Indian authorities launched a major security crackdown in New Delhi to block a mass protest called by the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday (Oct. 10). The protesters, led by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, demanded the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter list fraud and electoral irregularities that critics claim favour the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Police detained more than 2,000 protesters, including Abhijeet Dipke (who was detained at Delhi airport) and several opposition figures across Delhi and Mumbai. Most detainees were released later that night.

The United Nations human rights office expressed concerns over mass detentions before and ⁠during the protests. "We call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled," UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement. He also urged authorities to engage in "meaningful dialogue" to address the "broadly held" concerns expressed.

The roof of a private school collapsed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday, killing at least 34 children and a teacher and injuring more than 50 other people in the deadliest incident of its kind in the country, authorities and a hospital official said. The children killed or injured at Al-Khair school were between 6 and 12 years old, while the oldest was 14, Lady Reading Hospital spokesman Mohammad Asim said. Some of the injured were in critical condition, he said. The hospital declared an emergency as medical staff treated the wounded.

Hours after the collapse in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, emergency services spokesperson Bilal Faizi said that everyone trapped beneath the rubble had been pulled out and crews had cleared debris. He told The Associated Press that the roofs of two classrooms collapsed when second- and third-grade children were in them with their teachers. Faizi said ambulances and disaster management personnel arrived from a nearby facility within five minutes of being alerted.

Bulgaria said Russia was likely behind drone attacks that struck four ships in the Black Sea in the past week, sinking two, but there was no way of proving Moscow's culpability. Rescuers are still searching for 11 crew members missing after drone strikes on Tuesday (Oct. 13) sank two ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone and adjacent waters, while five other crew members were rescued. One of the ships is registered to Guinea-Bissau but the other one, the Chelsea-3, is Ukrainian-owned, registered in Odessa and sails under the flag of Malta, a European Union member.

"There is no logic in Ukraine attacking its own ships and crews, given that the outcome of all these attacks favours Russia - and indeed, the logic points in that direction. The problem is that we cannot prove it," Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told Parliament. Radev on Tuesday summoned the Russian ambassador to Sofia, who said she does not have any information from the Russian defence ministry.

A Hezbollah official acknowledged Thursday that a truck full of explosives seized by Lebanese authorities last week belonged to the militant group and said the explosives were intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The truck, which was stopped at a checkpoint on the main highway linking Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley, was carrying 780 kilograms (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of TNT and 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials.

Two men were arrested when the truck was stopped, and Lebanese authorities launched an investigation. They said that security agencies will go after other people involved in the shipment. The news of its seizure had generated heated public discussions, with many accusing Hezbollah of planning to carry out assassinations of domestic opponents at a time when the group is under increasing pressure to disarm.