BREAKINGRussian strikes on Ukraine’s energy system trigger power cuts
FlashTranslated by Minutes
🇮🇩 Women fight fires and sexism in Indonesian Borneo
More than 100 women in Indonesian Borneo have joined a volunteer initiative dubbed "Power of Mama" -- patrolling daily for smoke and flames and jumping in to put out fires when needed.
🇮🇩 Women fight fires and sexism in Indonesian Borneo
More than 100 women in Indonesian Borneo have joined a volunteer initiative dubbed "Power of Mama" -- patrolling daily for smoke and flames and jumping in to put out fires when needed.
Chinese refiners have halted oil-product exports to destinations beyond Hong Kong and Macau until Beijing issues further instructions, according to four people briefed on the matter. The move is expected to tighten fuel markets further.
China refinersfuel exportsoil productsfuel markets
Chinese refiners have halted oil-product exports to destinations outside Hong Kong and Macau until Beijing issues further instructions, four people briefed on the matter said on Thursday. One refiner also cancelled cargoes.
Portugal coach Jorge Jesus said he continues to stand by his decision not to play Cristiano Ronaldo against Norway after Ronaldo left the national team’s camp following the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo abruptly left Portugal’s training camp after coach Jorge Jesus said he would not be selected for the Nations League match against Denmark. The Portuguese Football Federation confirmed his departure, while Ronaldo said he would explain his reasons to the Portuguese people in due course.
Cristiano Ronaldo left Portugal’s training camp after being told he would not start the next Nations League match against Denmark. Coach Jorge Jesus denied any rift, saying Ronaldo was disappointed about being benched. The Portuguese federation confirmed his departure as preparations continued without him.
Cristiano Ronaldo has left Portugal’s training camp after several days of tension with head coach Jorge Jesus. Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proença went to Copenhagen to try to calm the situation but failed. Ronaldo then missed training and flew out of Denmark on his private jet, leaving him to explain his decision.
The Afghan Taliban government said Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan on Thursday killed nine people and wounded 11. The strikes came as fighting between the South Asian neighbours escalated after three months of relative calm.
Pakistan says it carried out air attacks on two hideouts used by armed groups in Afghanistan, killing at least 22 fighters. Kabul says strikes in Kunar and Helmand killed at least nine women and children, wounded 11 others and destroyed three houses. The casualty claims could not be independently verified.
At least nine people were killed and 11 injured after Pakistani military strikes in Afghanistan, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. The attacks hit Kunar and Helmand provinces, killing civilians and destroying three buildings. Afghanistan had summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires after earlier bombardments of border provinces.
The 48th WorldSkills Competition concluded in Shanghai with energetic young people and smiling faces. A total of 1,385 competitors from 68 countries and regions took part. The event showcased new skills, jobs and opportunities while pointing to the direction of the future of work.
WorldSkillsShanghaivocational skillsfuture of work
The European Commission has suspended financial aid to Sierra Leone because the country refused to arrest and hand over European cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers, Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said on Thursday.
RT.Doc war correspondent Alexander Kharchenko says the United States is leaving Iraq without completing its main counterterrorism mission, abandoning a fragmented country that needs international assistance. He says Kurdish autonomy claims are growing, Shiites and Sunnis remain in an undeclared standoff, and Islamic State militants have shifted to underground operations and small terrorist attacks.
The US-led force has ended its mission in Iraq after 12 years of operations aimed at dismantling Islamic State networks. The group had threatened to take over the region and plunge it into instability, as regional tensions and security fears intensify.
Ahead of China’s National Day on October 1, 369 Chinese national flags have been placed along both sides of Yingze Bridge in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. The evenly spaced flags stretch across the nearly one-kilometer bridge and attract residents and tourists.
Dutch cattle farming dries out peatlands and releases CO2. Farmers are exploring whether switching to Japanese-style rice cultivation could offer a response to a warmer climate and sinking peatlands.
South Korea’s exports rose 83.5 percent year on year to a monthly record of $120.9bn in September, powered by ferocious demand for artificial-intelligence chips. Chip shipments jumped more than 260 percent to $60.3bn, while exports for the first nine months surpassed the country’s full-year 2025 record.
South Korea’s exports surged 83.5% in September from a year earlier, reaching a record monthly high, customs data showed. Semiconductor shipments also hit a record, driven by global spending on artificial intelligence.
South Korea exportssemiconductorsartificial intelligence
Venezuela’s interim administration under Delcy Rodríguez has moved toward a rapprochement with the US and Donald Trump, leaving diehard Chavistas dismayed and angry. Mario Silva, a former state-TV host, accused the government of a “shameful and utterly illegitimate surrender” to the US and said it was dragging Venezuela’s and Hugo Chávez’s names through the mud.
Experts offer advice to students cramming for exams, warning that many traditional study methods may help them get through a test but do little to support long-term learning.
A medical evacuation helicopter carrying five people crashed off the California coast, killing two. Officials said two others were being treated at a hospital.
Montenegro may be unable to accurately translate all EU laws in time for accession. The European Commission is considering a derogation, including letting Podgorica use an existing EU language to cover gaps, with Croatian seen as the most obvious option.
The Trump administration’s cancellation of climate initiatives, combined with the artificial intelligence boom, has created an opportunity for a surge in private investment in clean energy.
Universal Studios Hollywood says it will add another sound barrier around Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift after nearby residents complained about riders’ screams. The park also pledged to keep the rollercoaster closed from 8AM to 9AM through the end of the year, though residents in affluent Toluca Lake say existing noise controls are insufficient.
The 16 voters took part in a recent NBC News poll and later spoke with reporters. They are intensely focused on high prices and are largely disappointed with both political parties.
A Vancouver punk band cancelled its scheduled Charlottetown show last weekend after the venue stopped a transgender member from using the women’s washroom.
Recent cases before Nova Scotia courts show that young people in government care can be prime targets for sexual exploitation. A senior Crown prosecutor said predators located children by lingering near group homes or surveying them on social media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had warned the United Kingdom about a suspected Iranian plot targeting a Royal Air Force base. After three days of investigations, including work by a bomb disposal team, police said on Tuesday that no explosives were found in the vehicles, though they recovered a quantity of petrol.
Oil prices recovered above $100 a barrel on Thursday as a US-Iran agreement remained out of reach. European shares declined, while US government bonds emerged from their worst quarter since 1994 and the 10-year Treasury yield reached its highest level since 2007.
The Pinglu Canal in Guangxi is attracting visitors during its first National Day holiday since opening to navigation on September 16. Sightseeing cruises from the Qinzhou Waterway Comprehensive Service Area mainly run to the Qingnian Hub, taking about two hours round trip. About 7,800 visits and 52 cruise services are expected, while the canal continues to support commercial shipping.
Pinglu CanalNational Day holidayGuangxi tourisminland shipping
Claims circulating online allege that the EU is threatening to block funds for Saxony-Anhalt after the far-right AfD won a recent election there. There is no evidence that the EU plans to do so.
Citigroup raised its 12-month forecasts for bitcoin and ether, pointing to stronger crypto activity, a supportive macroeconomic backdrop and renewed inflows into exchange-traded funds.
Deng Haorong, founder of Hong Kong online outlet Boom News, was reportedly arrested. Police allege that people outside Prince Edward station spread seditious slogans and false information, constituting an offence under Article 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. The Hong Kong Journalists Association is concerned the arrest may relate to his livestream coverage and is demanding details of the alleged conduct.
Hong Kong national securityjournalist arrest8.31 event
The UAE Public Prosecution has formed an investigative team to examine a Flydubai flight that was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv before making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on September 30. Investigators are assessing whether the incident was connected to terrorist activity or was planned, with an attempted terrorist attack among the possible causes.
Videos filmed by an Israeli passenger show panic aboard a FlyDubai flight after an alleged cockpit attack forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Benjamin Netanyahu says it is too early to determine who was behind the apparent attempt to crash a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv. Flydubai has suspended flights to and from Israel during the investigation. A pilot allegedly stabbed another in the cockpit, while passengers intervened and helped the aircraft make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
El Niño is striking the world’s biggest sugar producers, exposing the crop’s acute vulnerability to the climate phenomenon. It also offers an early view of broader threats to farmers and global food inflation.
Dal Lake in Srinagar, a centre of tourism and cultural life in Indian-administered Kashmir, is deteriorating under pollution, untreated sewage, plastic waste, weed growth and unregulated construction. Population pressures, land encroachment, erratic rainfall and rising temperatures are accelerating the decline despite periodic clean-ups and conservation schemes.
Russia will begin developing families of next-generation tanks specifically designed for modern forms and methods of combat, Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Andrey Mordvichev said. He said AI-equipped fire-control systems and highly automated combat and operational processes would increase firepower and support reliable performance across varied geographic and climatic conditions.
PayPay added Binance Pay on Sept. 30, allowing eligible overseas visitors to spend crypto balances at participating offline stores in Japan. The customer’s crypto is converted into yen at checkout and merchants receive yen. The service is unavailable to Japan residents, and eligibility depends on both the account and participating store.
Indonesia recorded an unexpectedly large $3.55 billion trade surplus in August, official data showed, far exceeding market expectations. Some economists, however, questioned whether the position could be sustained.
Indonesia posts wider-than-expected $3.55 billion trade surplus in August
FlashTranslated by Minutes
🇰🇷 🐶 South Korea counts down to dog meat ban
Members of animal welfare group Humane World for Animals Korea rescue dozens of dogs from a dog meat farm in Gangjin County, South Korea, in what the NGO says is its last such operation before the country's dog meat ban takes effect in February 2027.
🇰🇷 🐶 South Korea counts down to dog meat ban
Members of animal welfare group Humane World for Animals Korea rescue dozens of dogs from a dog meat farm in Gangjin County, South Korea, in what the NGO says is its last such operation before the country's dog meat ban takes effect in February 2027.
French natural gas storage facilities are 83% full ahead of the heating season and are expected to reach the 85% target, CRE Chairwoman Emmanuelle Wargon said. She attributed the delayed injections to market participants waiting for price changes and said France’s reliance on imports leaves it dependent on global energy-market conditions.
Indian captain Smit Machchhar was stabbed by another pilot aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, forcing it to divert to Saudi Arabia. Injured but alert to the aircraft diving, Machchhar acted to help avert disaster. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him a “true hero”.
The FlyDubai pilot is suspected of stabbing his copilot during the flight in an apparent attempt to crash the aircraft. The incident has renewed attention on past deliberate crashes and near crashes involving on-duty or off-duty crew members.
A Flydubai flight bound for Israel escaped disaster after its pilot was stabbed. Saudi and UAE authorities have only confirmed publicly that investigations are under way, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the copilot had been arrested.
A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel was the scene of an attempted hijacking on September 30. One pilot stabbed the co-pilot, after which passengers and crew entered the cockpit and subdued him. The plane plunged about 15,000 feet, sent a distress call and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia under the control of other crew members. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was too early to identify the cause or determine whether Iran was involved, while Israel’s defence minister called it an act of “jihadist terrorism.”
Passengers on a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv described terrifying moments after an altercation broke out in the cockpit. The aircraft was diverted to Saudi Arabia, and passengers said several people rushed in to intervene and helped bring the situation under control.
Flydubai has temporarily halted flights to and from Israel after one of its pilots stabbed the copilot during a flight. The incident appears to have involved an attempt to crash a passenger aircraft bound for Tel Aviv, and Israel’s defence minister called it a thwarted “terror attack”.
The Israeli embassy says a Jewish couple from Sydney were among passengers on a flydubai flight from the UAE to Israel that was diverted to Saudi Arabia after one pilot allegedly stabbed the co-pilot. The aircraft plunged about 17,000 feet in two minutes. Benjamin Netanyahu said it was too early to identify who was behind the incident.
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar has been praised for his actions during a drama on a flydubai flight. Aviation was never part of his childhood dreams, he says.
A mid-air attack on a Flydubai aircraft traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv was prevented Wednesday after passengers and crew rushed into the cockpit and regained control of the plane, averting what could have been a catastrophic outcome.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Yaniv Hayun, a passenger who helped subdue a pilot after a stabbing aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Israel. Hayun recalled the dramatic cockpit attack.
President Donald Trump said the FlyDubai pilot who stabbed a colleague in the cockpit while the flight was headed to Israel was “perhaps a terrorist.” Trump also said he had discussed the incident with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US President Donald Trump expressed amazement while recounting how an “Israeli plumber” helped land a Flydubai flight. One pilot had been stabbed, and a cockpit altercation between the pilots left the aircraft carrying 174 passengers close to crashing.
Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov said the West showed an intention at the G20 trade ministers’ meeting in Milwaukee to break international rules and gain advantages through non-market means. He warned that bilateral deals and the logic of “might makes right” could damage the global system, while development elsewhere is accelerating.
In 1930, eight people from Xingguo described their land, harvests, debts and livelihoods in what became known as the Xingguo Survey. Ninety-six years later, their descendants include farmers, migrant workers, teachers and people exploring AI for agriculture. As livelihoods broaden and healthcare support grows, the stories ask how strongly land still shapes a family’s future.
Sustained efforts to improve living conditions, infrastructure and public services are transforming rural communities across China. New activities including tea growing, farming, livestock, agricultural processing and rural tourism are creating jobs and raising incomes, as communities seek to consolidate poverty alleviation gains and pursue development suited to local conditions.
Chinarural revitalizationpoverty alleviationrural development
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto replaced his foreign minister on Thursday with a career diplomat, marking his second change to a senior cabinet post in less than three weeks.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted and destroyed 330 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian regions and the Black Sea overnight. Drone strikes damaged energy facilities in Crimea, leaving several settlements without electricity, while a 16-year-old in Bryansk Region and a bus driver were injured.
drone attacksCrimeaBryansk RegionRussia-Ukraine war
At least six people were killed and 38 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, local authorities said. The Air Force reported 107 drones, 87 of which were shot down or suppressed. Strikes hit 11 locations, while damage to energy infrastructure left some consumers without power.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young backed newly elected leader David Shoebridge and said politics can be “brutal” after finishing behind him and Mehreen Faruqi in the leadership ballot. Greens sources said Shoebridge and Faruqi’s working relationship is seriously strained. Faruqi wants rank-and-file members to vote in future leadership contests, while Shoebridge committed to giving them that right after the next federal election.
Australian Greensleadership electionparty divisions
Flooding in Thailand has killed 24 people and affected more than 1.12 million households, or 3.19 million people, since mid-September. Water remains across 29 provinces and Bangkok, but rain has eased in most areas and authorities say conditions are manageable. Dam releases will increase, potentially raising riverside levels by about 80 centimeters and prompting shelter advice for residents.
Guilin’s dramatic karst scenery has made it a renowned destination, but rural communities are offering travelers more immersive ways to explore the countryside. CGTN host Julian Waghann and Filipina traveler Eliza Arce visit rice terraces, riverside routes and local food traditions while examining how Guilin’s landscapes and diverse ethnic cultures shape rural life.
Paris Fashion Week is showcasing glitz and glamour, but the luxury industry remains in a prolonged downturn. With legacy groups such as LVMH declining, the sector faces questions over whether it can stage a comeback.
This episode follows Namibian traveler Absalom Absalom and US-based CGTN host Julian Waghann through the countryside of Shunde in southern Guangdong as they create a distinctive rural route. Across four chapters—Lineage, Spirit, Flow and Flavor—they explore centuries-old heritage, learn lion dance and Wing Chun, travel the waterways and sample Shunde cuisine, finding a countryside where culture and tradition are being renewed.
Poland will keep controls on its borders with EU members Germany and Lithuania for another six months, until March 30, the Interior Ministry said Thursday. Warsaw says the measure is intended to curb illegal migration and reinforce national security.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms have turned roads into torrents across Crete, triggering landslides and power outages. Authorities and civil protection officials remain on high alert, while schools have closed.
Kordofan, between Darfur and central Sudan, has become a major battleground in Sudan’s war. Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has intensified since late 2025, with increasingly frequent drone attacks on towns and civilian infrastructure. One in five recorded attacks in Sudan since April 2023 occurred in Kordofan.
Russia and Mexico continue a constructive, mutually beneficial dialogue despite changing economic conditions, Russian Foreign Ministry official Alexander Shchetinin said. He described bilateral business ties as pragmatic, pointing to recent Russian business missions seeking areas of mutual interest.
Russia launched massive strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, killing seven people and prompting emergency power cuts in Kyiv and three other regions ahead of winter.
Russia’s Wednesday assault on Ukraine’s power and heating networks was its most intense combined strike in months, killing seven people and forcing emergency blackouts in Kyiv and nearby regions. Officials warned that the winter ahead would be difficult as Russian forces targeted the country’s energy systems.
Sahria Lelu and her family are still living in a tent outside a mosque six weeks after a powerful earthquake that killed dozens in Indonesia, demonstrating the hard road home for thousands of survivors.
🇮🇩 Survivors face struggle after Indonesia quake
Sahria Lelu and her family are still living in a tent outside a mosque six weeks after a powerful earthquake that killed dozens in Indonesia, demonstrating the hard road home for thousands of survivors.
Estonia has banned Russian and Belarusian grain from transiting its territory, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. He accused Russia of attacking Ukrainian ports and blocking Ukraine’s grain exports while seeking alternative routes for its own grain, saying Estonia would not provide one.
Russia’s Supreme Court has proposed allowing presiding judges to “clarify” questions during jury deliberations and cutting jury panels from six or eight members to four. Lawyers say the changes would weaken the system’s independence, noting that it acquits defendants at 60 times the national average for non-jury trials.
Senate Democrats are advancing a bill to sanction individuals and entities involved in Israel’s E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank. The project may have been paused, but it is unclear whether that reflects a real policy shift or a tactical delay. The measure would test whether US opposition to settlement expansion can produce concrete consequences.
US politicsIsraelillegal settlementsWest Banksanctions bill
The eviction of a disabled 87-year-old woman in Madrid from the flat where she had lived for 70 years has triggered outrage and comparisons of tenants’ rights across Europe.
China has extended regulation to AI chatbots that simulate human relationships, barring under-18s from virtual partners and requiring services to disclose that they are not human and remind users of their time online. Supporters cite protection from emotional manipulation, while critics fear deeper state intrusion into private life.
Treasury yields moved higher on Thursday ahead of jobs data, with the 10-year yield reaching its highest level since 2002 as a global bond sell-off intensified.
US Treasury yields reached two-decade highs for a seventh consecutive session on Thursday before falling oil prices helped steady a bond market coming off its worst quarter this century. Investors are preparing for higher interest rates.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi confirmed the complete and final withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq, saying national sovereignty had been fully achieved. He said Oct. 1 would open a “new chapter” and launch a process to address weapons outside state control under a roadmap ending no later than June 30, 2027. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq rejected surrendering its weapons or being bound by the timeline.
The Pentagon left out several European countries, including the United Kingdom, France and the Baltic states, from a NATO working-group meeting on the alliance’s future, Politico reported, citing diplomats. Officials fear Washington’s selective approach could reshape NATO, with one diplomat warning that dividing the alliance into “good” and “bad” members would be dangerous for the US and existential for Europe.
The Trump administration has urged Germany and France to reduce emergency diesel inventories to help ease global fuel prices, three people close to the discussions said. They could face a US diesel export ban if they do not comply.
United StatesFranceGermanydiesel stocksenergy prices
Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo said the frontline area has become a “testing ground” for new unmanned systems and measures to counter them. He said a multilayered defense system against Ukrainian UAVs is now fully operational across the region, combining strike drones, electronic warfare and aircraft-disorientation tools.
Europe had injected more than 47.5 billion cubic meters of net gas into EU underground storage facilities since April, equal to only 70% of the volume needed for winter, according to TASS calculations based on GIE data. Storage sites were 71.54% full on September 29, the lowest level for that date since records began in 2011 and below the EU target.
Electric-vehicle power consumption in the US is rising at its slowest pace in at least three years, according to the Energy Information Administration, adding to signs that demand for EVs is cooling.
Hong Kong could draw more global biotech investment by developing a new healthcare financing model, AstraZeneca says. The pharmaceutical company has brought more than 60 clinical trials to the city and invested over HK$200 million in the past three years, while continuing to view Hong Kong as a key R&D hub.
Hong KongAstraZenecabiotech investment
SSouth China Morning PostOriginal★★☆☆☆2026-10-01 08:00
AstraZeneca says Hong Kong needs new funding model to attract global drugmakers
Toronto resident Jasmine Ault says Meta disabled her accounts overnight without explaining why. She has been unable to get past the company’s AI chatbots to reach a human and fix the problem. Experts warn this will continue unless regulation guarantees access to human support.
The families of workers from a Canadian mining company who were kidnapped earlier this year in Mexico’s violence-torn Sinaloa state by a suspected cartel commando squad plan to file a complaint with the RCMP against the Vancouver-based company, their lawyer says.
The Duplessis riding in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region may not attract much attention. But its boundaries on the Élections Québec map point to a long-standing Quebec grievance involving Newfoundland and Labrador.
Quebecelectoral boundariesNewfoundland and Labrador
Türkiye has captured a suspect in the 2013 Reyhanli attack. Sources say Al-Khatib arranged meetings between Yusuf Nazik, another planner of the attack, and Syrian intelligence official Kifah Melhem.
Drones have transformed warfare in Ukraine. At the Tallinn Defence EXPO, Estonian companies showcased counter-drone systems and battlefield robots that they say Europe now needs.
OpenAI says it is reviewing an alleged, unsuccessful cyberattack against Library and Archives Canada and has briefed Canadian officials. A research lab reported two rudimentary attempts, finding no evidence that non-public information was accessed, while noting tactics consistent with earlier activity attributed to OpenAI.
The Minutes Reader extension turns the original page into a focused reading view and translates articles and video subtitles on demand. It is in limited beta.
AFP News Agency
