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Lake Issyk-Kul (Kirghizstan) (AFP) – In the middle of Kyrgyzstan’s largest lake, a team of scientists and divers uncover the remains of a submerged city. Found on an ancient trading route between China and Europe, little is known about the history of the once-thriving settlement under Lake Issyk-Kul or how it came to be flooded an estimated 800 years ago. “For now, we can’t even say for sure how many sites there are, or exactly what periods the underwater remains belong to,” explains expedition director Maxim Menshikov.

Sofia (Bulgaria) (AFP) – Bulgaria is conducting a “rescue operation” after drones hit two commercial ships in the Black Sea off the country’s coast, says Prime Minister Rumen Radev. One ship’s crew has been rescued and authorities have launched a major search for the missing crew of the second sunken vessel. The dual strike came a day after another ship caught fire and sank off the Romanian coast in what Ukraine said was a Russian-launched drone attack.

New York (AFP) – Leading artificial intelligence companies “don’t fully control” their models yet, says former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon. Speaking as he testifies before the New York City Council, the whistleblower, who resigned from Anthropic last month, calls on companies “to be far more transparent with the public and independent experts,” adding that he believes “we should slow down frontier AI development until we can be confident that it’s safe.”

Batangas (Philippines) (AFP) – A humble yam that has cast a purple hue across cities from Seoul to London to Los Angeles, the Filipino ube has enjoyed a global boom in popularity. Once processed, the crop, which can take nine months to grow, can be used in coffee, cakes, ice cream, spreads and make-up, among other products, with its rise attributed to social media. With farmers in the Philippines struggling to keep up, and with fears that overseas cultivation could swoop in to fill the gap, the government has banned the export of raw ube. “I want to be able to have a stronger Philippine ube industry,” says Al Bonifacio, a farmer and exporter processed ube.

Busan (South Korea) (AFP) – A wayward shark has become an unlikely celebrity in South Korea, drawing an estimated one million people to a waterfront park in Busan after it was spotted swimming in its waterway. The predator — believed to be a bull shark — popped up this month and several attempts by coast guard boats to guide it back to the sea have failed. “It feels like a message of hope,” truck driver Park Gab-mok tells AFP. “That good luck will come if I see it.”

Tokyo (AFP) – In diligent, exhausted Japan, self-described elite “competitive sleepers” vied to lie down, relax and nap the fastest and deepest in a contest organised by a mattress company.

Sydney (AFP) – OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon admits the company botched the handling of a hacking incident in Australia, in which a rogue OpenAI model bypassed safeguards to gain unauthorised access to a government health statistics website. “We are sorry, and we know we have work to do to rebuild trust with the Australian people,” Kwon tells Australian lawmakers. SOUNDBITE

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Brazilians in Sao Paulo share a mix of views after right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro — son of former president Jair Bolsonaro — pulled off a surprise first-place finish in the first round election, beating incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “It really is a surprise,” says psychology student Milena Gabriela Dos Santos Dias, who says she is “curious” as to how the run-off vote in three weeks will go. Bolsonaro secured 56 million votes, with scandals during the campaign — namely the emergence that he was under investigation for corruption over the financing of his father’s biopic — doing little to sway his support base. “His project is better than the current one,” says Leando Da Silva.

Grums (Sweden) (AFP) – Descending into a concrete bunker in western Sweden, a group of almost 40 volunteers take part in the country’s first overnight air raid shelter exercise. The country has been stepping up work on preparedness following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “We need to know what happens to the people,” says Therese Rosenblad, one of the simulation’s organisers.

Madrid (AFP) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls an early election, set for late November, after the country’s parliament rejected housing relief measures put forward by his minority government. Political pressure has been mounting in Spain, with protests erupting across the country to demand affordable housing.

Bogotá (AFP) – Throwing metal disks at a clay-filled target with the aim of striking a packet of gunpowder and setting off a small explosion, teams from 18 countries compete at the Tejo World Championship in Bogota. Declared Colombia’s national sport in 2000, tejo was invented by the indigenous Muisca people. It has been recognized as part of the country’s intangible cultural heritage since 2019.

Nalbari (India) (AFP) – Residents of India’s northeastern Assam state queue to enter the cabin of a medical clinic boat, part of a network of vessels bringing healthcare to communities isolated by the Brahmaputra river. The state has a population of more than 30 million, with hundreds of thousands living on “chars”, or temporary river islands and sandbars, where even basic healthcare can be a challenge. Despite recent improvements, Assam still has high infant and maternal mortality rates when compared to India’s national average, with the boat clinic system focusing mainly on this area.