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The Saudi pipeline taking 4% of the world’s oil around Hormuz re-started on 22 September after 11 days.

Conflict Hot Warm Frozen Potential Circle size = estimated deaths (log scale).

Events from around the world that have a real, lasting impact.

Pf Pro subscribers can view all previously logged events and the archive of Pf News reports.

Iran War

US sanctions against Iranian airlines cut off their flights to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, the UAE, and partially to other countries like Iraq, Oman and Qatar.

US and Iranian negotiators met for the first time since 1 September, after a 2-week pause in direct strikes, as Houthi attacks continued.

Ukraine War

No results were produced by the negotiations over a potential energy truce (a mutual pause in Russian and Ukrainian strikes on energy/oil infrastructure).

A deal to pause strikes on grain shipments was also discussed but not agreed.

Under US pressure, the UK said it cannot proceed with the deal to give control over the Chagos Islands (Britain’s last African colony) to Mauritius.

A tanker-plane was sent to support Saudi Arabia’s operations against the Houthis, in the UK’s first direct military support to Saudi Arabia during the Iran War.

US diesel prices reached an all-time high of $6.53 a gallon, up 74% this year.

President Trump signed the bill that allows tariffs of up to 100% on the 5 largest buyers of Russian oil and gas (which include China and India), at the president’s discretion.

China

Xi Jinping made the first Chinese state visit to the US since 2015, meeting Trump on 24 September, with no formal agreements.

The US announced that the US-China tariff war truce was extended by 2 months, to 10 January 2027.

France

France extended its fuel aid programme by $512 million to $1.85 billion since the start of the war in Iran, with diesel at €2.40 per litre ($10.50 per US gallon).

The government is looking to agree a budget for 2027 without a majority in parliament.

Germany

On 20 September, the nationalist AfD party won the regional elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and leads the national polls at 29%.

The governing centre-right CDU party lost all its seats in that same region, and some of its seats in Berlin to the left-wing Die Linke.

India

The 18th summit of BRICS, hosted by India, issued a joint statement that was also signed by both Iran and the UAE, which are on opposite sides of the Iran War.

The statement called for a greater role for Brazil and India at the United Nations, greater use of national currencies in trade, and more.

Japan

The cost of government borrowing (bond yields) reached 3% per year on 10-year bonds, the highest since 1996, while the government increased its borrowing.

The central bank raised the interest rate to 1.25%, the highest since 1995, facing inflation and a weak currency, which would further raise bond yields.

Turkiye

A number of investment funds (worth around $21 billion) were suspended, and some were ordered to liquidate, after they struggled to repay their clients.

The funds focused on assets that are rarely traded on the market, and a recent change in the regulations of such assets decreased their prices.

Africa

War re-started in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where local forces seized 3 airports and clashed with federal troops, ending 4 years of peace.

Ethiopia is Africa’s second-largest country by population, and the previous war in the region killed an estimated 600,000 people.

Asia

Pakistan and Afghanistan resumed cross-border fighting after nearly 3 months of calm, with Pakistani air strikes on 10 sites in Afghanistan.

The strikes followed an 18 September attack on a police compound in Pakistan that killed at least 21 people.

Europe

On 22 September, the US, Denmark and Greenland signed a defence deal allowing 2 new US military areas.

On 23 September, Italy’s Senate passed a law for a return to nuclear power, ended by a 1987 referendum.

Middle East

Israel tripled the size of its E1 settlement plan east of Jerusalem with tenders for building 3,400 homes.

In Yemen, over 100,000 people were displaced as the Houthi militants advanced by land along the west coast of the country to capture land next to Bab el-Mandeb.

South America

Argentina took a harsher stance towards the Falkland Islands (a self-governing British territory which the two fought over in 1982 and which Argentina claims).

An Argentine court paused an oil project in the islands’ waters, and the government announced sanctions against companies working on projects in Falkland waters.

Rest of the World

On 18 September, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan led the UN Security Council’s poll for the next Secretary-General.

Cuba’s national power grid collapsed on 18 September for the 8th time in 2026.

Technology

Australia said an OpenAI agent accessed non-public files on a government Medicare website on 18 June.

Google confirmed its AI model broke into 3 real companies’ systems during a security test in May, in a series of similar incidents from top US AI labs.

Business

Government bond yields (the rate investors earn per year on state debt) reached multi-decade highs in the US, the UK, the EU and Japan.

The Iran War, rising inflation and spending, as well as competition from AI-driven corporate bond issuance are among the causes.

Climate

The El Niño effect over the tropical Pacific Ocean further intensified, predicted to be the strongest on record and to last until February 2027.

The El Niño increases global temperatures for about a year and changes where the rain falls, especially in the Americas and Pacific Asia.

Oil

The Saudi pipeline taking 4% of the world’s oil around Hormuz re-started on 22 September after 11 days.

The oil went to Saudi west coast refineries, with no loadings at the Red Sea terminals as of 24 September.

Pf Pro subscribers can view all previously logged events and the archive of Pf News reports.