detoxed.news

October 16

International relations

Australia agrees to provide Fiji with solar, wind and wave-powered Bluebottle maritime drones and training for surveillance and efforts against drug trafficking and other transnational crime, with deployment expected in 2027.
Source: AFP via RFI external link

Health and environment

The Government of Singapore warned that the air quality could reach hazardous levels, and should the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index forecast do so, the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations may be postponed.
Source: Straits Times external link

October 15

Disasters and accidents

A roof collapses at a school in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, killing 34 students and a teacher, and injuring 50 more people.
Source: BBC News external link
Four people are killed fighting wildfires in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java, Indonesia, after flames and thick smoke trapped them. Two others suffer serious burns.
Source: AFP external link
Seven people are missing after a San Marino-flagged tanker catches fire off the coast of Romania amid recent drone attacks on merchant shipping in the Black Sea. Search and rescue operations are underway to locate the missing crew members.
Source: Politico external link

International relations

A court in Hamburg, Germany, sentences a Danish national to eight years and six months in prison and an Afghan national to four years and six months in prison for plotting to assassinate Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, on behalf of Iran.
Source: Reuters external link

Law and crime

Three children and a teacher are killed in a mass school shooting at the in Bend, Oregon, United States. Two other people are wounded. The perpetrator, a 16-year-old male, is shot and killed by a bystander.
Source: The Guardian external link
U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the Department of Defense has reversed its plan to livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, scheduled for December 3.
Source: AP external link
Argentine police arrest at least 25 people after clashes during a university funding protest in Buenos Aires, while eight police officers are injured.
Source: AFP via France 24 external link
Northern Irish politician and former Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson is sentenced to 15 years in prison for child sexual abuse and rape. The offences occurred between 1985 and 2008.
Source: BBC News external link

Science and technology

Astronomers discover the first green star according to a study published by RAS Techniques and Instruments.
Source: Popular Science external link
At the General Conference on Weights and Measures, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures votes to abolish future leap seconds and make Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) continuous, starting 20 May 2027. To account for future differences between UTC and International Atomic Time, a leap hour will be observed as needed.
Source: Scientific American external link

Business and economy

The New Yalu River Bridge connecting Dandong, China, and Sinuiju, North Korea, opens following a 12-year delay.
Source: NK News external link
The European Central Bank authorizes UniCredit to raise its stake in Commerzbank above 30% without an upper limit, allowing the Italian bank to proceed toward taking control of the German lender.
Source: The Eastern Herald external link

Sports

In baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS to advance to the 2026 World Series, their first since 1982.
Source: ESPN external link

Health and environment

The United Kingdom declares a severe drought in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex, and West Sussex after prolonged low rainfall left more than 80% of England in drought and major reservoirs below 20% capacity.
Source: AFP external link

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabia says that it has intercepted a missile intended for Medina. However, the Houthis denied launching a missile at the city.
Source: France 24 external link
The Houthis launch missiles against Al-Maashiq Palace, headquarters of the Presidential Leadership Council and official residence of President Rashad al-Alimi, in Aden, Yemen, killing five people and injuring 16. No member of the council is harmed in the attack.
Source: Reuters external link

October 14

Armed conflicts and attacks

The Houthis claim to have shot down a Royal Saudi Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft over Saada Governorate, Yemen. Saudi authorities did not comment on the claim.
Source: AFP via AA external link
The Saudi Civil Defense reports that debris from intercepted Houthi cruise missiles injured four people, including a child, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and damaged 15 homes.
Source: AFP via CNA external link
Two cargo ships, the Singapore-flagged container ship and the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged dry bulk carrier , sink after both are attacked by projectiles near the Strait of Hormuz while trying to navigate through what Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called an "illegal and dangerous route." At least one crew member is killed in the attacks.
Source: Reuters external link
A Russian ballistic missile attack strikes a power station in the Dniprovskyi District, Kyiv, Ukraine, leaving more than 1,000 residential buildings without heating.
Source: BBC News external link
The Sudanese Armed Forces announces that they have re-captured the Bir Kelekel area of West Darfur, Sudan, from Rapid Support Forces, according to West Darfur state governor Bahr al-Din Adam Karama.
Source: AA external link
Rioters attack government buildings, banks, businesses and other sites as anti-government protests erupt in Tirana, Albania. At least 23 police officers and six others are injured during the unrest, while 35 people are detained. President Bajram Begaj condemns the violence and appeals for calm across the nation.
Source: AP external link

Science and technology

The oldest known shipwreck in the world (c. 2700–2400 BC) is excavated in Kekova, Turkey.
Source: CNN external link

International relations

Colombia opens an embassy in Jerusalem and restores its free trade agreement with Israel.
Source: Reuters external link

Health and environment

Singapore records its highest air pollution level of 2026 as one-hour PM concentrations reach about 288 micrograms per cubic metre amid haze from Indonesian wildfires.
Source: AFP external link
Timor-Leste suspends in-person classes nationwide from October 15 to 17 due to worsening air quality from wildfire smoke and pollutant particles across Southeast Asia.
Source: AFP external link

Politics and elections

Over 300,000 public sector workers in Ireland, including teachers, health workers, and other civil servants, start a general strike, the first in the country since 2009, to protest against a deadlock in pay negotiations.
Source: Reuters external link

Law and crime

The Ukrainian citizen accused of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022 faces trial at the Higher Regional Court in Hamburg, Germany,
Source: UPI external link
A court in New Delhi, India, remands Cockroach Janta Party spokespeople Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka in custody for five days after police detained them for entering the restricted Jantar Mantar protest site.
Source: AFP via RFI external link
Turkish opposition-leaning and independent news channel Halk TV goes offline as it is raided by police and new administrators are appointed by the government.
Source: BBC News external link
President Claudia Sheinbaum signs a decree banning violent content on social media to protect minors under the age of 18.
Source: Expansión external link
Costa Rica inaugurates CACCO, a maximum-security prison modeled after El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, aimed at holding 20% of the country's current prison population, as the homicide rate reached a record high in 2023.
Source: Reuters external link

Disasters and accidents

Three people are killed and four others are missing after torrential rainfall triggers widespread flooding across Istanbul, Turkey.
Source: ABC News external link

October 13

Sports

The Netherlands denies visas to Russian artistic gymnasts Anna Kalmykova, Viktoria Listunova, and Angelina Melnikova for the world championships in Rotterdam, while four other Russian gymnasts receive permission to enter the country.
Source: AP external link
In auto racing, Formula 1 announces a new grand prix in Kigali, Rwanda, to run for at least 10 years starting in the early 2030s with a new track. This would be the first F1 grand prix in Africa since South Africa in 1993.
Source: AP external link

Law and crime

Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, United States, suspends all fraternity parties and social events for the remainder of the 2026–27 academic year following allegations that seven Chi Phi members drugged and gang-raped a student in 2024.
Source: BBC News external link
Philippine prosecutors in the impeachment trial of vice president Sara Duterte drop three of the four impeachment charges in an attempt to speed up the trial. The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, approves the move.
Source: AP external link
The Hungarian National Assembly passes an amendment repealing most provisions of the anti-LGBTQ child protection law that was previously passed during former prime minister Viktor Orbán's tenure in 2021.
Source: DW external link
The Clark County District Court in Nevada, United States, sentences former Crips gang leader Duane "Keffe D" Davis to a minimum of 40 years in prison for orchestrating the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas.
Source: DW external link
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation announces the arrests of two men in Ohio and Pennsylvania over an alleged North Korean remote-work scheme and the seizures of about 187 computers and related devices from more than 40 suspected laptop farms in Texas.
Source: Malay Mail external link
A Chinese court sentences three triad members to death for crimes linked to scam centers in Kokang, Myanmar, including fraud, drug trafficking, illegal gambling, prostitution, and the murders of two Chinese citizens.
Source: AFP via CBS News external link
Four people are killed and three more injured in a mass shooting at a memorial service in Katlehong, Gauteng, South Africa.
Source: AP external link
Three Indian nationals are killed and five others are injured in a suspected arson attack in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany. A 41-year-old resident is arrested.
Source: tagesschau external link
Eight people are injured in a mass stabbing at a supermarket in Incheon, South Korea. A suspect is arrested.
Source: CNA external link
Students in Tirana, Albania, throw bricks at the Ministry of Education building, prompting riot police to respond.
Source: Reuters external link

Health and environment

The World Health Organization reports a surge in cholera cases in Yemen over the past three weeks. The country previously had a 6-year-long outbreak due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Source: Arab News external link
Indonesian authorities release 20 protected green sea turtles back into the oceans off Bali after they were seized from an empty boat abandoned by wildlife smugglers last week.
Source: AP external link

Disasters and accidents

Six deaths are confirmed in Florida, United States, from Hurricane Isaias.
Source: The Guardian external link
At least seven people are killed and over 40 others are injured in a train derailment near Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
Source: The Straits Times external link

Armed conflicts and attacks

The Royal Saudi Air Force strikes a fuel depot near Sanaa, Yemen. The Houthis launch missiles upon multiple Saudi Arabian cities, including Riyadh and Dammam, in response.
Source: CNN external link
An administrative building belonging to Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, is partially consumed by a fire after a Houthi missile is intercepted over the city by Saudi forces.
Source: Reuters external link
Hezbollah spokesperson Ali Damoush announces that the group will pay up to US$14,000 in aid to families whose homes in Lebanon were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable during its war with Israel. Families in Beirut and its suburbs will receive $14,000, while those elsewhere in the country will receive $12,000.
Source: AP external link
Two merchant ships are hit by unknown drones off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, with one sinking. Eleven crew members are missing and 20 in total are rescued. Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev has blamed Russia and summoned its ambassador. It is the second such attack in six days.
Source: Reuters external link