World, in brief

US troops are due out of their last bases in Iraq by Wednesday 30 September, under a deal agreed in 2024. [1]

About 4,500 Americans died in Iraq, in a war that began in 2003 when the US invaded and toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq's dictator. [1]

Seven of the 18 US troops listed as killed in this year's war on Iran died in Iraq. [1]

US troops left once before, at the end of 2011. They came back less than three years later to fight Islamic State, which at its height held a third of Iraq. [1]

Armed groups in Iraq that Iran backs call the exit a victory. One of their commanders told Reuters they will celebrate on 30 September. [1]

A Kurdish commander says Islamic State sleeper cells have been moving for more than two weeks, ever since the exit date was made public. [1]

On Tuesday Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a military force whose power has grown during the war, published a 25-page open letter to the American people. [2][3]

The letter comes five weeks before the US midterm elections, and it says the Trump administration 'must be changed'. [3]

The Guards' spokesman, General Hossein Mohebbi, said the war will end only when the US admits defeat and leaves. [4]

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned that no infrastructure in the region will be safe if Iran's own security is not guaranteed. [5]

Iran has blockaded commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane that carried a fifth of the world's oil, since the war began. [5] It is waiting for a formal US answer to its plan to reopen it within seven days. [6]

Trump denied a report that he had offered Iran relief from sanctions, writing: 'I offered them NOTHING.' [7]

Why it matters. Watch whether Islamic State or the armed groups Iran backs move first into the space the US leaves in Iraq, and whether the US sends Iran a written answer on Hormuz before the 3 November midterms. [1][4][6]

Estonia's Internal Security Service said on Tuesday that Russia's security services ordered a fire at Milrem Robotics in Tallinn, the capital, in August. [8] Milrem is a defence company that sends driverless military vehicles to Ukraine. [8] The three suspects are Latvians who had lived in Russia, and they were arrested in Latvia and handed to Estonia. [9][8] Russia called the accusation unfounded. [8] AP has counted about 200 acts of sabotage in Europe blamed on Russia since 2022. [8]

Why it matters. Estonia sits on NATO's eastern edge next to Russia, and it summoned Russia's top diplomat in the country. [10] France's president called the string of such attacks a dangerous escalation. [9]

King Mohammed VI named Fatima Zahra El Mansouri, 50, as Morocco's prime minister on Tuesday. [13] Her party, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), came first in last week's election with 97 of the 395 seats. [12] That is far short of the 198 needed to govern alone, so her first job is to build a coalition. [12] Morocco's constitution makes the king pick from the party that wins most seats, a rule protesters won in 2011. [11] She is the Arab world's second woman prime minister, after Tunisia's Najla Bouden. [11][12]

Why it matters. Most power in Morocco stays with the king. [13] But the new government will decide how billions of dollars are spent before the 2030 football World Cup, which Morocco co-hosts. [12]

Spain's coalition government approved a housing decree on Tuesday, after protests over the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, from her flat in Madrid. [16][17] She was carried out on a stretcher last week, and tens of thousands of people then protested across Spain. [17][15] The decree protects vulnerable tenants from eviction until 2030 and bans speculative home buying by investment funds until 2028. [17] It also rolls rental contracts over until 2028. [14] Parliament must approve it within 30 days, and Spain's government has no majority there. [14]

Why it matters. Housing has been too expensive for ordinary Spaniards for years. [15] Junts, a Catalan party whose votes Spain's government needs, says small landlords must not be treated like big funds. [14]

Pirates holding the MT Honour 25, an oil tanker, killed five of its crew before Puntland's maritime police retook the ship, officials said on Tuesday. [19] Puntland is a self-governing region of Somalia. [19] Three of the dead were from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India. [19] The ship was seized on 21 April, and ransom talks stalled because nobody could say clearly who owned it. [18] These appear to be the first killings by Somali pirates in more than a decade. [19]

Why it matters. At least 15 attacks have been reported off Somalia since April, and experts link the return of piracy partly to the war with Iran. [19] The last wave, from 2008 to 2014, cost the world economy billions of dollars. [20]

The death toll from Monday's military air strike on Kyauktaw, a town in Myanmar's Rakhine state, rose to 50 on Tuesday as rescuers found more bodies. [28] At least 58 people were wounded, says the Arakan Army, the armed group that controls the area. [28] Women and children were among the dead. [28] It is the deadliest such attack in Rakhine since a hospital bombing in December killed at least 30. [28] A spokesperson for Myanmar's government did not reply. [28]

Why it matters. Myanmar has been at civil war since its army seized power in 2021, and about 100,000 people have been killed. [28] The Arakan Army says it will hit back at anyone involved. [28]

South Korea's defence minister said on Tuesday that a North Korean mine caused a blast on 21 September inside the DMZ, the strip of land between the two Koreas. [26] The UN Command, the US-led force that oversees the 1953 truce, said on Wednesday it found an active North Korean mine on the southern side. [25] Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's sister, called the claim a farce. [26] South Korea's military told the North to stop building up the border at once. [27]

Why it matters. Since 2024 North Korea has laid mines and built barriers to seal the border for good. [25] South Korea says it will respond in stages, without saying how. [25]

Hurricane Polo came ashore south of Las Barrancas, on Mexico's Baja California peninsula, early on Tuesday as a Category 2 storm. [21][22] Its winds reached 175 km/h, down from Category 3 strength on Monday. [21] It hit a far emptier stretch of coast than the Los Cabos resorts at the peninsula's tip. [22] Mexico sent nearly 7,000 troops to Baja California Sur state and opened 169 shelters there. [24] Tropical Storm Rachel is also moving along Mexico's coast. [21]

Why it matters. Forecasters warned of floods in 10 US states, including Arizona and Texas, as the storm's rain moves north. [23][24] US forecasters say this Pacific season has been busier than normal, as in El Nino years, when the Pacific warms and weather shifts worldwide. [21][24]

The UN's envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said on Tuesday that he met the Houthis' chief negotiator in Muscat, Oman's capital, at the weekend. [32] The Houthis, an armed movement backed by Iran, took the Red Sea port city of Mokha and several islands earlier in September. [32] That ended a 2022 ceasefire in Yemen's 12-year civil war. [32] The fighting since has killed at least 838 people and driven more than 145,000 from their homes, UN agencies say. [32]

Why it matters. The Houthis now reach the Bab el-Mandeb strait, at the mouth of the Red Sea, and have stopped Saudi tankers going through. [32] About 12% of world trade passes that strait. [32]

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree adding 15,500 soldiers to Russia's army, his fourth such order since March. [33] It sets the army's size at 1,550,500 military personnel, and the four orders together add 47,860. [33] Putin gave no reason. [33] Russian advances in Ukraine have slowed this year, because drones make it hard to move large units. [33] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has already begun a new call-up. [33]

Why it matters. Many Russians fear being sent to the front, and some analysts expect a new call-up this autumn. [33] Putin has called those rumours 'utter nonsense'. [33]

The US Senate voted 51 to 47 on Tuesday against a resolution on Israel and the West Bank. [30] It would have made the US State Department report on nine Americans killed there since 2022 by Israeli settlers or security forces. [30] Every Republican voted no except Rand Paul, and every Democrat voted yes except John Fetterman. [30] Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who led it, said it was 'long past time' to look. [30]

Why it matters. If the Trump administration had failed to deliver the report, US aid to Israel could have been limited. [30] The vote came weeks before US midterm elections that polls say the Republicans could lose. [30]

More than 100 Israeli settlers clashed with soldiers who were escorting Mahmoud Tubasi, a Palestinian, back to his house in Jalud, a West Bank village, overnight into Tuesday. [4] The settlers threw rocks, blocked roads and set Palestinian property on fire. [4] Three officers were hurt, and the army said the mission 'was not completed'. [4] Police arrested three settlers, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the riot. [4] Tubasi told AP that settlers have besieged his house for two months. [4]

Why it matters. Rights groups accuse Israel's army of working with the settlers. [4] Violence by settlers against Palestinians has risen sharply this year. [30]

An Israeli strike on a Gaza City flat killed Izz al-Din al-Beik, a Hamas commander Israel says planned attacks, and one other person. [31] Hamas confirmed his death. [31] Israel says it has killed at least 20 Hamas figures this month, and accuses Hamas of rearming in breach of the ceasefire. [31] Hamas denies it. [31] More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since that ceasefire began nearly a year ago, Gaza's health ministry says. [4]

Why it matters. The same day in Nuseirat, a camp in central Gaza, families buried the recovered remains of 41 people killed in one day early in the war. [31]

Amnesty International said on Tuesday that Mali's army and Russia's Wagner mercenaries killed at least 34 civilians in seven incidents between June 2023 and December 2025. [29] Most victims were herders, attacked for their ethnic group and for living where jihadist groups were active, it said. [29] Victims were shot, had their throats cut or were burned alive. [29] Mali's military government denies killing civilians. [29] Wagner left Mali in 2025, but the Africa Corps, made up of many former Wagner fighters, still operates there. [29]

Why it matters. Mali's army has ruled since coups in 2020 and 2021, and it fights jihadist groups alongside Russian fighters. [29] Amnesty says it sent its findings to Mali's government in August and got no answer. [29]

The US Supreme Court let the Trump administration restart deporting migrants to countries that are not their own, while the case waits for a hearing in December. [38] A judge in Boston had ruled the policy unlawful. [38] Rights groups count more than 25,000 people sent to 29 countries under it, most to Mexico. [38] Others went to South Sudan, Uganda, Liberia and the Central African Republic. [38] The court's three liberal judges disagreed. [38]

Why it matters. A lawyer for the migrants says the ruling lets the US government send people to countries where they face persecution or torture. [38]

Malaysia began sending 1,476 Myanmar nationals home on Tuesday, the first of 5,000 to go in stages. [36] Malaysia's government says two Myanmar navy warships and a hospital ship are carrying them. [36] It held 10,388 Myanmar nationals in immigration detention in mid-August. [36] The UN refugee agency warned that parts of Myanmar are still dangerous. [36] Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says Malaysia cannot host refugees forever. [36]

Why it matters. Malaysia hosts about 215,600 registered refugees, including 126,000 Rohingya, a Muslim minority Myanmar has long refused citizenship. [36] It has not signed the UN Refugee Convention. [36]

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national emergency response on Tuesday, after the bodies of 12 women were found east of Johannesburg in two months. [37] He ordered every town to find places where women are unsafe, such as broken streetlights and abandoned buildings. [37] Four people have been arrested, but police have found no evidence that one person killed them all. [37] He admitted the country has 'not done enough' to protect women. [37]

Why it matters. The country's Human Rights Commission says 569 women were killed in South Africa between April and June alone. [37]

Spain plans tougher asylum rules for the more than 10,000 migrants still in Ceuta, its small city on Morocco's coast, a draft decree seen by Reuters shows. [39] More than 70,000 people crossed into Ceuta from Morocco in late July. [39] Under the draft, a migrant from a country the EU calls safe, such as Morocco, must appeal a rejected claim from outside Spain. [39] It would apply to everyone who arrived since 30 July. [39]

Why it matters. Spain's left-wing government has long welcomed migrants, so the draft would be a big change. [39] Legal experts and aid groups say it breaks migrants' rights, and Spain's interior ministry would not comment. [39]

Residents of Alamata, a town in the south of Ethiopia's Tigray region, told DW that an attack on the town's Saturday market killed 11 people and wounded 15. [45] DW could not check the claims, and Ethiopia's army did not reply. [45] Pro-government media say federal troops took Alamata on 27 September, and a source told DW they are pushing towards Mekelle, Tigray's capital. [45] The fighting grew on 23 September, when Tigrayan forces seized the airports at Mekelle, Aksum and Shire. [45]

Why it matters. Between 162,000 and 600,000 people died in the 2020-22 war over Tigray, depending on who counts. [45] The Red Cross has managed to get only about 160 people out. [45]

The Trump administration was set on Tuesday to keep Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar open for nine more months, two US officials told AP. [40] The camp holds 1,039 Afghans who worked with the US military, or are relatives of US troops. [40] It was due to close on Wednesday, the end of the US budget year. [40] The US is still looking for other countries to take them, and has considered war-torn Congo. [40]

Why it matters. They have waited since US forces left Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban took back control. [40] More than 70% of them are women and children. [40]

British counter-terrorism police said on Tuesday they found no explosive devices near RAF Fairford, a British base used by US forces to strike Iran. [43] They did find petrol when they searched vehicles at the scene. [43] The five men arrested on Sunday, all Britons in their 20s, are on bail and still under investigation. [43][44] US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the case 'clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor', but gave no evidence. [44] Iran denies any role. [44]

Why it matters. Police say they are looking at whether anyone was working for a foreign state, knowingly or not. [44]

Umaro Sissoco Embalo, Guinea-Bissau's president until a military coup last November, plans to fly home on 4 October to run in December's election, a source told Reuters. [34] The coup came just before results of an earlier vote were due. [34] The army then named a general as president for a transition and set new elections for 6 December. [34] A new constitution, approved in August, says candidates must have lived in the country for the last five years. [34]

Why it matters. Embalo has lived abroad since the coup, and it is not clear whether that rule will stop him. [34] Guinea-Bissau, a small West African country, has had many coups and is a stop for cocaine on its way to Europe. [34]

A prince who worked as a TV journalist was due to be crowned king of Tooro, a traditional kingdom in western Uganda, on Tuesday, taking the name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo. [35] Clan elders chose him after King Oyo died of cancer in August, aged 34, with no publicly known heir. [35] Oyo's mother says he left a young son, and that his written will was not followed. [35] Uganda's kingdoms were banned in the 1960s and restored in 1993. [35]

Why it matters. Uganda's traditional kings have no formal power and must stay out of party politics. [35] But they carry great authority among their people. [35]

The UN General Assembly's yearly debate ended on Tuesday, and 128 delegations had raised artificial intelligence in it, against five four years ago. [41] Bangladesh's foreign minister, Khalilur Rahman, who chaired the debate, gave that count. [41] At a UN Security Council session on AI, Congo's foreign minister said poorer countries must not be only users of technology designed elsewhere. [41] The heads of OpenAI and Anthropic, two leading AI labs, spoke at the same session. [41]

Why it matters. The World Bank says AI could give poorer countries a century of development in a decade, if they fix gaps in power, internet and skills. [41]

Indonesia will open 480 new kitchens for its free school meals scheme in October, most of them in remote areas. [42] Of those, 269 will be in 16 eastern provinces where many children are stunted, which means too short for their age because of poor food. [42] The scheme was a key promise in President Prabowo Subianto's election campaign, and aims to feed 83 million children and pregnant women. [42] It has been hit by corruption claims and more than 50,000 cases of food poisoning. [42]

Why it matters. This year's budget was cut from 335 trillion rupiah to 229 trillion, about $12.8bn, so the agency is putting remote areas first. [42]

Israel's Shin Bet security agency told Gadi Eisenkot on Tuesday that it will not give him state bodyguards before the 27 October election. [46] Eisenkot, a former army chief, leads the Yashar party, which is ahead in most polls. [46] His campaign says threats against him are growing, and an official committee had recommended protection. [46] The same day, Israel's attorney general asked its Supreme Court to bar Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of Balad, an Arab party. [47] He wrote a column that appeared to back armed struggle against Israel. [47]

Why it matters. The Shin Bet will let Eisenkot's private guards carry guns instead. [46] Other Arab parties barred from the election last week are expected to be let back in by the court. [47]