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U.S. Sinks Another Ecuadorian Vessel Alleged Drug Link: September 8, 2026

QUITO — U.S. Southern Command said Monday it sank another Ecuadorian vessel in the Eastern Pacific that it alleged was linked to the criminal group Los Choneros, which Washington designates a foreign terrorist organization. The command said a joint task force intercepted a floating refueling station supporting illicit drug trafficking; people on board were removed for transfer to Ecuadorian authorities.

A video released with the announcement showed boarding, a helicopter overhead, and a projectile striking and sinking the boat. Southern Command said it was the fifth vessel targeted in less than two weeks. Earlier actions included the fishing vessel María Candelaria and vessels identified as OM2 and Los Tres Hermanos.

Ecuadorian authorities did not immediately comment. Families of fishermen from previously struck boats have demanded information; crews of some vessels say they were sunk while engaged in fishing. AP noted that at least 227 people have been killed in 68 U.S. government boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific over more than a year, and that critics question the legality and effectiveness of the campaign.

The Trump administration is seeking deals with regional allies to extend operations ashore. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras had agreed to joint operations against criminal groups; Guatemala denied such a deal.

Sources: AP

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Bolsonaro Draws Tens of Thousands on Brazil Independence Day: September 8, 2026

SAO PAULO — About 28,500 people massed on Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista on Monday for an Independence Day rally behind right-wing presidential candidate Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo’s Monitor do Debate Politico estimated. Organizers cast the march as a protest against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ahead of Oct. 4 first-round voting.

A Quaest poll released Monday showed Lula and Bolsonaro tied at 41% each in a potential Oct. 25 runoff. Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, told supporters: “This consortium of Lula and Moraes will come to an end.” Crowds waved Brazilian flags; some carried U.S. and Israeli flags. Turnout was below last year’s similar event (~42,000) and far below a 2024 Jair Bolsonaro rally (~185,000).

The demonstration came amid a Supreme Court crisis after Justice Andre Mendonca, a Bolsonaro appointee, disclosed a report questioning alleged contacts involving Moraes and a banker accused in a major fraud case. Moraes sought an investigation of Mendonca for alleged abuse of authority. Jair Bolsonaro remains under house arrest and barred from running.

Lula attended the traditional Independence Day military parade in Brasilia but did not speak there. In a televised address the night before, he stressed national sovereignty and democracy.

Sources: Reuters

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Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Resigns Amid Corruption Probe: September 8, 2026

KYIV — Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said late Monday he had submitted his resignation, calling it a conscious “political decision” after anti-corruption investigators searched premises linked to his office. “I do not want the position of Prosecutor General to be used as an instrument of political confrontation,” he wrote on Telegram, Reuters reported.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said Sept. 5 they had uncovered an alleged criminal organization led by a senior official in the Prosecutor General’s Office that protected fraudulent call centers and laundered money. Kravchenko has denied involvement; he said his stance on the allegations is unchanged.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Kravchenko and ruling-party faction head Davyd Arakhamia on Sept. 7 to discuss whether he would remain. Earlier that day Kravchenko had told journalists he did not plan to resign. Under Ukraine’s Constitution, the prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by the president with parliament’s consent; his powers end when a Verkhovna Rada resolution takes effect.

Kravchenko has held the post since June 2025. The resignation adds to recent turbulence in Kyiv’s senior ranks as Russian strikes resumed after U.S. envoys’ weekend visits.

Sources: Reuters, Kyiv Independent

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Houthi Attacks Wound 73 in Saudi Arabia, Disrupt Energy Sites: September 8, 2026

RIYADH / DUBAI — Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi forces struck southern Saudi Arabia early Tuesday, wounding 73 people including women and children and disrupting energy facilities, Saudi authorities said. The Saudi-led coalition said attacks hit civilian and economic sites in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said fires erupted at facilities and that operations at some energy sites were temporarily suspended while emergency teams contained blazes and assessed damage. Brent crude rose about $1 to $98 a barrel after the ministry’s statement, Reuters reported; U.S. crude futures climbed more than $2 to $93.65.

Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki called the escalation “dangerous” and vowed a firm response. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had targeted Aramco facilities and an air base with ballistic missiles and drones. The flare-up comes as U.S.-Iran tensions and wider Middle East fighting have pushed oil markets higher.

The Houthis control much of northern Yemen and have launched attacks toward Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces have also pressed offensives on multiple fronts in recent days.

Sources: Reuters, AP

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Russia Resumes Deadly Strikes on Kyiv After U.S. Envoy Pause: September 8, 2026

KYIV — Russia resumed drone and missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital early Tuesday, ending a three-day pause that covered visits by U.S. peace envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people were killed. By midday, authorities put the city’s wounded tally at 19.

Officials reported fires across several districts and damage to high-rise buildings, a dormitory, a school, a clinic, warehouses, and other sites. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian drone partially destroyed a Ukrainian TV channel building in Kyiv, injuring five people. Ukraine’s air force said it downed nearly all cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles.

Both Moscow and Kyiv had halted strikes on their capitals for three days to secure the American visitors. After Kushner and Witkoff left Kyiv on Sunday following talks with Zelenskyy, the pause expired. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the overnight assault a “horrific attack” and urged allies for more interceptor missiles.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces struck military industry and logistics targets in Kyiv and the surrounding region, as well as infrastructure at the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk. Zelenskyy said the U.S. envoys had offered “very good, worthwhile ideas” on ending the war and that he hoped to meet President Donald Trump around Sept. 20.

Sources: Reuters, AP, Al Jazeera

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Australia Reaches In-Principle Treaty Deal With Solomon Islands: September 7, 2026

CANBERRA / HONIARA — Australia and Solomon Islands have reached an in-principle agreement on a landmark bilateral treaty, with a leaked message indicating Canberra is prepared to commit more than A$980 million in additional funding, ABC News reported.

A text from Australia’s High Commissioner Jeffrey Roach to Deputy Prime Minister Francis Sade — verified by ABC — said there had been “terrific progress” and that Australia would contribute an additional A$280 million over the next two years and a further A$700 million after that. The package cited by ABC includes about A$142 million for Prime Minister Matthew Wale’s free-education policy and about A$47.8 million for visa and security requests. Sources told ABC negotiations are “substantively concluded,” with possible signing dates in the coming weeks after Wale survived a leadership challenge Monday.

The Sydney Morning Herald separately reported Albanese’s government moving to fast-track the pact after the failed push to oust Wale, who has prioritized deeper ties with Australia while reviewing Solomon Islands’ security arrangements with China.

Sources: ABC News; Sydney Morning Herald.

Iran to Announce New Gulf Restricted Zone Near Hormuz: September 7, 2026

DUBAI — Iran said it will announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf in the coming days, along with maps of a shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz that Tehran would manage with Oman, Reuters reported via Channel News Asia, after a weekend of tit-for-tat strikes on shipping pushed oil higher.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told state TV the zone would begin where the U.S. blockade starts and extend into Gulf waters, with any ship entering it added to a sanctions list. “We will only commit to the Strait of Hormuz being open when they (the Americans) stop the sabotage, threats and attacks on Iran,” he said. Maps of a corridor in Iranian and Omani waters “have been agreed and should be signed in the coming days,” Rezaei added.

U.S. Central Command said Saturday it struck three Iranian oil tankers after IRGC attacks on U.S. warships. Brent crude traded above $97 a barrel Monday. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN Strait transits were averaging over 9 million barrels a day with pipelines around the waterway covering roughly two-thirds of pre-conflict flows.

Sources: Reuters via CNA.

Niger Accuses France of Orchestrating Failed Capital Mutiny: September 7, 2026

NIAMEY — Niger’s military government accused France of orchestrating a failed mutiny that rocked the capital last week, a charge Paris dismissed as “pure fantasy,” Al Jazeera reported.

Renegade soldiers targeted Base 101 inside Niamey’s airport complex shortly after midnight on August 29, with fighting spreading toward the presidential palace and briefly knocking the state broadcaster off air before the army, aided by Russian Africa Corps fighters, contained the revolt. State media said hundreds of soldiers took part, with dozens killed or arrested. Government spokesperson Soumana Boubacar said Friday the plot was “instigated and sustained by a vast network of collusion headed by the French regime” of President Emmanuel Macron. Niger also blamed ECOWAS and some regional states; Benin rejected the accusation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told RFI France had neither intention nor means to stage such an operation.

Since the 2023 coup, ACLED counts nearly 6,000 people killed in more than 1,400 violent incidents — a sharp rise from the prior three years — as Niamey fights Islamist armed groups.

Sources: Al Jazeera.

Germany’s AfD Seeks to Govern Saxony-Anhalt After Historic Win: September 7, 2026

MAGDEBURG, Germany — The far-right Alternative for Germany won a historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt’s state election, taking 43.8% of the vote but falling three seats short of an outright majority, and is now seeking partners or individual lawmakers to govern, the BBC reported.

AfD state leader Ulrich Siegmund called the result a “clear mandate to govern.” No far-right party has controlled a German state since World War II. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “deeply shocked,” calling the outcome seismic after his CDU’s share nearly halved to 17.2%. Most parties maintain a firewall against the AfD; the left-populist BSW has signaled it will not block an AfD-led minority government. Domestic intelligence classifies the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt as right-wing extremist, a label Siegmund rejects.

The new parliament must meet by October 6. Talks could take days or weeks; another election remains a possible path out of deadlock.

Sources: BBC News.

Armed Assailant Lunges at Ohio Governor Candidate Amy Acton: September 7, 2026

CANFIELD, Ohio — An armed assailant charged toward Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair on Sunday, injuring several people before troopers stopped him, according to the Associated Press and Ohio State Highway Patrol accounts carried by AP.

Acton was not injured. Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman Chris Anderson said the suspect knocked volunteers to the ground and was arrested with “multiple weapons.” Fairground police referred questions to the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department.

Acton, Ohio’s former public health director, is the Democratic nominee facing Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in November. The incident is under investigation.

Sources: Associated Press.