 to 25 years for crimes in the 1998-99 war. [24] The law passed a first vote, but parliament stopped before the second. [21]

Why it matters. The law would cap sentences at 15 years, let them be served in Kosovo, and let Kosovo's own Supreme Court hear appeals. [21] The court was set up in 2015 as part of Kosovo's legal system, but it sits abroad with foreign judges. [21]

Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, was sworn in for five more years on Monday, after his party won 438 of 547 seats in June. [41] In his speech he said Ethiopia, which has no coast, must get a port on the Red Sea. [42] It lost its coast in 1993, when Eritrea became independent. [42] Overnight, air strikes killed at least 17 people near Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, an aid bulletin said. [18]

Why it matters. Eritrea says Ethiopia wants the sea through Eritrean land, and Ethiopia accuses Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of arming Tigray's rebels, which all three deny. [42][18]

The International Criminal Court made public arrest warrants for two Taliban ministers on Monday: Habibullah Agha, who runs education, and Neda Mohammad Nadim, who runs universities. [43][44] The warrants were issued in September 2025 and kept secret until now. [43] The court accuses them of persecuting women and girls, who have been barred from school after primary age and from university. [43] Earlier warrants named the Taliban's supreme leader and its chief judge. [44]

Why it matters. Afghanistan's rulers have now been charged at the top and in the two ministries that run the bans. [44] The warrants can only be carried out if a country where they travel arrests them.

More than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, left South Korean ports for Russia's far east in July and August, a Guardian study of ship-tracking data found. [45] Seven tankers made 14 trips, and three of them are under UK and EU sanctions. [45] One loaded at sea from another ship, which hides where the fuel came from. [45] The trade does not appear to break South Korean law. [45]

Why it matters. South Korea sends Ukraine helmets, body armour and loans, while this fuel reaches Russia as Ukrainian drones knock out Russian refineries. [45] It is not known who owned or sold the fuel. [45]

Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said talks with the US were meaningless, because the US had attacked Iran three times after rounds of talks. [46] The same day the US Treasury warned foreign banks that still deal with sanctioned Iranian banks. [47] It said they could be punished at any time with no warning, including through branches in other countries. [47] The war began on 28 February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. [47]

Why it matters. Iran's president has ruled out talks, and the US is going after the foreign banks that still handle Iran's money. [46][47]

A Nigerian air force plane carrying 25 passengers and seven crew crashed in Ondo state, in southern Nigeria, on Monday morning. [48] President Bola Tinubu said all 32 people on board died. [48] The ATR-42 was on a routine flight from Edo state to Lagos, Nigeria's business capital, and vanished from radar about halfway. [48] A search began at once. [48]

Why it matters. Tinubu sent condolences to the families of all 32 people on board. [48] The air force has not yet said what brought the plane down.

The eighth round of the Moscow Format, where Russia hosts Afghanistan's neighbours, ended on Monday without a joint statement. [49] It was possibly the first time the group failed to agree one. [49] Russia's envoy, Zamir Kabulov, said the Afghan and Pakistani delegations could not agree. [49] The split was over how to word terrorism, which Pakistan says comes from Afghan soil. [49]

Why it matters. China, India, Iran and Central Asian states were in the room, so the quarrel between Pakistan and Afghanistan now blocks a wider regional line on Afghanistan. [49]

Romania's president, Nicusor Dan, named a senior diplomat, Luca Niculescu, to try to form a government on Monday. [20] He is the fourth candidate since the ruling coalition collapsed in May. [20] Parliament rejected two earlier picks, and a third never reached a vote. [20] Niculescu has 10 days to win a vote in parliament. [20]

Why it matters. Five months without a full government threatens Romania's economy, and Dan faces calls to dissolve parliament for an early election. [20]

Elbridge Colby, a senior US defence official, met defence officials from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, a group known as the Bergen Group. [50] France, Britain and the Baltic states were not invited. [50] The US wants Europe to take the lead in defending itself while it pulls back bombers, submarines and troops. [50] NATO says small meetings of allies are normal. [50]

Why it matters. One analyst warned the format suggests the US might defend some allies before others, which matters most to the countries left out. [50]

Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and France's president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote jointly to the European Commission on Monday. [51] They said the EU's tools against unfair trade are no longer enough and asked for tougher ones. [51] The letter named no country, but the EU's large trade deficit with China is the clearest target. [51] It came days before the EU's trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, visits Beijing. [51]

Why it matters. The EU's two biggest economies are pushing the bloc to be able to hit back harder, just as it sits down with China. [51]

Angus Taylor, who leads Australia's opposition Coalition, promised to cut net migration to 100,000 a year for two years. [52] He called it the biggest cut in Australia's history. [52] The plan would reduce temporary visa holders by about 650,000 over four years, more than a third. [52] Places for refugees would be halved to 10,000. [52]

Why it matters. The One Nation party and the Labor government have both moved to win voters angry about migration, and this is the opposition's answer. [52]

Donald Trump said he will stop paying for TV ads he appears in with public money, after criticism from both parties. [53] More than a dozen ads have run in recent weeks, praising his tax cuts and attacking the 'deep state'. [53] US law bars government money from paying for political ads, which raised questions about their legality. [53] His political fundraising group, MAGA Inc, will now pay. [53]

Why it matters. The ads run just before November's midterm elections, when Democrats hope to win one or both houses of the US Congress. [53]

The US Defense Department said Nidal Hasan, a former army major, will be executed by firing squad. [54] Hasan, an army psychiatrist, shot dead 13 unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. [54] The defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, recommended the method and Trump approved it. [54] It will be the first military execution by firing squad since the Second World War. [54]

Why it matters. The army secretary will now set the time and place. [54] Hasan's attack remains the deadliest non-combat attack ever on a US military base. [54]

The US Justice Department filed 40 cases to take citizenship away from naturalised Americans, people who were born abroad and became citizens. [25] They are accused of hiding crimes, such as money laundering and visa fraud, when they applied. [25] Attorney General Todd Blanche called it the largest such effort in modern history. [25] The people come from countries including Mexico, Pakistan, China and Sierra Leone. [25]

Why it matters. Most of the convictions came after the people had already become citizens. [25] Two of the 40 are also accused of spying for China. [25]

New York state declared a disaster emergency over measles, after 108 cases this year. [55] The order lets more health workers give the measles vaccine until 4 November. [55] Next door, Pennsylvania passed 1,004 cases with five deaths, its largest outbreak in more than 30 years. [56] The US has nearly 3,900 cases this year, its worst since 1991. [56]

Why it matters. Measles was once almost gone from the US, and health experts link its return to vaccination rates falling below 95%. [55]

Britain has threatened to expel one Israeli diplomat for every British diplomat forced out when Israel closes Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem this week. [57] That could mean up to 27 Israeli diplomats. [57] Israel is closing it in protest at Britain's ban on trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. [57] Britain's foreign ministry would not comment, but did not deny it. [57]

Why it matters. Expelling so many would arguably be the lowest point in relations between the two countries since Israel was founded in 1948. [57]

Israel's state prosecutor charged a Bar Ilan University mathematician, about 60, with planning to murder hundreds of Arab citizens of Israel. [58] Prosecutors say he spent three years on the plan and wanted to drive Arabs out to Jordan, Lebanon and Gaza. [58] He allegedly tried to recruit a far-right former lawmaker, Moshe Feiglin, and then to blackmail him. [58] His name is under a court gag order. [58]

Why it matters. Feiglin's faction is running with the finance minister's party in Israel's 27 October election, so the case lands in the middle of the campaign. [58]

Israel set state ceremonies in Jerusalem for Monday to mark three years since the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023. [59] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the ceasefire in Gaza to become permanent and for aid at scale. [60] He named the more than 1,200 people killed in Israel and the 251 taken hostage. [60] He spoke of Palestinians' massive loss of life in Gaza without giving a number. [60]

Why it matters. Guterres also asked for international law to be respected and for a political path to peace across the region. [60] His words mean the ceasefire in Gaza is still not permanent, three years after the war began. [60]

Investigators believe the co-pilot who attacked his captain on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv last week first planned it for July. [61] Hamam al-Hammami, a 29-year-old from Oman, may have joined an airline that flies to Israel for this purpose, experts said. [61] Police in at least six countries are looking into his past. [61] While flydubai's Israel flights stay suspended, 37 other flights carried 7,479 stranded passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv between Friday and Monday. [62]

Why it matters. Flydubai had flown up to 10 flights a day between the UAE and Israel, and the UAE's attorney general says the inquiry into motives and links goes on. [62][63]

Abdullah Sabah Albadri, a 34-year-old Kuwaiti, was jailed for life in London for trying to attack Israel's embassy. [64] Armed police stopped him climbing the gates with two knives. [64] On camera he told officers he wanted to 'make a crime' inside. [64] He must serve at least 20 years, and nobody was seriously hurt. [64]

Why it matters. Britain's counter-terrorism police praised the officers for stopping an armed man with no one badly injured. [64]

The World Health Organization said the risk to the public from a suspected plague case in Siberia appears low, based on unofficial information. [65] A worker at a plague research institute in Irkutsk died last week of pneumonia with no known cause. [66] Russian officials say they found no sign of the germs she worked with, but a hospital is under quarantine. [66] Donald Trump said the US was ready to help Russia. [65]

Why it matters. Pneumonic plague can pass from person to person, which is why the US secretary of state called the case a reason for focus. [66][65]

British MPs called for an inquiry into how Britain's financial regulator treats whistleblowers. [67] It follows the death of Simon Andriesz, a British trader who reported links between Jeffrey Epstein and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. [67] Andriesz worked at BGC Partners, the firm Lutnick ran, and raised his concerns with the regulator and the FBI. [67] His family says he took his own life on 23 September. [67]

Why it matters. The MPs say his death raises deeply troubling questions about what happens to people who report wrongdoing. [67]

Kuwait took citizenship away from 415 people in six decrees published in its official gazette. [26] One of them is Mahmoud Haidar, a billionaire property investor. [26] The gazette did not publish the other names, and the decrees also cover family members. [26] Kuwait removed citizenship from almost 50,000 people in 2025. [26]

Why it matters. The review has stripped thousands of people of citizenship in two years. [26] Kuwait's cabinet approved changes to the citizenship law earlier this year. [26]

A Saudi appeals court sentenced Anojan Sivarasa, a 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker, to death for blasphemy over a Facebook comment. [68] His family has heard nothing about him since 28 September. [68] Sri Lankan political parties and government bodies are asking for mercy. [68] Saudi Arabia has given no date for the execution. [68]

Why it matters. The case has led to petitions across Sri Lanka. [68] Sri Lanka's government has told the family to stop speaking in public while it negotiates. [68]