World News · Friday, 18 September 2026

01 Briefing what happened

UN investigators find a likely US war crime at an Iranian school, and crimes against humanity by Iran's rulers

A UN-backed mission says US strikes on a school in Minab and a sports hall in Lamerd were war crimes, and that Iran's government committed crimes against humanity against protesters, days before both governments meet at the UN.

150+

people killed at the Minab primary school, about 120 of them children, by Iranian officials' count

Iranian state media put the toll at 168. [2][1]

civilians killed when a US missile sprayed tungsten pellets over a sports hall in Lamerd

US Central Command said in March it did not strike Lamerd that day. [1]

3,038

protesters and others Iran's government says died in its crackdown

The UN investigators say the real number is likely far higher. [1]

people interviewed by the investigators, inside and outside Iran

Nearly three dozen requests to Iran's government went unanswered, and so did requests to the US. [2]

The lead story — what happened

A UN fact-finding mission on Iran said on Thursday it has reasonable grounds to believe two US strikes were war crimes. [1][2]
Both strikes came on 28 February, the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran. [2]
One hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, a city in southern Iran. Iranian officials say more than 150 people died there, about 120 of them children. [3][1]
The investigators found the school itself was the target, not hit by a stray missile aimed at a Revolutionary Guard base about 72 metres away. [4][2]
Photos of the school showed murals for small children, school signs and a playground. [5]
The report says the US used out-of-date targeting data and did not confirm the building was still a military site. It called that failure more than negligence. [1][6]
In Lamerd, a US missile scattered about 180,000 tungsten pellets over a sports hall and homes, killing 22 civilians. [4][7]
The same report says Iran's government committed crimes against humanity when it crushed protests that began in late December. [1]
It found killings by Iran's security forces in all 31 provinces, on what it called a staggering and unprecedented scale. [8]
A spokeswoman for the Trump administration said the UN Human Rights Council has achieved nothing and that only Iran has committed war crimes. [3] The US Defense Department said its own investigation is still going on. [6]
The mission is an investigating body, not a court, but courts such as the International Criminal Court can use its findings. [6][2]
The US has approved visas for Iran's president and foreign minister to attend next week's UN General Assembly in New York. [9][10]
The UN's outgoing chief, Antonio Guterres, said powerful countries now break international law with no punishment, naming Russia in Ukraine and the US in Iran. [11]

Who is involved

Sara Hossain

a Bangladeshi lawyer who chairs the UN fact-finding mission on Iran, set up in 2022; her team wrote the report [2]
The UN Human Rights Council

the UN's main human rights body, with 47 member countries; it hears the report in Geneva on Monday [2][6]
The Trump administration

the US government; its spokeswoman rejects the findings, and the US military has not published its own inquiry into Minab [3][1]
Iran's government

led by President Masoud Pezeshkian; accused of crimes against humanity, it has always rejected claims of systematic abuse [1][9]

How it unfolded

Late Dec 2025 Protests spread across Iran and Iran's government cracks down [1]
28 Feb The US and Israel start the war; US missiles hit the Minab school and the Lamerd sports hall [2]
June Trump says nobody purposely attacked the school, citing an investigation [1]
Thu 17 Sep The UN mission publishes its report [2]
Mon 21 Sep The report goes to the Human Rights Council in Geneva [6]
Tue 22 Sep World leaders begin their speeches at the UN General Assembly [23]

Where this points

Watch Monday's Human Rights Council session, and whether the US military publishes anything on Minab before Iran's president speaks at the UN on Wednesday. [6][10]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Oil and gas running short High↑

Saudi Arabia's oil exports are down more than 70% since January. [12] Bangladesh, which makes 40% of its power from imported gas, has blackouts and idle factories. [13] Europe's gas stores are 69% full, against 85% in a normal year. [14]

Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia Building↑

Debris from a Houthi drone killed a man in Taif, in western Saudi Arabia. [15] Houthi fighters, an armed group that holds much of Yemen, shot down a Saudi F-15 jet. [16] Italy told its navy to get ready to guard its ships near Yemen. [17]

Russian drones near NATO borders Building↑

Poland sent air raid warnings to two eastern provinces as Russia struck just across the border. [18] Poland's prime minister says intelligence services see Russian plans to hit NATO countries. [19] Russia fired nearly 160 drones at Ukraine in one night. [20]

People held without charge High→

Trinidad and Tobago still holds 2,250 people arrested under emergency rules who have never been charged. [21] A 21-year-old Palestinian held without trial died in an Israeli prison. [22] UN investigators say Iran jailed and tortured protesters. [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
China quietly presses Iran over the Houthis

China has privately asked Iran to use its sway over Yemen's Houthis to stop the fighting spreading, after Saudi Arabia appealed for help, three Iranian sources told Reuters. [24] The Houthis are an armed movement that holds much of Yemen, and Iran arms and funds them. [24] China buys more than 80% of the oil Iran sells by sea, about 1.4 million barrels a day in 2025. [24] Iran replied that calm in the region depends on ending the US-Israeli war on it. [24]

Why it matters — The Strait of Hormuz is already mostly shut, so Houthi attacks in the Red Sea would block the Middle East's other main oil route too. China depends on both routes, and it is one of the few countries Iran still listens to. [24]
03
Houthi drone kills first civilian in Saudi Arabia

Debris from a Houthi drone shot down over Taif, in western Saudi Arabia, killed a Yemeni man living there and injured two others, Saudi civil defence said on Thursday. [15] It is the first civilian death since the Houthis stepped up attacks on the kingdom. [15] BBC Verify, the broadcaster's fact-checking team, matched Houthi videos to a crash site about 40km west of Marib, in Yemen. [16] Experts identified the wreck as a Saudi F-15 Strike Eagle. [16]

Why it matters — Saudi Arabia has avoided a full air war against the Houthis, fearing more attacks on its oil sites. [15] Losing a jet makes the air support that Saudi-backed forces in Yemen rely on more costly. [16]
04
Saudi oil exports down by 70%

Saudi Arabia loaded about 2.1 million barrels of crude a day in early September, against more than 7.5 million in January. [12] Satellite images show three pumping stations on its East-West pipeline were damaged in last week's drone attack, one more than first thought. [25] The pipeline carried 4 to 5 million barrels a day to the Red Sea while Hormuz was shut, and repairs may take five to six weeks. [25] Saudi Arabia is now offering oil through ship-to-ship transfers off Sohar, a port in Oman. [26]

Why it matters — Brent, the main world oil price, still fell 1% to about $104 a barrel on Friday, as traders bet the damage will be short-lived. [26] Asian buyers take most Saudi oil, so they feel any gap first. [12]
05
Italy readies its navy for the Red Sea

Italy's defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said on Thursday he has told the navy to prepare to protect Italian ships passing the Bab el-Mandeb. [17] The Houthis have seized parts of Yemen's coast that overlook this strait, the narrow southern entrance to the Red Sea. [17] Crosetto did not say which ships might go, or when. [17] He said delays would push up transport costs and prices for families. [17]

Why it matters — Saudi oil that is rerouted around the closed Strait of Hormuz now has to pass the coast the Houthis hold. [17] Crosetto also warned that undersea data cables and energy links are exposed. [17]
06
Gas shortages hit Bangladesh and Pakistan

Asian prices for shipped gas are back near $30 a unit this week, up from about $10 before the war, because both Hormuz and the Red Sea are disrupted. [13] Bangladesh gets more than 40% of its electricity from imported gas, and it now has blackouts and factory stoppages. [13] A survey found 55% of knitwear factories had orders cut or cancelled since late August. [13] Pakistan started a fuel subsidy on Wednesday, but people say signing up for it is hard. [13]

Why it matters — Clothes are Bangladesh's biggest export, so the power cuts reach factory jobs and foreign buyers. [13] Countries with little spare money feel the shortage hardest. [13]
07
Europe's gas stores are low before winter

Europe's gas stores are 69% full, against an average of 85% at this time of year over the last five years, the industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe says. [14] Germany and the Netherlands, which hold 35% of the storage space, are furthest behind. [14] Companies held off buying because they bet the Iran war would end fast and prices would fall. [14] Diesel costs 38% more across the EU than a year ago, and petrol 24% more. [14]

Why it matters — Europe heats its homes from those stores in winter. [14] Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is weighing costly fuel help ahead of state elections this weekend. [14]
08
The war speeds up clean power, slowly

More than 30 governments have passed policies to use less fossil fuel or save energy since the Iran war began in February, AP reports. [27] But global greenhouse gas emissions rose slightly. [27] Money spent on new wind and solar fell in the first half of 2026, mostly because of a drop in China. [27] Solar spending grew in the US, Europe and India, which feel oil and gas prices more. [27]

Why it matters — Britain is installing more solar panels while it also considers more gas drilling. [27] Indonesia is replacing some diesel power plants with solar while it doubles down on coal for heavy industry. [27]
09
Chile looks at mixing plant fuel into petrol

Chile's energy ministry has drafted a plan to mix 10% ethanol, a fuel made from crops, into petrol, documents seen by Reuters show. [28] Chile is one of Latin America's biggest oil importers, buying about 181,000 barrels of crude a day in 2025. [28] Brent, the main world oil price, has risen from about $73 before the war to over $105. [28] The change could save Chile's government about $107 million a year. [28]

Why it matters — Chile already buys most of its ethanol from Argentina and Bolivia, so the plan would move more of its fuel spending inside South America. [28]
10
Russia and China end UN checks on Iran sanctions

Russia and China vetoed a US plan on Thursday to keep a UN expert panel checking whether countries obey sanctions on Iran. [29] The vote was 11 in favour and 2 against, with Somalia and Pakistan abstaining. [29] The sanctions came back in September 2025 under a clause in the 2015 nuclear deal. They freeze Iran's money abroad and ban arms sales to it. [29] The same day, the US punished two firms it says help Iran dodge sanctions using digital money. [29]

Why it matters — The sanctions stay in force, but the UN's own experts can no longer report on who breaks them. [29] Iran's UN mission thanked Russia and China for the veto. [29]
11
Trump weighs restarting big strikes on Iran

President Donald Trump said he faces a big decision on whether to resume large-scale attacks on Iran, in a phone interview with the reporter Barak Ravid. [30] He said he will first meet the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman at the UN on Tuesday. [30] Fighting between Israel and Iran has mostly stopped since early April, but US-Iran clashes keep flaring. [30] A US official said the current military set-up is hard to keep going for long. [30]

Why it matters — The Gulf states have taken most of Iran's revenge attacks, so what they tell Trump shapes whether the war restarts. [30] He has not said whether he will decide before the US midterm elections in November. [30]
12
Russia strikes eight Ukrainian regions overnight

Russia fired ballistic and cruise missiles and nearly 160 drones at Ukraine overnight into Thursday, Ukraine's air force said. [20] In Kyiv at least 16 people were hurt, among them a 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, and seven more in Odesa. [31] Russia said it hit arms factories and three cargo ships at the port of Chornomorsk. [31] Ukraine said it struck the Yaroslavl oil refinery and an airfield in Rostov, both in Russia. [31]

Why it matters — Ukraine is running low on the US-made interceptors it needs to stop ballistic missiles. [20] The attack came hours after the US Congress passed its new Russia sanctions bill. [20]
13
Poland says Russia plans strikes on NATO soil

Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, said intelligence now points to Russian plans for drone and missile strikes on countries that back Ukraine, Poland included. [19] He said they would be made to look like accidents. [19] He said Russia is also rolling out fast jet-powered drones that few armies can stop. [19] On Thursday Poland scrambled jets and sent air raid warnings to two eastern provinces as Russia hit western Ukraine near the border. [18]

Why it matters — Tusk said four attacks hit Poland's border crossings with Ukraine in the past week, and those crossings carry supplies into Ukraine. [32] He announced an overnight trip to Ukraine to discuss defence against the new drones. [32]
14
Ukraine's war makes NATO weapons look old

Five Ukrainian and Western defence officials told Reuters that the war in Ukraine moves so fast that some NATO weapons and tactics risk going out of date. [33] Ukraine changes its methods in weeks, while NATO buys new systems over years. [33] The co-owner of Fire Point, a Ukrainian missile and drone maker, said a drone costing about $5,000 can now destroy a tank. [33] Europe still spends heavily on tanks. [33]

Why it matters — The US Defense Department is reviewing how many US troops stay in Europe, so European armies may soon have to fight with less American help. [33]
15
Russia's oil buyers push back at the US bill

Russia, India and China all rejected the US sanctions bill the day after Congress passed it. [34] The bill would let President Trump put 100% sanctions on the biggest buyers of Russian fuel. [34] Since 2022 China has bought 50% of Russia's crude exports and India 37%. [34] India warned the measures could damage its ties with the US. [35] The Kremlin, Russia's presidency, said new sanctions would make a peace deal in Ukraine harder. [36]

Why it matters — An expert at RUSI, a London defence research group, said Ukraine's gain for now is political, not economic. [36] Much depends on how hard the US actually enforces the bill. [36]
16
US senators say the Defense Department keeps them in the dark

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the US Senate's foreign relations committee, says US ambassadors are shut out of a Pentagon review of US troops in Europe. [37] US defence officials are considering pulling out about 25,000 of the roughly 80,000 US troops there. [37] Separately, senators from both parties said Elbridge Colby, the US Defense Department's top policy official, skipped a required update on defence strategy on Thursday. [38] Senators also asked about fears of troops at polling places in November. Colby said discussions about deploying the National Guard were taking place. [38]

Why it matters — A State Department official said diplomats are being consulted. [37] European allies facing Russian drones must wait for a review due to finish by the end of the year. [37]
17
Sweden's prime minister resigns

Ulf Kristersson resigned as Sweden's prime minister on Thursday after the final count confirmed his right-wing bloc had lost. [39] The centre-left won by about 42,500 votes and two seats. [40] The Sweden Democrats, a far-right party with roots in the neo-Nazi fringe, lost votes for the first time since entering parliament in 2010. [39] Magdalena Andersson, the Social Democrats' leader, is expected to become prime minister again. [41]

Why it matters — Forming her government could take weeks: it took 37 days in 2022 and 134 in 2018. [41] One possible partner, the Centre Party, will not join a coalition that includes the Left Party. [39]
18
Canada's Carney is cautious on an EU seat

Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister, told the European Parliament he welcomes closer ties, but stopped short of backing an 'associate member' status for Canada. [42] Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU's executive, floated that status, though it does not exist and EU governments were not asked first. [42] Carney said Canada's parliament will vote on any deal. [42] President Trump said he might answer with serious tariffs. [42]

Why it matters — Detailed talks start at a Canada-EU summit in Montreal at the end of October. [42] Canada sees the EU as the easiest way to deepen trade it already has. [42]
19
Britain asks into the EU's 'Made in Europe' plan

John Healey, Britain's finance minister, will ask EU finance ministers in Dublin on Friday not to shut British firms out of the EU's 'Made in Europe' plan. [43] That plan, still being written, would favour goods made inside the EU to protect factories from cheap Chinese competition. [43] Talks for Britain to join an EU defence loans scheme collapsed last year over how much it would pay. [43]

Why it matters — British firms sell parts into European supply chains and could lose that business if the rules keep them out. [43]
20
Irish lawmaker attacked in Dublin

Michael Healy-Rae, 59, one of Ireland's best-known independent lawmakers, was attacked in central Dublin on Wednesday and needed stitches to his face. [44] Police arrested a man in his 50s. [44] Prime Minister Micheal Martin called it an attack on democracy and said hostility towards politicians is growing. [44] Attacks on Irish politicians are rare, but lawmakers report more intimidation in recent years. [44]

Why it matters — Martin said Irish ministers, himself included, can still walk the streets freely. [44] Police have not ruled out that Healy-Rae was targeted because he is a public figure. [44]
21
Serbia opens a factory for Israeli drones

Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vucic, opened a factory that will assemble combat drones designed in Israel. [45] It will employ about 100 people and build drones for Serbia's army and other countries. [45] A regional news service reported in April that it would be run with Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms maker. [45] Vucic said at least three more such factories will follow. [45]

Why it matters — Vucic faces an early election on 25 October after nearly two years of protests against his rule. [45] Serbia also buys arms from China and Russia while it seeks to join the EU. [45]
22
Britain's opposition tells Trump 'don't be silly'

Tom Tugendhat, foreign affairs spokesman for Britain's opposition Conservatives, told Donald Trump 'don't be silly' about the Falkland Islands and Ireland. [46] Trump said US policy on the Falklands is under review and hinted he would not help Britain in a future conflict with Argentina. [46] He also said on a visit to Ireland that Irish unification would happen eventually. [46] Britain won a war with Argentina over the islands four decades ago. [46]

Why it matters — Argentina's president said this month that the winds of change favour his country's claim to the islands. [46]
23
Israel's top court bans tracking who voted

Israel's High Court ruled unanimously on Thursday night that party agents at polling stations may not track who has voted. [47] It overturned a decision by the Central Elections Committee earlier this month. [47] Likud, the prime minister's party, and the ultra-Orthodox parties have used such lists to push turnout. [47] Justice Minister Yariv Levin accused the court of trying to swing the coming election. [47]

Why it matters — The court said the practice has no legal basis and breaks Israel's privacy law. [47] Likud's lawyers told the court the ban would badly hurt their election-day work. [47]
24
Israel's army discharges its 7 October intelligence chief

Israel's army discharged the officer who was the Gaza Division's intelligence chief on 7 October 2023, citing his failures before Hamas's attack. [48] Known only as Lt. Col. A., he had already lost his command last year. [48] Separately, the army said strikes in northern Gaza on Monday and Tuesday killed two members of Hamas's elite Nukhba force. [49] It said one of them attacked the Erez crossing on 7 October. [49]

Why it matters — The army said both men were planning new attacks, which it calls a breach of the ceasefire. [49]
25
A detainee dies, and a Red Cross ruling waits

Moataz al-Atrash, 21, from the West Bank, died in Israel's Ofer Prison after being held without trial since late last year, Palestinian prisoner groups said. [22] They say 92 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons since the war began. [22] On Thursday four rights groups asked Israel's High Court to enforce its June ruling that Red Cross visits to Palestinian security prisoners must restart. [50] The visits stopped after 7 October 2023 and have not resumed. [50]

Why it matters — The court found in June that the ban had no basis in Israeli or international law. [50] Relatives say al-Atrash had no health problems before his arrest. [22]
26
Gaza rebuild briefing set as a ruin collapses

The Board of Peace, the body Trump set up to oversee his plan for Gaza, will brief dozens of countries at the UN on 23 September. [51] Its invitation promises an update on the plan for Hamas to give up its weapons. [51] In Gaza, rescuers ended their search at a bomb-damaged building that collapsed this week, with 21 dead and 45 pulled out alive. [52] Nearly a year after the ceasefire, rebuilding has not begun. [52]

Why it matters — More than 2 million people live squeezed into a third of Gaza, mostly in tents or damaged buildings. [52]
27
Israeli freed after 11 years in an Iraqi jail

An Israeli man jailed in Iraq for 11 years has been released and is expected home soon, a former Israeli foreign ministry official who worked on his case said. [53] He was convicted of killing a taxi driver and sentenced to death. [53] An Iraqi court cut the sentence after evidence showed he acted in self-defence, and after a reconciliation with the driver's family. [53]

Why it matters — His release rested on evidence of self-defence and on the dead man's family agreeing to reconcile, not on a deal between governments.
28
Pakistan warns it may strike armed groups in Afghanistan

Pakistan told the UN Security Council it will act 'in self-defence, as and when needed' against armed groups based in Afghanistan. [54] Its envoy said more than 4,700 Pakistanis were killed by such attacks in three years. [54] He named the Pakistani Taliban, the Baloch Liberation Army and the local branch of Islamic State. [54] A UN report says armed groups remain in Afghanistan. [54]

Why it matters — Pakistan says Afghanistan's Taliban government has taken no real action against these groups. [54] Its envoy said any response would follow international law, and blamed outside backers of the armed groups. [54]
29
Pakistan's top court frees rights lawyer Mazari

Pakistan's Supreme Court suspended the 17-year prison sentences of rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, and ordered them freed on bail. [55] Both were convicted in January over social media posts the court called anti-state. [55] Mazari is a critic of Pakistan's powerful military and has defended minorities and journalists. [55] A lower court is due to rule on their appeal within weeks. [55]

Why it matters — The couple say they were punished for speaking out about activists who disappeared. [55] Rights monitors had questioned whether their trial was fair. [55]
30
Pakistan borrows from China and the US at once

Pakistan's finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, said Pakistan has used all of a 30 billion yuan credit line from China and will ask for more when it is renewed in 2027. [56] He expects a US answer within two months on a $10 billion facility to steady Pakistan's currency. [56] Pakistan relies on China, the Gulf states and international lenders to repay its debts. [56]

Why it matters — Loans from a US export bank could help Pakistan's newly privatised national airline buy Boeing planes. [56]
31
How the US pressed Japan to spend less

When Japan's finance minister, Satsuki Katayama, asked the US Treasury in June to help prop up the falling yen, Scott Bessent set conditions, sources told Reuters. [57] He wanted Japan to cut its big spending and its central bank to raise interest rates. [57] The two countries then bought yen together in late July. [57] Katayama later told G20 finance ministers that Japan would avoid tax cuts paid for with debt. [57]

Why it matters — Bessent worried a sell-off in Japanese government debt could spread to US debt. [57] Japan's leaders worried a weak yen would raise prices and cost Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi votes. [57]
32
China and the US plan military talks for Xi's visit

China and the US are discussing steps to improve contact between their militaries, to be announced when Xi Jinping, China's president, visits Washington next week, sources told the South China Morning Post. [58] One option is restarting arms-control talks that China suspended in 2024 over US arms sales to Taiwan. [58] China's foreign minister Wang Yi called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday to settle final plans. [58]

Why it matters — Trump and Xi are due to meet on 24 September. [59] Wang told Rubio both sides should manage their differences and respect each other's core interests. [58]
33
Security experts warn about AI in war

Delegates at the Xiangshan Forum, China's main defence conference, warned that AI is shrinking the time governments have to decide in a crisis. [60] About 2,000 officers, diplomats and academics from 100 countries attended. [60] Separately, US and Chinese experts proposed red lines around nuclear weapons, human control over major cyberattacks and a hotline for AI accidents. [59] They warned an AI fault in a nuclear command system could leave each side minutes to decide whether the other attacked. [59]

Why it matters — China and the US are still divided on controlling AI in weapons. [60] The experts' ideas were published ahead of planned government AI talks. [59]
34
Brazil raises welfare payments before the vote

Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, raised the minimum monthly Bolsa Familia payment, the country's main family benefit, by 15% to 691 reais ($134). [61] The decree says it makes up for price rises since March 2023. [61] Millions of families get the new amount from 19 October. [61] Brazil votes in October, and Lula is level in polls with Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. [61]

Why it matters — A Bolsonaro ally asked the electoral court to suspend the decree, saying it breaks election law. [61] It will cost 5.8 billion reais ($1.1 billion) this year. [61]
35
Bolivia extends its state of emergency

Bolivia's parliament extended a state of emergency by 90 days on Thursday, a day before it was due to end. [62] President Rodrigo Paz's government declared it in June, after more than 50 days of road blockades by protesters caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. [62] Ministers pointed to police and army warnings of new protests. [62] Some opposition lawmakers questioned the need. [62]

Why it matters — The blockades deepened Bolivia's economic crisis. [62] The extension keeps the emergency in place for another three months. [62]
36
Trinidad and Tobago ends its emergency rule

Trinidad and Tobago ended a state of emergency that let police hold people seen as a security threat. [21] The country has spent about 16 of the last 20 months under emergency rule. [21] More than 5,800 people were arrested after the last extension in March, and 2,250 of them have not been charged. [21] Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the threats had fallen sharply. [21]

Why it matters — Killings fell from a record 624 in 2024 to 369 last year. [21] A lawyer says some detainees will sue, and described clients brought to meetings blindfolded and shackled. [21]
37
Nigeria tries five men over a school kidnapping

Five men accused of belonging to Ansaru, an Islamist armed group, went on trial in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, over a school kidnapping in Oyo state. [63] A witness said gunmen took seven teachers and 39 pupils on 15 May and held them in a forest for 56 days. [63] All five pleaded not guilty to seven terrorism charges. [63] They face 20 years to life in prison if convicted. [63]

Why it matters — Kidnapping for ransom has spread across Nigeria, but big school raids are rare in the south-west. [63] One teacher was killed in captivity. [63]
38
British woman freed in a Malawi shootout

Police in Malawi freed Nusrat Osman, a 47-year-old British woman kidnapped nearly a week earlier, near the southern city of Blantyre on Thursday. [64] Four suspected kidnappers, armed with an AK-47 rifle and a pistol, were shot and died in hospital. [64] A deputy police chief was wounded and is stable. [64] Osman was reunited with her family. [64]

Why it matters — Police have not named the four men who died. [64] Osman was taken to hospital for physical and mental health checks, local media reported. [64]
39
Hackers get into two ships bound for the US

US officials said hackers appear to have broken into the computer networks of two ships heading for the US, and a Coast Guard and FBI team boarded them. [65] A maritime security firm named one as the VL Prosperity, now anchored near Galveston, Texas. [65] Iran's Mehr news agency said in August that the ship's engine systems had been tampered with and its communications cut for 30 hours. [65]

Why it matters — Neither agency said who did it, beyond 'foreign cyber actors'. [65] A security firm expects more such attacks on ships. [65]
40
Democrats plan to investigate the Trump family

Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the US House oversight committee, told the FT that Democrats will investigate the Trump family's business if they win November's midterm elections. [66] He wants to question Donald Trump Jr about firms his fund backed that won Pentagon contracts. [66] The FT reported last year that the family made at least $1bn from cryptocurrency ventures. [66]

Why it matters — If Democrats win, the committee can force witnesses to testify under oath. [66] A Pentagon official said political connections play no role in its contracts. [66]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why an emergency is easy to declare and hard to end

An emergency takes a day to declare, but ending one means an official saying the danger is over and taking the blame if it returns.

The twist

Declaring an emergency costs a leader almost nothing on the day. Ending one is a gamble: if an attack follows, the leader who ended it gets the blame.

How it works

A real danger arrives: killings, road blockades, a war
A government declares an emergency and gains powers it lacks in normal times, such as holding people without charge
When the emergency is due to end, officials are asked whether the danger has completely gone
It almost never has, so the emergency is renewed
It ends only when a court, a parliament or public anger forces the question

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

Trinidad and Tobago ends its emergency rule

The emergency was renewed several times from December 2024 and ran for about 16 of 20 months. It ended only after killings fell and anger grew over 2,250 people held without charge.
Bolivia extends its state of emergency

Parliament renewed it a day before it expired. The reason given was police warnings that blockades might return, not any new blockade.
A detainee dies, and a Red Cross ruling waits

Israel stopped Red Cross prison visits after 7 October 2023 as a wartime step, and a court ruling in June has still not restarted them.

Where you've seen this

Britain's income tax

Robert Peel brought it back in 1842 as a temporary tax for three years, and it has been collected ever since.

Egypt's emergency law

declared after President Anwar Sadat was killed in 1981, it was renewed for most of the next 31 years.

France after the 2015 Paris attacks

the state of emergency was renewed six times over two years, then many of its powers were written into ordinary law in 2017.

The catch

Some emergencies do end, as Trinidad and Tobago's did this week once killings fell and people pushed back. Some dangers really do last for years.

And the whole of it

The officials who renew an emergency read the threat reports, and the people held under it see only a cell. Most of us hear that an emergency was extended and never ask what it lets a government do.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

A UN panel says a US Tomahawk missile was aimed at a primary school in Minab where about 120 children died. [1][2] The US military has published nothing from its own inquiry in almost seven months. [6] Next week the Trump administration lets Iran's president into New York for the UN meeting while Trump decides whether to restart large-scale strikes on Iran. [9][30]

Why it works on us — Pointing at the other side's crimes feels like an answer, so the Trump administration replied to a report about a school by listing Iran's attacks. [3]

Who gains

Iran's government — It can wave the Minab findings at the UN next week, because the US has given its president a visa to speak there. [2][9]
Russia and China — Their veto ended the UN panel that checked sanctions on Iran, whose oil sold by sea goes mostly to China. [29][24]
Lula da Silva, Brazil's president — A 15% rise in family welfare reaches millions of voters from 19 October, days before a likely run-off on 25 October. [61]
Ethanol makers in Argentina and Bolivia — Chile already buys most of its ethanol from them, and its plan to mix 10% into petrol would need more. [28]
Solar builders in the US, Europe and India — High oil and gas prices pushed solar spending up in those places even as it fell worldwide. [27]

Who pays

Families of the children killed in Minab — The US has not accepted blame or published its own findings, and the UN report has no power to force either. [2][6]
Garment workers in Bangladesh — Gas and power cuts made 78% of knitwear factories partly stop work and 55% lose orders. [13]
People in Kyiv and Odesa — More than two dozen people were hurt in one night of Russian strikes, while Ukraine runs short of missiles to stop them. [20][31]
European households and drivers — Diesel costs 38% more than a year ago, and gas stores are too low to promise a cheap winter. [14]
Detainees in Trinidad and Tobago — 2,250 people arrested under emergency rules have never been charged, and some were brought to lawyers blindfolded and shackled. [21]

What nobody knows yet

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

01

How many people died at the Minab school.

Iranian officials say more than 150, Iranian state media say 168, and news agencies count 177 or 178 dead across both strikes. Nobody outside Iran has made a final count. [1][2][8]
02

What the US military's own investigation of Minab found.

The US Defense Department widened the inquiry but has published nothing, and said on Thursday it has nothing to announce. [1][3]
03

How many people Iran's government really killed in the protests.

The official figure is 3,038 dead. The UN investigators could not check it but say the real number is likely far higher. [1]
04

Whether Trump will restart large-scale strikes on Iran.

He says he will first hear from six Gulf leaders at the UN on Tuesday, and he has not said whether he will decide before November's midterm elections. [30]
05

How long Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline stays down.

Three industry sources say repairs could take five to six weeks, while another says partial pumping could restart sooner. The US energy secretary says oil will flow within days. [25][26]
06

Whether Russia really plans strikes on NATO countries.

Poland's prime minister cites intelligence from NATO, Ukraine and the US, including the CIA. He has described it, but not released it. [19][32]
07

Who hacked the two ships bound for the US.

The Coast Guard blames unnamed foreign cyber actors, and it and the FBI gave accounts that do not match. [65]
08

Whether China's pressure on Iran will change what the Houthis do.

China made no threats and did not say it would squeeze Iran's economy, and Iran answered that peace depends on ending the war on it. [24]
09

What happens to the 2,250 people in Trinidad and Tobago who were never charged.

Trinidad and Tobago's government ended the emergency but has not said whether they will be released. [21]

04 Hope carry this

Pakistan's Supreme Court suspended the 17-year prison sentences of rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, and ordered them freed on bail.

Also true today

Police in Malawi freed Nusrat Osman, a British woman held by kidnappers for almost a week, and she was reunited with her family.
Five men accused of kidnapping 39 pupils and seven teachers in Nigeria's Oyo state went on trial in Abuja. Security forces rescued the children in July, after 56 days in a forest.
An Israeli man jailed in Iraq for 11 years was released after a court accepted he acted in self-defence and the dead man's family agreed to reconcile.