The navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Saturday it had targeted three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and three U.S.-affiliated vessels elsewhere in retaliation for the U.S. attacks on Iranian tankers earlier in the day.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on member states to deepen reform under the UN80 Initiative in the upcoming General Assembly session. "As we head into the 81st session, I urge member states not merely to maintain the momentum of UN80, but to deepen it," Guterres said in a briefing to the General Assembly on UN80, a system-wide reform effort that he launched in March 2025 as the world body marked its 80th anniversary.

China and other peace-loving countries will resolutely curb Japan's neo-militarism growth under the guise of "national normalization," Chinese FM spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday in response to media inquiry over Japan's Defense Ministry releasing its 2026 Defense White Paper, which calls for further pursuing strike capabilities, and its record-high 8.89-trillion-yen request for the FY2027 defense budget.

As schools reopened across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the new academic year, pupils returning to classrooms in the Ebola-hit east found themselves facing a school routine shaped as much by the epidemic as by lessons and textbooks, with handwashing stations, temperature checks and restrictions on close physical contact becoming part of the first days back.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is gravely concerned by the renewed exchanges of fire overnight between the United States and Iran, his spokesperson said Wednesday.

At least one person was killed and six others, including two police officers, were injured in a shooting Wednesday in Minneapolis, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, amid an active-shooter situation, local media reported.

The Nepal Police said on Wednesday that the death toll from the deadly mudslide on Aug. 26 has risen to 1,118, with 4,858 people still missing.

Five of Israel's six desalination plants along the Mediterranean coast were shut down again on Tuesday, disrupting drinking water supplies and agricultural irrigation, according to government statements and local media reports.

Peru's government announced Tuesday that it was breaking diplomatic relations with Iran, saying it "strongly rejects Iran's incitement to the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East."

Maiquetia International Airport, Venezuela's main airport serving Caracas, formally resumed commercial operations Tuesday at temporary terminals built after its original infrastructure was damaged by the June 24 earthquakes. Located about 20 km from the Venezuelan capital, the airport is in La Guaira state, the area hardest hit by the twin earthquakes that killed more than 6,000 people.

This photo taken on Aug. 13, 2026 shows the iconic tower in the Central Business District (CBD) in the new administrative capital of Egypt, east of Cairo, Egypt. Egypt is home to an ancient civilization that flourished along the Nile River. From the pyramids that have stood for millennia to its bustling modern cities, the ancient and the contemporary intertwine across the country, reflecting a civilization that has endured through the ages. (Xinhua/Xin Mengchen)

Japan has recently stepped up efforts to expand its military capabilities. Shortly after the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) requested a record 344.8 billion yen for fiscal 2027, the country's Defense Ministry on Monday unveiled a record-breaking budget request of 8.89 trillion yen ($56 billion) for the next fiscal year.

Mount Sinabung in Indonesia's North Sumatra province erupted Monday morning, sending volcanic ash over the nearby city of Berastagi, a local monitoring official said. Armen Putra, head of the Sinabung Volcano Observation Post, said a thick, dark ash column rose about 3,500 meters above the summit and drifted east and southeast.

The Nepal Police said on Monday evening that 974 bodies had been recovered from mudslide-hit areas, with 4,599 people still missing.

Leaders from Central and Eastern Europe on Monday called for reform and enlargement of the European Union (EU) amid a rapidly changing global order at the Bled Strategic Forum, Slovenia's major foreign policy gathering. Prime Ministers Janez Jansa of Slovenia, Peter Magyar of Hungary, Andrej Plenkovic of Croatia and Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic said at a joint panel that the EU needs to strengthen its competitiveness and economic development, better manage illegal migration and accelerate the enlargement process.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed President Donald Trump to move forward with the construction of a new White House ballroom, handing the president a victory in a controversial project. In a 5-4 vote, the court blocked lower court orders that would have halted construction of the aboveground portion of the project. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's three liberal justices in dissent.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint following the resumption of hostilities over the weekend between the United States and Iran, his spokesperson said Monday.

The 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting is being held in Palau, with climate action and finance, food security, transnational crime, and other regional challenges high on the agenda. The meeting comes as Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr. has repeatedly hyped China's missile test in July, while "representatives" from the Taiwan region are also in Palau to attend PIF-related events, putting geopolitical factors under greater scrutiny.

The death toll from the devastating mudslide in Nepal has risen to 903, with 4,247 people still missing as of 9 a.m. local time on Monday, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. A total of 267 people have been injured, while 20,819 security personnel have been mobilized for search, rescue and relief operations, the authority said.

Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said on Sunday that the current government would not pursue further talks on resuming Iceland's accession to the European Union (EU), after a Saturday referendum saw more voters against the accession negotiations. During a press conference, she said the outcome of the election will be respected and no further accession negotiations will be entered into during the term of the ruling government.

A shooting at a rave party in Aarau in northern Switzerland on Sunday has killed one person and injured five others, some seriously, local police said.

Fifteen outstanding Tanzanian educators emerged as winners from more than 200 contestants at a China-supported digital teaching competition, which concluded with an award ceremony at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) on Friday.

A police officer was killed and a second was injured Saturday in a shooting at a park in Columbia, the US state of South Carolina, according to police.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to Ankara over a series of attack on Turkish-operated vessels in the Black Sea, an anonymous source from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday the peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Iran and the United States is in the interests of the country, West Asia and the world.

The African Union (AU) has condemned armed attacks carried out on Monday on a United Nations (UN) convoy in South Sudan's Jonglei State.

The death toll from the devastating mudslide in Nepal has risen to 616, the Nepal Police said in a statement on Saturday.

Venezuela announced Friday what it called "a historic agreement" with the US government to promote investment in the recovery and reconstruction of strategic infrastructure for its hydrocarbons industry.

The top UN envoy for Haiti on Friday called for stepped-up international security support for the country following a gang massacre that killed at least 47 people.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States and Venezuela have reached an oil agreement.

Mining authorities from Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru signed a joint declaration Friday to strengthen regional cooperation on strategic minerals amid growing global demand linked to energy transition and new technologies.

The US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Friday proposed a rule that would revoke Banque Misr UAE's correspondent banking access to US financial institutions as part of a new sanctions campaign targeting Iran.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the United States and Iran to resume negotiations to end their conflict through diplomacy, his spokesman said Friday.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held a phone call on Friday with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi to discuss regional developments and the outcomes of Omani-Iranian talks in Tehran, said the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) has requested a record 344.8 billion yen ($2.2 billion) for fiscal 2027, with Japanese media claiming the budget increase came partly against the backdrop of so-called increasing activities by China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels around Diaoyu Dao. Chinese experts slammed Japan for using China as an excuse to justify the continued expansion of the JCG and push it further toward quasi-militarization.

Search and rescue teams in Nepal have recovered 469 dead bodies as of Friday morning following Wednesday's flash flood, the Nepal Police said in a statement. As many as 1,545 people have been rescued so far as search and relief operations continue across the affected regions, the statement added. According to Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, as of 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, the total number of people out of contact stood at 977.

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority said that as many as 359 bodies had been recovered from flood-hit areas by Thursday evening, with 910 people still missing.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America," as trade tensions between the United States and Canada continue to escalate.

After more than 18 months of trade threats and grueling negotiations ended in a deadlock, negative public sentiment in Canada toward the United States has surged, fueling a nationwide "buy local, avoid U.S." consumer movement.

The death toll from northern Nepal's flash floods has reached 165, with 823 others still missing, a Nepalese government agency said on Thursday. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said in a report that the figure includes security personnel, locals, and foreign and domestic tourists. The authority said 73 people have been injured so far and are receiving treatment in hospital.

At least 95 people were killed and 484 others remain missing in a massive flash flood in north Nepal on Wednesday, the Office of the Prime Minister said. Among the missing are 391 foreign tourists and 93 Nepali nationals, the office said in a statement. As per the Nepal Tourism Board record, the missing foreign nationals include 134 Indians, 47 Americans, 33 British and 34 Australians.

The death toll from flash floods in northern Nepal has reached 157, police said Wednesday night. Another 41 people injured in the floods are being treated in hospitals, according to a police statement.

As many as 384 tourists, including 291 foreigners, have been reported missing after a massive flash flood swept through north Nepal's Rasuwa district, the Nepal Tourism Board said on Wednesday.

The NK-3 engine for the Voronezh ultra-light carrier rocket will be displayed for the first time at the Technoprom forum in Novosibirsk, which opens on August 26, the press service of Russian state corporation Rostec said.

Researchers at St. Petersburg State University have integrated an intonational model into a neural network, making the artificial intelligence's (AI) pronunciation sound more natural and familiar to humans. This development will help improve text-to-speech systems used in voice assistants and humanoid robots. This was reported on the university's website.

The Spanish government on Tuesday approved a draft bill to reform the country's asylum and immigration legislation to "adapt Spanish legislation to the European Pact on Migration and Asylum."

Iran and Oman on Tuesday exchanged views on a phased framework that includes the establishment of a temporary joint shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint project to demine the waterway, according to a joint statement issued by the two countries' foreign ministries.

At least 14 infants were killed when a fire erupted in the gynecology ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences here on Wednesday, police sources told Xinhua.

The United States and Iran have reportedly reached a ceasefire agreement, including free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported this Tuesday, citing Pakistani military and Iranian security sources. The agreement is expected to be formally announced in the coming days, the sources said.

The Canadian federal government on Tuesday announced retaliatory tariffs on over 700 U.S. goods valued at 27.6 billion Canadian dollars (about 20 billion U.S. dollars), alongside a 7.5-billion-Canadian-dollar assistance package for domestic businesses and workers. Canadian officials said the countermeasures match the total value of Canadian products targeted by the latest 50-percent U.S. tariffs, achieving a "dollar-for-dollar, rate for fate" response. The counter-tariffs are scheduled to take effect officially on Sept. 8.

After scaling down the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises with South Korea, the US has reportedly canceled a large-scale joint amphibious landing exercise with South Korean forces scheduled for September, with Seoul citing resource constraints linked to the US-Israeli war in Iran.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday threatened Iran with "an economic D-Day," announcing a wave of new sanctions aimed at further isolating the country. "We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe," said Bessent at a press conference. "Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline" that sustains the country, he said.

Washington's recent expansion of ground military operations in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and other Latin American countries represents an "escalation of imperialism" in the region, a Brazilian political observer has warned. Noting that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the expansion earlier this month during his visit to Panama, Jose Luiz Niemeyer, an international relations professor at Brazil's Ibmec university, said the move marks a qualitative leap in Washington's interventionist policy, extending to ground operations the same approach it has used to strike boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

The European Commission on Monday approved 6.1 billion euros (7.12 billion U.S. dollars) in financial aid for Ukraine to procure new defense systems. The package will be used to purchase new defense systems, including air defense systems, missiles, ammunition and radars.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate as a fast-growing wildfire spread rapidly early Sunday toward Reno, a city in northwestern Nevada near the Nevada-California border. The Hawk Fire, which began Saturday, has grown to more than 10,500 acres (about 42.5 square kilometers) by Sunday morning and remained completely uncontained, according to InciWeb, a U.S. interagency all-risk incident information management system.

Two Chinese sailors have been rescued after a Panama-flagged bulk carrier carrying 24 crew members sank in the Bay of Bengal, about 230 nautical miles off the coast of Paradip, India's Odisha state, as Indian authorities intensified search-and-rescue operations for the remaining 22 crew members, according to multiple Indian media outlets and Reuters.

A powerful cyclone swept northward across the three Baltic states on Saturday, killing two as strong winds, torrential rain and thunderstorms ravaged Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Meteorological data showed Saturday's storm was the most destructive to hit Latvia since January 2005.

A senior Iranian security official on Saturday warned neighboring countries and other states against joining the United States in its "economic pressure campaign" against Iran, saying Tehran would regard such countries as "enemies."

Australia has confirmed its first case of H5 bird flu in a mammal after a long-nosed fur seal in the state of South Australia tested positive for the virus, authorities said on Sunday.

The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) has been granted a patent for an optical sensor for detecting vapors and gases, which will improve sensor systems used in industry, environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics. This was reported on the website of the institute.

ReshUCube-4, a nanosatellite under development at Reshetnev Siberian State University of Science and Technology together with the Keldysh Research Center, will put advanced green propellant technology through its paces in space.

In response to US President Donald Trump's 50 percent tariffs, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday that Canada would impose retaliatory tariffs on US steel, electronics and other imports starting September 8, media reported.

A Panama-flagged cargo ship carrying iron ore sank after it had set sailing from India's Paradip Port in the eastern state of Odisha, confirmed an official of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Sunday.

Iran's top security official Mohsen Rezaei warned Saturday that any country participating in the US economic war against Iran will be considered an "enemy" by Tehran.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Saturday that Iran has received "numerous" messages from neighboring countries about "shaping new security arrangements and economic cooperation" in the region.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi held a phone call on Saturday to discuss the latest regional developments and ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions.

Thailand's Fourth Army Region has advised the public to stay vigilant following the occurrence of multiple violent incidents in its southern border provinces.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday delivered a nationally televised address to outline Canada's position following the breakdown of trade talks with the United States, announcing that Ottawa's "dollar-for-dollar" retaliatory tariffs against 20 billion US dollars' worth of American goods would take effect on Sept. 8.

India's federal health ministry on Saturday listed symptoms to watch for H1N1 influenza cases and urged people to remain alert.

The United States and Canada failed to reach a trade deal on Friday, and the White House said that it would impose 50 percent tariffs on certain imports from Canada.

A temporary reversal in Antarctic ice-sheet mass loss from July 2021 to April 2023 has been traced to multiyear warming in the tropical warm pool spanning the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans, according to a study by researchers from China, the United States, Japan, Belgium and Hungary.

Ghana on Wednesday proposed deeper cooperation between China, Ghana, and the rest of West Africa to achieve improved outcomes of healthcare in the subregion. Deputy Health Minister Grace Ayensu-Danquah urged during the third China-West Africa Medical Expo and AI Diagnosis Summit that health sector partnerships with China should go beyond importing finished products to local manufacturing and assembly, technology transfer, research collaboration, professional training, and investment in local technical capacity.

Amid escalating tensions with Japan over the Southern Kuril Islands, Russia's Pacific Fleet carried out a missile strike against simulated enemy ships near the coast of the islands on Thursday. The deteriorating bilateral relationship also highlights Japan's increasingly isolated position in Northeast Asia due to the hardline approach pursued by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi administration, said a Chinese expert.

At least nine Palestinians, including a woman, were killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a Hamas-run municipal police headquarters in central Gaza City, according to Palestinian sources. A brief press statement issued by the police force said that Israeli aircraft targeted the police headquarters, resulting in a number of casualties.

Top Iraqi leaders met on Wednesday with visiting Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to discuss bilateral ties and regional tensions, according to official statements.

South Africa on Wednesday returned ancestral remains and the mortal remains of two Namibian political prisoners during a solemn repatriation ceremony in Cape Town, the country's legislative capital. Two rooms were filled with ivory-colored coffins, side by side, each draped with the Namibian flag. The mortal remains of 84 indigenous people had been held at the Iziko South African Museum for more than 100 years and were said to have been used for "scientific reasons."

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday what he described as "the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country." "This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale," Trump posted on Truth Social, accusing Iran of failing to take the opportunity to make a deal.

The U.S. national debt has surpassed 40 trillion dollars for the first time in history, according to data released by the Treasury Department on Wednesday. The data shows that debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings stood at 32.266 trillion dollars and 7.782 trillion dollars, respectively, bringing total public debt outstanding to 40.047 trillion dollars as of Tuesday.

Volunteers sort aid bound for people affected by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10, 2026, in Choco department, Bogota, Colombia, on August 18, 2026. Photo: VCG

The top UN envoy for Libya on Tuesday called for political will to advance the political process in Libya. The UN-facilitated political roadmap has made important progress. However, progress does not solely require the efforts of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), but also a sustained willingness of the Libyan political actors to engage constructively, said Hanna Tetteh, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Libya and head of UNSMIL.

A bus stop used by staff of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) came under a drone attack, leaving one dead and 17 injured, the plant said on Tuesday.

Japan's right-wing forces have recently made a fresh push to expand the country's military apparatus. The country's Defense Ministry is reportedly considering a major organizational expansion in fiscal 2027 that could add up to three new bureaus, tentatively named as a "defense infrastructure bureau," an "international policy bureau" and a "facilities policy bureau," all tentative names at this point, the Asahi Shimbun reported on Tuesday.

The death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province has risen to 68, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating fell to 33 percent, the lowest level of his presidency, amid public concerns over the U.S. war against Iran, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded Monday.

The Philippine government has suspended in-person classes in Metro Manila and 12 other provinces as heavy rains from tropical cyclones and the southwest monsoon continue to batter the country, local media reported on Monday. According to Memorandum Circular No. 127 issued by the presidential office on Monday, schools and government agencies in affected areas were directed to adopt alternative work arrangements, except for frontline services such as health, disaster response and other essential functions.

Just hours before a military exercise between the US and South Korea due to get underway on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would reduce military exercises with key regional ally Seoul, citing his positive relationship with the North Korean leader and South Korea's lack of assistance with Iran, CNN reported.

Some recent developments of US Navy, including low morale on carriers, have dealt a series of heavy blow to the force, exposing mounting challenges across its carrier fleet and broader shipbuilding programs. These symptoms of a deeper decline in US shipbuilding capacity, if unchecked, may erode the US Navy's readiness, undermine the US' credibility with allies, and weaken the foundation of its global military ­hegemony, said a military affairs expert.

Australia's acquisition of Japan's Mogami-class frigates, a key topic reportedly expected to feature in Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi's upcoming talks with his Australian counterpart and deputy prime minister on Tuesday, could go beyond a warship transaction, potentially extending to the transfer of related technologies and industrial supply chains and carrying broader geostrategic implications, a Chinese analyst said, adding that such moves risk stoking tensions and furthering Japan's remilitarization.

Syrian Airlines resumed regular direct flights between Damascus and Moscow on Sunday after a suspension of more than 18 months.

An investigation published by Yuyuantantian, a social media account affiliated with China Media Group, said on Saturday that Japan's government-run generative AI platform Gennai could become a vehicle for right-wing political narratives in administrative work.

US President Donald Trump's reported push to reshape the US Navy's next-generation aircraft carriers - from moving the island to abandoning electromagnetic catapults in favor of steam-powered systems - could impose heavy engineering, financial and schedule costs, Chinese military affairs experts said, warning of a widening gap between political preferences and the realities of building some of the world's most complex warships.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that Iran has made no decision yet on the resumption of negotiations with the United States, the state-run IRIB news agency reported Saturday.

The death toll from a magnitude 7.7 earthquake and several strong aftershocks that struck off the coast of Flores Island in eastern Indonesia has risen to 20, an emergency official said Saturday.

The death toll from a magnitude 7.7 earthquake and several strong aftershocks that struck off the coast of Flores Island in eastern Indonesia has risen to five, local authorities said Saturday.

A vessel belonging to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Friday evening, the company said Saturday.

A 39-year-old gunman killed five people and then himself in a series of killings on Friday in the US state of Michigan, state police said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday criticized the United States' recent revocation of visas for Mexican public figures, calling the move an act of political interference.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, said Egypt is ready to support efforts to reach a political settlement to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as soon as possible.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Friday rejected the US-mediated framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, describing it as an Israeli-imposed arrangement.