Daily News Brief · September 1st

At least 12 people have been killed and 17 injured, including two children, in overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the wider region, local officials say. In Kyiv, six of the eight casualties were railway workers of the state Ukrzaliznytsia company after a depot was hit. Four people were killed in the town of Boryspil. Civilian infrastructure and residential buildings were hit during the strikes, causing fires in three of Kyiv's districts, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov met on the sidelines of a Group of 20 gathering in Asheville, North Carolina. This is the first time Siluanov traveled to a G20 meeting in person since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. At a separate meeting in Kyrgyzstan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Bloomberg's Oliver Crook has more. (Source: Bloomberg)

Beijing-Taipei tensions a feature at meeting in Palau, with Australia and New Zealand saying the forum – not another country – will determine who attends China said it had serious concerns about Taiwan’s presence at the annual Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, warning of “consequences” after the democratically ruled island attended the group’s opening ceremony on Monday. China views Taiwan as its own territory, and China-Taiwan tensions have featured prominently at the meeting, which is intended to demonstrate regional unity. Continue reading...

South Korea’s intelligence agency sees signs that the US and North Korea may be moving toward renewed dialogue and assesses that a summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un could take place “at any time,” according to a lawmaker briefed by the agency.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on President Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s war in Ukraine during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan. Bloomberg’s Sudhi Ranjan Sen explains what leverage India has with Russia, why Modi made the appeal now and what it could mean for the two countries’ ties. (Source: Bloomberg)

The story so far: Supreme Court Judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Sunday (August 30, 2026) questioned why a constitutional provision allowing a “distinguished jurist” to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court has remained unused for more than 76 years. Addressing the 13th convocation of National Law University, Delhi’s LL.M. programme, Justice Bhuyan pointed out that Article 124(3) of the Constitution permits the appointment of a person who, in the President’s opinion, is a “distinguished jurist” as a Supreme Court Judge.