Politics

Iran Red Crescent Urges ICC Probe of U.S. Wedding Strike: September 3, 2026

The Iranian Red Crescent Society asked the International Criminal Court on Wednesday to investigate a United States missile attack that hit a wedding party in the southern town of Kuhestak, killing at least four people and wounding dozens, Al Jazeera reported.

In a letter to the court, the humanitarian group said the attack warrants “an independent, impartial, thorough, and effective investigation” given the “civilian character of the location.” The strike, at 9:30 p.m. local time Tuesday (18:00 GMT), killed at least four people and wounded 67, the group said, warning deaths may rise given the critical condition of some injured.

Those killed were two women and two children, aged four and 16. An Iranian official said most of the wounded were also women and children. The Red Crescent said the attack could amount to a “war crime,” noting international law prohibits directing attacks against civilians or civilian objects, or launching a strike knowing it could cause disproportionate civilian harm.

U.S. Central Command said it was aware of Iranian media reports but does not target civilians. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei rejected that claim on X. Neither the United States nor Iran is a party to the ICC’s Rome Statute. Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 18 people were killed in Tuesday’s strikes and 142 were wounded. Iran’s U.N. envoy Gholamhossein Darzi called on the Security Council to denounce the Kuhestak attack.

Sources: Al Jazeera.

Australia and Palau Push Pacific Condemnation of China Missile Test: September 3, 2026

Australia and Palau said they would press Pacific Islands Forum leaders on Sept. 3 to issue a clear condemnation of China’s July ballistic missile test, as leaders held their annual retreat in Palau.

A People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine in the South China Sea fired a missile with a dummy warhead more than 7,000 kilometres into the Pacific, landing just outside Tuvalu’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Kiribati and Naoero refused to back a joint statement on the test at the PIF Foreign Ministers Meeting last month.

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau told his parliament that comparing China’s test to U.S. tests in the Marshall Islands, he asked why Pacific nations do not criticise America. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected the comparison in Palau, saying the U.S. gives proper notice and has an agreement with the Marshall Islands, while China’s test was fired with very little notice from a submarine and landed near Naoero and Tuvalu.

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr said a unified Pacific response was critical and that Beijing had threatened and disrespected the region. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun accused Palau of seeking to “sensationalise” the missile test and of trying to hold other forum members “hostage” to its position.

Sources: ABC News; The Straits Times.

Russia to Close Goethe-Institut Centres After Leipzig Row: September 3, 2026

Russia said it will close Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural centres in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg after Berlin halted the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin and ordered the Russian consulate in Bonn closed over a drone incident at Leipzig/Halle airport.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Germany “deliberately took this step” knowing it would end Germany’s cultural presence in Russia. The Goethe-Institut centres had stayed open “despite all the Ukrainian complications in our relations with the West,” he said, according to TASS.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Tuesday accused Russia of a “hybrid attack” after an explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig-Halle on the evening of Aug. 4 and defused. On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin accused Germany of planting evidence to blame Moscow.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told foreign ministers meeting in Ireland that the Leipzig incident “has all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism.” She said the EU had summoned the Russian envoy and that ministers agreed to keep working on a proposal to sanction 1,600 individuals and entities linked to Russia’s military industry, hoping to adopt measures next month.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France would not let an act of such gravity go unpunished and that he had summoned Russia’s envoy in Paris. BBC reporting also noted NATO and European Commission leaders vowing to step up pressure after Germany attributed the Leipzig drone attack to Russia.

Sources: Al Jazeera; BBC.

Norway Seizes Russian Cruise Ship Over Crimea Award: September 3, 2026

Norway seized the Russian expedition cruise ship Professor Molchanov off the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on Wednesday to enforce a compensation claim by Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz linked to Russian expropriation of assets in Crimea.

Moscow had failed to pay Naftogaz $4.22 billion plus interest and legal costs after a 2023 tribunal ruling at The Hague. Covington, the U.S. law firm representing Naftogaz, said the vessel was taken after a 24-hour standoff with the Norwegian Coast Guard and that the firm had tracked the ship for months.

In a post on X, Naftogaz said the seizure was part of global efforts to enforce the arbitral award for unlawful expropriation of assets in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Acting CEO Sergii Fedorenko said Russia cannot evade responsibility by refusing to comply with an international arbitral award and that Naftogaz would continue pursuing Russian assets worldwide.

Russian state news agency TASS quoted a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson calling the Norwegian action “piracy.” Alexei Chekunkov, Russia’s minister for the development of the Far East and Arctic, said Moscow would challenge the ruling and, according to Interfax, called the seizure another example of Western “legal nihilism and lawlessness.” Naftogaz said passengers aboard were being handled by Norwegian authorities.

Sources: Al Jazeera.

Global Conflicts, Midweek: September 2, 2026

WASHINGTON – Several wars remain open this week, from the Strait of Hormuz to Kyiv, Sudan, Gaza, and Myanmar. None has a working ceasefire that holds.

United States and Iran

The United States and Iran fought their biggest exchange of fire since July after U.S. Central Command said American forces completed a wave of strikes on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets, including air defenses, radar, maritime sites, mine-laying gear, and communications. Centcom said the strikes followed recent IRGC attempts against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American troops in the region.

The Iranian Red Crescent said shrapnel from a missile hit a family wedding at a home in Kuhestak, in Sirik County on the Hormuz coast, killing four people, including two children, and injuring dozens. Iranian media, citing the Hormozgan governorate, named the dead as Zarkhatoon Taheri, 50; Kolsum Mallahi Nazhdnia, 43; Mohammad Mallahi, 16; and Amirali Karimi, four. Iranian authorities said another 14 people were killed in other strikes. A Centcom spokesperson, Capt. Tim Hawkins, told the BBC the U.S. military “never targets civilians.”

Iran answered with ballistic missiles and drones toward U.S. sites in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, Iranian forces said. Jordan said it engaged 13 ballistic missiles, destroying 10; three fell in remote areas. Reuters cited U.S. officials saying there were no U.S. casualties. Kuwait reported a drone started a fire at a residential complex with no deaths. The IRGC said two tankers hit mines while being guided through Hormuz by the U.S. military. Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company said two Filipino sailors were killed in a security incident involving its tanker SIDR on Monday.

The fight resumed after a roughly month-long pause. The war opened Feb. 28 with a U.S.-Israeli air campaign. A June memorandum of understanding that called for a halt and a reopened strait collapsed within weeks. The waterway usually carries about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments. President Trump said he was “not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table.”

Russia and Ukraine

Russian air attacks killed 12 people in Kyiv and the surrounding region on Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities told Reuters, the sixth straight day of intense strikes on the capital. Moscow has used swarms of drones, including faster jet-powered models that are harder to intercept. Ukraine’s air force said overnight attacks involved ballistic, cruise, and anti-radar missiles plus more than 200 drones and decoys.

The war is also spilling onto NATO territory. Germany on Tuesday formally blamed Russia for an Aug. 4 explosives-laden drone found near Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the attack followed the “well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe.” President Vladimir Putin accused Germany of planting evidence. Moscow’s embassy called the charge “absurd.” Berlin said it would close Russia’s Bonn consulate and end the Russian House cultural center in Berlin. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance “stands in full solidarity with Germany.”

Separately, NATO jets scrambled after drones briefly entered Estonian airspace, Estonia’s foreign minister said.

Sudan

Sudan’s war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, continues on several fronts. The UN humanitarian office said local authorities reported nearly 22,000 people may have been displaced in the past week by fighting in Geissan locality in Blue Nile state, with many sheltering in schools or moving toward Ed Damazine. UN estimates put the war’s displacement at about 13 million. Fighting has also continued in North, West, and South Kordofan.

Gaza

A ceasefire declared Oct. 10 has not ended the killing. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry told the BBC that more than 900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there this year, bringing the total since the ceasefire to more than 1,300, including 301 children. UNICEF has also reported more than 300 children killed since the ceasefire. The conflict monitor ACLED has recorded around 200 Israeli strikes during the ceasefire that reportedly killed Hamas operatives or other armed fighters.

Myanmar

Myanmar’s military, five years after the 2021 coup, has been clawing back towns it lost in 2023 and 2024. Al Jazeera, citing the think tank ISP-Myanmar, reported the junta has retaken 22 of 101 lost towns. Analysts point to mass conscription, an air campaign, and Chinese-brokered ceasefires that pulled some ethnic armed groups out of the fight.

Confirmed dates through early 2027, including the G20 in Miami, sit on The Watch.

Sources: Reuters; BBC; Reuters; BBC; BBC; Al Jazeera; UN News.

Sweden Opposition Lead Collapses Ahead of Sept. 13 Vote: September 2, 2026

STOCKHOLM – Sweden’s opposition bloc lead shrank to 2.6 percentage points in a Novus poll for TV4 released Wednesday, tightening the race 11 days before the Sept. 13 general election.

The opposition parties together polled 50.3 percent against 47.7 percent for the governing Tidö parties, with 2 percent for others, The Local reported. That is down from a 9.6-point opposition lead in Novus’s June survey. The Social Democrats fell 4.3 points from earlier this month to their weakest Novus reading since the 2021 government crisis.

The Liberals rose to 3.3 percent, their best Novus result under leader Simona Mohamsson and closer to the 4 percent parliamentary threshold. Mohamsson urged center-right partners to “give it our all.” Social Democrat party secretary Tobias Baudin said the election “could be extremely, extremely close” and called the poll “a wake-up call.”

On the left, the Left Party stood at 8.4 percent, the Centre Party at 8.3 percent, and the Greens at 7.8 percent. Swedes also vote for municipal and regional councils on Sept. 13.

Sources: The Local; Sveriges riksdag.

Carney Tells Washington to Stop Memes Before Trade Talks: September 2, 2026

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney told the Trump administration on Tuesday to “stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough” before U.S.-Canada trade talks can restart, a day after his Liberals swept three special elections.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions,” Carney told reporters. He said U.S. terms would have left Canadian industries as subsidiaries or “gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out,” and that Ottawa would not accept an “uncompetitive” autos deal or limits on Canada’s future trade pacts.

Talks collapsed Aug. 21. Washington then imposed 50 percent tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods. Canada’s dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on nearly $20 billion in U.S. goods are due Sept. 8, with duties from 15 to 50 percent. Trump has pushed renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Canada cannot go “tit for tat” with an economy 13 times larger.

Carney also called a Pentagon social-media jab at Canadian cadets “beneath their office.” The Liberal wins Monday lifted the party to 173 seats in the 343-seat House of Commons.

Sources: The Associated Press; Reuters.

Nicaragua Congress Extends Ortega Term, Bars Opposition: September 2, 2026

MANAGUA – Nicaragua’s National Assembly on Tuesday passed a first-reading constitutional reform that extends co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s term from six to seven years, cancels the November 2026 election calendar, and locks opposition figures labeled “traitors to the homeland” out of politics.

The Sandinista-controlled assembly approved the package in León. Murillo said a second ratification vote is due Jan. 18, 2027, as Nicaraguan law requires two legislative sessions for constitutional changes. The text also stretches terms for legislators, mayors, and the heads of the army and police, and widens the Supreme Electoral Council’s power to cancel parties.

Ortega said on July 19 that “there won’t be any more elections.” After U.S. and OAS criticism, the reform stops short of formally abolishing elections while postponing the next national vote to 2028 and codifying bans on candidates tied to alleged coup plots, foreign financing, or sanctions. Reuters reported the first-passage vote; El País detailed the term extension and opposition veto.

The OAS has delayed a foreign ministers’ meeting on Nicaragua that 29 Permanent Council members endorsed Aug. 19. Brazil voted against convening it; Mexico abstained. Exile lawyers called the package a usurpation that leaves voters choosing only regime-approved options.

Sources: Reuters; El País.

Germany Blames Russia for Leipzig Airport Drone Plot: September 2, 2026

BERLIN – Germany on Tuesday formally held Russia responsible for last month’s attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport and ordered diplomatic countermeasures, including closing Russia’s Bonn consulate.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said police work and intelligence establish Russian responsibility for the Aug. 4 hybrid attack, when an explosives-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane. “Taken together, police investigations, patterns of the crime and intelligence findings substantiate Russian responsibility,” he said. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the drone kit matched other Russian hybrid operations tied to the war on Ukraine.

Wadephul ordered the Bonn consulate closed from Sept. 18, ended the agreement for the Russian House cultural center in Berlin, tightened entry controls for Russian nationals, and summoned Ambassador Sergei Nechayev. Berlin will also push more EU sanctions listings. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen voiced solidarity.

President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Kyrgyzstan, accused Germany of planting evidence and asked where the proof was. Russia’s embassy in Berlin called the charge “absurd” and said Moscow would respond. Leipzig is a cargo and military logistics hub used by NATO and Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines.

Sources: BBC; Deutsche Welle.

Hichilema Sworn In as Zambia Rival Held on Treason: September 2, 2026

LUSAKA, Zambia – President Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in for a second five-year term on Tuesday at National Heroes Stadium while his main election rival sat in detention on treason charges, deepening a post-vote crisis in the copper-rich country.

Official results from the Aug. 13 election gave Hichilema about 60 percent of the vote and runner-up Brian Mundubile about 38 percent. Mundubile alleged the tally was tampered with. He could not file a challenge after authorities sealed the courts on the final day for petitions, Human Rights Watch and opposition lawyers said.

The day after the poll, security forces raided a Lusaka property linked to Mundubile, killing a former cabinet minister and arresting opposition figures. Mundubile and running mate Makebi Zulu later went into hiding, were detained last week, and were charged with treason at the weekend; they deny the allegations.

In his inauguration speech, Hichilema did not name Mundubile but said the “pursuit of political power must never come at the expense of peace, security and stability.” He told the crowd Zambia was “moving from stabilisation to growth.” Vice President Mutale Nalumango was sworn in the same ceremony. Presidents from Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Tanzania attended.

Sources: BBC; Al Jazeera.