Adrian Whitmore covers geopolitics and foreign affairs, tracing how decisions in one capital ripple through the rest. Calm, big-picture, and steady in the middle of a crisis.
Satellite imagery from September 2026 shows construction under cover at Taleghan 2 in Tehran and rapid rebuilding at the Parchin military complex, both struck multiple times since 2024. The IAEA says it has carried out almost no in-field verification in Iran for more than six months and cannot account for some enriched uranium stockpiles.
The NMESIS system carries Naval Strike Missiles with a range of around 185 kilometers, putting waters off northeastern Taiwan potentially within reach. The deployment comes during the Keen Sword exercise in October 2026, which will involve around 45,000 Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel.
Kabila announced the alliance in Goma, a city M23 has controlled since January 2025. The move binds him openly to a group over alleged links to which he was sentenced to death in absentia.
Ukraine's parliament passed the law with 266 votes on 12 October, and EU member states agreed within hours to open two new accession clusters for Ukraine and Moldova. Every remaining step still requires unanimous agreement from all 27 members.
Ten warrant officers completed a 19-week course at Fort Bragg to become the inaugural class of a new specialty focused on autonomous systems. The Army created the role after finding that units couldn't integrate robotic systems fast enough without dedicated experts.
After years fighting the Assad regime, Uyghur militants have been absorbed into the Syrian Armed Forces' 84th Division. Syrian officials say they have no plans to hand the fighters to China, which has been tracking and trying to recruit them.
UNHCR has secured just $3 billion of the $8.5 billion it needs in 2026, and has already cut its workforce from 20,000 to under 12,000. Refugee registration has been suspended in Ethiopia, and services for more than 50,000 survivors of sexual violence in Chad are under threat.
Coordinated attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports in early October 2026 prompted Air India, Lufthansa and others to suspend services. A Cairo flight diverted after a projectile landed near the runway just before its arrival.
A weak monsoon cut hydropower output while hotter weather pushed electricity demand up 9.5 per cent. Then late rains flooded the coal-mining regions, disrupting supplies to plants already running short.
Mohsen Rezaie, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said AI facilities and other digital infrastructure across the region could be targeted. He also said Tehran now regards the latest US response as insufficient and has stopped replying to Washington.
A 44-year-old Salvadoran passenger went overboard from the cruise ship Odyssey of the Seas in the Ionian Sea early on Friday. She was found conscious some 20 hours later, her lifebelt's flashing light leading rescuers to her in the dark.
A landslide blocked the Budhi Gandaki river near Chumchure, and when the natural dam gave way on Sunday, floodwater tore through communities in Gorkha. Five people are missing and Nepal's army has rescued 49 others.
The Pentagon says the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, will be broadcast on December 3. President Trump said the final call on livestreaming is his.
The 71-year-old announced the news at his Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square. He is expected to need about a week to recover, and says his planned November visit to South America will still go ahead.
Defra convenes the Met Office, the Environment Agency, local authorities and industry on Wednesday to assess how ready the country is for this winter. Last winter brought 42% more rain than average; forecasters now expect a wetter than average autumn, driven partly by El Niño.
Pavlo Oliynyk, a 25-year-old former Ukrainian lieutenant captured in the Donbas in 2024, says he was electrocuted and beaten before accepting a place in the Maksym Kryvonis battalion. An investigation by Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne found every member it identified was a former Ukrainian serviceman captured between 2023 and 2024.
A fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica after its crew ignored warnings, disabling the ship's propulsion but leaving the crew unharmed. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which once carried 20% of the world's oil, has fallen to its lowest level in more than two months.
The IAEA board voted 23-3 to escalate the dispute after Iran blocked inspectors from bombed nuclear sites following military strikes in June. Russia and China opposed the move, and diplomacy remains stalled.
A presidential decree moves both legislative and presidential votes from November 2026 to September 11, 2027. Palestinians have not held national elections since 2005–2006, and Abbas has ruled by decree since his mandate expired in 2009.
Eritrea has invoked Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows measures ranging from sanctions to military action. Ethiopia says it is acting in self-defence, and has accused Eritrea of deploying troops and backing insurgent groups — allegations Asmara flatly denies.
Attacks on civilians, climate shocks and dwindling aid money are forcing families from their homes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The UN's refugee agency warned that international attention is now receding from the crisis.
King Mohammed VI said Spanish court decisions were blocking the return of minors and people he called fake asylum seekers. He warned that cooperation with Spain was a sovereign choice and would not bend to pressure.
Ukraine says it needs up to 360 interceptors before winter. US stocks have fallen below 1,700, leaving European allies as the main potential source.
A 19-year-old wounded nine people in Ostrołęka and a 15-year-old killed a caretaker in Leszczydół-Nowiny on consecutive days. Poland's defence minister said Russia tried to exploit the attacks with a disinformation campaign, though authorities found no foreign involvement in either.
The National Intelligence Bureau opened in Tokyo on 31 July with around 700 staff and a remit to coordinate information across government agencies. A separate foreign intelligence service is also in preparation.
President Lai Ching-te made the announcement on National Day, saying the 2027 budget is meant to deter aggression, not provoke it. China continues to conduct near-daily military patrols and grey-zone operations around the island.
The Rhine, Danube, Po, Loire, Rhône and Seine all reached record lows at the same time, forcing nuclear plant shutdowns and halting cargo transport. Copernicus called it the worst summer for river flows since its records began in 1992.
Federal troops have entered the Tigray capital after nearly two weeks of fighting, collapsing the 2022 Pretoria ceasefire that ended a war in which around 600,000 people died. Ethiopia has now severed diplomatic ties with Eritrea and expelled an Egyptian diplomat, accusing both countries — along with Sudan — of backing the rebels. All three deny it.
Ethiopian drone strikes hit Eritrean soldiers and equipment in Adigrat as both governments accuse the other of breaking their 2022 peace deal. Eritrea has severed diplomatic ties and denied backing the TPLF, accusing Ethiopia of using the conflict to seize its Red Sea port of Assab.
Hans Grundberg pointed to military build-ups and threats along frontlines as signs the fragile pause in fighting is collapsing. The Houthis have attacked more than 80 merchant ships since the Gaza war began, and a cholera outbreak has grown to more than 147,000 cases with funding covering only a quarter of them.
Recruits were promised civilian jobs in security or construction, then forced into military service. Kenya says 84 of its nationals involved in the conflict are dead or missing.
Protesters looted foreign-owned shops and besieged a refugee centre, fired up by false claims that a court ruling would give undocumented migrants automatic legal status. The South African government said on Friday it would change how it complies with the ruling.
Hibatullah Akhundzada presents a unified Islamic state, but power is split between ISI-aligned factions, regional warlords and hardline clerics. Armed opposition groups have launched attacks across the country, though none has managed to seriously threaten Taliban control.
Global donor aid dropped 23 percent in 2025 — the steepest annual fall on record — and Africa bore more than its share. Women and children are losing access to health services as US cuts gut HIV and maternal health programmes across the continent.
Singapore ranked the most polluted city on earth on Wednesday, with Kuala Lumpur close behind. Malaysia closed schools in five states and two federal territories, and Indonesia recorded nearly 175,000 respiratory infections linked to the fires between July and September.
Denmark's intelligence service says Russia moved from planning to carrying out 'a lot more' operations by early summer. Recruits — including homeless people and drug users — are approached through Telegram and sent to surveil or sabotage weapons producers.
The mission involves roughly 200 personnel providing intelligence, targeting support and aerial refuelling for Saudi jets. It marks a partial reversal of Washington's earlier step back from the Yemen war.
About 70 structures at 11 bases have been hit since the 2026 war began, with more than 50,000 American troops still in the region. Officials are debating whether to withdraw, relocate or fortify those forces.
The draft allocates 17.1 trillion rubles ($205.2 billion) to defence — 375 percent above the pre-war level. Adding security and law enforcement, nearly half of all federal spending would go to the war effort.
A study found pollution rose sharply across 46 cities once the State Department shut its embassy monitoring network in March 2025. The biggest increases were in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where embassy readings were often the only credible source of data available.
Satellite imagery shows most structures in Israeli-held Gaza have been bulldozed or blown into rubble, with much of the destruction happening after the fighting stopped. At least 18 new military outposts have been built since the ceasefire took effect, while reconstruction has yet to begin.
The deployment, Sweden's first Patriot mission under NATO command, begins December 1 when Swedish forces take over from the Dutch at Rzeszów — a hub moving 18,000 tons of equipment a month to Ukraine.
The three Sahel states withdrew together from the Rome Statute in a coordinated move. Burkina Faso has also cut diplomatic ties with France and may yet break with the EU.
A Congressional Research Service report updated in October lists F-15Es, an F-35A, drones and tankers among the losses. The Congressional Budget Office puts replacement costs at between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion.
Washington wants the UN embargo, currently limited to Darfur, to cover all of Sudan. The US envoy says neither of the warring generals has a future in the country's governance — but regional powers keep funding both sides.
No newly exported Iranian oil has crossed the US blockade line since July. With only around 10 million barrels left in floating storage off Malaysia, Tehran is fast running out of crude to sell.
The facility at Ban Keun, 50 kilometres north of Vientiane, is China's third disclosed military installation abroad. Its opening caught the US off guard — Laos had not featured on the Pentagon's list of likely locations.
The Seimas took the first of three required steps to strike Article 137 from the constitution, which has barred weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases since the Soviet army left. Two further votes are needed, in October and January, each requiring a two-thirds supermajority.
The battery will go to the Lublin region, which borders Ukraine and has seen Russian drones strike a nearby crossing in recent weeks. Abrams tanks, Apache helicopters and a drone brigade are also planned for the area.
Government forces say they seized the Red Sea port city and a strategic town near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, but unnamed Yemeni officials told wire agencies that troops had reached only the outskirts. The Houthis struck Saudi Aramco facilities and two airports inside Saudi Arabia in retaliation, and Turkey and Pakistan agreed to deploy forces to the kingdom.
The UN says clearing more than 60 million tons of debris could take seven to ten years, and only 1.5 per cent has been removed. Israel's restrictions on heavy machinery and shelter supplies are slowing the effort further.
The Royad Mammadov went down in Romanian waters carrying corn from Ukraine to Italy. Zelenskyy said two Russian drones hit the civilian vessel, killing the captain — Romanian authorities confirmed the deaths but have not established the cause.
The court finds reasonable grounds to believe the Taliban's supreme leader, its chief judge and two education ministers persecuted women, girls and others who did not conform with Taliban gender policies. Enforcement will be difficult: all four remain inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The Eternity C was left listing and adrift after the attack southwest of Hodeidah, the second strike on a merchant vessel in the corridor since November 2024. Six seafarers have now been killed in Red Sea attacks overall.
The Houthis seized the port city of Mocha and several key positions near Taiz in September, unravelling a ceasefire that had largely held for four years. Officials fear a return to full-scale war in one of the country's most densely populated areas.
The Narva base, due in summer 2028, will hold up to 1,000 personnel and is designed to help receive allied forces moving east. Estonia has also redirected hundreds of millions in defence spending towards drones and air defences after a surge in Russian drone incursions across the Baltic region.
The change, which took effect on 15 September, applies to nationals of 60 countries and limits most land-border crossings to twice a year. It follows local protests over foreign land ownership and overseas-run businesses.
Qatari mediators handed Washington's response to Iran's foreign minister during a stopover in Doha. The two sides broadly agree on the measures under discussion but remain divided over the order of any steps.
The four leaders issued a joint declaration rejecting any threat to Egypt and Sudan's Nile water rights, backing Somalia's sovereignty and calling for a Sudanese-led peace process. The meeting came days after Ethiopia cut diplomatic ties with Eritrea and expelled an Egyptian diplomat.
Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad Al-Alimi ordered forces into action after a 2022 truce collapsed in July and Houthis seized the west and Red Sea coasts in September. The government is offering amnesty to fighters who lay down their arms.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow and then Zelensky in Kyiv. Ukraine's Presidential Office head says a three-way negotiation involving the US is now being prepared.
At least 15,280 civilians were killed or injured in the first eight months of 2026 — more than in the whole of last year. Russian missile, drone and glide-bomb strikes drove an average of more than 400 casualties a week.
Foreign Minister Jaishankar said New Delhi has moved beyond urging dialogue to holding active conversations with both sides. The talks cover Black Sea shipping safety, grain and energy exports, and possible non-attacks.
The seizure of al-Safiya and its police station has severed a vital government supply route. Civilians travelling between the two cities must now take mountain roads that add four hours to the journey.
Russia's strikes on Kyiv's major bridges continued for a fourth consecutive day as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made an unannounced trip to the city. He and President Zelenskyy announced an aid package worth more than €1.3 billion.
The meeting would involve negotiators rather than national leaders, with Ukraine open to hosting in the UAE. Russia has not formally confirmed it will attend.
Ukraine's president says the attacks will stop only if Moscow halts strikes on Ukraine's electricity, heating and water supplies. Russia's defence ministry has promised further attacks on Kyiv in response.
The capture of al-Mazroub, at a crossroads between army-held North Kordofan and the RSF stronghold of West Kordofan, could disrupt supply lines for the paramilitary group. The army says it follows a run of gains across the state.
Simultaneous raids on two sites in Mindanao seized computers, phones and SIM cards. Investigators are now looking into possible human trafficking offences, and all those arrested face deportation proceedings.
Around 3.4 million voters chose members of the presidency and national Parliament. Technical problems with new digital voting technology delayed the opening of several polling places on Sunday morning.
The German chancellor arrived by special train for an unannounced visit, defying a Russian warning to foreign visitors to stay away. He also announced €350 million for repairs to Ukraine's energy sector ahead of a fifth winter of war.
Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, was detained in Naha's entertainment district on Saturday after security footage showed a man leaving the hotel with Anna Yagi's belongings. Japan's prime minister has lodged a formal protest, and the case has renewed Okinawan anger over decades of crimes involving US military personnel.
The class action alleges the government knew the fires were coming and failed to act. It seeks a national disaster declaration to unlock emergency funds as the haze spreads to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
Operation Vivaldi was held back for a year because commanders judged it unready. Zelenskyy says the wait paid off, with Ukrainian losses several times lower than Russian ones — though the operation is still under way.
Firefighters battled a blaze at the Saudi oil giant's refinery south of Riyadh after the Houthi military spokesman said missiles and drones had started fires at the site. The WHO says more than 800 people have been killed and 150,000 displaced since the fighting restarted in July.
The Navy-Marine NMESIS system will arrive on Yonaguni, 110km from Taiwan, during the Keen Sword exercise this month. Japan's own surface-to-ship missiles will also deploy to the island for the first time, as 45,000 troops from both countries take part in the drills.
More than 47,000 personnel took part in the Tsentr-2026 drills in Chelyabinsk Oblast. Russia said the exercise drew on lessons from the Ukraine war, with troops stationed underground to limit their exposure to drone strikes.
Washington has licensed Iraqi Airways to carry Iranian religious pilgrims to and from Najaf until late October. The deal excludes Mahan Air, which has been under US sanctions since 2011.
Abdulhamid Dabaiba told clan leaders in Misrata that Haftar directed the cell behind the attacks, which have targeted refineries and substations near Zawiya since July. The accusation complicates a US-backed plan in which Haftar had been discussed for a leading role in a unified Libya.
The Autonomous Warfare Command, or AutoWarCom, is due to be operational by October next year. It will have its own manpower, budget and acquisition authorities, and Hegseth called it the fastest peacetime shift in modern military history.
Nearly half of the world's 13.1 million school-age refugees were not enrolled in 2025. Jamila Mostafa, 19, fled Sudan for Egypt still hoping to earn a technology degree — but the cuts threaten progress hard won over years.
The 18-year-old former students also wounded three people, including a student who lost a hand. The motive has not been established.
The Omani co-pilot attacked the pilot on a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight carrying 174 people, sending the Boeing 737 plunging from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in under a minute. Investigators are now asking whether he used a crash axe stored in the cockpit — equipment that every commercial airliner is required to carry.
Two F-16Vs touched down at Chihhang Air Base on October 2, the first of 66 aircraft from a 2019 deal that ran three years late. The delivery comes as Taiwan worries about Donald Trump's commitment to arming the island — he has stalled a separate $14 billion weapons package.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt left San Diego on Sunday, followed a day later by more than 2,000 Marines aboard the Makin Island. By the end of November, three carriers and two amphibious groups will be in position near Iran, joining roughly 50,000 US troops already in the region.
More than 210 attacks on commercial vessels were recorded between July and September, the worst violence since Russia's full-scale invasion began. Turkish efforts to arrange a limited truce have so far failed.
Britain said there were strong indications Iran played a role in an incident at the military base, where five men were arrested and later released. Tehran called the accusations groundless and questioned why suspected terrorists had been set free.
The projected 471.4 billion rubles is nearly double what companies paid in 2025. Most of the money started arriving after Putin reportedly asked business leaders at a closed-door meeting in March to help fund the war.
The designation bars US banks from making transfers involving A7's foreign shell companies. Iran's Revolutionary Guard and central bank were also found to have used the network's services.
Talks are set for early October, mediated by a Swiss humanitarian group. Russia has ruled out reviving the 2022 grain corridor, while Ukraine is signalling caution, leaving the shape of any new deal unclear.
Flight FZ1073, carrying more than 170 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, plunged 17,000ft before making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu said the attacker had been radically indoctrinated and that it was looking 'very likely' he intended to crash the plane.
Lai Ching-te told 500 experts and guests he wants foreign governments and civilian groups to join Taiwan's five-year-old whole-of-society defence effort. Key details — membership, mandate and launch date — have not been announced.
The warning was delivered last month by the US ambassador to a senior Lebanese Shiite official, according to al-Modon newspaper. Israel has also demanded the Lebanese Army deploy to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure — and bar Shiite personnel from pilot zones, a condition Lebanon has rejected.
Russia continues daily strikes with ballistic missiles and new jet-powered drones, buoyed by Ukraine's shortage of air defence missiles. Senior Russian officials are now framing the war as a direct confrontation with Europe, with one raising the prospect of nuclear escalation if the fighting continues.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are strong indications Iran played a part in the incident near the American bomber base in southwest England. Iran's embassy in London called the allegation unfounded. Five British men arrested near the base on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack have been released on bail.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee says developments since 2020 have been "very negative". The concern falls on Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia's prime minister and the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, as the UN and African Union both call for an immediate halt to the violence.
The Russian embassy in Ireland posted the warning on social media, citing unspecified reports of NATO preparations to cut the region off by air and sea. NATO denied any such threat and urged Moscow to drop its nuclear rhetoric.
Operation Atlantic City brought US, Norwegian and British troops together on the remote island from 26 August to 4 September. The Marine Corps called it the first rapid insertion of military assets into a location of this kind, as NATO watches Russia's growing presence in the Arctic.
The final withdrawal from the Kurdistan region is scheduled for Wednesday. Baghdad is marking the departure as a sovereignty milestone, but the government has yet to resolve how it will manage Iran-backed armed factions once foreign troops are gone.
A new report documents unlawful killings, torture and drone strikes across the Ségou, Mopti and Timbuktu regions between 2023 and 2025. Two FAMa airstrikes alone killed at least 23 people, including five children.
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