Japan's parliament confirmed Shigeru Ishiba as the country's new prime minister. Members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) used their majority to confirm Ishiba's appointment on October 1. The 67-year-old replaced outgoing leader Fumio Kishida. Following the vote, Ishiba revealed his cabinet, comprising 19 ministers. As well as getting to grips with running the government, the new premier must quickly prepare for snap elections on October 27, which he called on Monday.

Ishiba's appointment comes after he secured on Friday (Sep. 24) a narrow victory in a contest to lead the LDP, which has been in power for much of the past 80 years. The former defence minister beat hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi by 215 votes to 194 in the closest leadership election in almost seven decades. Ishiba, who has in the past held at least three ministerial posts, had previously failed four times before to become LDP leader. Kishida, who took office in 2021, stepped down after his government faced a series of political scandals.

Two weeks of Israeli strikes and other attacks targeting Hezbollah have killed more than 1,300 people across Lebanon and displaced more than one million, according to local authorities. Israel went on the offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war in Gaza, saying it wanted to ensure the safe return of residents of border areas displaced by Hezbollah rocket, missile and drone attacks. It has taken out almost the entire leadership of the organisation, including its chief of 321 years Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist military, political and social organisation that wields considerable power in Lebanon. It was founded in the 1980s to resist the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, the UK and other countries. The IDF also announced that its aircraft had struck 200 Hezbollah "terrorist targets" in southern Lebanon and elsewhere overnight, including weapons storage facilities and observation posts.

Claudia Sheinbaum took office Tuesday (Oct. 1) as Mexico's first female president in the nation's more than 200 years of independence. The 62-year-old former Mexico City mayor and lifelong leftist campaigned on a promise of continuity, of protecting and expanding the signature initiatives of her mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In the four months between her election and inauguration she held that line, backing López Obrador on issues big and small. But Sheinbaum is a very different person; she likes data and doesn't have López Obrador's backslapping personal touch.

The new president continued a diplomatic dispute with Spain - which has refused to apologise for abuses during the 1500s conquest of Mexico - that many thought she would try to defuse. In a 2023 interview, Sheinbaum said, "I believe in science." Observers say that grounding showed itself in Sheinbaum's actions as mayor during the COVID-19 pandemic, when her city of some 9 million people took a different approach from what López Obrador espoused at the national level.

The British government agreed to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands, an archipelago of more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius, in a deal to secure the future of a strategically important U.K.-U.S. military base. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the agreement will secure the future of the base at Diego Garcia, the largest in the chain of remote islands off the tip of India that has been under British control for over 50 years. As part of the deal, the U.K. will retain sovereignty of Diego Garcia for an initial period of 99 years, and will pay Mauritius an undisclosed rent.

The base, which is home to around 2,500 personnel, mainly Americans, has been involved in military operations including the 2003 war in Iraq and the long-running war in Afghanistan.

Britain's Labour government said without the deal the secure operation of the military base would be under threat, with contested sovereignty and legal challenges, including through various international courts and tribunals.