Sept. 18, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 1948, Hyderabad formally surrendered to the Indian army following its invasion during operation Polo; the princely state was incorporated into India and later divided among several states.
QotD: "I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? It's a big decision. Anything could happen with me,” President Trump said in an interview with Axios Thursday.
SAUDI/YEMEN/MIL/HUMANITARIAN – Saudis and Houthis exchange strikes, Yemenis flee by boat as Middle East war spreads.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday and Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting, as the spreading Middle East war created new threats to global oil supplies.
Houthi-controlled television reported Saudi airstrikes in Hajjah province close to the Saudi border near the Red Sea coast, and the vicinity of Taiz further inland to the south.
The spread of the war to Yemen and Saudi Arabia has raised new concerns about oil supplies by jeopardising the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains constrained.
US President Donald Trump has rebuffed pleas from the Saudis for military support to fight the Houthis, who agreed a ceasefire with the United States last year after Washington bombed the group for two months.
Trump said on Thursday he is approaching a critical juncture over whether to restart massive attacks on Iran.
"I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? It's a big decision. Anything could happen with me," Trump said in an interview with Axios.
US/SAUDI/MIL/INDUSTRY – US approves $24.3 bn sale of 48 F-35 warplanes to Saudi Arabia.
The United States has approved a $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 stealth warplanes to Saudi Arabia, the State Department said Thursday, the kingdom's latest major arms purchase since the start of the Iran war.
Saudi Arabia has long sought to buy F-35s, but officials from Israel – currently the only country in the Middle East to operate the jets – have voiced concern about their sale to Riyadh despite a push for the kingdom to normalise relations.
"The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia's capability to deter current and future threats by strengthening its homeland defence, and improving interoperability with US forces," the State Department said in a statement.
It "will also augment Saudi Arabia's operational aircraft and enhance its air-to-air, and air-to-ground self-defence capability", the statement said.
MORE/IRAN – Iran claims it struck an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
https://apnews.com/article/mideast-roundup-news-september-18-2026-024350a0820dfc5dd433b4e13445fab5
Iran said it struck a Togo-flagged oil tanker, the Trend, for what it called an “illegal attempt” to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the state broadcaster reported, citing the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the report.
The Guard’s navy warned that unauthorized passage through the strait would result in the “destruction” of offending vessels, the broadcaster said. Tehran has asserted control over the waterway since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) overnight reported a ship “security incident” 16 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait. The crew was safe and no environmental impact was reported, the monitor said.
It was not clear whether the UKMTO report was describing the attack that Iran claimed.
FRANCE/RUS/SEC – France: Macron orders defense against Russian hybrid attacks.
https://www.dw.com/en/russian-hybrid-attacks-france-europe-macron/a-79329757
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday highlighted the threat of Russian hybrid attacks and called for measures to protect key infrastructure.
"The Russian hybrid threat against Europeans and against France has intensified," Macron said, adding that he had asked "the government to prepare a plan to protect our critical infrastructure."
The plan would also involve protecting the "most sensitive" defense industry and technology sites against drone and cyberattacks.
Macron said that France would continue supporting Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 and vowed to respond to Russia's shadow attacks.
"This will not go unanswered," Macron said, without elaborating.
"The intention behind it is to intimidate us and to derail the effort to support the Ukrainians. The consequence will be the opposite," he added.
"We are not intimidated, because we know that what is at stake today in Ukraine is our security."
RUSSIA/ELECTIONS – Russians vote in election that Putin sees as gauge of support for his war.
Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day parliamentary election which President Vladimir Putin has said will show that millions of people back his army fighting in Ukraine, even though most anti-war candidates were not allowed to run.
The State Duma election, the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, is widely expected to see the ruling pro-Putin United Russia party retain its dominance in Russia's tightly controlled political system.
The result is likely to be held up by the Kremlin as evidence of widespread public support for Putin's policies and, in particular, for his prosecution of Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two, now in its fifth year.
"Your choice, and your will, will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our homeland, and that no one will succeed in dividing or intimidating us," Putin said in a televised address before the vote.
PAK/SEC – Suicide attack kills 16 near mosque in northwest Pakistan police compound.
At least 16 people were killed and 57 wounded after a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into a police facility in northwest Pakistan on Friday as officers and their families were praying in a mosque inside, officials said.
Five police officers were among the dead after the vehicle smashed into the outer wall and gunmen who accompanied it opened fire in the city of Kohat, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has seen a rise in attacks by Islamist militants fighting to overthrow the federal government.
Videos shared by rescuers showed the boundary wall ripped apart by the blast, and people trying to pull the wounded from the debris as ambulances arrived.
People lay on the road as others in blood-stained clothes tried to help them.
All seven attackers were killed in the explosion and the gun battle that followed, police said in a statement.
The interior ministry said the "cowardly actions" of the attackers could not weaken the "nation's firm resolve".
SPAIN/MOROCCO/MIGRATION – Spanish police launch operation to clear Ceuta migrants off beach.
Spanish riot police fired rubber bullets into the air and struck people with batons on Friday as they began an operation to clear thousands of migrants off beaches in the North African enclave of Ceuta and move some of them into temporary housing.
Spain estimates 10,000 migrants remain in the tiny territory. More than 72,000 crossed into the enclave from Morocco at the end of July in an unprecedented border rush, although most later left.
The authorities have built new temporary housing inside the enclave's port to hold 1,700 people. NGOs say thousands remain unhoused and have been sleeping rough in camps.
Friday's operation to clear the beaches began shortly before 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and involved both riot police and the Spanish military.
Migrants who had spent the night waiting on the beach in hope of a place in temporary shelter initially applauded as the march got under way, but tussles later broke out as they competed for the limited number of places available.
NIGERA/PROTESTS – Nigeria forces open fire at protests over deaths of detained miners.
Security forces opened fire in a city in central Nigeria on Friday as hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the deaths of 37 detainees in the custody of a paramilitary force, witnesses said.
The victims were found dead on Thursday in the cells of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which had raided suspected illegal gold mines and locked up dozens of miners in Minna, the capital of Niger State.
A Reuters witness saw security forces fire live rounds as protesters - some armed with sticks, machetes and traditional hunting rifles - called for justice. Some protesters tried to set fire to government buildings in the Tunga neighbourhood.
The NSCDC said the detainees had been held in raids on suspected illegal mines on September 15 to 16 in the Wushishi-Lukoto area west of Minna. It initially said a suspected disease outbreak may have been involved in their deaths, but later said the cause of death had not been established and would be determined by medical examinations.
The victims were buried late on Thursday in accordance with Islamic tradition, raising questions about if or how authorities would carry out further forensic examinations to determine the cause of death.
JAPAN/DEMO – Japan reaches a unique milestone, with more than 100k people aged 100 or over.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/world/asia/japan-age-100.html
There are now more than 100,000 centenarians in Japan, a record for a country famous for its longevity.
Japan’s health ministry released data on Tuesday showing that there are now 107,677 people who are at least 100 years old, an increase of nearly 8,000 since last year. The oldest woman, Fuyo Kishimoto from Kyoto, is 114 and the oldest man, Hikaru Kato from Kumamoto, is 112. Women make up the vast majority of the group, at 88 percent.
Japan’s health minister, Kenichiro Ueno, welcomed the news on Tuesday, and pledged to build a strong social security system that supports the elderly in living long and healthy lives. “I am very happy that so many people have been able to stay active for so long,” he said at a news conference in Tokyo.
Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said the long lives of many Japanese could be attributed to healthy diet, active daily routines, and an affordable health system with regular check ups.
Women are overrepresented as centenarians because many men of that generation died in World War II, and those who survived smoked and drank more than women, he said. Men are also more likely to be involved in industrial work, which could have long-term health impacts. Many men became isolated after retirement or the loss of a spouse, he added, and women tended to be more engaged in their communities, which improved their mental health.
MEXICO/FRANCE – Aztec manuscript loaned back to Mexico after two centuries.
https://www.dw.com/en/aztec-manuscript-returns-to-mexico-after-two-centuries-on-loan/a-79316983
The Azcatitlan Codex, a rare and prized manuscript that recounts the history of the Aztecs in vibrant pictograms, has returned to Mexico for the first time since 1840. It went on display in Mexico City on Thursday.
The codex is a 16th-century artifact and regarded as one of the most important visual records of Aztec history. It records the founding of the Aztec capital to its fall after the subsequent arrival of Spanish conquistadores.
It arrived in Mexico on loan from France's Bibliotheque Nationale, where it has been since 1898. The temporary loan is occurring as the two nations celebrate 200 years of diplomatic ties.