Tuesday, September 29, 2026 – Iran: Iran expects U.S. response to Hormuz proposal on Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio boasts Iran is facing economic “cataclysm.” Iran warns of winter energy shortages. U.S. emergency oil reserves fall to lowest level since 1983. Iran’s oil funding set to run out, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says. Vessel struck by suspected projectile in Strait of Hormuz. Iraqi Airways to resume Iran flights after securing U.S. sanctions exemption.

Yemen: Saudi-backed Yemeni forces claim 356 operations against Ansarallah targets across 10 fronts. Saudi Arabia resumes oil loading at Yanbu after restarting East-West Pipeline.

Palestine: Israeli attacks kill five Palestinians across Gaza, including Hamas commander. Israeli forces shoot Palestinian, settlers torch homes in attacks across the occupied West Bank. Israeli demolitions displace 147 Palestinians in West Bank in one week as Red Cross warns life becoming “untenable.” Palestinian-American journalist released from Israeli prison.

Lebanon: Israeli forces carry out demolitions and shell southern Lebanon despite ceasefire. Lebanese PM calls for timeline of Israeli withdrawal.

U.S.: FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey resigns amid strained relations with Kash Patel. Another prosecutor exits Department of Justice’s “grand conspiracy” probe into President Donald Trump’s political foes. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declares “statewide disaster” over high fuel prices. Texas Tribune identifies ICE agent who allegedly shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. Trump administration asks Supreme Court to reinstate transgender inmate healthcare policy. Education Department finalizes rule reinstating Trump sexual misconduct policy. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recuses himself from major climate case amid stock conflict concerns. Trump administration rolls back Biden-era fuel efficiency standards. Federal judge blocks FEMA rule tying counterterrorism funds to election changes. OpenAI scraps GPT-6.1 Astra release over safety failures. UN experts call on U.S. to halt third-country deportation policy amid abuse concerns.

International: Syria says it dismantled ISIS network spanning four provinces. U.S. exits Iraq after 23 years. Over 80 abducted in Nigeria as police discover human remains at bandit camps. More than 50 Niger security forces killed in two jihadist attacks. Somali army clashes with ousted regional leader’s fighters in Baidoa. Haiti gang kills at least 11 in retaliation after UN-backed security operation. Hungary strips PM Péter Magyar, two Orban-era ministers of immunity for criminal probes. Vietnam arrests three, including Norwegian and Australian citizens, alleging terrorism. Russia strikes Kyiv again after deadly attack on Academy of Sciences, killing at least nine nationwide.

This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday

Iran

• Iran expects U.S. response to Hormuz proposal on Tuesday: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran expects a formal U.S. response on Tuesday to its proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after another round of discussions with Qatari mediators in New York.

  • “They are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final U.S. response will be conveyed to us,” Araghchi said late Monday, adding that “the Qataris hope this will be done by tomorrow.”

  • He added that if Washington is seeking “an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented this solution.”

  • Trump confirmed to reporters at the White House that U.S. officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, without providing further details. “We’re going to win, as far as I’m concerned, it’s going to be one way or the other. It’s going to go pretty quickly,” he said.

  • Trump also denied reports that he had offered Iran sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions, writing on Truth Social: “This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING.”

• Rubio boasts Iran facing economic “cataclysm”: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the U.S.-Iran war on Monday, telling Fox News the Strait of Hormuz is now open and “there is almost as much oil flowing through the straits now as before this conflict, with the exception of Iranian oil, which is not getting out.”

  • Rubio defended U.S. sanctions on Iran and boasted that Tehran’s economy is already in severe distress and “heading there fast to a cataclysm.”

  • Iran’s currency fell to a record low on Tuesday, with the dollar trading above 2.5 million rials, down from about 1.7 million before the U.S.-Israeli war began in February.

  • Rubio also said that an alleged plot involving a U.S. air base in the UK was a “very serious situation” that “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor,” but stopped short of identifying who was responsible.

    • Rubio pointed to Iran’s threats, saying Tehran has “openly threatened to attack American interests globally” and warning that “there will be repercussions” if an attack occurs or is attempted.

    • UK police released five British men on bail who were arrested on terrorism and explosives suspicions near RAF Fairford, an airbase the U.S. has used in strikes on Iran. Iran has denied any ties to the incident.

• Iran warns of winter energy shortages: U.S.-Israeli attacks on the country’s energy sector knocked out about 230 million cubic meters of gas production capacity, according to Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, with efforts underway to restore roughly 100 million cubic meters.

  • She said the damage compounded an existing imbalance between energy supply and demand and warned that northern provinces would likely face shortages this winter. “Based on the pattern of past years, we will probably have problems in the northern provinces,” Mohajerani said.

• U.S. emergency oil reserves fall to lowest level since 1982: The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 283.8 million barrels as of Friday, its lowest level since October 1982, after releasing 800,000 barrels of crude last week, Department of Energy data compiled by OPIS showed.

  • Releases have slowed to a trickle. Just 1.8 million barrels have left the reserve in September, the smallest monthly total since the drawdown began in March and down from 19.2 million in August.

  • The U.S. has released 131.6 million barrels since March in response to the Hormuz closure, loaned to companies that must return it with premium barrels. The Trump administration pledged 172 million barrels but has contracted only 133.5 million so far.

• Iran’s oil funding set to run out: “There’s only 15 million more barrels of Iranian oil on the water,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, predicting Iran will make its final deliveries to China “probably within the next two weeks” and then “have nothing left to trade for anything.”

  • His figure tracks with ship-tracking data. Iranian crude on tankers outside the U.S. blockade fell from about 90 million barrels in mid-July to roughly 29 million by early September, Kpler data showed.

  • With about 1 million barrels a day still reaching buyers, mostly in China, Kpler projected the stockpile could run out by mid-October, and payments could dry up by mid-December.

  • No seaborne Iranian crude cargo has crossed the blockade since it was reimposed July 14, according to trackers and U.S. authorities.

  • Oil already sold is also hard to cash in. “One of the problems that we face is that our money in China is blocked,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News this past weekend.

  • Asked about Iran funding allies in the region, Pezeshkian said: “We can’t even get our own money out of a country to which we have supplied goods, let alone use those funds to pay someone else in another corner of the world.”

• Vessel struck by suspected projectile in Strait of Hormuz: A vessel was struck by a suspected unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday evening, sparking a fire, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Tuesday, citing a delayed third-party report.

  • The fire was extinguished and the vessel continued underway, with all crew reported safe and no environmental impact reported.

• Iraqi Airways to resume Iran flights after securing U.S. sanctions exemption: Iraqi Airways plans to resume flights to Iran in October after securing a special exemption from U.S. sanctions that had disrupted air travel between the two countries, Iraq’s Transport Ministry said.

  • The airline had already resumed flights between Najaf and Iranian airports on Monday.

  • Iraq’s ambassador to Iran said Baghdad had never ordered flights suspended, but that foreign ground-handling companies had stopped providing services over fears of U.S. sanctions.

Yemen

• Saudi-backed Yemeni forces claim 356 operations against Ansarallah targets across 10 fronts: Saudi-backed forces said they carried out 356 operations against Ansarallah targets over 24 hours on Monday, across 10 fronts, stretching from northern Yemen to the western coast, south and center of the country.

  • The ministry claimed the operations killed or wounded 476 Ansarallah fighters and destroyed or damaged command and control centers, weapons depots, and military vehicles. Ansarallah did not immediately comment on the claims.

• Saudi Arabia resumes oil loading at Yanbu after restarting East-West Pipeline: Saudi Arabia resumed crude loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting the East-West Pipeline, which was hit in an Ansarallah attack earlier this month, providing an alternative export route as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran restricts shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

  • Satellite imagery from Sunday showed nearly 10 million barrels being loaded at Yanbu and nearby Al Muajjiz, according to TankerTrackers, while trade sources cited by Reuters estimated loadings at around 2 million barrels per day (bpd) since last week.

  • Kpler estimates current pipeline throughput at about 2.65 million bpd and expects it to rise to 3–4 million bpd in the coming days, though a return to the pre-attack rate of roughly 5.5 million bpd could take another month.

Palestine

• Israeli attacks kill five Palestinians across Gaza, including Hamas commander: A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces while on Salah al-Din Street in Deir al-Balah on Tuesday, while two Palestinians were killed and several wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a residential apartment in the al-Nasr neighborhood of western Gaza City, WAFA reported.

  • Palestinian sources told Al Jazeera that one of those killed was Izz Al-Din Al-Bik, commander of the northern brigade of Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz had earlier announced Al-Bik’s killing.

  • In northern Gaza, one Palestinian was killed and others wounded when an Israeli drone struck the Jabalia refugee camp.

  • Separately, a Palestinian woman died from wounds sustained from Israeli gunfire in the Muwasi area of Rafah.

• Israeli forces shoot Palestinian, settlers torch homes in attacks across the occupied West Bank:

  • Ramallah: Israeli settlers raided Surda, north of Ramallah, and the Al-Tireh area on Tuesday, throwing stones at Palestinian vehicles, blocking roads, and putting up Israeli flags, according to WAFA. In Al-Mughayyir, settlers set fire to two vehicles and a tent, attempted to burn a home, and spray-painted racist slogans on homes, while Israeli forces arrested two 16-year-old boys.

  • Nablus: Israeli settlers set fire to two homes and a vehicle in Jalud, south of Nablus, and assaulted an elderly Palestinian woman near neighboring Qaryut.

  • Jenin: Israeli forces shot a young Palestinian man in the abdomen and thigh during a raid on Qabatiya, south of Jenin, on Monday evening.

• Israeli demolitions displace 147 Palestinians in West Bank in one week as Red Cross warns life becoming “untenable”: Israeli demolitions displaced 147 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank in one week, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

  • Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called for the urgent protection of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, warning that surging violence, tighter movement restrictions, and accelerating settlement expansion are “making everyday life untenable.”

• Palestinian-American journalist released from Israeli prison: Palestinian-American journalist and Drop Site contributor Naqaa Hamed was freed on bail after 13 days in Israeli detention. She was arrested September 15 near Bethlehem while returning from a reporting assignment on settler violence.

  • An Israeli military court released her on 8,000 shekels bail, her lawyer told AFP.

  • The Committee to Protect Journalists had previously condemned the “unsubstantiated espionage allegations” against her. Israel still holds 36 Palestinian journalists, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.

Lebanon

• Israeli forces carry out demolitions and shell southern Lebanon despite ceasefire: Israeli forces blew up several homes in Majdal Zoun on Tuesday, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

  • An Israeli Merkava tank fired shells toward Jall al-Shihab in Kfar Tibnit as Israeli military vehicles moved around Arnoun on Monday evening. Israeli forces also carried out a large explosion in Zawtar Al-Sharqiyah.

• Lebanese PM calls for timeline of Israeli withdrawal: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called for a clear timetable to implement commitments under the U.S.-brokered framework with Israel during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday.

  • Salam said implementation should produce Israel’s full withdrawal from Lebanese territory alongside extending state authority and establishing a state monopoly on arms, with a verification mechanism to monitor compliance.

  • The June 26 agreement provides for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups. Israel has continued near-daily attacks and other violations in Lebanon despite the agreement.

U.S. News

• FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey resigns amid strained relations with Kash Patel: Andrew Bailey, one of three co-deputy directors at the FBI, announced Monday he is leaving after just over a year, the second such departure amid ongoing turmoil in the bureau’s leadership under Director Kash Patel.

  • Sources familiar with the arrangement told The New York Times that Patel and Bailey “did not get along” and often went long stretches without speaking, part of a broader unusual three-person leadership structure Trump created after naming podcaster Dan Bongino, who had little law enforcement management experience, as co-deputy director alongside Bailey, a former Missouri attorney general. Bongino was replaced by longtime agent Christopher Raia after he resigned.

• Another prosecutor exits DOJ’s “grand conspiracy” probe into Trump’s political foes: Kurt Olsen, who joined the Justice Department’s sprawling “grand conspiracy” investigation in June after serving as Trump’s election security czar, resigned from the Department on Monday.

  • Olsen’s exit follows the abrupt departure of investigation lead Joseph DiGenova earlier this month and veteran prosecutor Maria Medetis Long in April.

  • Two sources told The Washington Post that Olsen grew frustrated by pressure from Washington officials to speed up the probe and secure grand jury indictments, while a third source disputed that account, saying his exit stemmed from security clearance issues.

  • The investigation—which theorizes that officials in the Obama and Biden administrations conspired for over a decade to violate Trump’s civil rights through the Russia investigation and the classified documents case—appears to be moving forward, with former CIA Director John Brennan reportedly subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, next week.

• Texas Gov. Abbott declares “statewide disaster” over high fuel prices: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster Monday to address soaring fuel prices, expanding the use of tax-exempt dyed diesel typically reserved for off-road equipment, raising allowable truck weight limits, and suspending some federal diesel emission rules. Texas diesel prices have hit $5.86 per gallon, according to the latest estimates from AAA. His order does not suspend the state’s 20-cent-per-gallon fuel tax, which Democrats have urged him to waive.

• Texas Tribune identifies ICE agent who allegedly shot, killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston: The Texas Tribune identified Gregory Feathers, an ICE agent rehired within the past two years after previously retiring, as the officer who allegedly shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston in July, based on an official familiar with the investigation, a mistakenly released Form I-213 report, and identification by the van’s front-seat passenger.

  • Though major state and local law enforcement agencies across the country typically identify officers involved in shootings on the job soon after the incident, DHS has withheld agents’ names in recent shootings, citing “doxxing” concerns and a reported surge in assaults and threats against ICE officers.

• Trump administration asks Supreme Court to reinstate transgender inmate healthcare policy: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Monday to lift a judge’s block on a Bureau of Prisons policy that would taper transgender inmates off hormone treatments and end social accommodations like hair-removal devices, after the D.C. Circuit voted 2-1 to uphold U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth’s ruling that the policy is likely illegal.

  • Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the lower court’s order “causes irreparable harm to the government and to the public,” and cited recent Supreme Court rulings allowing states to bar transgender girls from women’s sports and restrict gender-affirming care for minors as support for “allowing politically accountable officials to make decisions” on such treatment.

• Education Dept. finalizes rule reinstating Trump sexual misconduct policy: Education Secretary Linda McMahon unveiled a final regulation Monday formally repealing the Biden administration’s Title IX rule and reinstating the first Trump administration’s framework, which the department has already been enforcing for nearly two years. Under that framework, colleges are required to respond to sexual misconduct complaints with courtroom-like hearings and a higher standard of proof than under the Obama administration.

• Justice Alito recuses himself from major climate case amid stock conflict concerns: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will no longer participate in a major climate change case, according to a letter sent Monday to lawyers involved, reversing his earlier position that recusal was unnecessary.

  • In the case, which will be argued next week, ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy seek to dismiss a Colorado lawsuit brought by the city of Boulder pursuing compensation for damages related to climate change.

  • Advocacy groups had pressed for Alito’s recusal because he holds stock in ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and five other energy firms that could benefit if the court rules broadly to block similar climate lawsuits nationwide.

• Trump administration rolls back Biden fuel efficiency standards: The Trump administration finalized new fuel efficiency standards Monday, reversing a Biden-era regulation that would have pushed auto manufacturers to ensure their cars and trucks were using less fuel. Under the previous rules, U.S. cars were expected to average 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031; under the adjustments announced Monday, they are only expected to average 34.9.

  • The Biden rule had been projected to save drivers more than $600 in fuel costs over a vehicle’s lifetime.

  • Trump defended the measure as a repeal of a Biden “EV mandate”; the Biden measures contained no such mandate, though the administration did note that firms could produce more EVs to bring them into compliance with the statute.

• Federal judge blocks FEMA rule tying counterterrorism funds to election changes: U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled Monday that FEMA exceeded its legal authority by withholding 20 percent of counterterrorism grant funds from state and local governments that refused to adopt specific election changes, including verifying voter and poll worker citizenship through a federal database and switching from electronic to paper voting systems, writing that “the statute does NOT authorize FEMA to withhold counterterrorism grants until states and high-risk urban areas achieve policy objectives on their own dime.”

  • The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Brennan Center for Justice in August on behalf of counties in Texas and Tennessee and the city of Columbus, Ohio, against the June FEMA policy.

  • The grants, typically totaling $1 billion to $2 billion annually, would have required states and municipalities to fund the election changes themselves, part of President Donald Trump’s broader, evidence-free push to combat what he describes as widespread election fraud.

• OpenAI scraps GPT-6.1 Astra release over safety failures: OpenAI announced Monday it will not release its latest model, GPT-6.1 Astra, after internal testing found it failed to meet company standards for “scope and authorization” and a propensity to mislead users about the work it does on their behalf.

  • The decision, first reported by The Wall Street Journal ahead of OpenAI’s developer conference, comes amid heightened industry concern following a July incident in which OpenAI models broke out of a controlled test environment and hacked the startup Hugging Face, and after OpenAI said Friday it had alerted “dozens” of institutions to instances of “misaligned behavior,” following Australia’s disclosure that an OpenAI agent breached its national healthcare database.

• UN experts call on U.S. to halt third-country deportation policy amid abuse concerns: More than a dozen UN human rights experts wrote to the U.S. government urging an end to third-country deportation policies, saying at least 23,000 people have been sent to 29 nations and territories under agreements Washington has struck with African governments since last year, warning “the harms caused by this U.S. Government scheme are no longer hypothetical” and are triggering “a cascade of human rights violations” affecting children, women, LGBT people and other vulnerable groups.

  • The experts flagged specific concerns about countries including Equatorial Guinea, where police reportedly pulled firearms on migrants, and the Central African Republic, which is receiving Iranian deportees, and also sent their communication to the 35 countries and territories that have agreements with Washington to accept deportees.

📥 Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email DC Correspondent Julian Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com

Other International News

• Syria says it dismantled ISIS network spanning four provinces: Syrian authorities said they dismantled an Islamic State network operating across Raqqa, Aleppo, Idlib, and Homs, arresting four alleged leaders and five other suspects accused of involvement in five kidnappings, assassinations, and planting explosive devices, according to an Interior Ministry statement Sunday; the claims have not been independently verified.

  • The network’s reach across widely separated provinces is notable given ISIS has traditionally concentrated in Syria’s eastern and central desert regions since losing its territorial “caliphate” in 2019. A Syrian rights group recorded at least 65 ISIS attacks killing more than 50 people since the start of 2026, concentrated in Deir al-Zour, Aleppo, and Raqqa but extending to several other provinces.

• U.S. exits Iraq after 23 years: The last U.S. forces are scheduled to leave their bases in Iraq on Wednesday, ending a presence in the country for over 23 years that began with the 2003 invasion. The withdrawal was agreed to in 2024 under the Biden administration and continues to be carried out by the Trump administration.

  • A commander in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, told Reuters the U.S. withdrawal was a “a historic victory for the Iraqi Islamic resistance groups.” He said, “On September 30, we will celebrate the turning of a black page ⁠in Iraq’s history and the failure of the occupation to impose its will on our country.”

  • Seven of the 18 U.S. service members listed as killed in the region in the U.S. war against Iran this year, were killed in Iraq.

• Over 80 abducted in Nigeria as police discover human remains at bandit camps: At least 87 people, mostly women, were reported missing after two separate weekend gang attacks in Nigeria, AFP reported.

  • 47 farmers were abducted while harvesting peanuts in Niger State’s Mariga area Saturday, and 40 women were kidnapped in neighboring Zamfara’s Yargada area Sunday. Armed “bandits,” who specialize in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling, are believed to be responsible for the attacks.

  • Separately, police in southeastern Abia state said they found 28 human skulls and bones “suspected to be [of kidnapped] victims” after raiding forest camps linked to criminal groups, though suspects at the scene fled and remain at large.

  • Mass ransom kidnappings have surged in northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with the Lagos-based firm SBM Intelligence finding armed groups collected roughly 7.8 billion naira ($6 million) in ransoms between July 2025 and June 2026, more than triple the prior year.

• More than 50 Niger security forces killed in two jihadist attacks: More than 50 members of Niger’s security forces were killed in two separate attacks in the country’s west, two security sources told Reuters.

  • A gendarme convoy was ambushed near Abala-Filingué last Wednesday, and a Saturday attack in Birni-N’Konni killed more than 30 soldiers.

  • The Islamic State Sahel Province claimed responsibility for both attacks in statements issued Sunday. The same group attacked the civilian airport and military airbase in Niamey in January.

• Somali army clashes with ousted regional leader’s fighters in Baidoa: Intense fighting broke out Monday in Baidoa between Somali government forces and fighters loyal to ousted South West State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, involving fighter jets, drones, and explosive-laden vehicles, with army commander Mohamed Ali claiming forces “inflicted heavy casualties and drove them out of the city.” MSF said three people died, including a healthcare worker, and a regional hospital received 69 patients, including five children.

  • The violence stems from President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government ousting Laftagareen from the country’s South West State in March, after which he has repeatedly tried to retake Baidoa, with prior clashes on Aug. 17 and Sept. 3 killing five people combined and wounding more than 165.

• Haiti gang kills at least 11 in retaliation after UN-backed security operation: At least 11 people were killed Monday in Haiti’s Artibonite region after gang members retaliated against a security operation earlier in the day, in which a Sri Lankan unit of the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force pushed back fighters from the Kokorat San Ras gang who had set up illegal toll points, killing three gang members, according to Reuters.

  • A mayor in the region said “the bandits in retaliation attacked... they killed and burned homes” after the multinational force withdrew to its base in Gonaïves just hours after the operation.

  • The attack comes as Haiti’s gang violence continues spreading beyond Port-au-Prince into farming regions like Artibonite, and as the Gang Suppression Force’s mandate is set to expire this week absent UN Security Council renewal.

• Hungary strips PM Magyar, two Orban-era ministers of immunity for criminal probes: Hungary’s Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Monday to lift the immunity of Prime Minister Peter Magyar and two former ministers under Viktor Orban’s government, Balazs Hanko and Miklos Sesztak, clearing the way for prosecutors to pursue investigations into each. Orban’s Fidesz party and its KDNP ally boycotted the session.

  • Magyar himself requested the vote so he could clear his name over allegations that he threw a man’s phone into the Danube in response to that man filming him at a Budapest nightclub in 2024. Hanko faces accusations of embezzling more than 40 million euros in public funds, and Sesztak is accused of accepting more than $37.2 million in bribes tied to state bus and construction procurements. Both deny wrongdoing.

• Vietnam arrests three, including Norwegian and Australian citizens, alleging terrorism: Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security announced on Monday that it had arrested three individuals on September 18, including Nguyen Duc Thuan, a Norwegian passport holder, Ho Pham Hiep Huy, an Australian passport holder, and Thai Cong Truong Son, accusing them of illegally crossing from Cambodia into Vietnam to conduct “terrorist and sabotage activities.”

  • It also claimed the three belonged to members of Viet Tan, an anti-government group based in the U.S., designated as a terrorist organization by Vietnam’s government.

  • Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government is providing consular assistance to Huy and his family.

• Russia strikes Kyiv again after deadly attack on Academy of Sciences, killing at least nine nationwide: Russian drones struck Kyiv’s National Academy of Sciences Monday, killing at least two people, with recovery efforts at the site ongoing on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

  • President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian strikes killed at least nine people nationwide on Monday and wounded more than 80, including at a Kyiv medical facility, with separate strikes killing three people in Dnipro, killing another in Synelnykove, and wounding 32 in Zaporizhzhia.

  • Russia’s Defence Ministry separately said it struck cargo vessels bound for Odesa and Chornomorsk along with telecom and data infrastructure in Kyiv, while Ukraine reported hitting Russian oil facilities in Krasnodar and two defense plants.

• Italian court convicts three Egyptian officials in absentia over Giulio Regeni’s 2016 murder: An Italian court convicted three Egyptian security officials—Major Magdi Sharif, Colonel Ather Kamal and Colonel Hisham Helmy—in absentia for the “aggravated kidnapping” of student Giulio Regeni, sentencing each to 10 years in prison, while acquitting a fourth defendant, Major General Tarek Sabir, and dismissing a murder charge against Sharif. Extradition of the convicted men remains highly unlikely.

  • Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge postgraduate student, disappeared in Cairo in January 2016. His body was found days later bearing marks of extensive torture. The case became one of the most contentious issues in relations between Italy and Egypt. Italian prosecutors accused Egypt’s security services of killing Regeni while Egyptian authorities repeatedly denied state involvement and hindered the Italian court case from moving forward.

• India releases U.S. citizen VanDyke, six Ukrainians after six-month detention: Matthew VanDyke, a 47-year-old American who runs a Washington, D.C.-based security consultancy and who fought with Libyan rebels during the Arab Spring, was temporarily released on bail from India’s Tihar Jail and returned to the U.S. Saturday alongside six Ukrainian nationals, ending a more than six-month detention that began in March over accusations of supporting ethnic separatist groups near the Myanmar border, accusations he has denied.

  • Indian prosecutors declined earlier this month to bring terrorism charges, instead accusing VanDyke and the others of visa violations for entering restricted areas.

  • India’s opposition Congress party questioned VanDyke’s release, with spokesperson Jairam Ramesh writing, “Obviously U.S. pressure determined this outcome, but what did India get in return?”

• South Korea suspects North Korean landmines caused DMZ blast; North blasts U.S. nuclear submarine approval: South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday preliminary findings suggest North Korean landmines caused the Sept. 21 explosion that severely wounded three South Korean military personnel in the DMZ, with Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won saying the blast site was “about 10 meters from an area where changes in the terrain were observed and where North Korean forces are believed to have recently planted mines,” and warning South Korea’s military “will take appropriate and corresponding measures” if the finding is confirmed.

  • Separately on Monday, North Korea’s foreign ministry called U.S. approval for South Korea’s first nuclear-powered submarine “a dangerous development” that adds instability to the Asia-Pacific, framing it as further evidence of Washington’s “radical nuclear arms buildup” through the AUKUS pact.

• Zelenskyy says North Korea preparing to deploy 10,000 more troops to Russia: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed on Monday that more than 8,000 North Korean troops are currently on Russian territory and another 10,000 are being “selected for training and subsequent deployment to Russia,” citing “new data” on the buildup.

  • Zelenskyy had said in August that up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers could eventually be sent to fight for Moscow and called on South Korea to boost support for Ukraine’s air defense.

  • North Korea has sent an estimated 14,000 to 15,000 troops to support Russia’s war since 2024, mostly deployed in the Kursk region, and has supplied Moscow with millions of artillery rounds, ballistic missiles, and rocket systems, according to Ukrainian and independent assessments.

• French far-right leader Bardella sues over report alleging antisemitic private messages: Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally, filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against investigative outlet Mediapart after it reported reviewing dozens of private messages from 2013-2015 that it said showed antisemitic and conspiratorial rhetoric, including one message in which Bardella allegedly claimed: “all the banks are owned by Jews.”

  • Bardella called the report “completely delusional” and accused the outlet of an attempt to “destabilise the campaign” ahead of next year’s presidential election, where the RN’s Marine Le Pen currently leads polls and Bardella would become prime minister if she wins. RN candidates have a history of making antisemitic, Islamophobic, and racist remarks, which during the 2024 parliamentary elections were believed to contribute to the party’s defeat.

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