International News from Thursday, October 2nd, 2025

Two people were killed on Thursday when a man drove a car into pedestrians and stabbed a security guard in an attack at a synagogue in England where worshippers were marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

The death toll from a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck off the central Philippines late on Tuesday has risen to 72, the civil defence agency said.

Rescuers were racing against time on Thursday to extricate some 60 teenagers trapped under the remains of a boarding school that collapsed earlier this week due to foundation failure, disaster authorities said.

Cell phone and internet services has been restored in Afghanistan, local residents said, some 48 hours after diplomatic and industry sources said connectivity was abruptly cut on the orders of the Taliban administration.

US President Donald Trump's administration froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states on Wednesday, following through on a threat to use the government shutdown to target Democratic priorities.

Israeli forces have intercepted 39 boats carrying aid and foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza, leaving only one vessel still sailing towards the Palestinian enclave, the flotilla organisers said on Thursday.