World, in brief

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]

Why it matters. 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]