International

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced Slovakia's agreement with the United States to build an additional nuclear reactor in Slovakia. Fico revealed the multi-billion dollar deal during a speech at an annual nuclear conference in the Slovak capital. He said that the new reactor will be built at the existing nuclear plant in Jaslovske Bohunice in western Slovakia, which will have an output exceeding 1,000 megawatts and will be fully state-owned. It is not yet clear when the two governments will sign the agreement, as Fico did not disclose further details. However, his government had approved a plan last year to build a 1,200-megawatt nuclear reactor at the site, which currently houses two nuclear reactors owned by the Slovak electric utility company (Slovenske Elektrarne). The project is estimated to cost up to 15 billion euros. The government initially planned to find a company to build the new reactor through a public tender, but recently announced it was negotiating a direct deal with the US company Westinghouse. Slovakia relies heavily on nuclear energy and currently generates more than 80% of its electricity from two nuclear plants.

Four people, including a child, were killed after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of an island in the eastern Aegean Sea. The Hellenic Coast Guard reported that a patrol boat recovered the bodies of two women, a man, and a girl from the sea off the southern coast of Lesbos. The Coast Guard added that a partially submerged boat was found near a rocky part of the nearby beach. 34 survivors managed to reach shore on their own and were found by police.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa survived a gunfire attack targeting his motorcade as he was traveling in a convoy to Canar province, where he was scheduled to announce a series of infrastructure projects. The attack occurred after his convoy was confronted by hundreds of people protesting against rising fuel prices. Ecuador's Environment and Energy Minister Ines Manzano said that about 500 people suddenly appeared and began throwing stones at the president's motorcade, causing bullet holes in his vehicle, but Noboa was unharmed in the attack. The Minister added that five suspects have been arrested in connection with the assassination attempt. Authorities announced that the detainees will face charges of terrorism and attempted murder. Ecuador has been experiencing violent demonstrations for several days, protesting against the government's decision to raise diesel prices.

Prize awarded for developing 'next generation of quantum technology''I'm completely stunned,' says UC Berkeley professorQuantum technology ubiquitous in everyday electronicsPhysics is second prize awarded in 2025 NobelsUS-based scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for "experiments that revealed quantum physics in action", paving the way for the development of the next generation of digital technologies."My feelings are that I'm completely stunned. Of course it had never occurred to me in any way that this might be the basis of a Nobel Prize," Clarke told the Nobel press conference by telephone on Tuesday."I'm speaking on my cell phone and I suspect that you are too, and one of the underlying reasons that the cell phone works is because of all this work."Quantum mechanical behaviours are well studied at the level of the incredibly small - atoms and sub-atomic particles - but are often seen as bizarre and unintuitive compared with classical physics and its far larger scale.The Nobel winners carried out experiments in the mid-1980s with an electronic circuit built of superconductors and demonstrated that quantum mechanics could also influence everyday objects under certain conditions."It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the way that century-old quantum mechanics continually offers new surprises. It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology," Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said.Quantum technology is already ubiquitous, with transistors in computer microchips an everyday example."This year's Nobel Prize in Physics has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prize, said in a statement. Quantum computers use principles of quantum mechanics to make complex calculations, predict outcomes and perform analysis that in some cases could take traditional computers millions of years.The field is considered to have the potential to help solve some of humanity's most pressing concerns, such as tackling climate change. But it also faces challenges, including improving the accuracy of its chips, and timelines for commercially viable quantum computing remain disputed.British-born Clarke is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States.Devoret, who was born in France and was congratulated on X by French President Emmanuel Macron, is a professor at Yale University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, also in the United States, where Martinis is also a professor.Martinis, an American, headed Google's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab until 2020. At Google, Martinis was part of the research team who in 2019 said they had achieved "quantum supremacy", in which a computer harnessing the properties of sub-atomic particles did a far better job of solving a problem than the world's most powerful supercomputer.Devoret, besides his professorship, is also the chief scientist of Google Quantum AI. It is the second straight year that a Nobel has been won by scientists with Google ties. The 2024 chemistry prize was awarded to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper at Google DeepMind while Geoffrey Hinton, who worked for Google for more than a decade, won for physics the same year.The Nobel physics prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and includes a prize sum totalling 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million) that is shared among the winners if there are several, as is often the case.The Nobel Prizes were established through the will of Alfred Nobel, who amassed a fortune from his invention of dynamite. Since 1901, with occasional interruptions, the prizes have annually recognised achievements in science, literature, and peace. Economics was a later addition.Physics was the first category mentioned in Nobel's will, likely reflecting the prominence of the field during his time. Today, the Nobel Prize in Physics remains widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the discipline.Past winners of the Nobel physics prize include some of the most influential figures in the history of science, such as Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrodinger, Max Planck and Niels Bohr, the latter three all pioneers of quantum theory.In keeping with tradition, physics is the second Nobel to be awarded this week, after two American and one Japanese scientist won the medicine prize for breakthroughs in understanding the immune system. The chemistry prize is due next, on Wednesday.The science, literature and economics prizes are presented to the laureates by the Swedish king at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, followed by a lavish banquet at city hall.The peace prize, which will be announced on Friday, is awarded in a separate ceremony in Oslo.

The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) convened in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday, ahead of the 12th Summit of the OTS Council of Heads of State. The meeting discussed ways to enhance political, economic and cultural cooperation among member states, as well as coordinating common positions in confronting current regional and international challenges, according to Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC). Addressing the opening ceremony, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized that, amid shaken confidence in international institutions, the dynamic cooperation within the OTS — built on brotherhood and mutual trust — is a solid foundation for hope for the future. "On the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev, the number of annual OTS Summit meetings has been increased to two, enabling flexible, in-depth, and comprehensive discussions on our cooperation potential," Bayramov underlined. "In the face of current global and regional security challenges, comprehensive political coordination and demonstration of solidarity are extremely vital," he added. Bayramov highlighted the geographical significance of OTS member states as natural transport, logistics, and transit lines bridging Europe and Asia, noting that the Zangezur corridor represents a vital step in diversifying regional connections. The Organization of Turkic States, initially known as the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council), was established in 2009. Its members are Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan and Hungary have observer status. The OTS aims to strengthen cooperation among member states in the fields of politics, economy, education, transportation, and culture, as well as to promote regional connectivity within the shared Turkic space.

Three people were injured when a medical helicopter crashed on a California highway last night. Local authorities reported that three people were in critical condition after the helicopter crash and were taken to hospital. One victim was rescued after being trapped beneath the helicopter. A California Highway Patrol spokesperson said the accident affected traffic, temporarily closing some lanes, warning that the road would be closed for an extended period of time. Last May, one person was killed, and two homes were damaged when a small plane crashed in the Simi Valley neighborhood of southern California.

One person was killed, and three women were injured in Russian bombings on Monday night in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. Ukrainian news agency (Ukrinform) reported, citing Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin, that Russian forces shelled an area in ​​Kherson city, killing one person and wounding three women who were then taken to hospital. Ukrinform added that Russian forces launched more than 1,500 drones in the Kherson region over the past week, with Ukrainian forces destroying more than 77% of them. Since the start of the ongoing war on February 24, 2022, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged almost daily reports confirming that each side has advanced or repelled attacks by the other. This information has not been independently verified, given the circumstances of the ongoing war and fighting.

OpenAI has introduced a new feature that enables users to access and use third-party applications directly within ChatGPT, in a move designed to transform the popular AI assistant into an integrated productivity platform capable of carrying out complex tasks in collaboration with online services. According to OpenAI, users can now open compatible applications during conversations, allowing ChatGPT to provide context, reasoning, and guidance while the external app executes specific actions. At launch, the available applications include Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow, while additional apps such as DoorDash, OpenTable, Target, and Uber are expected to follow in the coming weeks. The company said the rollout builds on OpenAI's recent efforts to make ChatGPT more interactive, following the introduction of in-chat purchasing features earlier this year. In its official statement, OpenAI announced the release of a Software Development Kit (SDK), which allows developers to begin building experimental applications today. Later this year, developers will be able to submit their apps for review and publication through a dedicated directory that will enable users to browse, install, and interact with available tools. OpenAI explained that the new capabilities are based on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard that connects ChatGPT with external services, facilitating seamless collaboration between users and third-party applications. Demonstrations shared by OpenAI showed how users could, for example, design a poster through Canva and then ask ChatGPT to generate a presentation using Figma, all within the same chat interface. The company also highlighted use cases such as searching for flights with Expedia or viewing home listings via Zillow, illustrating how everyday tasks can now be completed without leaving the chat. OpenAI emphasized that privacy and data control remain central to the experience. When a user first connects to an app, ChatGPT will display clear prompts explaining what information is being shared and for what purpose. The company stated that the feature will gradually roll out to users outside the European Union across the Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, with EU availability to follow later this year. OpenAI said the update reflects its broader vision of evolving ChatGPT from a text-based assistant into a "chatable" platform, one where users, developers, and services collaborate seamlessly in a unified workspace.

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck Davao Occidental in the southern Philippines on Tuesday. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported that the quake's epicenter was located 80 kilometers off the town of Sarangani in the province, at a depth of 100 kilometers. The Philippines is prone to seismic and volcanic activity due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire. In October 2013, a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the country, killing more than 220 people.

Russian air defenses intercepted several Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital Moscow early Tuesday, in the second such incident within 24 hours. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a post on social media that emergency service specialists were working at the site where debris had fallen. In Tula Region, south of Moscow, Russian authorities reported the destruction of four Ukrainian drones overnight, adding that no casualties or damage to buildings or infrastructure had been recorded. Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev also said that Russian air defense forces had shot down several drones in two areas of the region, with no injuries reported, according to preliminary information. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that a total of 184 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed over various regions of the country during the past night. Since the start of the conflict in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily reports of attacks and counterattacks, which remain difficult to verify independently due to the ongoing hostilities and wartime conditions.

The Office of the Public Prosecutor in Rome announced that it has opened an investigation into complaints filed by Italian activists and parliamentarians who were aboard vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which were intercepted by Israeli forces off the coast of the Gaza Strip.The Italian news agency (AKI) reported that the prosecutor's office intends to interview participants in the initiative as persons familiar with the events, after reviewing the documents submitted and assessing its jurisdiction over the case.According to media reports, Israeli forces seized vessels belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla last Wednesday while they were sailing in international waters on a humanitarian mission bound for Gaza. Hundreds of international activists were detained aboard the ships before the start of their deportation.The Global Sumud Flotilla — comprising human rights activists, parliamentarians, and civil society representatives from several countries — had sought to deliver humanitarian aid and draw attention to the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip.The investigation, AKI noted, comes amid growing international concern over the treatment of the detained activists and the legality of Israel's interception of the flotilla in international waters.

Stuart Williams Shortly after French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned after less than a month in the job, President Emmanuel Macron was filmed walking by the River Seine in Paris deep in phone conversation with only his security detail at a discreet distance.Whom Macron was speaking to and what he was discussing remains unclear. But the image symbolised the political solitude of the president as he faces a dwindling array of options, all of them hazardous.What will Macron, who must step down as president in 2027 after serving the maximum two mandates, do next?Here are four options evoked by analysts. None offer a quick solution.Reappoint Lecornu Macron appears to have given himself this option after Bruno Le Maire, a loyal former finance minister whose appointment as defence minister triggered the crisis, said he would withdraw from the government.The Elysee then announced Lecornu was being given two days to put together an action plan, with the premier saying he would hold "final discussions" with "all the political forces".But it is far from clear that Lecornu would be able to appoint a government, let alone survive a confidence vote in parliament where his forces are in the minority.Even were his mission to succeed, his reappointment as premier would not be automatic, said a French presidential official."The fundamentals of the problem remain the same: with or without Le Maire, they (the other parliamentary blocs) don't agree on the budget, pension reform, immigration and so forth," said Paul Taylor, senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre.A new PM If Macron appointed a new prime minister, the person would be the eighth premier of his rule and the third this year alone — not good for France's reputation.The left wants him to appoint a person who would push through a more expansive budget. But it is far from clear Macron would do this and even if he did, the new premier might not even enjoy support from throughout the fractious left."Another PM could be toppled within weeks — making a new legislative election almost inevitable," said the Eurasia Group risk analysis firm.Early elections Macron has always resisted calling early elections, after his gamble to call snap polls in summer 2024 backfired and left France with a hung parliament.But the president will "assume his responsibilities" if Lecornu fails over the next two days, a presidential official said, in apparent reference to calling early elections.Such elections could lead to the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen bolstering its presence in parliament and even giving her protege Jordan Bardella the chance of becoming premier.The outcome of such polls is far from clear, though Le Pen has described such elections as "absolutely essential"."It is uncertain whether new elections will produce a different result than the one from last July," said Celia Belin, head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).ResignMacron has always rejected resigning before his mandate ends, which would trigger early presidential elections. But pressure is building on the president like never before."If new snap elections do not allow for a governing majority, the political crisis could turn into a regime crisis. In this case, President Macron's ability to stay in power could be questioned," said Belin.

Ukraine launched a large barrage of drones for a second night in a row at Russia, which said Tuesday it had shot down 184 of the projectiles.The majority of the drones were intercepted over the border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.On Monday Russia said it had intercepted 251 drones, one of Kyiv's largest retaliatory attacks that left two people dead.

The dizzying investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure do not constitute a bubble but are rather today's "new normal" to meet rising user demand, Fidji Simo, OpenAI's de facto number two, said Monday."What I am seeing here is a massive investment in computing power, (with) us meeting (this need) for computing power so incredibly badly for a lot of use cases that people want," Simo told AFP in her first interview since she took office August 18 as Chief Operating Officer of OpenAI's applications, including its flagship model ChatGPT."From that perspective, I really do not see that as a bubble. I see that as a new normal, and I think the world is going to really switch to realizing that computing power is the most strategic resource."

Security forces dispersed hundreds of protesters with tear gas in Madagascar's capital Monday, injuring at least one, AFP reporters saw, while President Andry Rajoelina was expected to name a new premier in a bid to defuse the crisis.Near-daily youth-led protests that started on September 25 against persistent water and power cuts in the impoverished Indian Ocean island have grown into an anti-government movement calling for Rajoelina to resign.Rajoelina sacked his government on September 29 and was expected to announce his prime minister Monday night, but this has not placated the demonstrators.Stun grenades and tear gas stopped two marches of hundreds of people in Antananarivo, with a heavy security presence on the 12th day of the movement, rallied on social media by a group called Gen Z Mada.University students and local residents gathered near the University of Ankatso on the outskirts of the capital on Monday before marching towards the city centre, where they were stopped by a security force barricade.Clashes punctuated the afternoon, with at least one young man wounded and evacuated to the main hospital, AFP reporters saw."There are about 120 hours of power cuts per week where I live," said 21-year-old protester Tommy Fanomezantsoa."We are protesting for everyone's sake," he told AFP. "The president is not listening to the anger of the people at the bottom. He always does what he wants."The Ankatso district was the birthplace of a 1972 revolt that led to the ousting of the first president of the poverty-stricken island, Philibert Tsiranana."The future of this country depends on me, on you, on all of us," one of the protest leaders told the crowd of several hundred people, urging them not to allow the movement to lose momentum."We can clearly see that democracy in Madagascar is not respected at all," said another protest leader."They are even destroying it with brutality," he said.He was referring to a United Nations statement last week that at least 22 people had been killed in the protests and more than 100 wounded, a figure rejected by the authorities.The UN also condemned what it called a heavy-handed response by security forces, including the use of live ammunition.AFP journalists witnessed a pregnant woman going into convulsions as crowds of people, including many children, fled from police in the hilly cobbled streets of Amparibe neighbourhood.Local media also reported a protest in the southern city of Toliara, where demonstrators burned tyres.Rajoelina on Saturday met with representatives of the private sector, administration and trade unions, and was expected to announce a new prime minister Monday night, according to his spokesperson."We don't want him to listen to people in his office, we want him to get out on the ground," said the protester Fanomezantsoa, who has been unemployed since the supermarket where he worked was looted on the first night of the protests."We will continue until we get results," he said.The Christian Council of Churches of Madagascar (FFKM) said on Friday that it was prepared to mediate between the government and protesters.The Gen Z movement has taken inspiration from similar youth-led movements in Bangladesh, Nepal and Indonesia, waving a pirate flag from the Japanese manga comic One Piece.Despite its natural resources, Madagascar remains among the world's poorest countries.Nearly three-quarters of its population of 32 million were living below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.Corruption is widespread and the country ranks 140th out of 180 in Transparency International's index, which ranks countries by their perceived level of public sector corruption.

Scientists' work relates to 'how we keep immune system under control'Work spurred development of treatments in areas such as cancer, autoimmune diseaseMore than 200 trials on humans involving regulatory T cells under wayFirst award in 2025 Nobel Prizes, Physics next on TuesdayAmerican scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for work shedding light on how the immune system spares healthy cells, creating openings for possible new autoimmune disease and cancer treatments.Their discoveries relate to peripheral immune tolerance, or "how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease", said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, the awarding body.The institute said all three laureates brought to the fore so-called regulatory T cells, a class of white blood cells that act as the immune system's security guards that keep immune cells from attacking our own body.Brunkow, who found out she had won after being woken by her dog barking at a news photographer on the front porch of her Seattle home, said she, Ramsdell and their colleagues had isolated a gene called FOXP3 that could be used as a marker for the cells."They're rare, but powerful, and they're critical for sort of dampening an immune response," she said in an interview, describing the cells as a braking system that prevents the body's immune system from tipping over into attacking itself.Sakaguchi expressed surprise at a press conference in Osaka, western Japan, because he felt any major recognition would have depended on more development advances."I used to think that some sort of reward may be forthcoming if what we have been doing will advance a little further and it will become more beneficial to people in clinical settings," he said in a calm voice, cracking a smile now and then.The press conference was interrupted for Sakaguchi to take a congratulatory phone call from Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who asked him how effective immunotherapy could be for cancer treatment in the future."I believe the time will come when cancer is no longer a scary disease, but a curable one," said Sakaguchi.The winners of the award are selected by the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute, a leading medical university, and receive a prize sum of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million), as well as a gold medal presented by Sweden's king.Brunkow is senior programme manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, while Ramsdell is scientific adviser at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco. Sakaguchi is a professor at Osaka University.Jeffrey Bluestone, a decades-long friend of Ramsdell and a co-founder with him of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, told Reuters that his associate's extraordinary contribution was finding the FOXP3 gene, initially in mice, that controlled the development of regulatory T cells. They described their findings in a paper in 2001."Those cells were the master regulators of the tolerance of the immune system," said Bluestone.Ramsdell could not be reached by Reuters - nor by Brunkow or Bluestone, with Bluestone saying he may be on a hiking trip in an area without cell phone reception.After announcing the winners, the Karolinska Institute's Thomas Perlmann said specific therapies had yet to win market clearance but more than 200 trials on humans involving regulatory T cells were ongoing.Among companies in the early race, Ramsdell's Sonoma Biotherapeutics is partly funded and supported by US drugmaker Regeneron to work on therapies against diseases including inflammatory bowel disease.Also targeting that condition, Quell Therapeutics has partnered with AstraZeneca. Other biotech firms exploring the approach include Bayer's BlueRock.The Nobel Prizes were established through the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and a wealthy businessman.They have been awarded since 1901 for outstanding contributions in science, literature, and peace. The economics prize was added later and is funded by Sweden's central bank.Winners are selected by expert committees from various institutions. All prizes are awarded in Stockholm, except for the Peace Prize, which is presented in Oslo.Past recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine include renowned scientists such as Alexander Fleming, who shared the 1945 award for discovering penicillin. In recent years, the prize has recognized major breakthroughs, including those that enabled the development of COVID-19 vaccines.Last year's medicine prize was awarded to US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its key role in how multicellular organisms grow and live.Medicine in accordance with tradition kicks off the annual Nobels. The physics award is next, on Tuesday.The awards culminate in ceremonies attended by the royal families of Sweden and Norway, followed by lavish banquets held on December 10 - the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

Late-season flooding hits villages in Egypt's Nile DeltaEgypt blames Ethiopia's 'reckless unilateral' management of its grand damEthiopia rejects charge, says regulated water releases reduced impactIOM says about 1,200 Sudanese families displacedRising Nile waters inundated homes and fields in northern Egypt over the weekend, forcing residents to move by boat and intensifying a war of words between Cairo and Addis Ababa over whether Ethiopia's giant Nile dam has worsened seasonal floods.In the Nile Delta village of Dalhamo, in Menoufia Governorate, some 50 km northwest of Cairo, men paddled wooden boats through narrow lanes where water lapped at the walls of their homes."We lost everything," said fisherman Saied Gameel, standing knee-deep in his flooded house. "The water level is extremely high, much higher this year ... before it would rise for two days and then recede."The Nile has long been affected by seasonal flooding due to monsoon rainfall in the Ethiopian Highlands that usually peaks in July and August. But this year a late-season surge has pushed north from Ethiopia, through Sudan, and into Egypt.In Sudan, the UN migration agency said floods in Bahri, Khartoum state, displaced about 1,200 families last week and destroyed homes, compounding an 18-month war that has crippled the country's response.Egypt's Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry has accused Ethiopia of "reckless unilateral" operation of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, saying sharp, unannounced swings in water releases after the dam's September 9 inauguration helped trigger a "man-made, late flood".It said, in a statement on October 3, that discharges jumped to about 485 million cubic metres on September 10 and as high as 780 million on September 27 before easing, straining Sudan's Roseires Dam and pushing excess water through to Egypt.Ethiopia, which sees the $5 billion dam as central to its development, rejected Cairo's claims, describing Egypt's statement as "malicious and riddled with numerous baseless claims".In a statement on October 4, its Water and Energy Ministry said regulated releases from the Blue Nile project had reduced flood impacts and that without it heavy rain "would have caused historic destruction in Sudan and Egypt".Ethiopia inaugurated the dam on September 9, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed saying it was built "to prosper, to electrify the entire region, and to change the history of black people", insisting it was "not to harm its brothers".The dam is designed to generate 5,150 megawatts of power and hold up to 74 billion cubic metres of water in its lake.Cairo bitterly opposed the dam from the start, arguing that it violated water treaties dating back to the early part of the last century and poses an existential threat.Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a press conference on October 2 that authorities had anticipated higher-than-normal flows this month and warned that low-lying tracts in Menoufia and neighbouring Beheira, long encroached by informal building and farming on the river's floodplain, were at risk.Health teams were deployed to flooded areas over the weekend.Back in Dalhamo, Gameel said residents were still waiting for help."People were warned before the water rose, but there's nowhere else for anyone," he said. "When the water rises, everyone ends up staying on top of their houses."

Greece's foreign ministry said 161 nationals from 16 European countries landed in Athens on Monday after being expelled by Israel for taking part in a Gaza aid flotilla. Israel on Monday deported more activists who were on the flotilla bound for the devastated Palestinian territory, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. The 45-vessel flotilla had been aiming to break an Israeli blockade to deliver aid to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has taken hold after two years of devastating conflict. "A special repatriation flight landed safely in Athens carrying the 27 Greek citizens who took part in the 'Global Sumud Flotilla'," the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement. "This flight also facilitated the return of 134 nationals from 15 European countries," it added, without elaborating. According to the Swedish branch of the Global Movement for Gaza, the deported Swedish nationals were on board the flight. At Athens International Airport, activists unfurled a huge Palestinian flag in the arrivals hall and chanted "Freedom for Palestine" and "Long live the flotilla!", AFP reporters saw. The Global Sumud flotilla departed from Barcelona in Spain in early September. The vessels were boarded by the Israeli navy off Egypt and the Gaza Strip between October 1 and 3. The ships were forcibly diverted to the Israeli port of Ashdod. According to Israeli police, more than 470 people aboard the flotilla boats were arrested. The first deportations began on October 2 and currently 138 flotilla participants remain in detention in Israel, the foreign ministry told AFP.

Malaysia and Pakistan agreed Monday to deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields, including trade, investment, education, halal products, and anti-corruption efforts. Malaysia announced its intention to import USD 200 million worth of halal meat from Pakistan. This came during a press conference held by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, following delegation-level talks in Kuala Lumpur. During his first official visit to Malaysia, the Pakistani Prime Minister reaffirmed his country's commitment to close cooperation with Malaysia and expressed interest in benefiting from its expertise. He highlighted the potential for joint ventures in agriculture, information technology, and vocational training. For his part, the Malaysian Prime Minister described the relationship between Pakistan and Malaysia as strong and deeply rooted, encompassing areas such as education and defense, with continuous expansion in economic cooperation. He pointed out the tremendous potential for deepening cooperation in defense, agriculture, digital technologies, energy, and emerging sectors, and emphasized that Malaysia will work to facilitate meat exports from Pakistan. The Malaysian Prime Minister praised Pakistan's stance on Gaza, noting that Malaysia and Pakistan renewed their call for concrete measures to end the suffering of the Palestinian people.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday that its air defense systems shot down 251 Ukrainian drones overnight. In a statement, the Ministry said that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 251 Ukrainian drones, and that its forces shot down 40 of them over Crimea, in addition to 62 over the Black Sea. Dozens of additional drones were shot down over the Kursk and Belgorod regions. For its part, Ukrainian forces announced carrying out strikes targeting Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities. Since the outbreak of the war in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily reports claiming to have repelled attacks by the other side. Due to the conditions of the ongoing conflict, these claims cannot be independently verified.