International News Bulletin — September 21, 2026

Politics

• Pakistani air strikes hit eastern Afghanistan as Taliban vow response – Pakistani aircraft struck targets in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Paktika provinces early on Monday, and the Taliban government said three residents were killed and four wounded in Kunar, with no casualties in Paktika, Al Jazeera and UPI reported. Pakistan’s information ministry said the raids killed 28 “terrorists” at three targets with “no collateral damage”, and warned of further strikes in response to cross-border attacks, while Kabul described the dead as civilians. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan would give an “appropriate response”, ending nearly three months of relative calm on the border.
• Seven Ethiopian armed groups form an alliance against Abiy’s government – Seven armed movements, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the Oromo Liberation Army and the Amhara Fano National Movement, have announced an “Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival” to set up an inclusive transitional government, Al Jazeera and the BBC reported. The groups accuse Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government of presiding over “war, genocide, mass destruction and utter poverty” and say the country risks disintegration. Abiy’s spokesperson Billene Seyoum told Reuters the groups had “already been collaborating for some time”, according to the BBC.
• Washington prepares sanctions targeting the ICC as an institution – The Trump administration is preparing sanctions that would prohibit most transactions with the International Criminal Court after a grace period of six to seven months, The Wall Street Journal reported, and Reuters, citing two sources, said an announcement would come soon. The measures would bar US citizens and companies from providing the Hague-based court with money, goods or services without a Treasury licence, going beyond the more than a dozen judges and prosecutors already sanctioned under a February 2025 executive order. The Journal said a decision could be finalised during this week’s UN General Assembly or shortly afterwards.
• Venezuela’s acting president lands in New York before Trump meeting – Delcy Rodríguez arrived in New York early on Monday for the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, a day before an informal meeting with President Donald Trump that US Ambassador Mike Waltz described as a “pull-aside” rather than a formal bilateral, MercoPress and WLRN reported. It will be the first encounter between a US president and a Venezuelan leader since Barack Obama met Nicolás Maduro in 2015. The General Debate opens on Tuesday with Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaking first, in the last session to begin under Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term ends on December 31.

Economy

• AMD tops $1 trillion as chip rally lifts Wall Street – Advanced Micro Devices rose to a record above $610 a share on Monday, taking its market value past $1 trillion during the session, Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg reported, as chip stocks rallied on enthusiasm over Meta’s new Muse AI agent and ahead of a dinner this week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and technology executives. The Nasdaq Composite gained about 2.3 percent and the S&P 500 about 1.5 percent, according to Yahoo Finance, in line with CNBC’s late-session figures, and Yahoo reported a record close for the Nasdaq; Intel and Arm each rose more than 10 percent. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eased to just below 5 percent.
• Oil slides to an eleven-day low on US-Iran diplomacy hopes – Crude prices fell for a fourth straight session on Monday, with Brent touching $101.71 a barrel, its lowest since September 10, and US crude dropping back below $100, according to Reuters reporting carried by Business Standard, as well as Nairametrics and CNBC. Traders cited Trump’s remark to Fox News that he would probably be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the UN General Assembly, and a recovery in Saudi crude exports despite Houthi attacks. Shipping data cited by Al Jazeera showed 12 commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, against 35 the previous weekend.
• South Korean chip exports more than triple, lifting KOSPI past 7,000 – Semiconductor exports reached $34.12 billion from September 1 to 20, up 259.4 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Customs Service said, with total exports up 78.3 percent at $71.4 billion. The KOSPI closed at 7,007.72, up 1.65 percent, reclaiming 7,000 for the first time in seven sessions as Samsung Electronics rose nearly 5 percent, The Korea Times and Aju Press reported.
• IMF mission opens third review of Argentina’s loan programme – An International Monetary Fund technical team was due in Buenos Aires on Monday to launch the third review of President Javier Milei’s economic programme, meeting Economy Ministry and central bank officials, the Buenos Aires Herald and The Rio Times reported. The central bank has made the US$10 billion in reserve purchases it committed to, reversing the February and April reviews, when the reserve target was missed while fiscal goals were met. The Economy Ministry projects a 2026 primary surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, just short of the 1.4 percent target, which had already been lowered from 2.2 percent.

World News

• Israeli fire kills four Palestinians, including a boy, in Gaza – An 11-year-old boy, Ismail al-Bardawil, was shot dead when Israeli tanks fired on tents for displaced people in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza, and three other people were killed in Jabalia, Bureij and Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reported on Monday; the Palestinian news agency WAFA also reported the child’s death. Gaza’s Health Ministry says 1,394 people have been killed since the October 2025 ceasefire took effect, with no Israeli troop withdrawal having taken place.
• Polo expected to become a major hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast – Polo formed as a tropical storm late on Sunday off southwestern Mexico and was forecast to strengthen rapidly into a major hurricane this week, the US National Hurricane Center said, according to NBC News and the Associated Press. Forecasters predicted 10 to 20 centimetres of rain, with isolated totals near 30 centimetres, across coastal Guerrero and Michoacán through Thursday, raising the risk of flooding and mudslides. Heavy rain, rough surf and tropical-storm-force winds were expected along western Mexico’s coast from late Tuesday into early Wednesday.
• Suspected landmine blast wounds three South Korean officers in DMZ – An explosion during a search operation in the western sector of the demilitarised zone wounded three South Korean military officers around 11 a.m. on Monday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, as reported by Al Jazeera, UPI and The Korea Times. Local media said a landmine was the suspected cause, but the Defence Ministry said the cause was not immediately clear, and it was unknown which side had laid any device. It was the first reported explosion inside the zone since November, UPI reported; the officers were airlifted to a military hospital near Seoul.
• Blasts at Syrian army depot near Aleppo injure at least four – A series of explosions hit a Syrian army weapons depot near the town of al-Eis, south of Aleppo, early on Monday, injuring at least four people, the state news agency SANA reported, citing civil defence officials. Local officials closed roads and told residents to stay indoors, and the cause was not immediately clear, Al Jazeera reported. It was the fourth blast at a Syrian ammunition site this month, according to Reuters reporting carried by US News and Al-Monitor.

Bulletin automatically generated on September 21, 2026.