BRICS signs a paper against war that names nobody, and the Gulf keeps shooting

The rest of the day

29 more stories on this beat.

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

1. 02

   Trump says Iran was probably behind the pipeline attack

   Donald Trump was asked in Dublin on Saturday whether Iran was behind the drones that shut Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline. "I think they are, probably they are," he said. [16] He said everything would "work out fine and dandy". [12] Three sources told Reuters the crown prince had phoned Trump on Thursday to ask for US military help against Yemen's Houthis, and was told the US would not step in directly for now. [17] Saudi Arabia has named no group. It said it would not hit back yet, to give Iraq time to act. [19][18]

   Why it matters — The pipeline carried 4 to 5 million barrels a day, about 4 to 5 percent of the world's oil, while Hormuz has been shut. [17] With the US declining to fight the Houthis directly, Saudi Arabia answers the attack alone or not at all. [17]

2. 03

   Iraq closes two border crossings with Iran

   Iraq's government says the drones were launched from Maysan province on its border with Iran. By Saturday it had sacked the province's operations commander and its police chief. [15][18] It also closed the Shalamcheh and Chazabeh crossings into Iran, halting all passenger and commercial traffic, Iranian state media said. [15] The Popular Mobilization Forces, the alliance of Iran-backed militias that is formally part of Iraq's security forces, denied any involvement, and no group has claimed the attack. [18] Iraq has told armed groups to disarm by 30 September, and several of the biggest say they will not. [15]

   Why it matters — In July the United States and Saudi Arabia bombed those militias in seven Iraqi provinces after a similar attack, killing at least 20. [19] Iraq is trying to punish someone visibly before that happens again.

3. 04

   Iran says Monday's Oman meeting will not reopen Hormuz

   Iran said on Friday it would attend a meeting with Gulf Arab states in Oman on Monday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday a senior Iranian official told Reuters no signed agreement is expected. [21] A source told Iran's Tasnim agency that an understanding with Oman sets out how the strait could reopen but does not reopen it, and that reopening depends entirely on the United States meeting Iran's conditions. [22] Iran still wants to charge ships a fee to pass, which Oman rejects. [21] Oman has not officially announced the meeting. [24]

   Why it matters — Oman controls the other bank of the strait and has negotiated with Iran for months. It says other Gulf states back the talks, but none has said so in public, and Bahrain has now said the opposite. [21]

4. 05

   Bahrain refuses to sit with Iran

   Bahrain's foreign ministry said on Saturday it will not take part in the meeting Iran has proposed in Oman on the future of the Strait of Hormuz. [23] It said Gulf security "cannot be preserved through a policy of appeasement" and called for the strait to be open without "discrimination, fees or permits". [23] Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 alongside Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia restored them in 2023; Bahrain never did, and says it will join no group meeting with Iran until it does. [23]

   Why it matters — Iran wants the region's security settled by the region's countries "without intervention by the foreigners", Baghaei said. Bahrain has answered that it will not be in the room. [23]

5. 06

   A ship is hit in Hormuz, and a Houthi projectile injures two in Saudi Arabia

   The British navy-linked agency UKMTO said early Sunday that a projectile had hit a vessel passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The crew's condition and the damage were not yet known. [17] On Saturday Saudi Arabia's civil defence said a projectile fired by Yemen's Houthis injured two people in Jazan region, near the Yemeni border, and damaged several buildings including a mosque. [17] Brent crude, the world oil benchmark, climbed back above $100 a barrel this week after the United States and Iran both fired on tankers in the strait.

   Why it matters — Hormuz has been mostly shut by the war for six months. The Houthis' advance now threatens the Bab el-Mandeb, the second route Gulf oil has been using. [17]

6. 07

   76,000 people have fled in Yemen since July

   The International Organization for Migration, the UN's migration agency, said on Saturday that at least 76,000 people in Yemen have fled their homes since July, up from 46,000 only days earlier. [12] The Houthis, the Iran-backed group that holds northern Yemen and the capital Sanaa, took the port of Mocha this week and the last of the Red Sea coast on Friday. [25][20] Yemen's civil war killed 150,000 people before a 2022 truce. [12] Aman Murshed, a mother of five displaced for five years in Taiz, fled her camp again at 5am on foot with her children. [25]

   Why it matters — Government forces said on Saturday they had shelled Houthi positions around Mocha and told civilians to stay off the roads out of the city. [20] The camp Murshed fled was on the front line. [25]

7. 08

   Lebanon and Israel push their next talks to October

   Lebanese and Israeli negotiators will meet in Rome in October for talks brokered by the United States, after a round planned for this month was postponed with no explanation. [12] The US State Department said the two countries' ambassadors to the United States will meet next week to discuss the framework agreement reached in June. [12] The two sides have held seven rounds in the US capital and Rome this year, trying to calm fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group backed by Iran. [12]

   Why it matters — The last written result of these talks is the June framework. Lebanon's president visited a southern city on Saturday near the hill Israel captured this month. [12]

8. 09

   An oil spill in the Gulf of Oman doubles in a day

   A large oil spill off Oman and Iran, believed to come from a tanker hit by the US military, doubled in size between Wednesday and Thursday, Nina Noelle of Greenpeace Germany said. [12] The tanker Riesco was one of four attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday. A fifth was destroyed in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran's Kharg island. [12] The visible slick covered about 400 square kilometres on Thursday, and satellite images reviewed by the Associated Press showed it stretching almost 70 kilometres. [12] It lies between two protected marine areas. [12]

   Why it matters — The spill endangers both protected areas, Greenpeace says, and it is growing while the shooting in the same water continues. [12]

9. 10

   Russian strikes kill at least nine across Ukraine

   Russian air strikes killed at least nine people and injured dozens across Ukraine on Saturday, officials said. Euronews counted eleven dead and 96 injured over the night. [26][27] Odesa was hit hardest, with 35 injured including a five-month-old baby when cruise missiles struck a block of flats. [27] In Kramatorsk, a front-line city in the east, drones hit three private cars in 90 minutes and killed three people. [26] President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had sent nearly 500 drones since morning, aiming at the economy because the front is not moving. [26]

   Why it matters — Vladimir Putin, speaking at the BRICS summit on Friday, said that if European governments send troops into Ukraine it will mean "a war with Russia". [28]

10. 11

    The UN says Ukraine faces its toughest winter

    Alexander De Croo, head of the UN development agency and a former Belgian prime minister, told the BBC in Ukraine that this winter will be the hardest since Russia's full invasion in 2022. [29] He said there is a "race against the clock" to repair the power network before temperatures fall, and a risk of "humanitarian catastrophe" if strikes cut power and water. [29] He accused Russia of systematically hitting energy sites, petrol stations, shopping malls and business centres. [29] Russia has begun using faster jet-powered drones that are harder to shoot down. Both countries deny targeting civilians. [29]

    Why it matters — Winter temperatures in Ukraine can fall to minus 20C, and De Croo said heating, water and sewage systems could all stop if the grid is badly damaged. [29]

11. 12

    Leipzig drone files name two suspects

    Investigation files seen by the German newspaper Welt name two suspects in the failed drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle airport on 4 August. [30] A Russian, Oleg Le., is believed to have organised the logistics, and a Belarusian, Andrei Ka., is suspected of carrying out the attack; one is reportedly linked to Russia's GRU military intelligence. [30] The drone carried about 1.8 kilograms of Semtex plastic explosive and came to rest beside an Antonov aircraft fuelled with around 25,000 litres of kerosene. It did not go off because the detonator came loose. [30]

    Why it matters — These files are what led Germany's foreign and interior ministers to publicly blame Russia about ten days ago. [30] The suspects named so far are two men, not a state.

12. 13

    150,000 march against the AfD

    About 150,000 people demonstrated in around 20 German cities on Saturday, including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, against the far-right Alternative for Germany, organisers said. [31][32] The rallies were called by Pruef, a campaign group that wants the party banned; signs read "Ban the AfD now". [31] A week earlier the AfD won nearly 44% in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, against about 17% for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats. [32] It is projected to hold 39 of 83 seats, three short of a majority, and every mainstream party has so far refused to govern with it. [32]

    Why it matters — The AfD held a counter-rally in Berlin with Kristin Brinker, its lead candidate in the capital's own regional election next weekend. [31]

13. 14

    The AfD's state leader links an arms factory to deportations

    Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, said at a press conference that arms production should not be demonised because suitable equipment would later be needed for "remigration and deportation offensives". [33] He was discussing a planned factory in Sangerhausen for Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence company that makes drones, howitzers and rocket launchers and already supplies Germany's armed forces. [33] After criticism he said he meant vehicles and protective gear for police and security agencies, and that the AfD rejects supplying arms for "foreign wars". [33]

    Why it matters — The AfD is three seats short of a majority in Saxony-Anhalt and looking for a partner. Every other party is being asked to govern beside the man who said this. [32][33]

14. 15

    Reform UK takes 72 million pounds in two days

    Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor, said on Saturday he had given 36 million pounds ($49m) to Nigel Farage's Reform UK, matching a gift by Ben Delo, co-founder of the BitMEX crypto exchange, a day earlier. [34][35] Each is the largest donation ever made to a British political party; the previous record was 10 million pounds. [34] The total exceeds what either Labour or the Conservatives spent in the whole of last year's election campaign. [34] The Metropolitan Police is investigating whether Reform accepted illegal foreign donations, which the party denies. [35][36]

    Why it matters — Delo was convicted in the US of a banking-law offence and later pardoned by Donald Trump. [34] Reform has slipped behind Labour in the polls since Andy Burnham became prime minister. [36]

15. 16

    Trump would 'love' a united Ireland

    Donald Trump said in Dublin on Saturday that he would "love" to see Ireland unified with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and that it "is going to happen eventually". [37] He was speaking after meeting Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin at Farmleigh House, before going on to a golf tournament at one of his own resorts. [37][17] "Now the UK will have something to say about it," he added, "but I think it would be a great thing." [37] He said he did not want to cause any problems. [37]

    Why it matters — Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom is meant to be decided by its own voters under the 1998 peace agreement, not by outside governments. A US president saying it out loud, as a guest in Dublin, is a new thing for both governments to answer.

16. 17

    Hungary will scrap the block on gay adoption

    Hungary's prime minister Peter Magyar said on Saturday his government will change a 2020 law that effectively stopped gay and lesbian couples from adopting children. [38] Under Viktor Orban's law, single applicants needed the family minister's personal approval, which closed the route same-sex couples had used. [38] Magyar said the decision should rest with child-welfare professionals, "not the minister, a politician". [38] Magyar beat Orban in April after 16 years of Orban's rule. In the same month the European Court of Justice ruled that Orban's restrictions on LGBTQ content broke EU law. [38]

    Why it matters — Orban also ended gender changes in official documents and banned school materials seen as promoting homosexuality. Those laws remain, so this is one change out of several the new government could make. [38]

17. 18

    Ebola passes 7,000 cases in Congo

    Congo's Ebola outbreak reached 7,022 confirmed cases and 3,398 deaths, government figures showed late Friday. It is the largest in the country's history and second worldwide only to West Africa's 2014-16 epidemic. [40][39] The virus is the rare Bundibugyo species, first detected in mid-May in Ituri province in the northeast, and it has no approved vaccine or treatment. [39] A 23-year-old man who died on Tuesday tested positive in South Ubangi, a seventh province, in the far northwest; he had left South Kivu in July and spent time abroad. [40]

    Why it matters — 837 people are in isolation or treatment now, and the outbreak is spreading through remote regions where armed groups roam and clinics are scarce. [39]

18. 19

    An Indonesian ship with 241 passengers goes missing

    Indonesian rescuers began searching the Java Sea on Sunday for the Virgo Transport 8, a passenger ship that lost contact at about 2am local time in bad weather. [41] It left Surabaya, Indonesia's second city, on Saturday morning bound for Banjarmasin on Borneo. Its manifest lists 241 passengers, and its last known position was about 148 kilometres from Banjarmasin. [41][42] Search chief I Putu Sudayana said every available boat and person was being sent. There were no reports of casualties as of Sunday morning. [41]

    Why it matters — It is the third passenger vessel in the region to be lost or burned in a week, after a ferry fire in the Philippines and a sinking in Vanuatu. [44][43]

19. 20

    A Vanuatu ferry sinks with more than 30 missing

    The inter-island ferry MV Matui sank in bad weather on Friday between the islands of Ambae and Santo in Vanuatu, a Pacific nation about 1,750 kilometres east of Australia. At least one person is dead and more than 30 are missing. [43] Fifteen people have been found alive, the prime minister's office said on Sunday. [43] The prime minister's statement said the loss appeared to result from strong winds, marine warnings not being heeded and possibly overloading, and promised an investigation. [43]

    Why it matters — The open-water search is being wound down in favour of the south-east coast, where currents may have carried survivors. The ferry's operator did not respond to questions. [43]

20. 21

    Philippine ferry bodies reach port; the captain is sought

    Thirty charred bodies from the ferry MV June Aster arrived at the port of Coron in the western Philippines on Saturday for identification, and coast guard officials said more remained inside the burned ship. [44] At least 35 people died and more than 50 are missing from the fire on Wednesday evening, 39 kilometres short of Coron at the end of a 20-hour trip from Manila; 43 of 132 aboard survived. [44][45] Survivors said there was no time to reach life jackets. [44] Investigators are looking for the captain, who reportedly survived but is not listed. [44]

    Why it matters — The inquiry will look at a tarpaulin that shielded the open decks from rain and may have trapped people inside, the coast guard said. [44]

21. 22

    Sixteen die in a Chilean nursing home fire

    At least 16 elderly residents died when fire swept through the El Eden care home in Pitrufquen, about 640 kilometres south of Santiago, on Friday night. Ten others were evacuated. [46] The blaze began around 22:30 and was not put out until Saturday morning, when firefighters were still clearing collapsed metal roofing. [46] Prosecutor Jorge Granada said the cause is not yet known. [46] Chile's president Jose Antonio Kast ordered a review of the condition of nursing homes across the country and said the state would find out "where failures may have existed in oversight or prevention". [46]

    Why it matters — The review covers every care home in Chile, so the question of who inspected El Eden, and when, now applies nationwide. [46]

22. 23

    Nigeria says South African police killed one of its citizens

    Nigeria's foreign ministry said two Nigerians were killed in South Africa this month. It says James Uchechukwu Nwankwo died after "gruesome interrogation techniques" by police in Cape Town on 5 September, and Taiwo Michael Fakunle, a bishop, was killed at his home in Johannesburg on 4 September. [47] On Friday Nigeria's parliament suspended all official visits to South Africa indefinitely. [47] Anti-migrant protests in South Africa blame foreigners for unemployment and crime and have pushed thousands to leave. Nigeria says at least 98 of its citizens have been killed there since 2022. [47]

    Why it matters — Two Nigerians were also killed in June, two days before a deadline protesters had set for foreigners to leave. The two governments are now arguing over who is responsible. [47]

23. 24

    Niger's junta names a new army chief after the mutiny

    General Abdourahamane Tchiani, who has ruled Niger since a 2023 coup, appointed Brigadier General Mamane Sani Kiaou as chief of the armed forces in a decree read on state television late Friday. [48] Kiaou replaces Major General Moussa Salaou Barmou, a junta member who had held the post since the coup; no reason was given. [48] The change follows a nearly 24-hour mutiny on 28 and 29 August at the base beside Niamey airport, where young soldiers took comrades hostage and fired on sensitive sites until Russia's Africa Corps helped retake it. [48]

    Why it matters — Kiaou is a field commander who ran operations in the regions worst hit by militant attacks, which diplomats say is the grievance that drove the mutineers. [48]

24. 25

    Myanmar's generals strip their UN envoy of his status

    Myanmar's military-backed government said on Sunday it had revoked the status of Kyaw Moe Tun, the country's ambassador to the United Nations, accusing him of "illegal activities" and misuse of mission funds. [49] Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed by Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government. Weeks after the February 2021 coup he made an emotional appeal to the UN not to recognise the generals, and they sacked him the next day. [49] He has kept his seat for five years because the UN's credentials committee keeps deferring a decision on who represents Myanmar. [49]

    Why it matters — The committee is due to meet after this month's UN General Assembly in New York, and the junta's statement lands two weeks before it. [49]

25. 26

    South Korea widens its spy law to every country

    A South Korean law that took effect on Sunday makes spying for any foreign country a crime with a minimum three-year sentence. Until now espionage charges applied only to acts benefiting North Korea. [50] Prosecutors had to use trade-secret laws for leaks to other countries, which carried lighter penalties. [50] Parliament passed the change in February after cases including five former Samsung employees indicted last year for allegedly passing memory-chip technology to the Chinese firm CXMT. [50] The National Intelligence Service said it would help protect semiconductors, displays, batteries and AI. The law names no country. [50]

    Why it matters — Asked whether it targets China, China's foreign ministry said it requires its companies to follow international rules and asked all countries to protect "normal investment and business activities". [50]

26. 27

    A hidden crypto farm in the Mexican mountains

    Police in Puebla state, central Mexico, found a secret cryptocurrency mining operation in the Sierra Norte mountains after noticing electricity use far beyond what the villages around it could need. It was allegedly drawing power from a nearby hydroelectric system. [51] Inside were 300 graphics processors, 80 medium-voltage terminals and eight satellite dishes. [51] Authorities suspect it was mining coins to launder criminal money. It is the fourth such farm found in the area since early last year. [51] Illicit crypto transactions worldwide more than doubled in 2025 to an estimated $154 billion, the analytics firm Chainalysis says. [51]

    Why it matters — Electricity is the biggest cost of mining crypto, so the operations go where power can be stolen or where organised crime already controls the area, a Chainalysis specialist said. [51]

27. 28

    US ties Chinese satellite images to a deadly Iranian strike

    Iran obtained high-resolution satellite pictures of a US base in Jordan from Chinese entities before a missile strike in July that killed three American soldiers, US officials told the Wall Street Journal. [52] The officials called it the clearest evidence yet that Chinese support for Iran has cost American lives. [52] A former CIA analyst said the flow of Chinese technology and data to Iran "starts to look pretty substantial" in improving its long-range strikes. [52] The report lands less than two weeks before Xi Jinping is due to meet Donald Trump on 24 September. [52]

    Why it matters — Xi spent Saturday in New Delhi asking BRICS to be a peacemaker in the same war. [8]

28. 29

    A 15-year-old survives days on a capsized boat off Alaska

    Derek Parker Aghnaanga, 15, was found on Monday sitting on the hull of an overturned 18-foot skiff in the Bering Sea, days after it capsized. His older brother and his cousin died. [53] The three had left St Lawrence Island on 4 September to fish for their village, Savoonga, where meat is not always available in the store, and were reported missing when they did not return. [53] A Coast Guard aircraft spotted him and a passing fishing boat pulled him out with hypothermia; the water was about 10C. [53]

    Why it matters — Savoonga is a village of about 800 Siberian Yupik people. The boy's mother said her sons were born and raised to be providers for the community. [53]

29. 30

    Rival immigration rallies face off in Glasgow

    Hundreds of people gathered at Glasgow Green on Saturday for an anti-immigration rally organised by a group called the Pink Ladies and a counter-protest arranged by Stand Up To Racism. [54] Police kept the two groups apart after violence at a July protest in the same park. [54] Scottish government minister Alison Thewliss and union leader Roz Foyer spoke at the counter-rally; Foyer accused the other side of using violence against women as a pretext for hate. [54] Reform UK's deputy leader in Scotland, Thomas Kerr, attended the Pink Ladies event and called the counter-protesters "extremists". [54]

    Why it matters — Thewliss said she had letters from people who came to Scotland and "don't feel safe". [54]