Day News Recap: Middle East conflict widens as drone fears, sabotage probes and market nerves deepen

The biggest escalation came in the Middle East, where Iran accused the United States of a war crime after saying a strike hit a wedding celebration in Kuhestak, near the Strait of Hormuz, killing at least four people. Donald Trump said the US was striking Iranian targets near the strait and threatened even larger retaliation, while Iran said its Kheibar Shekan missile had become central to the latest exchange of strikes across the region.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Pressure on Iran also came from the nuclear front, with the International Atomic Energy Agency saying it urgently needs access to Iranian nuclear sites and information on nuclear material because verification has become impossible. Peru also broke diplomatic relations with Tehran, citing Iran's role in escalating tensions in the Middle East and restrictions on navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.  🔗  🔗

Israel's war fronts remained active on several axes. It said it was prepared to remove Palestinians from Gaza if the United States approves a destination, while Benjamin Netanyahu said troops would stay, and Gaza's health ministry said more than 900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks this year despite the ceasefire, taking the death toll since the truce to more than 1,300. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces and settlers attacked mosques during prayers, and Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir deleted an AI video that appeared to celebrate hunger among Palestinian prisoners after a backlash.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

Israel also expanded its presence and operations in southern Lebanon despite the June ceasefire, and carried out fresh strikes and ground activity in Syria, including shelling near Beit Jinn and attacks in the north. Separately, Greece signed a $3.5bn defence deal with Israel for the Achilles Shield air and missile defence network, and Israel's finance and defence ministries were locked in a dispute over war spending as budget pressure grew.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Ukraine faced another night of Russian drone and missile attacks, with at least one person killed and more than a dozen wounded, while Kyiv's school year began under air raid alert after overnight ballistic strikes. Germany said police and intelligence findings showed Russia was behind a failed drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, and EU foreign ministers met in Ireland after Berlin formally blamed Moscow.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

Germany was also investigating two suspected sabotage attacks on electricity substations and a second power grid incident within 24 hours, deepening hybrid war fears. Russia separately summoned Germany's envoy, and Moscow announced another 15% rise in utility tariffs from 1 October, adding to inflation pressure.  🔗  🔗  🔗

In Asia, Nepal's flood disaster kept worsening, with the death toll in Nepal and Tibet rising above 1,000, four more Australians confirmed safe and 38 still missing. Rescue work continued in Nepal's hydropower tunnels after the mud and debris flood a week ago, with no one yet confirmed alive, while in Hong Kong Joshua Wong pleaded guilty in a foreign collusion case that could carry a life sentence.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Elsewhere, the US military said Operation Southern Spear has carried out more than 60 strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September 2025, and the FBI was investigating the sale of more than 153 million driving licence scans on a dark web marketplace. In Washington, a whistleblower warned a new Postal Service ballot system could disrupt midterm voting, while the Justice Department announced a multinational operation to disrupt the Sality malware botnet and a Maryland man faced federal charges over threats against the president.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Several other diplomatic and political developments added to the global picture. Zambia's Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in for a second term despite a disputed election and arrests, Guinea-Bissau's electoral commission confirmed a referendum expanding presidential powers, Madagascar's former Senate president Richard Ravalomanana was sentenced to 10 years of hard labour, and Vanuatu took its Pacific sovereignty dispute with France to the International Court of Justice.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

Trade and regional politics also stayed tense, with Canada warning the United States to take talks seriously, the US pressing G20 finance chiefs to curb trade imbalances and Chinese import pressure, and G20 talks ending in North Carolina amid disagreement over Russia's presence. Russia said a Trump, Putin and Xi meeting was being discussed for the APEC summit in November, while Xi Jinping used a rare visit to Egypt to urge Middle East states to oppose external interference.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

In the UK and Ireland, Helen McEntee said Britain and Ireland should be prepared for a future border poll on Irish unity, while a public row over possible British sanctions on Israel deepened after a senior US senator warned London against punitive action. In the Americas, the US energy secretary defended a new oil arrangement with Venezuela in Caracas, and in Africa Egyptian exports to China were reported to have jumped 200% to $840.8 million in the first half of 2026.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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