Tuesday 22 September 2026

The Ethiopian National Defense Force launches 21 airstrikes in Alamata, Tigray Region, killing 14 civilians and wounding 22 more. Two empty schools are also hit.

Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella deploys troops to Santa Marta, Magdalena Department, after members of the Conquering Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) attack businesses and burn vehicles following a security operation that killed 13 ACSN members, including a senior commander.

Saudi airstrikes against the Houthi-held city of Mokha, Yemen, kills six civilians.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff hold three hours of Qatar-mediated talks at the UN General Assembly in New York City, the first contact between the countries since U.S. vice president JD Vance met an Iranian delegation in Switzerland in June.

Diplomatic sources and the United Nations say that the United States refused to issue Sudanese military chief and de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan a visa to attend the UN General Assembly. Sudan asks the UN to intervene.

United States president Donald Trump and Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, marking the first in-person meeting between the countries' leaders following the 2026 U.S. intervention in Venezuela and capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Afghanistan and Turkmenistan agree to establish a joint commission on road transport and to facilitate transit between the two bordering countries.

Belgium and Rwanda restore diplomatic relations 18 months after severing ties over the Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict. The countries plan to reopen their embassies following months of meetings facilitated in part by Qatar.

Eleven people are killed, including a pregnant woman, and three others are injured after three men open fire at a gathering inside a house in KwaMakhutha township, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Papua New Guinea police rescue 39 Indonesians allegedly trafficked through false job offers and held in Port Moresby. Officers arrest four Chinese nationals and investigate possible links to a wider transnational trafficking network.

Cybercrime group ShinyHunters says it has breached the website of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and stolen personal data on current and former employees, including addresses and Social Security numbers. The FBI investigates the claim.

Three men are killed in a shooting in Gugulethu, Cape Flats, South Africa. Police are investigating it as a triple homicide.

Sri Lanka's High Court convicts 15 men involved in the Easter bombings in 2019.

Eleven people are wounded in a mass shooting at a high school in Turgutlu, Turkey. The perpetrator is arrested.

At least three people are killed in an after-curfew ambush in Mangu, Plateau State, Nigeria.

Tunisia's meteorological service reports that summer 2026 is the country's hottest since records began in 1950, with average temperatures 2.9 °C (5.2 °F) above the previous record and repeated heat waves contributing to water shortages and power cuts.

The Atlantic hurricane season breaks a 112-year record without a hurricane, due to a strong El Niño event in the Pacific.

Moldova's parliament approves a 60-day state of emergency in the energy and water sectors as low levels in the Dniester and Prut rivers threaten water supplies and global conflicts raise energy costs.

The National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Polo has strengthened into a category 5 Pacific hurricane.