International News Bulletin — September 26, 2026

Politics

• Trump rejects Iran’s seven-day plan to reopen Hormuz – President Donald Trump said on Saturday outside the White House that Iran’s proposal “would not be acceptable”, adding that Tehran wanted a deal because it was “losing so badly”, the Associated Press reported. The plan offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks within seven days if Washington lifted its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waived sanctions on oil sales and observed a ceasefire that includes Lebanon. President Masoud Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera the same day that Iran had “no trust in the American side”, while The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump expects a new bombing campaign after the November midterm elections.
• German and Russian foreign ministers hold first talks since 2022 – Johann Wadephul and Sergei Lavrov met for just over 20 minutes on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday, their first bilateral meeting since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the German side had requested the talks, and no sign of a thaw was reported. The meeting follows German accusations of an attempted Russian drone attack on Leipzig airport and a tit-for-tat closure of Russian and German cultural institutions.
• Cuba denounces US oil blockade as Trump predicts a deal – Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez told the UN General Assembly on Saturday that the US oil blockade was an “act of collective punishment”, saying more than 7,000 shipping containers of already-paid goods, including food and medicine, were stranded in ports, according to UN News. He said Havana was ready for dialogue with Washington on the basis of sovereign equality and without preconditions. Trump said the same day that “Cuba and us will make a deal” and that he did not think the military would be needed.
• Takaichi and Trump pledge to coordinate on China after summit – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Trump agreed in a 20-minute phone call on Saturday to keep working together on China-related issues, including economic security and defence, Jiji Press reported. Trump briefed Takaichi on his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. Takaichi told reporters that “the two summits in a week show the strength of the bond” of the Japan-US alliance.

Economy

• US and China agree tariff cuts on $30bn of goods each – The White House said in a fact sheet on Xi Jinping’s state visit that the two countries’ Board of Trade had reached consensus on more favourable tariff treatment for $30 billion of non-sensitive goods in each direction, and Beijing confirmed the arrangement on Saturday. US exports covered include farm products, seafood, logs, cosmetics and medical devices, while US imports include small appliances, toys, holiday decorations and children’s car seats. The fact sheet also records a Chinese commitment to import at least 10 million tonnes of US coal in both 2027 and 2028, and Beijing said the two sides would launch a dialogue on artificial intelligence.
• Lula bans fixed-odds online betting ahead of Brazil’s election – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a provisional order on Friday banning fixed-odds betting with immediate effect, just over a week before the October 4 first-round vote. The order ends the operation and advertising of bets and blocks new deposits, users have until October 5 to withdraw their funds, and Congress must approve it within 120 days for it to stay in force. Brazilian households spend about 60 billion reais ($11.6 billion) a year on online bets, NBC News reported, as the government also unveiled a 15 billion-reais plan to buy up delinquent loans at discounts of at least 90 percent.
• Iraq seeks US exemption after halting all flights to Iran – Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s office said Baghdad was seeking exemptions from new US aviation sanctions on humanitarian grounds, covering medical treatment, education and religious visits. Airports in Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah have suspended all flights to and from Iran after Washington moved to sanction any company doing business with Iranian airlines, Al Jazeera reported. About 100,000 Iraqi students attend Iranian institutions, and travellers now face land journeys of more than 12 hours.

World News

• Suicide car bombing kills at least 11 in northwest Pakistan – A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Saturday. Al Jazeera reported at least 12 dead and 30 wounded, most of them security personnel and passers-by according to the local police chief, while The Week put the toll at 11 dead, including two women and a child. The Week reported that the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility; Al Jazeera said there was no immediate claim.
• Russia and Ukraine trade deadly overnight strikes – Russian attacks killed two women trapped under the rubble of their home in Zaporizhzhia and two people in Sumy, according to Ukrainian officials cited by the AP and Al Jazeera. A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Krasnodar region killed three people and wounded two, local officials said, and Ukraine’s General Staff said the Ilsky oil refinery was set ablaze. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if Russia had chosen “even more brutal” strikes, “the world must choose stronger responses”.
• Saudi Arabia says it downed Houthi missiles and drones – The Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday its air defences shot down two drones aimed at the Riyadh area and two ballistic missiles fired towards Khamis Mushait, a claim the AP could not independently verify. The Houthis said on Friday that Saudi warplanes had carried out 14 air and missile strikes over 24 hours on areas including Taiz, Marib and Saada. The UN says the escalation in Yemen displaced more than 122,000 people and killed 674 between August 6 and September 18.
• Hurricane Nolo stalls south of Hawaii’s Big Island – Hurricane Nolo was barely moving less than 150 miles south of the Big Island on Saturday, with a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning in force for the island and a tropical storm watch for Maui. Forecasters warned of catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding, with up to 25 inches of rain possible on eastern and southern parts of the Big Island, where more than 3 inches had already fallen, according to The Weather Channel. Governor Josh Green said Trump had approved a federal emergency declaration for the state.
• Vatican says 700,000 attended Pope Leo’s mass in Paris – Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air mass at the Place de la Concorde on Saturday, and the Vatican estimated attendance at 700,000, above the 600,000 who had registered in advance, according to the AP and Al Jazeera. It is the first official papal visit to France in 18 years. The pope travels to Lourdes on Sunday, where he is due to meet seven victims of clergy abuse, Al Jazeera reported.

Bulletin automatically generated on September 26, 2026.