Journal Of Occurrences

World News

Daily Occurrences both Foreign and Domestic
You are here: Home / Archives for Africa

Africa

World Brief, Evening: October 15, 2026

A 16-year-old killed three children and a teacher at an Oregon elementary school before a bystander shot him dead; Reuters reports the Starshield slowdown for Ukraine came from inside the White House; and Hurricane Trudy still aims at a major Friday with new coastal watches on southwestern Mexico. Ten stories as of Thursday evening, October 15.

1. Bend / Oregon, United States. A 16-year-old Bend resident forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday afternoon by shooting at locked doors, killing three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — and a teacher before a community member who saw him enter pursued him inside and shot him dead, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said, per AP and BBC News. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to St. Charles Medical Center in critical condition. The first 911 call came about 12:59 p.m. local time after shots into a vehicle; the school locked down at 1:01 p.m.; officers arrived about a minute later to find the suspect already dead. Families reunited at a nearby church; Bend-La Pine schools closed Friday; the FBI is assisting. Governor Tina Kotek called it “a horrible day” and thanked the intervening community member.

2. Washington / United States, and Kyiv / Ukraine. The order to slow SpaceX’s military-grade Starshield service for Ukraine’s battlefield communications and drones came from inside the White House, two U.S. officials and a Western official told Reuters — after Defense Department leaders were told the system needed to be slowed. A senior U.S. official said “No such request was ever made by the president”; the White House did not say whether other aides issued it. Ukrainian officials said Kyiv was told it was a White House decision; receptors that had failed on fast-moving platforms were working again Thursday but only up to about 100 mph (160 km/h). The limits complicated drone strikes and Shahed interceptors as President Trump pressed Kyiv to stop hitting Russian refineries. Separately, Elon Musk wrote on X that “the slaughter continues” and it was “Time for Zelensky to go.”

3. South-southwest of Acapulco / Mexico. Hurricane Trudy held near 90 mph (150 km/h) at 6:00 p.m. CST Thursday about 235 miles south-southwest of Acapulco, and the National Hurricane Center said rapid intensification is expected to resume overnight, with a major hurricane forecast Friday or Friday night and a coastal approach to southwestern and west-central Mexico on Saturday. A Hurricane Watch is in effect from north of Punta San Telmo to Playa Perula; a Tropical Storm Warning covers Punta San Telmo southward to Zihuatanejo — upgrades from the morning Tropical Storm Watch. Additional watches or warnings are likely tonight or Friday. Tropical Storm Simon, farther northwest, continued to weaken offshore.

4. Aden / Yemen. Five people were killed and 16 injured when Houthi forces fired five ballistic missiles at al-Maashiq Palace — the presidential complex that houses Yemen’s internationally recognised government in the southern port city — Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told BBC News. Prime Minister Shaya Zindani and other ministers were unhurt; casualties included guards and civilian employees. Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea claimed a strike on a “Saudi military operations headquarters.” The attack comes amid a wider Houthi–Saudi escalation that has already hit Riyadh’s airport and Aramco facilities this month.

5. North Ubangi / Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congo’s Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has reached an eighth province — North Ubangi, which borders the Central African Republic — with two cases confirmed by health officials though Kinshasa has not yet announced them, Reuters reported. The mid-May outbreak is the second-largest on record, with more than 9,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths; Ituri remains the epicentre, with recent rises in North Kivu. Suspect deaths in a mining area of the Wapinda health zone prompted lab testing. Cases have also spilled to Uganda (declared free in August) and Kenya, which confirmed a second linked case Wednesday.

6. Tirana / Albania. Student-led anti-government protests entered a third day of clashes with riot police outside the education ministry Thursday, as Prime Minister Edi Rama vowed not to resign, AP and The Guardian reported. Demonstrators threw rocks; police answered with tear gas and water cannons and detained several people. Wednesday’s unrest left 89 injured, including 61 officers, after attacks on government buildings, banks and businesses. Students join the broader “Flamingo” movement demanding Rama quit over corruption and a Kushner-linked luxury tourism project.

7. Buenos Aires / Argentina. Thousands of students, teachers, university staff and unions marched on Congress Thursday demanding that President Javier Milei’s government implement the 2025 University Funding Law — inflation-linked pay, scholarships and operating funds that courts, including the Supreme Court in June, have ordered into force, AFP reported. The main rally stayed peaceful; dozens of mostly hooded protesters broke away near Congress, throwing stones and damaging street furniture, and police answered with tear gas and water cannon. Security sources told AFP at least 25 people were detained and eight officers injured. Milei’s spokesman has called the law “suspended” while the government litigates; this was the fifth such federal university march since he took office.

8. Aksum and northern Tigray / Ethiopia. Ethiopian federal forces and allied Tigray Peace Force fighters entered the historic city of Aksum as fighting with TPLF-linked rebels continued, conflict monitors and AFP reported via Al Jazeera. A pro-government militia claimed Eritrean troops took heavy losses and withdrew toward the border; Eritrea’s information minister called the claims false. ACLED documented Eritrean withdrawal through Zalambessa after Ethiopian advances, and tanks moving toward the border earlier in the week. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio phoned Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Wednesday urging de-escalation after reports of possible Ethiopia–Eritrea confrontation. Mekelle, Adwa and Adigrat fell back to government control earlier this month.

9. New Delhi / India. For nearly two weeks, mostly young protesters have filled New Delhi streets demanding the resignation of India’s election commissioner over voting-roll and electoral-process changes they say dilute youth and opposition turnout, ABC News reported. Police have cracked down on the “cockroach” youth organisers — some jailed after a Jantar Mantar sit-in — yet demonstrators say they will return, BBC News reported. The unrest is the sharpest Gen Z challenge yet to the electoral machinery ahead of India’s next national cycle.

10. Riyadh / Saudi Arabia (Fijian patients). Doctors in Saudi Arabia successfully separated 13-month-old conjoined twins from Fiji in an “exceptionally rare” multi-stage operation, ABC News reported. The case drew Pacific attention as a medical milestone for Fijian families who seldom access that level of specialty care at home.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok continue through October 18 (G20 finance ministers met October 15). October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote. October 25, Brazil’s presidential runoff. November 7, New Zealand’s general election. November 29, Spain’s general election. NHC: Trudy is forecast as a major hurricane by Friday with a southwestern Mexico approach Saturday. Full board at the link — we don’t reprint the whole list here.

Sources: AP; BBC News; Reuters; Al Jazeera; The Guardian; ABC News; AFP; U.S. National Hurricane Center; Bend Police Department.

World Brief: October 15, 2026

Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times Ukraine is “done” holding back on Russian oil refineries; Istanbul’s governor called Thursday’s deluge the city’s heaviest rain in 84 years; and Hurricane Trudy is rapidly intensifying off southwestern Mexico. Ten stories as of Thursday morning, October 15.

1. Kyiv / Ukraine, and Brussels / Belgium. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times that Ukraine’s pause on striking Russian energy sites is over — “We’re done” — after Russia kept hitting Ukrainian power networks while Washington pushed an “energy ceasefire” Moscow never confirmed, BBC News and The Guardian reported. The Kremlin accused Kyiv of a large-scale strike on a Ryazan refinery south of Moscow; Zelenskyy said he would only pause again if the U.S. supplied more Patriot interceptors. He also said U.S. intelligence-sharing gaps and Starshield/Starlink limits were “will,” not a glitch; Ukrainian defence sources told the BBC some Starshield “on the move” function had returned Thursday morning. Separately, Zelenskyy said Ukraine destroyed four Su-34 jets and damaged two more at a Voronezh-region airfield overnight. Russia, for its part, kept up what Zelenskyy called a massive Shahed drone attack through Wednesday and overnight; more than 360 drones targeted the central Kirovohrad region, killing three, The Guardian reported. In Brussels for the European Council, he met NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

2. Istanbul / Turkey. Two people died after severe flooding that Istanbul Governor Davut Gül said was the city’s heaviest rainfall in 84 years, BBC News reported. A 14-year-old boy was electrocuted stepping into a puddle, and a 34-year-old man slipped crossing a road and hit his head. Nearly 600 people were rescued after becoming stranded; more than 8,000 workers responded; schools were closed Thursday and Friday; and 46 planes could not land. Residents were told to stay home unless necessary.

3. Washington / United States. President Donald Trump called off plans to livestream the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan after bipartisan backlash, saying “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die,” BBC News reported. Hasan, who killed 13 soldiers at the Texas base in 2009, is still scheduled to die by firing squad on December 3 — the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years. Families of the victims may still watch in person.

4. South-southwest of Acapulco / Mexico. Hurricane Trudy rapidly intensified to 90 mph (150 km/h) by 9:00 a.m. CST Thursday about 285 miles south-southwest of Acapulco, and the National Hurricane Center issued a Tropical Storm Watch from Punta San Telmo southward to Zihuatanejo. Rapid intensification is forecast, with Trudy expected to become a major hurricane by Friday and to approach southwestern and west-central Mexico this weekend. Rainfall of 4–8 inches (locally 12) is possible across Colima and Jalisco through the weekend, with life-threatening flooding and mudslides in steep terrain.

5. Peshawar / Pakistan. At least 33 pupils and a teacher were killed when the roof of a temporary private school, Al-Khair in Dir Colony, collapsed through three floors of classrooms Thursday morning, BBC News reported. Police chief Mian Saeed said the structure had “substandard” roof slabs and was overloaded; the school’s owner has been arrested. Rescuers struggled to reach the narrow street; more children were feared trapped. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor ordered a province-wide school safety audit.

6. South Sumatra / Indonesia. With Indonesia’s worst wildfire haze season in a decade blanketing Kalimantan and Sumatra and drifting into Singapore, Malaysia and East Timor, authorities scattered dry-ice pellets over Palembang and surrounding areas Thursday in an experimental attempt to break up low-level smog, BBC News reported. Unlike cloud seeding meant to make rain, the dry ice is meant to lift haze upward. An unusually strong El Niño has worsened drought and fire conditions.

7. Brasília / Brazil. Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment cutting the workweek from 44 hours to 40 with two days off and no pay cut — 75 votes to 1 — in a major win for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva less than two weeks before the October 25 runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro, BBC News reported. The change is billed as the biggest workers’-rights overhaul since 1988 and is estimated to cover more than 30 million workers. Bolsonaro, who once called the measure opportunistic, voted yes after citing its popularity.

8. London / United Kingdom, and Asmara / Eritrea. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood threatened to ban all Eritreans from entering the UK if Asmara does not take back more small-boat migrants and foreign national offenders, BBC News reported. From Thursday, Eritrean diplomats face travel limits beyond 60 km from London, and VIP fast-track visas are stopped. Eritreans were the largest nationality among small-boat arrivals in the year to June (about 18%); only seven were returned to Eritrea in that period.

9. Hamburg / Germany. A Hamburg court sentenced two men — a 54-year-old Dane with Afghan roots and a 43-year-old Afghan living in Denmark — to eight-and-a-half and four-and-a-half years for espionage and attempted murder after they plotted attacks on Jewish leaders for Iran’s Quds Force, Deutsche Welle reported. Targets included Josef Schuster of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and Green politician Volker Beck of the German-Israeli Society; prosecutors also cited preparatory work for arson at a Berlin kosher deli. Denmark extradited the pair after arrests in Aarhus.

10. Canberra / Australia. Communications Minister Anika Wells introduced the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026, which would force platforms to let Australians over 16 choose a following-only feed instead of algorithmically recommended content — “My Feed, My Way” — and tighten eSafety powers, ABC News and the minister’s office reported. Wells also left the door open to Greens-backed private lawsuits against big tech. Consultation on the feed-choice rules runs into early November.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: October 15, G20 finance ministers in Bangkok as the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings continue through October 18. October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels (Zelenskyy is attending Friday’s Ukraine session). October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote. Full board at the link — we don’t reprint the whole list here.

Kenya Confirms a Second Ebola Case in a Relative of the Businessman Who Died After Flying From Congo: October 15, 2026

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has confirmed a second Ebola infection, a 39-year-old close relative of the businessman who died of the virus after travelling from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the health ministry said, according to BBC News.

The new patient was already in quarantine when he fell ill on Tuesday. Officials said early detection improved his odds and limited further spread. “Both cases are linked, and there is no evidence of spread in the wider community,” the ministry said, urging the public to “stay calm but vigilant” while keeping travel, trade and gatherings unrestricted.

The first patient, a 40-year-old Kenyan man, died on Oct. 5 after being admitted in Nairobi; a relative had collected him at the airport after he crossed from DR Congo through Uganda without the illness being detected. Officials had identified 128 contacts; by Tuesday 113 were found, with 108 in quarantine in Kenya and tracing continuing for 15, the BBC reported.

More than 4,000 people have died in DR Congo’s current Ebola outbreak this year — the second deadliest on record — raising regional alarm even as Kenya says the two domestic cases remain linked and contained.

Sources: BBC News

—

Senegal’s LGBTQ Crackdown Leaves Hundreds Arrested and Communities in Hiding, Rights Groups Say: October 15, 2026

DAKAR, Senegal — More than 320 people have been arrested since February on “acts against nature” allegations in Senegal, and LGBTQ+ people are going into hiding amid forced HIV testing and pressure on lawyers, Human Rights Watch said in a report covered by The Guardian on Thursday.

At least 84 of those detained were charged with “voluntary HIV transmission” based solely on HIV status, according to HIV Justice Network figures cited in the report. Senegal’s parliament in March doubled the maximum prison term for consensual same-sex relations to 10 years and added up to seven years and heavy fines for “promoting” homosexuality or financing LGBTQ groups.

“LGBTQ+ people are being forced to curb their normal activities … for fear of arrest and increased stigma,” HRW researcher Larissa Kojoué said. Police have used seized phones, tip-offs and raids on private homes; lawyers told HRW they fear prosecution for representing clients, and doctors said people are avoiding HIV testing, The Guardian reported.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and former prime minister Ousmane Sonko backed tougher laws during the 2024 campaign. Activists say media leaks of HIV status and identities have exposed people to stigma and violence. Senegal once had a stronger HIV response in the region; consultants warn the crackdown is driving patients away from clinics.

Sources: The Guardian

—

World Brief, Evening: October 14, 2026

Elon Musk said Starshield speed limits on Ukraine’s drones are a U.S. government call; Mauritius extended its riot curfew for two more nights; and Tropical Storm Trudy is still aimed at becoming a major hurricane off southwestern Mexico. Ten stories as of Wednesday evening, October 14.

1. Kyiv / Ukraine, London / United Kingdom, and SpaceX. Elon Musk said Wednesday that any speed or usage limits on Starshield — SpaceX’s military-grade sister to Starlink — are set by the U.S. military and ultimately the president, after Ukraine said overnight caps at 160 km/h (100 mph) knocked drone and interceptor missions offline without warning, BBC News reported. Former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said connectivity up to that speed was being restored and asked Musk to remove the Starshield limit entirely; Musk replied that Starlink itself is limited to civilian or defensive use. In London, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got a Downing Street hug from Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who accelerated Lightweight Multirole Missile deliveries and told him Britain is “behind you.” Asked by Piers Morgan if he felt betrayed by Washington’s Russian diesel deal, Zelenskyy said “really yes,” but that it was “a little bit more complicated” than emotion alone. The White House has not commented on the Starshield limits.

2. Port Louis and island-wide / Mauritius. After the Indian Ocean island’s worst riots in decades — sparked by water shortages, living costs and a police shooting of a woman — the Cabinet on Wednesday extended overnight curfews for Wednesday and Thursday nights (8:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.) across about a third of the country, AFP and local outlets reported. Police put total arrests since the unrest began at 94, including 16 minors, with seven officers wounded; schools and nurseries were suspended Thursday and Friday. Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam had already imposed a first curfew Tuesday, warning of “anti-patriotic” acts, BBC News reported. The officer who shot the woman has been arrested.

3. Nairobi / Kenya. Kenya confirmed a second Ebola case — a 39-year-old close relative of the first victim — who was already in quarantine when he fell ill Tuesday, the health ministry said, per BBC News. Officials said both cases are linked, with “no evidence of spread in the wider community,” and that Kenya remains open with no travel restrictions. The first patient, a 40-year-old businessman who died October 5 after traveling from DR Congo through Uganda undetected, had 128 contacts; 113 had been found by Wednesday, most quarantined. The Bundibugyo strain driving Congo’s outbreak has no approved vaccine; Congo has recorded more than 4,000 Ebola deaths this year.

4. Tirana / Albania. On a second day of student-led unrest, protesters set part of the education ministry alight and attacked the prime minister’s office and the finance and interior ministries, BBC News reported. Riot police used tear gas and water cannons; sixteen people were arrested over Tuesday’s violence. Students began outside the education ministry demanding better university conditions and jobs; the protests feed into the broader “Flamingo Revolution” calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign amid corruption anger, including over a luxury tourism project linked to Jared Kushner. Opposition leader Sali Berisha praised the students; ministers condemned arson as endangering lives.

5. South of Acapulco and west of Baja / Mexico. Tropical Storm Trudy strengthened to 65 mph (100 km/h) by 3:00 p.m. CST Wednesday about 345 miles south of Acapulco, and the National Hurricane Center still forecasts a major hurricane by Friday with a possible approach to southwestern Mexico on Saturday; watches are likely tonight or Thursday. Farther northwest, Hurricane Simon weakened further to about 75 mph southwest of Baja California Sur, NHC aircraft data showed. Outer bands could bring 2–4 inches of rain (locally 6) from Guerrero to Jalisco this weekend, with life-threatening surf and rip currents.

6. Bogotá and nationwide / Colombia. Thousands marched in Bogotá and other cities Wednesday against right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella’s austerity push and security policies, in the opposition’s first major street action since he took office in August, Al Jazeera reported. Former President Gustavo Petro joined the capital rally; unions, Indigenous groups and students objected to budget cuts and restored ties with Israel, including a new Colombian embassy in Jerusalem opened the same day. De la Espriella issued expanded police powers ahead of the marches and said protest is fine but “violence, vandalism and blockades” will not be tolerated; reporters described Wednesday’s actions as largely peaceful.

7. Brasília / Brazil. A Quaest poll for Brazil’s October 25 presidential runoff put senator Flávio Bolsonaro at 46% to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 44% — a two-point edge inside the poll’s ±2-point margin, so a technical tie — Reuters reported. Quaest surveyed 2,154 people aged 16 and up from October 10–13. The reading lands amid a bitter campaign that has already seen Lula’s party accuse Meta of tilting the field toward the Bolsonaro camp.

8. East Sea of Korea / North Korea. North Korean state media said the Missile Administration test-fired two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles in the East Sea on October 14, overseen by senior officials including Kim Jong Sik and Missile Administration chief Jang Chang Ha, AP and Yonhap reported, citing KCNA. Pyongyang said the exercise checked underwater combat readiness and showed the “reliability” of its deterrents, and claimed no adverse impact on neighbors. The report did not say whether the launch platform was a submarine or an underwater test stand.

9. Canberra / Australia. Australia’s unemployment rate held at 4.7% in September — still the highest post-COVID seasonally adjusted reading — after August was revised up from 4.6%, ABC News reported. Employment fell by an estimated 39,300 and unemployment rose by 8,900; the participation rate slipped to 66.8%. The September-quarter average jobless rate of 4.63% sits above the Reserve Bank’s December-quarter forecast of 4.5%.

10. Istanbul / Turkey. Torrential rain shut down large parts of Istanbul with flash flooding described as the city’s heaviest rainfall since 1985, Al Jazeera reported; video showed streets underwater and a woman pulled from floodwaters in the Esenyurt district. Transport and daily life were heavily disrupted as the storm moved across the megacity.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch and beyond: October 15, G20 finance ministers in Bangkok as the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings continue through October 18. October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote. Pope Leo XIV’s audiences remain cancelled through October 20 while he recovers at Gemelli. NHC: Trudy is forecast as a major hurricane by Friday with a possible southwestern Mexico approach Saturday.

Sources: BBC News; AP; Reuters; Al Jazeera; ABC News; U.S. National Hurricane Center; KCNA via AP/Yonhap; AFP reports on Mauritius cabinet measures.

World Brief: October 14, 2026

Russia threw 39 ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s grid the same night SpaceX quietly throttled Kyiv’s Starlink; a Houthi missile tore the top off an Aramco tower in Dhahran; and Pope Leo XIV is up and walking a day after cancer surgery. Ten stories as of Wednesday morning, October 14.

1. Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lutsk / Ukraine, plus London and Balakovo, Russia. Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones at energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv overnight, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, leaving at least 600,000 people without power and damaging 26 power-system sites and four oil and gas facilities, all despite President Trump’s claim of an “energy ceasefire.” Three people were killed in Kyiv, and later on Wednesday a Russian drone strike on a warehouse in Lutsk killed at least six, BBC News reported. The same night, SpaceX put a 160 km/h (100 mph) speed limit on Starlink terminals in motion without telling Kyiv, presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said, disrupting a number of drone missions; he said it “cannot be a coincidence.” SpaceX hasn’t commented, and the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps had to cancel some sorties, DW reported. Zelenskyy meets Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Downing Street on Wednesday; Burnham says he wants to “repair bridges” between Ukraine and the U.S. and promises Kyiv won’t leave “empty-handed,” per BBC News. Going the other way, Ukrainian drones hit Sberbank’s data centre in Balakovo on the Volga, Russia’s biggest, which the bank says kept running normally, Reuters reported.

2. Dhahran, Riyadh and Sanaa / Saudi Arabia and Yemen. A Houthi missile hit an administrative building at Aramco’s headquarters complex in Dhahran overnight after the Saudi-led coalition struck the Yemen Petroleum Company’s al-Sabaha depot near Sanaa, BBC News reported. The energy ministry called it a “limited fire,” but sources told Reuters a ballistic missile caused extensive damage and a blaze between the sixth and 10th floors; “top three floors have gone,” one employee told AFP. Debris from intercepted cruise missiles injured two women, a man and a child in Riyadh. Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites “will continue in the coming days,” and on Wednesday the coalition said it shot down another ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported. The IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva warned of “potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere.”

3. Rome / Vatican City and Italy. Pope Leo XIV, 71, has started walking and is back on a normal diet a day after surgery at Gemelli Hospital that removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and his recovery is “progressing as expected,” his doctors said; blood tests and an X-ray on Wednesday showed his recovery “proceeding normally,” BBC News reported. The tissue was confirmed as lung adenocarcinoma, and he’s expected to stay in hospital about a week. The open question is his early-November trip to South America, including Peru, his home for more than 20 years, which may now be in doubt given the risks of flying soon after lung surgery, BBC News said.

4. Bunia and eastern Congo / Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congo’s Ebola outbreak has passed 9,000 confirmed cases, with the Health Ministry reporting 9,066 cases and 4,381 deaths across seven provinces, AP reported. It’s the country’s worst outbreak on record, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there’s no approved vaccine or treatment; the WHO says a vaccine trial is due to start in Congo this month, per Africanews/AFP. Armed groups and community distrust keep complicating the response.

5. Dublin / Republic of Ireland. More than 300,000 public-sector workers, including nurses, doctors, teachers and civil servants, walked out Wednesday in a 24-hour strike over pay, with schools expected to close and hospital appointments cancelled, BBC News reported. Expenditure minister Jack Chambers called it “deeply disappointing.” Unions say the government never set up formal talks, and another strike is planned for October 21.

6. New Delhi / India. A Delhi magistrate sent Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days in judicial custody after they climbed a locked gate into Jantar Mantar, the protest site police just removed from the city’s authorised list, BBC News reported. They deny trespass and the other charges. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called the arrests “an act of cowardice,” and founder Abhijeet Dipke dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “declare the Emergency officially.” The Gen Z-led movement wants Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar out over alleged voter-roll irregularities, which the commission denies.

7. Brasília / Brazil. With the October 25 runoff between President Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro closing in, Meta has told Brazil’s electoral court it did not tilt Facebook or Instagram toward Bolsonaro, after Lula’s campaign accused it of throttling his posts, AFP reported. The court had given Meta 48 hours to explain, profile by profile. Meta conceded a global glitch that froze Instagram view counts and a wrongful suspension of the campaign’s ad account in September, but called the interference charge false, O Globo reported.

8. Acapulco and Cabo Corrientes / Mexico. Tropical Storm Trudy, about 375 miles south of Acapulco with 60 mph winds, is expected to become a hurricane tonight and a major hurricane by Friday, and it could approach southwestern Mexico on Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Watches will likely be needed later today or tonight. Hurricane Simon has weakened to 90 mph while drifting about 165 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, and Mexico dropped its hurricane watch for Las Islas Marías, per the NHC.

9. Kalimantan, Sumatra and Singapore / Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Indonesia is fighting its worst wildfire season in a decade, and the haze has turned the air over Kalimantan and Sumatra amber, hidden Singapore’s skyline and closed some schools in Malaysia, BBC News reported. Monitor Nusantara Atlas counts more than a million hotspots and 900,000 hectares burned, with an unusually strong El Niño making it worse. President Prabowo Subianto calls slash-and-burn clearing “ecological terrorism,” and authorities have suspended 26 companies’ licences.

10. Cairns / Australia. The Australian Defence Force has confirmed a hidden video recording device was found Sunday in a cabin aboard the navy ship HMAS Leeuwin in Cairns, Queensland, BBC News reported. Senator Jacqui Lambie told parliament that personnel told her concealed cameras had been found in female sailors’ showers and that footage may have been uploaded online. Defence wouldn’t say where the device was, but it said the ship stayed alongside for the investigation, which went to military police.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: October 15, G20 finance ministers in Bangkok, as the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings run through October 18. October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote.

Sources: BBC News; DW; Reuters; Al Jazeera; AP; Africanews/AFP; AFP; O Globo; U.S. National Hurricane Center; Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X.

Mauritius Imposes an Overnight Curfew After the Worst Riots in Decades Follow a Police Shooting: October 14, 2026

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius — Police in Mauritius enforced an overnight curfew to quell the island’s worst riots in decades after a woman was shot and wounded by an officer at a roadblock, BBC News, Al Jazeera and AFP reported.

Protests over water shortages and the cost of living that began about a week ago turned violent after 27-year-old Elodie Thomas was shot Friday while traveling home from work. The officer has been arrested and remanded; the Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating. Indian surgeons removed a bullet in an operation Monday, local media said.

Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam ordered the curfew from 8:30 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday across roughly a third of the island, including Port Louis and major population centres. He warned against those “acting against the interests of the country” and said perpetrators would face “very heavy consequences,” the BBC reported. Protesters had burned tyres, blocked roads, vandalized police stations and torched vehicles; schools and public transport closed, and foreign embassies issued caution alerts.

Police said some incidents and arrests continued overnight despite the curfew, but by Wednesday morning traffic was moving and residents were urged to resume normal activities. The cabinet was due to meet Wednesday afternoon to reassess next steps. Analyst Zoë McCathie of Signal Risk told the BBC protests on this scale had not been seen since about 1999, when police were also a main target.

AFP said looting hit two supermarkets and several officers were injured. Ramgoolam has also blamed drug traffickers for orchestrating disorder — a claim local reporting has not independently verified. Water shortages are expected to persist until the rainy season in December.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera, AFP (via Africanews)

—

World Brief: October 13, 2026

Russia left Ukraine’s power plants alone overnight for the first time since President Trump’s “energy ceasefire,” but hit its cities anyway; the Houthis told civilians to clear out of Saudi oil sites; and a second ship in a week went down off Bulgaria’s coast. Ten stories as of Tuesday morning, October 13.

1. Kyiv, Kharkiv and Warsaw / Ukraine and Russia. Russia hit no Ukrainian energy targets overnight into Tuesday, the first time that has happened since Trump announced his “energy ceasefire” at the weekend, while it hammered transport and logistics sites with ballistic missiles and drones, France 24 reported, citing Reuters. Four people were killed in a residential building in Kharkiv, and one missile came down just over a kilometre from a plant that heats much of Lviv. The Kremlin would only say that “contacts” were ongoing. Ukraine’s air force said it had no advance surveillance warning before Russia fired six ballistic missiles at Kyiv late Monday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called that strike “particularly vile” and said partners gave no early warning, The Guardian reported: “This is precisely what helps prevent people from being killed – when there is an early warning about ballistic missiles.” That comes after U.S. officials threatened over the weekend to halt intelligence sharing, though Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said cooperation continues. Zelenskyy said Ukraine hasn’t hit a Russian refinery in two days. In Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia could supply 3.5 million tonnes of diesel a month to world markets by year’s end, Al Jazeera reported.

2. Riyadh, Dammam and Sanaa / Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition told civilians to leave the Yemeni Oil Company’s al-Sabah central station in Houthi-held Sanaa ahead of a planned operation, and Al Jazeera’s team then heard explosions in the capital, Al Jazeera reported. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree hit back with his own evacuation alert, calling Saudi oil facilities “a legitimate target.” He named Aramco’s headquarters in Dammam, Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, and promised a “harsh and painful” response to any strikes on Sanaa. The coalition said it shot down three drones north of Riyadh on Tuesday. France’s embassy told its citizens to stay away from the airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, France 24 reported. On the ground, Saudi-backed government forces say they’re pushing into Marib province, and in besieged Taiz a rights group counted five civilians killed and 17 wounded by Houthi shelling in 24 hours, Al Jazeera reported.

3. Strait of Hormuz / Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. At least 12 tankers have been attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz in the past week, going by the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warnings, The National reported. Delayed UKMTO reports cover six ships hit on Sunday alone: five tankers and a container ship, five in the strait and one hit by a drone near Oman’s Sohar anchorage. The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center rates the threat to shipping in the strait “severe” in its latest advisory, published by UKMTO, and says the attacks show Iran’s “intent to assert [its] presence along key transit lanes.” “The Strait of Hormuz is closed,” an adviser to the Revolutionary Guards’ commander, Mohammadreza Naqdi, was quoted as saying. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week it is open, with “almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began.”

4. Krapets and Byala / Bulgaria. Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned Russia’s ambassador after drones hit two merchant ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast on Tuesday and one of them sank, BBC News reported. Six crew from the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity were rescued and 10 are missing after it went down 17 nautical miles east of Krapets, the defence minister said. All 15 aboard the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea-3, hit off Byala, were rescued. There’s no conclusive evidence against “either side,” Radev said, but “the logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation.” His defence minister was blunter: “We assume the drones are Russian.” The ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said she had no information from Russia’s defence ministry and suggested a third-party provocation. Both ships were just outside Bulgarian territorial waters. At least 45 merchant ships have been hit by drones in the Black Sea in the past year, DW reported.

5. Rome / Vatican City and Italy. Pope Leo XIV, 71, checked into Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Tuesday for an afternoon operation to remove a small nodule from his lung, The Guardian reported. The surgery is considered low risk and will show whether the growth is malignant. A thoracic team led by Prof. Stefano Margaritora is doing the operation, and the pope is expected to stay in hospital for about a week, Vatican News said. His audiences are cancelled through October 20, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will lead Wednesday’s general audience. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the news came “like a bolt out of the blue.” There was no word on how the surgery went as of this brief.

6. Budapest / Hungary. Hungary’s parliament voted on Tuesday to scrap the parts of Viktor Orbán’s 2021 child protection law that banned the “portrayal or promotion of homosexuality or transgenderism,” BBC News reported. Minutes later, the government said the EU had agreed to release €4.2bn in funds frozen in the final years of Orbán’s rule. Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s Tisza party, which ousted Orbán in April, now holds the same two-thirds majority Fidesz once had. Fidesz and the Christian Democrats voted no. “We’ve been fighting this so-called child protection law for five years,” said Tamás Dombos of the Háttér Society. Activists still want same-sex marriage and adoption rights.

7. Washington and Athens / United States and Greece. “We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign,” new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said on Tuesday, adding “we wish her well,” Al Jazeera reported. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, has faced weeks of misconduct reports. The Wall Street Journal reported she asked a Trump donor to cover a $100,000 credit card bill shortly before her confirmation hearing, promising access to administration officials. Her lawyers deny wrongdoing and say the money was owed for past speaking engagements. Trump said Monday, “We’re not happy.” Top House and Senate Democrats want investigations, DW reported.

8. Ceuta / Spain and Morocco. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia began the first Spanish royal visit to Ceuta in nearly two decades on Tuesday, as the North African exclave still deals with July’s surge of about 70,000 people from Morocco, BBC News reported. Aid groups estimate at least 141 people died in the crossings. Ceuta’s president Juan Jesús Vivas puts the number still in the city at 15,000; Madrid says it has 7,400 shelter places. The royals will attend an interfaith ceremony at the cemetery where many of the dead are buried, then head to Melilla on Wednesday. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently confirmed that Moroccan military vessels entered Spanish waters off Ceuta during the crossing but played it down. Spain votes on November 29.

9. New Delhi / India. Police detained Cockroach Janta Party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das early on Tuesday after they climbed barricades into Jantar Mantar, Delhi’s traditional protest site, and chanted for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign, BBC News reported. A day earlier the home ministry had said Jantar Mantar would no longer be a designated protest venue. “You cannot denotify the resistance,” founder Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X. The movement and opposition parties say a revision of voter rolls that removed tens of millions of names favors Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party; the party and the Election Commission reject that. Congress has asked the Supreme Court to step in.

10. Puerto Iguazú / Argentina, and the Pacific. Argentina briefly shut tourist access to Iguazu Falls on Monday when the Iguazu River topped 12,000 cubic metres per second, more than six times its average flow, after heavy rain fuelled by a supersized El Niño, The Guardian reported. “It just keeps raining,” said park director José María Hervás. Officials planned to reopen on Tuesday as the flow eased. Out in the Pacific, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology says weekly sea-surface temperatures in the central Pacific have hit their highest level on record, weeks before the event’s expected December peak, BBC Weather reported. “We are currently witnessing an El Niño event that is unprecedented in the historical record,” said Berkeley Earth’s Zeke Hausfather.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: Through October 18, the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, with G20 finance ministers there October 15. October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels, where von der Leyen says Ukraine’s funding will be “front and centre.” October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote.

Sources: France 24; Reuters; The Guardian; Al Jazeera; The National; UKMTO; BBC News; DW; Vatican News; BBC Weather.

Clashes Between Rival Communities Kill About 70 in South Sudan’s Rumbek, Overwhelming a Hospital Weeks Before Elections: October 13, 2026

JUBA, South Sudan — Fighting between armed youths from rival communities in central South Sudan killed about 70 people, including four soldiers, and overwhelmed the main hospital in Rumbek with gunshot victims, officials said, according to The Associated Press and Radio Tamazuj.

The violence swept through the Rumbek area of Lakes state on Friday as government soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers tried to keep order. South Sudan’s Information Ministry said about 71 people were killed, according to a preliminary report, but that the exact toll was unverified, Radio Tamazuj reported. The four soldiers killed included a captain, the ministry said.

“We were overwhelmed with the gunshot patients,” Teran Madit, a clinical officer at Rumbek State Hospital, told the AP. He said the hospital received more than 50 wounded people, most with chest injuries, and that some left again amid rumors they could be killed there. U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Nepalese peacekeepers deployed a rapid response force to help protect the hospital and humanitarian compounds.

The fighting pitted armed youths of the Pakam community in Rumbek North County against those of the Nyang community in Rumbek Central County, both part of the Dinka ethnic group. Disputes over cattle and grazing land, along with revenge killings, have fueled repeated violence in Lakes state, though the immediate cause was unclear. The government said troops and police had brought Rumbek under control, arrested four armed civilians and urged communities to avoid retaliation.

The bloodshed comes as South Sudan prepares for its first national elections since independence in 2011, now scheduled for Dec. 22. President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional government on Sept. 22 and appointed a caretaker administration. Analyst Machot Amuom told the AP that the dissolution left key local posts vacant. “The caretaker county commissioners have not yet been appointed, and the armed youths took advantage of it,” he said.

Sources: The Associated Press (via ABC News), Radio Tamazuj

—

Former Congo President Joseph Kabila Takes the Helm of a New Rebel Coalition With M23, Vowing to End ‘Tyranny’ by Force if Needed: October 13, 2026

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila has been named leader of a new political and military coalition that includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and aims to oust the government in Kinshasa, BBC News and Al Jazeera reported Tuesday.

The Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, or FRN, was unveiled Monday at a news conference at Kabila’s residence in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, which M23 has held since January 2025. Coalition adviser Claude Ibalanky said the group would unite “resistance forces” to put an end to “tyranny” “by any means necessary, including the use of force,” according to Al Jazeera.

The BBC said M23 military leader Sultani Makenga is one of Kabila’s four deputies, all drawn from the AFC-M23 alliance, and Al Jazeera said Corneille Nangaa, who led the Congo River Alliance, is also among them. The unveiling is the clearest sign yet of Kabila’s direct involvement in an armed movement, a year after a military court sentenced him to death in absentia for treason; he had previously denied links to M23, the BBC reported. Kabila calls the case politically motivated.

There was no immediate response from the government of President Félix Tshisekedi. “You don’t make an announcement like this without having prepared the actions that follow,” Yvon Muya, a researcher at the University of Ottawa, told Al Jazeera. “We will likely witness an escalation on the military front.” Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Goma said there were fears government soldiers could defect to Kabila, a former army chief.

Kabila, 55, ruled Congo from 2001 until January 2019. Government and M23 representatives had been expected to meet in Qatar in November, and analysts warned the new coalition could undermine that process. The United Nations and Western governments accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which Rwanda denies. Tshisekedi’s second term ends in 2028, and parliament has passed a bill that could pave the way for a referendum on removing the constitution’s two-term limit, the BBC said.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera

—