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Last week, a British bomb disposal robot roamed the area near the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fairford and 85 homes were evacuated as the threat of an attack appeared imminent.

Days later, the United States speedily sent B-1 bombers stationed there, which were used to strike Iran in its ongoing war, back home. About a dozen had been stationed at the air base.

The foiled incident resulted in no charges and the release of five suspects, and subsequently a separate British-Iranian suspect. But the US cited concerns about more potential attacks for its decision to withdraw its fleet. Tehran has denied any link to the alleged plot to target the base.

RAF Fairford was a pit stop for US bombers during the war – but more importantly, it allowed Washington to rapidly unleash intensive strikes on Iran, say analysts.

They added that their withdrawal reduces Washington’s ability to rapidly generate and sustain bombing missions, but it will not prevent the US from continuing to strike Iran.

“The United States has lost a convenient launchpad, not its underlying strike capability,” Dania Thafer, executive director of the Gulf International Forum and a lecturer at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera.

Long bombing campaigns made more demanding

The analysts were in agreement that the British base gave the US a faster and more efficient way to sustain strikes on Iran.

The bombers at the Fairford base were officially stationed there for defensive strikes – at the behest of the UK government – and likely had a modest targeting list, said Christoph Bergs, an analyst at the world’s oldest defence and security thinktank, the Royal United Services Institute.

“Their withdrawal reduces the capacity to quickly surge sorties against Iran, reducing the threat level somewhat,” Bergs told Al Jazeera.

Thafer explained that while the loss of the bombers does not remove the US’s ability to strike or escalate, “depending on where other assets are positioned, it could make a prolonged bombing campaign more demanding”.

The removal of B-1 bombers imposes a number of tactical costs, says Arun Dawson. He is a PhD candidate at King’s College London’s Freeman Air and Space Institute and a researcher with the UK Nuclear Deterrence Network.

Unlike the more modern B-2 stealth bomber designed to make enemy tracking difficult – which has also previously been stationed at RAF Fairford – “the B-1’s principal advantage is its conventional weapons payload – the largest of any aircraft in the US military”, Dawson told Al Jazeera. The B-1 carries at least 34 tonnes of ordnance, he said.

“This makes the B-1 particularly effective at delivering large volumes of precision-guided weapons against multiple targets during a prolonged air campaign,” said Dawson.

“In the Iran war, those targets may include air-defence infrastructure, ballistic missile sites and IRGC facilities,” he added, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

With the B-1s withdrawing, the US may now have to rely more heavily on longer-range missions from the US or other distant bases, increasing flight times, crew fatigue and the need for aerial refuelling, he explained.

Still, the US may have made the withdrawal decision based on an examination of risks, said Dawson.

“Their abrupt departure suggests that specific threats may have been directed at the aircraft, their crews or the base itself,” he said.

Washington may have also calculated that temporarily withdrawing the bombers could protect it for future operations, especially if the US does not expect the Iran war to intensify any time soon, said Dawson.

For David Des Roches, a professor at the Thayer Marshall Institute and a former Pentagon official, the B-1 withdrawal suggests that the risks outweighed the benefits of keeping the jets at the UK airbase.

The security incident last week “exposed a vulnerability” as the aircraft were “out in the open” and only about 300 yards (275 metres) from where the public could see them.

“So they were very vulnerable to, say, drone attacks or other kind[s] of mortar attacks,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Just a small drone or any kind of a drone with explosives on board could conceivably cause significant damage,” said Des Roches.

The former Pentagon official acknowledged that the deployment of the US bombers means “you lose a little bit of operational ability,” but said that given the threat seen at Fairford, “we should have had overhead cover for all of our aircraft, globally, years ago”.

Can the bombers go elsewhere?

The US has two potential options if the bombers are to be redeployed: to Diego Garcia, the remote coral atoll in the central Indian Ocean hosting both a US and UK military base; or to its many US bases in the Gulf.

Thafer pointed out that Diego Garcia offers greater protection from potential Iranian attacks, but requires longer flight distances.

Rerouting the bombers to Diego Garcia will also depend on how quickly additional aircraft can be folded into the local basing infrastructure, pointed out Bergs.

Stationing them in the Gulf closer to Iran would give them the advantage of shortened transit times, reduced tanker requirements and the ability to generate sorties more rapidly, said Dawson.

But basing in the Gulf region, the analysts agreed, will require more deliberate negotiations around risk mitigation, given that these countries have taken the brunt of Iranian counterstrikes throughout the war. They also want to avoid being seen as direct participants in a US campaign against Iran.

Fairford had therefore offered a “useful” middle ground between the two options, said Thafer.

But with Fairford no longer an option, Diego Garcia would be the more obvious choice, Dawson said, offering not only greater distance from Iran but also a more secure operating environment. It has infrastructure designed to support large-scale US air operations, he said.

US capabilities in the war ahead

For now, the withdrawal appears to blunt rather than eliminate US bombing capacity against Iran.

However, the practical impact on US military options will depend largely on whether the administration sees a need for such strikes now, or whether the threat posed by similar aircraft stationed at Diego Garcia is sufficient for the time being, said Bergs.

The expected arrival of the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the Makin Island Marine Expeditionary Force to the Middle East by November, meanwhile, will add significant US carrier-based air power in the region, said Dawson.

“Aircraft for aircraft, carrier fighters cannot substitute for the B-1’s enormous payload, but there are many more of them, giving commanders additional options for shorter-range strikes,” he said.

What this episode highlights, said the researcher, is the importance – and the vulnerability – of the US’ alliances and overseas basing.

Washington has long enjoyed access to a global network of military facilities – which has been key for its ability to project power rapidly and at scale, he said.

But if those bases face attacks or political restrictions – the implications would extend beyond the Iran war, warned Dawson.

They would affect “how the US military structures its forces, distributes its assets, generates combat power and sustains operations overseas”.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on Sunday about 500 schools likely to be fully or partially closed on Monday.

Hundreds of high schools in France are closed as student protests continue against rundown schools and teacher shortages.

Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon told CNews television on Monday that the priority was to “restore order”.

Earlier, National Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on Sunday evening, of the 3,700 schools, 400 to 500 were likely to be closed fully or partially on Monday.

Geffray said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked, while 78 teaching staff had been injured since the beginning of the protests.

Nationwide demonstrations erupted at the end of last month at a high school in a Parisian suburb over teacher shortages, before spreading nationwide.

Reporting from a high school in Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said students had set up a barricade in front of the building’s entrance using dustbins and fences.

“We’ve been talking to many of the students who have come out here, and what they say is that they are here to have their demands heard by the government. They say they are fed up with teacher shortages and often don’t have teachers for subjects like maths and English,” she said.

“They also tell us that they’re here to demonstrate to show solidarity with other high school students who are in perhaps poorer areas in France with less adequate facilities or in France’s overseas territories. They say all young people should have an equal right to education,” Butler added.

French news channel BFMTV showed images of police and students clashing in Lille, northern France, tear gas being used in Toulouse in the southwest and of a fire being set alight as people tried to break into a school in central Paris.

Carole Zerbib, head of the vandalised Lycee Vauquelin in Paris’s 13th district, said a “very determined” group wearing hoods and masks attacked her school.

While police and firefighters quickly put out the fire and the school was evacuated, suspending classes, Zerbib said it was “very violent and happened very quickly”, adding that the attack lasted 15-20 minutes.

Since September 28, about 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested across the country and dozens have been injured.

French newspaper La Voix du Nord reported on Monday that a teenager lost a hand after picking up a police stun grenade.

Teachers and members of the public have also been attacked, while estimated costs of property damage are in the tens of millions of euros.

Student unions have called for a national day of demonstration on Tuesday.

More than 1,700 healthcare workers have been killed during the genocide in Gaza. Israel has detained hundreds more without charges. Doctors, nurses and paramedics who stayed to treat the wounded have themselves become casualties of this war.

When medical staff are killed, imprisoned or disappeared, it is not only they who pay the price. Patients lose the people they rely on to keep them alive.

This is something delegates who gather in Rotterdam this week for the General Assembly of the World Medical Association (WMA) must remember. The fate of their Palestinian colleagues should be put on the table, not as a debating point, but as a test of whether the world’s governing body of medical ethics still means what it says.

The WMA already recognised the seriousness of these issues last year by adopting a resolution on the protection of healthcare in conflict. That was an important step and a welcome reaffirmation of the principles of medical neutrality. The challenge now is to ensure this is followed by the commitment of every medical association to explicitly support it and to use its influence to pressure governments to act.

If the WMA Assembly needs a single face for this file, it could be the one of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the paediatrician who was the head of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza until Israeli forces stormed it in December 2024.

He’s been held now for more than 22 months without charge under Israel’s Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law, which permits indefinite detentions. He reportedly continues to endure prolonged solitary confinement, beatings, severe weight loss and untreated pre-existing conditions. An international petition for his release has drawn the signatures of more than 970 medical professionals from 41 countries.

Alongside him stands Dr Mazen al-Rantisi, the 71-year-old family physician from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, known as the “doctor of the poor”. He was arrested in June in a predawn raid on his home.

In addition, our longtime Doctors Without Borders (MSF) colleague, Dr Mohammed Hassan Ali Obeid, a respected 43-year-old Palestinian orthopaedic surgeon and father of three children, has been detained under the Unlawful Combatants Law in Israel for more than 600 days without charge.

Although detained health workers have been released, more than 80 remain in Israeli custody alongside at least a dozen arrested from the West Bank.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 1,000 attacks on healthcare, which have resulted in more than 1,000 deaths and 1,700 injuries in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Roughly 90 percent of Gaza’s health infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged. In August 2025, United Nations experts stated that the systematic destruction of the health system amounts to “medicide”.

In the West Bank, where no wartime emergency provides cover, the WHO also documented more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare since October 7, 2023, with 42 deaths and at least 218 injuries.

Ambulances are stopped at checkpoints and their crews taken. Medics trying to reach people injured in settler attacks have themselves been obstructed. Dialysis and oncologic patients stay home because the checkpoints make the journey to treatment impossible. Healthcare workers have been shot, detained and killed during Israeli military raids.

All of this represents Israel’s deliberate and systematic endeavour to dismantle Palestinians’ capacity to provide care. This is consistent with its clear and blatant disregard for Palestinian life.

The WMA Assembly should speak plainly about what is happening. It should call publicly for the release of detained Palestinian doctors, including Abu Safia, al-Rantisi and Obeid. It should press for independent access to those still being held. And it should back independent investigations into attacks on healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank with the findings made public regardless of where they lead.

This is an opportunity to collectively pressure fellow medical associations, political authorities and any relevant bodies to take action.

What lies before the Rotterdam assembly is a duty. One that reaffirms loudly, structurally, universally the founding proposition of the WMA: that membership carries an ethical responsibility, which does not flex with geography or alliances.

Healthcare workers are not targets. Either a white coat is worth protecting everywhere, or it is protected nowhere. The test is not simply whether we affirm these principles, but whether we uphold them when it matters most.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Drivers faced glitches at the race in Malaysia, where Lewis Hamilton had to stop and restart his car on the track.

Formula One’s governing body has promised a full investigation into a software bug that caused chaos and forced the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to be aborted, with drivers feeling like they were in battery-powered cars made of Lego.

Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s four-time champion and eventual race winner Max Verstappen were among several affected by the glitch on a formation lap after torrential rain and a long delay at Malaysia’s steamy Sepang circuit on Sunday.

Verstappen compared the experience to a “Lego race” held at Silverstone before the British Grand Prix while Hamilton, the sport’s most successful driver of all time, had to stop his car on track and restart it in what he said was a career first.

The episode was the latest in a difficult first season for the new era of cars and engines, with drivers at the pinnacle of motorsport unhappy since the opening race with the power units’ increased electrical component and the need for energy management.

FIA said afterwards that “an unprecedented combination of low engine speed, low-grip conditions, wet-weather energy management settings and the Sepang circuit’s sector configuration led to an unintended loss of power for a number of cars”.

“As a result, the FIA technical department removed the energy limit constraint in the affected sectors through an updated software release distributed to all competitors during the race delay caused by heavy rain, enabling teams to make the necessary changes to the power unit before the start of the race.

“This issue had not been detected by the FIA or the teams during testing or during the laps to the grid. The FIA, together with the teams and power unit manufacturers, will undertake a full review of the issue.”

The FIA’s single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis told reporters the lack of preseason testing in wet conditions had played a part in the chaos.

“Some cars went very slowly, almost came to a standstill. There was a bit of a concertina effect between cars, and some cars almost stopped completely,” he said. “That bug prevented the power from being redeployed, and for the cars to start again.

“I think if we had had a bit more testing, we probably would have managed to catch it in time, and not have such a situation.”

Sepang was the first race weekend of the season with wet conditions, although the track dried during the race.

“Sometimes things fall through the net and people learn, and you do a better job next time,” Tombazis said.

EXPLAINER

Only one point separates Group A1 leaders France and second-placed Belgium before Monday’s clash.

Who: France vs Belgium
What: UEFA Nations League 2026-2027, Group A1 match
Where: Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France
When: Monday at 8:45pm (18:45 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up and live updates from 15:45 GMT.

Two-time world champions France host Belgium in the last of four Nations League games played over this extended international window.

Monday’s clash in Saint-Denis pits the top two teams in A1 against each other with France looking to complete the double in this league phase after their initial victory in Brussels in late September.

France and Belgium both enter this match with their creative stars in red-hot form. Michael Olise scored a goal in back-to-back matches while Kevin De Bruyne’s double steered Belgium to victory last time out.

However, Belgium will have to do without De Bruyne for the Les Bleus test with the midfield sensation suspended alongside their captain, Youri Tielemans.

Here’s all you need to know about France vs Belgium:

What is the UEFA Nations League?

The UEFA Nations League was founded in 2018 to reduce the number of friendlies and give nations competitive matches against equally ranked teams.

In this competition, countries from across Europe participate in a league structure that features promotion and relegation.

How does the UEFA Nations League work?

The teams compete across four divisions, facing every other team in their group twice: once at home and once away. The league phase ends in November.

In the top-most league, League A, the top two teams from each group go through to the quarterfinals, which will take place in March.

The finals will again be contested between four teams. The host and the dates of the finals have not been confirmed yet.

How have France and Belgium played in the Nations League?

France lead Group A1 with seven points from three games.

• Turkiye 0-1 France
• Belgium 0-1 France
• France 1-1 Italy

Belgium are second in the group with six points.

• Italy 0-2 Belgium
• Belgium 0-1 France
• Belgium 3-0 Turkiye

France vs Belgium: Head-to-head

• Matches: 79
• French wins: 30
• Belgian wins: 30
• Draws: 19

France vs Belgium: Form guide

France: D-W-W-L-L

Belgium: W-L-W-L-W

What have the coaches said?

Zinedine Zidane (France): “We always want to win. We are competitors. The most important thing is to prepare well for matches and to feel comfortable on the pitch. I am very satisfied with the mentality I have seen so far. I have clear convictions. I love the French national team, and I have top-class players, but I know it will take time. I am very happy with what I have seen.”

Mark van Bommel (Belgium): “France have an exceptional amount of quality. They’re a complete team. In the first match, however, we should have taken at least a point. So it is possible tomorrow. We have to be top in all areas.”

Team news and predicted lineups

France

Matteo Guendouzi and Dayot Upamecano are suspended, and Warren Zaire-Emery is out with a thigh injury.

Probable France XI: Mike Maignan; Pierre Kalulu, Jeremy Jacquet, Maxence Lacroix, Adrien Truffert; Rayan Cherki, Lucas Da Cunha, Eduardo Camavinga; Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue

Belgium

De Bruyne and Tielemans are both suspended after picking up two yellow cards in successive matches.

Probable Belgium XI: Senne Lammens; Timothy Castagne, Nathan Ngoy, Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper; Nicolas Raskin, Romeo Lavia, Hans Vanaken; Dodi Lukebakio, Charles De Ketelaere, Mika Godts

Sixty-nine years ago this day, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite to orbit Earth, opening the Space Age and setting off a race with the United States.

Ten years later, on October 10, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty came into force.

In 1999, the United Nations started observing World Space Week – from October 4 to 10 – to celebrate the contribution of space technology for the benefit of humanity. Schools, space agencies, museums and astronomy clubs around the world hold stargazing nights, science classes, exhibitions and talks by astronauts and scientists.

Today, more than 80 countries have put satellites into orbit, and people from over 50 of those have travelled to space.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera looks at which countries have done so, how many space travellers have been women, and what comes next for human spaceflight.

The first man in space – Yuri Gagarin

On April 12, 1961, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.

On board the Vostok 1 spacecraft, he completed one orbit of Earth at about 27,400km/h (17,025mph) during a 108-minute flight. He later ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute.

The mission demonstrated that humans could survive launch, weightlessness and re-entry, giving the Soviet Union a major early victory in the Cold War Space Race.

Six years later, on October 10, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty entered into force. Signed by the US, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, it established that space should be explored and used peacefully and that no country could claim it as territory.

Less than two years later, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed the first humans on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on its surface.

Where does space begin?

There is no single agreed boundary for where space begins: most international bodies use the Karman line, 100km (62 miles) above Earth, while the US military, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration count anyone who flies above 80km (50 miles).

Either way, it is closer than it sounds: if Earth were the size of an apple, space would begin about as far from the surface as the thickness of its skin.

Which countries have sent people to space?

By the Karman line measure, at least 746 people from 52 countries have travelled to space, including professional astronauts and paying tourists.

Some hold dual nationality, and some flew for countries that no longer exist, such as the Soviet Union.

The graphic below breaks down space travellers by country.

Two countries still dominate the list. The US has sent 369 people to space, and the Soviet Union and Russia have sent 138 combined. China, the third country to launch people on its own rockets, has sent 29.

One in seven space travellers is a woman

Space remains a male-dominated frontier. Science fiction may be full of women commanding starships, but of the 746 people who have travelled to space, only 112, or 15 percent, have been women, about one in seven.

Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space in June 1963. The US did not follow for another 20 years, until Sally Ride flew in June 1983.

The share of women is rising, though, largely because of commercial flights. More than half of the women who have flown since 2020 went up as paying passengers or guests on Blue Origin’s suborbital rocket.

The typical space traveller is 40

Most people who have flown to space were in their 30s or 40s on their first flight, which together account for 85 percent. The median age is 40. Commercial flights have widened that range.

The youngest traveller, Oliver Daemen, was 18 when he flew in 2021. The oldest, Ed Dwight, was 90 years and eight months old when he flew in 2024, about two months older than William Shatner had been on his flight three years earlier.

What comes next for human spaceflight?

In April 2026, the Artemis II crew flew around the moon and reached about 406,771km (252,756 miles) from Earth, breaking the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

Next is Artemis III in 2027, a rehearsal in Earth orbit to test docking with lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. NASA is targeting 2028 for Artemis IV, which aims to land astronauts near the moon’s south pole, the first crewed landing since 1972.

India plans its first crewed Gaganyaan flight in 2027, making it the fourth country to launch people on its own rocket. China aims to land astronauts on the moon around 2030.

Novak Djokovic to face Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals in Beijing after the Russian defeats Francisco Cerundolo.

Novak Djokovic has brushed aside ongoing injury-related struggles and produced a trademark comeback to defeat top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 for a place in the China Open semifinals, extending his unbeaten record in the tournament.

Playing the ATP 500 event in Beijing for the first time since 2015, the six-time champion was pushed to the limit by reigning French Open and US Open champion Zverev, who delivered 19 aces in the match on Sunday.

Meeting for the first time in nearly 16 months, Djokovic struggled to contain the German’s power in the early stages as the 29-year-old Zverev claimed the opening set, but the Serb gradually worked his way into the match and refused to let his opponent pull away.

“I had a terrible start – two double faults at the beginning. It was quite cold, and honestly, I didn’t feel warmed up, but my fault,” Djokovic said.

“I gave him an early break, and then it was hard to come back in the first set.”

The contest was briefly interrupted by a moment of controversy when Zverev argued that the electronic advertising signage had gone dark during a rally and requested a video review after losing the point.

Replays showed a section of the signage had switched off although not as Zverev was missing the forehand. The chair umpire ordered the point to be replayed, prompting a frustrated exchange from Djokovic.

‘Held my nerves’

The turning point came late in the second set when Djokovic broke at 5-4 to level the match, shifting the momentum in his favour after a tightly contested battle.

With little separating the pair in the third, the Serbian struck again at 5-4 on the Zverev serve, securing the decisive break to seal the victory in two hours and 35 minutes.

“I was trying to be aggressive and come to the net and change up the pace, not giving the same pattern,” Djokovic said.

“I am just glad that I held my nerves, played good shots at important moments, 5-4 in the second and third.”

The pair had not met since Roland Garros in 2025, where Djokovic won in four sets, and Sunday’s encounter again highlighted the Serb’s ability to deliver under pressure despite a season disrupted by physical issues.

With the victory, Djokovic moved a step closer to a seventh China Open title and an elusive first trophy of the year while denying Zverev another opportunity to strengthen his bid for the world number one ranking.

Djokovic will face Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals after the Russian defeated Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(4), 6-3 earlier.

Rybakina withdraws from Wuhan after China Open exit

World number one Elena Rybakina withdrew from this month’s Wuhan Open due to a foot injury, tournament organisers said on Sunday, a day after the Kazakh suffered a shock defeat in her opening match at the China Open.

Rybakina, who lost to world number 118 Alina Charaeva in Beijing, said she would take time away from competition to recover.

“I’m very sorry to the fans who were looking forward to seeing me play,” Rybakina said in a story posted on the tournament’s Instagram account.

“I’ll take some time to rest and recover. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”

The 27-year-old has been managing a lingering lower leg and foot problem that also forced her to retire from her Cincinnati quarterfinal against Iga Swiatek in August.

Despite the setback, Rybakina recovered in time for the US Open, where she claimed her third Grand Slam title, rose to world number one and became the first player to qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals.

Rybakina is next expected to compete this month in the Ningbo Open in China, where she will try to defend her title.

The Wuhan Open is scheduled to take place from October 12 to 18.

IRGC commander says oil flows through US-supervised route in Hormuz are ‘negligible’.

Crude oil exports from the Middle East have risen above pre-war levels on four of the seven days in the last week of September, provisional data from ship-tracking firm Kpler showed.

However, senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Ali Fadavi said in a televised interview on Sunday night that only three to four million barrels of oil per day (bpd) are now moving through the route, dismissing the amount as “negligible” when compared with pre-war traffic.

Fadavi said, for the first time, no US vessels were present in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman or even the northern Indian Ocean and US warships are “100 percent vulnerable” to IRGC attacks.

Kpler data showed crude exports from the region exceeded pre-war levels on September 24 and between September 27 and 29, rising to 19.5-22.5 million bpd.

Around that time, Iran claimed success in attacking ships – including US Navy vessels – near the Strait of Hormuz, saying the strikes had forced Washington to move its warships further from the Iranian coast.

Before the US-Israel war on Iran began, exports averaged 18 million bpd between March 2025 and February 2026.

According to Kpler data, the overall tally for crude, oil products, chemicals and non-gas liquids averaged 22.4 million bpd in the seven days to September 30.

On October 1, the seven-day moving average for crude exports was at 18.5 million bpd. This includes transits via the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, exports from terminals and ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman.

The number of liquefied natural gas cargoes exiting the Strait of Hormuz also rose in September to its highest monthly level since February.

The figures exclude any vessels that might have crossed the strait with their automatic identification system transponders turned off to avoid detection.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported at least one attack a day in the Strait of Hormuz or in the Gulf of Aden since October 2.

On Sunday, Iran’s top negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States accepts Tehran’s seven-day plan to reopen the waterway.

A California woman allegedly sent photos and videos of President Lai’s son and his family to Chinese officials.

The FBI has arrested a “Chinese foreign agent” at Los Angeles International Airport accused of spying on the Taiwanese president’s son.

Wanying Zhang, also known as Heather, was arrested on Sunday before her planned departure to China, the first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, said in a post on X.

Authorities charged Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, with acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

Zhang surveilled Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te’s son, the FBI said. The agency did not directly name Zhang’s alleged target, but later shared a news article identifying him as Lai Ting-yu.

The US Justice Department said Zhang travelled to Seattle in 2025 at the behest of Chinese officials. She sent photos, video and license plate information of the Taiwanese leader’s son and his family to China.

Essayli called Zhang a “Chinese foreign agent” and said she “used tradecraft to avoid detection”.

“She never notified the Attorney General she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offense,” he added.

Essayli said Zhang will appear in a Los Angeles federal court on Monday.

William Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party say that Taiwan is already an independent country separate from China. Beijing views the island as Chinese territory.

Washington does not have ⁠formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the US is bound by law to provide the island with the means to ‌defend itself.

Earlier this week, the US delivered two F-16V ⁠Block 70 fighter jets to Taiwan as the island seeks to build its defence capabilities to deter a feared attack by China.

In January, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to achieve the “reunification” of China and Taiwan, calling Beijing’s long-held goal “unstoppable”.

Malaysia continues mass refugee deportations despite warnings from the UN about unsafe conditions in an active war zone.

Nearly 1,500 Myanmar refugees and migrants deported from Malaysia have arrived in their war-ravaged country under an opaque repatriation scheme heavily criticised by human rights groups and the United Nations refugee agency.

The 1,479 returnees, transported from Malaysia on board two navy warships and a hospital ship on Tuesday, arrived in southern Yangon early Sunday, Nay Lin Tun, a regional government minister, said.

They are among 5,000 Myanmar nationals who will be repatriated in stages from Malaysia, where more than 10,300 others are being held in immigration detention centres, according to the country’s Home Ministry.

Malaysia insists all returnees agreed to voluntary repatriation, but rights monitors have raised concerns that Myanmar refugees had little choice and warned that conditions for return remain unsafe.

The UN refugee agency said this past week that its staff were not allowed to meet the Myanmar nationals to confirm whether their decisions to return “were genuinely free and informed”.

Rohingya make up the majority of Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, but it remains unclear how many members of the persecuted Rohingya are among the returned group.

The deportation was carried out during escalating raids on refugee communities in Malaysia by immigration officials, which led to the detention of more than 50,000 refugees in 2026.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the repatriations in July against a backdrop of rising xenophobia towards refugees, particularly the Rohingya.

Kuala Lumpur is moving ahead with plans to return a second group of more than 3,500 refugees and migrants, saying they have caused financial, social and security burdens.

While Malaysia is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention and treats refugees as undocumented migrants, it is home to about 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

This includes more than 126,000 mainly Muslim Rohingya refugees.

Myanmar pledged last month that returns will be “safe and dignified”.

But Yap Lay Sheng, a senior human rights specialist with Fortify Rights, told the AFP news agency: “There’s no telling how the regime would treat returnees.”

Myanmar has been accused of committing genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened its first genocide case it has heard in full in more than a decade.

The UNHCR and rights groups said returnees could face persecution and forced military conscription in an active war zone. Myanmar has been embroiled in a civil war since the military seized power from the elected government in 2021.

The war has killed more than 100,000 people since the coup, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project.

Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing, the military coup leader who was installed as civilian president in April, is expected to visit Malaysia soon to discuss the repatriation scheme.

Yemen’s government announces major offensive against Houthis, as Iran says ‘there is no military solution’ to conflict with US.

Last month, a woman identified as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit against Cornell University, the fraternity Chi Phi and the seven fraternity members she accused of gang-raping her on the night of October 19, 2024.

Her allegations have triggered a nationwide reckoning in the United States over the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses.

But the case has also reignited efforts to reform laws in the state of New York.

While the left-leaning state has long presented itself as a leader in women’s rights, advocates say sexual assault survivors still face pervasive legal barriers when they seek justice.

Erica Vladimer, a lawyer and founding director of Harassment-Free New York, a survivor-led nonprofit, told Al Jazeera that much of the legislation currently in the spotlight is the culmination of years, if not decades, of work.

“These are bills that we have been fighting for for years when sexual violence is not in the news,” Vladimer said.

She drew a line between the #MeToo movement, which began in 2017 as an online campaign to denounce sexual misconduct, and the current wave of outrage following Doe’s allegations.

“It speaks to the fact that the #MeToo movement is not dead. It is a movement, not a moment,” Vladimer said.

Already, leaders in Albany, the state capital, have signalled they would take action following the Cornell case.

On Wednesday, the New York Assembly announced it had formed a working group to examine the state’s sexual-assault laws and develop recommendations for the 2027 legislative session.

Still, advocates say more concrete measures are needed to address the crisis.

“I appreciate that this work is happening,” said Lindsey Boylan, a New York City Council candidate. “It doesn’t undo the fact that rape culture is pervasive in the United States and very much so alive and well in New York.”

Boylan was the first woman to publicly accuse former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment in another high-profile misconduct case, back in 2020. She is among those calling for greater reform.

Here are some of the measures advocates are pushing state lawmakers to adopt or amend:

‘Voluntary intoxication’ statute

The Cornell University case has brought renewed attention to New York’s “voluntary intoxication” statute, a legal loophole that can make it harder to prosecute sexual assault when a person has willingly consumed alcohol or drugs.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul pledged on Friday to work with lawmakers to close the gap.

“It should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol. Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape. Period,” Hochul said.

Under the current state law, a person who voluntarily drinks or takes drugs is not considered “mentally incapacitated” during an assault, even if they become too intoxicated to consent.

That can make it harder for prosecutors to bring a sex-crime charge. The law primarily recognises incapacitation in the context of sexual assault when a person was involuntarily intoxicated, unconscious or otherwise “physically helpless”.

That distinction has become central to the Cornell case. Doe has acknowledged that she consumed substances before the alleged rape, saying that she was pressured into drinking alcohol and taking the dissociative drug ketamine.

The Tompkins County district attorney initially declined to bring charges, pointing to the law’s stance on “voluntary intoxication”. But the investigation has since been reopened, amid public pressure.

New York is one of 19 states in the US that distinguish between “voluntary” and “involuntary” intoxication when it comes to determining consent in sexual violence cases.

But the Cornell case has spurred a push to remove the distinction from the law books. Critics have argued that sexual assault is no less grievous if a victim is drunk or has chosen to take drugs.

“I mean, to have New York, a supposedly progressive state, penalise people who are sexually abused for drinking is disgusting,” Boylan told Al Jazeera.

Vladimer, for her part, explained that distinguishing between “voluntary” and “involuntary” intoxication as a means for pursuing sexual assault cases shifts the focus onto the actions of victims, rather than perpetrators.

“We essentially have codified victim-blaming by saying if you become voluntarily intoxicated and then are sexually assaulted, you essentially cannot seek justice in our court system,” Vladimer told Al Jazeera.

In June, the New York state Senate unanimously passed a bill to allow sexual assault charges regardless of whether a victim is intoxicated voluntarily or involuntarily.

But the legislation has yet to be taken up in the state Assembly.

The rape-shield gap

New York’s rape-shield protections limit the use of evidence about a complainant’s sexual history and conduct in criminal proceedings. But those protections do not currently extend to civil cases.

This distinction could matter in the Cornell case because Doe filed a civil lawsuit.

Vladimer said questions about a survivor’s behaviour could come up in the discovery process of a civil case, as well as in court.

“There is the potential of her having to face questions about things like her sexual history,” Vladimer said.

Bridie Farrell, the director of victim rights advocacy and legislation at the law firm Weitz and Luxenberg, told Al Jazeera that she has seen major differences in how male and female survivors are questioned in civil cases where this practice is still permitted.

In one case involving a brother and sister who were both sexually assaulted, Farrell said the man was not questioned about his sexual history while the woman was “grilled on it”.

A bill sponsored by State Senator Liz Krueger would extend rape-shield protections to civil proceedings. The measure passed the Senate in June and is currently before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Retaliatory defamation lawsuits

Advocates are also pushing for legislation to prevent retaliatory defamation lawsuits.

Boylan said she has spent more than $2m defending herself in legal proceedings connected to her accusations against Cuomo, who stepped down as New York governor in 2021.

He has repeatedly denied any allegations of wrongdoing, despite a state attorney general’s report that concluded he “engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment”.

“Every step of the way, we have a system that penalises people for speaking up about their own harm,” Boylan said.

Boylan and Charlotte Bennett, a former aide who also accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, are proponents of the Speak Your Truth Act, which would provide legal protections for people who publicly report sexual assault, harassment or discrimination.

The bill, sponsored by Assembly member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, would make certain communications about sexual assault, harassment or discrimination privileged when they are made without malice.

It would also allow survivors of sexual misconduct who successfully defend themselves against a defamation lawsuit to recover legal fees and costs. The bill remains in an Assembly committee.

A recent win, a long way to go

For Bridie Farrell, the victims’ rights advocate, the fight for legal change is personal.

Farrell was a 15-year-old competitive speed skater in 1997 when she said she was sexually abused by her 33-year-old teammate and mentor. She came forward with her story of abuse in 2013.

By then, the statute of limitations in her case had expired. Farrell later became an advocate for changes to New York’s laws, helping to pass the Child Victims Act in 2019 that extended the time available for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to pursue criminal and civil claims.

The law allowed Farrell to file her own case, which she did in 2020. She tells Al Jazeera that a trial has finally been scheduled for June 2027.

“Before we passed the Child Victims Act in 2019, New York was one of the worst in the country,” Farrell said of the situation for sexual assault survivors seeking justice.

Farrell considers the legal impediments to Doe’s case — like the “voluntary intoxication” statute — all too predictable. “I’m not surprised if we haven’t updated a law that is archaic,” she said.

Still, lawmakers have signalled willingness to reform such laws. In announcing the state Assembly’s working group on sexual-assault laws, Speaker Carl Heastie pledged to “thoughtfully” consider how the state can strengthen its laws.

“The allegations being reported out of Cornell University are truly horrifying,” Heastie said on Wednesday. “We want to do everything we can to ensure victims of sexual assault see justice served.”

But survivors and sexual violence advocates say the Cornell case points to problems that go beyond any single law. They hope to see widespread systemic and societal change.

“Changing legislation is incredibly important. But legislation in a lot of cases can only go [as far as] the paper that it’s written on,” Boylan said. “It would be amiss to orient this horrible, tragic, unacceptable, infuriating case in isolation without looking at the broader rape culture of our state and our country.”

Holders Portugal first team to qualify for 2026-27 UEFA Nations League despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence.

Portugal defeated Norway 2-1 on Sunday, without superstar striker Cristiano Ronaldo, to qualify for the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals.

Goncalo Ramos secured victory for Jorge Jesus’s Portugal in the Group A4 clash after Joao Cancelo’s rocket levelled Kristoffer Ajer’s stunning opener for Norway.

Portugal played out the final minutes with 10 men after Francisco Conceicao was dismissed for two yellow cards in the space of a few seconds for dissent following his unsuccesful appeal for a penalty.

Former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker Ronaldo walked out on the squad on Wednesday, ahead of the previous game against Denmark, after Portugal’s all-time top goalscorer learned he would not start.

Portugal are now guaranteed to finish in the top two spots in the group, thus granting them passage to the last eight in March 2027.

Norway took the lead in Porto against the run of play with a stunning effort from Brentford defender Ajer after 36 minutes.

The Norwegian met a bouncing ball on the edge of the box perfectly and bent it into the top corner.

However, two minutes later, Barcelona defender Cancelo scored a similarly superb goal, rifling home from about 20 yards.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland fired across the face of goal after an hour and was replaced by Jorgen Strand Larsen a few minutes later.

Nations League holders and two-time record champions Portugal nosed in front when AC Milan striker Ramos, starting in place of Ronaldo, tucked home from close range after being teed up by Joao Felix.

Conceicao’s foolish dismissal left Jesus’s team in a tough spot for the final few minutes, but they held on to triumph for the fourth time in four games in the group.

Government warns of crackdown as supporters of jailed former prime set off from northwest Pakistan towards Islamabad.

Supporters of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have set off on a protest march from the country’s northwest after talks with the government to call off the demonstration failed.

More than 5,000 were reported to have begun the rally on Sunday. The march, planned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was originally scheduled for September 27 but was postponed until October 4 to allow talks between the government and the PTI leadership to take place.

However, two rounds of talks over the weekend failed to break the deadlock, and the PTI decided to carry out its plan, which is the latest attempt to pressure the government into releasing Khan, the country’s most popular political figure according to polls, who has been behind bars since August 2023 following a series of convictions that his party calls politically motivated.

All but one of the convictions against the former PM have since been suspended or overturned on appeal.

Videos posted on the PTI’s official social media showed supporters joining the march in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which is ruled by the party, and setting off in convoys.

Sohail Afridi, the region’s chief minister, had earlier posted on social media that the demonstration in support of Khan would go ahead.

He said the march will make its way to Khairabad, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Islamabad, by Thursday, where the plan for the “next phase” will be announced.

Government warns protesters

The government has been preparing for weeks for the arrival of PTI demonstrators in Islamabad. It has erected barriers using shipping containers to block main access routes to the capital.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed earlier on Sunday that the talks between the two sides had failed.  He accused Afridi of “sabotaging” the negotiations, and added that the government would not allow the PTI to “create a disturbance”.

He also cited an Islamabad High Court order from September 14, ruling that no political party or its leadership has the “lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas and buildings in Islamabad”.

“If they violate the orders, whether they are workers or politicians, whether they are protesting within KP or outside KP, we will pursue them one by one. This time, we want to ensure that these repeated episodes of creating disturbance in Islamabad come to an end,” Naqvi said.

Concerns about the 73-year-old Khan’s health, in particular the condition of his right eye that has required months of specialist treatment, have prompted the PTI’s campaign for his release.

The party has also called for the release of Khan’s three sisters, whose arrests last month further heightened tensions.

James Dorsey, a fellow at the National University of Singapore, said Khan was “essentially a populist leader” with “a genuine popular movement that had broad popular support”.

That is behind the “determination by the government to prevent [the protesters] from entering Islamabad,” he told the AFP news agency.

Given Pakistan’s security concerns, particularly following its unresolved February 2026 conflict with Afghanistan, Islamabad wants to avoid escalation in the face of the protests, he added.

“It’s a problem for the government, but I don’t think it’s an existential threat,” he said.

Australian police and intelligence join the list of those probing the incident.

Authorities have said they are investigating the links of the co-pilot of the Israel-bound Flydubai flight with Australia.

A multi-agency Australian police and intelligence team – the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team – is carrying out the probe, a spokesperson said on Sunday.

Mystery surrounds the co-pilot, who is accused of attacking the captain with an axe and attempting to seize control of Flight FZ1073 from Dubai as it approached Israel, and how he was able to acquire his seat in the plane’s cockpit.

He has been identified in media reports as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami.

He had been barred from flying in his own country because of concerns that he had adopted “extremist” views, The Associated Press news agency cited sources as saying.

While al-Hammami reportedly spent part of his life in the United Arab Emirates, the Reuters news agency, citing sources briefed on the Australian investigation, reported that he studied at a university in the Australian city of Melbourne.

A third unnamed source told the agency that he studied at RMIT University, a public research university in Melbourne, about a decade ago.

The Financial Times also reported al-Hammami’s links to Australia. Citing two sources familiar with the Australian investigation, the FT said al-Hammami had allegedly visited what it described as “radical mosques and extremist websites” while in the country.

Disaster was averted after passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot and a reserve pilot took over its controls and completed an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

However, the case has raised questions about security in Israel, which has some of the world’s strictest aviation security measures.

The prosecutor general of the UAE, Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, has labelled the attack an attempted “terrorist act”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel has longstanding arrangements with foreign airlines aimed at preventing pilots who are nationals of countries without diplomatic relations with Israel from flying there.

Netanyahu said a “loophole” appears to have allowed the Omani pilot to take part in the Flydubai flight, and that Israel would now strengthen its checks.

The UAE has not yet publicly established a motive or announced whether investigators believe al-Hammami acted alone.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on Saturday that the latest “terrorist” attack is a new warning that the region’s fight against “extremism” is not over.

Protesters say the election commission’s voter-roll revision has removed millions of eligible voters to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party.

Thousands of youth and opposition protesters have rallied for a third day in India demanding the resignation of the country’s election commission chief.

Thousands marched in Mumbai on Sunday, while others gathered for a third day of demonstrations in New Delhi. The protests began on Friday demanding that Election Commission of India (ECI) chief Gyanesh Kumar step down due to reports that he has overseen voter-roll revisions removing millions from electoral lists.

Protesters say the disenfranchisement stands to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Both the ECI and the BJP have denied the allegations.

Led by opposition leaders Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, thousands marched in Mumbai on Sunday, waving Indian flags and calling for Kumar to step down.

In the capital, New Delhi, protesters started gathering in the early evening. As on previous days, some were detained by police as they arrived, according to the Reuters news agency.

Police in the capital have clamped down in a bid to prevent protesters from assembling over the last two days, detaining dozens and taking them away by bus.

Some of the detainees were released later on Friday and Saturday, but police registered cases against some on charges of violating orders banning mass gatherings in the centre of the capital.

“⁠I just want to tell the ruling party this much … We are angry about how you are wielding that power. ⁠It’s the people of this country who should decide who sits in power and who sits in opposition, not the election commission,” Raj Thackeray told the crowd in Mumbai.

The ECI says the voter-roll revision is designed to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible entries and maintain electoral integrity. On Friday, it directed its officials to register eligible voters inadvertently omitted from electoral rolls.

Kumar has not publicly responded to the demands for his resignation or commented on the protests, which look set to continue over the coming days, with more rallies planned.

An alliance of India’s opposition parties plans to launch protests to “save democracy” with a march to the election commission office on Tuesday. The Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has announced plans for a major rally in New Delhi on October 10.

“Mumbai is out on the streets again for free and fair elections!” Abhijeet Dipke, chief of the CJP, said in a social media post on Sunday.

“Solidarity with all the protesters,” he added. “All Indians need to come together. It’s now or never!”