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Coverage spans every region, from long-running crises to sudden breaking events, offering context on how global developments affect communities, governments and ordinary people trying to navigate them.
United Arab Emirates will reportedly resume payments to Yemeni forces as gains by Iran-backed Houthi fighters alarm Gulf state rulers
Yemen civil war: what sparked latest escalation and who is involved?
The United Arab Emirates has agreed to re-enter the Yemen conflict by resuming payments to some government forces fighting Iran-aligned Houthis in the south, according to sources in Yemen. In return, Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide air cover for the anti-Houthi force.
The new cooperation agreement is the first tangible signs that the deep rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia over Yemen’s future is starting to be healed – if only because the advance by Houthi forces across Yemen has alarmed all the rival Gulf state rulers.
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that he would not seek to remain in office when his current term expires in 2030, describing the matter as “completely settled”.
Sisi, 71, a former army general who became president in 2014, made the remarks at a graduation ceremony at the Egyptian Military Academy in the New Administrative Capital, one of his flagship megaprojects.
Speaking to graduates and state officials in the sprawling new city east of Cairo, Sisi said the Egyptian constitution “would not be touched”.
“The period leading up to 2030 will be the end of my term as president of the state, if I am still alive. This is completely settled and there will be no discussion about it,” he said.
The Egyptian constitution, approved in 2014 following the 2013 military ouster of late president Mohamed Morsi, originally limited presidents to two four-year terms.
Constitutional amendments approved in a 2019 referendum extended presidential terms from four to six years and included transitional provisions that allowed Sisi to run for an additional term.
Under those amendments, Sisi was re-elected in 2023 for a six-year term that is due to expire in 2030.
Critics and opposition figures have speculated about the possibility of further constitutional changes that could allow him to remain in office beyond 2030.
Before running for president, Sisi denied having political ambitions, but he resigned from his position as defence minister in 2014 and entered the race he went on to win.
On Saturday, he said the run-up to 2030 would be used to groom a new generation of leaders, with the Military Academy training hundreds of prospective officials, ministers and presidential candidates in statecraft and leadership.
During his 12 years in power, Sisi has overseen an ambitious state-led development programme centred on megaprojects which critics say have relied heavily on borrowing and contributed to Egypt’s mounting debt burden and economic pressures.
Sisi’s presidency has also faced sustained criticism from international human rights organisations over restrictions on political opposition, civil society and freedom of expression, allegations the government rejects, saying its policies are necessary to preserve stability and security.
Police arrested Indian “cockroach” movement founder Abhijeet Dipke, according to several media reports on Saturday, after he was detained on Friday ahead of a Delhi rally that drew hundreds of people waving the national flag and demanding the resignation of India’s election chief.
Dipke was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace and will be called before a Special Executive Magistrate on Saturday, broadcasters NDTV and India Today said.
Delhi police did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), opposition groups and student organisations have held near-daily protests this month demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over a revision of voter lists that they say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
More than 130 million voters were deleted during the revision. The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol. The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
Student activist Neha Bora, a prominent face of the protests, who was also detained on Friday as she tried to reach central Delhi with dozens of supporters, was released on Saturday.
“Please, spare the people of India. Impeach Gyanesh Kumar and halt SIR (special intensive revision), so that the ordinary citizens of this country can breathe a sigh of relief, feel at ease, and have their voting rights ensured,” Bora told ANI news agency after she was released.
Dipke was detained on Friday as he stepped out of a house in central Delhi, with police hauling him into a police car and driving away after a brief argument.
Dipke had called Friday’s protest in support of two CJP leaders detained and sent to jail this week for five days for demonstrating at a protest site in violation of a ban.
Earlier on Friday, police had met Dipke and warned him against going ahead with the protest.
The cockroach movement has emerged as one of the biggest political challenges faced by Modi and the BJP in the prime minister’s 12 years in power.
A weeks-long sit-in by supporters of the movement earlier this year forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over exam paper leaks.
The worst crisis in US-Ukraine relations since last year’s Oval Office meltdown is deteriorating further over a dispute about who ordered a disruption to a critical Ukrainian military system running on Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service. President Volodymyr Zelensky is meanwhile warning he will resume attacks on Russian oil refineries that President Donald Trump insists …
The post Trump says he didn’t meddle with Elon Musk’s Starshield in Ukraine as ties with Zelensky fracture appeared first on Egypt Independent.
• Demands verifiable mechanism to end terrorist attacks from Afghan soil
• FO says no formal Russian mediation initiative currently under discussion
• Warns India that any future aggression will be met with a stronger response
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday said that talks with Afghanistan could not be unconditional, while rejecting suggestions that Islamabad was unwilling to engage with its neighbour and saying it would welcome sincere efforts by friendly countries to help resolve the dispute.
“Pakistan is not shying away from discussions or dialogue, including with representatives of Afghanistan. Pakistan would welcome any sincere efforts by friendly countries that could help address our legitimate security concerns and promoting regional peace and stability,” Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said at the weekly media briefing.
The statement came as Russia recently renewed its readiness to mediate between the two countries, although Islamabad denied the existence of any such initiative.
“At present, I am not aware of any separate, formal Russian mediation initiative being under discussion,” Mr Khan said, adding that Pakistan remained open to engagement that produced tangible results.
Russia, the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban government, has recently renewed its offer to facilitate a settlement if both sides request its involvement.
Moscow’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, had earlier this month made this suggestion after the latest round of the Moscow Format consultations on Oct 5 ended without a joint communiqué because of differences between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban delegations over references to terrorist networks operating from Afghanistan.
Mr Khan said the absence of an agreed statement at the Moscow Format meeting reflected the Afghan delegation’s unwillingness to accept language on terrorist networks that had been agreed in the previous year’s document.
“The fact that no joint communiqué was issued after the Moscow Format is self-evident that Afghanistan did not accept the formulation which had been acceptable until last year particularly about presence of terrorist network in Afghanistan. This shows that there is reluctance on the part of Afghanistan that terrorism is originating from its soil,” he said.
The failure to get a joint communique highlighted the central obstacle to normalising relations, which is Pakistan’s demand for action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups it says are using Afghan territory to launch attacks across the border.
The Taliban authorities have avoided taking a categorical position on the TTP and other groups, while rejecting Islamabad’s allegations that Afghanistan is being used as a base for attacks against Pakistan.
The dispute has frustrated international efforts to reduce tensions. Qatar and Turkiye last October helped broker a ceasefire, but subsequent round of talks failed to reach a lasting settlement. Saudi Arabia separately hosted discussions, while China held talks between the two sides in Urumqi in April. None of these efforts could resolve the disagreement over terrorist groups and the measures needed to prevent cross border attacks.
Pakistan’s position, Mr Khan said, was that dialogue would need to be backed by an arrangement that could verify whether terrorist activity against the country had stopped.
“The talks will not be unconditional. Pakistan has been raising the issue of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan at different forums. Unfortunately, the Taliban regime has been taking one step forward and one step backward,” Mr Khan emphasised.
“Pakistan has only one demand that there should be a verifiable mechanism to ensure complete cessation of terrorist activities emanating from Afghan soil against Pakistan,” he said.
‘Stronger response’
Mr Khan reminded India of the response it faced during last year’s military confrontation and warned that any future aggression would be met with an even stronger response.
FO reaction came after Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh a day earlier threatened a bigger strike in the event of any future terrorist attacks.
Singh, while speaking at National Defence Conclave 2026 in Delhi, recalled Operation Sindoor and said that it marked a decisive response to terrorism. He also referred to earlier Indian military operations.
“We reject and condemn the Indian Defence Minister’s provocative remarks entailing a threat of Indian aggression against Pakistan. Such reckless statements reflect India’s hegemonistic mindset and the risks its belligerent posture poses to regional peace and stability in South Asia,” Mr Khan said.
“We wish to remind India of the consequences of its military aggression in May last year, when Pakistan demonstrated both its capability and resolve to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity and gave a fitting reply to Indian aggression,” the FO spokesperson said.
Mr Khan urged New Delhi to draw lessons from the previous confrontation and avoid further escalation.
“India should draw an appropriate lesson from the last year’s experience and abandon its belligerent posture and dangerous rhetoric and act with responsibility for lasting peace in the region,” he said.
Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2026
North Korea conducted an underwater test of a new torpedo weapon system on Thursday to verify technological upgrades, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday, describing the test as a success and a significant step in the country’s naval development.
The test verified propulsion technology developed through more than 180 tests over the past five years, KCNA said, adding that artificial intelligence was used for target detection and guidance in the new high-speed precision-guided...
Ukrainian president says US limiting access was a ‘dangerous and unpleasant surprise’, amid reports the order came from inside White House
Europe live – latest updates
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the Ukrainian military’s access to the Starlink satellite internet service has not yet been fully restored, as media reports suggested the order to throttle the service had come from within the White House.
Zelenskyy met European leaders on Friday in Brussels, where he asked the EU for another €70bn next year to fund Ukraine’s defence against Russia.
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