Palestine

• Killed and wounded in Gaza: Over the past 24 hours, four Palestinians were killed and 28 injured across Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
  • The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 74,254 killed, with 175,306 injured. Since October 11, 2025, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 1,471 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 5,189, while 836 bodies have been recovered.
• Israeli artillery fire kills woman, wounds several in Gaza City: A Palestinian woman was killed and several others wounded on Thursday by Israeli artillery fire northwest of Gaza City, WAFA reported.
• Israeli forces detain dozens of Palestinians as settler attacks continue across the occupied West Bank:
  • Detentions: Israeli forces detained or subjected at least 95 Palestinians to field interrogations across the occupied West Bank overnight and Thursday morning. Nine former prisoners were arrested in Qalqilya and five in Jenin, while the mayor of Tuqu, Saqr Suleiman, was arrested after Israeli forces raided his home southeast of Bethlehem.
  • Jericho: Israeli forces demolished a two-storey home in Al-Duyuk Al-Tahta, west of Jericho. The demolition came two days after settlers established an outpost in the same area, where 15 Palestinian families were displaced in February following demolitions and settler attacks.
  • Ramallah: Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, attacked Palestinian olive harvesters in Abwein and forced them from their land in the eastern and northern areas of the town. The attacks came a day after settler violence in Burqa and the Ramin plain killed 44-year-old Ali Al-Bazari and wounded 16 others.
  • Salfit: Four Palestinians were injured, including with fractures, when settlers attacked farmers with sharp objects in Wadi Al-Shaer.
  • Hebron: Israeli forces accompanied by settlers raided and closed the Freedom Center for Culture and Folk Arts in Ramadin, confiscating a Palestinian flag and searching books in its library.
  • Tulkarm: Israeli forces raided the home of Muayyad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, for the second time in two months, holding him, his wife and daughter in one room while searching the property. His two sons remain in Israeli detention, including one held for about a year and a half without trial.
  • East Jerusalem: Israeli forces raided the home of Al-Eizariya municipal director Atta Jabr, beating him and leaving him requiring medical treatment, according to the Jerusalem governorate. Forces also extensively damaged four homes belonging to Jabr, his mother and his two brothers.
• Israeli authorities demolish Palestinian-owned shop in northern Israel: Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian-owned commercial building in the Arab town of Daburiyya in northern Israel on Thursday.
  • The demolition comes amid increasing demolition orders targeting buildings in Palestinian communities inside Israel, often on the grounds of lacking construction permits.
  • Restrictive planning policies make obtaining permits extremely difficult in many Palestinian towns, while some families have been forced to demolish their own homes to avoid heavy fines and demolition costs imposed by Israeli authorities.
• Israel returns body of Palestinian prisoner, continues to withhold 99 others: Israeli authorities returned the body of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Harzallah, from Al-Ain refugee camp in Nablus, the occupied West Bank, on Thursday, more than six months after he died in Israel’s Megiddo Prison on March 28, 2026.
  • Harzallah was arrested in January 2026 on allegations of “incitement.” Palestinian prisoners’ organizations said his death was a direct result of being denied necessary medical treatment and healthcare, holding Israeli authorities responsible.
  • Following the return of Harzallah’s body, Israel continues to withhold the bodies of at least 99 Palestinians who died in its prisons, including 88 who have died since October 7, 2023.
• Israel blocks Gaza crossings three years into the genocide: Israel marked the anniversary of October 7 by halting aid and medical evacuations for more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, Eyad Amawi of the Gaza Relief Committee told Drop Site.
  • Israel closed Gaza’s only crossing, Kerem Shalom, for “many days,” Amawi said. Israel’s COGAT acknowledged closing the crossings on October 5 and 7.
  • The closures “leave us die by the tightening siege” as winter nears, Amawi said. “No one intervened to stop this.” Even when open, just 150 trucks enter daily, he said, far below the 600 trucks agreed upon in the ceasefire deal signed by Israel last year.
  • More than 175,000 people have been injured, most needing long-term rehabilitation, Amawi said. Some 22,000 patients, including 5,600 children, are awaiting urgent medical evacuation, a Nasser Medical Complex doctor told Anadolu last week.
• Israel forces out most UK diplomats from occupied East Jerusalem: Most British diplomats are leaving the UK consulate in occupied East Jerusalem following an Israeli move to shut down its operations in retaliation for British sanctions last month on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
  • Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement the consulate had “ceased to function as a consulate” and that the consul general and 19 other diplomats would leave Israel, while seven diplomats would be permitted to remain with what he called a “very limited scope of activity.”
  • UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband denied the building was closed and said it will now be known as the U.K. Mission, Jerusalem instead. He said the staff had been “temporarily withdrawn” because Israel had not provided necessary security assurances.
  • Miliband reiterated Britain’s position that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and said the remaining mission would continue to “work with the Palestinian people.”
• NYT: Huckabee aide David Milstein suppressed and rewrote U.S. Embassy reports critical of Israel: David Milstein, 36, a top aide to Ambassador Mike Huckabee, has repeatedly blocked or rewritten embassy actions critical of Israel since arriving in April 2025, according to a dozen people who work with him in Jerusalem and Washington, and 15 U.S. officials interviewed by the New York Times, which also reviewed dozens of cables and memos.
  • The Times report highlights a late-March memo criticizing Israel’s approval of a record number of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Milstein reportedly nixed. Milstein also reportedly stymied reporting that Israel was failing to curb settler violence, and authored a cable praising Israel’s “unprecedented new initiatives” under the title “Government Cracks Down on Escalating West Bank Violence.”
  • Milstein also helped quash a report on the deaths of Palestinian Americans, following a push by lawmakers led by Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen. The report initially found little progress and no charges filed related to the deaths, yet Milstein instead pushed for a letter saying Israel was handling the cases properly, sources said.
  • As dozens of Palestinians were being killed near aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the summer of 2025, American diplomats in Israel drafted a cable warning against the GHF distribution system and said it risked more “mass casualty events.” According to the Times, Milstein rewrote the cable to declare GHF’s operation a success while overlooking the mass casualties.

Yemen

• Three killed, 36 injured in attacks on Saudi airports: Three people were killed and 36 others injured in Ansarallah attacks targeting Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation. Both airports sustained material damage.
  • The Saudi-led coalition claimed it destroyed the ballistic missile launch platform in Sana’a used in the Riyadh attack while it was being prepared for another imminent attack on Saudi Arabia.
  • Loud explosions were reported in Riyadh on Thursday, according to AFP.
• Ansarallah warns workers to stay away from Saudi oil facilities it considers targets: Ansarallah warned workers on Thursday against remaining at Saudi oil facilities that the group considers potential military targets.
  • “Our armed forces warn all employees, experts, engineers and workers at all Saudi oil facilities against being present in locations that represent targets for our forces, so as not to put their lives at risk, whether they have been targeted before or not,” military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement.
  • Saree also renewed previous warnings to airlines, passengers and employees concerning airspace and airports that Ansarallah has threatened to target.
• Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and Ansarallah continue battle for territory around Bab al-Mandab: Fighting is continuing between Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and Ansarallah across southern and western Taiz as both sides make competing claims over control of strategic territory around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
  • Fighting was reported in Al-Shamayatayn, Al-Ma’afer and the southern and western Taiz countryside.
  • Yemen’s Saudi-backed army separately claimed it has carried out at least 2,103 operations against Ansarallah across multiple fronts, killing 1,860 fighters and destroying hundreds of pieces of military equipment and positions. The casualty figures could not be independently verified.
  • Ansarallah military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group targeted Saudi-backed forces and reinforcements near Bab al-Mandab with ballistic missiles, including at Al-Qawah camp in the Ras Al-Ara area, as well as positions south of Bab al-Mandab. He claimed the attacks killed and wounded dozens and caused fires at weapons storage sites. Ansarallah also claimed it shot down a Turkish-made Bayraktar Akinci armed reconnaissance drone belonging to Saudi Arabia over Taiz.
  • The fighting displaced residents from rural areas of Taiz, while government authorities suspended classes and granted leave to public employees in districts they say have fallen under Ansarallah control, citing deteriorating security conditions.

• Turkey rules out troop deployment under Mecca defense pact: Turkey will not deploy troops to carry out offensive operations under its mutual defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday.
  • “The Mecca agreement requires parties to defend any member under attack. It is not an offensive pact,” Fidan said, stressing that Turkish forces would not be sent into another country to conduct attacks.
  • Fidan said military officials were assessing possible contributions to Saudi Arabia’s defense, particularly air defence, electronic warfare and technical support.
  • The three countries agreed Monday to activate their collective defense commitments and facilitate the rapid deployment of military capabilities to Saudi Arabia following Ansarallah attacks.

• Syria says it stands with Saudi Arabia but does not seek to “open new fronts”: Syria said it “stands firmly alongside Saudi Arabia against threats to its security and stability,” while stressing that its policy is based on “stability, peace and cooperation, not opening new fronts,” according to the Syrian Information Ministry.
  • The statement came after reports that Damascus was considering providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia as fighting between Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and Ansarallah escalated.

Iran

• U.S.-Iran negotiations continue as Tehran weighs latest proposal: Iran said it would respond to U.S. proposals on the war after the two sides reportedly discussed Tehran’s nuclear program through indirect negotiations in New York this month, according to NBC News.
  • Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “messages are being exchanged through mediators” and that Tehran was reviewing U.S. positions after presenting its seven-day plan. “We are currently reviewing the American perspectives, and I believe we will provide our response within the next few days,” he said.
  • Iran’s proposal calls for the U.S. to begin lifting sanctions and unfreezing Iranian funds in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear negotiations taking place separately later. The Trump administration, however, wants any agreement to address Iran’s nuclear program and is not interested in an interim arrangement focused solely on Hormuz.
  • Trump said his special envoy Steve Witkoff was working on an agreement but suggested a deal was not his preferred outcome. “I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do, but they’re willing to offer us anything to stop,” Trump said, while reiterating that Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon.”
• Pentagon ordered CENTCOM to prepare for possible resumption of major U.S. attacks on Iran, Axios reports: The Pentagon instructed U.S. Central Command several days ago to complete preparations for a possible resumption of major combat operations against Iran, Axios reported. The directive did not set a date for strikes, and President Donald Trump has not made a final decision.
  • If operations resume, U.S. and Israeli sources said they are expected to involve large-scale strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites.
  • A Pentagon official said the department’s role was to “develop and present military options to the President,” while a White House official said Trump continued to have “all options available at any time.”
  • Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, their second call in a matter of days, following an Israeli national security meeting focused on Iran.
• Multiple projectiles hit tanker off Qatar, casualties reported: A tanker was struck by multiple projectiles off Qatar’s northern coast on Wednesday, causing an unspecified number of casualties, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency.
  • The vessel was hit about 94km (58 miles) north of Madinat Al-Shamal.
• International flights resume at Tehran airport after 40-day suspension: International flights resumed at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Thursday following a 40-day suspension during the war, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.
  • The first international flight, operated by Iraqi Airways, arrived from Iraq’s Najaf airport, with the service set to operate in both directions.
• U.S. prepares release of last batch of Strategic Petroleum Reserve: The U.S. is preparing to release the last of the 172 million barrels it has pledged from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to offset oil lost to the war on Iran. The Energy Department said the final batch, up to 40 million barrels from storage sites on the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, will ship in November and December.
  • The reserve held about 283 million barrels as of October 5, the lowest level since 1982, according to the Energy Information Administration. The barrels are loaned to oil companies, which must later return them with extra barrels as a premium.
  • Meanwhile, G7 countries agreed Friday to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude. At a meeting on Wednesday, EU countries broadly agreed that the release will “just enact previous commitments rather than requiring additional volumes,” Bloomberg reported.

Lebanon

• Israeli attacks towns across three southern Lebanon districts in continued violation of “ceasefire”:
  • Tyre (Sour): Israeli artillery targeted Wadi Zibqin on Thursday and shelled Mansouri earlier in the morning. Wadi Zibqin was also shelled overnight, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. On Wednesday evening, Israeli warplanes struck Mansouri.
  • Bint Jbeil: Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of Hadatha and Bra’shit overnight. On Wednesday, artillery and heavy machine-gun fire targeted Hadatha, while Israeli warplanes struck Bra’shit and the area between Bra’shit and Kounine.
  • Nabatieh: Israeli warplanes struck Kfar Tibnit twice within less than 15 minutes on Wednesday evening.
• Hezbollah receives $200 million from Iran for displaced Lebanese, Reuters reports: Hezbollah received $200 million from Iran last month to provide assistance to Lebanese families displaced by Israel’s war on Lebanon, two people with direct knowledge of the transfer told Reuters, though the U.S. disputed that the transfer took place.
  • A Hezbollah official confirmed that funds had been secured and said a distribution plan would be announced in the coming days, but did not identify the source. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said last month that the group would contribute to housing thousands of displaced people using “available resources and donations.”
  • The U.S. rejected the account. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the money “is not there” and accused Hezbollah of “trying to save face with fake stories about cash influxes from Iran,” while the Treasury Department said Tehran was “running out of money and ways to move money.”

U.S. News

• NY Fed survey: Americans worse off than last year, expect higher inflation: The New York Fed’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations, released Wednesday, found consumers expect inflation to be higher a year from now, and more households reported being worse off than a year ago. The survey polls a rotating panel of about 1,300 household heads.
• Senate nominee Ken Paxton privately blames Iran war, gas prices for campaign troubles: In audio from a closed-door Washington fundraiser last month, obtained by Axios, Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton told donors and lobbyists his campaign is being dragged down not by tariffs but by “the war, it’s gas prices, it’s diesel.” He complained that “when it’s over $6 per gallon for diesel… people are feeling the pinch,” that fuel costs drive up food prices, and that affordability is “by far our biggest problem” and why “we’re having a hard time with numbers.”
  • Separate audio obtained by The New York Times and Politico had Paxton saying the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas last month headlined by Trump “dropped our numbers,” and that campaign control is “all coming… from D.C.”
  • Recent polls show Democratic nominee James Talarico narrowly leading in the race.
• Emails show ICE cut training, dropped real-world scenarios: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shortened training for local police making immigration arrests from four weeks in person to 40 hours of virtual instruction last year, according to emails obtained by watchdog group American Oversight through a FOIA request and reported by The Washington Post. A February email from an ICE official to current acting ICE head David Venturella and former acting ICE head Todd Lyons said instruction on immigrant classifications and removal charges would be “truncated” at the request of unnamed individuals, and that real-world scenario training was eliminated altogether.
• ICE amassed tens of millions of voter records in sweeping fraud hunt, documents show: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) collected tens of millions of voter records, explored undercover investigations of voter registration groups, and considered feeding state election data into a deportation-targeting system, Democracy Docket reported, citing documents obtained through a FOIA request by Democracy Forward.
  • Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) reportedly obtained 48.4 million voter records from “independent sources of information” connected to Heather Honey, an ICE adviser who first came to public attention for denying the results of the 2020 election. The data was described as part of a “strategic line of effort” for fraud investigations.
  • It separately got 50.6 million records from the Justice Department and more than 26,000 derived from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, prioritizing states including Texas, Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey, Minnesota, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Ohio.
• GAO finds Trump administration illegally withheld over $1 billion at EPA and HHS: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sent Congress two decisions Wednesday finding that the Trump administration illegally impounded funds in 2025 at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
  • At the EPA, the agency impounded funds when it terminated more than $1 billion in Community Change Grants, created in the Inflation Reduction Act for climate resilience and pollution reduction in disadvantaged communities. Congress later voted to rescind the money, but the GAO found the initial termination was still an impoundment.
  • At HHS, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality disbursed less than 60% of its fiscal 2025 funds, leaving more than $78 million unawarded. Over the summer, it terminated more than 150 grants across 32 states, citing new priorities such as nutrition, autism, and “overmedicalization of children,” likely following the lead and interests of HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
• WSJ: Ambassador Guilfoyle begged Trump donor to pay $100,000 credit card debt before confirmation: Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, asked Republican donor and lawyer Eric Deters to wire $100,000 to her American Express account days before her July 9, 2025 confirmation hearing, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing Signal messages between the two. Guilfoyle reportedly wrote, “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express. Please,” and on July 3 texted, “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.” Deters declined the request, saying he would lose his wife if he paid.
  • The Journal said the two communicated for months as Deters sought help with tax and legal problems and promised her up to $1 million if she used her Trump connections to help. She reportedly relayed messages she had sent to the IRS on his behalf and said she was lobbying the Justice Department. Deters said Guilfoyle told him that if he came up with the money, “I will be your Trump ride or die, forever and ever,” but “she never came through on anything.”
  • In one message, he wrote, “I have paid you $300,000 over the years… I have not received one favor.” Guilfoyle also told him to stop “papering all these things,” saying “you’ll literally cost me my ambassadorship.”
• Arizona Democratic congressional candidate reports sexual assault while repairing campaign signs: Bernadette Greene-Placentia, the Democratic candidate challenging Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh in Arizona’s 8th District, told the Phoenix New Times she was struck on the head and sexually assaulted by two men in a parking lot around 2 a.m. on a Friday while fixing a damaged campaign sign.
  • She reported the assault to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office a little over two weeks later, telling deputies it happened near 99th Avenue and Bell Road in Sun City. The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing.

Other International News

• Russian bomb attack kills at least 33 in Kramatorsk, one of the year’s deadliest single strikes: A Russian bomb attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed at least 33 people and wounded 18 on Thursday, authorities said, in one of the deadliest strikes this year.
  • Police said two city buses were operating on the street at the time. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack targeted a bus stop. The region’s governor ordered the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk to halt public transport following the attack.
  • Separately, on Thursday morning, drone strikes on Kyiv killed three people and wounded 14, according to the city’s mayor.
• Witnesses report Eritrean troops in Ethiopian town of Adigrat, Eritrea denies: Two residents of the northern Ethiopian town of Adigrat told Reuters they saw two trucks carrying dozens of Eritrean soldiers on Wednesday morning, identifying them by off-white camouflage uniforms; a third resident said relatives also saw them.
  • If confirmed, it would be the first sign of Eritrean troops on Ethiopian soil during the conflict between the federal government and a rebel alliance that began on September 23.
  • Eritrea’s Information Minister denied any military presence in Ethiopia, calling the accounts part of a plan to justify a “war of aggression” against Eritrea. Eritrean soldiers fought alongside Ethiopia in the 2020-2022 Tigray war. Last week, the two countries terminated diplomatic relations after Ethiopia accused Eritrea of backing the rebel alliance headed by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
• Nigerian troops kill more than 25 militants in Borno; gunmen kill over 25 soldiers, 100 miners in Zamfara: Nigerian special forces killed more than 25 Islamic State-aligned militants as they repelled an assault from four directions on Tuesday night at Kukawa, Borno State, near Lake Chad, a military official cited by Reuters said. 14 bodies of those militants were recovered, and six AK-47s seized.
  • Military sources said some soldiers died without giving details, and a Civilian Joint Task Force member said more than three of its members were killed.
  • Separately, heavily armed bandits on motorcycles overran a military camp in the Maru area of Zamfara State on Oct. 5, killing at least 25 soldiers, three eyewitnesses and a military source told Reuters, who each counted 25 bodies. The gunmen then attacked a gold mining pit on Tuesday where about 1,000 people were digging, killing at least 100, according to a village head and victims’ relatives.
• Trump administration opens direct talks with Myanmar’s military-installed government: The Trump administration has begun direct talks with Myanmar’s military-installed government, reversing Washington’s post-2021 coup policy of isolating the generals, Reuters reported.
  • The Naypyidaw meeting reportedly aimed to secure the release of American businessman Adam Castillo, detained at Yangon airport on June 11 and later freed.
  • The U.S. is seeking to shut down Myanmar-based “scam hubs” that have defrauded Americans of billions, and may also seek control over Myanmar’s rare-earth deposits, though those mostly lie in territory held by rebel ethnic militias fighting the military.
  • House Democrats, including Rep. Gregory Meeks, who sits on the Foreign Affairs committee, condemned the rapprochement, calling it “contrary to both our values and our interests
• U.S. intercepts biodiesel shipments headed to Cuba: The U.S. intercepted 90 shipments of biodiesel, worth nearly $3 million, headed to ENETEC S.A., a Havana-based fuel wholesaler the Treasury sanctioned in July, according to officials from Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
  • CBP said that it spotted the shipments in early September leaving Port Everglades in Florida and from the Port of Houston. Authorities seized 71 storage tanks holding about 500,000 gallons at Port Everglades and 19 shipments of about 120,000 gallons in Houston, citing suspected violations of U.S. sanctions.
  • The agencies did not name the exporters or say whether anyone has been charged.
  • Cuba faces chronic fuel shortages and blackouts that have disrupted water pumping for roughly 3.5 million people, along with hospitals, transport and food storage.
• Maduro, wife expected to face new U.S. charges over alleged torture of detained Americans: Detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are expected to face new criminal charges in the U.S. over allegations that Americans detained in Venezuela were tortured, a U.S. official briefed on the investigation told Reuters, with the charges possibly coming as soon as Thursday.
  • The couple was abducted by U.S. forces in Caracas on January 3 and brought to New York on drug trafficking charges, to which they have pleaded not guilty. The trial is set for June 1, 2027.
  • Washington accused Maduro’s government of holding Americans as leverage for concessions such as sanctions relief, including five oil executives freed in 2022 and two former Special Forces members freed in 2023, both in prisoner swaps.
• Seventh man arrested over suspected RAF Fairford plot released on bail: A 22-year-old British man arrested on suspicion of preparing “terrorist acts” in connection with a suspected plot targeting RAF Fairford was released on bail, UK police said.
  • Seven men have now been arrested and bailed in connection with the investigation, with no charges brought. U.S. officials alleged that Iran was behind a possible plot targeting the base, while British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” of Iranian involvement. Tehran has denied any role in the alleged plot.
  • The U.S. used RAF Fairford to deploy B-1 and B-52 bombers to the Middle East, with the UK authorizing the base’s use for U.S. strikes against Iran. President Donald Trump said Sunday that U.S. bombers had been moved out of Fairford because of “some threats” to the base.
• UK charges Royal Navy member with National Security Act offenses over alleged foreign-power link: British police have charged Teddy Young, 24, a member of the Royal Navy, with two offenses under the National Security Act on accusations of working with a foreign power. Authorities allege that between November 2024 and May 2025 Young “obtained, copied, recorded or retained protected information, intending the conduct to benefit a foreign power,” contrary to section 1 of the National Security Act 2023, and prepared to transfer it for that power’s benefit. The foreign power has not been named, and UK police said the case is not related to the investigation into an incident near the RAF Fairford airbase last month.
• U.S. bars Fiji-based Chinese service center director over corruption tied to China: The State Department publicly sanctioned Zhao Fugang, director of the Overseas Chinese Service Center in Fiji, saying he “abused his public position by paying bribes to Fijian citizens to advance China-based government, business, and criminal interests.” The designation, announced Wednesday, makes Zhao and his immediate family “generally ineligible for entry into the United States,” and the department said his actions “adversely affected U.S. interests in Fiji.”