This is the website page in The Multiplural World of current world news headlines and analysis for the month of September 2026. Items with red headlines indicate they were published in full on the home page of the website; notices of these published items are emailed to website subscribers as they appear. Comments and information in square brackets [ ] are by the website editors. World news headlines for the preceding month of August 2026 are archived here; all previous months of ‘World news headlines and analysis’ (since March 2024) are archived here. The ‘World news’ page of The Multiplural World website is the most active page on the website, updated daily by website editors.
World news headlines and analysis for September 2026
The strategic advance of Yemeni Armed Forces along the Red Sea coastline, Al Mayadeen English, Sept 11, 2026 Yemen’s armed forces have rapidly captured the port city of al-Mokha, the island of Mayyun and the Bab al-Mandab coastline, undoing nearly three years of occupation and investment by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates on Yemen’s western coast
Related:
* Massive victory by Yemen gov’t and armed forces transforms Iran’s defense against U.S. aggression, interview with Trita Parsi (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, broadcast on the YouTube channel of Glenn Diesen, Sept 11, 2026 (48′)
* The apartheid regime of Israel and its Western backers have good reason to fear a liberated Yemen, analysis by Robert Inlakesh, in Al Mayadeen English, Sept 12, 2026
Ansarallah-led forces in Yemen take Mayyun Island, completing control over Bab al-Mandeb Strait, report in Palestine Chronicle, Sept 11, 2026 And related:
- Ansarallah forces liberate historic port city of Al-Mokha (Mocha), advance along Strait of Bab al-Mandeb, Palestine Chronicle, Sept 10, 2026 …The Yemeni Armed Forces, affiliated with the Ansarallah movement, seized the strategic port city of Al-Mokha on Thursday, September 10 following a rapid advance along Yemen’s western coast. Four military sources affiliated with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government told Reuters news agency that Ansarallah had taken control of the city…
- Yemen’s Ansarallah-led gov’t and armed forces assume control of Bab el-Mandeb Strait in response to Saudi Arabia aggression. Reference: Reuters news agency, Sept 9, 2026 [Explanatory note: Western media, including Reuters news agency, refer to the government of Yemen as led by the Ansarallah liberation movement as ‘The Houthis’. Ansarallah emerged in northern Yemen during the 1990s in response to continued imperialist aggression against the country and people of Yemen. A governing regime in southern Yemen controlled by Saudi Arabia and supported by the Western powers controls a small portion of the country, including the port city of Aden. The Ansarallah-led movement governs most of Yemen from the capital city Sanaa.].
- Saudi Arabia oil export pipeline to Red Sea closed by attacks hit pumping stations, Palestine Chronicle, Sept 11, 2026
- [Western media is full of lurid reporting of a claimed threat of closure of shipping through the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb by the governing authorities in Yemen. However, the government in Sanaa has explained there would be no such closures; the existing ban will continue against shipping to and from the Saudi Arabia aggressor waging war against Yemen.]
Iran announces expansion of Persian Gulf control while sending U.S. fleet fleeing in largest attack in months, situation report published on the Substack page of ‘Simplicius The Thinker’, Sept 9, 2026
Related: U.S. defeated in Iran, and Israel will not survive, interview with analyst Douglas Macgregor, broadcast on the YouTube channel of Glenn Diesen, Sept 9, 2026 (44′)
Japan gov’t protests new monument in far eastern Russia depicting Soviet Union victory over fascist, Imperial Japan in 1945, South China Morning Post, Sept 11, 2026 (Read the report here in pdf format: Japan gov’t protests new monument in far eastern Russia depicting Soviet Union victory over fascist, Imperial Japan in 1945)
Photo caption: Monument in far eastern Russia city of Khabarovsk commemorating WW2 victory of Soviet Union over fascist, imperial Japan (photo by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation)
Related: Japan’s AI satellites and other space ambitions ‘a serious threat’ reports media in China, South China Morning Post, Sept 11, 2026 State broadcaster CCTV says Japan’s satellite plan is a cornerstone of Tokyo’s broader space militarisation strategy (Here in pdf format: Japan’s AI satellites and other space ambitions ‘a serious threat’ reports media in China)
U.S. allies dumping bonds; is the dollar next?, interview with financial analyst Sean Foo, broadcast on the YouTube program of Glenn Diesen, Sept 10, 2026 (47′)
Related: China is steering clear of the U.S.’ ‘exorbitant privilege’ model in global finance, commentary by Chow Chung-yan (editor-in-chief), South China Morning Post, Sept 11, 2026 Beijing is decoupling the internationalisation of the yuan as a transactional currency from the role of an unconstrained global reserve store of value (Here in pdf format: China is steering clear of the U.S. ‘exorbitant privilege’ model in global finance)
Putin issues an ultimatum over Ukraine as the Western powers scramble and talk ‘ceasefire’, situation report and interview with military analyst Stanislav Krapivnik, broadcast on the YouTube channel of Glenn Diesen, Sept 9, 2026 (51′)
Japan’s planned military expansion must first leave the harbor, analysis by Gabriel Dominguez, in South China Morning Post, Sept 10, 2026 Analysts say Tokyo’s militarization drive faces tough obstacles at home, including the risks involved in being drawn into a Taiwan conflict. It is preparing for a potentially prolonged fight with China, but there are economic, demographic and political constraints on how far its military transformation can go. This report is part three of a three-part series by the author titled ‘Inside Japan’s military buildup’. (Read the analysis here in pdf format: Japan’s planned military expansion must first leave the harbor)
China can afford to wait and watch Trump’s sham oil deal in Venezuela, commentary by Wenran Jiang, in South China Morning Post, Sept 9, 2026 Beijing’s response reflects a calculation that the deal’s fragility will soon show. Energy dominance is not seized by executive order – it is earned through capital, technology and time. The notion that 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan “proven reserves” will soon flow to US refineries is a political narrative, not an engineering reality (Read the report here in pdf format: China can afford to wait and watch Trump’s sham oil deal in Venezuela)
Previously reported:
* Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez touts oil investment deal with Trump regime while grassroots organizations rally against it, calling it ‘imperialist aggression’, analysis by Ricardo Vaz, in Venezuela Analysis, Aug 30, 2026
* The U.S.-Venezuela fossil fuel investment and extraction deal, analysis by Sahara Hoff (University of Sydney), in The Conversation, Sept 1, 2026 …The success of this deal will require long-term financial and political support from both countries, to be maintained across future governments. In the short term, given the practical difficulties yet to be overcome, the deal’s impact is likely to be much more political than economic…
* As Trump pivots to Venezuela for energy, big oil and big money in U.S. invest in Canada, commentary by business columnist in Globe and Mail, Aug 31, 2026 (Read the report here in pdf format: As Trump pivots to Venezuela for energy, big oil and big money in U.S. invest in Canada)
[To understand the investment deal, it should be measured against other, mixed economy experiences in the world past and present. Left-wing and Marxist philosophy and economic analysis in much of the world is historically terribly weak and unprepared for this. There is no doubt that imperialist subjugation looms large in Venezuela today following the January 2026 kidnapping and jailing of the country’s elected president. Bloomberg News writes on August 30: “The oil agreement opens the door to a scenario in which U.S. companies, investors and eventually the government in Washington develop an economic interest in the political stability provided by Delcy Rodriguez. As U.S. firms commit billions of investment dollars to Venezuela, the U.S. might gradually move from favouring ‘transition with stability’ towards prioritising ‘stability that preserves the option of transition’.
[It will be some years before the new investment deal results in more refined or semi-refined product flowing. Tar sands companies in Canada are currently the largest suppliers of bitumen to those U.S. refineries equipped to process it. Some 80% to 95% of Canada’s tar sands production (including diluted bitumen and synthetic crude) is exported to the United States, including through the expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline connecting Edmonton to the port of Vancouver. That expansion began in the summer of 2018, after the Canadian government ‘nationalized’ the project by buying out its U.S. owner Kinder Morgan. By the time the expansion began service in May 2024, the original cost estimate of CAN$4.5 billion has ballooned to CAN$35 billion. This proves that when it comes to military production and planet-wrecking fossil fuel production, the sky is the limit for today’s imperialist rulers of the planet. ‘Nuclear war and planet-wrecking global warming? Bring it on!’]
China’s export machine strengthens in August, South China Morning Post, Sept 9, 2026 Western officials still name China’s trade surplus as an area of concern. The 2026 surplus is on track to beat last year’s record. (Read the report here in pdf format: China’s export machine strengthens in August)
Previously reported:
The boom in China’s two-way trade with Central Asia countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In 2025, China surpassed Russia for the first time in two-way trade with Central Asian countries, with trade exceeding $100 billion for the first time. That’s an increase of 242% since 2016.–South China Morning Post, Sept 6, 2026
Latest news of the rock-ice avalanche disaster in Nepal and Tibet (China), on September 8, is in the ‘Ecology news’ page of The Multiplural World website.
When Britain used torture to control the Persian Gulf state of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, by Amaar Chowdhury, in Declassified UK, Sept 7, 2026 Previously secret military files reveal links between the use of torture by British forces in Oman and Northern Ireland during the 1970s. The grim practice was used as part of a counter-insurgency campaign waged for Sultan Qaboos, a pro-British dictator installed in Oman after an MI6-backed coup in 1970…
It’s ok for British mercenaries to fight in Israel’s apartheid army waging genocide in Palestine; not ok to fight against NATO in Ukraine, report by Des Freedman, Declassified UK, Sept 2, 2026
In Ukraine, fraud and waste are rewarded with more weapons contracts, investigative report in New York Times, Sept 6, 2026 Secret military audits reveal a military procurement system riddled with mismanagement. In 2024 alone, Ukraine lost $1.2 billion to fraud and waste. (Read the report here in pdf format: In Ukraine, fraud and waste are rewarded with more weapons contracts
What Sputnik couldn’t do to American science, Beijing has done, commentary by Thomas Falk (journalist), in South China Morning Post, Sept 5, 2026 The new tech strategy of the U.S. government shows it to be adopting the core lesson of China’s rise: tech leadership is a national security imperative (Read the commentary here in pdf format: What Sputnik couldn’t do to American science, Beijing has done)
Ominous sign for Ukraine in Sept 2 shootout in Kiev between Ukraine police agencies, analysis on the Substack page of ‘Simplicius The Thinker’ Sept 3, 2026
Related:
* Why the West fears a neutral Ukraine, interview with analyst Nicolai Petro (U. of Rhode Island, and a former ), broadcast on the YouTube channel of Glenn Diesen, Sept 3, 2026 (52′)
* The geopolitical trap in Ukraine, where structural incentives prolong the NATO proxy war. Reference: Report on the Substack page ‘Black Mountain Analysis’, Sept 3, 2026 (administrators Mike Mihajlovic and Aleks)
The German left and the right-wing AfD party, analysis by Robert Dale, in Counterfire journal (UK), Sept 4, 2026 [This analysis continues the quiet shift by the ‘Counterfire’ Trotskyist group in Britain, also a leading force in the Stop The War coalition, away from its description of the NATO proxy war in Ukraine as being an “illegal” and “horrific” invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, preceded by an “illegal annexation” of Crimea by Russia in 2014. (That accusation totally ignores the referendum vote in Crimea on March 16, 2014 in which a crushing majority of the population voted to secede from far-right, coup Ukraine and join (rejoin) the Russia Federation.) This shift comes in the form of the writings of a correspondent in Germany named Robert Dale. One paragraph, in parentheses in the new report above reads: (Ironically, there is one genuinely fascist army in Europe. That would be the unreconstructed Hitler Nazis of the Azov and its ilk in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of them, armed to the teeth by Europe’s bourgeois democracies.) The ‘Weekly Briefing’ dated September 6 and authored by Counterfire and Stop The War leader Lindsey Germaine offers but an unclear nuance of the long-held view that Ukraine is a theatre of war between the Western imperialist powers and a supposed ‘Russian imperialism’. Germaine writes, “We have long argued that the war in Ukraine is a proxy war between an ever-expanding NATO and Russia.”]
Trump wanted to blow up Iran, but he blew up the bond market instead, analysis by business writer in The Globe and Mail, Sept 4, 2026 (Read the analysis here in pdf format: Trump wanted to blow up Iran, but he blew up the bond market instead)
Related: Bond bust, analysis by Michael Roberts (Marxist economist in UK), Sept 4, 2026 …If and when inflation subsides, so will bond yields. In the meantime, there will be no bust in the sense of any government in a major economy defaulting on its debt. Instead, the rise in yields will be used by bond ‘vigilantes’ and pro-business governments to justify further cuts in government social spending and increased taxes on working people to improve what they call ‘fiscal space’ – space to be used to increase arms spending and subsidies for industry.
Summit meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation takes landmark stand on nuclear energy security as Iran comes under renewed attack, report in South China Morning Post, Sept 2, 2026 The ten-country bloc has underscored the rights of countries to peaceful nuclear development in broader pushback against Western powers (Here in pdf format: Summit meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation takes landmark stand on nuclear energy security)
NATO and the EU are dead: A new world emerges, interview with Lawrence Wilkerson (former chief of staff to former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell), broadcast on the YouTube channel of Glenn Diesen, Sep 2, 2026 (54′)
The Nepal-China rock-ice avalanche disaster and the global warming crisis, essay by Dr Zhengxu Wang, re-published here in The Multiplural World, Sept 2, 2026 (with related readings) The rock-ice avalanche disaster on the Nepal-Tibet (China) Himalaya mountains border highlights a growing front of the global warming crisis. While rising sea levels, extreme weather and drought all remain concerns, destabilised ice and snow at high altitudes is increasingly a threat. (Dr Zhengxu Wang is a distinguished professor at the School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University in China. This essay by him originally appeared in the South China Morning Post on September 2, 2026.)
Iran attacks U.S. bases across Gulf after a wave of deadly strikes by U.S. military, Reuters news agency, Sept 2, 2026 The latest exchanges are the biggest between the two countries since July
Related: The logistics nightmare facing U.S. warships in the Middle East, interactive report in New York Times, Sept 2, 2026 Iranian attacks have upended the Navy’s supply chain in the Middle East, causing a strain on the aircraft carriers, destroyers and amphibious ships that are being kept in the region indefinitely (Here in pdf format: The logistics nightmare facing U.S. warships in the Middle East)
Dark turn as Ukraine’s Zelensky announces major threats against Russian airports and skies, situation report on the Substack page of ‘Simplicius The Thinker’, Sept 1, 2026
China’s multipolar world order must prove it can be peaceful, essay by Tony Zhao, in South China Morning Post, Sept 2, 2026 To translate its well-articulated vision into practice, Beijing must flesh out concrete mechanics, starting with institutional design (Tony Zhao is a freelance writer based in Beijing and London. He studied politics and philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and comparative political economy at the University of Oxford. Read his essay here in pdf format: China’s multipolar world order must prove it can be peaceful)
Russia curbs Ukrainian ‘euphoria’ with new weapons for jamming communications, report in Mundo America, Aug 27, 2026 …Russian is developing new electronic warfare systems, including the Volna Kupol Garant, a Russian electronic warfare (EW) system designed to disrupt Starlink satellite communications over a territory as large as 20 sq km…
The CIA never comes to Russia in peace, analysis by Scott Ritter, in RT News, Sept 1, 2026 The visit to Moscow on August 25 by CIA Director John Ratcliffe may be framed as routine, but it came from an agency deeply involved in inciting a far-right, warmaking Ukraine and killing Russians
A new, national insurance scheme for the elderly in China aims to provide an ageing population with the long-term care it needs, South China Morning Post, Sept 1, 2026 (Read the report here in pdf format: A new, national insurance scheme for the elderly in China )
…There are more than 40 million frail or cognitively impaired older adults in China. Social insurance specifically designed for the needs of the country’s rapidly greying population remains far from complete. In March 2026, the central government of China announced it would expand its Long Term Care Insurance program nationwide, establishing a system covering all residents by 2028. China is on track to become a “super-aged” society by the early 2030s, when those 65 or older will account for 20 per cent of the population, according to a United Nations estimate…
