For a second day, a Houthi strike hit Riyadh's international airport on Oct 11, one day after an attack the Yemeni group claimed killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300, forcing authorities to suspend flights. Saudi officials described the Oct 10 strike as the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade. The Iran-backed group claimed several attacks within 24 hours and said the kingdom's transit hubs are "a theatre of operations for our forces". President Donald Trump said Washington may join Saudi retaliatory strikes, telling reporters the United States "moves very quickly". The escalation lands as Riyadh opens a major energy conference and pushes its plan to become a hub for business travel and tourism.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck southern Panama on Friday, shaking buildings in Panama City and prompting tsunami warnings along nearby coasts. The United States Geological Survey placed the epicentre about 10 kilometres southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, near the country's southern tip, at a depth of roughly 10 kilometres. Residents left towers and gathered in the streets while authorities checked bridges, ports and power lines. Reuters reported no deaths, and no major structural collapse was confirmed in the first hours. Tsunami alerts were issued for parts of the Pacific coast and later reviewed. Panama sits on several active fault systems, and the quake was felt far from the epicentre, including in neighbouring countries.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee named Navanethem “Navi” Pillay as the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate on October 9 in Oslo. The 85-year-old South African judge spent her career widening the reach of international law. She defended Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists, then served on the High Court of South Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. At the Rwanda tribunal her influence helped establish that rape and sexual violence can count as crimes against humanity and genocide. She was United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and chaired the UN inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She now sits on the International Court of Justice in the Myanmar genocide case.
Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a superseding indictment on Thursday that charges ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiracy to commit torture. The filing in Manhattan federal court says the couple directed a campaign of beatings, electric shocks and asphyxiation against political opponents and more than a dozen American citizens held in Venezuelan custody. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, already face narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking charges and have pleaded not guilty. Both have been held in federal custody since January, and their trial is set for June 2027. FBI Director Kash Patel said the two would now answer for the alleged abuses.
A 28-year-old laboratory worker at Russia's Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute died of pneumonia of an undetermined cause, prompting officials to quarantine dozens of contacts and test them for plague. Russia's health watchdog says plague has not been found among those tested so far, and the WHO says Moscow reported no plague cases in Irkutsk. US officials are monitoring the case and pressing for more information, while Russian authorities say the situation is under control.
South Korea's Defence Ministry says it is weighing steps to force North Korea to apologise for a landmine blast inside the Demilitarized Zone that wounded three soldiers last month. A joint South Korean and UN Command investigation concluded the two mines were planted by North Korean forces about a year ago. Seoul wants Pyongyang to apologise and remove any remaining mines. North Korea rejected the finding, calling it a poor trick to shift blame. The dispute has stalled a fragile push for dialogue, including a South Korean proposal to jointly resurvey the Military Demarcation Line, where only about 200 of 1,292 boundary markers remain intact.
Yemen's internationally recognised government says it has begun a major military operation to retake territory held by the Houthis, including the capital, Sanaa. Rashad al-Alimi, head of the presidential council, announced the campaign in a televised speech on Sunday. Government forces backed by Saudi Arabia said on Monday they had retaken positions near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route at the mouth of the Red Sea. Houthi fighters seized the Red Sea port of Mocha in September. The Houthis reported Saudi airstrikes on Sanaa at the weekend and said they struck Saudi energy sites in reply. The Saudi-led coalition did not confirm the strikes.
Brazilians voted on Sunday in a presidential election that pits incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Pre-election polls showed the two candidates only about two points apart, with all other candidates sharing roughly ten percent. Because no candidate is expected to clear fifty percent of valid votes, the race is likely to go to a runoff on October 25. More than 158 million people were eligible to vote, including about one million Brazilians living abroad. Electronic voting means official results are usually released within hours of polls closing.
Flash floods and landslides in Nepal's mountain valleys have killed at least 800 people, with around 3,000 still missing. Rescue teams are working through villages where roads and bridges were swept away, while bad weather has grounded many helicopter flights. Nepal's foreign minister linked the disaster to rising temperatures and urged stronger global action on climate change. Aid groups say supplies are moving slowly, and officials warn the toll could rise as teams reach areas that are still cut off.
A FlyDubai flight bound for Tel Aviv was diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia after a pilot tried to seize the cockpit in mid-air. Passengers and crew fought back and the aircraft landed safely. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attacker had 'Islamist radical indoctrination' and intended to bring the plane down. President Donald Trump warned Iran of fresh strikes if Tehran was involved, while Britain said there were strong indications of Iranian links to a separate air base plot. The incident has put cockpit access rules, crew vetting and pilot mental health screening back under review across the airline industry.