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Sep 28, 2026
SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday, aiming for six full laps around Earth to prove its readiness for NASA's Artemis moon program.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 27, 2026 The spacecraft almost didn't achieve the long-desired goal after one of its engines shut down too soon. But with everything else working well and the bad engine no longer needed, flight controllers decided after several tense minutes to proceed as planned.
"Starship is orbital," Mission Control announced to cheers.
Founder Elon Musk's showpiece rocket — the biggest and most powerful ever built — carried 26 of the latest and most advanced Starlink satellites to join the 11,000 older models already providing internet service. They popped out of the spacecraft one by one, drawing more cheers from the SpaceX crowds looking on from the launch site at Starbase, Texas.
It was Starship
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Sep 28, 2026
SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday and successfully delivered the most advanced Starlinks yet, but cut the flight short to ensure safety.
The spacecraft reentered over the Pacific and splashed down north of Hawaii three hours after blasting off from Texas. The company had been aiming for a 10-hour flight, spanning six full laps around Earth, to prove its readiness for NASA's Artemis moon program.
Starship tipped over and erupted in flames upon splashdown, a dramatic end to the mission.
Founder Elon Musk's Starship almost didn't make it to orbit when one of its engines shut down too soon. But with everything else working well and the bad engine no longer needed, flight controllers decided after several tense minutes to proceed as planned.
"Starship is orbital," Mission Control announced to cheers.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on reaching orbit and "managing every step in a safe, responsible and especially inspirational way."
Rocket carries 26 of Musk's most advanced Starlink satellitesMusk's showpiece rocket — the biggest and most powerful ever built — carried 26 of the latest Starlink satellites to join the 11,000 older models already providing internet service. They popped out of the spacecraft one by one, drawing more cheers from the SpaceX crowds lookin
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Sep 28, 2026
What to know about the Iran war today:Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Tehran is "fully prepared for the war to be resumed," and also for the possibility of renewed diplomacy with the U.S. aimed at ending the seven-month conflict, and it's "up to President Trump to choose."Mr. Trump told Axios on Sunday that he expected talks with Iran to resume this week, insisting again that the Islamic Republic is "losing badly" and eager to strike a peace deal. Last week, Iran proposed a seven-day ceasefire and the phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, contingent upon the U.S. meeting conditions laid out in the mid-June memorandum of understanding, which fell apart after several weeks. Mr. Trump publicly rejected the new Iranian proposal last week, and Iran has insisted it will not change its demands.
Iran lodges complaint with U.N. over U.S. sanctions on its aviation industry
Iran has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over U.S. sanctions against its aviation sector, which have forced the cancellation of many flights across the region, state media reported Monday.
The U.S. imposed restrictions this month on the entire Iranian aviation industry and vowed to take a hard line against any companies or countries that continue to assist it.
As the sanctions took effect last Wednesday, some major airlines were forced to cancel international flights as several nations in the region implemented bans.
"To defend the legitimate rights of the aviation industry and counter illegal restrictions imposed by America, Iran has drafted and submitted a formal protest to t
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Sep 28, 2026
The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy booster lift off for a 13th test flight from the company's launch complex in Starbase, Texas, on July 24. - Steve Nesius/Reuters
For live updates on SpaceX Starship's 14th test flight, follow CNN's coverage here.
People near the sandy shores of Texas' southernmost coastline are accustomed to the earth-shattering roar of the most powerful rocket ever made: Since 2023, various prototypes of SpaceX's Starship have taken flight from the area 13 times — with nearly half ending in some form of unintended explosion.
But the stakes are about to get even higher.
On Monday, SpaceX will attempt to launch Starship to orbit for the first time, allowing it to deploy the inaugural batch of a new generation of Starlink internet satellites. A 75-minute launch window opens at 8:15 a.m. ET. The company is aiming to lift off at 8:48 a.m. ET.
If successful, Monday's test flight could mark a monumental step forward — signifying that Starship may soon leave its test flight phase and enter full operation.
As Starship crosses that threshold, the ripple effects for the broader space industry are expected to be seismic.
Starship is set to deploy a host of new space-based technologies, including the upgraded Starlink satellites designed to boost the capacity of SpaceX's global internet business and orbital data centers that CEO Elon Musk hopes will power energy-sucking AI models.
The promises only grow bolder from there: Starship has a mult
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Sep 28, 2026
The valuation on Nvidia (NVDA) is too appetizing for CEO Jensen Huang to ignore any longer.
The king of AI chips revealed a stunning new $150 billion stock buyback plan on Monday — the largest share repurchase authorization increase in history. It brings the company's total buyback authorization to $235 billion.
"NVIDIA's growth is being driven by a once-in-a-generation platform shift to AI and accelerated computing," Huang said in a statement. "Our cash generation gives us the capacity to invest in the technologies that advance this transformation and return capital to shareholders. This authorization reflects our confidence in the long-term opportunity ahead."
Read more: Nvidia launches AI safety platform after Jensen Huang calls Anthropic, OpenAI warnings 'odd'
Huang likely sees a great moment to buy back Nvidia shares on the cheap, ahead of further acceleration in AI development.Nvidia's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple has declined steadily since August 2024, when artificial intelligence began to take hold, unleashing a boom in the company's stock pr
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Sep 28, 2026
A screenshot of President Donald Trump's 2023 ad for the 2024 presidential elections. —Screenshot from Donald Trump's Truth Social account @realDonaldTrumpPresident Donald Trump declares that "this is the final battle" in one of several taxpayer-funded television ads airing ahead of November's midterm elections, prompting bipartisan scrutiny over whether the spots violate federal law.
The 30-second ad is a black-and-white video of Trump walking down a hall over audio of his warnings against "the deep state," "warmongers," "globalists," "Marxists," "communists," and "fascists."
Trump posted the same video on his Truth Social platform in 2023, but with one difference: Then, the monochromatic ad ended with words on screen calling on the viewer to join Trump's campaign and fine print saying it was "Paid for by Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc." This time, the 2026 ad says at the bottom: "Paid for by the U.S. Government."
CNN reported that the ad aired during at least two NFL games on Sunday. CNBC also reported that the ad aired during Fox News Sunday, citing data from advertising intelligence company AdImpact, adding that the TV ad has cost more than $362,000 so far.
A second advert with the same "paid for by the U.S. government" disclaimer began airing on Wednesday. The ad, which featured the song
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Sep 28, 2026
The NewsDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth is running into a wall of congressional GOP resistance as he tries to secure $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon next year.
Lawmakers' growing reluctance to fulfill Hegseth's eye-popping budget request reflects real intraparty concerns about his leadership, his relationship with Congress, and the ongoing war with Iran. It also punctuates months of drama at the Pentagon over the ouster and resignation of various top officials, in addition to reports of blocked military promotions.
Hegseth's fraying ties on the Hill put him on course for a bigger headache after the election, according to interviews with a half-dozen senators as well as multiple administration officials.
"This could turn into a real standoff with the military caught in the middle," a Trump administration official told Semafor. "The implications: There won't be money available to pay recruitment bonuses, money to upgrade military housing and repair military housing won't be there, money to fix ships and aircraft from the war won't be there, and money to restockpile munitions won't be there."
"And the longer this drags out, the more dangerous it becomes, because we're really depleted after the Iran war," the official added.
Hegseth is pushing for both a sharp increase in military funding — he's seeking spending more than 40% higher than last year — and a separate $88 billion to cover costs associated with the Iran war and additional weapons. The Pentagon chief's expansive needs only heighten some Republicans' skepticism of his leadership over the US military.
It does not appear that Hegseth has an executable plan to get the hundreds of billions in additional military funding he is requesting in the fall, one Republican senator told Semafor, adding that the lack of permanent civilian nominees to lead the Army and
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Sep 28, 2026
Hurricane warnings are in effect for parts of Mexico's Baja California Sur as Hurricane Polo, a Category 3 storm, heads toward the peninsula.
Polo is expected to reach the west coast of Baja California Sur on Monday, cross the peninsula Monday night and move inland over southern Sonora by early Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said it should still be near major hurricane strength when it hits Baja.
In Hawaii, Hurricane Nolo has strengthened into a Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds and could reach Category 5 on Monday. Watches and warnings for the main Hawaiian Islands have been lifted, but a hurricane watch is now in effect for part of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, and large waves are expected to wash over some low-lying islands.
A new tropical storm, Rachel, is forecast to stay well offshore of southern Mexico but become a hurricane on Tuesday, the NHC said. A tropical storm watch covers part of the southwestern Mexican coast, and swells will bring life-threatening surf and rip currents to the southern Mexican shoreline.
Activity in the Pacific Ocean is partly being fueled by a "supersized" El Niño climate pattern.
The Pacific has been unusually active, according to National Weathe
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Sep 28, 2026
Prosecutors in central New York say they are reopening the investigation of alleged "gang rape" at a Cornell University fraternity in 2024 after a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month sparked outrage about the incident.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement that his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to the incident, though he said the allegations in the civil complaint are "dramatically different" than the woman's statement to police two years ago.
"It's our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe's cooperation," Van Houten told ABC News. "We want to reexamine whether there's additional evidence that we were not aware of in November of 2024, that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct."
Cornell University president accused of backing into student in parking lot confrontationThe reopening of the case comes less than two weeks after a former Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit alleging that she was drugged, assaulted and gang raped by seven former and current members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell.
Cornell's Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus after the alleged incident, though none of the individuals allegedly involved faced criminal charges, according to the DA. Van Houten said his office did not bring charges in 2024 because the woman's statement to authorities did not allege she was drugged or that she did not consent to engage in sexual activities.
"She never says that she was drugged without her knowledge. She admits to taking drugs and alcohol voluntarily and with knowledge. She does not allege that she was forced to engage in any acts. She does not say that she was
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Sep 28, 2026
A Colombian warlord, whose extradition to the United States had been delayed for several months while he was designated a peace negotiator by the country's previous government, was flown to California and placed in custody of federal agents.
Geovany Andres Rojas faces drug trafficking and terrorism charges in the United States. For years, he acted as a spokesman and leader of Comandos de la Frontera, a rebel group known for trafficking cocaine in Putumayo, a Colombian province that borders Ecuador and Peru.
Rojas, who is also known as "Araña" ("The Spider"), had been protected from extradition by former Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who had asked him to participate in peace talks with the Colombian government.
But a new government, led by conservative President Abelardo de la Espriella, lifted the ban on Rojas's extradition, signaling a shift in the nation's security strategy.
"You don't build peace by protecting narco-terrorists like this bandit," De la Espriella said on Friday, after he personally supervised Rojas' transfer to the U.S. "I ask U.S. authorities … that he cannot negotiate deals that will leave his crimes unpunished."
The U.S. Justice Department released a photo of Rojas flanked by law enforcement after being extradited to the United States.
"Colombia and the Department of Justice are making a clean sweep of narcoterrorists, starting with Araña," U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a
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Sep 28, 2026
Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, speaks at the Texas Tribune Festival, in Austin, on Saturday. Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
With speculation about whether he may defect from the Democratic party swirling around him, US senator John Fetterman described himself seemingly unintentionally as a "lifelong Republican" during a fireside chat in Texas over the weekend.
Fetterman made the comment when someone listening to him speak with CBS News political correspondent Major Garrett at the Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday asked the Pennsylvania senator why he had not become an independent.
"Because I'm a lifelong Republican," Fetterman replied. Garrett promptly corrected him by saying, "Democrat," as Fetterman raised a hand and shook his head in disbelief.
"That's a moment right there that's clippable, ladies and gentlemen," Garrett said amid laughter from the audience. "Go, go, go - internet, spin wildly! Wildly spin, internet!"
Fetterman then remarked, "Yeah - I guarantee you that's going to break through. That'll get … clipped - yeah. I'm a lifelong Democrat, though, and that's … the point."
Social and news media commenters quickly seized on video of Fetterman's gaffe, with more than one characterizing it as a Freudian slip.
Fetterman has drawn questions over his loyalty to the Democratic party after joining Republicans in opposing his party's efforts to end the US war with Iran as well as to cut off military aid to Israel, which has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza.
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Sep 28, 2026
John Yeley is the seventh generation to run his family's farm in Illinois. - Courtesy John Yeley
John Yeley has spent the last 26 years working on his farm, which his family has owned since 1852.
Yeley is the seventh generation to run his farm in Illinois, just over the state line from Indiana. Although he plans to keep doing so, he's not sure he wants his 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to take over because the current economics are so rough.
"Right now, the way all of this is now, no, I wouldn't wish it on them," he said about farming.
Farmers like Yeley as well as agriculture experts agree that the farming sector is in a painful recession. Farms are dealing with record-high diesel prices, a fuel that is critical to their equipment. Trade disputes have cut off access to vital markets. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have sent fertilizer costs soaring, just as farmers pay higher interest rates on the loans needed to get from planting to harvest season.
Yeley is not sure he'll earn a profit this season, even with prices up for for his corn and soybeans.
"We're not a big county, but we've had three farmers go under this year," said Yeley. "I know that's on the minds of everybody, is it really worth it to keep going on? The stress level is pretty high."
Record high costs to power the farm
Currently, the price of diesel is the most pressing problem for farmers.
Diesel is a workhouse fuel that powers farming equipment, like tractors and combines. The national average for d
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Sep 28, 2026
First came a proposal to permit tariff-free beef imports, but that immediately angered America's farmers and ranchers.
Then came a plan to ban exports of domestic diesel fuel, but that met with pushback from major oil companies.
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In between, President Donald Trump pitched the idea of simply cutting $5,000 checks to adult Americans frustrated, polls show, by high food and gas prices - if the GOP maintains control of Congress. But that idea, too, has come under fire, even from some Republican lawmakers concerned about the potential hit to the budget deficit.
With just five weeks until Election Day, the White House has thrown out multiple ideas for combating persistent inflation, which has outpaced wage growth. But experts say it is unclear whether Trump can execute any policy that would placate inflation-weary voters and help the GOP maintain control of Congress.
"These are symptoms of panic in the administration about problems that they have in part created," said David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.
Inflation has been running over the Federal Reserve's target rate since 2021, but an array of Trump policies have fed the problem, economists say. Trump's decision to join Israel in going to war with Iran has disrupted the global oil supply, leading to elevated energy rates. His tariffs have produced higher prices for some imported goods. And his administration's immigration crackdown has made low-cost labor harder to find, keeping price pressures on domestic companies high.
Consumer frustration is reflected in polling. The gap has steadily widened between vot
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Sep 28, 2026
(Bloomberg) -- Nvidia Corp. introduced a new double-layered artificial intelligence security system that it says would've prevented the recent high-profile breach of Hugging Face by OpenAI's AI models.
Most Read from Bloomberg
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If cutting-edge labs had been using this technology to evaluate their AI models early on, it could have warded off the Hugging Face att
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Sep 28, 2026
FAIRFORD, England (AP) — Police were holding five men on Monday and examining suspected explosives found near a U.S.-operated air force base in England, as counterterror detectives investigated whether the arrests foiled an attempted attack linked to Iran.
The men were detained early Sunday after three vans were spotted near RAF Fairford, a U.K.-owned base that has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East.
Investigators have not concluded whether the incident is a state-backed attack. They are investigating a possible link to Iran, Russia or non-state-backed militant groups. RAF Fairford has also been the focus of protests by anti-war campaigners.
The five suspects, who have not been named, were initially held over suspected explosives offenses, and later also arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism. Police can hold them for up to 14 days before they must be charged or released.
Residents were evacuated from 85 homes in the village of Whelford near the base on Sunday and army bomb-disposal experts used a robot to examine three white vans. The villagers had not been able to go home as of Monday morning, and the vans had not yet been moved.
Arrests came after reports of suspicious vehicles
President Donald Trump said the suspects had been detained following cooperation between the U.S. and Britain, and had been "under view" for some time. Police, however, said the arrests were triggered by a late-night call about "suspicious vehicles" near the base.
British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting declined to give details of the operation,
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Sep 28, 2026
President Donald Trumps speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a state dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPISept. 28 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump offered to sell U.S. weapons to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to the U.S. ambassador to China, an extraordinary overture that would mark a dramatic departure from Washington's longstanding policy toward Beijing.
"President Trump continues to say, 'Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world.' He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point," U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue told Fox News on Sunday, days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit that ran from Wednesday through Friday.
It was not clear when Trump made the offer, nor how such an offer could be consummated. The United States has maintained a strict weapons embargo on China, imposed following Beijing's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in June 1989.
In contrast, the United States has for decades sold weapons to Taiwan, a self-governing democratic island, in order to help it defend from a potential invasion by China, which views Taiwan as a rogue state and has threatened to take back by force if necessary.
The White House has delayed approval of a $14 billion arms sales pack
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Sep 28, 2026
Clipped From Video
British police on Sunday arrested five men on suspicion of terror and explosives offenses close to an airbase in England that is used by US long-range bombers in the war against Iran.
Army bomb disposal units are at the scene while dozens of houses nearby have been evacuated as a precaution with the investigation ongoing.
The arrests were made after information was received from residents in the area soon after midnight, according to Richard Ocone, a senior detective in the county of Gloucestershire. The men have not been identified and no clue has been given about a possible motive.
A senior officer in Counter Terrorism Policing, Vicki Evans, confirmed: "We are in the early stages of an investigation, and five men remain in custody. As you would expect we are working closely with our partners to understand the circumstances of the incident."
On top of the suspected explosives offenses, the men were "further arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act," according to counter-terrorism police. Counter-terrorism laws allow UK police to hold suspects for up to 14 days before they are charged.
US President Donald Trump called the arrests "fantastic," saying the US and the UK had the men under investigation for "a long time."
"Working with Britain, it was an amazing job," Trump told reporters in Chicago. "They were looking to do big damage to our fort and working with the British worked out great."
"We had them under view for a long time, and we got them," he said.
However, multiple UK media outlets - including the BBC, the Guardian and the Telegraph - reported, citing sources, that the operation was not intelligence-led, suggesting the
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Sep 28, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Seoul has called for an official apology from Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed what it says was supposed to be a secret transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly last week that Ukraine had recently sent the men to South Korea, after capturing them on a Ukraine-Russia battlefield in early 2025. The two are among thousands of North Korean soldiers sent to support Russia's war against Ukraine.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung quickly accused Ukraine of violating a nondisclosure agreement about the transfer. Ukraine denied making such a deal.
Late Sunday, Seong Ghi-hong, a senior presidential adviser for Lee on public relations, expressed "strong regret" over Ukraine's latest actions and demanded an official apology and explanation.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned Ukraine's ambassador to Seoul, Andrii Vieshkin, to protest what it described as Kyiv's "unilateral disclosure" of the prisoners' transfer and its false denial that the two countries had agreed to keep the matter confidential.
Vieshkin
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Sep 28, 2026
Remnants of a powerful nor'easter continued to hit parts of the U.S. East Coast early Monday after bringing a fierce combination of heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous waves to multiple states in its path over the weekend.
In coastal sections of New York and New Jersey, the storm triggered such intense flooding that residents were seen paddling through their neighborhoods on kayaks and canoes, past parked cars that had become partially or nearly submerged in water.
Flood warnings and watches remained in effect for parts of the New York metropolitan area into Monday afternoon and a flood watch was posted for all of eastern Massachusetts through Tuesday morning.
The nor'easter has caused at least one death, in Brooklyn, New York, where officials said 56-year-old New York City Housing Department employee Leighton Brown was hit by a falling tree. A swimmer thought to be missing on Saturday afternoon was later found "alive and well," state police said. They believed he'd disappeared after he was seen swimming off a beach at the Long Island south shore community of Fire Island, but he contacted police himself after learning of their search for him through news coverage.
Flooding was reported in parts of New Jersey, including Long Beach Island, Surf City and Rumson, where Carolyn Cash
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Sep 27, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he'd be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump's ambassador to China said on Sunday.
David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that if consummated would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday" days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit in Washington, didn't specify when the offer was made.
Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy, to defend itself from China's threat to invade the island. Bream asked if the U.S. is denying Taiwan to appease the Chinese president, who visited Trump last week.
Perdue pushed back on the suggestion, stating that Trump "is as strong on Taiwan as I've ever seen anybody" and has sold it plenty of weapons. Perdue also said Trump and Xi continue to talk about future U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.
"But President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,'" Perdue said. "He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point."
The U.S. i
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Sep 27, 2026
(Bloomberg) -- Global anxiety over artificial intelligence risks has intensified following fresh disclosures about a far wider range of breaches by advanced AI models, setting the stage for a high-stakes meeting between Anthropic PBC Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei and President Donald Trump.
Most Read from Bloomberg
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Sep 27, 2026
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he is still looking "very seriously" at implementing a US ban on diesel exports to combat high prices, even as others in his administration continue to focus on other possible steps.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Kroger Sets New Dress Code Rules for Its Grocery-Store WorkersEllison Pledges $9.2 Billion More in Oracle Shares for LoansCanadian Oil No Longer Takes Long Road to Asia as Freight SurgesMcDonald's Selloff Hits 30% as Big Mac Inflation Spurs PushbackFlorida's Private Railroad Brightline Files for Bankruptcy"That can oftentimes lead to a little bit of an increase on gasoline for cars, so we're looking at it very seriously — we may do it," Trump told a Fox News reporter Sunday while attending the Presidents Cup golf tournament final near Chicago.
Several farm-state lawmakers have urged Trump to limit US diesel exports during the peak of the fall harvest season, as global fuel markets reel from the disruptio
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Sep 27, 2026
(NewsNation) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is ramping up its presence in "sanctuary cities," which are known to limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal officers, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement posted Saturday on X, DHS said ICE has initiated a "surge in sanctuary cities," as part of the Trump administration's continuous crackdown on immigration.
The states and jurisdictions identified by DHS include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Homan says ICE isn't ‘going anywhere' amid immigration enforcement scrutiny
The statement comes a couple of days after federal officials shot a Venezuelan man in his car while he was delivering food for DoorDash in Austin, Texas.
Wilber Rafael Garcas Perez was admitted to a hospital but has been
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Sep 27, 2026
U.S. and Iranian officials said Sunday they still see a chance of a negotiated solution to the Iran war despite President Donald Trump's rejection of Tehran's latest offer.
Trump told Axios on Sunday that he expected U.S. negotiators to continue indirect talks with Iran this week.
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But hostile rhetoric on both sides underscored the difficulty of any diplomatic efforts.
"We are fully prepared for the war to be resumed. … We stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News on Sunday. At the same time, he said, "we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose."
"If they are serious that they want a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, now there is the possibility," Araghchi said.
On Saturday, Trump said he had rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war. "They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they're losing so badly," Trump told reporters.
But Axios reported that Trump had confirmed during a Sunday phone interview that there were plans for indirect talks.
"I expect more talks with Iran [this week]. They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make. It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand," Trump said, according to Axios.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told NBC
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Sep 27, 2026
A slow-moving nor'easter continued to batter the Northeast on Sunday, bringing more rain, strong winds and another round of coastal flooding after a weekend that killed at least one person.
A New York City Housing Authority employee, Leighton Brown, 56, died Saturday afternoon after a tree fell on him in East New York, Brooklyn, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. A man who had been reported missing after he was seen swimming off Fire Island on Saturday contacted police Sunday morning and was found unharmed, state police said.
Power outages across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island peaked at about 136,000 Sunday morning and had fallen to about 82,000 by midafternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, as crews worked to restore service. Suffolk County on Long Island and Monmouth County, N.J., still had among the most outages.
The storm was drifting near the New Jersey coast Sunday morning and is expected to ease Sunday afternoon before moving away late Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Minor to moderate coastal flooding was expected with Sunday morning's high tide, and gusts of 40 to 50 mph remained possible from New Jersey to Long Island. More than 6 inches of rain had fallen in parts of southeastern Massachusetts and about 5 inches along the northern Jersey Shore.
How to stay safe:
Never drive or walk through floodwaters. Just 6 inches of
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Sep 27, 2026
President Donald Trump appears in a television ad. - US Government
The White House has launched another taxpayer-funded television ad before the midterms, this time featuring imagery of President Donald Trump walking down a hall as audio plays of him saying "this is the final battle."
"We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all," Trump says in the ad, echoing comments he made during a Veterans Day speech in 2023.
The ad aired during at least two NFL games on Sunday, during Fox's broadcasts of the Washington Commanders-Seattle Seahawks matchup as well as the Carolina Panthers-Cleveland Browns game.
The Trump administration has drawn widespread attention for its airing of ads featuring the president just over a month before the November midterms. The White House has compared the ads to previous administrations running public service announcements about Medicare, Obamacare and promoting Covid-19 vaccination, saying in a statement that its new commercials "are very clearly not campaign ads."
The latest ad appears nearly identical to the majority of a video Trump posted on Truth Social in January 2024, during his third presidential campaign. The video on Truth Social has an additional six seconds that includes Trump's campaign logo and a number t
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Sep 27, 2026
Jason Graziadei, editor in chief of the Nantucket Current, spotted the new remnants of what's believed to be a shipwreck from more than a century ago on Nantucket's south shore Saturday. (Jason Graziadei / Nantucket Current)The powerful nor'easter pummeling the East Coast has uncovered what may be the remains of a 19th century shipwreck on Nantucket's shore.
Jason Graziadei, editor-in-chief of the Nantucket Current, spotted the wooden remnants on the Massachusetts island's south shore Saturday and posted a video of them. He believes they likely came from the Warren Sawyer, a wooden schooner that wrecked near Miacomet Beach 142 years ago.
Fragments believed to be from the same ship first appeared in December 2022, when a Nantucket resident spotted them while biking along the island's southern shore.
Researchers examined archival, photographic, historical and archaeological evidence and concluded that the wreckage was "most likely" from the Warren Sawyer, according to a 2023 report from the
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Sep 27, 2026
HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Hurricane Nolo was moving away from the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday, but the threat of heavy rain, flash flooding and strong winds persisted in areas still recovering from previous storms.
Mexico's Baja Peninsula, meanwhile, was bracing for the arrival of major Hurricane Polo on Monday after it lashed parts of the country's southwest coast with rain and strong winds. Polo remained a dangerous Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday afternoon.
Nolo was well southwest of Hawaii and moving away from the Big Island. A high-wind warning, wind advisory and high surf advisory remained in effect for parts of the island through Sunday evening as Nolo's maximum sustained winds increased to near 105 mph (165 kph).
The storm was expected to approach the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a national conservation area, early this week.
Floods and mudslides still a risk
Forecasters said Nolo's outer bands could cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides, with parts of the Big Island possibly getting up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain. Heavy rain also was expected on the other islands.
"Don't venture out if you don't have to into the dangerous flooding environment, but also high winds. We can have trees and power lines down," said Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center.
More than 120 National Guard members were activated on the island, part of roughly 400 statewide after the governor issued an emergency proclamation. President Donald Trump recently approved an emergency declaration, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate assistance and pro
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Sep 27, 2026
A slow-moving nor'easter continued to batter the Northeast on Sunday, bringing more rain, strong winds and another round of coastal flooding after a weekend that killed at least one person.
A New York City Housing Authority employee died Saturday afternoon after a tree fell on him in East New York, Brooklyn, CBS News reported. A man who had been reported missing after he was seen swimming off Fire Island on Saturday contacted police Sunday morning and was found unharmed, state police said.
About 136,000 homes and businesses were without power across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island as of Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, up from about 85,000 on Saturday. Ocean and Monmouth counties in New Jersey and Suffolk County on Long Island were among the hardest hit.
The storm was drifting near the New Jersey coast Sunday morning and is expected to ease Sunday afternoon before moving away late Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Minor to moderate coastal flooding was expected with Sunday morning's high tide, and gusts of 40 to 50 mph remained possible from New Jersey to Long Island. More than 6 inches of rain had fallen in parts of southeastern Massachusetts and about 5 inches along the northern Jersey Shore.
How to stay safe:
Never drive or walk through floodwaters. Just 6 inches of moving water can knock a person down.
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Sep 27, 2026
Donald Trump is the latest U.S. president to attend the festivities at the international biennial match-play competition, the Presidents Cup, doing so for a second time.
The competition features a 12-man American squad vs. a 12-man International team.
Sunday morning, Air Force One made its approach in the Chicagoland area and did a flyover at Medinah Country Club.
After touching down, Trump's motorcade made its way to Medinah, host of the 16th Presidents Cup.
Trump spoke briefly with reporters after landing in Chicago, saying, "You'll be seeing the best players, the best golfers anywhere in the world. It's going to be great. I think for those of you that don't play, you'll get it," he said ahead of his arrival to Medinah.
Fans were alerted 12 hours prior to expect delays and enhanced security measures and additional restrictions.
Gates opened at 8 a.m. and fans quickly filled the first tee, though, in anticipation of an American comeback. The U.S. started the final day down 10½ to 7½.
Trump walked out to the trophy stand at the first tee at Medinah to loud cheers and some lesser scattered boos that were drowned out by "U-S-A!" chants. He was then introduced by
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Sep 27, 2026
(NewsNation) — The State Department is "assessing" how to share passport information with state and local governments, as well as some nonprofit groups, ahead of the midterm elections.
According to a department spokesperson, the goal is to share the information in a way that "protects Americans' data, deters fraud and supports the integrity of U.S. citizenship."
The statement follows a 6-3 Supreme Court decision Friday that allowed the Department of Homeland Security to provide citizenship information to local governments so they can verify whether registered voters are U.S. citizens.
The Trump administration outlined the plan in a court filing Tuesday evening. In it, the Justice Department said the administration will begin using passport records to identify noncitizens on voter registration lists.
According to the filing, the State Department will soon publish a notice in the Federal Register, the federal government's official daily publication, proposing to share "information contained in the Passport Services Records system" with other federal agencies,
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Sep 27, 2026
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Saturday that it's "entirely possible" his party could win control of the Senate in the midterm elections, but he also left the door open on his own political future.
"Let's revisit after the midterm," Fetterman told CBS News' Major Garrett at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.
Democrats faced an uphill battle heading into the midterm cycle as they sought control the upper chamber, with 53 Republicans currently in the Senate and a map that appeared more favorable to the GOP. But as affordability issues have persisted in the Trump administration and amid the unpopular war with Iran, the picture has appeared to improve for Democrats as they aim to secure a majority in the Senate.
Fetterman, who delivered Democrats a crucial victory in a closely watched race in 2022, has been under scrutiny in recent years for breaking with his party, spurring questions about his future. Asked whether he would leave the Democratic Party, Fetterman said Saturday that he doesn't "have a reason to." And he emphasized, "I am not a Republican." But he cautioned that people should wait until the midterm elections to "see what I do."
"Let's see what happens if I happen to be 51 — I don't know," Fetterman said.
Fetterman shocked many Democrats when he made a video appearance at the Republican midterm convention earlier this month introducing his counterpart, GOP Sen. Dave McCormick, while vowing to work with President Trump on steel.
But Fetterman said Saturday, "I have no path as a Republican
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Sep 27, 2026
A new, previously suppressed book by a former CIA officer paints a satirical and slashing portrait of the agency's deep-cover spying program as riven by systematic dysfunction.
The book, "The Pickle Factory," written by an ex-CIA nonofficial cover officer, under the pen name Sam R. Oyken, is billed as a work of fiction. Though often fantastical, it contains thinly veiled true-life details about the inner workings of the agency's spying operations, according to former CIA officials.
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Most CIA officers work under what's known as "official cover" and generally masquerade as U.S. diplomats abroad. NOCs, who often pose as businessmen or consultants, have no overt connections to the U.S. government and therefore operate without diplomatic immunity.
Because of the potential dangers of their missions and the clandestine participation of American companies who provide cover to these officers, NOCs' operations are closely guarded inside the CIA.
"The Pickle Factory," published in late July, is the culmination of what the author characterized as a multiyear battle against agency censors, who first rejected publication of the manuscript in 2014. The Washington Post is referring to him by his pen name, as the former NOC remains undercover.
Former CIA employees are required to submit all work potentially relevant to their agency careers to the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board for potential redaction, to expunge it of allegedly classified information.
"They insisted for years after I submitted the manuscript of my novel that I couldn't publish a single word, a straight-up First Amendment violation," said Oyken in an inter
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Sep 27, 2026
By Trevor Hunnicutt, Yomna Ehab and Jana Choukeir
WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS/DUBAI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Iran insisted on Sunday that only diplomacy can solve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump said he rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting.
"Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is ?contingent on these conditions being met," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on social media. "Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock."
Iran announced a peace proposal last week at the UN General Assembly ?in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators. Trump said on Saturday he rejected the plan, and argued that desperation was driving the Iranians' push for an agreement on the key waterway.
"They want to make a deal to open the ?Hormuz Strait immediately because they're losing so badly," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Keeping the door to diplomacy open, however, Trump told Axios in a phone interview on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in more talks this week.
Araqchi said mediators facilitating Tehran's talks with Washington had not officially relayed a US rejection of the plan.
"We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them," Araqchi posted.
The US has imposed an economic blockade on Iran to put pressure on Tehran to stop Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which have drastically reduced shipping through the area even as Trump repeatedly asserts that the ?US controls the waterway.
The commander-in-chief of Iran's army, Amir Hatam, said the war ?was at a critical and decisive stage, adding that Tehran would not accept a situation in which it was unable to trade while foreign powers used the region's s
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Sep 27, 2026
Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday addressed the Trump administration's decision to ban three mainstream news outlets from accessing the White House, saying that President Donald Trump had not "denied access" to the organizations and asserting that it is a "privilege ... not a right" to be at the White House.
"The president hasn't denied access. That's not the right way to describe it. This is -- what the president has said is that he is sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news," Blanche said in an exclusive interview with "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "There's still obviously litigation going on, but the important thing, Martha, is to know that ... being in the White House is a privilege. It's not a right."
In the early hours Thursday, Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order that required the White House to temporarily restore credentials of journalists working for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Kelly said in his ruling that he believed the outlets cleared the "high bar" required to grant a TRO.
ABC News - U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on ABC's "This Week."Journalists were allowed back onto the White House grounds later Thursday and primary television pool coverage resumed Friday for the final day of Chinese President Xi Jinping's official state visit. But on Saturday, there was no TV pool coverage for the president's trip to a football game in Tennessee; CNN was scheduled to be network covering the president that
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Sep 27, 2026
Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday that President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal because Tehran wanted sanctions relief and access to "billions in frozen assets" before negotiating an end to its nuclear program.
"They were asking for everything up front, with a promise that they would then talk," Waltz said on CNN's "State of the Union" when asked what Trump objected to.
In a separate interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Waltz called the proposal "a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable." He said the U.S. would ultimately need to reach "some type of agreement" with Iran, but Trump would keep all options on the table.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview later on the same NBC program, pushed back on Waltz's account and told host Kristen Welker that Iran was prepared to open the strait if the U.S. met its conditions, including releasing frozen assets and allowing Iranian oil sales.
"I am surprised that the ambassador is talking about a seven-day plan, as he has not read it," Araghchi said. "Maybe he has not been given a copy."
On Saturday, Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks in exchange for the U.S. lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales and committing to a seven-day ceasefire that would include Lebanon.
In an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" recorded Friday and aired Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described the proposal as a staged approach based on an earlier U.S.-Iran agreem
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Sep 27, 2026
By Joshua McElwee
LOURDES, France, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Pope Leo on Sunday urged the Catholic Church to admit its own failings and heal "deep wounds" inflicted within its ranks, hours before he was set to meet victims of child abuse by priests in France.
Leo, addressing crowds stretching out over ?a large field near the famed Catholic shrine in Lourdes, said the Church must have the courage to face its past but did not directly ?reference abuse scandals in France that sparked nationwide shock.
"In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within (the Church), we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord's purifying gaze," the ?first US pope told an estimated 150,000 people gathered in the field on a sunlit day.
Leo is on a whirlwind three-city, four-day visit to France, where he has again urged the world to reconsider the development of artificial intelligence. He drew around 800,000 people for an outdoor Mass on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Saturday.
Local Church leaders are hoping he will help repair the Church's standing after a 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades.
In an earlier, ?closed-door meeting with French bishops on Sunday, Leo did directly ?refer to "the painful scourge of abuse committed against minors by members of the clergy," according to a Vatican-provided text.
The pope thanked the bishops for the "courageous measures" he said they had taken to confront the scandals and urged them to buttress their safeguarding efforts and "continue ?on the path undertaken, maintaining the greatest vigilance."
VICTIMS SCEPTICAL PAPAL MEETING WILL SPUR ACTION
Leo has previously apologised directly for abuse scandals that have damaged the Church's credibility across the world. On a trip to Spain in June, he told bishops there that they must listen to
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Sep 27, 2026
The Trump administration denied reports Saturday evening that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had temporarily instructed agents to limit arrests to illegal immigrants with criminal records.
The clarification comes as immigration enforcement remains a central pillar of President Donald Trump's agenda. The administration has promised an aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration and expanded deportations, and officials said that effort has not been scaled back.
Trump Administration's Immigration Push Fuels Ice's Biggest Arrest Month In Agency History
President Donald Trump has made immigration enforcement a central pillar of his administration, promising a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration and expanded deportations.Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, who spoke with Trump and nine ICE and Department of Homeland Security sources, reported that verbal guidance instructing field offices to prioritize the "worst first" was distributed nationwide earlier this week.
The guidance alarmed some ICE agents, who described it as shocking and frustrating, Melugin wrote on X.
Sources later said the confusion stemmed from internal conversations about prioritizing the most serious offenders and that the directive was the result of a "miscommunication," rather than a formal change in policy.
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Sep 27, 2026
GORHAM, Maine (AP) — For years, Planned Parenthood's endorsement of Susan Collins was enough to persuade Erin Evans to vote for Maine's longtime U.S. senator, believing that the moderate Republican would protect abortion access.
Evans is now "just furious with myself" for those votes. The 56-year-old from Portland described Collins' critical vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, where President Donald Trump's nominee eventually helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion, as a betrayal.
"I was a really uninformed voter," Evans said. "I thought any woman from Maine was probably in line with me."
The Nov. 3 election will be the first time Collins is on the ballot since the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, resulting in abortion being banned in much of the United States. This time, Evans says she is backing Democrat Troy Jackson, a former state lawmaker and logger trying to deny Collins a sixth term.
Jackson and Democrats are hoping that voters like Evans will help flip a seat in a state the party has made a priority in the quest to retake the Senate.
Both Collins and Jackson have made an effort to appeal to women, who make up the majority of Maine's population and have had a slightly higher rate of voting than men, according to
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Sep 27, 2026
A panda at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where the pair sent to Atlanta departed from (Hector RETAMAL)Two giant pandas sent by China arrived in the United States on Sunday, Beijing's state media said, after a leaders' summit that was heavy on symbolism and light on major breakthroughs.
The pandas' transfer had already been agreed but the departure was announced Thursday during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington.
The black-and-white mammals are immensely popular around the world, and China loans them out as part of a "panda diplomacy" programme to foster foreign ties.
Ping Ping and Fu Shuang departed from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on a chartered flight at around 3:00 am (1900 GMT on Saturday), state news agency Xinhua reported.
After a 16-hour flight that crossed the international date line, the bears touched down in Atlanta, Georgia shortly before 7:00 am local time (1100 GMT on Sunday), Xinhua said later.
Steamed corn buns, bamboo shoots and carrots were prepared to keep the pandas nourished during their flight, Chinese state-run media the Global Times reported.
The Boeing 777 operated by FedEx was the top-tracked aircraft on aviation information platform FlightRadar24 as it neared Alaska, roughly halfway into its journey.
The pandas will be hosted by Zoo Atlanta for the next 10 years.
A farewell ceremony was held for the pair before their departure by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
Experienced keepers were dispatched by the US side to accompany the duo on their flight, the Global Times reported.
In preparation for their arrival, Zoo Atlanta has renovated its panda facilities and assembled a team of animal caretakers.
It has also ensured a stable and long-
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Sep 27, 2026
British police announced on Sunday morning that several people were arrested "on suspicion of offenses under the explosives act" close to a major air base hosting U.S. forces in the southwest of England.
"A number of properties are currently being evacuated in the Whelford area following the declaration of a major incident," Gloucestershire Police said in a statement. "It follows the arrest of several men on suspicion of offenses under the explosives act."
The village of Whelford is located around 2 miles from RAF Fairford, which hosts the U.S. Air Force and has since February been serving as a key hub for American operations against Iran -- including for heavy bombers like the B-1 Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress.
Toby Shepheard/Reuters - PHOTO: A police officer blocks a road near the RAF Fairford airbase, which hosts United States Air Force (USAF) personnel, in Fairford, U.K., on Sept. 27, 2026."The Army's specialist explosive ordnance disposal team are currently examining a number of vehicles," the police statement said.
Local residents were evacuated to a nearby recreation center, with a cordon put in place. "We believe this incident is contained," police said. "We are working closely with our partners and are enacting the well-rehearsed plans we have in place."
A British government spokesperson told ABC News that Prime Minister Andy Burnham "is being kept updated on the incident in Gloucestershire."
"We are grateful to the emergency services, who have acted quickly to detain several suspects and put measures in place to keep the community safe," they added. "It would be inappropriate to comment further whilst investigations are ongoing."
British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said in a post to X, "We can be reassured th
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Sep 27, 2026
A slow-moving, powerful storm crept along the coast of the U.S. Northeast on Saturday, producing high winds that knocked out electricity to thousands while whipping up big waves and heavy rains that created dangerous conditions in some places.
Tens of millions of people were in the path of the nor'easter, which was forecast to affect the mid-Atlantic area and New England throughout the weekend. Around 100,000 customers in the region were without electricity Saturday.
In Brooklyn, New York, a 56-year-old man was struck and killed by a falling tree, according to the New York City Police Department, the first confirmed fatality from the storm. The New York City Housing Authority later confirmed he was an employee of the agency. He was identified by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a social media post as Leighton Brown.
And in Egg Harbor Township in eastern New Jersey, nine adults and a dog were rescued from flooded motel rooms.
The forecast showed no immediate reprieve. There will be "a lot of high winds, a lot of high tides and heavy rain possibility over the next few days for the northeastern U.S.," said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College P
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Sep 27, 2026
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) — For years, residents of this Southern California beach town could walk a mile along a stretch of cream-colored sand and dip their toes in the waves lapping ashore.
That trip has been cut short.
Coastal erosion has been eating away at the beach in San Clemente, known for nearly a century as a "Spanish village by the sea." The rising sea and crashing waves have pushed the shoreline landward, splitting the city's picturesque North Beach. Crumbling seaside bluffs have damaged oceanfront homes and forced the repeated closure of a passenger rail line considered the second busiest in the country.
It's one of many California coastal communities grappling with the effects of sea level rise. Nearly a decade ago, scientists forecast that more than half of Southern California's beaches could significantly erode by 2100, radically altering how people live and recreate along the state's famed coast.
"The constant pressure is sea level rise," said Sean Vitousek, research oceanographer with the U.S. Geological Survey. "It is going to keep rising, and rising, and the beaches will retreat landward."
After years of erosion, California is bracing for flooding and landslides ahead of this year's expected super El Niño, a temporary warming in parts of the equatorial Pacific known to warp weather worldwide. Already this year, the town of Pacifica south of San Francisco shuttered its cracked concrete pier, and seawater flooded homes in Long Beach near Los Angeles during a hurricane-driven storm surge. A recent study showed that El Niño events
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Sep 27, 2026
NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Republicans are pouring money into more than three dozen US House races previously considered "safe" after internal polling showed they could be vulnerable in the November 3 election, according to three Republican operatives familiar with the party's thinking.
The shift is already starting to show in advertising reservations and campaign finance filings. Since September 1, major Republican groups and megadonors have begun ?spending in at least 39 congressional races where they haven't previously deployed money this cycle, a Reuters review of spending by some of the largest Republican political groups shows.
Many of the candidates receiving new support ?sit in Republican strongholds and are still running ahead of Democratic opponents in public polls, these people said, indicating rising worry among party leaders over whether voters will use the November 3 election to air dissatisfaction over US President Donald Trump's policies.
House Republican leaders recently warned dozens of ?campaigns that the party's internal data shows that they cannot assume they will win, even if they are currently ahead in public polls and represent districts Trump won by double digits, two of the people said.
"Republicans are playing defense in some of the strongholds that they're used to not having to worry about," said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, a partner at bipartisan public affairs firm Rokk Solutions.
Republicans currently hold a narrow 218-214 majority in the House, with one independent caucusing with Republicans and two vacancies. Democrats would need to net at least four seats in the midterms to take control of the chamber next year.
MASSIVE WAR CHEST
Two Republican operatives working with party leaders said they're using their larger spending power to stifle Democrats before they ?have a chance to attack. They said the party was taking out "insurance policies" ?to ensure
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Sep 27, 2026
Gunmen torched vehicles as they fled the scene of a mass shooting at bar near Johannesburg [Getty Images]
Twenty-seven people have been killed in two mass shootings hours apart in South Africa, the latest gun violence to hit the country.
Seventeen people were killed when eight gunmen stormed a bar close to Johannesburg on Saturday evening, with 15 more injured.
In a separate shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning, 10 people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town and a further 11 were injured.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and has struggled to contain gang-related gun violence in recent years. Police have not indicated a motive for either of the latest attacks.
In Johannesburg, gunmen opened fire on customers outside the bar before continuing the attack inside and torching two vehicles before fleeing.
Police said thirteen men and four women were killed.
Deputy provincial police commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana said the attack may have been a retaliation for an incident last month, in which one person was killed and another wounded, according to AFP news agency.
Speaking at the scene, he said police had clear pictures and in some cases names for the suspects.
In Cape Town, five victims died at the scene and a further five people died in hospital.
No arrests had been made in either case on Sunday morning.
The two mass shootings came days after 11 people were killed in the city of Durban when gunmen stormed a house in the KwaMakhutha
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Sep 27, 2026
Fishermen motor past a commercial vessel anchored off Yemen's coast at Bab el-Mandeb, in the strait connecting the Red Sea with the Arabian Sea, on Sept. 12. (AFP via Getty Images)To visit Bab el-Mandeb is to understand that old adage about looks being deceiving. For this humble fishing village in Yemen, a tumbledown grouping of barely-there huts nestled between the water and an imposing mountain range, stands sentinel over one of the world's most vital waterways.
The village shares its name with the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passageway connecting the Red Sea with the Arabian Sea that's become another flash point in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
"You hear so much about Bab el-Mandeb, you'd think we would be like New York, with skyscrapers and money," said Saleh, a 58-year-old resident who, like all people interviewed here, refused to give their full name to avoid reprisals.
"So many ships pass near here. If the Yemeni government knew how to invest in it, we would be rich. We should be bringing in billions of dollars. Instead, look around you," he said, pausing as his gaze took in the sorry-looking boats haphazardly laid on the beach.
"We have nothing."
Saleh was interviewed in January, when Bab el-Mandeb was thrust into the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the friendly-but-occasionally-fractious backers of Yemen's internationally recognized government.
That war of wills ended with the Emirates ceding control of Bab el-Mandeb — along with the nearby island of Perim, where the Emirates had built a drone airbase — to Saudi Arabia.
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Sep 27, 2026
Randy Villegas, a Democratic candidate for Congress, addresses a town hall on data centers at the Episcopal Church of the Savior in Hanford, Calif., on Aug. 28. (Gary Kazanjian / For The Times)Since the 2024 election, Democratic congressional candidates have reached a consensus about how to broadly discuss the border — make it secure — but they still lack a cohesive message about ICE.
Some advocate abolishing the agency, while others offer visions for how to rein it in and reform it.
Meanwhile, for Republicans, President Trump's immigration policies have offered a win on one issue (the border) while creating another issue that many voters find troubling (violence during raids).
Some battleground Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump and have shifted from talking about mass deportations to emphasizing deporting criminals.
Most voters don't care more about immigration than the cost of living. But it remains an important issue, and for both Republicans and Democrats, the balance in messaging about immigration is delicate, as about half of Americans see the administration's tactics against immigrants as too aggressive.
As the Nov. 3 midterms approach, Democratic candidates in various states including Illinois, Minnesota and New Jersey have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be abolished. In Michigan, progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has said as much — and taken aim at fellow party members.
"The idea that somehow we can't say ‘abolish ICE' because
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Sep 27, 2026
The 2026 hurricane season has been remarkable, from the potentially record-breaking calm in the Atlantic Ocean to the hyperactive eastern and central Pacific Ocean.
Only seven tropical storms have formed in the Atlantic, while 18 tropical storms and hurricanes have formed in the Pacific. In a normal year, the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific hurricane basins see similar activity, with 14 to 15 named storms, including seven to eight hurricanes by the time the season ends on Nov. 30. This year, the Atlantic hasn't yet produced a single hurricane, while the eastern Pacific has already produced eight.
What's interesting about this season is that a few of the storms that have occurred in the two basins originated in Africa and were influenced by the same powerful climate phenomenon, El Niño. But the results have been very different, with fierce hurricanes in the Pacific and unremarkable tropical storms in the Atlantic.
Meteorologists and climate scientists have closely watched the progression of these tropical waves and storms from their origins to their final destination using a fleet of satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. More than 60 years after satellites began helping observe hurricanes, they are still learning more about how and where tropical waves begin and how they develop and move. They watch as waves form in the Ethiopian mountains, over the Sahara or off the African coast, and then track them across the Atlantic and sometimes well into the Pacific.
This summer, there hasn't been a lot to s
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Sep 27, 2026
LONDON (AP) — U.K. police said Sunday that five men arrested in the middle of the night near an air base used by the United States during its war against Iran are being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act that appeared to involve three trucks.
London's Metropolitan Police, which takes the lead on potential terrorist activities, said police received a call at 12:45 a.m. related to the three suspicious vehicles that appeared to be traveling toward RAF Fairford, a U.K.-owned base that is operated by the U.S. under an agreement dating back to the Cold War.
Fairford has been used by American bombers for strictly limited strikes against Iranian missile sites under an agreement with former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who voiced opposition to the war after it was launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28.
Iran has previously indicated that a base used to attack its territory is a legitimate target.
Authorities are investigating a link between the Fairford arrests and Iran as one possibility.
The five men were initially arrested on suspicion of committing offenses under the Explosives Act in the Whelford area, which backs onto RAF Fairford that hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and the 420th Air Base Squadron.
Aerial footage from Sky News appeared to show a bomb disposal robot roaming between three white trucks. The rear doors of two of the vans
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Sep 27, 2026
LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - British police said on Sunday they had arrested several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and the ?army was examining a number of vehicles after security was stepped up ?at a British air base used by US air forces in southwest England.
The British government gave authorisation ?to the US to use RAF Fairford to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
A Reuters eyewitness said armed police were blocking access to the main gate of the base. Around 30 emergency vehicles, including ?police cars, ambulances and fire ?engines, were stationed in the village of Fairford near the base.
"A number of properties are currently being evacuated in the Whelford area ?following the declaration of a major incident. It follows the arrest of several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act," Gloucestershire police said in a statement, referring to ?a ?village near the air base.
"The Army's specialist explosive ?ordnance disposal team are currently ?examining a number of vehicles."
A spokesperson for the US Air Force said they would not discuss specific force protection measures.
"The 501st Combat Support Wing and our fellow UK-based Wings remain vigilant and will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of our US service members, civilians, contractors, and their families," the spokesperson said.
"We constantly assess ?a variety of factors that determine what measures ?we institute or modify to protect our installations, ?our people and their families."
Britain said ?in July its armed forces were ready to protect the ?country from any attack after Iran's Revolutionary ?Guards issued a warning ?not to allow US bombers to fly from Fairford.
British ministers have also briefed providers of critical infrastructure of the threat posed by Russia, with the ?government incr
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Sep 27, 2026
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi proposed a "seven-day plan" to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU)Iran stood firm Sunday on its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, despite US President Donald Trump's rejection of the proposal that had created some optimism for breaking the Mideast war stalemate.
The waterway is key to the world's energy supply and is now central to the conflict between Washington and Tehran, which was triggered nearly seven months ago with deadly strikes on Iran.
Iran's plan called for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and fulfilling conditions in the ceasefire deal that fell apart months ago.
That agreement, which dissolved during fighting over Hormuz, called for the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade.
"Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent upon these conditions being fulfilled. We will not back down from them," Araghchi said on Sunday, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
"We have never closed the door to diplomacy or negotiations, but at the same time, we have never backed down from our rights."
But Trump said on Saturday that he rejected the truce deal.
"They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they're losing so badly," he told reporters. "They want to make a deal and I think that's fine. I like making a deal too."
Araghchi said on Sunday that the Iranians "saw the first reaction from the US president, but so far, nothing has been conveyed to us by the mediators".
"We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive positions to us, and we w
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Sep 26, 2026
TAIPEI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The United States "very much" understands Taiwan's defence needs and the severe military threat it faces from China, a senior ?Taiwanese diplomat said on Sunday, following a Washington summit between the US ?and Chinese leaders.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has been waiting for months ?for US President Donald Trump to approve a new arms sales package worth some $14 billion, following up on a record $11 billion deal unveiled last December.
After meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, Trump said he was keeping the latest arms ?sales package in abeyance. Trump ?has not mentioned the sale since last week's summit, saying only on Saturday that Xi understands his position on Taiwan.
Speaking to ?reporters in Taipei, Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi pointed to comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that military sales to anyone require the same careful consideration.
"Taiwan ?faces a ?severe situation in the Taiwan Strait. Even ?though China's economy is declining, ?it continues investing more resources into building military capacity. Under this context, the US very much understands our defence needs," he said.
Washington also understands Taiwan's determination to invest in its military, Chen added.
"We do continuously communicate with them, and we believe the US understands the situation we face and our determination on defence investment completely."
The ?United States is bound by law to provide ?Taiwan with the means to defend itself. China ?has repeatedly called for military ?sales to end.
David Perdue, the US ambassador to China, told CNBC ?on Friday that there has been ?no change in Taiwan ?policy by Trump, including on arms sales.
Chen said Taiwan had received confirmation "from our American friends repeatedly that US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged".
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Sep 26, 2026
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, and his wife, Katie Miller, attend the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, April 21, 2025. - Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Sipa USA
Two veteran FBI agents overseeing counterterrorism operations in the nation's capital have been removed from their jobs and reassigned over the handling of an investigation involving Katie Miller, the conservative podcaster and wife of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, according to two people familiar with the move.
Michael Burgwald, the special agent in charge of counterterrorism matters at the FBI's Washington Field Office, and his deputy, Courtland Rae, were ousted from their positions by bureau leadership after investigators determined that allegedly harassing phone calls Katie Miller received from unknown individuals did not warrant further investigation, the sources said.
The field office team that reviewed the reported harassing calls determined they did not meet the threshold required for an FBI investigation, and no nexus to terrorism was identified, the sources said. This decision did not sit well with bureau leadership, and the two senior field office agents were removed from their positions, according to the sources.
Since taking office last year, FBI director Kash Patel — a fierce loyalist of President Donald Trump — has fired, demoted, or forced into retirement countless career employees who handled past investigations into Trump and his allies. Many of those forced out
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Sep 26, 2026
ATHENS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Six people have died after a two-storey residential building in a tourist area of central Athens collapsed, ?the Greek fire brigade said on Saturday, following an explosion ?that the mayor said was likely linked to gas infrastructure.
The explosion killed four Americans, US ?officials said.
Emergency crews in heavy gear and red helmets assisted by rescue dogs, cameras and sensors found the bodies of six people, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a televised briefing. They were looking for an elderly ?couple who lived in one ?apartment and four tourists who were staying in another as they removed debris from the building.
The fire brigade's ?crime investigation unit was also on site to identify the cause of the blast after reports of a gas smell in an area that is ?home to ?hotels and short-term rentals.
The tourists, two ?American couples, had been expected to ?catch a flight from Athens airport at 3 p.m. on Friday but did not show up, a police source said.
Ambulances stood by on Saturday to take the bodies to the hospital for identification.
"I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of four American citizens in yesterday's explosion in ?central Athens," Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador ?to Greece, posted on X.
The blast destroyed ?the building in Plaka, near ?some of Athens' most visited sites, including the Acropolis ?and the Temple of Zeus, damaging ?nearby houses, shops ?and cars and sending rubble and broken glass as far as three blocks away.
The building was reduced to twisted metal, shattered tiles ?and concrete, strewn ?with household items and clothing.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Additional reporting by ?Stelios Misinas, Vania Turner and Valentini Anagnostopoulou; Editing by Kirsten ?Donovan, Alexander Smith and William Mallard)
This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://uk.news.yahoo.com
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Sep 26, 2026
Christa Pike's lawyers have filed a clemency petition seeking to commute her sentence ahead of the 30 September execution date [Tennesse Department of Corrections]
Ashlee Sellars last heard from her friend Christa Pike earlier this week, when Pike texted her from her cell on death row as she prepares to be killed by lethal injection by the US state of Tennessee.
Pike told Sellars she does not want any of her loved ones to be present on Wednesday when she is executed.
"She doesn't want us to experience that," Sellars says.
Sellars finds it hard to reconcile this woman, whom she has only known to be kind and protective, with the person who committed a heinous crime 31 years ago.
Pike, now 50, was 18 when she and her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and murdered Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old they met at a job training camp for troubled teens.
The murder created a media frenzy in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1995 when Colleen was found with a pentagram, a symbol of Satanic ritual, carved into her chest.
Pike had accused Colleen of insulting her and trying to steal her boyfriend. Two other residents at the camp later testified that Pike had bragged about the murder before and after, and showed them a piece of Colleen's skull.
A year later she was sentenced to death, while Shipp - who was 17 at the time - was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Now, after years of failed appeals, Pike's execution has been set for Wednesday. If it goes ahead, she will be the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Only 18 women have been executed in the US since the
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Sep 26, 2026
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas city council candidate was arrested Saturday morning on a misdemeanor charge for "riot participation," a week after he was part of a protest against the shooting of a Venezuelan man by a federal immigration officer.
Public jail records do not specify the date of Misael Ramos' alleged rioting, but Ramos' attorney said that his client was accused of "engaging in a riot on the 20th of September," the day of the protests over the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin.
Ramos denies any wrongdoing and will contest the charge, his campaign said in a news release.
"I didn't see any riots," said Ramos' attorney, Edmund Skip Davis. "I saw people out there chanting and protesting."
The arresting agency didn't immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press, and the details of the allegations against Ramos aren't yet clear. Ramos, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is running for city council in Austin.
Ramos was released during a news conference outside the county jail Saturday, with the crowd erupting in cheers. Ramos thanked those for being there, saying it was "one of the craziest mornings I have had in a long time." He spoke of his surprise arrest and against federal immigration raids in the community.
"When we fight," he said, to which those gathered replied, "we win!"
Garces Perez was shot and then taken to a detention center after an encounter with an immigration officer. An attorney for Garces Perez has said he was an asylum seeker and had a valid work permit.
Some Democrats have criticized the shooting, and
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Sep 26, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump goes to speak to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26, 2026. —Samuel Corum—Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump announced Friday that he is seeking to cancel almost $1 billion in federal funding, sidestepping congressional approval and earning criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Using a controversial move known as a "pocket rescission," Trump said he wanted to nullify $810 million in spending that Congress had approved for programs and agencies, much of which would serve immigrants, minorities, and children.
Read More: A Debt Ceiling Fight Looms in 2027. Could a Democratic Congress Make it the Last One?
Over half of the cuts would land on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department's Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to a request sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday. It said that rescinding the funds is "consistent with the Administration's goal of ending the use of Federal taxpayer dollars to support non-citizens, putting Americans first."
In a statement accompanying the request, the Trump Administrat
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Sep 26, 2026
President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he has approved new fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles, in another move meant to take aim at Biden-era policies supporting electric vehicles.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that he "just approved new Fuel Economy Standards that TERMINATE Sleepy Joe Biden and Pete Boot-EDGE-EDGE's ridiculous EV Mandate. The Dumocrats cost our Great Auto Manufacturers $Billions, forced Americans into cars they never wanted, and wasted Billions on Chargers that were never built."
The announcement comes as the White House faces increased scrutiny for high gas prices — hovering just under $4.50 a gallon on average in the U.S. Saturday — rising car prices and a tough midterm election on the horizon.
"These new Standards will take the waste out of building cars in America. That means LOWER PRICES, saving families thousands on a new, beautiful, and safe car — Far better than the Environmental Monsters that we were building heretofore. Every Manufacturer, from General Motors to Ford to Stellantis, has called me wanting to build here, and now they can!" Trump wrote.
The final rule was not immediately available, and officials from the White House did not immediately respond to questions. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy amplified Trump's post on social media, adding, "A major victory for America's auto workers is COMING MONDAY."
The new regulation is expected to slash fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles by nearly one-third through model year 2031.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's proposed redo of so-called Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars and light-duty trucks would require the sector to average about 34.5 miles per gallon through model year 2031. The
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Sep 26, 2026
A powerful nor'easter is battering the East Coast this weekend, bringing major coastal flooding, damaging winds and heavy rain from the Carolinas to southern New England.
About 84,600 homes and businesses were without power across five Northeast states by midday Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us, with New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island hit hardest. Wind gusts topped 60 mph on Long Island, Cape Cod and the islands, according to the National Weather Service, and more than 400 flights were canceled nationwide, most of them at Boston Logan.
Water rose more than 3 feet above the normal high-tide mark Saturday morning at the Jersey Shore and in New York Harbor, according to preliminary NOAA data. In Queens, video showed people kayaking to the Howard Beach-JFK subway station. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill have both issued emergency declarations, and more than 20 million people from Virginia to New Jersey are under coastal flood warnings.
Forecasters warned that flooding could return with Saturday night's high tide as the storm moves toward the Jersey Shore late Saturday into Sunday, according to the Weather Prediction Center. The storm is expected to weaken slowly Sunday night and move northeast Monday.
How to stay safe:
Never drive or walk through fl
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Sep 26, 2026
SHANGHAI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The United States and China have agreed to reduce tariffs on $30 billion of goods and launch a dialogue on AI, both countries said following President Xi ?Jinping's visit to Washington.
The tariff reductions would apply to US exports such as agricultural goods, wood ?and cosmetics, as well as US imports including small appliances, toys, decorations, a White House statement said on Friday.
"The two countries reached ?consensus on recommendations for more favorable tariff treatment for $30 billion of non-sensitive goods in each direction," the White House said.
The three-day summit between Xi and President Donald Trump, which ended on Friday, showcased personal diplomacy rather than big public breakthroughs. Xi has since landed in Beijing, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.
The two sides ?also agreed to set up a trade ?council and extend the outcomes of earlier talks in Kuala Lumpur, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The agreement follows a move by the world's two largest economies to extend by ?two months a trade truce that had been due to expire on November 10, allowing more time to work on a potentially bigger trade deal, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.
"This historic visit enriched the constructive ?and stable ?China-US relationship, upheld the overall stability of bilateral ties, ?opened a new chapter in China-US relations, and ?will have a far-reaching impact on world peace and development," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement.
DIALOGUE ON AI
On artificial intelligence, the two sides agreed to hold a dialogue on the technology's risks and benefits, with the next round of discussions set for November, and to set up a communication channel for AI-related incidents, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the White House said.
The White House said that the leaders had agreed ?to use the term
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Sep 26, 2026
Democrats' chances of flipping the Senate have grown in recent months as President Donald Trump's unpopularity, as well as frustration with the economy, push voters away from Republicans.
Democrats have been favored to seize control of the House, which has a narrow Republican majority. The math in the Senate is more daunting: Democrats control 47 seats to Republicans' 53.
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The clearest path to a majority requires Democrats to retain all of their seats and win four GOP-controlled seats, including at least two in states President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024. That path, which once felt like a long shot, now seems feasible.
A Wednesday update from the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election analysis site, described control of the Senate as "a true coin flip, with viable paths for both parties to win or keep a majority." Some other analysts have concluded the map is even more favorable to Democrats.
The political environment has shifted enough in recent months that some Republicans have suggested that the GOP should scale back spending in Georgia and North Carolina, where Trump won in 2024 but the party's nominees have lagged in polls.
Here are the races to watch as the battle for the Senate grows increasingly competitive.
The races moving toward Democrats: Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, South Carolina
Sen. Jon Ossoff is now heavily favored to win reelection in Georgia in a race which Cook rates as "Likely Democratic." Republicans initially viewed the race as one of their leading opportunities to gain a seat, but controversies involving the GOP nominee, Rep. Mike Collins, have helped Ossof
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Sep 26, 2026
Pope Leo XIV has praised the "enthusiasm, energy and commitment" young people bring to the Catholic Church as dense crowds attended an open-air Mass in Paris.
An estimated 700,000 people had gathered for the Mass celebrated by the Pope from a special altar on the Place de la Concorde, on the second day of his four-day visit to France.
It began after the pontiff rode down the Champs-Élysées Avenue waving to crowds from his open-topped popemobile.
Many senior politicians attended the Mass. On Friday, the Pope met French President Emmanuel Macron.
During Saturday's Mass, the Pope told worshippers that Catholics should not keep their faith to themselves but "let it overflow so that those you meet may be refreshed".
The leader of the Catholic Church also addressed young people in his speech, describing them as "today's Church".
"How beautiful it is to see your enthusiasm, energy and commitment, and the joy you bring to Christian communities," he said.
[Reuters]
After being welcomed by Macron on Friday, the Pope was joined by 80,000 young people at the Stade de France in northern Paris.
Macron did not attend Saturday's event and will not be at any of the Pope's Masses during his visit, largely to avoid appearing to breach France's strict rules on the separation of Church and state.
But the Mass was attended by Macron's wife Brigitte and French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
Several candidates for next year's presidential election also attended.
Marine Le Pen of the hard-right National Rally party and conserv
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Sep 26, 2026
Palm Beach County — home to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago — passed a one-year moratorium on the planning and construction of data centers as commissioners seek to conduct a thorough review of data centers' impacts on the environment, noise pollution and electric bills.
The moratorium, passed Thursday, comes just weeks after Trump said communities that reject data centers would "end up being backwards and poor." Among the wealthiest counties in the country, Palm Beach County includes the town of Palm Beach, home to 65 billionaires.
"If you want to go through poverty, crime and squalor, I would say don't approve of data centers," Trump said from the Oval Office Sept. 4.
The Palm Beach County Commissioners' 6-0 vote doesn't put a permanent ban on data centers. Instead, it gives county leadership time to conduct environmental impact reviews before updating zoning rules for where data centers can be built.
President Donald Trump holds up a picture of a data center as he holds a Cabinet meeting with members of his administration in the Cabinet Room of the White House Aug. 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C.Trump's Data Center Push Fractures Congress As Local Anger Explodes: 'Grasping At Straws'
The moratorium applies to all new applications for data centers with an anticipated peak electrical load of at l
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Sep 26, 2026
A powerful nor'easter is battering the East Coast this weekend, bringing major coastal flooding, damaging winds and heavy rain from the Carolinas to southern New England.
About 84,600 homes and businesses were without power across five Northeast states by midday Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us, with New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island hit hardest. Wind gusts topped 60 mph on Long Island, Cape Cod and the islands, according to the National Weather Service, and more than 400 flights were canceled nationwide, most of them at Boston Logan.
Water rose more than 3 feet above the normal high-tide mark Saturday morning at the Jersey Shore and in New York Harbor, according to preliminary NOAA data. In Queens, video showed people kayaking to the Howard Beach-JFK subway station. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill have both issued emergency declarations, and more than 20 million people from Virginia to New Jersey are under coastal flood warnings.
Forecasters warned that flooding could return with Saturday night's high tide as the storm moves toward the Jersey Shore late Saturday into Sunday, according to the Weather Prediction Center. The storm is expected to weaken slowly Sunday night and move northeast Monday.
How to stay safe:
Never drive or walk through fl
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Sep 26, 2026
President Donald Trump's threat to curtail diesel shipments abroad comes with a risk: the perception that he's reneging on his promise to shower the world with U.S. fuels.
That move would inflame tensions between the U.S. and Europe while jeopardizing American credibility as a trading partner, energy experts and administration allies said. And it could compel nations to seek other suppliers, limiting Trump's ability to wield energy as a negotiating tool in the future, they added.
"This is going to damage our reputation," said an external adviser to the Trump administration, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. "The whole premise of energy dominance was that the United States would be able to supply our allies around the world. Curtailing that is going to raise question marks."
Plans to limit U.S. diesel exports are under discussion at the White House as the fuel's price soars because of oil supply disruptions stemming from the Iran war. The Trump administration is considering different options, from a full-scale 90-day export ban to incremental limits on outbound diesel. The idea is fiercely opposed by the oil and gas industry over worries that it could make them less competitive in overseas markets.
The effort to corral fuel prices comes less than six weeks ahead of midterm elections that threaten strip control of Congress from Republicans — and break Trump's unfettered influence over the Legislative branch.
A White House official said Trump is evaluating all his options to lower diesel prices, which have soared from $3.74 a gallon to $6.52 over the past year.
The European Union has increased U.S. diesel imports to record levels because of the Iran war, with imports rising by 1.5 million barrels a day in August, a 50% increase since
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Sep 26, 2026
"I want real news. I love an open, free press," Trump said on Saturday morning to reporters when asked about the bar. "What I don't like is the fake press, where a group like CNN, with few people watching, or MSDNC," the name that he calls MSNOW, formerly MSNBC.
On Friday night, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper announced the news on his show. CNN was slotted to cover Trump on Saturday on behalf of the television pool - where ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and FOX take turns covering Trump and sharing camera feeds with the other networks. CNN White House Correspondent Alayna Treene explained to Cooper that White House's guidance for the next day was released and CNN was not included on the list of outlets traveling with Trump.
"The White House is barring CNN from flying on Air Force One on Saturday as part of the news outlet's duties covering the president on behalf of major television networks," CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins said in a post on X.
This comes amid a legal dispute after the president attempted to block three news outlets - CNN, MSNOW and Politico - from the White House. Here's the timeline:
September 18: Trump announced on Truth Social that the three networks were banned from the White House.September 19: Journalists fro
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Sep 26, 2026
By Joshua McElwee and Elizabeth Pineau
PARIS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Crowds stretched the length of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris on Saturday, as Pope Leo urged Catholics to find happiness in faith, not material things, at the biggest event of his visit to France, an ?outdoor Mass with an estimated 800,000 people.
Chants of "Leo, Leo" and "Long live the Pope" echoed down the roughly 2 km (1.2 miles) tree-lined boulevard, from ?the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, as people pressed against security barriers for a glimpse of Leo as he arrived in an open-top popemobile.
The vehicle paused frequently as people ?waved white and yellow Vatican flags and Leo blessed people with disabilities, children and babies passed forward by volunteers.
Attendees included Brigitte Macron, the French president's wife, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is leading in the polls ahead of next year's presidential election, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Bernard Arnault, the billionaire chairman of French luxury group LVMH.
Cheers rang out in the crowd as Leo thanked God in his sermon for the chance to visit France on a whirlwind four-day, three-city tour, during which ?he is seeking to repair the Church's standing after abuse ?scandals caused nationwide shock.
The pope told Catholics that only their faith would provide true happiness.
"Only God can fill the emptiness within us," said the pope.
Benoit Dedieu-Anglade, 67, said after the Mass that he had been impressed by the speech.
"We must not ?give in to the easy path or distractions — and I was moved by how he expressed this in such clear, lucid French," he said.
PRAISE FOR POPE'S PEACE MESSAGE
Attendees began assembling before sunrise to hear the pontiff speak at the mid-afternoon Mass.
The pope, who has forcefully decried the direction of global leadership in recent months, warned in a speec
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Sep 26, 2026
More Americans are spending their golden years in poverty.
According to the newly released US Census Bureau report on poverty, household income reached a record high last year and the overall poverty rate fell.
But the tale is the opposite for seniors. Poverty among Americans age 65 and older rose for the fifth consecutive year and has jumped roughly 45% since 2019 — the highest rate of any age group, an AARP Foundation analysis found.
That translates to 10 million seniors living in poverty, up from 5.1 million seven years ago.
"No other age group has seen that same pattern, and that should really stop us in our tracks. It's alarming," AARP Foundation president Claire Casey told Yahoo Finance.
Women's poverty rate is 'astonishing'For a single renter, the poverty line starts at just over $19,000 a year.
"Imagine trying to cover rent, groceries, utilities, and healthcare on that," Casey said.
Last year, poverty rates were higher for women over 50 than for men, and the poverty level for women 65 and over is close to 17%, which is "really astonishing and something we should all be paying attention to," Casey said.
The problem starts early in their working lives. "Women often reach retirement after a lifetime of lower earnings and less opportunity to save," said Dan Doonan, execu
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Sep 26, 2026
Four Americans were among the six people who died after an explosion and building collapse in Athens' tourist district of Plaka near the Acropolis on Friday, officials said.
The blast, which occurred at dawn on Friday, was likely caused by a gas leak, according to Athens Mayor Haris Doukas.
The two other people killed were an elderly British man and his Greek wife who lived on the second floor of the three-story building, Greece's state broadcaster ERT reported.
The American family of four had been renting an apartment on the first floor and were preparing to go to the airport hours later Friday for their return to the United States when the blast occurred, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.
The explosion brought down the residential building and damaged properties and vehicles along the street. Two other women were injured from an adjacent building on Lysikratous Street, fire brigades said, according to the Associated Press.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. family was composed of a couple, their son and his girlfriend. Greek authorities did not immediately give their identities, ages or where in the U.S. they came from.
On Saturday, AFP reporters saw mechanical diggers moving debris at the site and thermal-imaging
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Sep 26, 2026
James Talarico's poll lead over Ken Paxton in the crunch Texas Senate battle has fallen by one point according to two new opinion polls, which also showed the number of undecided Texan voters has been reduced.
Democrats are hoping to win control of the Senate at the November midterms and victory in Texas—a traditional Republican stronghold that last elected a Democratic senator in 1988—would significantly boost their chances.
Friday saw the publication of the latest Texas Public Opinion Research survey which polled 1,007 likely Texan voters between September 19 and 22. The poll, which had a 3.6 percent margin of error, found state Representative Talarico leading current Texas Attorney General Paxton by five points with 49 percent of the vote against 44 percent.
The last Texas Public Opinion Research survey, of 1,000 likely Texas voters conducted from August 21-24, gave Talarico a six-point lead, with 48 percent of the vote against Paxton's 42 percent.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico speaking during a "Talarico for Texas: Frontera Tour" campaign news conference at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection - World Trade Bridge on July 14, 2026 in Laredo, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)Notably the proportion of undecided voters has also fallen from seven percent in August to three percent this month, with Libertarian candidate Ted Brown also gaining two percentage points. However, the decrease in Talarico's support remains within the margin of error.
Separately a new
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Sep 26, 2026
James Talarico's poll lead over Ken Paxton in the crunch Texas Senate battle has fallen by one point according to two new opinion polls, which also showed the number of undecided Texan voters has been reduced.
Democrats are hoping to win control of the Senate at the November midterms and victory in Texas—a traditional Republican stronghold that last elected a Democratic senator in 1988—would significantly boost their chances.
Friday saw the publication of the latest Texas Public Opinion Research survey which polled 1,007 likely Texan voters between September 19 and 22. The poll, which had a 3.6 percent margin of error, found state Representative Talarico leading current Texas Attorney General Paxton by five points with 49 percent of the vote against 44 percent.
The last Texas Public Opinion Research survey, of 1,000 likely Texas voters conducted from August 21-24, gave Talarico a six-point lead, with 48 percent of the vote against Paxton's 42 percent.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico speaking during a "Talarico for Texas: Frontera Tour" campaign news conference at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection - World Trade Bridge on July 14, 2026 in Laredo, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)Notably the proportion of undecided voters has also fallen from seven percent in August to three percent this month, with Libertarian candidate Ted Brown also gaining two percentage points. However, the decrease in Talarico's support remains within the margin of error.
Separately a new
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Sep 26, 2026
BOSTON (AP) — A slow-moving, powerful storm crept along the coast of the U.S. Northeast on Saturday, producing high winds that caused power outages while whipping up big waves and heavy rains that created dangerous conditions.
The New York City Housing Authority said one of its employees was killed by a fallen tree in Brooklyn, as the storm pelted the city with rain and strong winds. Emergency crews in mid-Atlantic and New England states raced to restore power after downed trees contributed to outages for about 100,000 customers in the region.
Tens of millions of people remained in the path of the nor'easter for Sunday, with major flooding forecast for some coastal areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said response coordination centers in impacted regions were operating at an "enhanced posture," and teams were on standby in New England in case of widespread outages.
The forecast showed no immediate reprieve. There will be "a lot of high winds, a lot of high tides and heavy rain possibility over the next few days for the northeastern U.S.," said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
The highest tides were likely to occur north of Atlantic City, New Jersey, from Saturday night into Sunday, creating the potential for widespread road flooding in coastal and bayside communities, the National Weather Service said.
"Anyone who goes in or near the water this weekend is literally gambling with their life," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
In New Jersey and New York, some people kayaked down flooded streets. Others headed to beaches to try to surf the higher-than-usual waves. Emergency crews in Sea Bright, New Jersey, rescued a woman and her dog after their vehicle became trapped in floodwaters,
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Sep 26, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations of President Donald Trump, his family and his administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections.
The undertaking is as robust as it is daunting, spanning several House committees. With majority power comes bigger budgets and staff, and the ability to investigate, subpoena and potentially course-correct what the Democrats say are widespread corruption and abuses of power. Impeachment of the Republican president and Cabinet officials is not off the table.
"There is a cost to the American people of the out-of-control corruption," said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win control at the Capitol.
"If folks have been stealing from the American people, shortchanging the American people or screwing over the American people," Jeffries said, "we are going to hold the crooks accountable."
Congress has enormous ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch as part of its power as a coequal branch of government, and a road map for the Democratic-run investigations has already been set by the almost daily letters lawmakers send to the administration and in amicus court filings.
Democrats are asking about the money-making by Trump and his family, whose wealth has grown dramatically since he returned to the White House in January 2025. They are investigating the potential civil rights violations of
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Sep 26, 2026
Higher bond yields, tariffs, and a spike in energy prices haven't been enough to slow the economy down.
This week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond — which influences mortgage rates and other borrowing costs — rose to 5.2%, marking its highest level in nearly 20 years.
While analysts and economists have pointed to a cocktail of sticky inflation juiced by higher oil prices, demand for AI companies' bonds, and a record $40 trillion federal debt, a debate has emerged about how much of the rise in yields is being driven by a strengthening economy — and how much the economy can take.
"The main reason that bond yields rose sharply is that the US economy is booming," said Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist of Yardeni Research.
This week, a report that generally garners little attention, the S&P's purchasing managers' index, showed the economy could be picking up steam. The report, which measures manufacturing activity, registered its biggest monthly increase since 2022, while a reading on the service sector jumped to the highest le
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Sep 26, 2026
SHANGHAI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - China said on Saturday it had agreed with the US on a $30 billion reciprocal tariff-reduction arrangement and on launching a dialogue on ?AI, under an eight-point consensus reached during President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington.
The two ?sides have also agreed to set up a trade council and extend the outcomes of earlier talks in Kuala ?Lumpur, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The agreement follows an earlier move by the world's two largest economies to extend by two months a trade truce that had been due to expire on November 10, allowing more time to work on a potentially bigger trade deal, US Treasury Secretary Scott ?Bessent said on Wednesday.
The three-day ?summit between Xi and President Donald Trump, which ended on Friday, showcased personal diplomacy rather than big public breakthroughs. Xi has since landed in Beijing, ?Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.
"This historic visit enriched the constructive and stable China-US relationship, upheld the overall stability of bilateral ties, opened a new chapter in China-US relations, and will ?have ?a far-reaching impact on world peace and development," Chinese ?Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in ?a statement.
DIALOGUE ON AI
On artificial intelligence, the two sides agreed to hold a dialogue on the technology's risks and benefits, with the next round of discussions set for November, and to set up a communication channel for AI-related incidents, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry also said in a separate statement that Beijing valued Washington's use of the term "super intelligence" in place ?of "artificial intelligence". As AI technology continues to advance, the ?two sides should step up exchanges and work toward ?consensus in line with new developments, it ?said.
The two sides also agreed to support each other in hosting the ?Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' me
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Sep 26, 2026
An intensifying early season nor'easter has arrived in the Northeast and is set to deliver a prolonged stretch of strong wind, soaking rain and coastal flooding to the region through the weekend.
More than 40 million people will feel the storm's impact through Sunday. Areas from Boston to the New York City metro and New Jersey are starting to see the storm's wind-driven rain and coastal flooding, conditions that will increase into Saturday. Strong wind could knock out power and down trees, especially on the immediate coast.
?? ?In the areas at risk? Track the storm, find out your local risk and get more detailed timing from meteorologists in the CNN Weather app ??
Here's what to know:
Power outages incoming: There were nearly 55,000 customers without power across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania by early Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us. More are expected as the wind and rain peak throughout the day. Gusts could hit 50 mph for the New York City area and 60 mph near Boston. The heaviest rain totals — up to 5 inches — are expected in eastern Massachusetts, including Boston. That's more than a month's worth of rain for the area.Battered shorelines: Tides are rising ahead of Saturday's full moon, worsening coastal flooding. Areas near the water in the New York City area could see up to 3 feet of inundation. Much of the Mid-Atlantic, from North Carolina to New Jersey, has experienced coastal flooding since Wednesday as the storm pushes ocean water into seaside communities and onto roads.Emergency operations: New York Gov. Kath
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Sep 26, 2026
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's three-day visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was filled with pomp and circumstance: a red-carpet arrival, a tour of the National Archives and a state dinner of yellow squash velouté and sesame crusted sea bass.
But the hearty welcome left a bad taste in the mouth of the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party," Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said on the Senate floor Sept. 22.
Wicker, one of a growing number of Republicans who have publicly disagreed with the president, may also strike a chord with voters who have told pollsters that the cost of living will be their top priority in the upcoming elections. Lopsided majorities have disapproved of Trump's handl
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Sep 26, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump has posted an image of the Strait of Hormuz labeled "Trump Strait" shortly after Iran proposed a deal to open the waterway within a week if the U.S. meets certain conditions.
Meanwhile, Iranian media outlets say the country's president has left New York after the United Nations gathering of world leaders that included Iran's indirect talks with the United States. And Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted another missile it blames on Iran -backed Houthis in neighboring Yemen.
Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.
Trump posts a map calling key waterway ‘Trump Strait'
Trump posted an image early Saturday morning on his Truth Social platform of the Strait of Hormuz labeled "Trump Strait," in the first public indication of his thinking after Iran proposed the new deal and suggested it might help Trump ahead of the midterm elections.
The White House on Friday said only that U.S. officials were having positive and constructive conversations with mediators on the Iran war. Earlier in the week, Iran held hours of indirect talks with the U.S.
Iranian outlets say the country's president has left New York
Semiofficial media outlets in Iran reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian has departed New York for Tehran after the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders.
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Sep 25, 2026
By Deepa Seetharaman, Raphael Satter and Jeff Horwitz
SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Two months after OpenAI disclosed the accidental hacking of Hugging Face, the ChatGPT maker is still working to understand the full scope of its rogue agent activity, two people briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The latest example came on Friday when OpenAI said its agents had leaked 53 images from ChatGPT users. OpenAI declined to say if the images were AI-generated or identified real people. It also declined to say when the ?images were posted.
The disclosure and researcher reports on Friday of other previously unknown activity involving several US agencies reveal a new area of privacy risk for the company, and illustrate how difficult it is even for an AI firm at the cutting edge of ?the technology to inventory all the unauthorized activity tied to its agents. OpenAI's ongoing battle also reflects a yawning gap between the strength of the models the company is testing and its capacity to oversee or even track their actions.
As of mid-September, one person briefed on the matter estimated that OpenAI had found roughly two dozen incidents of its agents acting ?in undesirable ways. But the number has continued rising as OpenAI teams sift through internal logs of the agents' activities and find previously unknown cases, the two people close to the company said.
OpenAI said its review would take months to complete given the scale of the work.
The company also said it had notified dozens of third parties about improper activity.
Most of the leaked images have been taken down and OpenAI said it was lobbying hosting providers to remove the rest.
OpenAI's agents had access to these images because the company relies on anonymized user data for part of its model-training process, according to the company, former employees and outside researchers. Enterprise data is not eligible for training, w
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Sep 25, 2026
By Deepa Seetharaman, Raphael Satter and Jeff Horwitz
SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Two months after OpenAI disclosed the accidental hacking of Hugging Face, the ChatGPT maker is still working to understand the full scope of its rogue agent activity, two people briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The latest example came on Friday when OpenAI said its agents had leaked 53 images from ChatGPT users. OpenAI declined to say if the images were AI-generated or identified real people. It also declined to say when the ?images were posted.
The disclosure and researcher reports on Friday of other previously unknown activity involving several US agencies reveal a new area of privacy risk for the company, and illustrate how difficult it is even for an AI firm at the cutting edge of ?the technology to inventory all the unauthorized activity tied to its agents. OpenAI's ongoing battle also reflects a yawning gap between the strength of the models the company is testing and its capacity to oversee or even track their actions.
As of mid-September, one person briefed on the matter estimated that OpenAI had found roughly two dozen incidents of its agents acting ?in undesirable ways. But the number has continued rising as OpenAI teams sift through internal logs of the agents' activities and find previously unknown cases, the two people close to the company said.
OpenAI said its review would take months to complete given the scale of the work.
The company also said it had notified dozens of third parties about improper activity.
Most of the leaked images have been taken down and OpenAI said it was lobbying hosting providers to remove the rest.
OpenAI's agents had access to these images because the company relies on anonymized user data for part of its model-training process, according to the company, former employees and outside researchers. Enterprise data is not eligible for training, w
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Sep 25, 2026
The White House has banned CNN reporters from flying with Donald Trump on Air Force One for his upcoming trip to Tennessee, the network says.
Despite a judge's order restoring CNN's access to the White House after Trump banned the network, along with MS NOW and Politico, from covering his daily activities, reporters are still being denied entry to certain events.
In the latest roadblock, the White House announced in a Friday night note detailing the president's schedule that CNN will not be allowed on Air Force One when Trump flies to Knoxville on Saturday for a college football game, the network reported.
CNN is part of a rotating press pool that covers White House events for major TV networks. No other outlet was listed to replace CNN in the memo, according to the network. Without a designated pooler, major networks won't be able to televise his trip.
The network's journalists were also stopped by a press wrangler when
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Sep 25, 2026
NAALEHU, Hawaii — Hurricane Nolo is forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane in the Pacific Ocean over the weekend and unleash intense rain, the possibility of life-threatening flash flooding and dangerous surf for Hawaii's Big Island.
Nolo was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said, as its outer rainbands hit the Big Island. Hurricane conditions are possible on the island, especially in areas with steep terrain, the weather service warned.
The storm was moving north-northwest at 10 mph on Saturday morning, but was expected to turn northeast and head toward Baja California Sur on Monday.
This marks the third hurricane in less than two months to whip past Hawaii (following Lala and Lowell). The active Pacific hurricane season is likely due to a record-setting El Niño — a natural climate pattern characterized by a rise in sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific, which can spawn more intense and frequent cyclones there.
Tess Kala, a South Point resident who grew up in the area, said the back-to-back storms are a shock to locals.
"Honestly, this is the first like, whoa, what happened? We had a lot of family and friends that have lived here all their lives through generations and neve
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Sep 25, 2026
A woman walks past a banner showing missiles being launched, in northern Tehran, Iran. (AP)
President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and told aides he expects U.S. bombing of Iran to resume after the November midterm elections, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported Friday that Trump has turned down Tehran's proposal, which would halt hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Under the proposal outlined by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz at the end of a seven-day period if Washington agreed to a series of conditions, including lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales, and observing a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.
Araghchi said Thursday that Iran had presented the plan to the United States through intermediaries and that implementation could begin once Washington accepted the terms.
The New York Times reported Friday that the proposal closely mirrors a memorandum of understanding reached by the United States and Iran in June but subsequently unraveled, although the new plan compresses the timetable for moving toward nuclear negotiations.
The latest proposal came as U.S. and Iranian officials have renewed indirect diplomatic contacts in New York during the United Nations General Assembly.
Reuters reported Thursday that U.S. and Iranian negotiators were exploring a phased arrangement under which Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz while Washington lifted its economic blockade of Iran.
The talks have includ
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Sep 25, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.
Trump's Office of Management and Budget described the funding cut as focused on "the most harmful government spending."
Most of the cuts are focused on Health and Human Services programs that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally. The administration says the funds are no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably.
Also targeted for cuts were a Department of Education program for migrant students, a Department of Justice office focused on reducing racial tensions, a business development initiative for minority entrepreneurs, housing counseling services from the Housing and Urban Development Department and a series of grants from the Health and Human Services Department that the administration called "outright harmful and blatantly ideological."
A White House press release announcing the funding rescissions notes that some of the organizations are led by people who worked in the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.
Trump's move was condemned by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican in a tough reelection campaign and chair
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Sep 25, 2026
[Anadolu via Getty Images]
Current and former FBI agents have spoken to BBC News of their shock, fear and anger following a hack that appears to have exposed the private and personal information of the agency's entire workforce.
"This is really bad for our undercover agents," says one former FBI agent, who fears for the safety of his colleagues.
The former cyber investigator is in a group chat with current agents who are worried their personal information could soon be freely available online to criminals and hostile nation-state hackers.
He says staff fear they could be targeted, or that criminals could use the data to create highly convincing phishing attempts, scams or demands for bribes.
The hacking group ShinyHunters is threatening to publish the stolen databases and documents within four days unless its demands are met.
Some agents are also concerned about the risk of physical attacks from cyber criminals they have investigated.
"One of the things we are discussing in the group chat is 'violence-as-a-service' attacks from young online gangs," says the former worker.
"They could use this information to harass an FBI agent who has worked on their cases."
Personal concernsGroups similar to ShinyHunters - believed to be an English-speaking gang - have in the past been linked to swatting incidents, and even petrol bomb attacks against law enforcement officers and rivals.
The group claims it breached FBI systems on Monday and later po
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Sep 25, 2026
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday turned away an attempt to use a new Missouri congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, putting an end to a long-running legal dispute as absentee voting is underway in the midterm elections.
The justices halted a federal appeals court ruling that would have revived the Republican-friendly map for the November elections, which will determine control of Congress. There were no noted dissents.
The Supreme Court instead let stand a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled earlier this month that a citizen petition prevents the new map from being used unless first approved by voters in a November referendum. The decision means Missouri residents will vote under the same congressional districts used in the 2024 and 2022 elections.
"At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos," the high court wrote in an unsigned opinion. "The District Court and Court of Appeals should not enjoin or otherwise prohibit the use of the 2022 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri."
Republicans had hoped the new House map — which already was used in the August primaries — could help them win an additional seat as part of a nationwide redistricting battle pushed by Trump to gain an edge in the midterms.
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Sep 25, 2026
MTV, the 45-year-old network and music video pioneer, was once the arbiter of cool. They played all the hottest new songs from some of the biggest stars the country has ever seen: Madonna, David Bowie, Michael Jackson and Prince. They ushered in the era of boy band domination and made a space for teen culture to thrive.
Now, MTV isn't dead, but it's more of a nostalgic icon than a network that people turn on to actively watch or listen to music. These days, you'll find seemingly endless reruns of the 49-season clip show Ridiculousness, which stopped making new episodes in 2025.
Gen X-ers and millennials remember MTV's former life fondly: They recall rushing home from school to catch Total Request Live. But somewhere between "Thriller" and Jersey Shore, the cable channel shifted its iden
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Sep 25, 2026
(Fernando Llano/Associated Press)
Cattle industry groups in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas warned Thursday that sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in southwest Kansas are delaying beef shipments and could push record retail prices even higher.
The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, and Texas Cattle Feeders Association said in a joint statement that thousands of fed cattle bound for slaughter had been sidelined, producing "millions of dollars in lost revenue and additional costs."
The groups reported workforce disruptions at feedyards, dairies, processors, feed and grain firms, and transportation hubs, and said the harm would linger for days and weeks after the raids conclude.
Federal agents swept through Dodge City, Garden City, and Liberal earlier this week.
The three southwest Kansas towns anchor a region that produces about 22% of the U.S. grain-fed beef supply, according to data from the Kansas Livestock Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
National Beef Packing Co., one of the country's largest processors, adjusted shift schedules at its Liberal plant.
Cargill, which also operates in the region,
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Sep 25, 2026
Dale Caldwell outside his home in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on 9 September.Photograph: Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock
Dale Caldwell, the lieutenant governor of New Jersey, resigned from his position on Friday, after the release of a report accusing him of sexually harassing a female staffer, among other ethics violations.
New Jersey's governor, Mikie Sherrill, announced on Friday afternoon that Caldwell had submitted his resignation to her earlier in the day.
The decision by Caldwell, 66, came one day after Sherrill called on him to step down after an investigation determined he violated state ethics rules and engaged in behavior that constituted sexual harassment.
Related: New Jersey datacenter fined $1.1m after visual investigation showed dozens of unpermitted generators
The 61-page report said it found credible evidence that Caldwell made romantic advances toward a female staffer's friend, tried to secure a promotion for his girlfriend and gave tickets to personal guests without reimbursement.
The New Jersey Globe was the first to report on Caldwell's resignation.
Thomas Calcagni, a lawyer for Caldwell, said in a statement they would "continue to forcefully challenge the report".
"Dr Caldwell's resignation, submitted to put an end to the targeted campaign to discredit his character, does not in any way diminish our outrage concerning the investigative process and its specious findings," Calcagni said. "Counsel is fully exploring all legal remedies to ensure a true, balanc
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Sep 25, 2026
Millions of people along the East Coast are bracing for a powerful nor'easter that is expected to bring heavy rain, damaging winds and coastal flooding from the Carolinas to Maine, forecasters say.
The storm, which formed off the mid-Atlantic coast, is expected to stall as it approaches the Northeast and New England, according to the National Weather Service, increasing the likelihood of flooding and beach erosion in parts of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
The Jersey Shore, Long Island and Cape Cod could see up to 3 feet of inundation, especially during high tides.
"This storm may be remembered for its destructive coastal flooding and severe beach erosion, especially along eastern Long Island and the Massachusetts coast," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.
The system has already caused coastal flooding in parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. A stretch of highway on North Carolina's Outer Banks was closed due to "severe overwash" on the roadway.
"We expect similar conditions to continue over the next few high tide cycles until the storm passes," North Carolina's Department of Transportation said on Facebook. "There is currently no timeline on reopening the highway."
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Sep 25, 2026
Hawaii's southern islands are bracing for a brush with Hurricane Nolo, the latest in a gauntlet of Pacific storms thrown at the state during a tropical season supercharged by this year's super El Niño.
Potentially life-threatening flooding and mudslides are again possible as the state faces its third impactful swipe from a hurricane in just six weeks.
Nolo rapidly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane Friday morning. The hurricane was about 185 miles south of Hawaii's Big Island moving generally north. Rapid intensification is an increase in maximum sustained wind speeds of at least 35 mph in 24 hours or less, and it's happening more frequently in a world warming due to fossil fuel pollution.
The Big Island will see the worst of Nolo's impacts as it continues to strengthen and makes its closest approach late Friday through Saturday local time. Extreme rain will be its most serious threat, but Nolo will also bring strong wind and dangerous seas.
??? Check your local forecast in the CNN Weather app
Hurricane Lala took a similarly close track to the Big Island in mid-August as a Category 1 storm and unleashed catastrophic flooding there. On the other side of the state, Hurricane Lowell delivered a blow to Kauai and Niihau in early September as a Category 2 storm.
H
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Sep 25, 2026
A new report on Charlie Kirk's assassination says his Turning Point USA organization insisted he speak outdoors despite security concerns, while the university where he was killed didn't properly assess dangers such as the possibility of a rooftop shooter.
Those were among the key findings in an after-action report released Friday by Utah Valley University. The external, independent review found that the university failed to conduct a formal security assessment, did not create a written event action plan and deferred critical decision making for the conservative activist's talk to Turning Point USA.
Kirk, 31, was killed on Sept. 10, 2025, by a sniper perched on a rooftop more than 400 feet (122 meters) away, authorities said. He had been debating students in an outdoor courtyard on the Orem, Utah, campus surrounded by tall buildings and elevated walkways, and with several thousand people in attendance.
The report makes nearly 150 recommendations, including hiring a police sergeant to focus on campus events and creating clear criteria for when events must be moved indoors or to more controllable venues because of crowd size and line-of-sight concerns.
In a statement, Utah Valley President Jon Anderson said the university has a responsibility to "learn from the findings of this review, and follow through on its recommendations."
"This requires humility, an honest examination of our policies and practices, and a commitment to act on what we learn," said Anderson, who took over as president last month. He added that
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Sep 25, 2026
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico jury on Friday found Facebook liable for deceiving users about privacy protections on the social media platform.
It is now up to the judge to determine how much the company would pay, with attorneys representing the state asking for the maximum $5,000 penalty per violation.
The two-week trial in Santa Fe centered on accusations that Facebook deceived users about a data breach stemming from a third-party personality quiz that harvested data from roughly 87 million profiles and sold it to a political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, to generate targeted ads. The now-defunct firm's clients included the 2016 campaign for Donald Trump.
Jurors sided with prosecutors, finding Facebook's failure to protect users' data impacted New Mexico's entire population of more than two million people.
Jurors also found Facebook misled the public about investigations into data brokers following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, finding the company liable for over two million violations.
During closing arguments, lawyers for Facebook claimed the state's evidence was outdated and that despite having five years to gather material, New Mexico failed to find more than one other instance of a data breach.
Meta agreed in August to pay up to $18 billion to settle the multistate lawsuit surrounding child safety issues. Buried in the 130-page settlement was an agreement to release Meta from future liability related to the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, making New Mexico the only state to pursue a case. Florida was the only other state that did not sign the settlement, saying it was not tough enough on Meta.
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Sep 25, 2026
By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The US Supreme Court revived on Friday an expanded immigration database that President Donald Trump's administration said aims to combat voting by noncitizens but critics contend could disenfranchise eligible voters.
The justices granted the Justice Department's request to block a judge's order that had stopped state officials ?from using Social Security numbers and other information to conduct sweeping checks of the citizenship status of registered voters against federal records.
The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. ?Its three liberal justices dissented from Friday's order.
The majority said the plaintiffs' arguments likely fail because federal law expressly authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to request and receive information relating to citizenship and immigration status from other agencies, ?including the Social Security Administration.
The administration's data-sharing arrangement is one in a series of actions boosting the federal government's involvement in voting ahead of November's midterm elections in which Trump's fellow Republicans seek to maintain control of Congress. The U.S. Constitution gives individual states the primary authority to run and administer elections.
The Department of Homeland Security last year redesigned a federal database known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, used to verify a person's citizenship and immigration status. The revamp allowed users to search many records at a time and to conduct searches using individuals' Social Security ?numbers.
Since then, several Republican-led states have compared their voter lists to ?the database, and some voters flagged as potential noncitizens have had their registrations canceled.
Critics say such election-related actions by Republicans are driven less by concerns over election security than by an attempt to gain poli
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Sep 25, 2026
A strengthening nor'easter moving up the East Coast on Sept. 25 is expected to last through the weekend, with deteriorating conditions spawning even stronger winds and coastal flooding.
The large-scale low-pressure storm system will bring more rain from North Carolina to New England, with significant impacts expected in the Outer Banks, New Jersey, Boston and New York City.
Power outages are likely, according to AccuWeather's latest forecast.
Nor'easters are named for the strong northeasterly winds that blow in from the Atlantic Ocean and across coastal states.
The strong storm, taking place through the weekend's full moon, will raise tide levels and lead to major coastal flooding, meteorologists predict. Pounding surf will cause "extensive beach erosion" from North Carolina to southern Maine. Dangerous rip currents will extend as far south as Florida's Atlantic coast, according to the forecast.
"This storm may be remembered for its destructive coastal flooding and severe beach erosion, especially along eastern Long Island and the Massachusetts coast," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.
Coastal flood warnings are in effect for Virginia Beach, Virginia; Dover, Delaware; and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The most severe flooding expected from the northern Out
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Sep 25, 2026
Meta launched Muse, its new AI agent, earlier this month — and it's already claiming to help some consumers save money.
At the 2026 Meta Connect conference, Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang spoke about Muse's ability to shop for products online, manage travel plans, save money on insurance costs, negotiate utility bills, and more.
Now, he's challenging people to use Muse to save them $1,000 in what he's dubbed the #MuseMoneyChallenge on X. With the agent's help, users can do everything from create a budget to cancel unused subscriptions.
Here's a closer look at Muse's personal finance capabilities, and some risks to weigh before handing over your financial information.
Read more: Meta's Zuckerberg says Muse AI agent will take small fee from transactions
What is Muse?Muse is Meta's personal AI agent. The company describes it as "an agent that takes on more of the work so people can focus on what matters to them."
Plenty of other AI agents exist today with features that allow users to help with tasks — whether that's setting up a work meeting on a shared calendar, writing code, or planning a summer vacation.
Instead o
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Sep 25, 2026
In a single day in January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent more money than it had on any other day in either of President Trump's terms, federal spending records show.
The agency advanced billions to Chicago Title Insurance in escrow to acquire detention facilities, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson. Over the next two months, ICE used $1.07 billion of the funds to purchase 11 warehouses it planned to convert to detention megacenters, seven of which the agency now plans to sell.
The rest of the money sat with the firm for months after ICE abandoned the warehouse plan. In July and August, ICE moved $2.2 billion from Chicago Title to purchase four detention facilities from CoreCivic, a private prison company it separately pays to continue operating them.
In its rush to expand detention capacity, ICE wasted millions of taxpayer dollars, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released Thursday. The agency failed to account for long-term costs in acquiring detention centers and lost $20 million in unrecoverable costs purchasing the warehouses it no longer plans to use, the review found. Even more could be lost if ICE sells the warehouses for less than what it paid for them, the GAO report said.
Barring any undisclosed purchases, $1.55 billion still sits with Chicago Title Insurance for acquiring detention centers as ICE continues its push to double the number of detention beds in service of the president's mass deportation agenda. Just this week, ICE awarded several companies contracts that could reach a
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Sep 25, 2026
A Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird strategic reconnaissance aircraft is pictured. The SR-71 is the fastest, highest flying air-breathing aircraft in the world, flying at more than three times the speed of sound at altitudes in excess of 80,000 feet.
A legendary spy plane has vanished from a California military base — it comes as NASA teases a mysterious new aircraft sparking speculation the two could be related.
The SR-71 Blackbird, tail No. 844, had been displayed for years at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, which is collocated with Edwards Air Force Base.
Satellite imagery indicates it has not been seen since at least May 17, according to Aviation Week defense editor Steve Trimble, who first reported the disappearance.
The spy plane had been displayed for years at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. Getty Images
The timing is hard to ignore. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman unveiled a silhouette resembling an SR-71 during last week's All-In Summit in Los Angeles while promising that the agency is rebuilding its fleet of experimental X-planes and pushing back into extreme-speed and high-altitude flight research.
"In the serv
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Sep 25, 2026
Watch: The world's two most powerful men just met. How did it go?
US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping exchanged warm words at a lavish White House state dinner but gave little indication of progress on pressing issues.
Xi stressed that they should ensure AI remain "under human control" and act "as responsible major countries", while Trump toasted a future of "harmony, peace and success" for both nations.
But tensions remain despite the diplomatic niceties, including over Taiwan - with Xi urging Trump earlier in the day to take the "correct position" on the self-governing island which Beijing claims, amid a weapons package paused by Trump.
Billionaire business leaders and US tech CEOs joined the leaders at the extravagant dinner late on Thursday.
Their arrival was marked by protesters shouting from just outside the White House gates, some of whom were arrested.
Trump lavished praise on Xi during his first visit to the US in over a decade, telling those attending the dinner that while the two countries had "different systems", they had "never gotten along better".
Xi meanwhile welcomed the "historic juncture" in US-China relations - and said both leaders' ambitions could "surely be mutually reinforcing".
"China and the United States must act as responsible major countries to meet the expectations of our peoples, keep pace with the trend of our times, and explore a new approach for major countries to get along with each other," he said.
While Xi said he and Trump had shared "in-depth exchanges and reached common understanding on many issues", little mention was made of the crucial matters which divide the leaders of the world's two most powerful countries.
China believes the US is trying to contain its rise as a superpower, and
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Sep 25, 2026
By Timour Azhari and Hatem Maher
RIYADH/CAIRO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani military chiefs are to discuss help for Saudi Arabia as it faces attacks by Yemen's Houthis, while Iraq further curtailed Iranian flights on Friday in line with US pressure, and an Iranian official threatened retaliation.
The Houthis have launched strikes on the Saudi-backed government in ?Yemen and repeatedly fired into Saudi Arabia, disrupting oil flows from the world's largest energy exporter, as part of a wider Middle East war that began with US and Israeli ?strikes on Iran on February 28.
The military escalation continued this week despite a push during the UN General Assembly in New York to revive diplomacy to end the conflict, which quickly spread to Lebanon and the Gulf in March before escalating ?in Yemen in recent weeks.
With talks stalled and during a lull in direct fire by the US and Iran, Washington had shifted tactics to extend the reach of its financial sanctions by targeting companies from third countries that do business with Iranian firms through "secondary sanctions".
Iranian airlines were barred from neighbouring countries including the United Arab Emirates and Oman on Thursday in response to new US sanctions, the first big impact of the shift.
On Friday, the three other Iraqi airports that operate flights to and from Iran joined Baghdad airport in suspending them, sources and state media said.
A flight ban, if sustained, could deepen Iran's isolation and worsen an economic crisis ?in the country, which is already facing a US blockade of its ?seaports.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, accused regional countries of "alignment with America" for blocking flights.
"If Iran does not have the possibility to fly and receive airport services, then no country in the region will have this possibility either," he said in a social media post.
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