News

Voters in the semi-autonomous Bangsamoro region in the southern Philippines began choosing the area’s first parliament after a shooting outside a polling station killed 3 people and wounded 15 others. Authorities deployed more than 20,000 security personnel to protect the vote, in which candidates are competing for 80 seats.

South Korea and the United States are holding their regular defense dialogue from Wednesday to Friday in Busan to discuss issues including wartime operational control, joint defense and shipbuilding, with expectations that they will also discuss the possible deployment of South Korean forces to the Strait of Hormuz. Seoul says it has made no decision on the matter.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the army was preparing to take control of Ali al-Taher Heights in southern Lebanon, pledging to prevent Hezbollah from returning. Meanwhile, Israel’s public broadcaster reported a local and limited withdrawal from the heights, as Israeli airstrikes and shelling hit several areas in the Nabatieh district.

Three people were killed and 15 others injured in a shooting in Cotabato City ahead of the first regular parliamentary election in the predominantly Muslim Bangsamoro region of the southern Philippines. The Commission on Elections placed the city under its direct supervision as voters began choosing members of the 80-seat regional parliament.

North Korea said five Korean People's Army units took part on Saturday in an offensive drill using long-range weapons and new combat systems. The announcement came after Seoul detected several ballistic missile launches toward the East Sea and following joint naval exercises by South Korea, the United States and Japan.

Poland and Ukraine condemned Russian strikes targeting a railway area near their shared border, with no injuries reported, while Moscow said it had struck infrastructure used to transport military shipments. Warsaw warned that the war could escalate in the coming weeks, as the Kremlin said trilateral talks could resume in October.

Fighting continued between Yemen’s government forces and Ansar Allah (the Houthis) on several fronts, alongside airstrikes and battlefield shifts in western and northern provinces. The International Organization for Migration said the fighting had displaced more than 82,000 people since the beginning of September, amid obstacles to delivering aid to those affected.

Ukrainian authorities said a Russian drone hit a train and set fire to a locomotive near the border with Poland, minutes after Western officials had passed along the same route. A Polish official confirmed that his country’s airspace had not been violated, while no injuries were reported in the attack.

Russian journalist and activist Andrei X documented the presence of Israeli soldiers during attacks he said were carried out by settlers in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, and accused them of removing journalists and activists. The incidents coincided with two Palestinians being injured in an attack near Salfit, and Palestinians being arrested and a foreign activist being detained during raids in the West Bank.

The International Organization for Migration said 99,277 people were displaced within Sudan’s Blue Nile State between January 11 and August 23, 2026, amid escalating fighting and deteriorating security. Children and adolescents under 18 accounted for 47% of the displaced, while most sought refuge in informal gathering sites.

Recent satellite imagery shows barriers made of shipping containers and protective nets being installed around tanks and sensitive facilities at two Russian refineries. The measures come amid an escalation in Ukraine’s long-range strikes, the latest being an attack on facilities in Taganrog that Kyiv said targeted military sites and an oil-products tank.

The National Resistance announced that more than 500 of its members were killed and around 1,500 wounded in battles with the Houthis on Yemen’s western coast between August 9 and September 10. It said it had redeployed its forces to new defensive lines and accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its allies of directly participating in and supporting the attack.

Poland and Ukraine said a Russian drone struck a train carrying 206 passengers from Kyiv to Warsaw near the border, with no injuries reported. The attack damaged the train locomotive and temporarily halted the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing, while the journey was delayed by more than six hours before continuing after border procedures were completed.

The Spanish government said 5,321 migrants had voluntarily returned from Ceuta to Morocco since August 10, while 90 people withdrew applications for international protection and about 1,000 others are being registered to complete their return procedures, amid disagreement over the number of migrants remaining and pressure to expand the city’s accommodation capacity.

Clashes continued between government forces and the Houthi group in Marib, Al Jawf, Al Bayda and Yemen’s western coast, with reciprocal shelling and drone use. The International Organization for Migration said more than 82,000 people had been displaced, while control of Mokha and Dhubab remains subject to rapid shifts between the two sides.

Israeli forces detonated a tunnel network on Ali al-Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon, saying it served as a command center containing missiles, drones and other weapons. Military experts said the loss weakened Hezbollah’s defenses around Nabatieh but did not mean the collapse of its military structure.

Damascus is preparing to convert Al-Mezzeh military airport into a private aviation hub, while the Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability warned that development work could damage remains and evidence at two sites suspected of containing the graves of detainees. Leaked documents show the airport has been used since 2012 to carry out secret executions.

Displacement has expanded in Yemen’s Taiz governorate to include more than 6,400 families, many of whom have been forced to leave their homes more than once as military escalation continues. The government unit overseeing displaced-persons camps has issued an urgent appeal to authorities and aid organizations, calling for swift action to meet the affected families’ basic needs.

Germany’s asylum application approval rate rose to 47.4% in the first half of 2026, compared with 37.5% for all of 2025. This came despite a decline in the number of new initial applications, while approval for protection applications submitted by people from Afghanistan reached 89.3%.

Beijing has told Washington, according to informed sources, that it may cancel a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump scheduled for September 24 if the United States approves a new arms deal for Taiwan before the summit, as China continues to regard the island issue as a red line in bilateral relations.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said two Palestinians were killed and 13 others, including critically injured people, were wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a vehicle in Gaza City's Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. At the same time, the Health Ministry warned that a shortage of oil, fuel and spare parts could shut down hospital generators, threatening vital departments and life-saving services.

Medics said two Palestinians were killed and 13 others injured on Sunday in an Israeli strike targeting a car in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood west of Gaza City. The Israeli army said the strike targeted two Hamas fighters, without providing further details.

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed China and India’s readiness to help efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis during talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Delhi. It also pointed to the possibility of resuming trilateral talks between Moscow, Kyiv and Washington next October.