World
Russian forces hit Kyiv with ballistic missiles and drones on 13 October, striking the Darnytsia combined heat and power plant and a residential building. Six people were killed in the capital and dozens wounded, and about 600,000 people lost electricity. Ukraine's Air Force said it received no warning from partners about missile launches from Russian territory, so no alarm was issued in time. Power plants in Kharkiv region, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Chernihiv were also hit. The attacks came days after US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt strikes on energy systems. Rescue work continued through the night in the capital.
AFP / Ukrainska Pravda
Politics
President Donald Trump held rallies in Arizona and Montana on Wednesday, the second day of a western swing aimed at lifting Republican turnout before the 3 November midterms. The Arizona event was in Mohave County, one of the reddest parts of a swing state. With under three weeks to go, Republican outside groups have begun withdrawing money from two competitive House seats held by Representatives Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa. A federal judge also blocked the White House from banning CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the press complex while their lawsuit proceeds. Trump's approval rating remains low in national polling heading into the vote.
AP / NBC News
Business
US consumer prices rose 0.6 per cent in September after a 0.4 per cent increase in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, matching economist forecasts but confirming that inflation is not cooling quickly. The Federal Reserve raised rates in mid-September for the first time in three years, and another increase at this month's meeting is back in play. Core PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred gauge, ran at 3.0 per cent in the year to August. Economists warn the last stretch back to the central bank's 2 per cent target will be bumpy, with some projecting further hikes into 2027.
Reuters
Technology
Google launched a prototype satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg on 1 October, carrying four of its own Tensor Processing Units into orbit. The mission is part of Project Suncatcher, a first step towards running data centres in space. The chips run a version of Google's Gemma model for about 15 minutes at a time because of heat limits, and the test will measure how they handle radiation and the stress of spaceflight. Google plans two more satellites in 2027 to test laser links. Google calls the mission a very minimal test. SpaceX and the startup Starcloud are pursuing similar orbital computing projects.
NPR / CNBC
Science
Thousands of Adelie penguins found dead at Antarctica's Danger Islands in March 2024 were victims of avian cholera, not the H5N1 bird flu that scientists first suspected, according to a new study. Researchers swabbed and collected tissue from 49 carcasses and found the bacterial disease was the most likely cause of death for most adults examined. Genetic analysis showed the strain has circulated in Antarctica for more than two decades. The authors say avian cholera should be included in future wildlife surveillance alongside bird flu. The work was published by the Royal Society and involved researchers from the University of California, Davis.
Royal Society / UC Davis
Sports
Formula 1 will return to Africa after more than three decades under a 10-year agreement to hold a grand prix in Rwanda in the early 2030s. The deal was announced in Kigali on Tuesday by President Paul Kagame, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The race will run on a new track built southeast of the capital. Africa has not hosted an F1 race since 1993. The announcement drew criticism over Rwanda's human rights record and the cost of the project. Rwanda still has to build the circuit and the roads, hotels and power links a race weekend needs.
AP / Al Jazeera
Health
CVS Pharmacy and several subsidiaries agreed to pay $315 million to settle a US Justice Department lawsuit accusing the company of filling medically unnecessary prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. The department announced the deal on Tuesday. The 2024 case alleged CVS filled prescriptions from pill mills and billed federal health care programmes, and said the chain sold more than 12 billion doses of opioids between 2015 and 2020. CVS said it disagrees with the allegations and that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. Regulators have increasingly treated pharmacy chains as a last line of defence against illegal prescribing.
Reuters / US Justice Department
Environment
About 294,000 people in Nepal live in areas at extreme risk of flooding from rivers that drain the country's high mountain basins, according to a study published on Thursday in Scientific Reports. Roughly 108,000 of them live downstream of glacial lakes that could suddenly release water. The research follows the August disaster on the Bhote Koshi river, when a rock and ice avalanche sent a debris flow about 120 miles downstream, killing at least 1,455 people. Researchers say early warning systems and land use zoning need to improve fast, because the number of people exposed will keep growing if construction near river channels continues.
Scientific Reports / NBC News