World News

Russian Strikes Hit Kyiv Academy of Sciences; Nationwide Toll Rises: September 29, 2026

KYIV — Russian forces struck Ukraine’s capital again early Tuesday, hours after a drone hit the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv’s historic centre, killing at least two people, Al Jazeera reported with AFP and Reuters. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said missile debris fell in one courtyard while another building caught fire.

Emergency officials said Monday’s academy strike killed two, with one body recovered from rubble later in the evening. Former national security official Volodymyr Horbulin said he was at work when the academy was hit; his assistant was killed and he was slightly wounded. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian strikes also hit a medical facility in Kyiv and that at least nine people were killed and more than 80 wounded nationwide Monday, with 90 of 120 drones jet-propelled and an interception rate of 57% for that type.

Officials said Kyiv targets included a pharmaceutical company and petrol stations; a Dnipro business-centre strike killed three, and Zaporizhzhia infrastructure attacks wounded 32. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allies to send more air defences, calling the academy hit an expansion of what Russia believes the world will tolerate. Ukraine said it struck Russian oil facilities in Krasnodar and two defence plants.

Sources: Al Jazeera with AFP and Reuters

—

Milei Threatens Legal Action Against UK Over Falklands Sea Lion Oil Project: September 29, 2026

BUENOS AIRES — Argentine President Javier Milei threatened to launch international legal action against the United Kingdom unless oil exploration at the Sea Lion field off the Falkland Islands — known in Argentina as Las Malvinas — is halted within two weeks, BBC News and Al Jazeera reported.

In a social media post, Milei said he had instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to prepare arbitration if what he called “illegal plundering” through the Sea Lion project continued, warning he would take the dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum hold licences issued under British authority; the field, about 130 miles (209 km) from the islands, is estimated to hold about 1.7 billion barrels, and extraction is due within two years, the BBC said.

The threat follows Milei’s United Nations General Assembly speech criticising the UN over Falklands sovereignty and British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting’s remark that Argentina “lacks the ability” to seize the islands by force. Islanders voted 99.8% to remain a British overseas territory in a 2013 referendum. Argentina invaded in 1982 before a British task force retook the archipelago after a 74-day war.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera

—

U.S. Ban on Canadian Alcohol, Dairy and Motorcycles Takes Effect: September 29, 2026

WASHINGTON / OTTAWA — A U.S. ban on selected Canadian imports — including alcoholic drinks, dairy byproducts such as whey, molasses and motorcycles — took effect just after midnight Eastern time Tuesday, escalating a trade feud after talks collapsed in August, the BBC, Associated Press and CBC reported.

Tuesday’s measures cover nearly C$1 billion ($710 million) in Canadian liquor exports to the United States, where about 90–93% of Canada’s alcohol exports were bound in 2025, BBC News said. President Donald Trump’s September 8 executive orders framed the bans as a response to what he called continued Canadian “discrimination”; on Monday he again accused Canada of treating the United States “very unfairly.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney has called the bans “relatively modest” beside broader U.S. tariffs, while Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office said Ottawa’s priority remains protecting workers and businesses. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC last week there is “no urgency” on Washington’s side for a deal. The bans add to 50% U.S. tariffs on many Canadian goods and Canadian retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of U.S. products.

Sources: BBC News, Associated Press via WTOP, CBC News

—

Hurricane Polo Makes Landfall in Baja California Sur as Cat-2 Storm: September 29, 2026

LAS BARRANCAS, Mexico — Hurricane Polo made landfall early Tuesday in Baja California Sur as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), bringing life-threatening winds and flash flooding to Mexico’s Pacific peninsula, the Associated Press reported citing the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The center said Polo struck just south of Las Barrancas, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Cabo San Lázaro and about 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of Mulegé, while moving northeast at 13 mph (20 kph). On Monday the storm had been Category 3 with top winds of 115 mph; forecasters still expected 6–12 inches of rain across parts of Baja California Sur and a second landfall threat for mainland Mexico, with Sonora suspending nonessential activities and schools.

Mexico’s navy said personnel and three aid vessels were ready along the northern Pacific coast; ports were closed and travel suspended near the landfall zone. Remnants were forecast to push heavy rain into parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week. Tropical Storm Rachel was also tracked west of Acapulco, while Hurricane Nolo edged away from Hawaii as a major storm.

Sources: Associated Press via ABC News, BBC News, U.S. National Hurricane Center

—

World Brief, Evening: September 28, 2026

Hurricane Polo slammed Baja California Sur with power cuts and coastal flooding as a Category 3 landfall neared; five men arrested near RAF Fairford were released on bail as Iran denied any role; and Russian Monday strikes killed at least seven across Ukraine. Ten stories as of Monday evening, September 28.

1. Baja California Sur / Mexico. Category 3 Hurricane Polo packed sustained winds near 115 mph on Monday afternoon as it tore toward southern Baja California Sur, cutting power in Puerto San Carlos, breaching sand barriers and flooding streets while nearly 7,000 troops and 169 shelters stood ready, AFP reported. Mexico’s civil protection chief Laura Velázquez said maritime activity was suspended and landfall was expected in the afternoon window; the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned of life-threatening winds and flash floods before a second landfall on mainland Mexico late Monday or early Tuesday. Schools were closed; remnants were forecast to push heavy rain into parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.

2. Gloucestershire / RAF Fairford. Counter Terrorism Policing said Monday that five UK nationals in their early twenties from London, arrested near RAF Fairford after three suspicious vans were reported early Sunday, were being released on police bail under stringent movement and contact conditions while the probe continues, the BBC and Al Jazeera with AP and Reuters reported. Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said investigators were examining multiple lines of inquiry, including whether proxies or individuals working for a foreign state were involved. Iran’s London embassy “categorically” rejected speculation linking Tehran to the incident. President Trump said he was “surprised” the men were released and would not have done so. About 85 evacuated households were told they could return home; a cordon remained around the vehicles. Prime Minister Andy Burnham chaired a Cobra meeting Monday.

3. Kyiv / Kharkiv / Dnipro / Ukraine. Russia’s round-the-clock bombardment killed at least seven people and wounded more than 80 on Monday, the Associated Press reported. A strike hit the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, killing a woman as staff fled down firefighters’ ladders; a drone hit a central Dnipro office centre during working hours, killing three; and a strike on a nine-story Kharkiv apartment building wounded 43 people, including 11 children, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine would “pay a price” for recent attacks. Ukraine’s Third Army Corps claimed further gains in Donetsk under Operation Vivaldi.

4. Brasília / São Paulo / Brazil. A Quaest poll released Monday for Grupo Globo put President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 39% and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro at 34% in a first-round simulation six days before the October 4 vote, with a second-round matchup tied at 42% each, Valor International reported. The face-to-face survey of 2,004 voters ran September 24–27 with a two-point margin of error; it is Quaest’s last poll before a Rede Globo presidential debate scheduled Thursday, October 1. A separate BTG/Nexus release Monday had Lula at 42% and Bolsonaro at 37% in the first round. A runoff, if needed, is October 25.

5. Alamata / Mekelle / Ethiopia. Pro-government forces claimed Monday to have captured the strategic southern Tigray town of Alamata after a TPLF-led offensive shattered the 2022 Pretoria deal last week, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported, as Sudan’s army rejected Field Marshal Birhanu Jula’s accusation that Khartoum, Egypt and others were backing the rebels. Egyptian sources also denied involvement. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it evacuated 161 people from Mekelle to Semera in Afar with authorities’ approval, including federal police, airline staff, African Union monitors and Red Cross personnel. Phone and internet in Tigray remained disrupted.

6. Baidoa / Somalia. Intense clashes erupted Monday in Baidoa, capital of Somalia’s South West State, between federal forces and fighters loyal to ousted regional president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, Al Jazeera with AFP reported. Army commander Mohamed Ali said troops drove the fighters out after they entered with explosive-laden vehicles and drones. Doctors Without Borders said three people died, including a healthcare worker; Bay Regional Hospital received 69 patients, including five children. MSF said roads to hospitals were blocked and a health facility was severely damaged — the third outbreak of fighting in Baidoa in six weeks.

7. Johannesburg / Cape Town / South Africa. The death toll from two weekend township mass shootings rose to 28 on Monday after another Wedela tavern victim died in hospital, the Associated Press reported via ABC News. Eight gunmen killed 17 and wounded others at a Wedela tavern southwest of Johannesburg late Saturday; a separate early-Sunday attack in Lwandle near Cape Town left 10 dead and 11 wounded. Police continued the manhunt. The attacks followed an 11-dead house-party shooting near Durban earlier in the week.

8. Scarborough Shoal / South China Sea. China’s People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command said it conducted a joint naval and air training exercise around the disputed Scarborough Shoal — Huangyan Dao to Beijing, Bajo de Masinloc to Manila — on Sunday, describing it as a response to actions by “certain countries,” Reuters via GMA News reported. The command said the drills aimed to test combat capabilities to safeguard territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. The shoal lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone under UNCLOS; a 2016 arbitral ruling rejected expansive Chinese claims, which Beijing does not recognise. The Philippine Embassy in Beijing did not immediately comment.

9. Honolulu / Central Pacific. Category 4 Hurricane Nolo, with sustained winds near 145 mph as of Monday afternoon, remained well southwest of the main Hawaiian Islands while a hurricane warning covered parts of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported citing the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Forecasters expected the core to stay offshore but raised Kauai and Niihau rainfall forecasts to 3–6 inches Tuesday through Thursday, with flooding and mudslide risk in steep terrain, plus dangerous south- and west-facing surf. Nolo was about 415 miles west-southwest of Honolulu at 2 p.m. local time, moving northwest at 12 mph.

10. Rome / papal flight. Pope Leo on Monday urged Russia and Ukraine to “come together, sit down, engage in dialogue” to end their four-year war, speaking aboard his flight to Rome after a four-day trip to France, Reuters reported. The first U.S. pope also warned against leaders “beginning to speak about nuclear weapons and wars that are becoming ever more destructive,” and earlier in Metz said Europe must be willing to make concessions for peace. He argued more should be spent on health and education and less on weapons.

Coming up. Tuesday–Wednesday 30 September–1 October — G20 trade ministers, Milwaukee. Thursday 1 October — Rede Globo Brazilian presidential debate. Sunday 4 October — Brazil general election (first round; runoff 25 October if needed). Sunday 25 October — Serbia snap parliamentary election. October 12–18 — IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, Bangkok. The standing calendar is at The Watch.

Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; BBC News; Al Jazeera; AFP / France 24 / RFI; Valor International; Honolulu Star-Advertiser; GMA News; National Hurricane Center / CPHC.

World Brief: September 28, 2026

Hurricane Polo bore down on Baja California Sur as a Category 3 storm; the White House moved to rescind about $810 million in health and education funds days before the fiscal year ends; and a BTG/Nexus poll put Lula ahead of Flávio Bolsonaro one week before Brazil’s vote. Ten stories as of Monday morning, September 28.

1. Baja California Sur / Mexico. Category 3 Hurricane Polo, with sustained winds near 115 mph, bore down on Mexico’s Baja California Sur on Monday as fishing towns and resort hubs braced for life-threatening winds, flash floods and a possible second landfall farther north, BBC News, AFP and Reuters reported. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expected Polo to move over Baja California Sur later Monday, then briefly across the Gulf of California before a second landfall in northwestern mainland Mexico. Schools closed, beaches were restricted in Cabo San Lucas, and navy and army units deployed with specialised machinery. Forecasters warned of heavy rain, destructive storm surge and mudslides in steep terrain.

2. Washington. The Trump administration moved to cancel about $810 million in congressionally approved health, education and related spending through a so-called pocket rescission days before the fiscal year ends September 30, Roll Call reported. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the White House budget office “intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation” of bipartisan appropriations. Roughly $567 million targets HHS refugee-resettlement accounts, with further cuts to migrant-student aid, foreign-exchange education grants, health research and HUD housing counseling. The administration called it “historic action to eliminate wasteful and harmful spending”; House Appropriations ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro accused the White House of unlawfully impounding funds.

3. São Paulo / Brazil. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva led Senator Flávio Bolsonaro 42% to 37% in a BTG/Nexus poll released Monday, one week before Brazil’s October 4 first-round presidential election, with a simulated runoff still a technical tie, Folha de S.Paulo reported. The Nexus survey of 2,000 voters ages 16 and older, conducted September 25–27 with a two-point margin of error, showed Lula up slightly from 40% a week earlier while Bolsonaro held at 37%. In a second-round matchup Lula had 46% to Bolsonaro’s 44%. A runoff, if needed, is set for October 25. Reuters said the race remains neck-and-neck as Flávio seeks to inherit his imprisoned father’s far-right base.

4. Kyiv / Kharkiv / Ukraine. Russia’s round-the-clock bombardment killed at least seven civilians across Ukraine on Monday, officials said, as a guided aerial bomb struck a Kharkiv apartment building and drones hit offices and a National Academy of Sciences building in Kyiv, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a strike on a residential high-rise wounded dozens, including children. A drone hit an office centre in central Dnipro during working hours, killing three. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine would “pay a price” for recent attacks. The strikes followed Sunday’s nationwide bombardment that killed eight.

5. Wissant / Calais, France. Three people, including a 10-year-old child and two women in their thirties, died Monday off northern France when an inflatable “taxi boat” carrying 105 migrants ran into trouble while attempting to cross the English Channel to Britain, BBC News, AFP and the Guardian reported. French authorities said the dinghy left near Sangatte around 5:15 a.m.; initial findings pointed to a crush or stampede on the overcrowded vessel rather than a sinking. Survivors were brought into Calais; nine others needed medical treatment. Prefects said the dead were believed to be Eritrean; a judicial investigation is underway in Boulogne.

6. Alamata / Addis Ababa / Ethiopia. Ethiopian military and allied militiamen claimed Monday to have captured the strategic southern Tigray town of Alamata after a TPLF-led offensive shattered the 2022 Pretoria peace deal last week, Reuters reported, as the army chief accused Sudan and Egypt of backing the rebels. A pro-government militia posted video of soldiers waving flags in Alamata’s streets; Reuters could not immediately verify it. Field Marshal Birhanu Jula named Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea as external backers; Sudan’s army called the charge “baseless.” TPLF fighters seized Erebti in Afar on Sunday and pushed toward Afdera, threatening the Djibouti trade corridor, Al Jazeera reported. Phone and internet in Tigray remained down.

7. Durban / South Africa. Refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa said Monday they fear fresh violence as an unofficial September 30 deadline set by the anti-immigration movement March and March approaches, Al Jazeera reported from Durban. The group has staged protests demanding undocumented foreigners leave and has no legal power to deport anyone; the government says citizens cannot enforce immigration law. Hundreds who slept for months outside Durban’s Refugee Reception Centre were cleared in mid-September — 274 bused to Lindela detention, about 150 left seeking other shelter — after earlier clashes. Authorities say they processed tens of thousands for deportation or repatriation over the summer while warning private groups against vigilante enforcement. Local elections are November 4.

8. Taipei. Taiwan pushed back Monday against what it called Beijing’s effort to rewrite World War Two history after Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump highlighted a wartime U.S.–China alliance at last week’s Washington summit, Reuters reported. Taipei notes the Republic of China government — then based on the mainland and now in Taiwan — fought alongside the Allies, while the People’s Republic was founded only in 1949. Mainland Affairs Council deputy Shen Yu-chung said Xi is “continuously trying to guide” the narrative toward the PRC; Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said China wants to “overwrite the true history.” Neither the White House nor China’s Taiwan Affairs Office immediately commented.

9. Seoul / DMZ. South Korea’s military said Monday it was “highly likely” that a blast that seriously injured South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarised Zone on September 21 was caused by a North Korean mine, Reuters and Yonhap reported. The Joint Chiefs’ assessment followed a week-long probe of the western-sector explosion. Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul said if a final investigation confirms North Korean responsibility, Seoul will take corresponding measures. A joint investigation with the United Nations Command continued.

10. Sydney / Lane Cove. Goodman Group, Australia’s biggest property company, withdrew its application for a controversial A$1.2 billion ($841 million), 90-megawatt data centre known as Project Mars in Sydney’s Lane Cove suburb after intense community push-back, BBC News reported Monday. The facility would have stood about 20 metres from the nearest homes. A planning consultation drew 374 submissions, only nine in support. In a letter to the New South Wales Department of Planning, Goodman cited an evolving “policy and regulatory environment” and community views. NSW MP Anthony Roberts called it “a huge win for the Lane Cove West community.”

Coming up. Monday 28 September — U.N. General Assembly high-level week winds down in New York. Tuesday–Wednesday 30 September–1 October — G20 trade ministers, Milwaukee. Sunday 4 October — Brazil general election (first round; runoff 25 October if needed). October 12–18 — IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, Bangkok. The standing calendar is at The Watch.

Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; BBC News; Al Jazeera; AFP / France 24; Folha de S.Paulo; Roll Call; Yonhap; The Guardian.

Sydney Project Mars Data Centre Scrapped After Community Push-Back: September 28, 2026

SYDNEY — Goodman Group, Australia’s biggest property company, withdrew its application for a controversial A$1.2 billion ($841 million), 90-megawatt data centre known as Project Mars in Sydney’s Lane Cove suburb after intense community push-back, BBC News reported Monday.

The facility would have stood about 20 metres from the nearest homes. A planning consultation drew 374 submissions, only nine in support—reportedly the most ever for a data-centre application locally. In a letter to the New South Wales Department of Planning, Goodman cited an evolving “policy and regulatory environment” and community views in deciding not to proceed. NSW MP Anthony Roberts called it “a huge win for the Lane Cove West community” and a message that large centres must be “appropriately located.”

The scrap comes amid a national debate over AI-driven data-centre demand versus water, energy and neighbourhood impacts. NSW last month announced a fast-track assessment programme for centres that meet standards and fund extra water and energy supply—underscoring both government appetite for investment and local resistance when projects sit metres from homes.

Sources: BBC News

—

South Korea Says North Korean Mine Highly Likely Caused DMZ Blast: September 28, 2026

SEOUL — South Korea’s military said Monday it was “highly likely” that a blast that seriously injured South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarised Zone on Sept. 21 was caused by a North Korean mine, Reuters and Yonhap reported.

The Joint Chiefs’ assessment followed a week-long probe of the western-sector explosion that wounded troops on patrol. Earlier, Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul had said it was too early to confirm the explosive’s type or origin even as some soldiers reported seeing an object resembling a North Korean wooden-box mine. A joint investigation with the United Nations Command continued, with forensic analysis of materials from the scene underway.

Mines and accidental detonations have periodically wounded troops along the heavily fortified border decades after the 1950–53 Korean War armistice. Seoul’s Monday finding sharpens attribution toward Pyongyang without announcing retaliatory steps in the initial military statement.

Sources: Reuters, Yonhap

—

Taiwan Pushes Back After Xi–Trump Summit Recasts World War Two Narrative: September 28, 2026

TAIPEI — Taiwan pushed back Monday against what it called Beijing’s effort to rewrite World War Two history after Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump highlighted a wartime U.S.–China alliance at last week’s Washington summit, Reuters reported.

Taipei notes the Republic of China government—then based on the mainland and now in Taiwan—fought alongside the Allies, while the People’s Republic was founded only in 1949. A White House fact sheet said Trump and Xi recalled that the U.S. and China “were allies in World War Two and fought side by side.” Mainland Affairs Council deputy Shen Yu-chung said Xi is “continuously trying to guide” the narrative toward the PRC; Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said China wants to “overwrite the true history.”

Neither the White House, State Department nor China’s Taiwan Affairs Office immediately commented. Last year the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei said China was spreading “false” WWII narratives to pressure Taiwan. The island’s opposition Kuomintang said the government had the history right but accused President Lai Ching-te’s DPP of selective use of Republic of China memory for political ends.

Sources: Reuters

—

Refugees in South Africa Fear Attacks as September 30 Deadline Looms: September 28, 2026

DURBAN, South Africa — Refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa said Monday they fear fresh violence as an unofficial Sept. 30 deadline set by the anti-immigration movement March and March approaches, Al Jazeera reported from Durban.

The group has staged protests demanding undocumented foreigners leave and has no legal power to deport anyone; the government says citizens cannot enforce immigration law. Congolese refugee Bishop Raphael Bahebwa told Al Jazeera he was in hiding after threats for speaking up. Hundreds who slept for months outside Durban’s Refugee Reception Centre were cleared in mid-September—274 bused to the Lindela detention facility in Gauteng, about 150 left seeking other shelter—after earlier clashes with March and March protesters injured at least four on Sept. 3.

Authorities say they processed 86,596 foreign nationals for deportation or repatriation between mid-June and Aug. 20, mostly Malawians, Zimbabweans and Mozambicans, while warning private groups against vigilante enforcement. Local elections are Nov. 4, with migration a sharp campaign issue; refugees recalled deadly xenophobic waves in 2008 and 2015.

Sources: Al Jazeera

—

World News

Footer

About Journal of Occurrences