Yemen

• Four workers killed in Saudi airstrikes on telecom towers in Yemen: Four workers were killed and three wounded in Saudi airstrikes on telecommunications towers in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf province on Sunday, according to Ansarallah-affiliated Al Masirah.

  • Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said Saudi F-15 and Typhoon jets carried out 28 airstrikes in Taiz, Al-Jawf, and Marib over 24 hours, bringing the group’s claimed total since the latest escalation to 760.

  • Meanwhile, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said it struck Ansarallah forces in Al-Bayda, while an army officer claimed more than 80 Ansarallah fighters were killed in fighting around oil and gas rich Marib.

• Ansarallah targeted Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu: Ansarallah targeted “sensitive sites” in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu on Saturday using a large number of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones. Saudi Civil Defense alerts were triggered multiple times for 10 different cities and provinces during the attacks.

  • NASA FIRMS data confirmed that fuel storage at the Aramco Central Region Distribution facility was struck causing a fire. Photos and videos circulating online showed a large smoke column rising from the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport, where the Aramco distribution facility is located.

• Saudi-backed forces claim to recapture positions near Taiz: Saudi-backed Yemeni forces recaptured several front-line positions near Taiz city from Ansarallah, the chief of staff of the Taiz military force told state-run Saba news agency. Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, has been divided along front lines between Ansarallah and the internationally recognized government since 2015. Taiz governorate remains the epicenter of displacement in Yemen, with more than 63,000 people displaced, as the nationwide total surpassed 104,796 people, according to the International Organization for Migration.

• Ansarallah reiterates Saudi ships are the sole target in Red Sea: Mahdi Al-Mashat, president of the Ansarallah-run Supreme Political Council in Sana’a, said Saudi Arabia will be forced to pay compensation for its “unjust blockade” of Yemen, reaffirming an “equation of blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation.”

  • Al-Mashat said Yemen would press ahead until airports and ports are reopened, national resources restored, compensation paid, and Saudi forces withdrawn from “occupied” territory.

  • He added that international shipping through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab “will face no danger from Yemen.”

• Saudi crude exports surge as kingdom shifts more oil to Gulf terminals: Saudi Arabia’s September crude exports are averaging 4.60 million barrels per day (bpd), up 2.16 million bpd from August but still 1.89 million below a year earlier, according to Kpler.

  • The sharp increase suggests the kingdom is shifting substantial volumes from Yanbu and the disrupted Red Sea route to eastern Gulf terminals, sending them through Hormuz instead.

  • Bloomberg energy columnist Javier Blas said satellite imagery showed seven supertankers, capable of carrying roughly 14 million barrels combined, loading simultaneously on September 20.

  • TankerTrackers said Saudi east-coast crude exports have “picked up massively” over the past two weeks.

• Casualty toll continues to rise in Yemen: Over 160 people were killed and more than 500 injured across Yemen between September 12 and 18, according to the World Health Organization, bringing the total number of casualties since the fighting resumed on August 6 to 674 killed and nearly 3,000 injured. An estimated 125,000 people have been displaced over the same period.

• U.S. urges Americans to “seriously reconsider” Middle East travel, warns of rapid escalation: The U.S. State Department urged Americans outside the Middle East to “seriously reconsider” travel to and through the region, warning that the military conflict “has the potential to escalate rapidly.” It cited ongoing hostilities, including Ansarallah attacks on Saudi Arabia, and warned of possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and travel disruptions.

Iran

• Tanker struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz, two crew injured: A tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unknown projectile on Monday, leaving two crew members with minor injuries, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said.

  • The vessel was entering the Strait and continued toward its next port under its own power. No environmental impact was reported.

• Iran says it shot down U.S. MQ-1 drone over Hormuz: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday it intercepted and destroyed another U.S. MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported. The IRGC claimed the U.S. had returned the older MQ-1 to service after losing a large number of MQ-9 drones. There was no immediate U.S. confirmation of the reported shootdown.

• Trump threatens to “blow up all of Iran,” says he is open to meeting Pezeshkian: President Donald Trump escalated his threats against Iran in a Fox News interview on Sunday, saying Washington’s options are “to obliterate Iran, letting it rot economically, or reach a deal.”

  • “My question is when—and if—I will blow up all of Iran, and they had better behave themselves,” Trump added.

  • Trump also said he is open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week. He claimed some Iranian officials are hiding and it’s impossible to find the contacts to strike a deal.

  • The U.S. remains in “constant contact” with Yemen’s Ansarallah, Trump said, adding that they have agreed not to fight U.S. forces.

• Iran says it sent mediators conditions for starting negotiations to end war: Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s National Security Council Secretary, told Al Jazeera Tehran shared seven conditions for negotiating an end to the war with mediators, Rezaei said, including an end to attacks on all fronts, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and ending the U.S.’s naval blockade.

  • “The U.S. President’s assessments and calculations regarding Iran were flawed, and the war was instigated by Netanyahu,” Rezaei said. “Trump’s threats will yield no results. We are prepared for a decisive war.”

• Iran says U.S. planning renewed attacks, warns of retaliation “without limitations”: Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters—Iran’s conventional joint military command—said it had received information indicating the U.S. was planning to resume attacks on Iran and warned it would retaliate “without limitations.” The military command also warned regional countries against supporting any U.S. attacks.

  • Iran’s IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said Monday the war had not ended and the IRGC was prepared for a prolonged conflict, warning that any renewed confrontation would involve new targets, a changed “geography of war,” and weapons and capabilities not previously used that would “surprise the world.”

• “All Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” U.S. Treasury Secretary says: “On September 23rd, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday, announcing new sanctions targeting Iran’s civil aviation network.

  • Bessent said foreign airports and companies that refuel Iranian aircraft, provide landing services or sell tickets could risk losing access to the U.S. banking system. Iran has not publicly responded.

• U.S. refuses visas for Iranian president’s communications team: The Trump administration has refused to issue visas for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s communications team for the UN General Assembly opening in New York this week, according to Iranian state media. While entry visas were granted to President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other key Iranian officials, the U.S. imposed restrictions on the delegation’s movement in New York, limiting officials to areas in and around the UN headquarters.

• Bloomberg: Pentagon probe found “cascade of preventable failures” behind U.S. strike on Iranian school: “Within hours of a February 28 missile attack that hit an Iranian school, some Pentagon personnel knew the U.S. was responsible, according to officials involved in an internal investigation of the incident,” Bloomberg reported.

  • The report added that Pentagon investigators found a “cascade of preventable failures” behind the U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 150 people, including at least 123 children, though Washington still has not publicly accepted responsibility.

  • The probe found outdated intelligence, missed evidence the site had operated openly as a school for years, and overreliance inside CENTCOM on Palantir’s AI-enabled “Maven” system.

  • The investigation that began in March has been nearly complete for months but remains unreleased.

• CENTCOM claims Hormuz shipping at six-month high; Iran rejects account: CENTCOM claimed the volume of oil, cargo, and liquefied natural gas moving through the Strait of Hormuz during the past two weeks was higher than at any point in the previous six months.

  • Admiral Brad Cooper said on Saturday that U.S. forces had supported the passage of more than 2,000 transits and one billion barrels of Gulf crude through Hormuz over the “last couple of months.”

  • That figure, if Cooper begins the count on July 13, when the U.S. announced it was resuming its naval blockade, would equal about 14.7 million bpd. Reuters recently cited Vortexa data estimating that crude and fuel flows through Hormuz were closer to 8 million bpd, while Goldman Sachs placed exports through all Gulf routes combined at 15–16 million bpd.

  • Iranian military spokesperson Abolfazl Shekarchi rejected CENTCOM’s account as a “failed psychological operation” intended to boost U.S. troop morale and justify the war’s enormous human and financial costs.

  • Oil flows out of the Gulf increased substantially since late July, with the seven-day average reaching over 15 million barrels per day in the latest September readings, according to Kpler’s chart.

  • These are combined regional exports, including passage through Hormuz, Gulf of Oman net exports, and loadings at Fujairah and Omani ports. Kpler marks the latest 14 days as provisional or preliminary and says the figures represent confirmed minimums that rise as additional shipments are verified.

• WaPo: More U.S. troops have died in Iran war than publicly disclosed: More American troops have died during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed, according to the Washington Post, citing six U.S. officials. The Pentagon’s database lists 18 U.S. military fatalities since the start of the war in February, but five of the officials told the Post there have been at least 22, while a sixth official put the number at 23.

Palestine

• Israeli attacks kill three Palestinians, including child, wound several across Gaza:

  • A Palestinian child died from wounds after being shot by Israeli forces in Al-Mawasi, Rafah, on Monday, while a man was shot in the head by an Israeli quadcopter in northern Gaza and died, WAFA reported. Israeli fire killed a woman and injured a girl near tents between Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps.

  • On Sunday, Israeli forces shot and wounded a woman in Jabalia. A girl was separately shot in the thigh west of Halawa camp. In Bureij refugee camp, an Israeli drone shot and wounded a child east of the camp.

  • An Israeli strike killed three Palestinians in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood on Saturday.

  • Israeli forces also targeted and killed Basir Al-Boursh, the son of the director general of the Gaza Ministry of Health, Dr. Muneer Al-Boursh in a strike on Jabalia, northern Gaza. His voice breaking as he spoke, Dr. Al-Boursh told Drop Site: “The occupation targeted him in his tent. He was only meters away from me. It killed my son before my eyes. This oppressive occupation tore him in half with modern missiles. This is the occupation.”

  • Watch the full report from Drop Site’s Mohamed Ahmed here.

• Israeli forces kill one Palestinian, carry out mass detentions and closures across the occupied West Bank: Israeli forces killed a Palestinian, carried out mass detentions, and imposed widespread closures across the occupied West Bank on Sunday and Monday. More than 100 Palestinians were subjected to field interrogations over the past two days, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said.

  • Jenin: Israeli forces shot and killed a 32-year-old Palestinian and wounded another after opening fire on a vehicle near Haddad village east of Jenin on Sunday, WAFA reported. Israeli forces withheld the slain man’s body and prevented Palestinian Red Crescent crews from reaching the scene. Israeli media later alleged the vehicle attempted a ramming attack, but did not share any evidence to back the claim. Forces also raided villages west of Jenin, closed roads and entrances, forced businesses to shut, and detained residents.

  • Tubas and northern Jordan Valley: Israeli forces prevented 104 teachers from reaching their schools on Sunday by closing the Tayasir and Ein Shibli checkpoints, disrupting schools serving around 1,100 students.

  • Ramallah and Al-Bireh: Israeli forces detained at least 35 Palestinians during an ongoing raid on Al-Mughayyir, closed the village’s only entrance, searched homes, and seized money and gold, according to local sources.

  • East Jerusalem: Israeli forces continued a large-scale operation in Biddu, raiding homes and holding dozens of Palestinians for field interrogation in a house converted into a detention center. In Sur Baher, several shops caught fire during confrontations in which Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas.

  • Nablus: Israeli forces will close all military checkpoints surrounding Nablus at 6 p.m. Monday, coinciding with planned settler movements and marches, the Palestinian military liaison said.

• Israeli settler killed in shooting near West Bank settlement: An Israeli settler was killed and others wounded in a shooting near the illegal Halamish settlement, northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on Sunday.

  • The gunman reportedly fired at settlers at a spring close to Deir Nidham village, before escaping. Israeli forces deployed drones and a helicopter, surrounded nearby Palestinian communities and established military checkpoints during the manhunt.

  • Hours later, Israeli soldiers stormed H-Clinic Hospital in Ramallah and seized 37-year-old Qadri Samara from his treatment bed while he was wounded and receiving oxygen, The New Arab reported. Israel claims Samara, a former Palestinian prisoner from Biddu, carried out the shooting. Soldiers reportedly assaulted healthcare workers during the raid.

• Gaza hospital suspends nearly all medical services as fuel deliveries halt: Gaza’s Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital in Khan Younis suspended nearly all medical services as the World Health Organization told the hospital that fuel deliveries would stop, Palestine Online reported on Sunday.

  • With Gaza’s electrical grid down since Israel began its genocide, the hospital depends entirely on generators. The fuel shortage has halted surgeries, C-sections, outpatient care, scans, laboratory work, ambulances and other essential services.

  • The outlet said that the hospital treats more than 3,000 patients daily and serves roughly 700,000 displaced Palestinians. It needs at least 1,000 liters of fuel per day.

  • Medical director Dr. Jamal Al-Hams called the deprivation of essential healthcare “deliberate killing,” and urged international pressure on Israel to open the crossings.

• Israel shuts down crossings for religious holiday: Israel shut down border crossings for 24 hours on Sunday afternoon in observance of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, including the Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing where aid deliveries enter Gaza, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt for Palestinian medical evacuations, and the Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank.

• Female Palestinian prisoner reports beatings, denial of medical care at Damon prison: A female Palestinian prisoner held at Israel’s Damon prison said conditions are worsening, with prisoners facing overcrowding, inadequate food and deprivation of basic rights, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

  • Detained since February 9, she developed scabies and a urinary tract infection but said she has received no treatment. She also reported being strip-searched and severely beaten following her arrest, including blows to her head and face. At Damon, she said several female prisoners sleep on the floor and time outside cells is severely restricted.

Lebanon

• Israeli airstrikes, shelling and explosions hit southern Lebanon despite “ceasefire”: In the Bint Jbeil district, Israeli warplanes struck the outskirts of Baraachit, on Monday, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported, while artillery shelling targeted Kounine and Israeli forces carried out a large explosion in Ainata.

  • An Israeli airstrike also targeted Deir Siryan in the Marjayoun district.

U.S. News

• Senate war vote looms: Last week, the House passed a new war powers resolution ordering the end of the Iran war, by a vote of 220-204, with seven Republicans breaking with Trump. The measure could come to the Senate floor as soon as this week, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and Thom Tillis all likely to support it, giving it the majority it would need. Trump ignored the previous war powers resolution passed by both chambers of Congress.

• Trump to meet with Mamdani as UNGA begins: Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion on Monday. Trump is in town to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where he is set to speak Tuesday. This is the third meeting between Trump and Mamdani.

• Israeli weapons transfer still lacks Senate objector: The Trump administration’s plan to ship 40,000 tons of bombs to Israel is likely to spark a vote of objection on the Senate floor, Democratic senators tell Drop Site. A single senator can introduce a Joint Resolution of Disapproval and force a vote. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Tim Kaine tell Drop Site such a vote is likely. So far, no senator has come forward to introduce such a resolution.

• Crypto super PAC Fairshake launches $30 million campaign against Sherrod Brown: Fairshake, the crypto industry’s main super PAC, is beginning a $30 million ad and mail campaign against former Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, according to the New York Times. Brown is now running for JD Vance’s former Senate seat in Ohio.

  • Crypto industry interests are expected to retaliate after every Senate Democrat—including senators previously supportive of the industry—blocked the pro-crypto Clarity Act last week.

  • Fairshake, which has $120.4 million alongside two affiliated groups, spent $41 million against Brown in 2024, and its spending this cycle is expected to lean heavily Republican.

  • Brown, who has dialed back public criticism of crypto, said he has “not moderated” his position but doesn’t have “great interest” in going further than acknowledging the industry’s economic role.

  • Brown’s opponent, Sen. Jon Husted, already holds a roughly $30 million advertising advantage in the race.

• ICE officer shoots, seriously wounds DoorDash driver in Austin: An ICE officer shot and wounded Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan DoorDash driver, as he was delivering food in Austin, Texas on Sunday.

  • Garcés Perez was taken to the hospital and was reportedly in “serious but stable condition” after being shot in the torso, according to a county EMS employee.

  • According to his attorney, Garcés Perez is in the process of seeking asylum and had no criminal history. She also noted that she and his wife were barred from the hospital and given no information on his condition until Austin Mayor Kirk Watson intervened hours later.

  • The shooting sparked protests in the city, where state troopers deployed tear gas against protesters and reportedly tackled some of those assembled in the downtown area.

• CNN, MS NOW, Politico sue Trump administration over revoked White House press access: CNN, MS NOW and Politico are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration after their reporters were blocked from the White House Saturday and had their press badges deactivated, a day after President Donald Trump barred the outlets over coverage he called “fake news.”

  • White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich called for the outlets’ access to be immediately restored, warning that “a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future.”

• Rep. Max Miller threatens legal action over Democratic opponent’s ad: Rep. Max Miller sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding Cleveland station WKYC stop airing a Democratic challenger Brian Poindexter’s ad that features a sheriff detailing abuse allegations against Miller, including claims he poured hot water on his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, held a gun to her head, and broke his daughter’s collarbone.

  • Miller’s lawyer warned the station of pending legal action over “false, malicious, and defamatory statements.”

  • Miller, who has denied the allegations, is drawing significant national GOP support despite recent polling showing a tight race, including a $4.85 million ad buy from the Congressional Leadership Fund set to run September 30 through Election Day.

• Huckabee aide with top-secret clearance solicited cash wedding gifts from Israelis, sparking security concerns: David Milstein, a senior adviser to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee who holds a top-secret security clearance, solicited monetary wedding gifts in U.S. dollars or Israeli shekels from Israeli citizens via a QR code before retracting the request Saturday, hours after Politico asked whether he had State Department or White House approval for this solicitation.

• Pro-Israel Democrat Henry Beck to fundraise for Maine’s Troy Jackson: AIPAC-aligned Democrat Henry Beck is hosting a big-ticket fundraiser in New York City for Troy Jackson’s Senate Campaign this week, Drop Site contributor Nathan Bernard reported, with Jackson expected to headline the event.

  • Beck, a former state treasurer, was a leading pro-Israel voice in Maine before moving to New York City to work for an asset management firm. In January 2024, he traveled to Israel to meet with IDF soldiers as part of a 10-person delegation organized by the American Israel Education Foundation.

  • While State Treasurer, Beck released a controversial statement from the Treasurer’s office on the first anniversary of October 7 on the importance of “maintain[ing] our important relationship with the people of Israel,” while declining to mention any of Israel’s war crimes

  • Asked for comment, the Jackson campaign did not address the fundraiser but reiterated his stance on Israel. A campaign spokesperson told Bernard that: “Troy opposes U.S. taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel, has described Israel’s assault on Gaza as a genocide, and has pledged to reject money from AIPAC.”

• White House drafts order to give political panel veto power over NIH research grants: The White House is drafting an executive order to create an external committee with power to veto National Institutes of Health research awards that don’t align with President Donald Trump’s political agenda, according to The New York Times.

  • The draft follows a contentious Friday Oval Office meeting first reported on by The Washington Post, where Trump complained about his administration’s failure to force Harvard to accept his administration’s demands.

  • NIH spokesman Joshua Pradko said the agency “remains committed to its mission” and that “there will be no rescissions” to its grant money.

• Grassley calls on Trump to embargo diesel exports: Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley called on President Trump to embargo U.S. diesel exports as prices in the state hit $6.57 a gallon, an all-time high. Grassley said high fuel costs are “killing farmers’ income.” Iowa had 86,200 farms operating 29.9 million acres in 2025, according to USDA.

  • Nearly 1 in 20 Iowans, in a state of 3.24 million, are agricultural producers. USDA says about 305,000 people, or roughly 9.4% of Iowa’s population, live in farm-producer households.

  • Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s open Senate seat, backed the proposal and said the U.S. should “ultimately, end this war.” Turek is running against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson for retiring Sen. Joni Ernst’s seat.

• U.S. kills four in eastern Caribbean strike: The U.S. military conducted a strike on a boat in the Caribbean on Saturday, killing four people, according to U.S. Southern Command. SOUTHCOM posted video of the strike and said it “executed a lethal, kinetic strike on a go-fast vessel,” claiming without evidence it was engaged in narco-trafficking. The Trump administration’s targeting of vessels has killed at least 231 people in nearly 70 strikes on boats in the Pacific and Caribbean since September 2025.

  • In a new report, Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, found that U.S. attacks on suspected drug-trafficking vessels amount to “serial extrajudicial killings” in violation of the right to life. The briefing note concludes that the attacks cannot be justified under national or personal self-defense, international humanitarian law, the law of the sea, narcotics suppression conventions, or international counter-terrorism law and these strikes “plausibly constitute crimes against humanity.” The report also called the January 3 abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro an “arbitrary detention” and said he is entitled to head of state protection before U.S. courts.

Other International News

• Pakistan detains three sisters of jailed former PM Imran Khan ahead of planned protest march: Pakistani police arrested Aleema Khan from her Lahore residence under the Maintenance of Public Order law, according to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Hours later, they also detained Uzma Khan and Noureen Niazi; all three are sisters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

  • PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said the sisters and several other family members, including children, were taken to an unknown location in an armored vehicle, a move Khan’s son Kasim called “criminal behavior” and “inexcusable.”

  • The detentions have been challenged in Lahore High Court, according to Aleema Khan’s lawyer.

  • PTI is planning a September 27 march demanding Khan’s release, which Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had warned against, advising planners: “Don’t get into a situation from which there is no turning back.”

  • There are significant concerns about Imran Khan’s health in prison. The condition of his right eye has reportedly deteriorate, and he has experienced “severe anxiety,” according to his sons.

• Pakistani air raids kill at least three civilians in Afghanistan: Pakistani air strikes hit three targets including a house in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Paktika provinces early Monday, killing at least three members of one family and injuring four in Kunar’s Nurgal district, according to Afghan officials; Pakistan’s information ministry claimed the strikes killed 28 “terrorists.”

  • The strikes came days after a Pakistani Taliban faction claimed a bombing at a mosque in a police facility in Kohat that killed at least 31 people, which Pakistan’s information ministry blamed on Afghanistan-based fighters. Following Saturday’s attack, Pakistan warned that it could strike targets inside Afghanistan.

  • Drop Site’s June reporting on the months-long clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, from contributor Emran Feroz, is available here.

• Pakistani forces kill five militants, free 23 hostages in Balochistan operation: Pakistani security forces killed five militants and freed 23 hostages Sunday in an operation near Kalat in Balochistan province, according to a statement from the military.

  • The militants, identified by the military as members of a Baloch separatist group, reportedly set up an illegal checkpoint overnight to abduct people for ransom, extort money, and seize vehicles. The operation came days after the state’s Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti ruled out negotiations with Baloch insurgents.

• Explosions at weapons depot in northern Syria injure at least four: A series of explosions at a Syrian army weapons depot near al-Eis, south of Aleppo, injured at least four people early Monday, state news agency SANA reported. The cause was not immediately clear.

  • Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib urged residents to stay home as ambulances and fire crews responded and authorities closed roads to the site.

  • The explosion is the latest in a string of incidents across Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, including a blast that killed 11 at a military site in Deir Az Zor on Friday and one that killed 14 at an Idlib weapons depot earlier this month.

• Ukraine launches mass drone strike on Moscow on final day of Russian election, killing two: Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at Moscow on Sunday, killing three people and wounding 20 others on the final day of Russia’s State Duma election.

  • Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russia shot down more than 1,600 drones since Saturday, including 450 headed toward Moscow, calling the strike an attempt “clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections.”

  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes hit “one of the key enterprises of Russia’s oil industry” and suggested Moscow could “end its brutal war and choose peace.”

  • Ukrainian strikes overnight on Sunday reportedly set one of Moscow’s largest oil refineries ablaze, hit a warehouse and a market, residential buildings, and at least 11 suburban areas. All three Moscow airports grounded flights.

  • Turnout in the election, the first since Russia’s full-scale invasion and one from which most anti-war candidates have been barred, exceeded 45% by Sunday morning, according to Russian electoral officials.

• Russia continues to strike Ukraine, killing five: Russian strikes on Ukraine on Sunday killed a mother and two small children in Kyiv and four more in a drone strike on Sumy, according to Ukraine’s national news service.

  • Russia fired 138 drones overnight, half of them jet-powered, according to the country’s air force.

• Zelenskyy plans to meet with Trump in New York: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and President Donald Trump agreed to meet in New York during the coming UN General Assembly, writing on X that the meeting “could change a lot” and that “there is diplomatic momentum” toward ending the war.

  • He added that Ukraine is “working together with the American team” and is “ready to take really serious steps.”

• Three South Korean soldiers wounded in DMZ explosion: Three South Korean military officers were wounded in an explosion Monday in the western sector of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, with the cause of the explosion not immediately clear.

  • Mine explosions are a recurring hazard along the heavily fortified, 248-kilometer DMZ, which contains an estimated 2 million mines.

• 18 suspects in Haitian President Moïse’s assassination extradited to US: Eighteen suspects, including 17 Colombian soldiers and former Haiti Justice Ministry employee Joseph Badio, were extradited from Haiti to the United States on Sunday to face trial in Florida for the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones announced.

  • Haiti’s Ministry of Justice said it surrendered the suspects to “strengthen its cooperation with the American judicial authorities” after its own proceedings faced “significant difficulties,” as judges resigned over safety fears and gangs seized the Port-au-Prince courthouse.

  • Relatives of the Colombian suspects said the extradition came as a surprise and expressed concern over the men’s health after detention in Haitian prisons.

  • The extraditions bring the total indicted in the case to 30, following the May conviction of four men in Florida and guilty pleas from at least five others now serving life sentences.

  • Christian Sanon, the Haitian-American who was the alleged mastermind of the attack, awaits trial in the U.S.

• Australia to see more deaths than births by 2060s, Treasury report forecasts: Australia’s Treasury projected in its latest Intergenerational Report Monday that deaths will outnumber births by the 2060s, joining several advanced economies, including Japan, France, and Germany, who will also rely on migration to increase their populations based on current projections. Australia’s fertility rate is expected to fall to 1.34 live births per woman, while the number of Australians aged 85 and older will triple by 2065-66.

• Meloni says she will ban burqas and niqabs in Italian schools: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her Brothers of Italy party’s youth wing on Sunday that she will soon introduce a measure to cap foreign students in classrooms, ban burqas and niqabs in schools, and require compulsory Italian lessons for parents of foreign students “serious difficulties integrating into the school system.”

• Trump administration prepares additional sanctions against ICC: The Trump administration is preparing sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court, the Wall Street Journal reported, expanding its campaign against the body in retaliation for its cases against Israel and Israeli officials.

  • The U.S. has already sanctioned several ICC officials, including former Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, court president Tomoko Akane, and the lead prosecutor in the court’s case against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in July the administration would dismantle the court “brick by brick.”

  • The sanctions would prohibit most financial transactions with the ICC after a six- or seven-month grace period, WSJ reports. A final decision could come as soon as this week, during the UN General Assembly meeting, officials told the paper.

• German far right wins more regional elections, Merz continues to suffer: Germany’s far-right AfD placed first in elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union suffered its worst result in any state election since World War II, according to the AP.

  • The AfD won a projected 37.7%, while the CDU collapsed to 5.2%, barely clearing the threshold for parliamentary representation. Merz called the results a “disaster” but rejected calls for his resignation.

• Seven Ethiopian armed groups announce alliance to oust Abiy’s government: Seven Ethiopian armed groups—including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Amhara Fano National Movement, which fought on opposite sides of the 2020-2022 Tigray war—announced they have formed the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, aiming to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, Reuters reported.

  • Fano leader Zemene Kassie read a statement on Tigrayan television that declared that the groups “bear the historic responsibility of overthrowing this regime.”

  • Clashes were renewed between federal and Tigrayan forces when the TPLF reasserted regional political control in May, violating the 2022 peace deal. Ethiopia is accusing neighboring Eritrea of backing insurgent groups, a claim Eritrea denies.

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