The Brief

South African police say a ninth woman's body has been found in the Ekurhuleni region east of Johannesburg, adding to fears that a serial killer may be responsible for a string of deaths. Police have cautioned against assuming all the killings are linked, but the discoveries have left many women in the area afraid.

South Africa's gender commissioner said women in the region feel they are being "hunted" amid the wave of killings, all of the victims women in their 20s and 30s.

Iranian forces have shot down at least two American MQ-1 unmanned aircraft in recent days, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter, the latest sign of escalation in the ongoing conflict between the two countries.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the European Union's first "associate member," as Brussels seeks closer ties with Ottawa while Trump's tariffs push Canada toward Europe. Trump called the idea "laughable" and said Canada joining the bloc in any capacity could be a "hostile act," threatening further tariffs on Europe in response.

In his address to the European Parliament, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said closer ties with the bloc would help ensure no country could control Canada's markets or undermine its sovereignty. European leaders gave Carney a standing ovation, and the two sides are looking to forge an "Alliance for the Future" as they aim to push ties to "the highest level."

Fighting between Yemen's Houthis and Saudi Arabia is rippling into global oil and gas prices, fueling protests over rising fuel costs in countries around the world, as the U.S. war on Iran drags Saudi Arabia deeper into the conflict.

Saudi Arabia has requested missile defense support from allies as U.S. stocks of interceptors dwindle, while Yemeni forces have targeted Houthi positions and a Saudi base; Washington has ruled out taking a direct role. At least five people were killed in the latest round of strikes between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, and Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi denied his forces had targeted Mecca, calling Saudi accusations a "heinous lie" and vowing to protect the holy city.

An estimated 125,000 people have fled as the Houthis have advanced down Yemen's Red Sea coast toward a key maritime chokepoint, drawing Yemen further into the wider regional war, with refugee arrivals surging in neighboring Djibouti.

Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N.'s top human rights body say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the United States committed war crimes with strikes in Iran that killed scores of Iranian civilians, including a strike on a school in the southern city of Minab.

Sweden's centre-right Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he will resign after his party lost the parliamentary elections to a left-wing bloc that sealed a narrow win. Opposition parties led by Magdalena Andersson look set to form the next government.