World, in brief

German police arrested August Hanning, 80, on Tuesday on suspicion of treason and spying for foreign intelligence services. [1][2] He ran the BND, Germany's foreign spy agency, from 1998 to 2005. [2]

His former chief of staff, named only as Manfred D under German privacy rules, was arrested the same day. [9][6] Prosecutors say he sold Hanning about 2,000 BND documents over the years. [2][10]

Manfred D did the same job for Hanning's successors from 2012 to March 2026. [9] That gave him access to some of Germany's most current secrets while, prosecutors say, files were leaving the agency. [4]

Prosecutors say the two men made their deal in 2010, five years after Hanning left the agency. [4][6] The newest documents found so far date from June 2022. [3]

Hanning is accused of using the secret material to write an analysis for an officer of one foreign spy service. [2] Prosecutors say they do not know whether it arrived. [11]

He is also accused of passing political information, partly built on the stolen files, to a contact at a second foreign spy service for several years. [2][7]

Prosecutors have not named either country. Several outlets were told Russia is not one of them, and Dawn's sources said China is not either. [7][4][12] Der Spiegel reported investigators are looking at a possible link to Azerbaijan. [5]

The files reportedly covered Iran's nuclear programme and Russia's army. [7] Some were secrets that allied spy agencies had shared with Germany, the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. [4]

The case surfaced by chance. In September 2025 police searched Hanning's home over a separate kidnapping case and found a storage device holding secret BND documents. [3][14]

In that case he is accused of taking more than 100,000 euros from Christina Block, heiress to the Block House steakhouse chain, to bring back her children from Denmark. [10] He denies it. [1][8]

Hanning and his lawyers also deny the spying charges. [1] Treason can carry a life sentence in Germany. [7]

A senior lawmaker warned that allies may now share less with Germany. [4] The arrests came a month after Germany's government approved wider powers for its spy agencies. [13]

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

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

Why it matters. The outbreak in Congo has killed 4,082 of 8,463 confirmed patients, and this strain, Bundibugyo, has no vaccine or treatment. [15] Uganda had 20 cases this year, almost all people who had come from Congo, and was declared free of Ebola in August. [15]

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

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

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

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

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

Why it matters. Officials in Aden evacuated passengers and staff and moved two planes away from the danger. [25] Saudi Arabia's cabinet promised Yemen's government full support. [26]

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

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

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

Why it matters. India, which has 17 of the 19 sailors on board, called for an end to attacks on ships. [23] The reports name no attacker. [22][23]

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

Why it matters. Ukraine now builds its own long-range drones and has hit targets as far as Siberia. [32] Zelensky said how well Ukraine can defend itself depends on the weapons its partners send. [33]

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

Why it matters. Radev did not say who attacked, and Russia has not commented. [35] He warned the attack drives up insurance costs and makes shipping in the Black Sea extremely difficult. [36]

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

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

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

Why it matters. Mali has been run by soldiers since coups in 2020 and 2021, who promised security and have not delivered it. [31] An analyst called the win symbolic, not decisive. [30]

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

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

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

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

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

Why it matters. Sudan's war has pushed up prices in South Sudan as well as sending people across the border. [67] The aid cuts arrive just as more people need help. [67]

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

Why it matters. The World Health Organization says the risk outside Russia is very low. [39] Russia has given no reason for the quarantine, and first tests of the contacts were negative. [38]

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

Why it matters. Poland and other farming countries fear cheap Ukrainian grain. [47] The plan tells candidates such as Ukraine they may join as members with fewer rights than the rest. [45][46]

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

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

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

Why it matters. Lithuania borders Belarus and Kaliningrad, a part of Russia. [42] The change would bring its law closer to its neighbours'. [42]

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

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

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

Why it matters. The EU says Russia has stepped up sabotage, cyberattacks and covert operations since it invaded Ukraine. [48] Earlier EU plans covered cyberattacks and sabotage, and these talks are the first aimed at attacks that kill people. [48]

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

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

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

Why it matters. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early election for 29 November after parliament voted down his housing plans. [52][51]

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

Why it matters. He can now come home before Spain's general election on 29 November. [53] Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez welcomed the ruling. [53]

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

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

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

Why it matters. Latvia borders Russia and Belarus, and its leaders watch Russia uneasily. [55] Ragozin's remarks stirred fury in Latvia. [55]

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

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

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

Why it matters. The commission says the revision makes the lists accurate. [60] The protests began on Friday. [60]