Flydubai flight, AI safety pact, US leaves Iraq (Updated)

0:00Hi, I'm Kim Vannell in Wangenewy, New Zealand. And I'm Christopher Walgesper in Chicago. It's Wednesday, September 30th. Today. New details about the fly-to-by flight which was grounded after a knife attack. U.S. forces leave Iraq after two decades, leaving an opening for Iran. And Spain pushes for a ban on evictions till 2030. This is Rochis World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, 7 days a week. It was a chaotic scene on board a fly-to-by flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, when one of the pilots allegedly attacked another and attempted to crash the plane.

1:00After an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, one passenger describes the plane plummeting multiple times before it was clear what was happening. A spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's office says that after one pilot stabbed the other, the injured pilot was then able to unlock the cockpit. Passengers then restrained the attacking pilot, a nomani national, who has now been arrested according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was prepared to send military aircraft to pick up Israeli passengers, though Saudi Arabia rejected the plan. Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Passengers were transferred to a different fly-to-by aircraft and have now arrived in Israel.

2:02What we're talking about today will make it a better place and a much safer place. U.S. President Donald Trump announcing that he and top tech executives have signed a voluntary AI safety pact. Dozens of tech leaders attended the event at the White House, but only six actually signed the accord, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and XAI's Elon Musk. Trump says the companies have agreed to allow independent auditors to assess whether their AI systems are behaving as intended. Here's White House reporter Steve Holland. They came out with a statement of principles in which they will commit to not letting the AI get out of human control. It's what everyone has been wanting. It is voluntary.

3:02It's theoretically self-policing. It's not what some of the AI advocates have been wanting. More strict controls make sure that it doesn't lose control of rogue agents and artificial intelligence world. The pact is a change in approach for Trump, who has been arguing that safety concerns are overblown and the U.S. can't afford to slow down in the AI race against China. This has become a big issue in the campaign for the Republican candidates ahead of the November 3rd midterm elections. The pressure has been very heavy on him to do something. Listening to him today, he was very strong on letting data centers be built, despite all the pressure on him to put some controls on that. He was willing to accept some sort of self-policing on AI.

4:03He feels like we're in a race with the Chinese on this. If you slow down, the Chinese will pull ahead. He doesn't want to slow down. They came up with this mechanism to try to placate people ahead of the midterm. We'll see if it works. Meanwhile, Trump's Federal Trade Commission is opening a sweeping probe into Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI labs. The investigation is aimed at uncovering any potential dangers their technology poses to consumers. According to a source familiar with the matter, the FTC plans to issue formal demands for information and compel testimony from executives at several top AI developers. Anthropic and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. After 23 years, the last US troops are leaving Iraq this week, and that's raising fears of a security vacuum which could embolden Iranian-backed groups

5:12or even give the resurgent Islamic State an opening. Reporter Michael Georgie explains. Iran and its militia allies in Iraq see this as a major victory at a very sensitive time when the Trump administration is waging war against Iran. These US forces were instrumental in providing logistical intelligence support to Iraqi security forces, and basically acting as a bulwark against the Islamic State. Now that they're leaving, this has raised fears that Islamic State will be grouped. They've already been making a comeback or at least plotting a comeback, and the fear is across analysts, ordinary Iraqis, military officials, ex-militarials, that the country is not ready to protect itself from ISIS. And this will further embolden these pro-Ranian Shi'at militias who are already unruly. They listen to no one, they report to Iran, they defy authorities, they defy the Iraqi military.

6:15They'll be further emboldened and have the double problem of ISIS getting embolden, trying to make it comeback now that the US forces are leaving. So potentially it could lead to another major security crisis in Iraq. A US appeals court has halted the execution of Christa Pike, just hours before she was set to be the first woman to be put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Pike was convicted of murdering a classmate in 1995 when she was 18 years old. Her lawyers asked for clemency, citing childhood trauma, sexual abuse, and mental illness, but Governor Bill Lee denied the petition. The court ordered a, quote, short stay of execution to give it time to weigh Pike's argument that her allegations of abuse were not adequately considered during the sentencing. The Spanish government says it's reached a deal on new protections for renters after the country's housing crisis sparked massive protests.

7:22The proposal includes a ban on evictions until 2030. Demonstrations were sparked by the case of 87-year-old Marie Carmen Abescal, who was evicted from her apartment after living there for decades. Images of her being carried out on a stretcher and tipped public anger over the edge. Our Iberia Bioro chief, Ashlyn Lang explains. Effectively it's about a lack of affordable housing for young Spanish to be able to leave home. And also for elderly people to be able to keep their homes in a city that is booming, I will account. Ashlyn says that although Abescal has been allowed to return to her home, the pressure driving the crisis is still there. There are only about 120,000 properties built houses built each year, which has a deficit of about three quarters of a million homes. And that deficit is not coming down. You have a lot of interest from investors.

8:22We've got lots of international students coming in Madrid into Madrid. But also there is a massive inflow of migrants who obviously in the long term would be part of resolving the housing problem. There will be employed on building sites to build some of these houses, but that also in the short term puts more pressure on housing. Now to the Premier League, where Manchester City has been found guilty of manipulating its finances by more than a billion dollars over the course of a decade. That's following an independent Premier League Commission ruling. The English Thawker Club denies any wrongdoing and plans to appeal. No sanctions have been announced. And finally, some good news. The winner of Fat Bear Week 2026 has been crowned. Bear 89, known as backpack for his youthful antics of climbing on his mum's back, has taken out the title. It was his story of recovery from a leg injury that won over hearts, minds and votes.

9:23Fat Bear Week is now in its 12th year, celebrating the remarkable transformation of brown beers in Alaska's Cat My National Park, as they fatter up to attract a mate, nurse cubs, and survive winter hibernation. For more on any of the stories from today, as well as more analysis and news shaping our world, check out Rytis.com or the Rytis app. There's a link in the description to download it and start getting pure news straight from the source. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Rytis 7 days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.