Global forecasters have been warning for months that this El Nino would likely become the strongest ever observed and the latest record has tumbled even before the episode’s expected peak later this year.

The warming phase of a natural climate cycle, El Nino temporarily raises sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific, triggering changes in weather that can increase the risk of drought and flooding, and exacerbate man-made global warming.

The Copernicus Clim­ate Change Service said sea surface temperatures in a tell-tale El Nino monitoring region of the Pacific, known as Nino3.4, had reached an “all-time high” of 29.70 degrees Celsius last month.

This exceeded the peak temperatures of previously strong El Nino events of 1982/1983, 1997/1998 and 2015/2016, the EU monitor said.

This year’s El Nino, which emerged in June, is “very exceptional” but it is too early to say whether it is the strongest ever observed, Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo told AFP.

As climate change raises ocean temperatures, it can make recent El Nino events appear stronger than past ones, complicating historical comparisons.

Copernicus said it had adopted a new index, which accounts for the warming of tropical oceans, that suggested the current event is not yet stronger than past ones.

“It’s a very large event even in that metric,” Buontempo said. “This very large event today is happening in a much warmer climate.” Not all forecasters use the same scale to interpret El Nino.

On Friday, Japan’s weather agency said that El Nino conditions had reached their “strongest intensity on record”.

Record ocean temperatures

As El Nino gathers strength, global average sea surface temperatures hit a record 21.05 degrees Celsius for September, topping the previous high of 20.92 for the same month in 2023, according to Copernicus.

Experts have warned that this El Nino, combined with human-induced climate change, could make 2027 the hottest year on record as heat stored in the Pacific is released into the atmosphere.

The weather phenomenon, which typically occurs every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months, can drive world temperatures higher the year after its peak.

But Buontempo said even 2026 could wind up a record breaker as this El Nino builds toward its peak.

“If we follow the pattern we have seen in the past, we may have a record-breaking 2026, followed by a record-breaking 2027,” he told AFP.

After a record-breaking August, the world experienced its second hottest September ever observed, with surface air temperatures averaging 16.27 degrees Celsius, the EU service said.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026

Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on the humanitarian and political situation in Syria on Monday evening, Pakistan’s Acting Permanent Representative, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, said Israeli actions violated international law and Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, undermining prospects for regional peace and stability.

He reaffirmed that the occupied Syrian Golan remained Syrian territory under international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 338 and 497.

Ambassador Jadoon also reiterated Pakistan’s support for Syria’s political transition, national reconciliation and economic recovery, stressing the importance of preserving the country’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Welcoming renewed diplomatic engagement and efforts to restore national institutions, he expressed optimism about Syria’s future. He backed the Syrian government’s efforts towards an inclusive political transition and welcomed progress in engagement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

He called for outstanding challenges, including the situation in Suweida, to be addressed through dialogue and peaceful engagement, with full respect for Syria’s unity and territorial integrity.

Emphasising the need for sustained international support, Ambassador Jadoon said reconstruction, economic revival and continued humanitarian assistance were essential to meeting the needs of the Syrian people.

He noted that sanctions relief, increased investment and stronger regional and international economic partnerships could provide fresh impetus to Syria’s recovery.

The Pakistani envoy also stressed the need for continued vigilance against Daesh and other terrorist groups, including foreign terrorist fighters. He expressed support for Syria’s efforts to strengthen its security and national institutions.

Reaffirming the longstanding ties between Pakistan and Syria, Ambassador Jadoon said Islamabad would remain a steadfast friend and partner, committed to strengthening bilateral relations and advancing peace, stability and prosperity for the Syrian people.

Last month, a UN commission investigating Syria expressed alarm over Israel’s military activity inside Syrian territory, warning that some actions, including the detention of civilians, could amount to war crimes.

In August, eight Israeli airstrikes hit an airbase in northwestern Syria, Syrian state media reported, in what the US envoy for the region called an “unnecessary escalation”.

In the months after Assad was toppled, Israel seized ground in southwestern Syria and struck much of the Syrian military’s heavy weapons and equipment, as Israeli officials expressed alarm over the background of Syria’s new rulers.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia vowed a “serious” response after Houthi strikes turned Riyadh’s international airport into a target, killing 18 people in under a week and leaving the world’s biggest oil exporter facing its worst security crisis in more than a decade.

“Energy security can’t be taken for granted,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told an energy conference in Riyadh.

“The events of recent weeks are serious, our response must be equally serious. For Saudi Arabia, these circumstances have tested our infrastructure, our institutions, our people and our resilience.”

The strikes have shaken the world’s biggest oil exporter, which is pursuing an expensive economic reform programme intended to att­ract foreign investment. Oil prices rose above $105 a barrel on Monday.

Yemen’s civil war, in which a Saudi-led military coalition backs the government against the Houthis, has reignited months into the wider US-Iran conflict, which has roiled energy markets and plunged the Middle East into crisis.

On Saturday, Houthi strikes killed 13 people and wounded more than 300 at King Khalid International Airport, the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade.

Four people died in earlier attacks on Wed­nes­day and Thursday, and another was killed on Sunday, when Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said a fresh strike also wounded 11 people.

Riyadh’s airport was not the only one to suffer an attack as authorities said Dammam airport in the east was also struck on Sunday evening.

One person had been killed and 11 wounded in a strike on Dammam airport. The Saudi-led coalition said on Monday it had “intercepted and destroyed” a Houthi ballistic missile heading for Khamis Mushait, a southern city that is home to a major military base.

It also reported responding to drone and missile threats around Riyadh, where residents reported explosions and authorities warned of continuing security risks.

The coalition has called Saturday’s attack a “full-fledged war crime” and vowed to “respond decisively”. Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, said he was “appalled by the repeated attacks” on Saudi Arabia but urged both sides to back down.

US warned against joining strikes

A Houthi official warned on Monday that the US would face a “swift and painful response” if it entered the war in Yemen. Donald Trump has said he is considering joining Saudi strikes against the group. “If the US becomes involved in the aggression against Yemen, we will not deliberate over the decision to respond, rather, there will be a swift and painful response targeting the US and all its interests in the region,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, told AFP.

He also warned “all employees and workers at Saudi oil facilities and airports to stay away from these sites, as they have become legitimate targets”.

The campaign, he said, was intended to show the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, “that he can no longer wage aggression against Yemen from a safe position”.

Trump condemned Saturday’s attack as “not acceptable” and said he would speak to the crown prince about the possibility of joining strikes against the Houthis.

Fighting in Taiz

Elsewhere in Yemen, Houthi fighters have tightened their siege of Taiz, where more than 60 people were killed in 24 hours, military sources from both sides told AFP.

A military source loyal to the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government said the Houthis had blocked all exits and launched several attacks overnight. The dead included 22 pro-government fighters and at least 40 Houthis, the sources said. The Houthis continued fighting despite Saudi airstrikes and were sending reinforcements.

Yemen’s health ministry warned on Sunday of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in the city, where medicine, medical equipment and fuel were “on the verge of running out”.

Regional reaction

Iran said it was “deeply concerned” about the escalating attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia and offered to help broker talks.

“We are deeply concerned about the developments taking place in the Arabian Peninsula,” the foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, told a weekly news conference. Tehran was ready, he said, “to use our good offices to help facilitate dialogue between the parties”.

Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, called for stronger Gulf security cooperation.

“It is necessary to revive joint action by the Gulf countries, particularly in security and defence, and to strengthen the collective security system,” he wrote on X, adding that shortcomings in regional security had encouraged further attacks.

The UAE, which has long been at odds with Saudi Arabia over Yemen, expressed its “full solidarity” with the kingdom.

China also condemned the attacks on Saudi airports and energy infrastructure. “China condemns the attacks that caused heavy casualties and expresses serious concern over the intensification of the conflict,” said the foreign ministry spoke­swoman, Mao Ning, who urged all parties to avoid escalation and resolve disputes through dialogue.

Flights disrupted

Authorities have extended the closure of King Khalid international airport until Saturday, and airlines have cancelled flights after the repeated attacks. A notice to airmen showed the airport would stay closed until 2100 GMT on Oct 17.

Flightradar24 showed aircraft avoiding Riyadh on Monday, although flights continued through Saudi airspace towards Jeddah. The aviation analytics firm Cirium said cancellations across Saudi airports had reached 46.4pc.

Etihad Airways cancelled flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah, while Gulf Air suspended services to Riyadh. Lufthansa and Air France-KLM also extended suspensions. Delta Air Lines postponed its planned Atlanta-Riyadh service, due to start on Oct 23, until March 2027.

US aviation regulators urged airlines to exercise caution, and the American embassy warned citizens of security risks. “This level of sustained intense attack on civil aviation is unprecedented,” said Mark Zee, the founder of the aviation safety organisation Opsgroup.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026

“The Russian troll bots in my own feed have dropped dramatically already,” exiled Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov told millions of followers on X.

Many internet users claim to have noticed a sharp reduction in social media content in favour of US President Donald Trump, Russia or the AfD, a German anti-immigration and pro-Russian party.

They say the reduction is a direct result of strikes against Russian data centres, which have cut off Russian “bots” — autonomous computer programmes used to disseminate large quantities of low-quality content, often in the form of propaganda and disinformation.

At the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius recommended such attacks to ensure the security of the forthcoming elections in his country and in Poland. “We should ask Mr Zelensky to strike more data centres in Russia; I think that might help,” he said, referring to Ukraine’s president.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky told the forum that since his country began targeting Russian data centres, “it has suddenly become a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms”.

Three attacks were reported last week against facilities belonging to Yandex — nicknamed the “Russian Google” — which has tens of millions of users for the country’s most popular search engine, as well as its food delivery and taxi-booking apps.

Internet traffic originating from Yandex fell around 35 per cent following an attack on the Sasovo site, then plummeted 99pc compared with a week earlier following the closure of the Vladimir site, according to Cloudflare Radar, which monitors and analyses internet traffic worldwide.

However, experts on Russian online propaganda say it is too early to establish such a cause-and-effect relationship.

“There is currently no evidence to support the claim that the attack on the data centres silenced the Kremlin’s ‘troll farms’,” Nikola Tulechki, a specialist in monitoring online disinformation operations for the organisation “Data for Good” said.

He said a widely shared Cloudflare graphic shows a drop in automated requests from a network controlled by Yandex to websites, and not from bots on social media.

The Antibot4Navalny collective, which tracks influence operations linked to Russia, also believes that the interpretation of the Cloudflare Radar charts is incorrect.

“To those implying that Kremlin-controlled social media bot/troll farms became silent after Ukraine hit a Yandex data center: Hate to disappoint you all,” it posted on X.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026

The army said soldiers in the northeastern Hermel region “seized around 200 kilogrammes (around 440 pounds) of explosive material packed in bags and ready for smuggling from Syrian territory” into Lebanon, adding that the smugglers fled back into Syria.

A judicial official said that the C4 explosives were being smuggled “on a mule through an illegal crossing in the town of Qasr”.

The announcement was the third of its kind this month, and came days after a judicial official said that authorities detained two suspected members of Hezbollah at a security checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar as they headed to Beirut.

EU establishes training mission for Lebanese army

The official said they were transporting half a tonne of explosives — 250 kilogrammes of TNT and 250 kilogrammes of C4 — when they were stopped near a road linking Syria to the Lebanese capital. Salam on X confirmed that “it has become known that a few days ago a truck was stopped” in Dahr al-Baidar “carrying hundreds of kilogrammes of explosive materials” including C4.

“We will not be lenient in following up and expanding the investigation in order to identify all those involved in this criminal operation, and those behind them,” he said.

“We will deal with weapons outside the legal framework with the required firmness,” he added, whether regarding their possession, transportation or use. Salam also said that he understood “Lebanese worries” over the C4, particularly as it “has been used in a number of political assassinations” in Lebanon’s history.

Detonators

Earlier this month, Lebanon’s army said it had seized “approximately 245 kg of TNT, four explosive devices, eight detonators and electrical wiring for the detonators”, which were being “smuggled from Syrian territory into Lebanese territory”, adding that the smugglers fled towards Syria. Lebanon and Syria share a 330-kilometre (205-mile) border known for being porous.

Hezbollah until recently was the most influential political and military force in Lebanon, enjoying key support from Iran and longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. The group has been accused of carrying out assassinations of political figures who opposed Damascus, particularly between 2005 and 2008.

A UN-backed court in 2020 sentenced a fugitive Hezbollah member for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri, with the court subsequently sentencing two more Hezbollah members in absentia.

Lebanese authorities last year committed to disarming Hezbollah, after hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in 2023 and culminated in all-out war the following year, decimating the group’s leadership.

The 2024 toppling of Assad also severed the group’s key weapons supply line from Iran, and Syria’s new authorities regularly say they have seized weapons headed for Lebanon. However, Hezbollah this year drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

Training mission

The European Union on Monday established a mission to help train Lebanon’s cash-strapped armed forces as it struggles to assert control in the country. The move comes as the mandate for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is set to expire — but the EU insists its mission is not a replacement.

“It will advise and assist the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces to strengthen territorial control, border security, and internal security,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “With this new mission — a major update of our security ties — we continue to support the country’s institutions in restoring full sovereignty and building lasting stability for the Lebanese people.” EU officials said the aim for the mission was to have up to 150 civilian and military staff.

Lebanon’s under-resourced military faces enormous challenges, including in completing its deployment to south Lebanon under a US-sponsored framework agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon in June.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026

The decision comes two months after Turkiye voted through a bill offering limited amnesty for PKK militants in a major step in the peace process seeking to end decades of deadly violence. “The PKK evacuated the Hebat, Yajk, Sabri and Sason hideouts in Baze, in the Metina region of northern Iraq, on Oct 8,” security sources said in a statement carried by state news agency Anadolu. It was widely understood to be from the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).

On Thursday, the PKK said it had withdrawn all its armed forces “both within and outside Turkiye that could be considered near the border … a few days ago”. That included a withdrawal “from four war tunnels and positions in Metina, west of Zap”, a strategic border area that in the past was frequently targeted by the Turkish military.

Ankara has repeatedly said that all disarmament moves by the PKK must be verified by Turkish intelligence, which is a key part of the law passed in August. Such verification must ensure an end to all military activities and the handover of weapons and ammunition stockpiles before the legal measures set out in the legislation can be implemented.

In May last year, the PKK announced it was disbanding following a historic call by their jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan. Two months later, its militants took part in a historic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq where they began symbolically destroying their weapons.

The Turkish statement said the evacuation would allow the process to move forward, ultimately allowing former militants to return home. “Following the cessation of PKK activities in all areas, social reconciliation will be achieved with organisation members who will return to Turkiye in the later stages of the process, benefiting from the law,” it said.

“The goal is to ensure the integration of PKK members into society through integrated programmes in many areas such as education and the economy.”

‘Concrete measures’

Cihan Aydin, co-chair of the Human Rights Association, welcomed the PKK’s withdrawal, saying it was “a very important indicator” of the group’s determination to see an end to the conflict. The move should be met with a “positive” response from the Turkish state, notably through democratisation reforms, he said.

“Concrete goodwill measures will strengthen confidence in the process and make it more resilient,” Aydin said.

Earlier this month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated the government’s determination to achieve a “terror-free Turkiye”. But on Thursday, the PKK accused Ankara of failing to pursue the process with sufficient sincerity and speed, despite the militants fulfilling their own commitments.

As part of the initiative, Turkiye has established four sub-committees to oversee practical aspects of the PKK’s decision to dissolve itself, including one focused on disarmament that Ocalan will join. Senior Erdogan adviser Mehmet Ucum has said Ocalan will participate in the disarmament sub-committee, while stressing this would not mean he would be released.

The 77-year-old has played a key role in advancing efforts to end the conflict from his cell on Imrali island near Istanbul where he has spent the past 27 years serving life in solitary, with the PKK leadership repeatedly demanding he be freed as part of the process. The new law does not specify what will happen to him.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026

Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum, US Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich stressed Nato was a defensive alliance. But he outlined a three-pronged approach of blocking, blunting and breaking enemy forces to make any attack “utterly futile”.

His remarks come amid heightened tensions between Europe and Russia and lingering concerns among European allies over US President Donald Trump’s commitment to Nato’s mutual defence pact.

In recent days, Trump has announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin allowing Russia to supply diesel to global markets and renewed his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

European govts seek Nato assurance over Moscow’s ‘clandestine operations of arson, drone incursions and cyber disruptions’

European governments accuse Moscow of stepping up a campaign of sabotage, drone incursions and cyberattacks against them, while Russia warned last month it could use nuclear weapons if Nato attempted to cut off its Kaliningrad exclave. Grynkewich did not mention Russia by name but much of his message was clearly directed at Moscow. Nato’s 2022 Strategic Concept describes Russia as the alliance’s most significant security threat.

“If someone is foolish enough to attack us, we will fight,” he said. “We will, in short, ensure any attack, against any ally, proves utterly futile.” Grynkewich said Nato’s response would not be limited to forces involved in an initial attack. “Should the adversary choose to press the attack or commit his reserves, we will break the warfighting system engaged against us,” he said.

“This includes not just the attacking force itself, but anything and everything that supports, sustains, and controls that force.” Putin said this month Russia had no plans to attack any European country and wanted to coexist peacefully. Such declarations have not reassured European leaders, given Russia made similar statements before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia has also repeatedly denied involvement in sabotage and other hybrid operations.

Allies reassured

Grynkewich said he had decided to talk publicly about Nato’s plans because recent acts of sabotage and arson had made people around the alliance nervous. “What I want to do is assure the one billion citizens of our alliance that we’ve got this. We know what we need to do. We know how we would do it,” he said.

He said he also wanted to send a message to anyone considering harming Nato members. Grynkewich sought to downplay concerns about Washington’s commitment to the alliance, recalling that Trump spoke of “love” at a Nato summit in Ankara in July. “I was in the room and I felt the love,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026

The raid followed a criminal fraud investigation into the Somali-born lawmaker’s immigration paperwork, which was filled out by her late father when she was a child, Fox News Digital reported, citing unidentified sources.

“Today in the Washington, DC area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorised search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation,” a Department of Justice spokesperson said in an email.

A representative for Omar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The raid came a little more than three weeks before the Nov 3 midterm elections, when President Donald Trump’s Republicans will be trying to defend their thin majorities in the US Congress.

Omar has been a frequent target of political insults from Trump, who has cast the Somali American community as a threat to Minnesota in a burst of anti-Somali and anti-Muslim rhetoric.

‘Creepy obsession’

Omar, an outspoken critic of Trump, has called his focus on her an “unhealthy and creepy obsession”.

Last week, Trump called Democratic candidate for US Senate from Michigan Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim, a “RADICAL Extremist” and “Terrorist Sympathiser” while offering support for the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers.

Civil rights advocates have criticised the Republican president’s rhetoric towards minorities and immigrants, including when he previously called Somalis “garbage”.

Trump in February said that Omar and Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who is also Muslim, should be “institutionalised” and sent back to “where they came from”.

Both lawmakers had criticised Trump during his State of the Union address as he touted his administration’s hard-line immigration crackdown and its immigration enforcement actions.

The progressive lawmaker has repeatedly said she and her family have faced death threats, which she attributes to “hateful political rhetoric”, especially from Trump.

Last month, a Minnesota man who squirted vinegar on Omar was sentenced to one year and two months in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a federal official.

Anthony James Kazmierczak admitted to attacking Omar because he disagreed with her progressive political views.

The explosion occurred as a group of Israeli high school students hiked near the Lebanese border, with unexploded ordnance suspected, officials said.

“I share in the heavy grief of the family of the boy who was killed in the explosion during the trip near the northern border, and I wish a swift and full recovery to all the injured,” Katz posted on X, adding that the incident was being investigated.

Citing medical sources, the Israeli police earlier said that “the initial suspicion is that it was caused by an unexploded ordnance, as a result of which about 20 people were injured with varying degrees of severity”.

The incident injured both students and staff from a religious high school as they were on an outing, the municipality of the northern city of Maalot-Tarshiha said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrapped plans and was holding assessments over the “severe incident”, his office said.

“The Prime Minister asked to ensure that the injured are being evacuated as quickly as possible to hospitals and is continuing to hold ongoing assessments,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

The Magen David Adom emergency services had earlier said that eight of the injuries were serious or moderate and that paramedics were treating them.

The military said soldiers and helicopters had been dispatched to the scene in northern Israel, a region from which Israeli forces have been pounding Lebanon, from where Hezbollah have fired periodic rockets across the border.

Operations at King Khalid International Airport, Saudi Arabia’s second-busiest airport after Jeddah, were suspended to “allow for the completion of procedures to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport’s facilities”, the Saudi civil aviation authority said in a statement.

The airport has been shut since an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. On Sunday, another attack killed one Pakistani and injured nearly a dozen others.

The attacks marked one of the most significant disruptions to Saudi aviation in years, adding to pressures on an industry already grappling with conflict across the Middle East.

The airport cancelled 99.7 per cent of all scheduled flights on Sunday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. An air traffic tracker from Flightradar24 showed no planes over the city.

The disruption has forced airlines across Europe and Asia to suspend services, while the Federal Aviation Administration advised US carriers on Sunday to exercise caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia.

Lufthansa Group has cancelled all flights to Riyadh until October 16, while Air France-KLM has extended a previous suspension of services to and from the Saudi capital until the end of the month.

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways was among the airlines that further extended Saudi flight cancellations, affecting around 20 flights to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam on Monday and Tuesday.

The escalation with the Houthis has raised concerns over the broader economic impact. Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product is projected to contract by 3.6pc this year, reflecting a combination of factors including lower oil activity.

The attacks have put events scheduled in Riyadh this month under pressure, including the kingdom’s flagship investment conference and the WPC Energy Congress, where several top oil executives were dropped from the programme.

Video released by Saudi authorities shows moment of Saturday blast

Muslim pilgrims wrapped in white garments queued for a document check at Riyadh’s international airport, when a powerful explosion brought chunks of the ceiling down on their heads, footage released on Monday by Saudi authorities showed.

Gate workers dived under their desks as passengers scrambled away from the direction of the blast, in dramatic security camera footage released by the Saudi media ministry showed the moment of the deadly strike on Saturday.

Smoke and debris cloud the images, leaving only a sudden fire visible, while some blurry figures appear too shocked to flee.

Many of the passengers in the video released by Saudi authorities appear to be pilgrims headed to Makkah on Umrah, the high season of which is just beginning as the intense summer heat starts to ease in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities have warned of potential legal consequences against witnesses speaking out about strikes and have restricted media from accessing attack sites to independently report on them.

The official release of footage from the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in a decade is a notable development after the government for weeks offered few public details on the extent of Houthi strikes on the kingdom.

The Saudi Gazette said the footage underscored “the danger posed to innocent travellers whose journeys are dedicated to worship”, adding that the attack “raises serious questions about the Houthis’ claims to religious legitimacy”.

A supervisor at Joseph Lakanal ​college disarmed the 14-year-old before police arrived, Aubagne mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari told reporters. Both ​victims were hospitalised but neither suffered life-threatening injuries, he added.

There was no immediate ⁠indication that the shooting was linked to a three-week wave of protests, some violent, that have rocked ​high schools across the country. President Emmanuel Macron condemned those incidents of violence on Monday.

BFM TV said ​the 14-year-old pupil had entered the school with the rifle hidden in a guitar case. He was later detained by police.

“It’s a kid who goes to that school. He entered with a rifle, the investigation will determine how, ​and fired twice in a corridor toward the principal and a teacher,” Squillari said.

‘We were panicking, we ran’

One student told Reuters that her maths teacher had played down the bang of the first gunshot ‌blast as ⁠noise from nearby construction works. A subsequent blast was followed by an alarm and classes emptied into the corridors.

“We were panicking, we ran,” the student said. “There were two ways out: one passage to the sports hall and one passage to go outside. Survival instinct took over and I ran ​towards the outside.”

Far-right leader ​Marine Le Pen, frontrunner ⁠in the race to replace Macron next spring, said the government was losing control of security in schools.

“Schools, which should be sanctuaries, are now ​places where people risk their lives. Insecurity has entered the school. Many ​pupils and ⁠teachers go there with a knot in their stomach.”

Macron’s education and interior ministers are due to travel to the college later in the day.

Eddy Sid, spokesperson for the SGP-FO police union, told BFM TV there ⁠was ​no apparent link between the shooting and high-school protests against ​understaffing and lack of funding for schools.

There had been no blockades at the Joseph Lakanal college, he added.

According to a statement issued by the FO, Albusaidi’s visit, taking place at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, will last from Oct 13-14.

The statement added that during the visit, the Eighth Session of the Pakistan-Oman Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) would be held in Islamabad, co-chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries.

“The meeting would serve as an important platform to review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-Oman bilateral relations and to further strengthen cooperation in diverse fields,” the FO said.

Additionally, Albusaidi is expected to make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his visit.

According to the FO, the visit “reflects the longstanding fraternal relations between Pakistan and Oman and is expected to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation across multiple sectors”.

On Saturday, DPM Dar chaired an inter-ministerial meeting in Islamabad today to review preparations for the upcoming JMC session, according to state-run Radio Pakistan.

The meeting reviewed the agenda, bilateral agreements, and arrangements for the co-chairing of the JMC session, it said.

According to Radio Pakistan, the session will focus on “deepening cooperation in trade, investment, industry, agriculture, finance, oil and gas, labour, consular affairs, security, defence, climate change, civil aviation, education, media, and culture”.

Dar highlighted the importance of the commission in strengthening bilateral relations. He directed stakeholders to ensure thorough preparations and effective follow-up to “secure tangible outcomes”, the outlet added.

The statement said Kolokolstev was undertaking the four-day visit at the invitation of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, marking the first instance of a Russian interior minister visiting Pakistan.

Kolokolstev was received by Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry upon his arrival in Islamabad, it added.

During his stay in Pakistan, the Russian interior minister would participate in “important discussions” on strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing mutual cooperation, and would also hold key meetings with the country’s leadership, the statement said.

Earlier, in January, Russian President Vladimir Putin had said Moscow’s relations with Pakistan were “genuinely mutually beneficial” and that it maintained close ties with Islamabad.

“We maintain close cooperation with Pakistan, a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the largest regional organisation in terms of economic, technological, and human potential. Russia-Pakistan relations are genuinely mutually beneficial,” the Embassy of Russia in Pakistan quoted President Putin as saying.

Last July, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk called Pakistan and Russia “natural allies”, stressing that Putin viewed Islamabad as an important strategic partner in the areas of economy and energy.

In recent years, Pakistan and Russia have significantly strengthened their economic ties, driven by mutual necessity. Following Western sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict, Moscow turned toward new energy outlets, while Islamabad simultaneously sought more affordable fuel sources to reduce national import expenses.

This diplomatic shift culminated in 2023, when Pakistan officially integrated Russian crude oil into its energy portfolio.

Speaking at the launch of an IMF book on challenges and opportunities in Asia, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said demography, economic integration and technology, specifically AI, are the three big “transformations” facing the region.

“AI is projected to lift up growth in advanced Asia, where the ageing populations are, somewhere between half a percentage and one percentage point… and what is amazing is that if the countries capture productivity and this growth, they will more than offset the demographic pressure,” she said.

Findings presented in the book show that countries such as China, Japan and South Korea could lose nearly 25 per cent of their working population between now and 2050, a loss that could be offset by productivity gains made from AI.

However, Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific department, cautioned that policymakers must balance the benefits from AI adoption against the risk of a widening divergence across countries in Asia.

“What matters is whether AI augments workers or automates jobs. Advanced economies, for sure, are more exposed, but they are also better placed to benefit. Emerging markets are less exposed, but also less in a position to capture the upside,” Srinivasan said at the book launch, which was part of IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.

“The good news here is reforms that raise skills and productivity can bring adoption forward by a decade or more.”

Georgieva also said deeper regional trade agreements and a reduction in non-tariff barriers could raise Asia’s GDP by about 1.8pc in the long run.

The two were honoured for developing new models for managing recessions and other crises that fail to respond to traditional tools.

“On the basis of these models, well-timed fiscal and monetary policy measures can reduce the economy’s peaks and troughs,” the jury said.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences explained in a statement that ever since John Maynard Keynes formulated his economic theories almost a century ago, “stabilisation” policies had long let officials boost economic growth when needed.

But during the oil shocks in the 1970s, the Keynesian models that governed when and how action should be taken no longer worked.

Hall, 83, a professor at Stanford University, and Woodford, a professor at Columbia University born in 1955, separately began to explore new models.

“Rather than basing the models on statistical links between macroeconomic variables, such as inflation, production and consumption, they chose to build them on a microeconomic foundation,” the jury said.

Hall and Woodford’s models include an “understanding for how the total mass of individual households and businesses affect the economy through their actions”, it said.

A fundamental aspect of this is the understanding that households are forward-looking when making decisions about spending or saving.

This means the way governments and central banks communicate their policies can influence people’s views of the future when making such decisions.

Stable foundation

“The laureates’ work has provided us with a stable theoretical foundation for the models that are now used by central banks and governments around the world,” John Hassler, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said in a statement.

“It’s a surprise, but I’m feeling very good about it,” Woodford told reporters via phone during the announcement of the prize, saying he felt “elated” for receiving “a tremendous honour”.

While his theories have had a large impact on policymakers, he said they had not been “motivated by a specific political agenda”.

“It was an attempt to improve the foundations for discussion of economic policy and therefore to contribute both to the management of the economy, but also to contribute to public understanding,” Woodford said.

The economics prize is the only Nobel not among the original five created in the will of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.

It was instead created through a donation from the Swedish central bank in 1968.

But like the Nobels in chemistry and physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences chooses the winner and follows the same selection process.

Last year, the economics award went to American-Israeli Joel Mokyr, France’s Philippe Aghion and Canada’s Peter Howitt for research into how technology drives and affects growth.

Last week, South African judge Navi Pillay won the peace prize, and Canadian-Icelandic writer Anne Carson was named the literature laureate.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Frenchman Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai of Japan, and the Physics Prize to Belgian Francis Halzen.

And the first prize to be announced, in medicine, went to American Karl Deisseroth and Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel.

Like the other Nobels, the economics prize consists of a diploma, a gold medal and a $1.2 million cheque.

The laureates will receive their prizes at formal ceremonies on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.

The revision of voter rolls has resulted in more than 133 million names being removed from electoral lists, according to media reports. Critics say the measure has disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims, but election authorities claim the move was intended to eliminate duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries.

Opposition parties and supporters of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party protest movement have taken to the streets in recent days, defying a strict security clampdown to demand a halt to the revision exercise and the resignation of the chief election commissioner.

“You can see how big the crowd is already,” demonstrator Abhay Aryan, 28, told AFP as the crowd marched towards the Supreme Court, chanting slogans and waving placards.

“The government has to listen to the voice of the people.”

Critics say the large-scale revision of electoral lists could benefit Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Election Commission of India, which oversees the voting process in the world’s most populous nation, has denied wrongdoing.

A protester who gave his name as Mehvaish said he could no longer “tolerate the injustices” meted out by Modi’s government.

“We want removal of this government (because) of all the injustices we have suffered in the past 12-13 years,” he said.

“Now if they take away our right to vote, what is left with us?”

Rights advocates and critics say Modi’s government has eroded democratic freedoms during more than a decade in power, citing pressure on journalists, civil society groups and political opponents — allegations the government rejects.

Authorities deployed thousands of security personnel across central Delhi for a third straight day, erecting heavy metal barricades and closing key metro stations.

“People are being stopped from reaching Delhi,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said at a news conference on Monday.

“Delhi has been made into a fortress… there is police everywhere,” he added, accusing Modi of shielding the election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.

Public attention has also shifted to the police response, after a chaotic weekend in which thousands of protesters including organisers were detained, according to local media reports.

Most of those detained, including three top leaders of the “cockroach” movement, have since been released.

Opposition figures have accused authorities of trying to suppress dissent through mass detentions.

‘Assault on democratic freedoms’

Parliamentarian John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleged he was “manhandled, dragged, assaulted” by police during Sunday’s demonstrations.

“This is not merely an assault on an MP. It is an assault on democratic freedoms and the rule of law,” Brittas said.

Police did not respond to questions on detentions or their actions during a news conference on Sunday.

Several journalists covering the protest said they were detained despite prominently displaying their press cards.

Nitin Katiyar, a digital journalist, told The Times of India newspaper that a police official had punched him in the eye. AFP could not immediately verify his charge.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said at least 16 journalists were detained during the weekend protests, calling the police action “unacceptable”.

Hundreds of yellow metal barricades were set up on roads leading to central Delhi, while six major metro stations remained shut.

The protests have become a major political challenge for Modi, drawing together opposition parties, student groups and activists angered by the voter roll revision.

The leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, which has millions of social media followers, have pledged to continue their protests until Kumar steps down.

In a social media post, Trump said the energy ceasefire would take effect immediately, but did not elaborate further.

In an interview with Axios, Zelensky said Trump’s post was the first he had heard of the deal, though a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Ukraine was ready to agree to such a ceasefire, if Russia was.

Zelensky said that he and Kyiv’s allies were “awaiting details” of a ceasefire on energy targets US President Donald Trump had announced.

Zelensky says awaiting details; Russia yet to comment

Trump, whose war in Iran has been blamed for high diesel prices that are weighing on Republicans’ prospects at next month’s midterm elections, had previously announced an energy ceasefire in Ukraine in mid-September, though neither side ever confirmed such an agreement was reached.

“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Earlier on Sunday, Zelensky had repeated Ukraine’s long-standing position that it was willing to halt attacks on Russian refineries but only if Moscow ceased its own strikes on Ukrainian power infrastructure.

Any such deal would need to come with “real guarantees”, Zelensky said.

“The real cause of the war in Europe is Russia and Russia alone,” Zelensky said. “It’s possible to stop strikes on energy infr­astructure as early as today, but Putin does not want to do so.”

There was no immediate comment from Russia on Trump’s claim.

Energy truce hailed

France backed the “real energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday.

“France will continue to stay by the side of Ukraine and President Zelensky.“

Also, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen voiced backing for Ukraine’s Zelensky amid his row with Trump, and backed Kyiv’s calls for an energy ceasefire with Russia.

“Fully supported the call of President Zelensky for a ceasefire that would protect global food supplies and energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia,” von der Leyen wrote online after talking to Zelensky.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026

In the 2026 edition of their annual report, the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative research center counted 51.5 million more people living in “acute” poverty compared to the previous year.

UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said the increase in poverty should be a “wake-up call for the world.”

“Behind these figures are 1.2 billion people facing hardships that reinforce one another: hunger, missed schooling and a lack of clean water or electricity. This is unacceptable,” he said in a press release.

More than half of those in acute poverty were children.

‘Mixed bag’

However, UNDP said a major factor in the recorded increase was population growth, and new data was only available for 13 of the 108 developing countries covered by the report.

While the total number of people in poverty has increased, the report provides a mixed picture.

Some 33 nations have halved the percentage of their people living in poverty as defined by the index in the past 15 years.

Those included six countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Among the countries that have made the most rapid progress were countries in Asia — China and Vietnam — UNDP said.

As in the previous year, the report found that the majority of the poorest people live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, specifically the subcontinent, the most densely populated region on Earth.

“In Egypt, Nepal, and Tajikistan, both the poverty rate and the number of people experiencing multidimensional poverty have decreased significantly,” the press release said.

In Angola and Zambia, the poverty rate has also declined, but population growth has more than offset this decrease, resulting in an increase in the number of people living in poverty.

The poverty index used in the report includes indicators such as the lack of adequate housing, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, food and education.

NEW DELHI: Leaders of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) vowed on Sunday to continue their campaign, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, hours after being released from detention as authorities moved to prevent a major demonstration.

The protests have also drawn support from Bollywood, with actor Imran Khan among several people detained in Mumbai on Saturday for backing the CJP protest, while actors Vijay Varma and Huma Qureshi have publicly voiced support for the demonstrations.

The protests in the capital come after weeks of opposition mobilisation following allegations of misconduct during a nationwide voter roll revision that critics say could benefit PM Narendra Modi’s ruling party.

The Election Commission of India, which oversees the voting process in the world’s most populous nation, has denied wrongdoing.

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the CJP protest movement, and two other leaders were released on Sunday, a day after they were detained when they landed in Delhi to take part in the protest.

Thousands of protesters have been detained since Saturday, according to the youth-led group and media reports.

“We will not back down,” CJP co-convenor Saurav Das said at a news conference after his release from detention.

“We urge people to come out and carry out peaceful protests,” he added, vowing to continue until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns.

‘Important to show up’

Ahead of Saturday’s rally, authorities mounted a sweeping security operation across the capital, shutting down metro stations and more than 200 trains while imposing a ban on public gatherings in several areas. Indian actor Imran Khan was among several detained in Mumbai for supporting the CJP protest on Saturday.

Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed across Delhi on Sunday, but metro stations reopened and previously restricted mobile services were restored.

The protest leaders were released on the condition that they would maintain “peace for one year”, Ratna Singh, the CJP’s head lawyer, said in a social media post.

The Supreme Court directed the authorities on Sunday to ensure protesters gathering peacefully were not detained illegally.

“Detention shall only be after following a legal procedure,” Justice Joymalya Bagchi said in oral remarks.

The court also ordered authorities to ensure there was no disruption to internet connectivity after mobile access was temporarily shut down around the Jantar Mantar site on Saturday.

In a social media post soon after his release, the CJP’s Dipke took aim at Modi, who “as PM, is an embarrassment to India”, he said.

“Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully.” The youth movement has emerged as one of the most significant political challenges to Modi during his third term in power, winning millions of followers on social media since it was launched in May as a satirical party.

Bollywood lends support

Meanwhile, Bollywood celebrities have voiced their support for protests organised by the CJP against Kumar, Hindustan Times reported.

Actor Vijay Varma took to Insta­gram to take a sarcastic dig, questioning the support for Gyanesh Kumar.

Actress Huma Qureshi also expressed her displeasure at the detention of protesters, emphasising their right to peaceful demonstration.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026

Saturday’s attack, the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade, was a sharp escalation in the Yemen war, where Riyadh has long militarily supported the internationally recognised government against the Houthis.

The group on Sunday claimed multiple attacks over the last 24 hours, including on the airport, and threatened to keep targeting the kingdom’s transit hubs, calling them “a theatre of operations for our forces”.

Hours later, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the group reported that a projectile struck King Khalid International Airport, sparking a fire.

Air defences also intercepted a missile nearby, it added.

The fresh attack on the airport killed one person — a Pakistani resident — and wounded 11 others, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said on X.

Authorities have extended the closure of the airport by 24 hours until 2100 GMT (2am PKT) on Monday, the tracking site Flightradar24 said on the same platform.

AFP journalists and locals reported hearing multiple blasts in the Saudi capital on Sunday.

“The birds went into a frenzy after the sound. The whole house shook,” said one resident of the Al-Aarid neighbourhood in the north of the city.

The civil aviation authority also reported another attack on Dammam airport in the east — which the Houthis also said they had targeted — a day after the Saudi coalition reported a projectile landing nearby.

Shortly afterwards, the coalition reported shooting down a drone, also in the east.

It said early on Monday that it had also “intercepted and destroyed” a Houthi ballistic missile heading for the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, home to a major military base.

‘Full-fledged war crime’

The Houthis have stepped up their attacks on the Riyadh airport — where three people were also killed on Thursday — as well as on other key targets in the world’s top crude oil exporter.

And although Saudi Arabia has poured billions into its military, Houthi attacks continue to slip through.

“Saudi air defences have been able to intercept some Houthi missile and drone attacks, but Saudi Arabia is so large that it’s simply impossible for them to consistently defend themselves against Houthi attacks,” said Thomas Juneau, security analyst at Ottawa University.

The anti-Houthi coalition called Saturday’s attack a “full-fledged war crime” and vowed to “respond decisively”.

Houthi media reported two Saudi strikes in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Sanaa governorate on Sunday.

Saturday’s attack drew condemnation from the United Nations and leaders around the world, including US President Donald Trump, who said he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country does not have diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, also denounced the “horrific terrorist attack”.

Four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese were killed, the civil aviation authority said, with 309 wounded.

The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia also said one of its citizens died on Sunday after being wounded the day before.

A Riyadh-based Western diplomat told AFP the official number of injured may not give a full picture, as it did not appear to include those with minor wounds.

Operations suspended

Authorities suspended operations at the airport into Sunday, a senior aviation source said, with air traffic monitor Flightradar24 saying the closure was extended until 21:00 GMT (2am PKT on Monday).

A second aviation source confirmed the halt in operations “until further notice”, adding radar and communications equipment was damaged and runways needed to be assessed.

Witnesses to Saturday’s strike described chaos in the aftermath.

“People who were in Terminal 3 started running towards us,” a 32-year-old Riyadh resident told AFP.

“Some had lost a hand or an arm. People were running while carrying injured people, covered in blood.”

The attack prompted health officials to activate a rare mass call-up of doctors, a medical source said.

The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies in Saudi Arabia have warned their citizens to avoid Riyadh airport, while Australia urged its citizens on Sunday to stay indoors altogether and “shelter in place”.

The Houthis also claimed to have targeted the Dammam airport, whose official website on Sunday showed many flights — both departures and arrivals — were delayed.

‘Rewrite the rules’

Saturday’s airport strike, on the eve of Saudi Arabia’s high-profile convention and entertainment season, was the deadliest attack in the kingdom since a 2015 suicide bombing.

With the summer heat subsiding, October also usually marks the beginning of the high season for Umrah pilgrims, with millions of Muslims from across the world flocking to Makkah.

Saudi Arabia leads an international coalition that has supported Yemen’s government militarily since 2015, including by seeking to exert control over Yemeni airspace and the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

Ottawa University’s Juneau said the Houthis now “want to rewrite the rules of the game”.

“They want to do to Saudi Arabia what Saudi Arabia does to them,” he said.

“So if their airport in Sanaa has to be closed because of the Saudi air embargo, they want to do the same thing to Saudi Arabia.”

On the ground in Yemen, Saudi-supported government forces were advancing in their counter-offensive against the Houthis around the Bab al-Mandab strait, a key shipping route, military sources said on Saturday.

The Houthis claimed to have repelled them.

Claims by both sides have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation moving fast on the ground and access for journalists difficult.

Delegates from around the globe will gather in the Turkish resort town of Antalya next month for the annual COP gathering. But expectations are low that the meeting will yield any major breakthroughs as the United States under Donald Trump has disengaged from the process and momentum is waning in Europe.

“There is a great deal of concern among the population, not just among the protesters today,” economist Etienne de Callatay said, as he attended the march.

“The extreme heat we experienced this summer is something everyone was aware of. Politicians shouldn’t be afraid of electoral repercussions if they take courageous measures on environmental issues.” Aurore Schreiber, who works for a development cooperation NGO, said she had attended with her family “so that politicians wake up and hear the citizens’ message”.

“We need to listen to the demands of young people and the most vulnerable,” she said. “We need greener, fairer supply chains that take into account workers’ issues and wages.” Police put the number of participants at the march — the latest in a series to be held in Brussels — at 45,000.

Energy crisis

After having its hopes dashed for a more ambitious deal last year in Brazil, the European Union is setting its sights low for next month’s COP31. With climate sceptic Trump withdrawing the United States from the negotiations, international efforts to combat global warming had already taken a battering.

Now the situation looks even less promising. Surging energy prices have put major oil and gas producers in a position of strength that makes them less likely to want to discuss phasing out fossil fuels. The EU insists it remains the global leader on climate action and is the principal international donor in the field. But the bloc arrives at the COP having recently watered down its own environmental legislation.

As it struggles to compete with China and the United States, Brussels has been on an increasingly business-friendly push.

The most recent example last month was the commission proposing to postpone the implementation of a law targeting methane — an extremely polluting greenhouse gas — by one year, from 2027 to 2028.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026

Burnham, who took over as Britain’s leader in July and said last month that Britain could consider rejoining the European Union in the future, is the first British prime minister to say openly there was evidence of Russian interference in the referendum a decade ago.

“I asked the question coming to Downing Street, was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia?

And I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was,” Burnham said in an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast released on Sunday.

Burnham did not spell out how he believed that Russia interfered in the referendum and gave no details on what evidence this statement was based. The Russian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia has previously denied meddling in the Brexit vote, casting Britain as gripped by anti-Russian hysteria.

Burnham’s comments mark a departure from those of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who campaigned to leave the EU, and said in 2020 there was no evidence of Russian interference in the referendum.

Britons voted 52pc-48pc to leave the EU in 2016, plunging the country into its biggest political crisis since World War Two.

Burnham said voters in European democracies needed to be better informed about efforts to disrupt their politics.

“I mean, these things are important now to put clearly on the record, and I believe, help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia,” he said.

Britain’s government failed to establish whether Russia meddled in the 2016 referendum on membership of the EU, according to a report by parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee in 2020.

The report also found that Russia had sought to influence Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum, in which voters rejected independence.

Burnham last month said he could campaign to take Britain back into the EU at the next general election, reopening the country’s divisive debate on its relationship with the continent.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026

The apes were saved from several locations razed by fires — mostly plantations near their forest homes — in the West Kalimantan province on the Indonesian side of Borneo last month, the forestry ministry and the YIARI wildlife rehabilitation foundation said in a statement.

The orangutans, three mom and baby pairs as well as two male teenagers, were relocated on Friday to the Batu Nyambu Protected Forest in West Kalimantan, a 23,000-hectare reserve with primary and secondary forest cover.

YIARI CEO Karmele Llano Sanchez said relocating the animals to a new location was a “necessary step” when their habitat was no longer safe.

“Protection of habitats will always be a top priority to ensure orangutans continue to have safe forests to live in, but as long as their habitat remains threatened, rescue is one of the best options we can take to help them survive,” Sanchez said.

The reserve was chosen due to availability of food and water sources as well as its connectivity to other forests, said YIARI operational director Argitoe Ranting. “We want to ensure that rescued orangutans are not simply moved from one place to another, but actually have a chance to survive in their natural habitat,” Argitoe said.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026

The Emergency Lawyers rights organisation accused the Egyptian air force of carrying out the attack. The attack on Saturday was the second this year on Jabal al-Uqaydat, after airstrikes, reportedly by Egypt, killed 23 workers in the informal gold mining site in June.

The Egyptian army did not claim the strikes but said at the time that it had conducted a “large-scale operation” against illegal gold mining within its borders.

The border between Sudan and Egypt is disputed, with both countries claiming the resource-rich Halayeb triangle. Cairo is however a key ally of Sudan’s army, at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Rights group claims attack violated Sudan’s sovereign territory; Cairo maintains its military operations are restricted inside Egyptian borders

The attack on Saturday “resulted in the deaths of 72 civilian miners, according to preliminary information, while efforts to document and verify the casualty toll are ongoing,” said the Emergency Lawyers, which documents atrocities in Sudan’s war. Two survivors described their harrowing escape from the mine.

Miner Abdelaziz Youssef said a jet appeared overhead at around 8am on Saturday and “struck five times, many people were killed”. “We ran up the mountain terrified of another strike,” he said.

Another survivor, Sharaf Ali, said there were thousands of people working at the remote site when it was hit. “After the airstrike people scattered, some people came to Al-Ansary market, others went in the other direction, that’s why no one knows how many exactly were killed,” he said from the gold market, just south of the Halayeb triangle.

Both survivors said they saw bodies on the ground as they fled, with many more feared trapped under the rubble, hours away from any urban centre.

Gold rush

Since April 2023, the conflict has killed more than 200,000 people and created a deep humanitarian crisis that has pushed many into the dangerous gold mining industry, which fuels both sides’ war efforts. The rugged mountainous area, home to bountiful mineral deposits, stretches for hundreds of kilometres and includes the disputed Halayeb triangle. The Emergency Lawyers said the attack occurred within Sudanese territory.

“The repeated attacks on the gold- and mineral-rich border regions reflect a desire by Egyptian authorities to expand and assert control over Sudan’s natural resources,” it said. The Egyptian army in June said it carried out its operation “within Egyptian territory”.

It said 223 people were detained, including 136 foreign nationals, and announced a campaign to counter “illegal gold mining and arms smuggling” in the area. Despite backing Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Egypt considers the war at its border — which stretches 1,200 kilometres from the Red Sea to Libya — a major threat to its security.

East of the Nile River, the porous border has for years been a thriving conduit for gold, illicit trade and human trafficking, which Egypt has tried to stem including by using mass deportations.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026

The Microsoft co-founder said the risk of AI “getting out of control” remained years away and emphasised that the immediate concern was “bad people” using existing systems without safeguards.

“The front that we’ll probably see most dramatically in the next year is cyberattacks,” Gates said in an interview with ABC News.

“The real danger right now is not the AI’s getting out of control. We need to work on that, but that’s years away in terms of the big impact that might have,” he said. “It’s really bad people using AI, particularly in AI where you can take out all the safeguards,” he said, adding that increased restrictions were needed to prevent bad actors using AI for bioterrorism and cyberattacks.

“But right now, you’re allowed to take all those safeguards out. So when you have bad people, no safeguards, and then the latest models, that’s where, over the next year, primarily in the cyber area, we are going to have a lot of negative surprises,” he told ABC.

Gates — who warned in a lengthy August post that the world was dangerously unprepared for the upheaval brought by AI, especially to employment — is the latest tech magnate to sound the alarm on the threats posed by the new technology. In his interview Sunday, he dismissed the idea that self-regulation by AI companies was sufficient to keep the world safe.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026

The boat, carrying 305 people, capsized near Guhere, north of Obock a port town in Djibouti during the night of Oct 8-9, the IOM said, citing survivor accounts.

Around 82 people survived the shipwreck, the statement said. A spokesperson for the Ethiopian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Photographs shared by the UN agency showed worn-out sandals and sneakers washed up on the shore.

“Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance,” said IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac.

“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities,” Coissac said.

Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and rescue operations, the IOM statement said, adding that local authorities are also providing medical care to survivors and arranging burials for the deceased.

The Djibouti government could not be immediately reached for comment.

The migrants were heading to Yemen, with the hope of eventually making it to wealthier Gulf nations, even as Yemeni nationals themselves flee their country, which is experiencing the most serious escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia-backed government forces and the Houthis since a UN-brokered truce in 2022.

“Despite the violence in Yemen, migrants are still making the perilous journeys hoping to make it to the Gulf countries,” the IOM statement said.

Fighting in Ethiopia

Fighting has also broken out in Ethiopia since last month in the biggest escalation of violence since the 2020-2022 Tigray war.

An IOM official told Reuters that the UN agency had documented heavy migrant traffic along the so-called Eastern Route through Djibouti for several years.

“People continue to use the route amid changing conditions in Ethiopia and Yemen, although the volume and direction of movement can shift over time,” the official said.

Ethiopian migrants interviewed as part of the agency’s most recent situation report on Djibouti from Sept 20-30 said they had left their country due to difficult living conditions, including the impact of drought.

“Some migrants also reported that they were fleeing conflict and forced recruitment by armed forces,” the report said.

Multiple residents of Tigray, where fighting erupted on September 23, have told Reuters that they had seen Tigrayan rebels forcibly recruit young men into the defence forces. The rebels have denied conducting forced recruitment.

The conflict has sparked fears of a return to all-out war with Ethiopia and Eritrea severing relations over alleged Eritrean support for the rebel alliance seeking to overthrow Ethiopia’s government. Eritrea has denied backing the alliance.

Severe risks

The so-called Eastern Route presents many dangers, including accidents at sea, trafficking and arbitrary arrests once on land. In 2025, more than 900 migrants died or went missing along the route, according to IOMs Missing Migrants Project, as the number of people undertaking the journey increased by 18pc.

IOM has described the crisis sparked by the fighting in Yemen as alarming, with displacement figures surging to 200,000 from 76,000 in mid-September, according to data released by the agency last week.

More than 3,700 people have fled Yemen by sea to Djibouti as of last week, it said.

The rallies in the capital come after weeks of opposition mobilisation following allegations of misconduct during a nationwide voter roll revision that critics say could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.

The Election Commission of India, which oversees the voting process in the world’s most populous nation, has denied wrongdoing.

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), and two other leaders were released Sunday, one day after they were detained when they landed in New Delhi to take part in a protest at the Jantar Mantar site in the heart of the city.

Thousands of protesters have been detained since Saturday, according to the group and media reports.

“We will not back down,” Saurav Das, another top CJP leader, told reporters after his release.

“We urge people to come out and carry out peaceful protests,” he added, vowing to continue until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns.

Smaller rallies took place in Delhi on Sunday. Dozens of protesters were detained near Jantar Mantar, which remained blocked off, AFP journalists witnessed.

Police have not commented on the detentions.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said at least 16 journalists had also been detained, calling the police actions “unacceptable”.

“Covering events of public interest is not a crime,” RSF said in a statement. “It is their job.”

In July, protests organised by the CJP over exam irregularities forced the resignation of the education minister, marking a rare climbdown by Modi’s administration.

‘Important show up’

Ahead of Saturday’s rally, authorities mounted a sweeping security operation across the capital, shutting down metro stations and more than 200 trains while imposing a ban on public gatherings in several areas.

Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed on Sunday, but metro stations reopened and previously restricted mobile services were restored.

“I was detained for 10 hours yesterday,” said Aarti, 37, who gave only one name. “I have come again today because it is important to show up.”

The protest leaders were released on the condition that they would maintain “peace for one year”, Ratna Singh, the CJP’s head lawyer, said in a social media post.

The Supreme Court, hearing petitions challenging Saturday’s detentions and other security measures, directed the authorities to ensure protesters gathering peacefully were not detained illegally.

“Detention shall only be after following a legal procedure,” Justice Joymalya Bagchi said in oral remarks.

The court also ordered authorities to ensure there was no disruption to internet connectivity as seen on Saturday.

‘An embarrassment to India’

The CJP has emerged as one of the most significant political challenges to Modi during his third term in power, winning millions of followers on social media since it was launched in May as a satirical party.

Soon after his release, the CJP’s Dipke took aim at Modi, calling him “an embarrassment to India”.

“Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully,” he said in a social media post.

The revision of voter rolls resulted in more than 133 million names being removed from electoral lists, according to media reports.

Critics say the measure has disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims, potentially benefiting Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Election authorities say the move was aimed at eliminating duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries.

The detention of protesters on Saturday triggered sharp criticism and accusations that Modi’s government was stifling dissent.

The UN human rights office called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those “arbitrarily detained” in Delhi — a comment the Indian government called “misplaced”.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party, said he was planning to march to the Supreme Court on Monday with “every single person who believes in democracy”.

“There is nothing to fear,” he said on social media. “These cowards can do absolutely nothing to us. “

Medics said an Israeli strike killed four people near Panda Mall in Gaza City, whi­le another killed one person in the Tuffah neighbourhood further south of the city.

Israel, which claims Hamas has been rea­­rming and launching attacks in violation of an October ceasefire, has stepped up strikes on the group in recent weeks. Hamas has denied trying to carry out att­a­cks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Isr­ael of undermining the Gaza peace deal.

Last year’s US-brokered ceasefire calls for eventual reconstruction of the territory. But little progress has been made as negotiators have failed to agree on terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops.

Israeli air strikes have continued, with at least 1,400 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, according to the territory’s health officials, while Israel claims four of its soldiers have been killed.

Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, launched in October 2023.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2026

The defence pact, of which Turkiye is also a part, was signed on August 7 and aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empower its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them.

The statement comes following Saturday’s attack on Riyadh’s international airport, which killed at least 12 people and wounded 309 others.

In a post on X, FO said the targeting of a civilian airport constituted “a heinous act of terrorism, a flagrant violation of international law and a grave threat to regional peace and security”.

It expressed concern over the casualties resulting from the attack, extending condolences to the bereaved families and wishing a swift recovery to the injured.

“The continued targeting of civilian population and critical infrastructure by the Houthi militia is utterly unacceptable and must be condemned unequivocally by the international community,” the statement read.

It added: “Such brazen and indiscriminate acts of aggression cannot be justified under any circumstances and must cease immediately.”

FO expressed “unwavering” solidarity with the leadership of Saudi Arabia and reiterated its “firm and unshakeable commitment” to Riyadh’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability in line with the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement and the “recent decision” taken by its Strategic, Political and Defence Committee on October 5, in which the member states had agreed to the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities in the kingdom.

The FO expressed support for Saudi Arabia’s right to self-defence against all threats and acts of aggression and went on to urge Yemen’s Houthis to cease attacks and the international community to take “a firm and unequivocal stand” against it.

“Pakistan will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, resolute in its commitment to the kingdom’s sovereignty, security and defence.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a post on X, also condemned the attack.

In his statement, the premier said that targeting civilian and critical infrastructure was “completely unacceptable and [constitutes] a serious threat to regional peace and stability.

“Such acts of violence, which are a flagrant violation of international law, must cease immediately.”

Expressing solidarity with Riyadh, PM Shehbaz said, “In accordance with the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement and the enduring bonds of brotherhood between our two countries, we reaffirm our steadfast commitment to Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed concern at what he called the Houthi attack on the Riyadh airport.

“We pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured, including the six Pakistani nationals,” he said.

“Attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure are totally unacceptable, violate international law and pose a serious threat to regional peace and security. Such acts must cease immediately,” he said.

“We are in touch with the Saudi Authorities and are closely following the situation. I have directed our embassy in Riyadh to coordinate with the concerned authorities to provide all possible assistance to the injured Pakistani nationals,” he said.

“We stand in solidarity with Saudi Arabia’s leadership and brotherly people. Pakistan remains firmly committed to the kingdom’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security in accordance with the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement,” he said.

PM Shehbaz also said that the embassy in Riyadh was in close contact with the Saudi authorities and was extending all possible assistance to the affected families.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has blamed the group for the strike on King Khalid International Airport, describing it as a “full-fledged war crime” that a diplomatic source attributed to a missile.

Houthis have repeatedly targeted the facility, claiming a series of strikes on Thursday that killed three people and damaged a plane, though they did not announce any new attacks on Saturday.

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers after a truce in their long-running war with Yemen’s coalition government unravelled in July. Against this backdrop, Pakistan has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

On Oct 5, in an emergency meeting of the Makkah pact in Riyadh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye agreed to the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who was part of Pakistan’s delegation in the meeting, joined Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’ via telephone the same day and was asked about a possible operational role by Pakistan and Turkiye, to which he said both Turkiye and Pakistan had a “presence in theatre”, but only Saudi troops were involved in combat operations.

On September 18, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan would go to “any extent” to defend the Gulf state, adding that Islamabad’s commitment to the kingdom’s security is “unconditional”.

Asif has also reaffirmed that Pakistan will “practically and diplomatically” stand by Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Houthi rebels if the situation escalates. The defence minister said that Pakistan would fulfil all its obligations under the Makkah Defence Alliance in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the three countries.

At the same time, Pakistan has also asserted that the alliance is intended for collective deterrence and is defensive in nature.

The dead from the third attack this week on the airport included four Saudis, two people from Bangladesh and one person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt, the Saudi civil aviation authority said. At the latest count, 309 were wounded, officials said.

While the Houthis stopped short of claiming the strike, they threatened new attacks on the kingdom’s airports, except for the holy cities of Makkah and Madina, warning passengers not to travel.

“The airports and airspace are exposed to targeting and constitute a theatre of operations for our forces,” military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on X.

President Donald Trump said Washington was considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis in the conflict, a spillover from the war on Iran that the US and Israel launched in February.

Hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, some in critical condition after the attack, which occurred without warning.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Houthi attack on Sunday, reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen blamed the group for the strike on King Khalid International Airport, describing it as a “full-fledged war crime” that a diplomatic source attributed to a missile.

Earlier in the day, authorities had suspended operations at Riyadh’s international airport. The Saudi civil aviation authority had initially confirmed an attack had injured several people at the sprawling King Khalid International Airport, with a diplomatic source attributing it to a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

The situation prompted health officials to activate a rare mass call-up of doctors to deal with the “serious emergency”, a medical source said, while foreign embassies warned their citizens to avoid the facility.

Houthis have repeatedly targeted the facility, claiming a series of strikes on Thursday that killed three people and damaged a plane, though they did not announce any new attacks on Saturday.

Air traffic monitor Flightradar24 said 155 arriving and 161 departing flights had been cancelled, while a total of 222 flights were delayed.

At around 6pm local time, Flightradar24 noted that flights bound for the airport were “diverting elsewhere, mainly to Jeddah at the moment”. It later shared a notice to airmen (Notam) for operations suspended till 12am.

A witness at the airport reported hearing an explosion while waiting to board a flight, and another said they saw a strike that left people wounded and fleeing in panic.

“I was on gate 403” at the domestic terminal, the witness told AFP. “I saw 401 hit, I saw injured [people] in front of my eyes. Everyone was running.”

A medical source told AFP that the health ministry had ordered ER doctors to report to hospitals around the capital to treat the wounded on Saturday.

“We were told we are dealing with a ‘serious emergency situation’. Injured are being moved to hospitals across Riyadh”, with many in critical condition, the source said.

The aviation authority said the number of injured from the attack was still being assessed, adding that airport “operations had been temporarily suspended pending the completion of an assessment of the damage and verification of the safety of the facilities”.

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers after a truce in their long-running war with Yemen’s coalition government unravelled in July.

A source at a local hospital said five people were in intensive care there after being wounded at the airport, with “dozens of people injured” in all.

A relative of one wounded person said they had been hit in the shoulders and arms by shattered glass. Three witnesses confirmed people being evacuated from the airport.

Two doctors told AFP that several pilgrims headed to Makkah had been injured while waiting to board their flight.

A diplomatic source briefed on the matter told AFP the airport was hit by “a missile around 3:00pm” (5pm PKT).

“Houthis are attacking civilian targets. Riyadh airport is a civilian target,” the source said.

‘War crime’

The Saudi-led coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki described the strike as a “cowardly terrorist attack” against a civilian facility.

“The cowardly terrorist attack by the terrorist Houthi militia… which resulted in deaths and injuries among civilian passengers and airport staff, constitutes a full-fledged war crime,” he said in a statement on X.

US ‘may’ join Saudi strikes

Asked on Saturday whether he had changed his mind about joining Saudi strikes on the group, US President Donald Trump said: “We may.”

He said he would be speaking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling what happened in Saudi Arabia “not acceptable”.

US media outlets have reported that previous Saudi requests for US military assistance in dealing with the Houthis have been rebuffed.

Embassy warnings

The Yemen conflict flared back to life after a four-year, UN-brokered truce collapsed, months into a wider Middle Eastern war that has rocked the region and roiled energy supplies and markets.

The scale and frequency of the recent strikes targeting Riyadh are unprecedented in the eight months of war in the region.

Saudi Arabia leads an international coalition that supports Yemen’s government militarily, and has found itself drawn deeper into its impoverished neighbour’s civil war.

Both Riyadh and the Houthis have signalled a willingness to keep fighting rather than pursue diplomacy.

The US embassy in Saudi Arabia said it was “aware of attacks” on Riyadh airport on Saturday and called on American citizens to avoid the area.

The Canadian, German and Spanish embassies also warned their citizens to avoid the facility. Spain’s embassy, in a message on X, alerted nationals to a “new attack… by the Houthis”.

A senior Western diplomat told AFP that several embassies “indicated that they had decided to prohibit their staff’s travel to/from Riyadh Airport over the next week as a prudential step”.

Near the airport, passengers carrying luggage could be seen standing on the pavement at a metro station.

Yemen fighting

Meanwhile, in Yemen, Saudi-led government forces were advancing against the Houthis in areas they captured last month around the Bab al-Mandab strait, military sources told AFP.

The Yemeni government last week announced a counter-offensive aimed at retaking all areas held by the Houthis, after the group seized the country’s entire western coastline in a lightning offensive.

The Houthis confirmed that government forces had attacked in the Bab al-Mandab area — a key chokepoint for Red Sea oil and cargo shipping — but they claimed to have repelled the assault.

Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation moving fast on the ground and access for journalists difficult.