Walter Koenig, who brought humor and grit to the role of starship navigator Pavel Chekov on the classic 1960s sci-fi TV series Star Trek and seven subsequent feature films, has died at the age of 90.

“My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today,” George Takei, who ‌starred alongside Koenig in the show and was a long-time friend, wrote on Facebook on Monday.

Koenig died at his home in Los Angeles, The Associated Press reported, citing his talent agent.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry picked Koenig, who had played only a few prior roles on television, when he decided to add a Russian character to the crew of the fictional Starship Enterprise.

The introduction of a Russian officer who worked harmoniously with a racially ⁠and culturally diverse crew came amid the real-world Cold War tensions of the era.

“We were stating tacitly that peoples of all races and creeds, nationalities could not only co-exist but care for each other deeply, and in doing so we were heralding a future that was very optimistic,” Koenig once told a BBC interviewer.

While Koenig was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he used an inauthentic Russian accent that was sometimes played for laughs.

The original TV series ran for three seasons, from 1966 to 1969. Koenig appeared on 36 episodes, and then in seven movies from 1979 to 1994.

“I was informed while I was still there at my audition that I had the role,” Koenig told the Joplin Globe in 2008.

“It ‌seemed like ⁠an engagement that might work out over several episodes, but I had no idea that it would totally shape my career and my life.”

The show remained popular in syndicated reruns and inspired several later TV series and a succession of films. It attracted a devoted worldwide fan base and earned an enduring place in pop culture.

Koenig’s Star Trek fame was a blessing and a curse, as it ⁠was for cast mates such as William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr McCoy), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), James Doohan (Scotty) and Takei, who played Lieutenant Sulu.

They were often typecast because they were so closely associated with Star Trek.

“Most of the ‘70s, I didn’t work at all, and I blamed ⁠it on typecasting,” Koenig told the St. Petersburg Times in 1998.

He later landed a regular role on the 1990s sci-fi series Babylon 5 and was an author, script writer and occasional director.

Koenig was born on Sept 14, 1936, raised in New York ⁠City and attended the University of California, Los Angeles, before beginning his professional acting career.

He suffered a personal tragedy in 2010 when his son, actor Andrew Koenig, took his own life. Koenig married his wife Judy in 1965. They also had a daughter, actress Danielle Koenig.

Parliament authorised Egypt’s military on Monday to provide support to help defend Saudi Arabia, parliamentarians said, and local media reported, a move that could push Cairo directly into the regional conflict that has expanded with intensified attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on the Gulf kingdom.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had asked parliament last week to approve defending its Gulf Arab ally and the world’s biggest oil exporter if Riyadh requests help against the Houthis, whose advances also threaten the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait, a gateway to Egypt’s Suez Canal.

The House of Representatives “approved authorising President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take the necessary measures to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, state newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

Egypt has frequently condemned Iranian attacks on Gulf countries but has not publicly engaged in direct combat or joined the Makkah mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye that was signed in August.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said this month that Egyptian membership in the pact remains “under serious consideration”.

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state with one of the region’s largest militaries, joined the Saudi-led coalition in an earlier phase of Yemen’s war in March 2015 mainly as a naval partner, sending warships to secure Red Sea shipping lanes while pledging air support. It also deployed around 800 ground troops but played only a limited combat role.

Egypt was involved in a costly military intervention in Yemen in the 1960s and has not undertaken a large-scale foreign ground deployment since the 1991 Gulf War.

Saudi Arabia is a major political and financial partner of Cairo, providing billions of dollars in aid, deposits at the central bank and energy supplies under Sisi.

Fighting between the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthi militia, which controls the capital Sanaa, has escalated in recent weeks, becoming a volatile front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The Houthis have attacked Riyadh’s international airport and the state oil giant Saudi Aramco, disrupting flights and oil exports, while aid agencies have warned of worsening conditions in Yemen, already suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

FM Abdelatty and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad travelled to Riyadh on Wednesday to deliver a letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from Sisi, who said Egypt’s support would be limited to defending Saudi territory and borders rather than attacking Yemen.

Abdelatty said after that visit that Cairo advocates exploring “every opportunity” to resolve the Yemen conflict diplomatically.

The Saudi crown prince visited Sisi in Cairo on Sept 15 to discuss security and navigation in the Red Sea after the fighting in Yemen reignited.

Two states along India’s eastern coast were preparing to evacuate thousands of people ahead of Cyclone ​Arnab, which is expected to make landfall ‌on Wednesday, as one of them said it would close schools in some districts for two days.

Arnab, which formed over ​the Bay of Bengal before intensifying into ​a cyclonic storm, is expected to make landfall ⁠in Andhra Pradesh state by Wednesday morning, with gusts of ​as much as 140 kph (87 mph), India’s weather office ​said.

The cyclone will probably intensify further, it added.

The weather system is expected to bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall to Andhra ​Pradesh’s northern and central coastal districts, and southern ​regions of neighbouring Odisha.

Andhra Pradesh has called for boats at ‌sea ⁠to return ashore and ordered speedy restoration of power in case of disruptions.

A senior Andhra Pradesh disaster management official told Reuters on Monday the state government had ​identified 570,000 people ​as vulnerable ⁠and evacuations would start on Monday evening.

Odisha’s government announced the closure of schools and ​colleges in five districts for Tuesday and ​Wednesday, ⁠and said it was preparing to move residents of low-lying areas to cyclone shelters.

The Bay of Bengal is one ⁠of ​the world’s major regions for ​tropical cyclones.