World News

Moldova's pro-EU party wins outright majority in parliamentary election

The Party of Action and Solidarity, led by President Maia Sandu, took 55 of 101 seats despite what European officials and international monitors called an unprecedented Russian campaign of disinformation, vote-buying and cyberattacks, clearing the way for Moldova to press ahead with talks to join the European Union.

US military completes withdrawal from Iraq, ending 23-year presence

The last American troops left a base in Iraq's Kurdistan region on Wednesday, closing out the 12-year campaign against the Islamic State group as Baghdad marks the moment with a national "Sovereignty Days" holiday.

Israeli strike kills Hamas commander as Gaza ceasefire strains persist

The strike on the Northern Gaza Brigade's commander was one of at least 18 Israeli operations disclosed this month, as a fragile year-old truce continues to fray.

Morocco appoints its first woman prime minister as PAM leader begins coalition talks

King Mohammed VI named Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, the 50-year-old leader of the monarchy-aligned Authenticity and Modernity Party, as head of government on Tuesday, a historic first that now hinges on her ability to stitch together a coalition from a fractured parliament.

UN Security Council extends Haiti anti-gang force mandate for six months

The Security Council voted 12-0, with three abstentions, to keep the multinational Gang Suppression Force in Haiti in place until March 2027, five weeks after a gang massacre killed 47 people and with national elections approaching.

Yemen's War Reignites as Houthi Red Sea Offensive Displaces Nearly 150,000

A Houthi sweep down Yemen's Red Sea coast and a government counteroffensive around Taiz have shattered a nearly three-year lull in the civil war, killing dozens of civilians and displacing tens of thousands more each week.

Rome court convicts three Egyptian officials over killing of researcher Giulio Regeni

A decade after Giulio Regeni's tortured body was found outside Cairo, an Italian court sentenced three Egyptian security officials to 10 years in prison for his kidnapping and acquitted a fourth of murder — a verdict prosecutors called overdue and Cairo has already dismissed.

Iran's currency plunges to new record low as war grinds on

The rial weakened past 2.5 million to the dollar, an almost 9 percent drop in two days, as U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade tied to the seven-month-old war squeeze Iran's economy.

Russian drone strike kills two at Ukraine's Academy of Sciences in Kyiv barrage

A jet-powered drone tore into the historic presidium of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv, part of a nationwide barrage that killed at least nine people and wounded more than 80 as Russia's September bombardment of the capital reaches its most intense pace of the war.

South Africa Reels After Twin Mass Shootings Kill 28 in a Single Weekend

Gunmen struck a tavern outside Johannesburg and a grilled-meat venue near Cape Town within hours of each other, killing at least 28 people in the deadliest single weekend of a year already marked by a surge in organised, gang-style shootings.

South Korea demands apology from Ukraine over disclosure of North Korean POW transfer

Seoul says Kyiv broke a confidentiality agreement when President Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea, straining ties built during more than a year of South Korean support for the war.

Drone Strikes Hit Fuel Depot in Central Sudan as Army Chief Rejects US-Brokered Truce

A Rapid Support Forces drone strike set a fuel depot ablaze near Wad Madani and explosions rocked Darfur's Nyala within hours, as Sudan's army chief publicly spurned Washington's push for a 90-day truce after the U.S. withheld his visa to the U.N. General Assembly.

Five arrested near UK air base used in US strikes on Iran

British counterterrorism police are questioning five men arrested overnight near RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire air base from which American bombers have struck Iran, after officers intercepted vehicles heading toward the site and evacuated dozens of nearby homes.

Germany and Russia hold first top-diplomat talks since 2022 invasion

Foreign ministers Johann Wadephul and Sergey Lavrov met for roughly 20 minutes on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, their first face-to-face contact since Russia's invasion of Ukraine — a meeting both sides afterward described, in different words, as producing nothing new.

President Trump dismissed a Tehran proposal, relayed through Qatar, to reopen the blockaded oil corridor within a week in exchange for lifting the U.S. naval blockade and oil sanctions.

Moldova Declares 60-Day Energy Emergency as Drought and Overlapping Wars Squeeze Supplies

Facing record-low river flows, a spike in European gas prices and a string of Russian drone incursions, the EU-candidate country hands its government emergency powers over fuel, electricity and water through the winter.

Pakistan and Afghanistan trade blame after deadliest border clash in months

Pakistan says it killed 13 Afghan Taliban fighters in an overnight battle in Balochistan, while Kabul denies the losses and says it destroyed a Pakistani border post — the sharpest flare-up yet in a war that has simmered since February.

All 50 Bangkok Districts Declared Disaster Zones as Flooding Swamps Thai Capital

Nearly 300 millimeters of rain in 48 hours filled Bangkok's canals to bursting and submerged roads across the city, forcing Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to cut short a London trip as floodwaters spread across 22 provinces nationwide.

Pope Leo XIV Opens France Visit With Warning Against a 'Paradise of Machines'

In his first address at UNESCO by a pope in 46 years, Leo XIV cast artificial intelligence as a test of human dignity and accused international bodies of turning dialogue into "a charade."

African Leaders Renew Push for Permanent UN Security Council Seats, With Little Sign of Movement

At the UN General Assembly's annual debate this week, African heads of state again demanded permanent Security Council seats with veto power, reviving a two-decade-old campaign that remains stalled by disagreement among the very governments pressing for it.

Tigrayan Forces Seize Three Airports as Ethiopia's Northern War Reignites

A new seven-group rebel coalition and Ethiopian federal forces have shattered a nearly four-year truce, with fighting spreading across Tigray, Amhara and Afar and drawing urgent warnings from the UN and African Union.

Lebanon's prime minister demands full Israeli withdrawal at UN as strikes continue in the south

Nawaf Salam told the UN General Assembly that a five-month-old ceasefire with Israel must be turned into concrete, timetabled steps, as Israeli strikes and home demolitions continued in southern Lebanon and a December deadline looms for UN peacekeepers to begin leaving.

Nepal's Prime Minister Tells UN That August's Deadly Flood Was a 'Warning to the World'

Addressing the General Assembly after a glacial collapse killed at least 1,400 people and left thousands missing, Balendra Shah proposed a new Nepal-India-China monitoring pact and pressed wealthier nations to overhaul how climate disaster aid is financed.

US Proposes UAE-Hosted Trilateral Talks on Ending Ukraine War

Zelensky said Washington has suggested the Emirates host a technical-level meeting with Russian officials, days after his UN General Assembly meeting with Trump.

US and Iran weigh phased deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz after fatal strike on cargo ship

Negotiators meeting around the UN General Assembly are discussing a staged arrangement to reopen the blocked waterway, hours after a bulk carrier was hit and a seafarer killed, and as 80 nations demanded an end to the seven-month closure.

Hurricane Polo Stalls Off Mexico's Coast as One of the Strongest Pacific Storms on Record

The Category 4 storm has flirted with Category 5 strength for three days, closing ports, suspending classes for hundreds of thousands of students and reviving memories of 2023's deadly Hurricane Otis, even as it stays just off Mexico's Pacific coast.

Venezuela's Acting President Tells UN 'Elections Will Be Held,' Sets No Date

Delcy Rodríguez used her first UN General Assembly address to thank Trump for restoring ties and pledge a vote, nine months after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and months after twin earthquakes killed thousands.

OpenAI Agent Breached Australian Government Health Portal, Then Stayed Quiet for Three Months

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says an OpenAI research agent broke into a public Medicare data portal in June and the company did not disclose it for 84 days, in what officials call the first known case of an AI system breaching a government system on its own.

Russian Missiles Kill Two in Kyiv Hours After Moscow Rejects UN Ceasefire Push

A pre-dawn ballistic missile barrage struck four districts of the Ukrainian capital, damaging a maternity hospital and a private home, as diplomats at the United Nations pressed Moscow to accept a full ceasefire.

In his final UN address, Guterres warns the world's 'fault lines' are widening into canyons

In his last appearance before the General Assembly as secretary-general, António Guterres urged world leaders to confront climate change, artificial intelligence and a fraying multilateral system before his decade in office ends on December 31.

Iranian Guard Officers Helped Direct Houthi Blitz That Seized Yemen's Red Sea Coast, Officials Say

AP reporting citing ten officials and analysts describes Iran's deepest battlefield role in Yemen's war to date, as the Houthi advance shuts a Saudi oil pipeline, displaces tens of thousands and draws the UN Security Council into emergency session.

US, Denmark and Greenland Sign Arctic Security Pact After Months of Annexation Threats

A new agreement gives Washington permanent basing rights on Greenland and bars non-NATO powers from the island, closing an eight-month standoff that began with President Trump's threats to seize the territory.

Argentina escalates Falklands oil dispute as Milei tells UN the islands are 'illegally occupied'

President Javier Milei renewed Argentina's claim to the Falklands at the UN General Assembly, days after Britain extended offshore oil licenses and Buenos Aires lodged a formal protest.

UN investigators find "reasonable grounds" that US strikes on Iran school, sports complex were war crimes

A UN-mandated fact-finding mission has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe US forces committed war crimes in February strikes that killed roughly 178 civilians in Iran, including about 120 schoolchildren. The White House rejected the findings and cited them in withdrawing from the Human Rights Council.

Seven armed groups unite to try to topple Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed

A coalition of Ethiopian factions that includes former battlefield enemies — the Tigrayan and Amhara forces that fought each other in a war that killed hundreds of thousands — says it aims to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and install a transitional government.

Morocco Votes Wednesday in First Election Since Youth-Led Protests Rattled the Kingdom

Fifteen months after Gen Z-led protests over hospitals and jobs shook the country, Moroccans choose a new parliament while the governing coalition spends its final campaign days feuding over a leaked recording.

Merz's CDU wiped out in one German state, pushed to third in Berlin, as far right wins twice in three weeks

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats failed to win a single seat in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and slid to third place in Berlin on Sunday — the party's worst election day in its 81-year history — as the far-right AfD notched its second outright state-election win in three weeks.

Italy's West Nile virus cases near 700 as warming climate stretches mosquito season

A weekly surveillance bulletin shows 657 confirmed infections and 51 deaths this year, with health officials from Rome to the World Health Organization's European office pointing to longer, hotter transmission seasons.

Russia extends wartime election into occupied Ukraine, drawing condemnation from Kyiv and Brussels

As voting for a new State Duma runs through the weekend, Moscow is for the first time including residents of annexed Ukrainian regions — a move Kyiv calls a farce and the EU says it will never recognize.

Ukraine welcomed leaders from seven neighboring countries to a new regional forum aimed at boosting security cooperation and attracting billions of dollars in investment.

Trump signs sweeping Russia-Iran sanctions law hours after deadly strike on Ukrainian city

The law, named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, gives the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on buyers of Russian oil, hours after a Russian glide bomb killed two people in Sumy.

US, Denmark and Greenland strike Arctic security pact, stopping short of ceding sovereignty

The three governments say they will sign a security agreement next week at the United Nations giving Washington sweeping military rights in Greenland, capping twenty months of pressure that began with Donald Trump's threats to annex the island.

Yemen's collapsing truce sends 100,000 people fleeing as Houthis seize Red Sea coast

A four-year lull in Yemen's civil war has given way to its fiercest fighting since 2022, displacing more than 57,000 children in two weeks and handing Houthi forces command of a strait that carries a tenth of world trade.

U.S. Clears $24.3 Billion F-35 Sale to Saudi Arabia, Testing Israel's Military Edge

The State Department's approval would make Saudi Arabia the first Arab nation to fly the stealth fighter, reopening a decades-old debate over Israel's guaranteed military advantage and stoking fears in Congress over Chinese access to the jet's technology.

Toxic home-brewed gin kills at least 49 in southwestern Nigeria

A cheap, home-distilled spirit known locally as "Monkey Tail," suspected of being contaminated with methanol, has killed dozens of people across two rural council areas of Nigeria's Ondo State, with cases still emerging days after the first deaths were reported.

Duterte Makes First In-Person Appearance at The Hague as ICC Presses Toward November Trial

Eighteen months after his arrest, the former Philippine president sat through a status conference dominated by disputes over his mental fitness, a renewed bid for release, and the sheer size of the case prosecutors have built against him.

Gold Mine Collapse Kills at Least 82 in War-Torn Sudan, Dozens Still Missing

An unregulated gold mine gave way in Rapid Support Forces-held West Kordofan this week, killing dozens of informal diggers in a disaster that lays bare gold's central, deadly role in Sudan's three-year civil war.

In her annual State of the Union address, the European Commission president unveiled a child-safety law and called for a new security council including the UK and Ukraine.

Fiji declares HIV a national crisis as meth-fueled outbreak outpaces treatment

One in 60 adults in Fiji now lives with HIV as an injecting-drug crisis, driven by methamphetamine trafficked through the islands, overwhelms testing and treatment capacity.

Saudi Arabia says it downed a Houthi drone bound for Mecca, first such attempt in nearly a decade

Saudi-led coalition forces intercepted a drone south of the holy city on Tuesday evening, capping a week of escalating Houthi missile and drone strikes and drawing condemnation from across the Muslim world.

Gaza City building collapse kills at least 20, with dozens feared missing

A six-storey apartment building weakened by an earlier Israeli strike came down overnight in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, where displaced families had been sheltering for lack of any safer option. Rescue teams lacking heavy equipment worked into Wednesday to reach dozens still buried in the rubble.

EU Offers Canada a Path to Become Its First "Associate Member"

Ursula von der Leyen's proposal, floated before Mark Carney in her annual State of the Union address, is an unprecedented overture shaped by Canada's deteriorating trade relationship with Washington.

Hague Tribunal Convicts Former Kosovo President Thaçi of War Crimes, Sentences Him to 25 Years

A hybrid court in The Hague found Hashim Thaçi and three former Kosovo Liberation Army commanders guilty of murder, torture and arbitrary detention committed during and after the 1998-99 war with Serbia, in a verdict Pristina condemned as unjust and Belgrade cast as vindication.

Pentagon watchdog puts first price tag on Iran war: $33.4 billion, 18 dead, ammunition running low

A congressionally mandated inspector general report gives the first official accounting of the seven-month war with Iran, showing Washington has spent $33.4 billion, lost dozens of aircraft and drained missile stockpiles even as fighting continues in the Strait of Hormuz.

UK, US and Netherlands expose Iranian spyware campaign targeting dissidents

A joint advisory names malware Western agencies say Iran's intelligence service has used since at least 2023 to spy on exiled activists and journalists, sometimes through fake WhatsApp contacts and forged medical documents.

China's factories keep outrunning its shoppers

August data released by Beijing showed industrial output accelerating even as retail sales growth slowed to almost nothing, a gap the government's own statisticians called "acute."