While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 14, 2026

Scottish Nationalist Party leader John Swinney (left), Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru in Wales (centre) and Michelle O’Neill of Irish Republicans Sinn Fein said they would meet in Cardiff to press for self-determination votes in their territories.

The leaders of the main Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish separatist parties are to hold rare talks on Sept 14 aiming to advance their campaigns to break away from Britain, they announced in a statement.

Scottish Nationalist Party leader John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru in Wales and Michelle O’Neill of Irish Republicans Sinn Fein said they would meet in Cardiff to press for self-determination votes in their territories.

The leaders added that they would “look at how the parties can work constructively with one another” by “identifying practical areas of partnership around the economy, energy and European and international cooperation”.

“The leaders will also call on the British government to prepare, plan and facilitate constitutional change in Wales, Scotland and the north of Ireland.”

Three people were killed and 15 others wounded as gunfire erupted hours before polls were to open on Sept 14 in a semi-autonomous Muslim region of the Philippines set to choose its first elected Parliament.

The vote is the culmination of an on-off peace process that began in the late 1990s and established the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the country’s far south.

Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao said the shooting took place just before midnight as members of rival political factions jostled for the right to cast their votes first.

Sweden’s leftwing opposition bloc held a razor-thin lead in the general election on Sept 13 with half of votes counted, with the far right seen losing ground.

With more than 50 per cent of votes counted, four opposition parties led by Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson, had a narrow lead with 49.3 per cent against 49.1 per cent for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s right-wing alliance, which includes the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

In a big surprise, the anti-immmigration Sweden Democrats lost support for the first time since it entered Parliament in 2010, with 17.7 per cent of the vote, down from 20.5 per cent in 2022.

A planned meeting for Sept 14 between Iran and several Gulf nations on creating a temporary shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed, according to Oman’s foreign minister.

Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X that the meeting is being delayed “in the interests of consensus.” “We remain committed to fostering dialogue that supports stability and lasting cooperation in our region,” he added.

Iran had planned to formally unveil an agreement on the shipping lane after a flurry of diplomatic activity, including a rare meeting between senior officials from Tehran and Abu Dhabi.

Alexander Zverev beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-2 to win the US Open on Sept 13, expunging the memory of a bitter Flushing Meadows defeat with his second Grand Slam title.

The top-seeded German, who was within two points of the US Open crown in 2020 but fell to Dominic Thiem, added to the maiden major title he claimed at the French Open this year and denied Shelton’s bid to become the first US man in 23 years to lift a Grand Slam trophy.

He denied Shelton’s bid to become the first US man in 23 years to lift a Grand Slam trophy.