Sept. 8, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day: in 1565, St. Augustine, Florida is founded by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, making it the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the United States.
QOTD: “The impact of settler violence and terrorism has been catastrophic for Palestinian communities,” Miliband said. The expansion of settlements, he warned, “threaten(s) peace, security and the prospects for a viable Palestinian state.”
IRAN/KSA/YEMEN/MIL - Iran-backed Houthis attack four Saudi cities in expansion of Middle East war, 73 hurt
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-it-plans-new-gulf-exclusion-zone-threatens-us-with-new-missiles-2026-09-08/
Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthis attacked four cities in the south of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory. They used drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait, and targets belonging to Saudi Arabia's state oil company in nearby Abha, Najran on the Yemeni border and Jazan, a major Red Sea port city that houses a large refinery and power plant.
Saudi authorities described blazes at the sites and said women and children were among the 73 people hurt. The reports of such large numbers of wounded suggested the attacks were among the biggest carried out against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.
Confirmed images of the aftermath of the Houthi attacks in Saudi cities were not immediately available, and witnesses could not be reached in a country where media is tightly controlled. The Houthis released pictures showing thick smoke and explosions of what they said were trucks from Saudi Arabia that they had hit in separate strikes at the border in another area further east on Monday.
MORE: Yemeni forces launch counteroffensive against Houthis, vow to retake Sanaa
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/8/yemeni-forces-launch-counteroffensive-against-houthis-vow-to-retake-sanaa
Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government have launched counterattacks against the Houthi rebels, with officials saying they aim to recapture the capital, Sanaa, from the Iran-backed group.
Fighting intensified on Monday in the provinces of Taiz, al-Bayda and al-Jawf, which is seen as the main gateway to the capital. Government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, claimed to have carried out rocket and drone strikes against Houthi positions and reported “intensive battles” involving ground troops.
The Houthis said they repelled an offensive in al-Jawf and that at least seven people were killed in an air strike on a prison in the town of al-Hazm. They blamed Riyadh for the attack, saying the “aggression will not go unpunished”.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, accused the Houthis of wounding at least 73 civilians, including women and children, in recent attacks on the kingdom’s southern provinces.
Riyadh also promised a response to the “dangerous escalation”.
UK/ISRAEL - UK unveils sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank in major reset of relations
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/08/middleeast/uk-sanctions-israel-west-bank-settlements-intl
The United Kingdom has unveiled sanctions targeting Israel on Tuesday over the massive expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking a significant “reset” of the UK’s relations with the country.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the sanctions were an effort to prevent the destruction of the two-state solution, referring to a peace plan that calls for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel and a “North star” of British policy.
Miliband said that the UK will ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements in “the illegally occupied” West Bank, will sanction a further set of Israeli settlers and will take action against specific companies and individuals involved in settlement expansion across the construction, infrastructure, finance and real estate sectors.
Miliband said that the UK was acting in concert with other countries including France and Canada.
GERMANY/POL - What would Germany's AfD do in first 100 days if it takes power in Saxony-Anhalt?
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/what-would-germanys-afd-do-first-100-days-if-it-takes-power-saxony-anhalt-2026-09-08/
The far-right Alternative for Germany's (AfD) Ulrich Siegmund is the most likely next leader of the eastern state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt after a historic election win.
The 35-year-old former fragrance salesman has laid out 10 points that he would like to achieve in the first 100 days of office as part of his "Vision 2026" election manifesto.
The AfD won nearly 44% of the vote on Sunday, but fell short of an absolute majority in the state legislature. It hopes to poach individual conservative lawmakers to be able to govern.
GERMANY/SEC - Police in eastern German state defuse 21 explosive devices found near power grid
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/police-eastern-german-state-defuse-21-explosive-devices-found-near-power-grid-2026-09-07/
Prosecutors in the eastern German state of Saxony said on Monday that authorities had found a total of 21 explosive devices as part of their investigations into attacks on the electricity grid that have kept authorities on high alert for days.
Investigators discovered nine additional homemade explosive devices over the weekend near high-voltage power lines south of the Graustein substation in the eastern German district of Goerlitz, taking the total number discovered to 21, police and prosecutors said in a joint statement.
Germany has been the focus of European fears about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, as it experienced a series of sabotage incidents on the power grid last week after a drone attack in August at Leipzig/Halle for which the government formally blamed Russia.
German police said on Friday they were searching for a man who sent letters claiming responsibility for a series of sabotage attacks on the power grid last week after they found what appeared to be explosives at his home. The man is still at large.
Initial findings into a fire at a transformer substation in Berlin earlier on Monday, which police had said was being investigated, showed the incident was caused by a technical fault, Spiegel reported citing Police Commissioner Barbara Slowik Meisel.
UAE/ISRAEL/SEC - UAE leader warned Netanyahu of Hamas attack days before October 7, says report
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260908-uae-leader-warned-netanyahu-of-hamas-attack-days-before-october-7-says-report
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced strong backlash from opposition leaders on Tuesday after a report published by Haaretz newspaper said UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan warned Netanyahu that Hamas was planning a major operation days before the attacks on October 7. The report alleges that Netanyahu failed to inform security chiefs.
Israeli opposition leaders on Tuesday called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfit to serve after a report that the United Arab Emirates had warned him before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
Haaretz newspaper, in a report excerpted from a forthcoming book by its reporters, said UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke to Netanyahu a week and a half before the attack and told him that Hamas was planning a major operation.
Netanyahu's office called the report by the left-leaning newspaper "an absolute lie" and denied he spoke to the Emirati leader at that time.
Gadi Eisenkot, a former military commander who has emerged as Netanyahu's top rival in upcoming October 27 elections, accused the long-serving prime minister of evading responsibility for security lapses and resorting to "pathetic" excuses, such as saying he was not woken up soon enough on the morning of the attack.
ARGENTINA/UK/POL - Argentina to file criminal charges against Navitas Petroleum over Falklands drilling
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-file-criminal-charges-against-navitas-petroleum-over-falklands-2026-09-08/
Argentina's government said on Monday it will file criminal charges against energy company Navitas Petroleum and its executives for operating in the Falkland Islands.
The move follows remarks on Friday by Argentine President Javier Milei, who vowed to sanction oil companies drilling in the British overseas territory as he stepped up the South American nation's sovereignty claims.
US/MEXICO/CANADA/ICELAND/DENMARK/GREENLAND - Iceland summons US ambassador after Trump posts map including island as part of US
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/09/08/iceland-summons-us-ambassador-after-trump-posts-map-including-island-as-part-of-us_6757284_4.html
Iceland's foreign ministry said Tuesday, September 8, it had summoned the US ambassador Billy Long after President Donald Trump posted a map that seemingly showed the island as part of the United States. "Minister for Foreign Affairs, Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, summoned the US Ambassador yesterday to convey a clear message that the image was wholly inappropriate," the ministry said in a statement.
Trump on Monday posted an image to social media with a map of North America in which countries like Canada, Greenland, Mexico, as well as Iceland were colored in with the US flag. The entire landmass was labeled "United States of America." The image was posted without any further explanation.
Iceland relies on Washington for its security as the subarctic island has not had a military since gaining independence in 1944. It is a founding member of NATO and has a 1951 bilateral defense agreement with the United States.
Trump's repeated threats to take over control of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory located fewer than 300 kilometers from Iceland, and his trade showdown with Canada have already rattled Iceland.
RUSSIA/DPRK - Russia and North Korea open the first road link across shared border
https://apnews.com/article/russia-north-korea-ties-bridge-cars-38e5c393aa8a41d27516f3fdb4496b26
Russia and North Korea opened the first road bridge across their narrow stretch of border Monday, creating a new physical link between the two countries as they expand cooperation.
North Korea only shares a 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) border with Russia, a tiny part of its porous northern border that stretches more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) and is mostly shared with China. But Pyongyang and Moscow have hailed the bridge’s opening as yet another key moment in their booming ties.
Relations and exchange programs between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing, with North Korea supplying ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance.
The bridge built over the Tumen River is 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) long and has two lanes, which will allow up to 300 vehicles a day to pass through a newly built border crossing point, the Russian government said in a statement. It was named after the late Soviet military officer Yakov Novichenko, who has been credited with protecting North Korean founder Kim Il Sung — the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un — from an assassination attempt in Pyongyang in 1946.