While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 2, 2025
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Palestinians in Gaza heading south with their belongings on Oct 1.
PHOTO: AFP
Israel issues ‘last’ warning for Gazans to flee main city
Israel issued a final warning on Oct 1 for people to flee Gaza’s main city, as Hamas weighed US President Donald Trump’s plan to end nearly two years of war in the Palestinian territory.
Witnesses reported heavy bombardment in Gaza City, as Israel’s defence minister, Mr Israel Katz, said the army was tightening its encirclement of the city.
“This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas operatives isolated in Gaza City,” Mr Katz posted on X, warning that those who remained would “be considered terrorists and terrorist supporters”.
Mr Katz said the military had seized the Netzarim corridor, linking central Gaza to the western coast, effectively cutting the north of Gaza off from the south. Anyone leaving Gaza City for the south would have to pass through Israeli military checkpoints, he added.
EU leaders back ‘drone wall’ to repel Russia
PHOTO: EPA
European Union leaders backed plans on Oct 1 to bolster the bloc’s defences against Russian drones as they met in Copenhagen days after airspace intrusions by unmanned aircraft rattled Denmark.
European authorities have accused Russia of brazen violations of the region’s airspace, including with recent incursions by drones over Poland and fighter jets over Estonia.
“Europe must be able to defend itself,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said after the EU summit.
Russia cuts power to defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant
PHOTO: BRENDAN HOFFMAN/NYTIMES
The site of Ukraine’s defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant – partially destroyed in a 1986 meltdown – lost power on Oct 1 after Russia shelled a nearby substation, Kyiv said.
The UN’s atomic energy watchdog said the blackout affected the confinement structure housing the plant’s damaged reactor core, and that two emergency diesel generators were now supplying it with electricity.
The incident comes eight days after the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine also lost power – an ongoing situation that Ukraine calls “critical” but that Russia says is “under control”.
Malaysiakini Facebook suspension remains a mystery
PHOTO: BERNAMA
Malaysia’s Communications Minister on Oct 1 denied that the government had temporarily suspended two Facebook accounts of prominent independent media outlet Malaysiakini on Sept 30, an event that raised hackles about media freedom.
Facebook owner Meta also did not suspend those accounts for a couple of hours on Sept 30, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil told reporters, saying he had contacted the company’s top official in Singapore.
His response raised questions about the hidden hand behind the suspension of the Facebook pages of Malaysiakini and KiniTV from around 6pm on Sept 30. This was soon after Malaysiakini published a story alleging that a network of accounts was boosting support for the Facebook page of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Primate expert Jane Goodall dies at 91
Scientist and global activist Jane Goodall, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest for protecting the environment, died on Oct 1 at the age of 91, the institute she founded said.
Dr Goodall died of natural causes, the Jane Goodall Institute said in a social media post.
“Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” it said.
