Conflicts, peace talks, alliances
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 Trump administration's offensive against alleged drug smugglers has now killed at least 235 people across 70 strikes since September 2025. UN experts have described the campaign as serial extrajudicial killings and say the strikes may constitute crimes against humanity.
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 Saudi-backed campaign aims to retake strategic territory and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Houthi forces are still advancing in southwestern Yemen and threatening a key supply route to Taiz.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv by train with the package, about €1 billion of it military aid. A new German-Ukrainian interceptor drone, the SPYS, has passed testing, and officials say thousands will reach Ukrainian forces in the coming months.
The government said the withdrawal took effect immediately, calling it the latest in a series of exits from regional bodies. Nicaragua left the OAS in 2023 and the UN Human Rights Council in 2025.
Three crew members died after a missile struck a ship in the Gulf of Aden. The Iran-backed rebels' campaign, which began in November, has forced Maersk and others to reroute around Africa as freight and insurance costs rise.
The first phase of a plan to return up to 5,000 people has drawn sharp criticism from UNHCR, which says it had no role in identifying those sent back. A UN special rapporteur warned that returnees face a substantial risk of persecution or torture.
Commercial crossings through the strait have fallen to about 6 vessels a day, against a pre-war average of 84. The September exchange — 5 US strikes on Iranian tankers, 10 Iranian attacks near the strait — was the largest declared action against shipping since the war began, and has pushed Brent crude above $100 a barrel.
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.
Ethiopia ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave within 48 hours, accusing them of backing rebels and threatening national security. Eritrea responded by severing all diplomatic relations, ending a friendship that Abiy Ahmed rebuilt in 2018 after two decades of hostility.
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.
Washington says its military's main goal is to stop Iran exporting energy, as part of a wider push to strangle its economy. An Iranian official says the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within seven days if the US eases pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.
Ukraine's agriculture minister went to Brussels seeking €1.1 billion in transport subsidies and more capacity to move grain through Europe. Both neighbours said their rail and road networks were already at the limit.
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.
Ukraine's president called it 'a very dangerous moment', saying Moscow was passing on the technology in return for North Korean missile support. Russia plans to spend $12 billion next year on jet-powered drones and loitering munitions.
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.
Fighting spread to Addis Ababa and towards the pilgrimage site of Lalibela this week after a seven-group rebel alliance launched attacks on 23 September. Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan are holding a summit in Alamein on Sunday, as all three countries deny Ethiopian accusations that they are backing the rebels.
An unknown projectile struck the Panama-flagged El Gaia, damaging its engine room and starting a fire. Iran's foreign minister said only negotiations could end the conflict, but warned of a stronger response to any further military action.
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.
Both crude oil distillation units at Gazprom's Moscow Oil Refinery caught fire after drones crashed into the plant, halting processing for several weeks. The refinery supplies about 40% of Moscow's fuel market, and shortages have now been reported across 92% of Russia's regions.
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.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and a second flotilla carrying 2,000 Marines have left for the region. US officials say the forces would give Washington broader military options if talks with Tehran fail.
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.
Renegade soldiers targeted the presidential palace, the airport and state broadcaster in Niamey on 28 August. Niger's military government has blamed France for orchestrating the mutiny — an allegation Paris denies.
Kim Yo Jong said the intermediate-range missile can alter its flight path at low altitude, making it impossible to intercept. The claims have not been independently verified.
Flames rose from an Aramco facility south of Riyadh on Saturday, with the Houthis saying they had hit it with missiles and drones. The exchange comes as the World Food Programme warns that three-quarters of Yemen's population cannot meet basic food needs.
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.
Federal troops entered the northern regional capital on Saturday and took control of its airport. The retreat shifts the momentum in a conflict that has raised fears of a return to the all-out civil war of 2020-2022.
Italian prosecutors have dropped a request to close the Ustica investigation after France agreed to share military documents with Italian judges. The records may finally answer whether a French fighter jet accidentally shot down the DC-9, killing all 81 people aboard.
Moscow's foreign ministry said those who ignore the warning are exposing themselves to mortal danger. A Russian strike hit the Nord Bridge over the Dnipro river on Saturday, injuring two people.
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.
It is the first time Japan has imposed sanctions on vessels. The measures cut off insurance, crew services and repairs for ships believed to carry Russian oil to China and India.
The Russian president stopped short of explicitly threatening nuclear weapons, but his comments follow claims from Russian embassies in Europe that NATO is preparing to blockade the Baltic exclave. NATO denies it.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front has allied with six other armed groups to topple the federal government. Air strikes have already killed at least 14 civilians, and explosions have reached the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Southern Bridge carries up to 110,000 cars a day and handles about 90% of cross-river traffic in the capital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko says it is completely shut after strikes damaged a support, the road surface and the metro's protective structure.
Yemeni ground forces backed by Saudi air strikes would lead the operation, expected within weeks. Riyadh says peace talks cannot resume while the Houthis hold Bab al-Mandab, the passage linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Ukraine's local counter-attacks recaptured a record 128 square kilometres in August 2026, with Operation Vivaldi near Lyman adding a further 85. Russian casualty figures have passed 1.5 million killed and wounded, and July was one of Moscow's worst months of the war.
President Zelenskyy confirmed the FP-7 — built by Ukrainian firm Fire Point, with a range of up to 250 kilometres — was used against Russian-occupied territory on October 1. Whether it hit its target is unknown, but Zelenskyy's announcement pointed firmly at expanding production.
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 Foreign Office now says Pakistan will comply with 'all applicable sanctions regimes' under domestic and international law. The earlier formulation made no mention of sanctions regimes or domestic law, focusing instead on bilateral trade agreements with Tehran.
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.
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.
Blasts were heard overnight close to Ethiopia's military headquarters and near the secret service base. An opposition-linked source told Reuters its forces carried out drone strikes, though the claim has not been confirmed and Ethiopian authorities have not responded.
The legislation, part of the EU's wider asylum pact, sets a shared framework across member states and Norway. Amnesty International has warned that return centres cannot be run in a way that is compatible with human rights protections.
Delays tied to China's military anti-corruption purge have pushed back the timetable. But officials warn the risk could rise sharply after Taiwan's 2028 presidential election, especially if the ruling party wins a fourth term.
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.
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.
Tafouk TV began broadcasting from Bamako on 16 September and is available through Canal+. Its launch follows the expulsion of foreign correspondents and the banning of several Western broadcasters across all three countries.
France and Italy back the plan, which would support the Lebanese Army rather than replace UNIFIL. Key details — who else participates, when, and how disarmament would actually work — are still unresolved.
A New York Times investigation found Israeli forces have pushed past agreed withdrawal lines since the October 2025 truce. Netanyahu has said Israel plans to seize more territory and will not pull back without what he calls genuine disarmament.
Polish pilots currently have to get close enough to see a target before firing. The change follows a Russian military helicopter that strayed into Polish airspace on 23 September, and near-daily drone threats from the direction of Russia.
Footage from a military exercise in Russia's Rostov region shows a shoulder-fired air defence weapon Russian personnel call 'Iva'. Visual analysis points to China's QW-series and Iran's Misagh-3, though its origin and how it reached Russian forces remain unclear.
Aircraft from the ruling military struck close to a market in Rakhine state on Monday, wounding 36 others. The area lies near the Bangladesh border, far from Myanmar's active civil war zones, and the intended target is unknown.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani urged civil aviation authorities to take seriously the risk to flight paths over the southern Red Sea. He said Huthi forces were firing converted Iranian air defence weapons that use heat-seeking technology and cannot distinguish civilian targets from military ones.
Netanyahu met UAE president Mohamed bin Zayed on Sunday in a trip described as secret. It came days after Haaretz reported that the Emirati leader had warned Netanyahu that Hamas was planning an attack before October 7, 2023.
Seoul says Kyiv broke a confidentiality agreement when Zelenskyy told the UN that two North Korean soldiers captured in Russia had been transferred to South Korea. Ukraine has not explained why it made the transfer public.
Ethiopia's army chief alleged outside support for the TPLF offensive, which has expanded into Afar and Amhara since heavy clashes resumed on Wednesday. At least 150,000 people have been displaced in Afar, where rebels seized the town of Erebti on Sunday.
Baghdad announced the complete withdrawal of US combat and logistical personnel on Sept. 26. The Pentagon has not confirmed the departure, and the two countries have yet to clarify what military ties, if any, will remain.
Tehran says shipping through the strait — closed since February, carrying a fifth of the world's oil and gas — could resume within a week of a ceasefire. Trump has publicly rejected the timetable and left open the option of renewed strikes after November's midterms.
Field Marshal Berhanu Jula also alleged that Egypt and Sudan are funding a new armed alliance operating inside Ethiopia. Eritrea denied the accusations and said it fears Ethiopia may try to invade it for access to the Red Sea.
Clashes have spread across the Fizi, Uvira and Mwenga territories of South Kivu since Sunday, with DRC army forces backed by Burundian troops and Wazalendo fighters. Women are enlisting with the Wazalendo to defend their communities — though the militia faces accusations of gang rape and other serious abuses.
Qatari mediators shuttled between delegations at the UN General Assembly in New York, where Trump called a three-hour meeting 'very productive'. No breakthrough has been reported, and a vessel strike in the Strait of Hormuz killed one crew member as Brent crude traded above $105 a barrel.
The UN Human Rights Office updated the database on Friday after reviewing submissions on hundreds of businesses. Companies from 11 countries are now listed, including firms based in the US, UK, China, France and Germany.
A Russian military recruitment website lists a Minsk enlistment office and promises first-year payments of up to $205,000, plus death benefits and land grants. Belarusian officials deny any involvement, but whether they are helping, tolerating or simply unaware of the campaign remains unclear.
Tigrayan fighters took control of airports and attacked federal positions in two neighbouring regions. The fighting shatters the Pretoria Agreement, which ended a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands, and has held for four years.
Iran's proposal would have lifted the US naval blockade, eased sanctions and reopened the Strait of Hormuz within a week. The White House has not confirmed the Wall Street Journal's account, but officials say Trump doubts Tehran will meet his demands.
Rashad al-Alimi said oil exports have been halted for 16 months and that higher shipping and insurance costs now threaten food supplies on a large scale. He also reaffirmed support for a Saudi-Omani peace road map, accusing the Houthis of responding to it with escalating Red Sea attacks.
Ukrainian specialists cataloguing drone wreckage have traced components from the US, China, Taiwan, Germany and Japan, all routed through intermediary networks. Separately, a firm called A7 processed more than $500 million in prohibited transactions in the first four months of 2025, with over $130 million going to Russia's defence industry.
President Pezeshkian said Tehran would relinquish the material under international law and allow outside verification of its programme. But a senior Iranian official said the country would make no nuclear concessions regardless, and the Strait of Hormuz stays closed until the US meets all of Iran's economic demands.
The TPLF has taken control of three airports and announced a seven-group coalition to oust the government. The African Union is calling for de-escalation as the renewed fighting threatens the peace deal that ended a war estimated to have killed 600,000 people.
Satellite imagery obtained by CBC News shows IDF bulldozers removing debris from bombed sites, including areas being cleared for military outposts. Palestinian authorities estimate more than 10,000 people remain buried, and families say no one contacted them before the clearance began.
Tehran has set out a phased roadmap in Qatari-mediated talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Iran says the strait could open within seven days — but only if Washington lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
A seven-group rebel alliance seized airports in Tigray and launched drone strikes that sent thousands fleeing in Afar, where fighting now threatens the main trade route from Djibouti. The UN, African Union and European Union are calling for an immediate halt to the fighting.
Bahrain led the joint appeal at the UN General Assembly, condemning attacks attributed to Iran that have killed two people and pushed Brent crude above $105 a barrel. The US Navy says it has escorted more than a billion barrels of oil through the strait since the war began.
The TPLF and six allied armed groups have struck government positions in Afar and Amhara, while Tigrayan fighters seized airports across the region. The offensive has revived fears of a return to the civil war that killed an estimated 600,000 people.
Shehbaz Sharif told the UN General Assembly that any move to stop or redirect Pakistan's share of the Indus rivers would cross a red line. He was speaking weeks after an international court in The Hague ruled that India cannot legally suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty — a decision New Delhi has rejected.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs says Latvia expects to complete the purchase of Barracuda-500 missiles, which can reach 926 km — roughly three times the range of the ballistic missiles Latvia already has on order. Poland and the US Army have also backed the weapon.
The TPLF has launched attacks into the Amhara and Afar regions and seized key airports. The earlier war, which ran from 2020 to 2022, killed at least 600,000 people.
Attacks on 23 September damaged multiple data centres and network nodes across the capital. Providers said the strikes were part of a systematic campaign against Ukraine's internet infrastructure that began in September.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front has launched a major offensive into neighbouring regions, seizing three airports and prompting Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights. Ethiopian forces say they have killed 272 rebels, though the figures could not be independently verified.
The two presidents agreed to meet twice more before the year is out, at the APEC summit in China and the G20 in the United States. Tech executives including Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Sam Altman joined the state dinner as Free Tibet protesters marched outside.
Zelensky says Trump gave him the assurance on 22 September, at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The White House has yet to confirm it, and even if a licence is granted, building production capacity would take more than a year.
Saudi Arabia has called the talks to push for concrete action under a joint defence pact signed with both countries in August. No military deployments have been announced, and Turkey has said it will not intervene directly.
Tigrayan forces launched an offensive on September 23, seizing three airports and clashing in neighbouring Afar and Amhara. The TPLF has joined six other armed groups in an alliance seeking to remove the government in Addis Ababa.
Tehran's conditions include lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports, ending the war on all fronts and releasing frozen assets. Britain's foreign secretary also raised the strait's disruption in talks with Iran's foreign minister at the UN, alongside Iranian-linked threats on UK soil and detained British nationals.
Thousands of families have been uprooted for a second or third time as clashes between Houthi fighters and government forces escalate. Many public health facilities are no longer functioning, and medical staff are going unpaid.
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