International News Bulletin — September 30, 2026

Politics

• United States formally ends its military mission in Iraq – US Central Command completed the departure of US forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base on Wednesday, closing Operation Inherent Resolve, the anti-Islamic State campaign launched in August 2014, ABC News and The National reported. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the milestone “reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat.” Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who attended a ceremony marking the end of the mission, said Iraq was “reaping the rewards of immense sacrifices”, while analysts quoted by The National warned that Iran-aligned groups could gain ground.
• Morocco’s king names the country’s first woman prime minister – King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, until now housing and urban policy minister and a former mayor of Marrakesh, as head of government, CNN, UPI and The National reported. Her Authenticity and Modernity Party won 97 of 395 seats in the September 23 parliamentary election, so she must assemble a coalition to reach a majority. “This isn’t just pride for me but pride for all women,” El Mansouri said, according to UPI.
• Burnham puts rejoining the European Union on the table – British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday that options for Britain’s future relationship with the EU ranged from the status quo to a customs union, the single market, or going “all the way”, The Irish Times and Business Standard reported. He said he would stay within Labour’s current manifesto, which rules out the single market and customs union, during this parliament and set out a path at an EU summit later this year before putting it to voters at the next general election. Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice accused him of seeking to return Britain to EU control.
• UN Security Council extends Haiti anti-gang force by six months – The Security Council voted 12-0, with China, Russia and Pakistan abstaining, to extend the mandate of the Gang Suppression Force in Haiti until March 31, 2027, France 24 and UPI reported. The force was meant to reach 5,500 personnel between April and October but had fewer than 1,000 as of July, according to France 24. US Ambassador Mike Waltz said the effort “cannot and will not become an endless mission”, ahead of Haiti’s first elections in a decade, scheduled for December 13.

Economy

• Cooler US inflation lifts the Nasdaq as the Dow slips – The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.4 percent year on year in August, below the 3.7 percent economists had expected, with core inflation at 3.0 percent, Yahoo Finance and The Korea Times reported. At Wednesday’s close the Nasdaq Composite gained about 0.2 percent while the S&P 500 lost 0.25 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.9 percent, according to Yahoo Finance and CNBC. Traders cut the odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase in October to about 37 percent from more than 70 percent a week earlier, Yahoo Finance said.
• China’s official factory index returns to expansion in September – China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.1 in September from 49.8 in August, in line with forecasts and ending two months of contraction, the National Bureau of Statistics said, according to FXStreet and InvestingLive. The non-manufacturing index jumped to 50.2 from 49.0, above the 49.3 expected. The rebound followed an August in which heavy rain and typhoons disrupted production, while domestic demand and the property sector remain weak.
• Colombia’s central bank surprises markets with a rate increase – Banco de la República raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 12.25 percent on Wednesday, with four board members in favour, two for holding and one for a 50-point increase, Colombia One and Investing.com reported. Governor Leonardo Villar pointed to persistent inflationary pressure after annual inflation reached 6.24 percent in August, its highest since July 2024 and about double the 3 percent target. Most analysts had expected no change, and Finance Minister Miguel Gómez called the move “moderate”, according to Colombia One.
• Oil flows through Hormuz climb to their wartime high – Oil and petroleum flows through the Strait of Hormuz have risen to their highest level since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, with some tanker-tracking estimates putting them near 80 percent of pre-war volumes, Al Jazeera and Fox News reported. President Donald Trump said the United States had “virtually total control of the strait”, according to Fox News. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera said the recovery could weaken Tehran’s bargaining position, though insurance costs remain high and flows are “not yet regarded as completely secure”.

World News

• Pilot stabs captain on Dubai to Tel Aviv flight – Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after one pilot, whom Israeli officials identified as an Omani national, stabbed the Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, and the aircraft went into a rapid descent, NBC News and ABC News reported. Passengers and crew overpowered the attacker, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said passenger Yaniv Hayun had “saved the lives of 174 people”, while Defence Minister Israel Katz called it an attempted “jihadist terrorist attack”. Flydubai said the motives “are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation”, and the captain was reported in stable condition in a Saudi hospital.
• Somali pirates kill five crew before Puntland forces free tanker – Pirates holding the Palau-flagged tanker Honour 25, hijacked off Somalia on April 21, killed five crew members before the Puntland Maritime Police Force retook the ship, Puntland’s information ministry said, according to Al Jazeera and Geo News. The dead were three Pakistanis, one Myanmar national and one Indian, four other crew were injured, and 16 suspected pirates were detained. Al Jazeera said they were the first killings by Somali pirates in more than a decade.
• Ramaphosa orders emergency response after 12 women found dead – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national emergency response after the bodies of 12 women were found east of Johannesburg over two months, ordering safety audits in every municipality and an enforcement package against alcohol-related violence, The Star and KBC reported. Four people have been arrested, but police have found no evidence that a single perpetrator carried out the killings. “Gender-based violence cannot be accepted as a normal part of life in South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
• Israeli strikes kill seven in Gaza, including a journalist – Israeli strikes killed at least seven Palestinians on Wednesday in Gaza City and near Khan Younis, among them local journalist Mohammad al-Najar, Gaza health officials said, according to Reuters and the Palestinian Information Center. The Israeli military said one strike on a Gaza City apartment targeted “a Hamas militant who was planning to execute attacks” and did not immediately comment on the others. Gaza health authorities say at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, Reuters reported.
• Right Livelihood Award honours four women-led efforts – The 2026 Right Livelihood Award, often called the Alternative Nobel, went on Wednesday to Pakistani human rights lawyer Jalila Haider, AI researcher Timnit Gebru, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and the Rural Women’s Assembly of Southern Africa, the AP and Democracy Now reported. The Stockholm-based foundation cited their work against authoritarian rule, patriarchal violence and unchecked AI development. “They are rewriting the rules that autocrats, patriarchs and Silicon Valley’s most powerful men assumed were theirs to write alone,” executive director Ole von Uexkull said.

Bulletin automatically generated on September 30, 2026.