Top World News
Iran’s Houthi allies capture strategic island on vital oil shipping route
Sep 12, 2026 - World 
Rampant Yemeni fighters take control of island in narrow point of Bab al-Mandab strait, which Saudi is relying on for oil exportsWhy the rapid Houthi advance matters and what’s at stakeYemen’s rampant Houthi forces have captured the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab strait, expanding their control of the narrow waterway, one of the world’s vital shipping routes.The Iran-aligned Houthis took control of the volcanic island after forces allied to the UN-backed, Aden-based government left in the latest of a dramatic series of reverses along Yemen’s west coast in recent days, including the loss of the port city of Mocha on Thursday. Continue reading...
Alleged drone operator charged with murder after mistaken identity shooting in Sydney
Sep 12, 2026 - World 
NSW police say 18-year-old was operating drone when arrested and likely ‘conducting surveillance on someone or some premises’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Sydney teenager has been charged with murder after police accused him of operating a drone as part of a suspected botched gang hit in the city’s west.Joshua Macdonald, 40, was shot dead at a Merrylands West home on 2 September in what police believe may have been a case of mistaken identity. He was not known to police and had no links to organised crime. Continue reading...
Nearly 50,000 Yemeni civilians flee as Houthis advance along Red Sea coast
Sep 12, 2026 - World 
Global struggle for control of Bab al-Mandab strait threatens to turn Yemen’s on-off conflict into a forever warViolence erupts in Yemen again: why it matters globally and how it is linked to the US-Iran warSaudi Arabia shuts down oil pipeline, blaming drones from IraqNearly 50,000 people have fled a sudden advance by Houthi forces in western Yemen, with entire villages emptied and families trapped near frontline fighting with depleting food supplies, according to aid workers.Civilians in the Middle East’s poorest country have found themselves victims of a global struggle for control over one of the most important shipping routes in the world, which threatens to turn Yemen’s on-off conflict into a forever war. Continue reading...
Firewall compromised: has Friedrich Merz blown ‘democracy’s last shot’?
Sep 12, 2026 - World 
Many fear chancellor is wrong man for the job at a time when Germany’s defences against far right are crumblingA cataclysm. A 9.0 earthquake. A five-alarm fire. A bitter rejection of Germany’s joyous reunification three decades ago, and a threat to the democratic postwar order.Sizing up the repercussions of last weekend’s win for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party in the former communist state of Saxony-Anhalt, German commentators expressed a sense of doom, panic and helplessness in the political establishment. Continue reading...
Bodies from charred Philippine ferry arrive at port after fire that killed at least 35
Sep 12, 2026 - World 
Thirty charred bodies found inside a burned passenger ferry in the western Philippines have arrived at a port for identification after a ship fire that killed at least 35 people
