World, in brief

A fire broke out late on Wednesday at a satellite ground station in Wola Krobowska, in central Poland, owned by Exatel, a state telecom company. [3][1]

The station passes internet traffic through Poland to countries including Ukraine. It uses Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX. [1][3]

Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland's deputy prime minister, said the fire engulfed the station's power unit and generator. [2]

He said it was sabotage meant to cut internet access for several institutions, including Ukraine's army. [2]

He said it is not yet proven that Russia did it, but many signs fit what he called Russia's new way of attacking. The station was working again on Thursday. [2][1]

The same day, Denmark's military intelligence service said Russia will carry out more frequent 'hybrid' attacks on NATO countries in the coming months. [4]

Hybrid attacks mean sabotage, cyberattacks and false stories: pressure on a country that stops short of open war. [1]

The Danish service put the risk of a limited Russian military attack on a NATO country bordering Russia at 'low but growing'. [4]

Its chief, Thomas Ahrenkiel, said the aim of such an attack would be to divide NATO, not to take over a country. [4]

Overnight into Thursday, Moldova's president said four Russian drones crossed into Moldova and at least one exploded. Romania said one drone crashed on its land. [1]

An EU agency report seen by Reuters says Europe is not rearming fast enough to be ready to defend itself against Russia by 2030. [7]

NATO's top commander, the US general Alexus Grynkewich, said the US will give the alliance 'critical but more limited' military help as Europeans do more. [8]

Why it matters. Watch what Poland's investigation finds about who set the fire, and what EU defence ministers agree on Monday when they discuss the report that says Europe is rearming too slowly. [2][7]

Dozens of delegates walked out of the UN General Assembly on Thursday as Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, began to speak. [10] He rejected the charge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and called Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan a tyrant. [10] He attacked Britain and France for accusing Israel of colonialism, and thanked Trump as the US delegation applauded. [11] He also accused Zohran Mamdani, New York's mayor, of making Jews feel unsafe, and Mamdani's office called the speech baseless lies. [10]

Why it matters. Polls show Israelis losing faith in Netanyahu and his Likud party before an election later this year. [12] A former Israeli diplomat told Al Jazeera the speech, shown live on Israeli television, is his way of being seen standing up to the world. [12]

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, spoke to the General Assembly in a video recorded in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. [13] The US refused visas to him and other senior Palestinian officials for the second year running. [13] He said Palestinians face one of the most dangerous times in their history. He asked how long some states would keep sending Israel weapons. [13] Israel's seats sat empty while he spoke. [13]

Why it matters. Abbas is 90 and has led the Palestinian Authority, which runs parts of the West Bank, since 2005, with no presidential vote since. [13] He has been largely left out of the talks on Gaza's future, which Trump's Board of Peace now runs. [13]

About 80 countries, including the Gulf Arab states and the big Western powers, demanded at the UN on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened urgently. [14] Bahrain's foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, read out the joint statement. [14] It condemned Iran and its allies in Yemen, the Houthis, for attacks that disrupt trade and energy. [14] Iran and the Houthis both say they are defending themselves. [14]

Why it matters. The strait, between Iran and Oman, usually carries about a fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments. [24] Iran has kept it mostly shut since the US and Israel attacked it in February. [24] The statement records who blames Iran, but it orders nothing.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had sent the US a plan through go-betweens. [15] Under it, fighting on every front, including Lebanon, would end within seven days. [15] The US would lift its blockade of Iran's ports, free Iran's frozen money and drop its oil sanctions. [15] Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen only on the last of those days. [15] Regional sources told Reuters Iran would move its demand for fees from passing ships out of the main deal. [16]

Why it matters. Six sources told Reuters the talks are stuck because neither side wants to give up its pressure first. [16] The US blockade has cut off Iran's oil sales, and Iran's grip on the strait keeps fuel prices high far from the Gulf. [16]

Saudi Arabia said it shot down six ballistic missiles fired on Thursday by the Houthis, the armed movement that holds northern Yemen, towards Taif and Yanbu. [17][19] Yanbu is the Red Sea port Saudi Arabia uses to export oil while Hormuz is shut. [17] Greek soldiers running a Patriot air-defence system near Yanbu shot down a ballistic missile and a drone, a Greek source told Reuters. [19] The Houthis said they also attacked a target in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and Saudi Arabia did not confirm any attack there. [20]

Why it matters. Saudi Arabia had only just started pumping oil again through its pipeline to Yanbu, shut since 11 September. [17] The UN human rights chief says fighting in Yemen has killed or wounded at least 125 civilians since August. [40]

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey met under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which says an attack on one of them is an attack on all. [15] They called an urgent meeting of their army chiefs to discuss helping Saudi Arabia. [15] France's president Emmanuel Macron said France will send soldiers, radars and air defences to protect Yanbu. [6] The US, Saudi Arabia's key partner, has said it is in contact with the Houthis and indicated it is sitting this fight out. [18]

Why it matters. Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News, a US channel, that the Houthis are responsible for their own actions. [15] So Saudi Arabia is fighting a group Iran supports, with help from Pakistan, Turkey, France and Greece instead of the US. [15][6][19]

Iran's flights to the Gulf states, Oman, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Baghdad stopped on Thursday as new US sanctions took effect, Iranian media reported. [21] The US had said it would punish any company anywhere that does business with Iranian airlines after 23 September. [21] Tehran's main airport still listed flights to countries including China, Turkey, Pakistan and Armenia. [21] A senior Iranian official threatened to make airports unusable in any country that obeys the ban. [21]

Why it matters. These are secondary sanctions, which punish other countries' firms, and Trump has called the campaign an economic D-Day. [21] They cut flights to the Gulf states, some of Iran's most important business and travel partners, while its ports are already blockaded. [21]

The US Senate voted 50 to 49 on Thursday to reject a Democratic resolution that would have stopped the Iran war until Congress approved it. [22] The House of Representatives had passed it in July. [22] Before Thursday, the US Senate had voted on such resolutions 13 times since the war began on 28 February. [23] Only 34% of Americans approved of the strikes on Iran in a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week. [23]

Why it matters. Some Republicans in close races, such as Mike Rogers in Michigan, now call for a quick end to the war before the 3 November midterm elections. [23] The vote puts every senator on the record before then. [23]

Ed Miliband, Britain's foreign secretary, told Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi at the UN that Britain will not tolerate threats or hostile activity on its soil. [24] British intelligence concluded that Iran or groups working for it were involved in an arson attack on four Jewish community ambulances in Golders Green, London, in March. [24] Miliband also asked again for the release of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple jailed in Iran on spying charges they deny. [24]

Why it matters. British intelligence first kept an open mind about who was behind the ambulance attack, and only later concluded that Iran or its proxies were involved. [24] Finding out who is behind an attack like this can take months, as Poland is finding with its station fire. [2]

Ethiopia's army said on Thursday it had pushed back attacks by Tigrayan forces and their allies, its first statement since fighting began on Wednesday. [25] It said the fighting started in the Amhara region, near Tigray's border. [25] A humanitarian source said Tigrayan forces fired heavy artillery while trying to take Yallo, a town in the Afar region. [25] Fano, an Amhara armed movement that fought against Tigray in the last war, is now fighting beside Tigray's forces, security sources told Reuters. [28]

Why it matters. The last war, from 2020 to 2022, killed about 600,000 people by the African Union mediator's estimate. [25] About three-quarters of a million people in Tigray are still displaced from it, and IGAD, the East African regional group, has called for a ceasefire. [26]

People in Mekelle, Tigray's main city, are buying food and taking out cash, and shop shelves in Adigrat, near Eritrea, are empty, residents told Reuters. [27] A resident of Mekelle told the BBC banks had been running out of cash for months. [25] Armed men detained four veteran commanders who doubted the new war, including Tadesse Werede, who led Tigray's forces last time, a relative said. [28] Residents say young men are being forced to fight, which Tigray's leaders deny. [27][28]

Why it matters. In the last war Tigray was cut off from food, cash and medicine, and hundreds of thousands of people were pushed into famine-like conditions. [27] This time its leaders have six allied armed groups but less support at home, Reuters reported. [28]

The Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary army fighting Sudan's national army, have stepped up drone attacks on army-held towns in North Kordofan, in central Sudan, residents told Reuters. [29] On 8 September a drone hit a crowded courtroom in Um Ruwaba, killing about 10 people, a rights group said. [29] A day later a drone struck a college in al-Obeid, the state capital. [29] The RSF says it does not target civilians on purpose. [29]

Why it matters. The UN says drone attacks by both sides killed more than 1,000 civilians in the first half of this year. [29] The war is three and a half years old, and North Kordofan is now one of its main front lines. [29]

Afghanistan's Taliban government said Pakistani air strikes killed four civilians, hitting Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces. [30] Pakistan said its 10 targets were strictly military and linked to drones that crossed into Pakistan on Wednesday. [30][31] The Taliban deny sending the drones and promised an appropriate response. [30][31] It is Pakistan's second wave of strikes on Afghanistan in a week. [30]

Why it matters. Pakistan says Afghanistan shelters the Pakistani Taliban, a faction of which claimed a deadly attack on a police mosque last week, and Afghanistan denies it. [31] China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been trying to make peace between the two neighbours. [31]

A Russian strike on a farm in Stara Hnylytsia, a village in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, killed six farm workers who were sorting vegetables, Ukraine's emergency service said. [1] Four of them were women, the head of the region said. [1] Russia's defence ministry said its strikes that night hit military sites, supply hubs and telecom centres. [1] At the UN, President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the US to help Ukraine with interceptors that can stop ballistic missiles. [1]

Why it matters. Russia's new jet-powered drones are harder to shoot down, and the missiles Ukraine has for stopping them cost too much to use on every one. [1] Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told the Security Council there would be no pause in the war. [1]

Alexander Stubb, Finland's president, said he pleaded with Elon Musk to let Ukraine use Starlink, Musk's satellite internet, over Russian land. [9] Starlink does not work over Russia. [9] Ukrainian officials believe switching it on would let them hit the mobile launchers that fire ballistic missiles from a few hundred kilometres inside Russia. [9] Only Ukraine's Patriot air defences can stop those missiles, and their ammunition is badly depleted. [9]

Why it matters. Russia fired record numbers of ballistic missiles this summer, and Ukraine fears attacks on its power and heating in winter. [9] Whether Ukraine can reach those launchers depends on a decision by one private company. [9]

Up to 25,000 North Koreans are assembling drones in Russia, according to a UN sanctions monitoring team and Ukrainian reports. [32] Most work in the Alabuga zone in Tatarstan, where Russia builds its own copies of Iran's Shahed attack drone. [32] UN sanctions have banned North Korean workers abroad since 2017, so many are registered as students. [32] Russia gave 35,800 student visas to North Koreans in 2025. [32]

Why it matters. North Korea's government takes almost all of their pay. It earned up to $800 million from its workers abroad in 2025, and the UN team says the money pays for its nuclear and missile programme. [32] The drones they build are the ones Russia fires at Ukrainian cities. [32]

North Korea said on Friday that South Korea would become a decisive target if it served as a hub for US-led collective defence, the state news agency KCNA reported. [33] The commentary quoted the commander of US forces in South Korea describing the country as a key centre of collective defence. [33] It said North Korea has prepared countermeasures. [33] About 28,500 US troops are based in South Korea. [33]

Why it matters. The threat is addressed to South Korea, not to the US. It tells South Koreans that a bigger place in US plans would bring the danger to them. [33]

African leaders at the UN again demanded permanent seats on the Security Council, the UN body that decides on war and peace. [34] Its five permanent members, the US, Russia, France, Britain and China, each hold a veto, and Africa holds three of the ten rotating seats. [34] Kenya's president William Ruto said the equality promised in the assembly ends at the doors of the Security Council. [34] In 2024 the US, under Joe Biden, backed two permanent African seats. [34]

Why it matters. Ethiopia's president Taye Atske Selassie said 1.6 billion Africans are denied equal representation. [34] The wars on this year's agenda, from Ukraine to Iran, are decided in a room where Africa has no lasting say. [34]

The US State Department is weighing strict controls on Cuban officials who come to the UN next month, officials and a document seen by AP say. [35] They are coming for the UN's yearly vote on the US embargo on Cuba. [35] Cuba's foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez said talks with the US have stalled. [35] He said a US oil blockade since January works like a naval siege. [35] Cuba's power grid has collapsed at least six times this year, leaving millions without electricity. [35]

Why it matters. The General Assembly has condemned the embargo by large margins for years. [35] Cuban officials may already travel only within 25 miles of the UN in New York, and new limits could make it hard for them to attend the vote at all. [35]

The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court to let it deport migrants to countries that are not their own, after lower courts blocked it. [36] A Boston appeals court put the block into force late on Wednesday. [36] More than 25,000 migrants have been sent to 29 countries this way, most to Mexico, rights groups count. [36] Others went to South Sudan, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and the Central African Republic. [36]

Why it matters. The policy sends people to countries not named on their deportation orders, including South Sudan, which the US State Department tells Americans to avoid. [36] The US Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration once before in this case. [36]

Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, has asked big American refiners whether they would export less diesel voluntarily, three people told Reuters. [37] Trump said on Tuesday he backed limits on diesel exports, which surprised his own officials. [37] US diesel costs about $6.52 a gallon, and US stocks are 13% below normal for the season. [37] France's president Emmanuel Macron said a US ban on diesel exports would be catastrophic. [6]

Why it matters. The US is the world's biggest diesel exporter, so any cut in its sales abroad lands on buyers in other countries. [37][6] Farm-state Republicans want limits before the midterm elections, and more than 30 business groups urged Trump not to impose them. [37]

The US will hand Iraq a diplomatic and supply centre at Baghdad airport that Iran-backed armed groups attacked many times during the war, Iraq's foreign ministry said. [38] It said the agreement was signed with the top US diplomat in Iraq, Steven Fagin. [38] The handover is part of ending the US-led coalition's military presence in Iraq. [38] The last coalition troops are due to leave by 30 September. [38]

Why it matters. Iraq's government gets back a site at its main airport that Iran-backed groups had attacked again and again. [38] The handover comes days before the coalition's deadline to leave. [38]

Gaza will need about $71.5 billion to recover and rebuild, UNCTAD, the UN's trade and development agency, said on Thursday. [39] It found 92% of Gaza's businesses damaged or destroyed since October 2023. [39] Each person's share of Gaza's output is $0.58 a day, and prices are 274% higher than in 2022. [39] An EU commissioner said only 1 billion euros has been raised of the 71 billion euros needed. [40]

Why it matters. Israel says rebuilding cannot start until Hamas disarms. [40] Hamas said it is ready to follow the Board of Peace's plan, but did not mention giving up its weapons. [40]

Members of Trump's Board of Peace, which plans Gaza's future, have met officials of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, several times, a board official confirmed to AP. [41] In public the board says the agency has no role in Gaza. [41] Philippe Lazzarini, who led UNRWA until March, said it still props up about half of Gaza's public health system. [41] Israel wants UNRWA out, saying Hamas has infiltrated it. [41]

Why it matters. The International Court of Justice says Israel's claims about UNRWA have not been proven. [41] Almost a year after the ceasefire nothing has been rebuilt, and UNRWA has more workers in Gaza than any other aid group. [41]