Germany’s AfD pressed for power after a historic Saxony-Anhalt win, Iran said it will announce a new restricted zone near Hormuz, and Hurricane Lowell put Kauai under a hurricane warning as it neared the western islands. Ten stories as of Monday morning, September 7.
1. Magdeburg / Saxony-Anhalt. The far-right Alternative for Germany won about 43.8% in Sunday’s Saxony-Anhalt election — short of an absolute majority by three seats — and on Monday pressed other parties to help it govern, the BBC and Reuters reported. AfD state leader Ulrich Siegmund claimed a clear mandate; mainstream parties kept their firewall against coalition with the AfD. Chancellor Friedrich Merz told his CDU board the result shook the party “to its very foundations” but again ruled out cooperating with the AfD, Bild reported via Reuters. An Infratest dimap poll for ARD found 87% of voters in the state unhappy with Merz’s government.
2. Strait of Hormuz / Persian Gulf. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran will announce a new restricted zone in coming days starting from the U.S. Navy’s blockade line and extending toward Hormuz and into the Gulf, with any ship entering placed on Iran’s sanctions list, Al Jazeera reported. Rezaei also said maps for an Iran–Oman managed corridor through Iranian and Omani waters should be signed soon. The U.S. military again denied an Iranian claim that Tehran struck an uncrewed American vessel in the strait, calling it a “total lie,” per the Associated Press. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said strait transits were averaging more than 9 million barrels a day.
3. Kfar Rumman / southern Lebanon. Israeli air strikes overnight killed at least 12 people in and around Kfar Rumman, including two children, four women, and a paramedic, Lebanon’s health ministry told the BBC. One strike destroyed a three-storey residential building; a second hit a vehicle carrying medics. The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure and fighters transferring weapons after drone attacks on troops in an occupied area, and said claims that uninvolved people were harmed were under review. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the attacks a “dangerous escalation” jeopardizing June’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Health ministry tallies put at least 27 killed across southern Lebanon over three days.
4. Miami. An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767-300 operated by 21 Air overran a runway at Miami International Airport about 2 p.m. Sunday after arriving from San Juan, struck vehicles, and caught fire, killing five people and injuring five, the BBC and FAA statements reported. The NTSB launched a go-team investigation, with a news conference planned Monday. FlightRadar24 data cited in reporting showed the jet still around 112 knots as it left usable runway. Amazon said it was cooperating with investigators.
5. Kauai / Hawaii. Category 3 Hurricane Lowell was centered about 375 miles southwest of Lihue early Monday with 115 mph winds, moving north-northeast near 14 mph, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said in Advisory 46. A Hurricane Warning covers Kauai County (Kauai and Niihau) and Papahānaumokuākea from Nihoa to French Frigate Shoals; a Tropical Storm Watch was issued for Oahu. Hurricane conditions are expected in Kauai County beginning Monday afternoon or evening, with 6–10 inches of rain possible on Kauai (locally higher) and flash-flood and mudslide risk.
6. Viacha / Bolivia. Bolivia’s Defense Ministry raised the death toll from Friday’s twin blasts at an army explosives facility in Viacha to six after three more bodies were recovered Sunday, AFP reported. About 11 people remain missing and more than 80 were injured. Officials say the site stored confiscated fireworks, grenades, and TNT-based explosives; the larger second detonation’s cause is still under investigation, and search work continues under high explosive risk.
7. Fogo Island / Cape Verde. At least 25 people, many of them schoolchildren and teenagers, were killed when a bus plunged about 30 meters into a ravine on a mountain road in Campanas de Cima late Saturday, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. The vehicle carried about 39 people returning from a privately arranged outing; the driver was among the dead. President José Maria Neves called it a great catastrophe, and officials held funerals and ordered an inquiry into road conditions and oversight.
8. Jakarta / Anak Krakatau. Roughly 270,000 passengers remained stranded across Indonesia after Anak Krakatau’s weekend eruptions grounded more than 2,000 flights, the BBC reported. Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta and other hubs extended closures again Monday as ash lingered; Soekarno-Hatta later said flights would aim to resume at 23:59 local. Indonesia’s Geological Agency warned further eruptions remain likely. Authorities kept a 3 km exclusion zone around the crater and said there was no tsunami warning.
9. Kyiv. Kyiv is recording more daily air-raid alerts than at any time since Russia’s full-scale invasion, a BBC Verify analysis of government figures found, as Russia shifts to round-the-clock drone waves including faster jet-powered models. Alerts have averaged about 10 a day since late August, with as many as 13 in a single day. Strikes on the capital paused briefly over the weekend while U.S. envoys were in town; schools, businesses, and transport are struggling with the daytime pattern. Ukraine is testing a two-tier yellow/red warning system to cut disruption.
10. Canberra / Honiara. Australia and Solomon Islands have reached an in-principle agreement on a new bilateral treaty, with talks described as substantively concluded and a possible signing in coming weeks, ABC News reported. A verified message from Australia’s high commissioner outlined more than A$980 million in additional funding tied to the deal, including support for free education and security requests. The push follows Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale’s survival of a no-confidence challenge and Canberra’s effort to deepen ties in the Pacific.
Coming up. Tuesday 8 September — 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly opens, New York; Canadian counter-tariffs take effect. Wednesday 9 September — state funeral of Norway’s King Harald V, Oslo. Wednesday 9–Thursday 10 September — ECB Governing Council rate decision. Saturday 12–Sunday 13 September — BRICS summit, New Delhi. Sunday 13 September — Sweden general election. Tuesday 15–Wednesday 16 September — Federal Open Market Committee, with projections. The standing calendar is at The Watch.
Sources: BBC; Reuters; Al Jazeera; AP; Central Pacific Hurricane Center / NHC; AFP; ABC News (Australia).
