WORLD

ISLAMABAD, 15 September 2026 (Nosheen): Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman met US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah, according to Saudi state media, as regional tensions continue to rise. The two officials discussed the latest regional developments, although Saudi and US authorities did not provide further details about the talks. The meeting comes amid heightened tensions linked to the military activities of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group and an increase in reported attacks targeting Saudi Arabia. Reports indicate that Houthi fighters have recently expanded their presence along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and advanced through key areas. Following the reported capture of the strategic coastal city of Mokha, the group has also expanded access t...

 Doonbeg, Ireland, 14 September 2026 (Ghufran): U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to stop targeting Russia’s diesel fuel infrastructure, saying the attacks were contributing to fuel shortages and “hurting the world.” A wave of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries in recent months has reduced fuel production and triggered gasoline shortages across Russia. Ukraine, which has also faced repeated Russian attacks on its own energy infrastructure, maintains that the refineries are legitimate military targets. Trump, speaking to journalists during a visit to the Irish Open in western Ireland, said Zelenskiy should stop attacking diesel fuel facilities and suggested that Ukraine could target other sites instead. The comme...

Vienna, 14 September, 2026 (Kamran Raja): Iran has protested after the United States opposed an exemption that would have allowed Iranian nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami to attend this week’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna despite the reimposition of United Nations sanctions. Eslami was scheduled to attend and address the annual meeting of IAEA member states, but Iran said Austria revoked his visa after initially granting it. Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA described the decision as a political act and evidence of the politicisation of the organisation, while Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused the United States of pressuring Austria to take the step. Iran and Russia also said the move was part of broader efforts to prevent Iranian offi...

TAIZ, 14 September 2026 (Nosheen): Gulf Arab states have called off a planned meeting with Iran, while Yemen’s Houthi group launched a new attack on Saudi Arabia, further escalating the Middle East conflict and raising concerns over global oil supplies. The Houthis said they fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots, describing the attack as retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on Yemen. Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts in Khamis Mushait and three other southern cities that have previously come under Houthi fire. The developments came after the Houthis made a rapid advance in Yemen and seized an island near the mouth of the Red Sea, while a separate atta...

Tehran, 14 September, 2026 (Ghufran): Iran has dismissed allegations of involvement in an attack on a Saudi oil pipeline, as tensions in the region remain high amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States. The latest developments come after the United States and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran on February 28, with US President Donald Trump announcing the start of “major combat operations.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was subsequently killed in the US-Israeli strikes, after which his son Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed as Iran’s new supreme leader. Iran and the United States later agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 8, while Pakistan hosted the first round of face-to-face talks between the two countries in 47 years in April. Although the talks ...

Tehran, 14 September 2026 (Kamran Raja): Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the planned meeting between Iran and the foreign ministers of seven Gulf states had been postponed at Saudi Arabia’s request. Speaking at his weekly press briefing, Baghaei said the meeting was scheduled to take place in Oman’s city of Salalah, where officials were expected to discuss maritime traffic and security through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. He described the meeting as an opportunity facilitated by Iran and Oman for regional countries to engage in dialogue away from external interference, urging the participating states to recognize its importance. No new date has so far been announced for the meeting, while Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had earlier announced t...

Manila, 14 September, 2026 (Ghufran): Voting began on Monday in the Philippines’ Muslim-majority south under heightened security after election-eve violence left three people dead and 15 others wounded, in a historic poll seen as a key test of the region’s peace process. The Commission on Elections placed Cotabato City under its control following Sunday’s violence, when an argument at a polling station reportedly escalated into gunfire. Election Commission Chairperson George Erwin Garcia condemned the violence but said elections across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had remained generally peaceful despite logistical challenges, including the reprinting of ballots. Nearly 2.4 million voters are registered for the election, which is being closely watched by inter...

 BAGHDAD, September 13, 2026 (Nosheen): Iraq has announced the reopening of three border crossings with Iran after they were temporarily closed following a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline. Iraqi authorities said the Al-Shib border crossing would reopen to passengers on Sunday, while passenger movement would also resume at the Shalamcheh border crossing in Basra province. Officials further said commercial activities at Shalamcheh are expected to resume by the end of the current week. The crossings are important routes for passenger movement and trade between Iraq and Iran, and their reopening is expected to restore travel and commercial activity disrupted by the temporary closures. Iraqi officials did not provide further details about the reopening or whether additional securi...

 TEHRAN, 13 September, 2026(Ghufran): Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that talks scheduled to be held in Oman on Monday will focus on a proposed new maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking in an interview with an Arab television channel, Araghchi said Iran would present details of its agreement with Oman, along with a map outlining the proposed route. He clarified that the agreement with Oman should not be interpreted as a decision by Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the United States would first have to comply with the memorandum of understanding reached in Islamabad before the strait could be reopened. Araghchi further emphasized that responsibility for maintaining security and stability in the region rested solely with countrie...

SEOUL, 13 September, 2026 (Nosheen): South Korea has won a final ruling in a 264-billion-won ($197 million) investor-state dispute after an annulment panel rejected Chinese investor Min Fengzhen’s challenge to the dismissal of her claim in 2024, the South Korean Justice Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry said the decision marked South Korea’s first victory following a full hearing of an international investor claim. The case involved Min’s allegations that South Korea had violated protections under an investment treaty between South Korea and China following a lender’s seizure and sale of pledged shares linked to a failed Beijing property project. An original tribunal dismissed the claim in 2024, ruling that the investment was illegal and therefore not protected under the treaty. The an...