Armenia eyes environmental cooperation with neighbouring countries
Armenia is looking to turn shared environmental challenges into opportunities for regional cooperation, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan highlig...
Following a rare nationwide blackout, Spain has restored nearly all electricity supply, though most trains remain idle and the cause of the outage remains unclear.
Spain’s electricity grid operator, Red Eléctrica, announced on Tuesday that it had managed to supply nearly the entire country’s power demand following a massive blackout that disrupted the Iberian Peninsula the day before. All substations in Spain were operational by Tuesday morning, the operator said in a statement on X, while control centre teams continued efforts to fully stabilise the system.
Despite the restoration of electricity, the rail network remained significantly impaired. Madrid’s underground resumed limited operations with 80% of trains running, while the national railway operator Adif confirmed that most intercity and regional trains across Spain were still not functioning.
The unprecedented outage struck on Monday morning, impacting Spain and Portugal, halting public transport, grounding aircraft, and leading hospitals to scale back routine services. Power began to return late Monday, yet several sectors faced continued disruption into Tuesday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the blackout was triggered by a sudden drop of 15 gigawatts of electricity generation within five seconds—roughly 60% of Spain’s total demand. This abrupt loss disconnected Spain’s power grid from France’s, leading to a wider systemic collapse, according to Red Eléctrica's operations chief, Eduardo Prieto.
While minor outages were also reported in parts of France, Portugal’s grid operator indicated that the problem likely originated in Spain. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro stated that there was no evidence pointing to a cyberattack.
The incident has reignited debate over the stability of renewable energy networks. Spain, a leading user of wind and solar energy, faces growing scrutiny over whether its energy infrastructure can withstand supply fluctuations. Prime Minister Sanchez said the root cause of the outage remains unknown and that no possibility, including technical failure or external interference, is being ruled out.
Sanchez also discussed the incident with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday, according to sources in Brussels.
The Saudi-led coalition said early Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for the recent drone and missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, vowing to carry out more attacks in the coming days.
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It comes after a deadly Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed at least 13 people last week.
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, to pilot drones. A source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the restrictions would make it harder for Kyiv's army to down Russian drones.
Ukraine is set to restart attacks on Russian oil refineries following a two-day pause, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, amid growing tensions with Washington over energy strikes and U.S. military support.
A Norwegian teenager recruited by a Swedish criminal network to carry out a contract killing in Britain has been sentenced to 20 years’ detention after police uncovered the murder plot.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called it “a disgrace” that Ukraine has resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries. Attacks are continuing from Russia and Ukraine as media reports say Ukraine has almost run out of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Romanian rescuers resumed their search for seven missing sailors on Friday (16 October) after a drone strike set a chemical tanker ablaze near the country’s Black Sea coast. The attacks have raised fresh security concerns along a vital regional trade route.
Students, lecturers and university staff marched on Argentina’s Congress in Buenos Aires on Thursday to demand President Javier Milei’s government implement a university funding law which would boost staff salaries and increase financial support to institutions to cover operating costs
A 16-year-old shooter opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon in the United States, killing four people, including three children, before being killed by an armed member of the community who had pursued the assailant into the school, police said.
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