Afghanistan-Pakistan: Border tensions remain a major regional issue. Pakistan says its September 21 airstrikes killed 28 militants, while Afghan authorities and UNAMA confirmed that three civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed in Kunar. Afghanistan's foreign ministry summoned Pakistan's chargé d'affaires in protest. The militant death toll is a Pakistani government claim and should be treated as such.
Middle East: G7 foreign ministers, in a joint statement on Yemen and Bab al-Mandab, condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and civilian shipping and called on Iran to end its arming and support of the Houthis. The statement described the attacks as a threat to regional stability, global energy security and international trade. The allegation that Iran is arming and supporting the Houthis is the G7's stated position.
Europe / Ukraine: The drone war between Russia and Ukraine remains intense. A Russian drone attack killed four civilians, including three children, in the Kyiv region. Russian authorities said a large Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region killed three people and damaged the Moscow oil refinery. Industry sources later said crude processing at the refinery was halted after the attack. Ukraine had not immediately issued a formal comment on the Moscow attack.
US-China / Artificial intelligence: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed a bilateral AI safety notification mechanism during talks in New York with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Washington says the idea is intended to increase transparency around major AI incidents with national-security implications. China has not publicly given a clear final acceptance of the proposal.
European economy / China: The European Union began applying provisional safeguards on grain-oriented electrical steel and certain downstream products from September 25. The measures include tariff-rate quotas and minimum-price thresholds. The European Commission says they are intended to protect a strategic EU industry from high import pressure, with China among the largest sources of such imports.
The bigger picture: Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions, Yemen and Bab al-Mandab, and the Russia-Ukraine war remain among the most immediate geopolitical risks. At the same time, AI safety is becoming a more permanent feature of high-level U.S.-China diplomacy alongside trade and technology restrictions.