France to convene meeting a meeting on ‘rapid deterioration’ of international order
Emmanuel Macron welcomes candidates for the 2027 presidential election and party leaders at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris on September 18, 2026 (Reuters)
Emmanuel Macron will hold an emergency meeting on the consequences of the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine on France.
Party leaders and heads of intelligence agencies have been summoned to discuss the “rapid deterioration in the international situation.”
The meeting, to be held at 10.30am today, will focus on the country’s security and the rising energy prices.
“Given the rapid deterioration of the international situation in recent days , the meeting, scheduled for 10.30am [on Friday], will focus on the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and their consequences for France in terms of security and energy,” the President’s office announced yesterday.
Eager to demonstrate his proactive approach, Macron held talks with Iraq’s prime minister and the Crown prince of Saudi Arabia and the Emir of Qatar on restoring the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
“When oil is under pressure, pump prices climb,” he said in a statement on X. “I know what that means for the French.
“What happens thousands of miles from our shores always ends up weighing on our daily lives. So I’m taking action to reduce tensions, secure our supplies, and ease the pressure on prices.”
Gergana.Krasteva18 September 2026 11:20
PM Meloni says Europe ‘should not respond to provocations’ by Russia
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has advised Europe to refrain from responding to provocations from Moscow in comments on Thursday amid rising fears of a Russian strike on a Nato country following a spate of hybrid attacks.
“I believe these provocations from Moscow are multiplying because Putin needs to shift attention by creating an escalation with Europe,” she said.
“This comes from a situation on the battlefield in Ukraine that is not going as Putin had predicted, declared and promised to his people.
“I think we should not respond to these provocations. Responding to these provocations would be more in the interest of Moscow than of Europe.”
(AP)
Maira Butt18 September 2026 11:00
Watch: Night strike on Odesa damages apartments in 19-storey residential buildingNight strike on Odesa damages apartments in 19-storey residential building
Maira Butt18 September 2026 10:40
Family of five injured in Russian drone strike on Kyiv
A family of five, including three children, has been injured in a Russian drone attack on the Kyiv region in the early hours of this morning.
Kyiv Regional Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said: “The children sustained acoustic trauma and acute stress reactions; all three have been hospitalised.
“A woman suffered an acute stress reaction, while a man sustained thermal burns, shrapnel wounds, and a laceration to his foot. He was also hospitalised.”
One house was destroyed and a second damaged in the strike, Tkachenko added.
Gergana.Krasteva18 September 2026 10:20
Tusk hits out at Nawrocki and says Poland won’t give up ‘scrap of territory’
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has said that the country will not give up even a “scrap of territory” amid warnings that Russian president Vladimir Putin could be plotting a drone or missile attack on Nato.
On Thursday, Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki wrote: “We are a nation that may lose territory, but we will never lose our soul; we may surrender territory, but we will never surrender our Homeland.”
Tusk hit out at the leader advising him to delete the post, writing on X: “Mr President, I suggest deleting this post. We do not intend to give up even a scrap of our territory.”
Maira Butt18 September 2026 10:00
Russian elections ‘held at gunpoint’ in occupied Ukraine 
A woman casts her ballot next to a serviceman securing a poling station during Russia’s parliamentary elections, in Donetsk, September 18, 2026 (Reuters)
A woman leaves a voting booth with her ballot in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, September 18, 2026 (Reuters)
People in territories occupied by Russia are being “held at gunpoint” and forced to vote in the parliamentary elections, Ukraine has warned.
The foreign ministry said the State Duma elections, in which United Russia, the governing party that backs Vladimir Putin, is expected to keep its dominant position, bear “no resemblance to democracy”.
“This is a farce orchestrated by the occupying state,” a statement said.
“It bears no resemblance to democratic elections and establishes no legal grounds for extending Russian jurisdiction to any part of Ukraine’s territory.”
Voting is being held for the first time in the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Meanwhile, the annexed Crimean Peninsula is participating for the second time.
The ministry added that “no ‘vote’ organised by Russia at gunpoint alters the internationally recognised status of these territories.”
“Temporary occupation confers no sovereign rights upon the occupying state,” the statement said.
Gergana.Krasteva18 September 2026 09:40
‘Less than 5%’ turn up to vote in Russia elections
Two hours after voting got underway in a three-day parliamentary election in Russia, the turnout remains incredibly low among the 111 million eligible voters.
The Russian Central Election Commission estimated that only 4.83% of people have cast their vote nationwide as of 10am local time, state news agency Tass reported.
Gergana.Krasteva18 September 2026 09:20
Regional polls have opened in Russia for the first parliamentary election since the country’s war on Ukraine that began four years ago.
They come amid plummeting approval ratings for Vladimir Putin, mounting casualties on the frontline and minimal territorial gains in the grinding war.
Voters cast their ballot for the parliamentary election in Vladivostok, Russia, Friday (AP)
The country’s electoral system is tightly controlled and Putin’s United Russia party is expected to retain its majority in the State Duma, which comprises 450 members. It currently has 310 seats and needs to win at least 300 in order to retain its supermajority.
Maira Butt18 September 2026 09:00
In pictures: Inferno at shopping centre after Russian strike
A firefighter works at the site of a shopping mall which was hit by a late evening Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine September 17, 2026 (Reuters)
A firefighter works at the site of a shopping mall which was hit by a late evening Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine September 17, 2026 (Reuters)
Residents gather in front of a shopping mall which was hit by a late evening Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, September 18, 2026 (Reuters)
Fire crews battled a major fire at the site of the strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine (Reuters)
Gergana.Krasteva18 September 2026 08:45
Slovak prime minister warns prospect of war has ‘never been as serious and tense’
Slovak prime minister Robert Fico has warned that the prospect of a pan-European conflict is fast becoming a possibility.
“Perhaps we will dig some trenches and build some bunkers,” he said on Thursday.
“Please don’t underestimate it. The situation has never been as serious and tense regarding the possibility of a pan-European military conflict as is the case now.”
(Reuters)
Maira Butt18 September 2026 08:30