🇾🇪⚡️- Visual confirmation that Ansarullah has taken control of Al-Mawasit District in Ta'izz Governorate, south of Ta'izz city.

🇷🇺🇫🇮⚡️- "Russia has been accused of sending secret agents to defecate in the lavatories of Finnish MPs in a bizarre escalation of its hybrid warfare against the West. Last week it emerged that some 20 Finnish MPs had reported mysterious break-ins at their homes, with one politician finding feces left behind in his lavatory." - The Telegraph in an article describing a new phase of the Russian "operational psychology" strategy.

🇺🇸🇷🇺⚡- The US Embassy in Moscow has issued a health alert over the pneumonic plague 'outbreak' from the Irkutsk biolab.

🇷🇺⚡- The 60+ staff from the Anti-Plague Institute in Irkutsk, Russia, have been released after a three-day quarantine, with all testing negative on twice-daily swabs.

Russian local outlet, The People of Baikal, reports normal work resumed at the biolab.

🇺🇸⚡️- The bar being sued by Lucy Craig in the Cornell 7 incident is claiming that Craig never drank at their establishment.

🇺🇸⚡️- “The execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad will take place at Fort Hood, Texas on Thursday, December 3rd, 2026, at 1 p.m. CT.” - Acting Secretary of the Army Adam R. Telle.

🇺🇸⚡️- The execution of Nidal Hassan will be the first time the US military has performed an execution since 1961, when Private First Class John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder while stationed in Austria.

This will also be the first time a firing squad has been used since the execution of Private Eddie Slovik in 1945 for desertion.

🇵🇸🇮🇱 - Three years ago today, Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, alongside other aligned Islamist and Palestinian nationalist organizations in the Gaza Strip, launched a military infiltration and attack on the Israel, codenamed "Operation al-Aqsa Flood." The subsequent Israeli reprisal and response resulted in the still-ongoing and largely unresolved Gaza war, which has resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe and genocide of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Beyond the conflict specifically confined to Gaza and the surrounding envelope, the October 7th attack and Israel's regional response to the attack has permanently changed the Middle East.

The occurrence of October 7th has directly or indirectly precipitated the collapse of Israel's normalization of relations with multiple Arab states (most notably Saudi Arabia), the two wars fought in Lebanon against Hezbollah and other aligned militias in 2024 and 2026, the collapse and overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, the destabilization of freedom of navigation in the Red Sea at the hands of Ansarullah, three separate open confrontations with Iran in April 2024, October 2024, and June 2025, as well as - most notably - the ongoing Third Gulf War involving the United States and the entire Middle East itself.

As we have deeply covered over the last three years, the Middle East has been permanently and irrevocably changed. And, unfortunate as it is, the region will continue to destabilize and grow more and more unpredictable as the war drags on.

The beginning of Rerum Novarum's coverage of the October 7th attacks can be found here.

🇸🇾🇾🇪🇸🇦⚡️- BREAKING: Syria is discussing joining the war against Ansarullah in Yemen, multiple sources tell Asharq News.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Saudi Arabia today.

🇵🇸🇮🇱⚡️- To commemorate the October 7th attack, the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel published an AI video addressing the "Israel commits genocide" discourse using LEGO characters on their official X account.

🇾🇪 - The Siege of Ta'izz:

Ansarullah forces continued to advance on multiple fronts, most notably capturing the Jabal Habashi peak, although PLC forces retain control of the mountain's south-eastern sector.

After 24 hours of fighting over Qadas, Ansarullah captured the entire area. Saudi airstrikes on Qadas late last night followed the takeover, which confirmed its fall to the Sana'a forces. PLC forces remain in al-Athbarah, north of Qadas, where clashes erupted last night and continue to this moment.

Ansarullah forces have also seized the large town of al-Misrakh, south of Ta'izz.

Reports claiming Ansarullah has secured complete control south of Ta'izz are false. PLC-aligned cells, primarily the Popular Resistance Forces, PRF, remain active in several locations. PRF fighters remain besieged north of al-A'lum, while clashes with Ansarullah forces continued overnight in Hadad.

Ta'izz's Popular Committees are typically affiliated with the al-Islah Party (allegedly Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood chapter) and have repeatedly clashed with the UAE-backed National Resistance Forces, NRF, over control of Ta'izz in the past. This rivalry, which was mainly over PRF's opposition to Tareq Salah, has fuelled persistent claims by UAE-affiliated media that al-Islah forces are "withdrawing from Ta'izz" or "handing territory to Ansarullah", claims that remain unsubstantiated.

🇪🇹🇪🇷⚡- Initial reports, Eritrean forces have likely crossed the Ethiopian-Eritrean international border overnight, and are moving towards the frontline positions alongside the Tigray Defense Forces in northern Tigray.

🇪🇹🇪🇷 - The current situation in the Tigray region, northern Ethiopia:

Sheraro direction: After several days of stalemate, the Ethiopian Armed Forces, ENDF, has broken through at Mai Tsebri. This appears to have been the Tigray Defense Forces, TDF, main defensive line in the area, with TDF positions now beginning to crumble. ENDF forces have not only crossed the Tekeze River, shown in blue on the map, but also captured Adi Gebru, bringing them within 30 km of Shire.

Mekele direction: ENDF forces were forced to withdraw from Wukro, while all attempts to advance towards Hawzen have failed. TDF units, particularly the TPLF's Army 13 and 30, are conducting constant counterattacks in the area.

Overnight, several frontline reports claimed that Eritrean Defense Forces, EDF, had crossed the international border. This morning, locals in several towns reported sightings of Eritrean troops. All reported sightings are marked on the map with blue crosses. Note, these reports remain unconfirmed.

Map key:
• Red - Ethiopian National Defense Force.
• Green - Tigray Defense Forces.
• Purple - Alleged Eritrean Defense Forces control since 2022.

🇪🇹🇪🇷⚡- BREAKING: AFP and DW have both confirmed that Eritrean troops have crossed the border into Ethiopia. Both outlets cite local sources and state Eritrean forces were spotted in the Adigrat area, the Tigray Defense Forces stronghold.

🇪🇹🇪🇷 - Eritrean Defense Forces in Idaga Hamus, Adigrat direction, northern Tigray region.

Note, a lot of videos and photos circulating allegedly showing Eritrea's military in northern Tigray are old.

🇪🇹🇪🇷⚡- "All foreign military forces operating within our sovereign territory must withdraw immediately. In particular, Eritrean forces operating in Tigray must leave Ethiopian territory without delay," - Ethiopia's Ministry of Communication.

🇫🇷⚡️- Despite being the most covered subject in all French medias for the past 7 days, rioters have lost most of the public support.

According to an Elabe poll on the perception of the police response to rioters, 41% of French people believe the police repression is "fair", 34% say it is "excessive" and 24% say it is "insufficient". Only 1% gave no answers.

🇮🇷⚡- Twelve Iranian attacks on tankers were recorded in the Strait of Hormuz last week, marking the highest level of weekly activity since the US-Iran war began on 28 February.

🇺🇸⚡️- The Trump Administration's pause on immigration visa appointments appears to have been internally lengthened according to Embassies' data across the world.

On Aug 25th 2026, Donald Trump issued a stop to all National Visa Center applications, citing a new "global training initiative at ​all U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide". This announcement came alongside new plans to tighten entry measures against applicants who held anti-Israeli stances online. Informations have been given throughout September at inconsistent rates. AP News, citing sources in early September, said the applications' interviews were to be resumed in mid-September. However, virtually no applications have moved forward since then.

Applicants from various countries (Germany, France, Turkey) told Rerum Novarum that their planned interviews in late September and early October have been rescheduled or cancelled. Online forums dedicated to legal immigration have spread rumors that most Embassies were to resume interviews as soon as October 1st, but almost no applications have moved forward since then. According to new informations, the new agent training could last up to 60 days while also allowing for an earlier resuming of interviews in certain Embassies.

Legal experts in the medias are dumbfounded at the lack of communications from the State Department regarding this matter. Certain Embassies are estimated to reach an all-time high backlog of consular applications.

Note: the interviews are rescheduled indefinitely or cancelled, but the immigration applications themselves are simply frozen. This process is adding pressure to the consular workers without reducing the amount of legal immigration. According to data from independent websites such as TrackmyVisa, there has been no increase in self-terminated visa applications.