World News Roundup — September 18, 2026 (PM)
A bombing at a police mosque in Pakistan killed at least 16 people on Friday, while FIFA president Gianni Infantino faced mounting calls from European football federations to resign. In the world of technology, AI safety concerns intensified around OpenAI and Anthropic even as a coalition of experts demanded independent oversight of frontier models. Warren Buffett formally handed the Berkshire Hathaway chairmanship to his son, and Russia opened its first parliamentary election since invading Ukraine as Kyiv answered with a drone barrage. In the South China Sea, a Chinese vessel rammed a Philippine coastguard ship near Palawan.
Deadly bombing hits Pakistan police mosque
A bomb attack on a mosque inside a police complex in Pakistan has killed at least 16 people and injured 56 others. No group has immediately claimed responsibility, but both ISIL (ISIS) and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) remain active in the region and regularly target security forces. The attack adds to a grim run of violence against Pakistani police and civilians in recent months, underscoring the persistent militant threat facing the country’s security apparatus.
Pressure builds on FIFA’s Infantino to resign
Calls for Gianni Infantino to step down as FIFA president are gathering pace, with German football federation vice-president Hans-Joachim Watzke declaring the Swiss-Italian official “must go, no ifs or buts.” The criticism follows the English Football Association’s demand a day earlier that Infantino release documents relating to his contested plan to sell off World Cup assets, a proposal that has triggered global backlash from national federations. The growing chorus from two of Europe’s most powerful football bodies signals a serious credibility crisis for FIFA’s leadership heading into a pivotal stretch for the organisation.
AI safety alarms grow around OpenAI and Anthropic
A coalition of more than 100 AI experts published a public letter demanding truly independent, transparent evaluators for frontier labs including Anthropic and OpenAI, warning that self-policing is no longer sufficient as the technology’s capabilities accelerate. The push for outside oversight came the same week Microsoft AI chief executive Mustafa Suleyman told CNBC that OpenAI’s latest disclosure of “concerning model behavior” amounted to a “serious situation,” adding fuel to a broader debate about how much independent scrutiny frontier AI systems actually receive before and after release. Anthropic, meanwhile, is reportedly expanding beyond software, quietly building out a biology lab as part of its AI drug-discovery ambitions, even as both it and OpenAI search for smaller, faster-to-build data center deals to keep pace with surging compute demand.
Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman
Warren Buffett has formally stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, handing the role to his son Howard under a long-standing succession plan the company had signaled for years. “Father Time always wins,” Buffett said of the transition, closing out one of the most closely watched leadership handovers in American corporate history. The move caps a gradual succession process at the conglomerate and turns the page on an era defined by Buffett’s decades at the helm.
Russia votes under wartime conditions as Ukraine answers with drones
Russia opened its first parliamentary election since invading Ukraine, with no antiwar party on the ballot and the vote widely seen by critics as a sham designed to entrench nationalist sentiment rather than offer a genuine political choice. Ukraine responded by launching a drone barrage as the polls opened, a reminder that the war continues to shape daily life on both sides of the border even as Moscow stages a show of domestic political normalcy.
Chinese vessel rams Philippine ship in South China Sea
The Philippine Coast Guard has accused China of dangerous military manoeuvres after a Chinese ship rammed a Philippine government vessel near Palawan province in the South China Sea. The incident is the latest flashpoint in a long-running pattern of confrontations between the two countries over contested waters, adding to regional tension as both sides continue to assert competing territorial claims.
In Brief
- South Africa’s femicide crisis deepens. The country’s gender commissioner says women are being “hunted” amid a surge in violence against them, with the death toll continuing to climb.
- Indonesia acquires its first aircraft carrier, marking a significant step in the country’s military modernisation drive.
- Two students were killed in a school shooting in the Philippines, the latest in a string of gun violence incidents in the country.
- A British woman was rescued after a shoot-out between Malawi police and kidnappers that left two people dead.
- Drone attacks by armed groups in Colombia have more than doubled in early 2026 compared with the same period last year.
Compiled from the TT-RSS NEWS category feeds.