Current-events digest: 23 September 2026

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2026 Iran war

2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis

2026 United States naval blockade of Iran

The United States Central Command says that the U.S. military has redirected 115 commercial vessels since the reinstatement of its blockade on July 14. (Gulf News)

An Indian wiper is killed during an attack on the bulk carrier MV Cape Dao near the Strait of Hormuz, with Oman's navy confirming that 27 crew members have been evacuated. (AFP and Reuters via Arab News) (The Indian Express)

Iran reopens schools and universities after months of closures caused by the war. About 16.5 million schoolchildren begin the new academic year, with reopening ceremonies held across the country. (AFP via Channels Television)

Acting United States Navy secretary Hung Cao reports that eight sailors on the Abraham Lincoln CVN-72 6 have attempted suicide during its long deployment including during the Iran war. (BBC News)

Ethiopian civil conflict

2026 Ethiopian offensive

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seizes several airports in Tigray, while clashes are ongoing in the nearby regions of Afar and Amhara. The TPLF says that it has started a "defensive war" against the federal government of Ethiopia. (Reuters)

Russo-Ukrainian war

Kharkiv strikes, Kyiv strikes, Odesa strikes

Russian drone and missile attacks across Ukraine kill at least eight civilians, including six agricultural workers in Kharkiv Oblast and two people in Kyiv, while strikes also hit Odesa. Ukraine says it intercepts or suppresses 119 of 161 drones. (AP)

Violations of non-combatant airspace during the Russo-Ukrainian war

Poland deploys fighter jets into its airspace after a Russian helicopter intruded near Braniewo, Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship. (Chronicle Live)

Colombian conflict

Threats and attacks by the Conquering Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) bring Santa Marta, Magdalena Department, Colombia, to a standstill, closing businesses and public transport. The group orders the shutdown after security forces kill 13 ACSN members. (AFP via France 24) (Reuters)

Communal conflicts in Nigeria

Fifteen people, including a village head, are killed in an armed ethnic clash in Bagudo, Kebbi State, Nigeria. Six suspects are arrested following the attack. (Daily Post)

Islamist insurgency in Niger

Islamic State militants kill at least 20 gendarmes in an ambush near Abala and Filingué in Tillabéri Region, Niger. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war, United States sanctions against Iran

Iranian airlines suspend services to Azerbaijan, Baghdad, Georgia, Muscat, and Qatar, after new U.S. sanctions target Iran's aviation sector. (AFP)

Disasters and accidents

2026 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Fay re-emerges as a tropical depression with a sustained wind of 35 mph amidst a unusually quiet Atlantic hurricane season caused by El Niño. (Sun Sentinel)

Health and environment

2026–2027 El Niño event

The Atacama Desert in Chile reports blossoms of flowers amidst the ongoing El Nino event in the Pacific. (Phys.org)

International relations

Eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly

Sudanese civil war

Africa–United States relations

The United States and African Union hold the first joint Quad-Quintet talks at the United Nations General Assembly sidelines in a effort to end the ongoing civil war in Sudan. (Sudan Tribune)

Belarus–Poland relations

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov meet at the United Nations General Assembly, making it the first meeting between Poland and Belarus in a decade. (UA News) (Notes from Poland)

Azerbaijan–France relations

Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev pardons a French national who served a 10-year prison sentence for espionage, and orders his release as one of 20 pardoned prisoners. (BBC News)

Cross-strait relations

Taiwan's coast guard increases patrol capacity around the disputed Pratas Island in the South China Sea by stationing a new 100-tonne patrol boat and regularly deploying larger vessels, citing increased China Coast Guard activity near the Taiwan-controlled outpost. (Reuters)

North Korean involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war, South Korea–Ukraine relations

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea after capturing them in Kursk Oblast, Russia, in January 2025. (UPI)

Law and crime

Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases

A court in New York, United States, sentences former film producer Harvey Weinstein to 15 years in prison for committing a criminal sexual act against former production assistant Miriam Haley. (BBC News)

Mexican drug war, missing persons in Mexico

Congresswoman Margarita López Pérez reports that, since 2021, Searching Mothers have found around 1,600 milk teeth, among other skeletal remains, in a mass grave in Zacapu, Michoacán. The state prosecutor's office denies having reports on the case. (Guillermo Ortega)

War crimes in the Myanmar civil war

Human Rights Watch reports that women held as political prisoners in Myanmar face torture, sexual violence, and inadequate medical care. The group says more than 6,600 women and 640 children are among over 30,000 political prisoners detained since 2021. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2026 Israeli legislative election

The Central Elections Committee votes to disqualify Ra'am and all parties on the Joint List from running, alleging they promoted terrorism against Israel. Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh and MK Ofer Cassif are also specifically barred from running. (Times of Israel)

2026 Moroccan general election

Moroccans vote to elect all 395 members of the House of Representatives. (AP)

Second impeachment of Sara Duterte

The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, rules that only senator-judges able to participate count toward the conviction threshold in vice president Sara Duterte's trial, reducing the required votes from 16 to 14. (Reuters)

The United Kingdom establishes a National Centre for Information Defence to detect and counter foreign disinformation, including AI-generated content. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says the centre will address disinformation attacks to states such as Russia. (AFP via France 24)

Science and technology

2026 OpenAI infiltration of Medicare

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese says that an OpenAI-deployed agent accessed public and restricted files on a Medicare database during testing in June. OpenAI notified the government in September, while investigations continue into the breach. (AFP via France 24) (The Guardian)

Croatia joins the U.S.-led Artemis Accords, becoming the 74th country to do so. (Croatia Week)

Sports

2026 Asian Games

North Korea at the 2026 Asian Games, Weightlifting at the 2026 Asian Games

North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum wins gold in the women's 49kg category at the 2026 Asian Games while setting three world records: 94kg in the snatch, 121kg in the clean and jerk, and 215kg overall. (AFP via France 24)

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