Source:
AFP 
September 20
Sports
Law and crime
Pakistani police arrest businesswoman Aleema Khan, sister of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, at her home in Lahore, Punjab, one week before his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's planned protest march. Police and the government do not state a reason for the arrest.
Source:
Reuters
Armed conflicts and attacks
Ukrainian forces launch a massive drone attack on Moscow Oblast, Russia, with more than 1,600 long-range drones launched from Ukraine. At least two people are killed with hundreds more evacuated while Moscow Refinery is on fire following several direct hits.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirms he ordered the attack on Moscow in response to Russian forces targeting civilians in Ukrainian cities, saying that FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles and ballistic missiles were also used in the attack.
Source:
L'Unione Sarda
September 19
Disasters and accidents
Tropical Depression Six forms in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores amidst an unusually quiet Atlantic hurricane season caused by El Niño.
Source:
WTSP
Indonesia accepts Malaysian assistance to combat wildfires in Kalimantan, including a Bombardier CL-415MP aircraft, three helicopters, and 52 personnel, as the fires cause transboundary haze affecting Southeast Asia.
Source:
AFP via France 24
International relations
The U.S. treasury department lifts the sanctions against Eritrea's ruling party previously imposed by former U.S. president Joe Biden's administration.
Source:
AP
Sports
Source:
Reuters
In women's basketball, Atlanta Dream player Angel Reese becomes the first player in Women's National Basketball Association history to reach 500 rebounds in a single season.
Source:
Bleacher Report
In rugby union, hosts Japan win their fourth Pacific Nations Cup title after defeating the defending champions Fiji 20–15 in the final at Chichibunomiya Stadium in Tokyo.
Source:
AFP via RFI
Armed conflicts and attacks
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaee says that Iran has set seven conditions for resuming ceasefire negotiations with the United States.
Source:
Iran International
United States Central Command commander Brad Cooper says that oil, cargo, and liquefied natural gas shipments in the Strait of Hormuz have hit a six-month high.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Israeli airstrikes kill at least three Palestinians in Gaza, including the eldest son of the Gaza Health Ministry director-general. Israel says it targeted militants, while medics report additional deaths in Sheikh Radwan and Shuja'iyya.
Source:
Reuters
The U.S. military strikes a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people whom the Southern Command says were involved in drug trafficking.
Source:
Reuters
A series of clashes, involving combined police and military forces and remaining wanted members of the Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, erupts in Tugunan, Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro, Philippines. Seven members from both groups are killed.
Source:
The Philippine Star
Law and crime
South Africans hold memorial runs and protests after police find the bodies of nine women in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, over two months. Police investigate possible links between the killings, which renew public concern over violence against women.
Source:
Reuters
Politics and elections
Russian election commission chairperson Ella Pamfilova reports cyberattacks targeting Russia's online voting system during the second day of the parliamentary election and says they are repelled. The Minkomsvyaz separately reports thwarting a sabotage attempt on Far Eastern communication lines.
Source:
ABC News Australia
Marat Kambolov is declared the winner of the presidential elections in the partially recognized South Ossetia.
Source:
Reuters
United States president Donald Trump's executive office denies journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and access to the White House and confiscates or disables their press passes, citing their coverage of his administration.
Source:
Philippine Daily Inquirer
September 18
International relations
Denmark and the United States reach a deal allowing the U.S. to expand its military presence in Greenland and granting permanent basing, overflight, and access rights, while barring non-NATO countries from establishing bases and restricting sensitive investments on the island.
Source:
Reuters
U.S. president Donald Trump signs the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which authorises and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs, and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran until 2031.
International sanctions during the Russian invasion of UkraineUnited States and the Russo-Ukrainian warUnited States sanctions against Iran
Source:
Kyiv Indepedent
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk announces that Poland has joined the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition to develop a joint anti-ballistic missile defence system with some other European countries.
Source:
Firstpost
Politics and elections
Russians begin voting to elect 450 seats of the State Duma over a period of three days following Ukrainian attacks upon oil infrastructure. The elections are also held under strict control during the Russo-Ukrainian war, combined with an ongoing crackdown on anti-war opposition and the anti-war party Yabloko being disqualified from running.
Source:
AP
The Senate of Bolivia ratifies an agreement to take a US$1.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund amid a deep economic crisis in the country, with trade unions threatening renewed protests in response.
Source:
AP
Disasters and accidents
Millions of people are left without electricity in Cuba as a result of a collapse of the country's energy power grid.
Source:
AP
Science and technology
The U.S. Defense Department releases a sixth batch of classified files related to unidentified flying objects, including videos of several orbs flying over Washington, D.C. in 1952 and orbs flying near Tremonton, Utah, also in 1952.
Source:
CBC News
Business and economy
The Bank of Japan raises its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25%, the highest level since 1995, citing inflation pressures from rising energy costs and a weak yen, and signals further increases.
Source:
AFP via France 24
Russia places the local assets of Auchan and Nestlé under temporary administration, transferring their control to Russian firm L.E.V. Management, headed by interior minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev. The government cites the companies' origins in countries it designates as "unfriendly" amid broader seizures of foreign-owned businesses.
Source:
CNN
Law and crime
King Sultan Ibrahim of Malaysia grants former prime minister Najib Razak a conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until August 23, 2028, following his corruption conviction linked to 1MDB.
Source:
Reuters
Spanish police begin moving more than 3,000 migrants from beaches in Ceuta to temporary accommodation at the port. The operation prompts crowding and clashes, with officers firing warning shots and several people sustaining injuries.
Source:
News.Az
Three students, including the perpetrator, are killed and eight others are injured in a mass shooting at a secondary school in Banga, South Cotabato, Philippines.
Source:
AA
Pakistan's medical regulator orders Afghan students enrolled in medical and dental programs to leave their colleges and return to Afghanistan. Dozens challenge the directive in court, while a Lahore judge temporarily suspends expulsions in Punjab.
Source:
AFP via France 24
Protests erupt in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria, after 37 miners died yesterday in custody of the Security and Civil Defence Corps following raids on suspected illegal mines. Niger state governor Mohammed Umar Bago imposes a curfew.
Source:
Reuters
Russia designates filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev a foreign agent, subjecting him to financial restrictions, reporting requirements, and mandatory labels on published material. Zvyagintsev, who lives abroad, has criticized the Russo-Ukrainian war and president Vladimir Putin.
Source:
Reuters
Health and environment
Zealand Pharma's drug Zeydovio receives approval by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use to treat short bowel syndrome.
Source:
Reuters
Armed conflicts and attacks
The IRNA reports that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has hit the Togo-flagged oil tanker as it attempted to pass the Strait of Hormuz.
Source:
Al Jazeera
The Sudanese Armed Forces says that they have killed several Rapid Support Forces militants in Sudan's Blue Nile state. The country's defence ministry also confirms the attacks.
Source:
Radio Tamazuj
A suicide car bombing outside a mosque located inside a police station in Kohat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, kills at least 31 people, including 16 policemen, and injures at least 100 more. The Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group claims responsibility.
Source:
AFP
September 17
Armed conflicts and attacks
Lt. Col. "Aleph", the chief police officer in the Southern Command's Gaza Division, is dismissed following his role in the failures leading to the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel.
Source:
The Times of Israel
The Israel Defense Forces confirm that they have killed a Al-Qassam Brigades Nukhba Forces commander who took part in the October 7 attacks in a airstrike and a Hamas navy officer in another airstrike in Gaza City.
Source:
JFeed
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission finds "reasonable grounds" that the United States military may have committed war crimes with attacks on the Minab school and Lamerd sports hall in southern Iran.
Source:
Reuters
reports that Saudi Arabia has sent a proposal for Oman to mediate a two-week ceasefire with the Houthis.
Source:
AzerNews
Source:
Arab News
Twenty-six people are killed and 82 more injured during clashes between two rival communities in Abyei, at the border between Sudan and South Sudan.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Fifteen civilians are killed during an armed attack by unknown individuals in Madegoua, Far North Region, Cameroon.
Source:
Reuters
Arts and culture
The 16th-century Codex Azcatitlan goes on display in Mexico City after France loaned two folios nearly two centuries after the manuscript left the country. Mexico continues seeking the codex's permanent return from France.
Source:
BBC News
Law and crime
Pakistan's Supreme Court suspends 17-year prison sentences imposed on human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband over anti-state social media posts, and grants them bail pending an Islamabad High Court ruling.
Source:
Reuters
Malawian police rescue a 47-year-old British woman after her abduction in Blantyre. Four suspected kidnappers are killed in a shootout with officers, while a senior police officer is injured and hospitalized in stable condition.
Source:
AP via ABC News
Thirty-seven suspected illegal gold miners die in custody of Nigeria's civil defence agency in Minna, Niger State. Survivors say overcrowding and poor ventilation caused breathing difficulties, while an intelligence report links the deaths to those conditions. The government orders an investigation.
Source:
AFP
Health and environment
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service narrows its enforcement of the Endangered Species Act by excluding unintentional wildlife deaths from its definition of prohibited take, including foreseeable deaths linked to activities such as commercial fishing and logging.
Source:
AFP via France 24
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approves the Trastuzumab deruxtecan drug for women in England with metastatic or incurable HER2-breast cancer that cannot be removed surgically, making it the first licensed targeted treatment for patients, two years after it was rejected due to its cost effectiveness.
Source:
The Independent
International relations
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) votes 152–3, with four abstentions, to allow Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials to address UN meetings, including the general debate of the eighty-first session of the UNGA, by video for one year after United States visa restrictions prevented their travel to New York City, where the UN headquarters are.
Source:
Reuters
Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić inaugurates a factory for Israeli-made drones that will be produced by the country's Krušik company, with Vučić stating that it will employ 100 people and produce advanced equipment for the Serbian military.
Source:
AP
Politics and elections
Ulf Kristersson announces his resignation as Prime Minister of Sweden after his right-wing bloc wins 173 seats in the Riksdag, compared to 176 won by the opposition, led by Magdalena Andersson.
Source:
BBC News
Venezuela restores access to 17 news websites that were previously blocked, including EFE, , NTN24, and , as the interim government and opposition resume political transition talks that include freedom of expression.
Source:
Gulf News
Australia tightens visa rules for international students and working holidaymakers, restricts visa switching, and increases enforcement against overstayers as it seeks to reduce net overseas migration to 225,000 by 2027–28 and ease pressure on housing.
Source:
AFP via France 24