News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree raising the number of active-duty service members to 1.55 million, while Kyiv came under a drone and missile attack early on Tuesday, prompting air defence systems to be activated and Ukraine to warn of ballistic missiles heading towards the capital.

The Tigray Peace Force said the Ethiopian army and allied fighters had taken control of Alamata, a strategic supply hub south of Mekelle. Two diplomatic sources supported the account, while a third said the forces had entered the town but that it was unclear whether they had fully secured it.

Gas flow from the al-Jbessa plant to power-generation stations was halted after a fire broke out on a pipeline between al-Shoula and Deir ez-Zor, following the explosion of a sectional valve in an incident attributed to sabotage. Fire crews began isolating the area and working to extinguish the flames as gas pressure fell.

Baidoa, the capital of Somalia’s South West State, saw intense fighting involving fighter jets and drones after an attack by forces loyal to former regional president Abdiaziz Laftagareen. The Somali army said it had driven the attackers out of the city, while Laftagareen’s forces denied government accusations of co-operating with al-Shabaab.

Satellite imagery showed changes and damage at the Ilsky Refinery in Krasnodar Krai and the Azov Optical-Mechanical Plant in Rostov Oblast after Ukrainian strikes on the night of 26 September 2026. Ukrainian authorities said the attack sparked two fires and damaged equipment inside five production buildings.

Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Colonel Majed al-Nazili announced that 356 targeting operations had been carried out over 24 hours on several fronts, saying field estimates indicated that 476 Houthi members had been killed or wounded, in addition to the destruction and disabling of command centres, weapons depots and military vehicles.

US reports and analyses portray an administration closely tied to President Donald Trump, with loyalty and personal trust taking precedence in the selection of senior officials. Decision-making is concentrated around the president, while some cabinet secretaries take on duties outside their areas of responsibility, without their closeness to him necessarily guaranteeing independent influence over their portfolios.

Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi ordered the implementation procedures for the safe return and general mobilisation decisions to be expedited after completing their constitutional and legal processes. He said mobilisation includes human, material and moral resources, while presenting an account of military operations during a meeting in Riyadh and affirming that the status of those who leave the Houthis will be regularised under the announced guarantees.

A blast carried out by Israeli forces shook the town of al-Mansouri in the Tyre district on Monday, 28 September 2026, causing powerful tremors whose sound was heard in the city of Tyre and surrounding villages. Thick columns of smoke rose from the coastal town, which has witnessed repeated demolitions and shelling in recent weeks.

Yemen’s parliament approved a request by Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi to declare general mobilisation to confront the Houthi military escalation. The mobilisation will take effect from the date of its declaration and end when the reasons for it cease to exist. The council cited constitutional and legal provisions, calling on political forces to overcome their differences and support the armed forces.

The Council of the European Union has approved the first five European defence projects of common interest, covering drones, maritime defence, space, air and missile defence, and protection of the eastern flank. The projects are eligible for initial support of €325 million under a broader European defence industries programme.

The first bilateral meeting between the German and Russian foreign ministers since the start of the war in Ukraine ended without an agreement, amid competing accounts of which side requested it. While Berlin described it as important and stressed the need to keep the door to dialogue open, Sergei Lavrov said Johann Wadephul had presented no new position and could have called him by telephone.

Around 160 million Brazilians are heading to the polls in the first round of the presidential election, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro running neck and neck. The election follows a campaign dominated by corruption allegations, while the contest has focused on the economy, sovereignty, security and tackling crime.

Around 1,731 settlers entered the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque under Israeli police protection, performing Jewish Talmudic rituals and prayers, as well as singing and dancing, with the participation of minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Palestinian researchers and officials warned of efforts to impose a division of access by time and space, as the Ibrahimi Mosque was closed to Palestinians until Wednesday evening.

Yemeni government forces said the Houthis are using modified Iranian air-defence systems capable of flying for around 25 minutes while searching for targets through thermal tracking. Experts say their potential capabilities could affect military operations and aviation safety in the southern Red Sea, while stressing the need for field data to establish their actual operational range.

Syria's Energy Ministry urged residents of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor to stay away from the Euphrates riverbed after water releases were raised to 1,200 cubic metres per second, amid increased inflows from Türkiye. The dam administration is working to create additional storage capacity ahead of rainfall and snowmelt.

The Netherlands expressed regret over Israel’s decision to end the diplomatic privileges and immunities of its representatives to the Palestinian Authority, saying it was considering how to respond. The decision came after the Dutch ban on settlement products entered into force, amid broader Western moves to impose trade restrictions on them.

Ukrainian authorities said 26 people, including children, were injured in overnight Russian strikes targeting Kharkiv and Kyiv, while the air force said it had intercepted 112 of the 165 drones launched by Russia. The attacks came a day after eight people were killed in several parts of Ukraine.

Former Guinean prime minister and leader of the Union of Republican Forces Sidya Touré has died in Paris aged 81, after receiving treatment in Abidjan and the French capital. The government and opposition figures paid tribute to his political and reformist career, while his family decided to bury him in Abidjan.

Data from the Shireen Observatory indicates that about 85,597 Palestinians were killed between 2000 and 2026, most of them in the Gaza Strip, including more than 24,000 children and 13,000 women. The figures cover the Al-Aqsa Intifada, popular uprisings and successive Israeli wars, culminating in the war that began in October 2023.

The Austrian government has given schools greater flexibility in choosing ways to support foreign pupils after assessments showed that separate language classes were linked to isolation and academic delays. Half of schools abolished the classes immediately, while Education Ministry data showed that 22% of a sample of 22,800 pupils repeated a year once.

The office of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced on Monday that his wife, Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, had died aged 100. She is due to receive a state funeral and be buried in Putrajaya, following a career in public health and support for maternal health and family planning.

Tehran is awaiting an official response from Washington through mediators in Qatar and Pakistan on a conditional plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, despite US President Donald Trump announcing his rejection of it. While Iran remains committed to negotiations, it has warned that it may resort to a military response if it comes under a fresh attack.