News from around the world: regional politics, global trends, and the problems that cross borders.
The OECD reported on September 8, 2026, that more than 760,000 15-year-old students in 91 countries and economies took PISA 2025. OECD averages fell in all three core subjects, while the cycle added computational problem solving and left country data quality uneven.
Indonesian search teams had not found five journalists and three boat crew members by September 9, after their speedboat lost contact near Anak Krakatau. Volcanic ash disrupted thousands of flights, and the volcano remained at Level III while some airports reopened.
At least two people died and one remained unaccounted for after an August 29 flash flood in Grand Canyon National Park, the Associated Press reported in an August 31 update. About 80 people were rescued, while inner-canyon closures and a disabled water pipeline halted park lodging.
Leaders of China, Russia, India and other states gathered in Bishkek on August 31, 2026, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s 25th-anniversary summit. The forum gives Beijing and Moscow a venue for security and economic coordination, but membership carries no collective-defense obligation.
On August 31, the Financial Stability Board published Andrew Bailey's warning that frontier AI could amplify cyber risk across the global financial system. Shared technology providers and concentrated market positions could transmit disruption across borders.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remained out of public view on August 30, six months after taking power. Officials cite security precautions, but no dated image or recording lets outsiders verify his health or role.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Florida on August 30 and began a three-month journey to the Sun-Earth L2 point. Its 300-megapixel wide-field camera is built to survey the sky far faster than Hubble, while a coronagraph will test direct imaging of giant exoplanets.
Visa and Mastercard completed live international card transactions in Syria on August 26, reconnecting selected merchants to the global networks. The launches remain limited, with no nationwide coverage and targeted US sanctions still requiring checks on some counterparties.
Australia will expand its Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listing for pembrolizumab on September 1, 2026, adding three cancer indications. The government expects about 700 people a year to benefit, but access will depend on the Australian scheme's prescribing conditions.
Brazil filed a federal civil lawsuit against Discord on August 25, seeking 500 million reais (about US$97 million at an August 26 exchange rate) over alleged failures to protect minors. The case asks for stronger age checks and parental controls, while a separate regulator order keeps livestreaming suspended in Brazil.
The Pacific Islands Forum ended its Palau summit on September 3 with a call for at least 24 hours’ notice before intercontinental ballistic missile tests. The communiqué did not name China, Nauru dissented from the paragraph and Kiribati did not attend the leaders’ retreat.
A US federal judge ruled on August 28 that using two immigration provisions against noncitizens because of protected speech violates the Constitution. The decision granted declaratory relief under the First and Fifth Amendments but issued no permanent injunction.
Nepal Police said 1,342 people had died and 4,886 remained missing at 8 a.m. Nepal Time on September 5, 2026. Rescuers found two people alive on the tenth day, while advisories warned against travel through flood-hit northern districts.
Mutinous soldiers attacked Niamey's airport complex and presidential district early on August 29, 2026, before Niger's defense ministry said loyalist forces were retaking the sites. Reuters reported that the airport area remained contested at 09:00 GMT, leaving the scale and outcome of the mutiny unresolved.
Researchers evaluating 97 trail bridges built across rural Rwanda found higher household consumption, harvests and farm profits by the second year after construction. Each bridge cost about US$100,000, but the cited research summary does not report trial-wide health or education outcomes.
US forces boarded and sank a vessel in international waters of the eastern Pacific on August 28, 2026, in coordination with Ecuador. US Southern Command said it was a refueling station supporting the Ecuadorian group Los Choneros, but did not identify the ship or report a drug seizure.
STARLUX plans nonstop Taiwan–Barcelona service in its 2027 expansion but has not published a date, flight number or frequency. EVA Air has opened bookings for five weekly Taipei–Delhi flights beginning December 1, 2026.
Australian police charged Russian-Australian dual citizen Vladimir Teslov on August 21, 2026, with attempting to engage in intentional foreign interference. They allege he joined Ukraine’s armed forces to obtain military information for people he believed were linked to Russian intelligence; the charge carries a 20-year maximum penalty.
