* Delayed delivery of ballot papers disrupted the first day of special voting for South Africa's 2026 Local Government Elections in Cape Town on Monday, local media reported. As a result, 217 voting stations across the Cape Town metropolitan area could not open at the scheduled time of 8 a.m.
* President Xi Jinping said on Monday that China stands ready to work with Oman to steer their strategic partnership to a higher level, and to help restore peace and realize lasting stability in the Middle East at an early date.
* The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces launched an overnight strike on Ukrainian energy facilities. The strike involved precision-guided weapons and attack drones and targeted energy installations supplying electricity to military-industrial enterprises, the ministry said.
* Eighteen people were killed and 27 others reported missing in a Russian attack on the settlement of Komyshuvakha in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian authorities said Monday.
* China and Indonesia completed their "Sharp Knife 2026" joint army counter-terrorism training with a ceremony in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, on Monday.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has tested a dispersal warhead for a strategic cruise missile, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday.
* German and British defence chiefs on Monday highlighted their close ties in the security sector and vowed to further deepen the bilateral military and defence cooperation.
* The South African government on Monday expressed regret over the U.S. decision to suspend the country's eligibility for preferential trade benefits, pledging to support affected industries and diversify export markets.
* The Israeli army ended an 11-day military operation in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday, leaving widespread destruction and damage to residential buildings and infrastructure, according to Palestinian sources.
* Dozens of Palestinian families returned to their homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday after the Israeli army announced the end of its 11-day military operation.
* One Indian was killed and 13 others rescued after an attack on a commercial vessel off the Oman coast, India's foreign ministry said Tuesday. The vessel MSV AL JUSUFI, with 14 Indian nationals on board, was attacked on Monday evening near Limah, Oman.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that indirect talks with Washington is "very intensive," media reports said Monday. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the same day that Iran will try to resolve problem through dialogue regarding the war with the United States.
* The United States attacked Iran's strategic Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials. It's the latest of a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against Iran in recent weeks as U.S. President Donald Trump touted the possibility of a diplomatic deal, said the report.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said late Monday that its air defense systems had intercepted three US drones in the country's southern airspace.
* Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani held separate phone calls with the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon on Monday to discuss regional developments and diplomatic efforts to ease tensions, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.
* International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez on Monday declined to confirm that mines had been cleared from the Strait of Hormuz, warning that passage remained unsafe.
* Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) chief Rashad al-Alimi on Monday reshuffled key cabinet and military posts as Houthi advances put government forces under growing pressure.
* Fighting has cut off all roads into Yemen's Taiz city, prompting the UN relief chief to call for urgent aid access, UN humanitarians said on Monday.
* NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday, nearly 22 years after its launch, NASA said in a statement on Monday.
* All 69 victims of last week's deadly high-speed train collision in Urda, central Spain, have been identified, while 29 injured people remain hospitalized, authorities said Monday. Spain's Integrated Data Center (CID) confirmed that the provisional death toll remains at 69, including 54 Spanish nationals and 15 foreigners.
* Cyclone "Murasu" with wind speeds of up to 120 km per hour (KMPH) hit India's southern coastal areas in the early hours of Tuesday, confirmed a local official belonging to the disaster management department.
* Two people have died after a light aircraft crashed in a remote area near Nelson on New Zealand's South Island, police said Tuesday.
