World News · Saturday, 29 August 2026

01 Briefing what happened

The Kurds' American funding ends the day the last US troops leave Iraq

World News 1 min 52 sources

A Pentagon deal that pays and trains Iraqi Kurdistan's 180,000-strong Peshmerga expires on 30 September, and four sources say it will not be renewed. It runs out under a programme named after Islamic State, while the force is being hit by Iran.

180,000

Peshmerga troops

the Kurdish force whose US funding lapses next month [1]

$61m

US security aid this year

weapons, training and pay, all under the counter-IS programme [1]

158

Iranian strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan

missiles or drones fired by late May, during the war [1]

$800m

new US consulate in Irbil

opened last December in the city whose US base now closes [1]

The lead story — what happened

The Pentagon does not plan to renew the deal that pays and trains Iraqi Kurdistan's Peshmerga forces, four sources told the BBC. [1]
The deal expires on 30 September. That is the same day the last coalition troops leave Iraq. [1]
The Peshmerga has about 180,000 troops. It received $61m this year for weapons, training and pay. [1]
The money comes from the Pentagon's counter-Islamic State programme. The argument for cutting it is that Islamic State was defeated. [1]
The danger the Peshmerga faces now is a different one. Iran and Iran-backed militias fired 158 missiles or drones into Iraqi Kurdistan by late May. [1]
The last US base in Iraq, in the Kurdish capital Irbil, closes next month. [1]
Less than a year ago the US opened its largest consulate in the world in that same city. It cost $800m. [1]
Iraq's prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, says 1 October leaves Iraq free of any foreign military presence. [1]
Washington says it is open to a bilateral security agreement with Iraq. Nobody has said whether Iraqi Kurdistan would be inside it. [1]
James Jeffrey, who ran the anti-IS coalition in Trump's first term, called the Peshmerga money well spent. [1]
The war that left the Kurds exposed is six months old and has killed an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people. [2]

What is pushing on this

Iranian pressure on Iraqi Kurdistan High↑

158 missile and drone attacks by late May, and the war is six months old [1][2]

American commitment Easing↓

the aid deal is not being renewed and the last base closes next month [1]

Allies arranging their own cover Building↑

65% of South Koreans now want their own bomb, and the Gulf is building its own security web [7][6]

Iraqi government appetite for foreign troops Easing↓

Baghdad is selling 1 October as the day the last foreign soldiers go [1]

Who is involved

The Peshmerga — Iraqi Kurdistan's own army, about 180,000 strong, part-funded by Washington since 2016 The Pentagon — proposed ending the aid in its 2027 budget request, saying Islamic State is beaten Iran — has fired hundreds of missiles and drones into Iraqi Kurdistan during the war Ali al-Zaidi — Iraq's prime minister, elected in May, who wants every foreign soldier out Tom Barrack — US ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Iraq and Syria, the main American voice in the talks

How it unfolded

2016 the Pentagon signs its first deal to pay and train the Peshmerga [1]
2024 Washington and Baghdad agree a date to withdraw the remaining US troops [1]
Dec 2025 the US opens its largest consulate in the world, in Irbil, for $800m [1]
28 Feb 2026 the US-Iran war begins, and Iran starts striking Iraqi Kurdistan [2]
30 Sep 2026 the aid deal expires, the last coalition troops leave, the Irbil base closes [1]

Where this points

Watch whether Washington signs the bilateral security agreement with Iraq it says it is open to, and whether Iraqi Kurdistan is named anywhere in it. [1]

The rest of the day

39 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Iceland votes on going back to Brussels

Icelanders voted on Saturday on whether to restart EU membership talks, in a country of under 400,000 people. Polls ran from 09:00 to 22:00 GMT, with the result due early Sunday. [9][10][14]

Why it matters — The vote was brought forward after Trump's moves on Greenland, but the campaign was fought over fishing and sovereignty, not security. [11][9]
03
Two Iceland polls point opposite ways

A Gallup poll this week put No ahead at 51.6% against 48.4%. An earlier survey by the pollster Maskina had Yes ahead at 51.3%. [12][13]

Why it matters — Iceland already sits inside the single market and Schengen, so a yes would mainly add the customs union and, eventually, the euro. [9]
04
Attackers hit Niamey's airport and palace

Sustained gunfire and explosions were heard across Niger's capital from about 1am on Saturday, around Diori Hamani airport, Base 101 and the presidential palace. [15][17]

Why it matters — Niger's junta took power in 2023 promising security, and is still fighting insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State. [16][18]
05
Niger's junta says it repelled the raid

A security source said attackers were neutralised and others fled. Reuters could not verify that, and the government did not comment. [15][16]

Why it matters — Last week Niger reallocated uranium permits seized from France's Orano to state-backed companies. [16]
06
Putin, Xi and Iran's president meet in Kyrgyzstan

Russia, China and Iran's leaders join India's Narendra Modi and Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif at a summit chaired by Kyrgyzstan's Sadyr Japarov. [19]

Why it matters — Putin and Xi hold a separate meeting on Monday, days after CIA director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Moscow. [20][19]
07
Two-thirds of South Koreans want their own bomb

A Gallup Korea poll of 1,001 people found 65% think South Korea should have nuclear weapons and 30% disagree. [7]

Why it matters — It followed Trump's sudden order to cut back joint drills with Seoul, which the South Korean government said caught it off guard. [7]
08
Tokyo digs a missile shelter under a car park

The city government plans to convert the 13,000-square-metre Yaesu car park near Tokyo Station, adding blast-proof doors and supply shelving. [8]

Why it matters — The survey alone runs to next March, so what exists today is a plan rather than a shelter. [8]
09
Russia readies a second call-up of 600,000

Ukrainian intelligence says Moscow has decided to conscript 300,000 this year and 300,000 in 2027, after a collapse in volunteers. [21]

Why it matters — Ukraine's General Staff puts total Russian losses since February 2022 above 1.4 million killed and wounded. [21]
10
Zelensky orders 1,000 drones a day at Russia

In his Friday evening address Zelensky told his army to raise long-range drone strikes from about 300 a day to at least 1,000. [22]

Why it matters — Kyiv says strikes on Russian arms plants and oil sites are working, including a refinery 1,000km from the front. [22]
11
Ukraine reinforces its Donetsk fortress belt

Kyiv moved reinforcements to defend Sloviansk, one of the cities in the eastern belt that includes Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka. [25]

Why it matters — Sloviansk anchors that belt, and Russia has mounted renewed efforts to take it. [25]
12
Kyiv expects technical talks soon

Zelensky's top adviser said negotiations on the war would happen very soon but would be technical, with no quick agreement. [23]

Why it matters — Zelensky also said Washington passed Kyiv information about a run of meetings in Moscow. [24]
13
Gaza envoy says the ceasefire may collapse

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace envoy, warned the ceasefire risks collapse. Gaza's health ministry says 1,303 Palestinians have been killed since it took effect. [26]

Why it matters — Hamas says it approved his 15-point roadmap; Netanyahu publicly rejected it, leaving the plan's status contested. [26]
14
Five killed in Gaza strikes

Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians on Friday, including three of the Abdeen family near Khan Younis. Four had been killed the day before. [27][28]

Why it matters — The UN found rats and other pests at 80% of displacement sites, where families have now spent months. [28]
15
Israeli drone strike kills three in Jenin

A drone hit a car in the occupied West Bank city. Medics said Israeli troops raided the site and briefly detained them. [29]

Why it matters — Israel named one man as a militant; Islamic Jihad claimed him, Hamas did not. [29]
16
Gaza's committees tell parents to ground the kites

Local committees running shelters asked parents to stop children flying kites, after Israel warned it would react strongly to incendiary kites. [33]

Why it matters — In 2018 kites and balloons from Gaza burned hundreds of acres of Israeli farmland, so a toy now carries a military meaning. [33]
17
Hezbollah's leader rejects the Lebanon deal again

Naim Qassem called the framework agreement illegitimate and humiliating, and rejected the pilot zones and any verification system. [30]

Why it matters — The deal signed in late June requires Hezbollah to disarm as Israeli forces pull back. A new round of talks has no date. [30]
18
Israel's far right refuses to run together

Itamar Ben Gvir rejected Netanyahu's demand that his party merge with Bezalel Smotrich's, drawing a sharp reply from Likud. [31]

Why it matters — A new party led by former general Ofer Winter draws 69% of its support from Netanyahu's own bloc. [31]
19
UK holds billions in settlement-linked contracts

British public bodies hold contracts worth billions with firms a UN report ties to illegal Israeli settlements, including 1.7bn pounds through Motorola's Airwave. [32]

Why it matters — This is public money moving through five corporate groups a UN human rights report has already named. [32]
20
Khartoum lifts its two-year curfew

Sudan's military-led government ended the curfew and state of emergency in the capital, 18 months after retaking it from the RSF. [34]

Why it matters — Two million of the five million who fled have returned, to looted buildings and constant blackouts. [34]
21
Tuareg rebels trade 60 Malian soldiers

About 60 soldiers were taken to Niger and exchanged for Inkinane Ag Attaher and people said to be linked to al-Qaeda's JNIM. [35]

Why it matters — Niger's government oversaw the swap directly, which is a quiet piece of business between a junta and an armed group. [35]
22
Guinea-Bissau's junta puts a constitution to a vote

The transitional authorities hold a referendum on a new constitution on 30 August. The main opposition party, the PAIGC, is calling for a boycott. [36]

Why it matters — The PAIGC says the vote continues the coup of 26 November, and that the no campaign has not been allowed to campaign. [36]
23
Haiti has taken 200,000 forced returns this year

Nearly 200,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti in eight months, a UN official told the Security Council, at least 20,000 more than last year. [37]

Why it matters — It lands on a country where gang conflict has killed more than 21,000 people since 2022. [37]
24
Colombia orders a deportation drive

President Abelardo de la Espriella ordered police to start deporting foreign nationals living in Colombia without papers, beginning this week. [38]

Why it matters — About 95% of Colombia's migrants are Venezuelan, and roughly 500,000 of the 2.8 million there lack permission to stay. [38]
25
Trump orders Lake Ontario renamed

An executive order gives the interior secretary 30 days to work with the Board on Geographic Names on renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America. [39]

Why it matters — It lands in a tariff fight: Washington put 50% duties on nearly $20bn of Canadian goods, and Ottawa answers on 8 September. [39]
26
Nepal's missing pass 2,478

Three days after a glacier collapse on the Nepal-China border, more than 600 are confirmed dead and 2,478 are missing. Bodies are being recovered downriver in India. [40]

Why it matters — Nepal's foreign minister says the country needs technical help, not more search teams, and eight countries have offered. [41]
27
Xi removes his two top generals

China's parliament stripped Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli of their Central Military Commission posts, seven months after they were put under investigation. [42]

Why it matters — The commission is meant to have seven members. Two are now publicly accounted for: Xi and his anti-corruption chief. [42]
28
China tests a carrier drone as its new ship trials

The GJ-21 stealth attack drone has been flight-testing this month while the Type 076 assault ship Sichuan, built to launch it, runs final sea trials. [43]

Why it matters — The ship is the one built to launch the drone, and it is in its final trials, so the pair arrives together. [43]
29
Vietnam protests new Chinese building in the Paracels

Hanoi demanded an immediate end to foreign activity in the archipelago after satellite images showed new installations on Yagong Island. [44]

Why it matters — Analysts said the structures could be the start of an early-warning radar station. [44]
30
Drought talks in Mongolia end with no treaty

Nearly 200 countries wrapped up UN desertification talks in Ulaanbaatar without deciding whether to create a binding global drought agreement. [45]

Why it matters — Up to 40% of the world's land is degraded, and the decision has now been deferred twice. [45]
31
Germany's ruling parties push Brussels on China

The conservative and Social Democrat groups in the Bundestag called for stronger European protection against unfair competition, plus help for carmakers. [46]

Why it matters — The document never names China, though officials said Chinese overcapacity is what it is about. [46]
32
Von der Leyen's speech to lead on climate and AI

Two officials said climate and artificial intelligence will feature heavily in the Commission president's 16 September State of the Union address. [47]

Why it matters — Cabinet chiefs pitched their departments' priorities for the speech at a post-summer meeting on Friday. [47]
33
Cheese names stall the US-Mexico trade talks

Washington objects to Mexico's trade deal with the EU, which protects names such as Parmigiano Reggiano, feta and manchego. [48]

Why it matters — The US says those names are generic; the EU says they are not. A whole negotiation is stuck on it. [48]
34
Taiwan blocks a referendum on caning

The election commission rejected an opposition lawmaker's proposal for a public vote on introducing caning, calling it cruel and against human dignity. [49]

Why it matters — Taiwan was under martial law until 1987 and still has the death penalty, so the line it drew here is a chosen one. [49]
35
A Pakistani judge questions 87 Afghan students

The Islamabad High Court asked whether a petition to extend the visas of 87 Afghan students can even be heard. [50]

Why it matters — The judge asked how they were allowed in at all, saying Pakistan is at war with the Afghans. [50]
36
India loosens its arms export rules

The defence ministry dropped the requirement to consult other ministries before exporting non-lethal defence items to most countries. [51]

Why it matters — Safeguards stay for sensitive destinations. It is a bid to get Indian firms into foreign tenders faster. [51]
37
A Chinese chipmaker sues the Pentagon

ChangXin Memory Technologies, China's biggest maker of memory chips, sued to get off the US list of companies said to aid Beijing's military. [52]

Why it matters — The listing triggers contracting restrictions. The Pentagon would not comment on the case. [52]
38
US moves to cut an Egyptian bank off from dollars

The Treasury proposed severing the Emirati branches of Banque Misr from the US financial system, calling it a lifeline for Tehran. [4][5]

Why it matters — It stops short of full sanctions, which signals Washington's care with big trading partners that still deal with Iran. [4]
39
Iran says it still holds the Strait of Hormuz

The Revolutionary Guard said it keeps firm control of the strait, while the US enforces a blockade there. More than a fifth of the world's oil and gas used to pass through. [3][2]

Why it matters — Both sides claim the same water, and the fight over it has already triggered a global oil supply crisis. [2]
40
The Gulf builds its own security web

Six months into the war, Gulf states are moving from buying protection to building it, after a joint defence pact signed in Mecca this month. [6]

Why it matters — It is the same reflex as Seoul's and Reykjavik's: work out what happens if the American guarantee is not there. [6][7][13]

02 Lesson why it matters

The money was for a reason, not for a job

Help is paid for under a reason, so when the reason is declared finished the job loses its money anyway.

The twist

A budget line is named after the danger that created it, so it dies with that danger rather than with the need.

How it works

A danger appears, and money is raised to meet it
The money is filed under that danger's name
The danger is beaten, and the name stops being true
The line closes, because the reason it names is over
The people it paid for are still standing there, facing something else

Where you've seen this

Emergency health funding

pandemic staff are paid from a line that closes when the emergency is declared over

Disaster appeals

money given for an earthquake often cannot be spent on the hunger that follows it

A project team at work

the project ends, the budget code closes, and everyone who learned how it works is dispersed

Flood defences

upkeep is funded after a flood and quietly stops during the dry decade that follows

The catch

Sometimes the reason really is over, and keeping the money running is how a beaten problem acquires a permanent staff.

And the whole of it

A budget officer closing a line whose stated reason has ended is doing the job correctly, and from that desk the 180,000 people at the far end are invisible. Most of us are held up by some arrangement written for a danger that has already changed shape.

03 Lab your turn

The Budget Line

Fund four security lines across six years, and feel how the name on a budget line stops matching the danger in front of it.

04 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

The counter-Islamic State budget line is closing on schedule, while the force it paid for is now being shot at by a different enemy entirely. [1]

Why it works on us — A date on a calendar reads as a decision that has been thought through, when often it is only the last decision anyone made.

Who gains

Iran — Its main armed rival inside Iraq loses its outside paymaster, and the last US base near it closes in the same month. [1]
The Pentagon's 2027 budget — $61m a year is freed by declaring finished the fight that the money was named after. [1]
Niger's junta — An attack it says it repelled is also its argument that it is what stands between the capital and the insurgents. [15][18]
Iceland's fishing industry — The referendum was moved forward over security, but it was fought over quotas, which is the ground the industry wins on. [11][9]
Ofer Winter's new Israeli party — A split on the right leaves it drawing 69% of its support from inside Netanyahu's own bloc. [31]

Who pays

The Peshmerga's 180,000 troops — Weapons, training and pay end on 30 September, in a year when 158 Iranian missiles and drones landed in their region. [1]
Haitians deported home — Nearly 200,000 have been forcibly returned this year into a conflict that has killed more than 21,000 people since 2022. [37]
Displaced families in Gaza — Strikes continued through the ceasefire, and the UN found rats and other pests at 80% of displacement sites. [27][28]
Russian conscripts — Ukrainian intelligence puts Russian losses in the first half of 2026 at about 240,000, and a second call-up is being prepared. [21]
Afghan students in Pakistan — Eighty-seven of them asked a court to extend their visas, and the judge opened by asking why they were let in. [50]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

Whether the US will renew any support for the Peshmerga at all.

A final decision is still under review, and the Pentagon would only point at a July statement saying Iraqi forces will lead the fight from now on. [1]
02

Who attacked Niamey, and how many people were hurt.

Niger's government has not commented, no casualty figure has been released, and Reuters could not verify the security sources it quoted. [15][16][17]
03

How Iceland actually voted.

Two polls this week pointed opposite ways: Gallup had No ahead at 51.6%, the pollster Maskina had Yes ahead at 51.3%. The result is due early Sunday. [12][13]
04

How many people the Nepal-Tibet flood killed.

More than 600 are confirmed dead and 2,478 are still missing, with bodies being recovered downriver in India three days on. [40][41]
05

Whether Russia has really decided to call up 600,000 more troops.

The figure comes from Ukrainian military intelligence, not from Moscow, and Kyiv expects any announcement only after September's Russian elections. [21]
06

What China's two most senior generals are accused of.

No details have been published and their whereabouts are unknown, seven months after the investigation was announced. [42]
07

Whether the Gaza roadmap has any Israeli agreement behind it.

Hamas says it approved the plan and Netanyahu publicly rejected it, while Washington says both sides remain aligned on the goal. [26]
08

How many people the US-Iran war has killed.

The only figure in circulation is a range, 8,000 to 10,000, and neither side publishes a count. [2]

05 Hope carry this

Sudan lifted the curfew on Khartoum this week after two years, and two million of the five million people who fled the city have already gone home. Ordinary life is stubborn. It comes back the moment there is room for it.