week ending Sept 27

Fed Chair Powell: "No Risk-Free Path" - From Fed Chair Powell: Economic Outlook. Excerpts: In the labor market, there has been a marked slowing in both the supply of and demand for workers—an unusual and challenging development. In this less dynamic and somewhat softer labor market, the downside risks to employment have risen. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 percent in August but has remained relatively stable at a low level over the past year. Payroll job gains slowed sharply over the summer months, as employers added an average of just 29,000 per month over the past three months. The recent pace of job creation appears to be running below the "breakeven" rate needed to hold the unemployment rate constant. But a number of other labor market indicators remain broadly stable. For example, the ratio of job openings to unemployment remains near 1. And multiple measures of job openings have been moving roughly sideways, as have initial claims for unemployment insurance. Inflation has eased significantly from its highs of 2022 but remains somewhat elevated relative to our 2 percent longer-run goal. The latest available data indicate that total PCE prices rose 2.7 percent over the 12 months ending in August, up from 2.3 percent in August 2024. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core PCE prices rose 2.9 percent last month, also higher than the year-ago level. Goods prices, after falling last year, are driving the pickup in inflation. Incoming data and surveys suggest that those price increases largely reflect higher tariffs rather than broader price pressures. Disinflation for services continues, including for housing. Near-term measures of inflation expectations have moved up, on balance, over the course of this year on news about tariffs. Beyond the next year or so, however, most measures of longer-term expectations remain consistent with our 2 percent inflation goal. The overall economic effects of the significant changes in trade, immigration, fiscal and regulatory policy remain to be seen. A reasonable base case is that the tariff-related effects on inflation will be relatively short lived—a one-time shift in the price level. A "one-time" increase does not mean "all at once." Tariff increases will likely take some time to work their way through supply chains. As a result, this one-time increase in the price level will likely be spread over several quarters and show up as somewhat higher inflation during that period. But uncertainty around the path of inflation remains high. We will carefully assess and manage the risk of higher and more persistent inflation. We will make sure that this one-time increase in prices does not become an ongoing inflation problem. ... Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside—a challenging situation. Two-sided risks mean that there is no risk-free path. If we ease too aggressively, we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later to fully restore 2 percent inflation. If we maintain restrictive policy too long, the labor market could soften unnecessarily. When our goals are in tension like this, our framework calls for us to balance both sides of our dual mandate.

Jerome Powell Speech Highlights: US Fed Chair warns of inflation risks amid ‘too aggressive’ rate cuts --The United States Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, in his first speech on the US economic outlook since the interest rate cut earlier this month, said that if the Fed cuts rates ‘too aggressively’ then it poses inflation risks in the US economy. Jerome Powell addressed the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce event in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, on Tuesday, 23 September 2025. US Treasuries gained for the first time in five sessions after Jerome Powell reiterated his view that policymakers face a “challenging situation” in balancing risks to inflation and the labor market. Treasury yields fell two to four basis points across tenors, with the 10-year bond yield falling to 4.11%. Gold prices fell as investors booked profits after hitting a record high in the previous session, while markets weighed Jerome Powell’s cautious remarks on potential interest rate cuts, Reuters reported. Spot gold price slipped 0.3% to $3,753.22 per ounce. The US dollar edged up from its lowest level in close to a week, with traders expecting two more U.S. interest rate cuts this year, even after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a cautious tone on further easing overnight, Reuters reported. The US dollar index, which measures the currency against six major rivals, added 0.1% to 97.335. The dollar added 0.1% to 147.77 yen. The euro lost 0.1% to $1.1800.The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 88.76 points, or 0.19%, to 46,292.78, while the S&P 500 dropped 36.83 points, or 0.55%, to 6,656.92. The Nasdaq Composite closed 215.50 points, or 0.95%, lower at 22,573.47. Chairman Powell highlighted that the US government is collecting a good amount of revenue from the tariffs imposed on world nations, domestically from the imports that import items from other nations to be manufactured in the United States. “We're now collecting a good bit of revenue, government support, federal government putting a good chunk of revenue, $300-400 billion a year pace. The question is, who's paying for that? And the candidates that pay those tariffs would be the exporter, the foreign exporter, or someone on our shores,” The Fed Chairman said that the retailers and importers are not passing along the impact of the tariffs to consumers, so the inflation rate has been hovering at a moderate stage. “It's retailers and it's importers, and they're not passing along to consumers that much of the cost. So the actual effects on inflation have been quite modest in the authorities, it's a small amount,” said Powell.Powell indicated that the US inflation is expected to return to its non-tariff levels by well into next year after the one-time increase from the Trump tariffs is over. “Almost all the forecasts are for there to be a one-time pass through, which will go through the end of this year, well into next year, and then by the end of next year, a one-time increase from the tariffs will be done, and you'll get back to the non-tariff inflation levels much closer to our 2%,” said Chair Powell during the Q&A session. Powell reflected back to the committee on keeping the key interest rates unchanged, based on the inflation in the nation which was above the target before the rate cut earlier this month.“What we've done all year, this year is we've had policy, our policy rate has been tight because inflation has been above our targets, but the labor market was very solid,” said Powell.As the investors focus on the next US Fed meeting next month, towards the end of October, Powell said that the committee will be reviewing data carefully to understand if the FOMC is moving in the right way.“We'll be looking at the data very carefully, labor market data, growth data, inflation data, quantities of data that we get, and ask ourselves, is the policy in the right place?” said Powell, looking forward to the next US Federal Reserve meeting.Fed Chair Powell said that the FOMC committee will carefully assess and manage the risk to make sure that the one-time increase in prices does not become an ongoing problem in the US economy.“We will carefully assess and manage the risk of higher and overseas. Inflation will make sure that this one-time increase in prices does not become an ongoing problem,” said Powell. Powell said that raising interest rates too quickly could allow inflation to remain at an elevated level.“If we ease too aggressively, we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later to fully restore two-percent inflation,” said Powell in his speech.Powell said that even though the US economy is witnessing substantial changes in trade and immigration policies, the nation shows ‘resilience’. He even said that the impact of the immigration policies, along with other trade dynamics, will take some time to reflect.“The US economy is showing resilience in the midst of substantial changes in trade and immigration policies, as well as in fiscal, regulatory and geopolitical arenas. These policies are still emerging, and their longer-term implications will take some time to be seen,” said Powell in his speech..

Fed's Powell mum on future interest rate cuts -- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a speech Tuesday that the central bank's policy stance is "modestly restrictive," a stance that will give the central bank flexibility to react to an uncertain economic future.

Miran touts Trump policies, calls for lower rates in first Fed speech -Federal Reserve board of governors member Stephen Miran on Monday criticized his fellow central bankers for setting interest rates too high and touted several Trump administration policies he believed justified steep cuts. In his first speech since leaving the White House to join the Fed board, Miran defended his consensus-breaking vote for lower interest rates last week and said the bank was threatening the U.S. job market with its current level. Miran said that while the Fed’s current interest rate range may seem close to a level that neither stimulates nor restricts the economy, President Trump’s massive changes to taxes, trade and immigration have pushed down the true neutral level of interest rates. In other words, Miran argued, Trump has changed the economy in such a way that it requires much lower interest rates in order to keep growing. “It should be clear that my view of appropriate monetary policy diverges from those of other FOMC members,” Miran said, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting interest rates. “I view policy as very restrictive, believe it poses material risks to the Fed’s employment mandate, and would like to explain why.” The FOMC voted 11-1 last week to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, reducing borrowing costs for the first time this year. Only Miran, who until last week served as Trump’s top White House economist, opposed the move and instead called for a 0.5 percentage point cut. Miran is on temporary leave from his position as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) while serving out the remaining four months of a vacated term on the Fed board of governors. Democrats and some economists have described Miran’s presence on the Fed board and refusal to resign from CEA as clear violations of the bank’s independence. Throughout his Senate confirmation process, Miran insisted he would make interest rate decisions exclusively based on his own view of the economy, not Trump’s frequent calls for lower rates and tirades against other Fed officials. But the overlap between Miran’s view of the economy and his work for Trump was clear in his maiden speech as a Fed governor, in which he credited administration policies for reshaping the economy and cited research produced by the CEA under his watch. Miran said the combination of Trump’s mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and higher tariff revenues would sap enough energy from the economy to require significantly lower interest rates.

Fed's Bowman: 'Serious risk' of labor market deterioration --Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said in a speech Tuesday that steeper interest rate cuts should be on the table if the labor market continues to show signs of decline.

Fed's Schmid: Monetary policy is "where it needs to be" -- Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeff Schmid said that the central bank should continue its focus on curbing inflation, as the job market is "largely in balance."

Lone dissent at Sept. FOMC vote seen as 'good sign' -Prior to this week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, many onlookers thought a Trump-aligned and oppositional voting bloc could emerge, complicating the central bank's message. But the quarterly economic projections show that not to be the case.

• Key Insight: Out of 12 FOMC members, only Federal Reserve Gov. Stephan Miran dissented from the majority in this week's interest rate vote, suggesting far more unity among central bankers than was feared.
• Expert quote: "I think if Bowman and Waller had dissented along with Miran, you would have potentially had more pressure on the dollar and might have seen inflation expectations move higher," — Brian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco.
• What's at stake: If a Trump-aligned coalition emerges at the central bank, markets would likely question the Fed's future willingness to raise interest rates to tame inflation.

The fluctuating membership on the Federal Reserve Board this week led to some speculation that President Donald Trump's appointees could begin to coalesce into a voting bloc pressuring interest rates lower. But the September Federal Open Market Committee vote showed that's not the case. Newly appointed Fed Gov. Stephan Miran was the only Trump-appointed member to dissent on the 25-basis-point interest rate cut, instead calling for a 50-basis-point reduction. The remaining 11 members — including Trump-appointed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman — supported the quarter-point cut.

Filings warn of market chaos if Fed Gov. Cook is removed -- Seven filings were submitted in response to President Donald Trump's request for the Supreme Court to remove barriers from ousting Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook before litigation proceeds. Most filings argued for the Court to deny the president's application.

Supreme Court to hear case on regulatory independence -- The Supreme Court will hear a case in December that could overturn a longstanding precedent bolstering regulatory independence. Should the court strike down that precedent, it could have major implications for the independence of the Federal Reserve.

• Key insight: The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Slaughter v. Trump, a case challenging the president's removal of a Federal Trade Commission member earlier this year.
• Expert quote: "Our emergency docket should never be used, as it has been this year, to permit what our own precedent bars." — Justice Elena Kagan, dissenting from the majority in granting certiorari.
• What's at stake: The case offers the court an opportunity to strike down Humphrey's Executor v. United States, a 1935 case that found independent agencies whose members cannot be fired by the president but for cause as constitutional — an outcome with significant implications for the Federal Reserve.

The Supreme Court Monday afternoon granted certiorari in a case challenging the president's authority to fire members of independent agencies, and the outcome of the case could have profound implications for the independence of the Federal Reserve.

Ugly 5Y Auction Tails As Foreign Demand Shrinks - After a rather forgettable 2Y auction yesterday, moments ago the Treasury sold $70BN in yet another subpar coupon auction. The auction stopped at a high yield of 3.710%, down from 3.724% in August and the lowest since last September. It also tailed then When Issued 3.709% by 0.1bps, the 4th consecutive tailing 5Y auction in a row. The bid to cover was 2.34, down from 2.36 last month and just below the 2.36 recent average.The internals were also subpar, with Indirects awarded 59.42%, also below last month's 60.48% and well below the 66.9% recent average. And with Directs once again printing at an impressively high 28.6% (the Directs across all auctions have soared after Liberation Day), Dealers were left with just 11.9%, one of the lowest on record.In summary: after yesterday's subpart 2Y auction, today's sale of US debt was just as unremarkable, and not surprisingly the market was not impressed, with yields sticking to session highs after the break. The only silver lining: the auction wasn't too ugly to force a blow out in yields to session highs.

US economy expanded at a surprising 3.8% pace in significant upgrade of second quarter growth (AP) — An uptick in consumer spending helped the U.S. economy expand at a surprising 3.8% from April through June, the government reported in a dramatic upgrade of its previous estimate of second-quarter growth. U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — rebounded in the spring from a 0.6% first-quarter drop caused by fallout from President Donald Trump’s trade wars, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The department had previously estimated second-quarter growth at 3.3%, and forecasters had expected a repeat of that figure. The first-quarter GDP drop, the first retreat of the U.S. economy in three years, was mainly caused by a surge in imports — which are subtracted from GDP — as businesses hurried to bring in foreign goods before Trump could impose sweeping taxes on them. That trend reversed as expected in the second quarter: Imports fell at a 29.3% pace, boosting April-June growth by more than 5 percentage points. Consumer spending rose at a 2.5% pace, up from 0.6% in the first quarter and well above the 1.6% the government previously estimated. Spending on services advanced at a 2.6% annual pace, more than double the government’s previous estimate of 1.2%. “The U.S. consumer remained a lot stronger than many thought, even in the midst of a stock market sell-off and a lot of trade uncertainty,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, posted on social media. A category within the GDP data that measures the economy’s underlying strength came in stronger than previously reported as well, growing 2.9% from April-June, up from 1.9% in the first quarter and in the government’s previous estimate. This category includes consumer spending and private investment, but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending. But private investment fell, including a 5.1% drop in residential investment. Declining business inventories took more than 3.4 percentage points off second-quarter growth. Spending and investment by the federal government fell at a 5.3% annual pace on top of a 5.6% drop in the first quarter. Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at Santander, noted that GDP growth averaged 1.6% in the first half of 2025 and consumer spending 1.5% — “not great but much better than initially thought.” Since returning to the White House, Trump has overturned decades of U.S. policy in support of freer trade. He’s slapped double-digit taxes — tariffs — on imports from almost every country on earth and targeted specific products for tariffs, too, including steel, aluminum and autos. Trump sees tariffs as a way to protect American industry, lure factories back to the United States and to help pay for the massive tax cuts he signed into law July 4. But mainstream economists — whose views Trump and his advisers reject — say that his tariffs will damage the economy, raising costs and making protected U.S. companies less efficient. They note that tariffs are paid by importers in the United States, who try to pass along the cost to their customers via higher prices. Therefore, tariffs can be inflationary — though their impact on prices so far has been modest. The unpredictable way that Trump has imposed the tariffs — announcing and suspending them, then coming up with new ones — has left businesses bewildered, contributing to a sharp deceleration in hiring. From 2021 through 2023, the United States added an impressive 400,000 jobs a month as the economy bounded back from COVID-19 lockdowns. Since then, hiring has stalled, partly because of trade policy uncertainty and partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve’s inflation fighters in 2022 and 2023.

Bank economists say inflation, job market will deter growth -The American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee expects the economy to grow, albeit at a slower pace than it previously anticipated. The group pointed to stubbornly high inflation and a weakening job market.

CEO poll shows Trump economic policies are bad, but they’re too scared to speak up - When we talk about the economy, Donald Trump likes to paint himself as some sort of financial savior — the guy who knows how to make America rich again. But if you take a closer look, a different story emerges. And it’s not just political opponents saying this, it’s the people who actually run America’s biggest companies. According to a recent survey from the Yale School of Management, shared with Axios, “in private, the leaders of some of the country’s best-known companies say that a number of White House policies have been bad for their businesses — and possibly illegal.” Think about that. CEOs, the ones who usually play nice with Republicans, are whispering about how these policies are hurting them. And yet the Axios article says, “in public, business leaders are keeping relatively quiet, fearing retribution from President Trump.” Translation: the so-called “pro-business president” has corporate America too scared to say what they really think. Let’s talk about why. Tariffs — or as some like to call it, the Trump Turbulence Tax — were sold as a way to protect American jobs. But in practice they’ve been erratic, confusing and downright costly. One day the deadline shifts, the next day the rules change, and businesses are left scrambling. It’s not just annoying, it’s destabilizing. Seventy-one percent of CEOs surveyed in the Yale study said tariffs were directly harmful to their business. And 74 percent agreed with the courts that Trump’s tariffs were flat-out illegal as executed. Then there’s the Federal Reserve. Eight out of 10 executives said Trump was not acting in the country’s best interest by pressuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell to slash rates. On health care, 76 percent of them think policies under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are putting public health at risk. And let’s not forget the new $100,000 fee slapped on H-1B visas, making it harder for tech companies to hire global talent. So, what does this all add up to? Businesses are delaying investments, cutting back on hiring and watching costs climb. Consumers — meaning us — are paying more at the register. And the very foundation of our economy, confidence in the rule of law, is being chipped away.

A Few Comments on a Possible Government Shutdown - First, shutdowns are expensive, and many government employees continue to work (like the military), but don't get paid. In the past, all employees who didn't work were paid in full. Second, there will be an impact on GDP. Depending on the length of the shutdown, this will negatively impact GDP in Q4. Third, we will be flying mostly blind without reports on employment, inflation, housing starts and more. However, there will be some private data to fill the gap. Fourth, for housing, depending on the length of the shutdown, the impact would be on existing home closings in October. If the shutdown lasts for the entire month, I'd expect about a 10% decline in seasonally adjusted sales in October. If the shutdown only lasts a couple of weeks, there would probably be little impact. Some issues could be Tax transcripts, Flood Certs, and SS# Authorization. Also, a shutdown increases uncertainty, and that might push up mortgage rates (investors hate uncertainty).

Congress locked in game of shutdown chicken as funding deadline nears - Congress is cruising at a steady clip toward a government shutdown at the end of the month, with both parties — and both chambers — pointing fingers at the other while refusing to blink. Lawmakers from both chambers are in their home states this week after the House passed a GOP-crafted government funding bill that was swiftly rejected by the Senate, along with a competing proposal to keep the government open. Senators aren’t expected to return until Sept. 29, and House lawmakers not until October.The impasse has created a game of shutdown chicken, as Congress lurches toward the Oct. 1 deadline without a clear path forward and leaders of both parties dig in their heels and cast the blame across the aisle.“I don’t want a shutdown. The president of the United States doesn’t want a shutdown. Republicans in the Senate don’t want a shutdown,” said Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee. “If there’s a shutdown, it’s because Democrats wanted to shut it down.”Democrats responded in kind, arguing that Republicans control all the levers of power in Washington and, therefore, GOP leaders would be responsible for any shutdown that occurs. “We’ve heard all year how Republicans have a mandate, how Republicans have the presidency, how Republicans control the House, how Republicans control the Senate. Well, if that, in fact, is the case — as is the moment, temporarily — Republicans will own a government shutdown. Period. Full stop,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said.

Trump cancels White House meeting with Schumer and Jeffries despite risk of a government shutdown (AP) — President Donald Trump has abruptly canceled this week’s planned meeting with congressional Democratic leaders, refusing to negotiate over their demands to shore up health care funds as part of a deal to prevent a potential looming federal government shutdown. In a lengthy Tuesday social media post, Trump rejected the sit-down that the White House had agreed to a day before. It would have been the first time the Republican president met with the Democratic Party’s leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, since his return to the White House. “I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump wrote in the post. The president complained the Democrats “are threatening to shut down the Government of the United States” unless the Republicans agree to more funding for health care for various groups of people he has criticized. Trump did not close the door on a future sit-down with the Democratic leaders, but he warned of a “long and brutal slog” ahead unless Democrats dropped their demands to salvage health care funds. The stalemate over a funding deal — or even talks between the White House and Congress to strike a compromise — has quickly intensified the risk of federal closures, starting as soon as next week, ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline for the start of the government’s new fiscal year.

Trump’s bitterness with Chuck Schumer increases odds of shutdown -- Finding a deal this week to avoid a government shutdown will come down to a negotiation between President Trump and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), whose relationship is so bitter that lawmakers in both parties see little chance of an agreement. Trump is scheduled to meet with Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) this week on how to avoid the looming shutdown, a White House official told The Hill on Monday. While Jeffries is an important player, Schumer has more leverage because he proved last week that Senate Democrats have the votes to block any partisan funding measure passed by the House. It will take 60 votes to get anything through the Senate. The last time Trump and Schumer tried to negotiate something was at the start of August, when Republicans were trying to get more than 140 of Trump’s stalled executive branch nominees past a Democratic blockade in the Senate. It didn’t end well. Trump scuttled the negotiations by delivering a blunt directive to Schumer on social media: “Go to hell.” Schumer rips Trump on a near-daily basis on the Senate floor, accusing the president of being a wannabe dictator and serial liar who puts his own interests and even Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests ahead of what’s best for the United States. Senate Democrats slow-walked Trump’s lower-level executive branch nominees this year, refusing to confirm a single civilian nominee by unanimous consent or voice vote. The unprecedented obstruction of routine nominees resulted in Republicans invoking the “nuclear option” of changing the Senate rules. Trump dubbed the Senate Democratic leader “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer” early in his first term and mocked him again over the summer for repeatedly stepping on political land mines on crime, immigration and transgender rights. This has left observers decidedly pessimistic about their chances of reaching a deal. “Schumer and Trump, do they have an interest in and can they get together and do something? I think it’s very, very tough for Schumer. I think he’s got a left flank in his party that does not want to deal at all with Trump regardless of the merits of the issue,” said Republican strategist Vin Weber, a former member of the House who came to Congress in 1981, the same year Schumer came to Washington as a first-term House member. “He’s a very capable guy and would be capable of doing a deal, but I think that he’s prevented from doing one by the left flank of his own party,” he added. Schumer was the target of an angry backlash from progressives in March after he voted along with nine other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus for a six-month partisan funding bill passed by the House. Liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) blasted Schumer’s vote as a “tremendous mistake,” and she’s now eyeing a potential challenge to Schumer in New York’s 2028 Senate Democratic primary, according to a source who has spoken to her. Weber said he doesn’t see Trump making any significant concessions to Schumer, who has demanded Republicans agree to permanently extend the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced health insurance premium subsidies, something that would cost $350 billion over 10 years.

GOP, Democrats both see incentives in a shutdown that looks inevitable Congressional lawmakers and their aides are bracing for a shutdown that appears inevitable after President Trump canceled a meeting planned for Thursday with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.). Senate Democrats have said they cannot vote for any House-passed government funding bill if GOP leaders refuse to sit down and talk with them, but Republicans say there’s nothing to negotiate, framing next week’s vote on a “clean” continuing resolution to keep the government open as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. “I think there’s a 99 percent chance that there’s a shutdown. There just doesn’t seem to be any endgame for either party to get out of a shutdown,” said Brian Darling, a GOP strategist and former Senate aide. “Republicans want to show that they want to get their priorities funded, and I think the Democrats need to dig in and show that they can fight. I think both parties have an incentive from their base to shut their government down, it’s just a matter of how long,” he said. Trump has made it clear he’s not ready to offer any concessions to Schumer and Jeffries. He’s also prepared to make the shutdown as painful as possible for Democrats by prioritizing funding for Republican requests and shifting money from Democratic-leaning states to GOP strongholds. The White House on Wednesday stepped up its pressure on Democrats to back down and accept a House-passed stopgap funding measure by circulating a memo warning of mass layoffs. The memo directs agencies to use a shutdown as an “opportunity to consider reduction in force (RIF) notices to all employees in programs, projects or activities” if the funding for those programs lapses Oct. 1 and they are not “consistent with the president’s priorities.” Schumer responded with a statement calling it “an attempt at intimidation.” “Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one — not to govern, but to scare,” he wrote. Jonathan Kott, a Democratic strategist and former Senate aide, said Trump is provoking Democrats to block any Republican-drafted government funding bill by refusing to consider their requests to address rising health care costs, the issue Schumer has put at the center of the funding showdown. “If he won’t even sit down and meet to have a discussion, he is telling Congress, he is telling the American people he would rather shut down the government,” Kott said of Trump. Kott said Democrats can’t back down now, warning that if they agreed to a clean short-term funding stopgap after demanding concessions on health care, they would undermine any leverage they might have in November or December to negotiate a longer-term funding deal. “If the president of the United States won’t even meet with you in October, why would you think he would meet with you in November?” he said. “The fact that he won’t even take the meeting tells you everything you need to know.” Some centrist Democratic senators, however, privately wonder how much leverage Schumer and Jeffries have in the standoff. Republicans have proposed a “clean” seven-week stopgap funding bill, the same type of straightforward resolution Democrats passed 13 times when they controlled the Senate during former President Biden’s time as president. “How many of their darlings are we holding? Where’s our leverage? Identify what’s our leverage point,” said Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who is questioning Schumer’s hard-line strategy heading into the Sept. 30 deadline for keeping the government open. Fetterman warned that a shutdown could give Trump the same unfettered power to redirect funding, slash agency budgets and furlough workers that Schumer and other Democrats raised the alarm about when they voted for a partisan GOP funding bill in March. Fetterman thinks that’s why Republicans jammed the Senate with such a partisan funding bill in March. He believes they were trying to lure Democrats into the trap of a shutdown to give Trump more power. “I thought it was a honey trap back then; they were begging us to effectively do it,” he said. The Pennsylvania Democrat warned that a shutdown now would give Trump’s allies the same opportunity to tear the government apart. “Now this creates more opportunities to do all of those things that’s compatible with the [Project 2025] plan. I think that’s exactly what they want,” he said, referring to the conservative blueprint to overhaul the federal government. John Ullyot, a Republican strategist and senior adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign, said Republicans feel confident they’ll have the upper hand politically if federal departments and agencies shut down indefinitely. “I’d say it’s all up to Schumer. President Trump holds all the cards right now, and it looks bad for Democrats if they shut down the government. I think Schumer will blink at the last moment, because he knows the Democrats are really in a tailspin as a party right now and if they were to take this step right now, this would put them even further down in the political landscape for the next [election] cycle,” he said. “Schumer really has to look at this, and he doesn’t have a lot of cards to play. If he wants to shut down the government, then that’s something they’re going to have to answer for, and it isn’t pretty for the party,” he said. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Wednesday the Democrats’ funding demands are so outrageous that it’s not even worth Trump’s time to meet with them, backing the president’s decision to cancel Thursday’s leadership summit on the funding impasse. “The Democrats’ requests are completely unhinged and unreasonable and unserious, and if they want to have a serious conversation … I’m sure the president … would be happy to do that,” Thune said Wednesday during a CNN interview. “But at least right now, what they’re asking for to keep the government open for seven weeks is over a trillion dollars in new spending and all kinds of policy riders that never go on continuing resolutions,” he said. Senate Democrats last week unveiled an alternative continuing resolution to fund the government until Oct. 31 that would permanently extend the enhanced health care premium subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year — something that would cost $350 billion over 10 years — and restore nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding cut by the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Democrats have added language to unfreeze funding targeted by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, including the $5 billion in foreign aid he wants to claw back through a pocket rescission. Democrats have already voted down the seven-week continuing resolution passed last week by House Republicans, even though it kept current funding levels in place and didn’t include any poison-pill policy riders. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who has played a central role in crafting the Democratic funding strategy, argued Wednesday that Trump, not Democratic leaders, are being unhinged and unreasonable. “Here’s the truth: Republicans are forcing a shutdown because they won’t so much as sit down with Democrats to find a solution to fund the government & protect your health care,” she wrote on the social media platform X.

Cracks form among Senate Democrats as Trump threatens big shutdown layoffs - Cracks are starting to form in the Senate Democratic caucus over whether to hold the line against a seven-week clean government funding stopgap passed by the House, according to Democratic sources who say a threat by President Trump to lay off thousands of federal workers is changing the Democratic political calculus on a shutdown. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), who faces a potential primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2028, has made it clear he won’t vote for the House-passed GOP stopgap, but centrists in his caucus are looking for a way to avoid a catastrophic shutdown. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who plans to retire from the Senate at the end of 2026, has been “putting out feelers” to Republican senators about reaching some sort of deal or mutual understanding to avoid a government shutdown next week, according to a source familiar with her conversations with Senate colleagues. Shaheen told Semafor in an interview Wednesday that she sees “a number of ways” to avoid a government shutdown “that should satisfy both sides” and opened the door to voting for the House-passed stopgap next week when Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) brings it back to the Senate floor. “I’m not going to draw a line in the sand and say it’s got to be this way or that way,” she said. Democratic sources familiar with internal caucus discussions say there are a handful of Democratic senators who want to avoid a government shutdown, even though they have little room to maneuver given the hard line drawn by Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) against the House-passed continuing resolution. Senate Democratic sources say Trump’s threat to use the shutdown as a justification to order agencies to fire federal employees working for programs that are “not consistent with the president’s priorities” raises tough questions about whether it’s worth triggering a shutdown to put pressure on Republican leaders to make concessions on health care spending. Schumer on Wednesday dismissed a memo from the White House budget office directing agencies to use a shutdown as “an opportunity to consider reduction in force (RIF) notices” as something that would be overturned by the courts. “This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government. Their unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as today,” Schumer said in a statement late Wednesday. But Democrats who are wavering over Schumer’s pleas to hold the line against the Republican funding bill are worried about how the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority and a recent history of handing down rulings in Trump’s favor, will ultimately come down on the issue. Only a small number of the hundreds of lawsuits filed against the Trump administration have reached the Supreme Court, which on Monday cleared the way for Trump to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission. The court signaled it would reconsider a nearly century-old precedent limiting executive power over independent agencies. A Senate GOP aide confirmed bipartisan talks are underway outside the Democratic leadership to find a way to pass a clean, short-term funding bill before Tuesday night. “There is a small handful of intelligent Democrats who don’t want to see the government shut down [and] are working behind the scenes,” the source said.

Putin Offers To Extend New START Treaty for One Year - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday offered the US a one-year extension of New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia, which is set to expire in February 2026.The New START treaty limits the number of nuclear warheads and delivery systems the two powers can deploy, and Putin said that Russia would abide by those limits if the US reciprocates. If the treaty expires without an extension or replacement, there will no longer be any constraints on the deployment of US and Russian nuclear weapons.“The New START Treaty will expire on February 5, 2026, signaling the imminent end of the last international accord directly limiting nuclear missile capabilities. A complete renunciation of this treaty’s legacy would, from many points, be a grave and short-sighted mistake,” Putin said ahead of a meeting of his Security Council, according to RT.In 2023, Russia said it was suspending participation in New START, citing US support for Ukrainian attacks on Russian facilities housing nuclear weapons. However, both the US and Russia stated that they would continue to abide by the limits set by the treaty, and Putin has now offered to extend that arrangement to facilitate further diplomacy.“In order to prevent the emergence of a new strategic arms race and to preserve an acceptable degree of predictability and restraint, we consider it reasonable to maintain at this turbulent time the status quo established under New START. Accordingly, Russia is prepared to continue observing the treaty’s central quantitative restrictions for one year after February 5, 2026,” he added.Putin said he ordered Russian agencies to “maintain close oversight of American activities related to the START arsenal.” He called for a focus on “US plans to expand strategic components of its missile defense system, including preparations for the deployment of interceptors in outer space,” referring to President Trump’s plan to establish a major new missile defense system for the US, dubbed the Golden Dome. Russia has previously warned that the missile defense project could start a new arms race.“We believe that the practical implementation of such destabilizing measures could nullify our efforts to maintain the status quo in the field of strategic offensive arms. We will respond appropriately in this case,” Putin said.

Donald Trump: NATO countries should shoot down Russian planes if they enter airspace - President Trump said Tuesday that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter their airspace. “Yes,” Trump told reporters when asked if NATO countries should shoot down Russian planes. The president made the remarks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Trump’s remarks come amid an increase in Russian drone activity in NATO airspace in recent weeks as Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on in its third year. Earlier this month, the Polish military and NATO allies downed multiple Russian drones in Polish airspace.Trump reacted to the incident by saying, “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones?” on his Truth Social platform, adding, “Here we go!” Russian fighter jets also flew into Estonian airspace on Friday. In response, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal invoked Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which allows members to raise concerns regarding territorial integrity or political independence to other NATO countries. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called the incident “an unprecedented and brazen intrusion — clear proof of Russia’s growing aggression,” in a Friday post on the social platform X.

Trump Says NATO Should Shoot Down Russian Aircraft That Enter Their Airspace - President Trump said on Tuesday that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter their airspace, comments that come as tensions are soaring between Moscow and the Western military alliance in Eastern Europe.The president made the comments when meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City. “Yes, I do,” Trump said when asked if NATO should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter its airspace.His comment came on the same day that NATO held Article 4 talks over allegations from Estonia that Russian jets had, for 12 minutes, entered the airspace of Vaindloo, anuninhabited island in the Gulf of Finland that belongs to Estonia and is located approximately 15 miles north of the country’s coast.For its part, Russia has called Estonia’s allegations baseless, and the Russian Defense Ministry stated that the jets were on a scheduled flight to Kaliningrad, claiming that the “flight path lay over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, more than three kilometers from the island of Vaindloo.”During the NATO Article 4 consultations on Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte acknowledged the Russian jets posed no threat. “In the latest airspace violation we discussed today in Estonia, NATO forces promptly intercepted and escorted the aircraft without escalation, as no immediate threat was assessed,” he said.When asked if NATO would shoot down any manned or unmanned Russian aircraft that enters its airspace, Rutte said, “Decisions on whether to engage intruding aircraft, such as firing upon them, are, of course, taking in real time, are always based on available intelligence regarding the threat posed by the aircraft, including questions we have to answer like intent, armament and potential risk to Allied forces, civilians or infrastructure.” While NATO countries recently shot down drones in Poland, which they alleged were launched by Russia, shooting down a manned jet would mark a significant escalation and could lead to a full-blown war between the alliance and Russia, which could quickly turn nuclear.

Trump Blasts Allies and Rivals Over Russian Oil at U.N. -- President Donald Trump used his return to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to lash out at both allies and rivals over continued purchases of Russian energy, saying countries buying oil and gas from Moscow are “funding the war against themselves.”Trump singled out China and India as the “primary funders” of Russia’s war in Ukraine, while mocking NATO members still importing Russian crude and LNG more than three years after the invasion. “Who the hell ever heard of that one?” Trump said. “Even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy, and I wasn’t happy when I found out two weeks ago.”European imports of Russian pipeline oil have collapsed since 2022, but Hungary and Slovakia continue buying, while France, Belgium, and Spain still import Russian LNG under long-term contracts. Trump widened his criticism this week to include those LNG purchases. The president threatened a “very strong round of powerful tariffs” on Russia if no peace deal materializes, but stressed the measures would only work if Europe joined in. “You’re much closer to the city,” he told the Assembly. “We have an ocean in between. Europe has to step it up.” The tariff threat comes as Trump’s own administration tries to smooth tensions with India, one of Russia’s biggest oil buyers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested this week that Washington may adjust the 25% duties it slapped on Indian crude imports, calling India “critical” to U.S. strategy even as it keeps taking Russian barrels.Trump, meanwhile, kept the heat on Europe. He said he will meet EU leaders in New York this week to demand they stop buying Russian gas and LNG. “Europe has to step it up,” he told the Assembly. “Otherwise, we’re all wasting a lot of time.”

Trump criticizes European allies in U.N. speech: "Your countries are going to hell" --President Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, the 80th anniversary of the world body. The president criticized European allies over green energy, immigration and other issues. Mr. Trump also blasted the U.N. as a whole, asking, "What is the purpose of the United Nations?" Mr. Trump said in a social media post after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he believes Ukraine can win back all its territory from Russia "in its original form," with support from Europe. After several key Western allies of the United States announced before the U.N. General Assembly meeting that they would recognize a Palestinian state, Mr. Trump said that would embolden Hamas. "The rewards would be too great," Mr. Trump said, adding, "Instead of giving in to Hamas' ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: Release the hostages now." Mr. Trump said the prolonged war in Ukraine is making Russia "look bad," saying it was supposed to be "just a quick little skirmish." While in New York, Mr. Trump is expected to meet with the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union, among others. The president began meeting with Middle East leaders shortly after 4 p.m., and said it was a "very important meeting having to do with Gaza." The president is sitting down with the leaders of Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as Indonesia. Representatives for the Israelis and Palestinians were not present. "We want to end the war in Gaza. We're going to end it," Mr. Trump said, adding, "maybe we can end it right now." The president said life in the Middle East is beautiful but "much more beautiful without wars." "This is my most important meeting," he added. ..

Trump Claims Ukraine Can Retake All Territory Captured by Russia, May Be Able to 'Go Further' - President Trump claimed on Tuesday that Ukraine could retake all of the territory Russian forces have captured since the February 2022 invasion and may be able to “go further,” suggesting he’s willing to back the idea of a Ukrainian invasion of Russia.“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” the president said in a long post on Truth Social.“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win,” the president added.Trump said that Russia looked like a “paper tiger” and that Ukraine was “getting better.” His comments reflect the opinion of his special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who recently claimed the US could “kick Russia’s ass” and insisted Ukraine could win the war despite Russia’s continued gains in eastern Ukraine and its clear manpower advantage.Trump said in his post that Ukraine could “be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!” The president also claimed that Russia and Putin were in “big” economic trouble, though there’s no sign that threats of new US sanctions or tariffs will have any impact on the war. “In any event, I wish both Countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!” the president said at the conclusion of his post. Trump’s comment that the US will continue to supply “weapons to NATO” refers to the new initiative under which US allies are providing the funds for US weapons that will be shipped to Ukraine. Reuters reported last week that the Trump administration approved the first weapons packages that will be drawn from US military stockpiles under the initiative, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). Trump has justified his continued support for the proxy war, which he pledged to end while on the campaign, by pointing to the fact that NATO countries are now funding US weapons shipments. But the US recently approved a cruise missile deal for Ukraine that will be partially funded by the US, and the Trump administration has continued arms shipments that were previously approved by President Biden.

Report: Trump Was Made Aware of Ukrainian Counteroffensive Plan That Requires US Intelligence Support - President Trump was made aware of a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive that requires US intelligence support before he posted a long statement on Truth Social where he insisted that Ukraine could retake all of the territory Russia has captured since 2022 and may even be able to go further, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.US officials told the Journal that the president made the post after spending time with his special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and Mike Waltz, his former national security advisor who now serves as the US ambassador to the UN. Kellogg recently said the US could “kick Russia’s ass” and insisted Ukraine could win the war despite Russia’s continued gains in eastern Ukraine and its clear advantage with manpower and industrial capacity.US officials said that Trump issued the statement in part to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a deal since there has been little progress since last month’s Alaska summit. But Putin and other Russian officials have made clear they’re prepared to continue the war until Ukraine agrees to their terms, and the Kremlin has brushed off Trump’s comments. “The fact that Ukraine is being encouraged in every way to continue hostilities and the idea that Ukraine can win something back is, in our view, a mistake,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “The situation on the front lines speaks for itself.” Peskov also said that it was clear Trump’s comment that Russia was a “paper tiger” was influenced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and that Russia would make its position known to the US. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.Zelensky addressed the General Assembly on Wednesday and made an appeal for countries to provide him with more weapons to fuel the conflict. “If a nation wants peace, it still has to work on weapons. It’s sick – but that’s the reality. Not international law, not cooperation – weapons decide who survives,” he said.

Russia Says It's Awaiting US Response to Putin's Offer To Extend New START Treaty - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia was awaiting the US’s response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to extend the New START treaty for one year. The New START treaty limits the number of nuclear warheads and delivery systems that the US and Russia can deploy and is set to expire in February 2026. New START is the last nuclear arms control treaty between the two powers, and there’s been no work on negotiating a replacement treaty.In a statement on Monday, Putin offered to continue abiding by the limits for another year if the US reciprocates as a way to make room for diplomacy. Peskov said that participants in the Global Atomic Forum, an event held as part of Russia’s World Atomic Week in Moscow, were pleased with Putin’s offer to the US.“Overall, everyone welcomes Russia’s approach and Putin’s initiative. So we’re waiting for the other side’s reaction,” Peskov said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.Arms control between the US and Russia has collapsed over the past few decades as the US has unilaterally withdrawn from several treaties, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which the US left in 2019.Russia recently announced that it is no longer bound by a self-imposed moratorium on the deployment of INF missiles, as the US has developed and deployed a new missile system that would have been banned by the treaty.

Trump warns European recognition of Palestinian state rewards Hamas -President Donald Trump sharply criticized a wave of European nations that recently recognized a Palestinian state, warning that such moves reward Hamas and encourage continued conflict in Gaza. "As everyone knows, I have also been deeply engaged in seeking a ceasefire in Gaza. Have to get that done. You have to get it done," Trump said. "Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace. We can’t forget Oct. 7, can we? Now, as if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state… this would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7." His remarks came one day after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his nation would recognize a Palestinian state, hosting a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly along with Saudi Arabia on a two-state solution. Several other longtime Israeli allies — the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada — did the same on Sunday, citing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and expanding settlements and violence by settlers in the West Bank. The U.S. remains squarely on the side of Israel, and Trump said such recognition undermines efforts to free hostages held in Gaza and risks emboldening Hamas. "Even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept the ceasefire, instead of giving to Hamas and giving so much because they’ve taken so much, they have taken so much. This could have been solved so long ago," Trump said. "Instead of giving in to Hamas as ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: release the hostages now. Just release the hostages." Trump said he always knew the last 20 remaining hostages would be "the hardest" to get back — but said the bodies of the deceased were just as important to reclaim. "Those parents came to me and they want them back… as though they were alive. They want them every bit as much as if their son or daughter were alive."

Trump tells UN General Assembly climate change ‘greatest con job’ on world -- President Trump on Tuesday claimed climate change was “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” as he used his speech to the United Nations to bash efforts to reduce carbon emissions and move toward clean energy. “It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world in my opinion. Climate change, no matter what happens you’re involved in that,” Trump said at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong,” Trump continued. “They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same counties no chance for success.” Trump called the idea of a carbon footprint “nonsense” and a “hoax made up by people with evil intentions.” And he urged nations to move away from efforts to shift their economies toward investments in clean energy. “If you don’t get away from this green scam your country is going to fail,” Trump said. “And I’m really good at predicting things.” The president has for years cast doubt on the effects of climate change, which experts have warned could have catastrophic environmental impacts if nations do not take steps to mitigate it. His administration has quickly moved in the early months of his second term to slash environmental regulations. The administration announced in July it would exempt dozens of chemical manufacturers, oil refineries, coal plants, medical device sterilizers and other polluters from Clean Air Act rules.

Trump claims claims ‘sabotage’ at U.N. from escalator, teleprompter and mic - President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he was the victim of a "triple sabotage" at the United Nations a day earlier, where an escalator, teleprompter and microphone all failed to work for him."A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social."This wasn't a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN," wrote Trump, whose post was tweeted by the White House.Trump, who said he was sending his post to U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to demand an investigation, wrote that an escalator he and First Lady Melania Trump were boarding at the U.N. on Tuesday "came to a screeching halt" as he headed to make a speech to the General Assembly."It stopped on a dime. It's amazing that Melania and I didn't fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first," Trump wrote. "It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster.""All security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button. The Secret Service is involved," he wrote. Then, Trump's teleprompter did not work for the first portion of that speech, forcing him to read from paper for 15 minutes until the machine kicked in."The good news is the Speech has gotten fantastic reviews," Trump wrote. "Maybe they appreciated the fact that very few people could have done what I did."But unfortunately for some people in the room, the president noted, "after making the Speech, I was told that the sound was completely off in the Auditorium where the Speech was made.""World Leaders, unless they used the interpreters' earpieces, couldn't hear a thing," Trump wrote."The first person I saw at the conclusion of the Speech was Melania, who was sitting right up front. I said, 'How did I do?' ""And she said, 'I couldn't hear a word you said.'"

Trump UN escalator snafu: White House wants investigation -- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt fumed Tuesday that if anyone at the United Nations "intentionally" stopped an escalator right before President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stepped onto it, "they need to be fired and investigated immediately." Leavitt's demand on X came hours after an escalator at the UN abruptly halted just as the Trumps got on it shortly before he delivered a speech to the General Assembly in New York. Leavitt's demand on X came hours after an escalator at the UN abruptly halted just as the Trumps got on it shortly before he delivered a speech to the General Assembly in New York.Leavitt's tweet referenced a report in a British newspaper, The Times.The paper on Sunday said that UN staff members, to mark Trump's arrival, "have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators and simply tell him they ran out of money, so he has to walk up the stairs."The press secretary wrote, "If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately."But a UN official earlier Tuesday said that a person traveling with Trump inadvertently hit the stop lever on the escalator, causing its sudden halt, the Associated Press reported.. Trump mentioned the mishap and a faulty teleprompter to mock the quality of the UN headquarters as he complained that his prior effort to win a contract to renovate the buildings there had been rejected. Trump began his speech reading from paper because the teleprompter was not working. "Many years ago, a very successful real estate developer in New York, known as Donald J. Trump, I bid on the renovation and rebuilding of this very United Nations complex," Trump told the GA in his speech. "I said at the time that I would do it for $500 million, rebuilding and everything, it would be beautiful," Trump said. "I used to talk about, 'I'm going to give you marble floors, they're going to give you terrazzo,'" he recalled. "'I'm going to give you the best of everything, you're going to have mahogany walls. They're going to give you plastic.'" "I realized that they did not know what they were doing when it came to construction," Trump said. He said that the UN ultimately decided to go in "another direction," which was "much more expensive at the time" and "produced a far inferior product. "These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter," Trump cracked. The UN official who spoke to the AP noted that the president's team was responsible for operating the teleprompte In 2005, Trump asked a U.S. Senate committee to allow him to manage renovations of the UN, a request that was ultimately denied. In his speech to world leaders on Tuesday, Trump criticized their global organization, accusing the UN of operating with "empty words, and empty words don't solve wars." "The UN has such tremendous potential, I've always said it," Trump said. "All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter, and then never follow that letter up; it's empty words," he continued.

Macron calls Trump over blocked NYC streets, walks 30 minutes through city -French President Emmanuel Macron called President Trump on Monday over blocked streets in New York City, and eventually had to walk for half an hour through the city to get to his destination. Macron and other French officials were trying to cross the street but were told the area was closed off due to the VIP motorcade passing by. Macron told the police officers that he had 10 people with him and was looking to go to the French Embassy. The French president was at the United Nations, where he formally announced earlier in the day that France would recognize the independent state of Palestine. “I’m sorry, Mr. President, I’m really sorry. It’s just that everything’s been frozen right now. There’s a motorcade coming right now, that’s why,” the police officer said, according to a video recorded by Reuters. “If you don’t see it, let me cross,” Macron told the police officer. “I negotiate with you.” “How are you?” Macron said as he got Trump on the line. “Guess what? I’m waiting in the street because everything is frozen for you!” Later during the call, Macron told Trump he would “love” to have a discussion with the president and Qatar about the “situation in Gaza.” The French Embassy in Washington, D.C., told The Hill on Tuesday that it is a “good thing that our presidents have each other on speed dial. … If you’ve ever had to walk through NYC during UNGA, this is 100 percent #relatable content.”

The EU Won't Be Able To Keep Its Promise To Buy "Vast Amounts" Of US Weapons - Geopolitics has taken precedence over economics.That’s a theme we’ve been pushing in this Global Daily for a great number of years. Yesterday’s events proved no different. So instead of discussing the latest report from the OECD on the global economy, or the latest statement from (any) central bank, we start with the NATO statement, which met for the second time in two weeks to discuss matters under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty. This time it was at the behest of Estonia, whose airspace was violated last Friday by three armed Russian jets. The statement said that NATO expresses its “full solidarity with all Allies whose airspace has been breached. Russia bears full responsibility for these actions, which are escalatory, risk miscalculation and endanger lives. They must stop.” The statement went on to warn that “Russia should be in no doubt: NATO and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions. We will continue to respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing. Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad.” If we compare the choice of language in this statement to the text read by NATO Secretary General Rutte following the Polish drone incident two weeks ago, which was mostly about NATO’s readiness, vigilance and resolve to defend “every inch of Allied territory” – one can see this is a step-up in the strength and specificity of the wording used. And then, on the heels of that NATO statement came the assertion by Denmark’s PM Mette Frederiksen – following ‘drone incidents’ reported earlier that day at Oslo and Copenhagen airports – that the incident at Copenhagen was a “serious attack” on Danish critical infrastructure, adding that she couldn’t “rule out that it is Russia” who is behind this. If confirmed, would that be sufficient for a third NATO gathering? And if so, what wording would be used in their third statement? Or could NATO’s next step be a more forceful token rather than putting out another warning text? US President Trump may not stand in the way, it seems. In his address to the UN, the President lashed out at the institution, claiming that the UN does nothing to stop the world’s problems. But his most remarkable comment perhaps was about Ukraine. The US president stated that Ukraine was in a position to reclaim all territory lost to Russia, with help from the EU. That’s a big shift in stance. He also said that NATO should shoot down Russian aircraft that violate their airspace. On that note, the president also reiterated his earlier call on Europe to stop buying Russian oil, adding that the US will join in secondary sanctions on remaining buyers of Russian energy. Trump backs Ukraine to win the war against “paper tiger” Russia and says they can take back all territory and “maybe even more!” “We have great respect for the fight that Ukraine is putting up. It's pretty amazing actually.”

Syria's Former al-Qaeda Chief Arrives in New York, Sits Down With Former CIA Director - Syria’s de facto president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader, arrived in New York City on Sunday, where he will attend the UN General Assembly, making him the first Syrian leader to do so since 1967.On Monday, Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attended the Concordia Summit, where he sat down with Ret. US Army Gen. David Petraeus, who was the CIA Director from 2011-2012, when the US began a covert CIA campaign, known as Operation Timber Sycamore, to funnel weapons into Syria that ended up in the hands of the country’s al-Qaeda affiliate.Sharaa had founded Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate, known as the al-Nusra Front, in 2012. Before that, he fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq and was imprisoned by US forces for several years, something Petraeus pointed out when he spoke with the Syrian leader. “The fact is, we were on different sides when I was commanding the surge in Iraq. You were, of course, detained by US forces for some five years, including, again, when I was the four-star there. And here you are now as the president of Syria, which your forces liberated from the murderous Bashar al-Assad regime, to participate in your first UN General Assembly,” Petraeus said. The former CIA chief continued, “Earlier this year, you met the president of the United States among many other world leaders. Please help us understand how you got from al-Qaeda in Iraq 20 years ago to where you are today, Syria’s head of state on stage in New York City.”Sharaa replied through a translator,” It is good, at a time we were in combat, and we now move to discourse. We moved from war to discourse. Someone who went through war is one who knows the importance of peace … we can not judge the past based on the rules of today, and we can not judge today based on the rules of the past.” The former al-Qaeda chief added, “There was an occupation of Iraq, there has been a lot of conflicts in the area, in Palestine. Syria was facing a lot of challenges. The phase at that time, all of these factors were contributing to the choices of that phase. What’s important, the intent was clear when it comes down to protecting and defending people, and defending human rights, the women, the children, from the injustice that was taking place in the region. Perhaps there were some mistakes. Sometimes in a person’s journey, there are some mistakes, but what’s important is to focus on defending people … Our commitment to that line is what brought us here today, sitting here among allies and friends.” At one point in the conversation, Petraeus said that he was a “fan” of Sharaa and asked the Syrian leader if he had been getting enough sleep. After stepping down from the CIA in 2012, Petraeus advocated for backing the al-Nusra Front against ISIS in Syria.“We should under no circumstances try to use or coopt Nusra, an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, as an organization against ISIS,” Petraeus said in 2015. “But some individual fighters, and perhaps some elements, within Nusra today have undoubtedly joined for opportunistic rather than ideological reasons: they saw Nusra as a strong horse, and they haven’t seen a credible alternative, as the moderate opposition has yet to be adequately resourced.” The former CIA chief said that the US should ask if it could “peel off so-called ‘reconcilables’ who would be willing to renounce Nusra and align with the moderate opposition.”

Syrian President Sharaa Says 'We Are Scared' of Israel, Warns Talks Have Stalled - Reports on the progress of the security talks between Israel and Syria continue to be heavily conflicting. Last week, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa seemed optimistic about the possibility that a deal could be reached in a matter of days. In comments late Tuesday, he said the talks had reached an advanced stage but that the Israeli side seemed to be stalling on further progress. Israel was said to be pushing a “maximalist” position whereby they would keep some of the territory seized in their December invasion, Syria’s ability to position military in the southwest of their country would be seriously curtailed, and they would need to impose a Syria-only no-fly zone in that area, while granting Israel an air corridor for attacking Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested the idea of withdrawing troops from the Syrian demilitarized zone was “a joke.”In further comments made at the Middle East Institute, Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader, dismissed the idea of Syria posing any threat to Israel, saying, “We are not the ones creating problems for Israel. We are scared of Israel, not the other way around.” At the UN General Assembly, Sharaa faulted Israeli strikes as contradicting the international position on supporting Syria. He further said Syria remains committed to the 1974 disengagement of forces agreement.Israel has repeatedly suggested Sharaa’s Islamist government poses a threat, though Sharaa’s faction, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was courting Israel as an ally before they seized power, even though that seizure was immediately followed by an Israeli invasion.Initially seizing parts of the demilitarized zone, Israel has moved deeper and deeper, and is now regularly moving into towns and villages in Quneitra and Daraa Governorates. Today, Israeli military vehicles moved into the village of Saida al-Golan, and established a military checkpoint near Samadaniyah.Though Israel isn’t actively occupying most of the Syrian towns and villages in the area, it raids them intermittently, searches homes seemingly arbitrarily, and detains civilians on unclear pretexts. Israeli reconnaissance planes have also been reported flying over Quneitra.

Barrack Says Lebanon Not Taking ‘Concrete Action’ on Hezbollah, Israel Won’t Withdraw - In a Sunday interview, US envoy Tom Barrack accused Lebanon of not taking “concrete actions” to disarm Hezbollah, saying that all they do is talk, and that Israel will absolutely not withdraw from locations inside southern Lebanon that they’ve occupied since last year’s invasion. During the interview, Barrack claimed Hezbollah was rebuilding its strength. Declaring both Hezbollah and Iran as enemies, he further declared “we need to cut off the heads of these snakes and stop their funding.”Despite that, Barrack also said that the US would not directly attack Hezbollah, “neither with our own forces nor through CENTCOM.” Since CENTCOM is the US military’s arm in the region, it’s not clear why he mentioned them separately.The US wasn’t directly attacking Hezbollah in the first place, but rather giving Israel diplomatic cover and support while they attacked Lebanon. That has continued in spite of the ceasefire, with the US never objecting publicly, and indeed reports are that yesterday’s Israeli attack may well have killed US citizens including children, though the State Department is trying to dispute that.While Israel continues the strikes, there are also reports that they are threatening to escalate further into an outright ground invasion, with one outlet quoting Israeli sources as saying a new invasion would happen if Lebanon did not act further against the group. Adding to the sense that nothing Lebanon does is going to ultimately matter anyway, Barrack concluded the argument by declaring “peace is an illusion” and that “there’s never been peace, there will probably never be peace.”

Israeli Drone Strike on Southern Lebanon Kills Five, US Disputes Claims Four Were US Citizens - An Israeli drone fired two missiles at a car and a motorcycle on a road in Bint Jbeil, in southern Lebanon on Sunday, killing at least five people, including three children. The Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed the deaths, and also reported two people were wounded. According to the Lebanese government, Four of the five, including all the children, were US citizens. They were a father and his three children. The mother was also present and among the wounded, and according to the Foreign Ministry, she is in critical condition. The US State Department later issued a statement saying there “indications” were that none of the slain were US citizens.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun slammed the attack, calling it a massacre, and calling for the international community to pressure Israel into complying with the November ceasefire, both in not attacking and in withdrawing ground troops from Lebanon soil.The vehicles were reportedly near a hospital at the time of attack, which is how a lot of bystanders were hit in the attack. It’s not clear who the people in the vehicles were either. Israel claimed a Hezbollah figure was killed in the attack, though it acknowledged that “several uninvolved civilians” were also slain. They said the killings were “under review.” At least two more people were killed and 11 wounded on Friday in a pair of other Israeli attacks. One strike in Tibbin killed one and wounded 11, and then another person was killed in a vehicle in Ansar. Israel claimed that a Hezbollah commander was among the slain on Friday, but offered no evidence for this. On Saturday another person was killed in an Israeli strike in Khardali. The person killed was in a civilian car, but was reportedly a Hezbollah member from Kfar Kela. On Sunday, an Israeli helicopter also dropped a sound bomb on a funeral of the person killed in Khardali in Kfar Kela,

Father and Three Children Killed by Israel in Lebanon Had Family in US, Sought US Citizenship - Shadi Charara, a car dealer from southern Lebanon, had family members living in the US and sought to join them before he was killed along with three of his young children by an Israeli drone strike on Sunday, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.Charara, his 18-month-old twin son and daughter, Hadi and Silan, and his eight-year-old daughter, Celine, and one of his cousins who was also killed by the strike, were buried in the town of Bint Jbeil on Tuesday. The mother of the children, Amani Bazi, and her eldest daughter survived the attack but were seriously wounded.The Israeli drone strike was one of thousands of Israeli violations of a ceasefire deal that was signed in November 2024. The IDF has flagrantly violated the deal both by continuing near-daily strikes on Lebanon and continuing its occupation of southern Lebanon by maintaining five military outposts in the area. Charara and his children were killed while driving from Bint Jbeil to Tyre, and his cousin, Mohammed Majed Mroue, just happened to be passing by on a motorcycle when the Israeli drone strike hit, according to family members.Israel acknowledged that it killed civilians in the strike and also claimed it targeted a Hezbollah member, but there’s no evidence Mroue was affiliated with the group. The APnoted that during the funeral, the coffins were draped in Lebanese flags, and there were no Hezbollah flags seen in the crowd. Sam Bazzi, the children’s maternal grandfather, said the family wasn’t worried about being targeted since they had no affiliation with Hezbollah. “We’re regular citizens and we don’t belong to any group. And so we thought we had nothing to do with it and we were just living normally, coming and going,” he said.

Iran's Khamenei Rejects Idea of Talks With US Due To Zero Enrichment Demand - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday rejected the idea of negotiations with the US, citing the Trump administration’s demands for Tehran to give up nuclear enrichment and calls for limits on Iran’s ballistic missiles. “Now, he (the US President) says that enrichment must be terminated, but just a few days ago one of their officials stated that Iran should not even possess medium-range or short-range missiles — meaning that Iran’s hands should be so tied that if it were attacked, it could not even respond to the US bases,” Khamenei said in a televised speech, according to his website. The Iranian leader reaffirmed that Tehran does not seek nuclear weapons, comments that came after some Iranian MPs called for a reassessment of his ban on the development of nukes. “We’re the ones who don’t have a nuclear bomb, and we won’t have one. We have no intention of using nuclear weapons, but we do have enrichment,” he said. The Iranian leader also insisted Tehran would never give up its enrichment program, framing it as a matter of national pride. He also said that agreeing to negotiations with the US would amount to surrender. Other Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran would need assurances that it wouldn’t be attacked again if it resumed talks with the US, since previous negotiations were used as a cover for Israel to launch a war. “The counterpart has threatened that if you do not negotiate, such and such will occur. Therefore, accepting such negotiations signifies submission, fear, and trembling — a surrender of the nation and the country in the face of threats,” he said. Khamenei’s comments come as the reimposition of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran, which were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA, looms. France, the UK, and Germany have begun the process to trigger the so-called “snapback” mechanism, and the sanctions will take effect on September 27 unless action is taken. The UN Security Council recently voted down a resolution that would have blocked the measures. Some Iranian officials have warned that if snapback sanctions are re-imposed, Tehran could withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a step that could be used by Israel and the US as a pretext to launch another war, even though Israel is not a signatory to the NPT. Unlike Iran, Israel actually has a secret nuclear weapons program and a stockpile of nuclear weapons that’s not officially acknowledged by the US and Israel.

At UN, Pezeshkian Vows Iran Will Never Seek a Nuclear Weapon - Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that Iran would never seek a nuclear weapon, citing a religious edict, or fatwa, from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that prohibits the development of weapons of mass destruction.“I hereby declare once before this assembly that Iran has never sought and will never seek to build a nuclear bomb,” Pezeskhian said. “We do not seek nuclear weapons. This is our belief based on the edict issued by the supreme leader and religious authorities.” Khamenei made similar remarks a day earlier, pledging that Iran wouldn’t seek nuclear weapons but maintaining that Tehran wouldn’t give up its civilian nuclear enrichment program. His comments came a day after a group of Iranian MPs called for a reevaluation of the ban on nuclear weapons in the wake of the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic. In his speech, Pezeshkian strongly condemned the Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, calling it a “grave betrayal of diplomacy” since the war was launched under the cover of negotiations. Israel launched the first round of airstrikes on June 13, two days before Washington and Tehran were set to hold another round of nuclear talks. “It is a black record of slaughter carried out by Israel in our country against our people, including women, children, and youth, under the name of preserving peace and security in the region,” the Iranian leader said. “Assassination of state officials, systematic targeting of journalists, and the killing of individuals solely because of their knowledge and expertise are flagrant violations of human rights and international law,” Pezeshkian added. The Iranian president also criticized France, the UK, and Germany for taking the step to trigger the “snapback” sanctions mechanism under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. UN Security Council sanctions are now set to be reimposed on Iran on September 27.Pezeshkian called the Europeans’ move to trigger the sanctions “illegal” and said it was carried out “at the order of the United States.” Iran’s position is that they don’t have the right to impose the sanctions since the US was the party that unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. “They falsely presented themselves as ‘well-intentioned parties’ to the agreement, and labeled Iran’s sincere efforts as ‘insufficient.’ All of this was aimed at destroying the very JCPOA they themselves once called the greatest achievement of multilateral diplomacy,” he said.

Trump Says 'Bad Things Are Going to Happen' If Afghanistan Doesn't Hand Over Bagram Air Base - President Trump on Saturday warned that “bad things would happen” if Afghanistan didn’t agree to hand over the Bagram Air Base back to the US military, an idea that’s been rejected by the Taliban-led government in Kabul. “If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. While Trump claims the US built Bagram, the airfield was first constructed by the Soviet Union. Bagram became the largest US military base in Afghanistan during the 20-year US war in the country, and US forces pulled out of the airfield during the withdrawal in 2021.Trump said during his visit to the UK last week that one of the reasons he wants Bagram is because it’s “an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.” The presidentmade similar comments while he was on the campaign trail in 2024, saying that if he were still president during the withdrawal, he was going to “keep Bagram” and leave 4,000 troops at the facility.In response to Trump’s latest comments, the Taliban-led government, known officially as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, called on the US president to uphold the Doha agreement, referring to the deal that was negotiated by the first Trump administration and led to President Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. “Under the Doha agreement, the United States pledged that it will not use or threaten force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan, nor interfere in its internal affairs. Therefore, it is necessary that they remain faithful to their commitments,” said Afghan government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat, according toTOLO News.

US Bombs Somalia for 79th Time This Year - US Africa Command said in a press release on Wednesday that its forces launched an airstrike in Somalia on September 21 that targeted the ISIS affiliate in the northeastern Puntland region, as the Trump administration continues its heavy air campaign in the country, which has gained virtually no US media coverage.The command offered no further details about the strike, except that it was launched in the Golis Mountains, approximately 37 miles southeast of the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said.The same day as the strike, US-backed Puntland forces said that the US had launched a total of two airstrikes in the area. “Two airstrikes targeted caves where fleeing ISIS terrorists were hiding. The strikes were carried out by the Puntland Government’s US partners in support of the forces engaged in the operation,” the Puntland Counter-Terrorism Operations wrote on X.AFRICOM told Antiwar.com that it launched just one airstrike during the operation and confirmed that as of September 21, it has launched at least 79 airstrikes so far this year. The Trump administration has shattered the previous annual record for total US bombings in the country, which President Trump set at 63 during his first term.The last Somalia airstrike confirmed by AFRICOM was launched on September 13 in Somalia’s northern Sanag region. AFRICOM claimed without providing evidence that it targeted an al-Shabaab weapons dealer, but locals and clan leaders say the man who was killed, Abdullahi Omar Abdi, was a prominent clan elder who had no affiliation with al-Shabaab and worked for peace in the region.The US has also continued launching airstrikes against al-Shabaab in southern and central Somalia. Based on Somali media reports, the US likely launched more airstrikes in those areas during battles this week. AFRICOM typically confirms its airstrikes a few days after they were launched.

Yemeni Drone Strikes Israel, Wounding More Than 20 - The Israeli military said on Wednesday that a drone launched from Yemen struck the Israeli city of Eilat, and more than 20 people have been reported wounded.The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, took credit for the attack later in the day. Houthis military spokesman Yahya Saree said Yemeni forces fired a total of two drones at Israel, and said the attack “achieved its goal.”The Houthis have vowed that their drone and missile attacks on Israel will continue until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli blockade on the territory.Footage from social media of the drone impacting in Eilat. Wednesday’s attack marks a rare instance of a Yemeni drone making it through Israel’s air defenses. The Israeli military said that two Iron Dome interceptors were fired at the drone and acknowledged the failure to shoot it down. Footage from social media shows the drone making an impact near a hotel in a shopping area.The attack comes as Israel has significantly ramped up its airstrikes on Yemen. On September 10, Israeli strikes pounded two newspaper offices in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, killing at least 31 people, marking the worst massacre of journalists since 2009,according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.The Houthis are known for their resilience and did not back down in the face of a very heavy US bombing campaign that the Trump administration conducted from March 15 to May 6, which killed more than 250 civilians. The US gave up on trying to get the Houthis to stop their attacks on Israel and blockade of Israeli shipping and agreed to a ceasefire with the group.

Report: Trump Told Muslim Leaders He Would Not Allow Israel To Annex the West Bank - President Trump met with a group of Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday and reportedly told them that he wouldn’t allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Muslim and Arab leaders have reasons to doubt pledges from Trump since he has recently significantly damaged the US’s diplomatic credibility by using negotiations with Iran as cover to help Israel launch a war. The president has also claimed he was unaware of Israel’s plans to bomb Hamas leaders in Qatar, an attack that came while they were discussing a US ceasefire proposal, but, according to Israeli officials, he was informed beforehand and didn’t oppose the attack. The meeting in New York comes ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth visit to the White House this year, where he is expected to push for US support for the Israeli annexation of at least some territory in the West Bank, something he wants to do in response to several Western countries recognizing a Palestinian state. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has previously suggested the US wouldn’t oppose Israel annexing the Palestinian territory and has expressed support for illegal Jewish settlements.Before leaving for New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu again reiterated his opposition to a Palestinian state. “The shameful capitulation of some leaders to Palestinian terror does not obligate Israel in any way. There will be no Palestinian state,” he said, according to a statement released by his office. According to a report from Axios, Trump also presented the Arab and Muslim leaders with a plan to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. US envoy Steve Witkoff also attended the meeting and claimed a breakthrough on a Gaza ceasefire was close, but a source toldHaaretz that a Gaza truce deal “was nowhere close to fruition,” and there’s no sign Trump is willing to put pressure on Netanyahu to end the slaughter. The Arab and Muslim officials who attended the meeting, which included representatives from Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan, released a statement saying they were committed to working with Trump.“The leaders emphasized the need to end the war and achieve an immediate ceasefire that would ensure releasing the hostages and allowing the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid as the first step toward a just and lasting peace,” they said, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry. “They reiterated their commitment to cooperate with President Trump, and stressed the importance of his leadership to end the war and open horizons for a just and lasting peace.”

Trump Says He 'Will Not Allow' Israel To Annex the Israeli-Occupied West Bank - President Trump said on Thursday that he “will not allow” Israel to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank, comments that came after he reportedly made such a pledge during a meeting with Arab and Muslim officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.” Israeli officials have been discussing the idea of annexing parts of the West Bank in response to several Western countries recognizing a Palestinian state. While some Trump officials have signaled the US wouldn’t oppose the plan, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel that the Trump administration has privately cautioned against the idea. However, the official said that Israel did not feel the warning marked “an end to the discussion” and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss it with Trump when he visits the White House next week for the fourth time this year. Also on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Israel won’t consider annexing parts of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority, but may “implement Israeli law” on Jewish settlements, which are illegal under international law. “There is no intention of even discussing the annexation of Palestinian Authority territories because we don’t want to control the Palestinians,” Sa’ar said. “What can be discussed, but hasn’t yet been decided, is implementing Israeli law on the Israeli communities located there and not under the Palestinian Authority.”

Trump Says Three Killed in Latest US Bombing of Boat in Latin America - President Trump said on Friday that the US military bombed another boat in US Southern Command’s area of responsibility, which includes the Caribbean and most of South America. The president claimed without evidence that US intelligence showed that the boat was carrying drugs and that three “narcoterrorists” were killed. While Trump didn’t specify exactly where the bombing occurred, previous US military strikes on boats targeted vessels in the Caribbean that left Venezuela. “On my Orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Video of the strike released by Trump. “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans. The strike killed 3 male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel, which was in international waters,” the president added.Trump’s post included a video that purported to show the strike on the boat. He did not specify when the boat was bombed, but it marks at least the third time that the US military has taken such action against vessels in the region. According to numbers released by Trump, at least 17 people have been extrajudicially executed by the US military since the campaign began. Democrats are looking to rein in the US military campaign and have introduced War Powers Resolutions that would stop the strikes on boats. “Congress alone holds the power to declare war. And while we share with the executive branch the imperative of preventing and deterring drugs from reaching our shores, blowing up boats without any legal justification risks dragging the United States into another war and provoking unjustified hostilities against our own citizens,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said in a statement on a resolution he introduced on Friday.

US fires nuclear-capable ballistic missile as Trump threatens Venezuela with “incalculable” consequences The Trump administration has raised to a fever pitch war tensions with Venezuela following the latest strike on a small vessel in the Caribbean on Friday that allegedly killed three passengers. A US fleet has assembled in the southern Caribbean, including assault ships and nuclear submarines, accompanied by F-35 fighter jets and killer drones. In an alarming escalation, on Sunday evening the Caribbean Astronomy Society reported the sighting of a nuclear-capable, Trident missile test fired from a submarine off Florida. Without an official acknowledgement of the ballistic missile launch, the White House is threatening in its usual mafioso manner the use of nuclear weapons against Venezuela, recalling Trump’s threat in 2017 to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea. The sinking of the vessel Friday—the third one in two weeks— was yet another extrajudicial massacre on the threadbare pretext of fighting “narco-terrorism” and interdicting drugs. As agreed by most experts, only a tiny portion of drug smuggling takes place in the southern Caribbean. The Pentagon’s actions amount to state piracy—sinking vessels with unidentified passengers without offering any credible evidence that they were involved in narcotics trafficking. In any case, there is no justification whatsoever under either US or international law to murder unarmed individuals in international waters. The passengers, according to residents of the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela interviewed by AP, were likely fishermen, some of whom have repurposed their boats for petty smuggling of migrants, wildlife and “other businesses” as a result of the depletion of fisheries. The missile tests and military build-up, moreover, mark a dangerous turning point with deep political ramifications, signaling the Trump administration’s resort to unrestrained violence to overturn the Venezuelan government and assert US dominance in the hemisphere. In his response, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has combined subservient appeals with militarist posturing. During the weekend, Caracas deployed 2,500 troops and Russian-made fighter jets armed with anti-ship missiles to Venezuela’s Caribbean island of La Orchila. There, military exercises dubbed “Sovereign Caribbean 200” involved 12 ships, 22 aircraft, and 20 vessels in a show of force against the US naval presence nearby. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino cast the drills as a direct response to Washington’s “threatening and vulgar” deployment of warships. Despite this militarist bluster, Reuters revealed that on September 6, four days after the first US strike on a Venezuelan vessel, Maduro sent a personal letter to President Trump requesting further talks. In the letter, Maduro absurdly argues to Trump that he is being misled by “Fake News” about Caracas. This overture came even after the White House placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro’s head. This appeal for negotiations—akin to appealing to Hitler before the invasion of Poland—was met only with hellfire missiles from Trump. On Saturday, Trump dehumanized Venezuelan migrants in social media posts calling them “Monsters” and issuing a chilling ultimatum to Caracas to receive them back: “GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE.”

Venezuela Confirms Maduro Sent Letter to President Trump Seeking Talks - Venezuela has confirmed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent a letter to President Trump earlier this month, in which he urged talks to resolve the tensions between Caracas and Washington.Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez posted the full letter on Telegram after Reutersreported on Maduro’s outreach to Trump. She said the letter was delivered to an intermediary on September 6, four days after the US launched its first airstrike against a boat near Venezuela.In the letter, Maduro disputed the claim that his government was linked to cartels and gangs and the idea that Venezuela was a major hub for drug trafficking, citing UN data that says just 5% of the cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia goes through Venezuela.Maduro said that “all drugs seized along the 2,200-kilometer border with Colombia are intercepted and destroyed. It is noteworthy that this year, we have already neutralized and destroyed more than 70% of the small amount of drugs attempting to cross the border.” Maduro also disputed claims that Venezuela was not willing to accept its citizens that the US was trying to deport, saying that the issue was resolved in talks with US envoy Ric Grenell, who met with Maduro in Caracas on January 31, 2025, and returned home with six Americans who were detained in Venezuela. President Trump revived the claims about Venezuela’s lack of cooperation with deportations on Saturday, warning in a post on Truth Social that if the country doesn’t accept “prisoners” and people from “insane asylums” that entered the US, there would be “incalculable” costs. But Reuters reported that despite the tension between the US and Venezuela, twice-weekly deportation flights moving illegal migrants to Venezuela from the US have continued uninterrupted. Maduro closed the letter, making an appeal to President Trump to pursue peace and dialogue. “I respectfully invite you, President, to promote peace through constructive dialogue and mutual understanding throughout the hemisphere. These and other conversations will always be open for a direct and frank conversation with your special envoy, Ric Grenell, to overcome media noise and fake news,” he said.

US Officials Say Regime Change in Venezuela Is the Real Goal of Military Action in the Caribbean - US officials have told The New York Times that the real goal of the US military buildup in the Caribbean, and the bombing of boats in the region, is regime change in Venezuela.The policy is being largely driven by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long wanted to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. Back in 2019, when the first Trump administration attempted to back a coup against Maduro, Rubio posted a photo on Twitter of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the moment he was being brutally murdered in an apparent threat to the Venezuelan leader.The Trump administration claims that Maduro is the leader of a drug cartel, but has not produced any evidence for the charge. Maduro and other Venezuelan officials have forcefully rejected the accusation and have pointed to data that shows the majority of the cocaine that is produced in Colombia doesn’t go through Venezuela.President Trump has also framed the military campaign in the region as a response to overdose deaths in the US due to fentanyl, but fentanyl isn’t produced in Venezuela, and it does not go through the country on its way to the US.The Times report, which was published over the weekend, reads: “Several current and former military officials, diplomats, and intelligence officers say that while fighting drugs is the pretext for the recent US attacks, the real goal is to drive Mr. Maduro from power, one way or another.” The US began bombing boats allegedly running drugs in the Caribbean on September 2. According to numbers released by President Trump, at least 17 people have been extrajudicially executed by the US military since the campaign began. US officials have said the Trump administration is considering direct strikes on Venezuelan territory, which could lead to a full-blown war with the country.

Trump Envoy Ric Grenell Says He's Still in Contact With Venezuelan Government - Ric Grenell, a special envoy for President Trump, said this week that he remains in contact with the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro despite soaring tensions between Washington and Caracas. After the US bombed a boat off the coast of Venezuela for the first time, Maduro sent a letter to President Trump, where the Venezuelan leader disputed the claims that his government was involved in drug trafficking and said he wanted talks with the US and was ready to engage with Grenell.When asked about the letter and if he would engage with Maduro in an appearance on CBS Mornings, Grenell said, “I’ve already engaged at the direction of President Trump. I’ve spoken to Mr. Maduro. I’ve gone down to Venezuela and I continue to talk to his team.”Grenell traveled to Venezuela on January 31, met with Maduro, and returned home with six Americans who were detained in Venezuela. But his diplomatic efforts have angered other members of the Trump administration, and there are reportedly tensions between Grenell and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long wanted regime change in Venezuela.After Grenell’s latest comments about his engagement with Maduro, other Trump officials complained about him in comments to Semafor. “Unfortunately, Ric Grenell’s personal comments have been out of step with the president and administration, and the president himself and secretary of state should be deemed as the official policymakers,” one administration official said.Another source close to the White House told the outlet that Grenell “appears to have created a new genre of Maduro fan fiction where the dictator is just a good guy who’s misunderstood, where drugs aren’t a problem, and where providing hard currency to the world’s most wanted terrorist isn’t a big deal.”While some officials are ripping Grenell over his diplomatic efforts, Venezuela continues to cooperate with the US on deportations of Venezuelan citizens. Reuters reported that despite the tension and US military actions in the region, twice-weekly deportation flights moving illegal migrants to Venezuela from the US have continued uninterrupted.In his letter to Trump, Maduro suggested that the US and Venezuela had resolved an issue with deportations through diplomacy facilitated by Grenell. “I recall the fake news that Venezuela had refused to accept migrants back to our country, but this issue was quickly resolved and clarified in a conversation with Ambassador Richard Grenell. To date, this channel has functioned flawlessly,” Maduro said.

Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose Using Military Force for Regime Change in Venezuela - The majority of Americans oppose using the US military to carry out regime change in Venezuela, according to a poll from YouGov that was conducted in early September. The poll asked if the respondents would support or oppose the US using military force to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and 53% said they opposed, 29% said they weren’t sure, and just 18% supported the idea. The opposition was stronger among Democrats, with 67% opposing the use of military force to carry out regime change. More Republicans opposed the idea (38%) than supported it (34%). When asked if they thought Venezuela would be better off if Maduro were overthrown, the majority (68%) said they weren’t sure. Opposition was even stronger when the respondents were asked about the possibility of invading Venezuela, with 62% saying they oppose the idea and just 16% supporting it. The poll found 74% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans opposed an invasion. When asked if they would support providing military aid for a Venezuelan effort to overthrow Maduro, 39% opposed the idea, 29% were unsure, and 32% supported it. The poll also found that Americans were divided over sending US Navy warships near Venezuela, with slightly more opposing (38%) than supporting (36%). But there was a significant partisan divide over the deployment of warships, with 68% of Republicans supporting it and 62% of Democrats opposing it. The Trump administration has deployed a significant number of warships to the Caribbean in the name of combating drug trafficking, but US officials have told The New York Times that the real purpose of the deployment was to oust Maduro.

US War Chief Summons Hundreds of Generals and Admirals for Urgent Meeting - US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of US military generals and admirals stationed around the world to an urgent meeting, scheduled to take place at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, next week, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.There are approximately 800 generals and admirals in the US and at US bases worldwide, and sources told the Post that Hegseth’s order applies to every senior officer with the rank of brigadier general or rear admiral and above. The directive has been described as highly unusual and possibly unprecedented.“None of the people who spoke with the Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this,” the Post report said. The reason for the meeting is unclear, and even the generals and admirals are reportedly unaware of the purpose. The meeting may be related to Hegseth’s recent orders for major changes at the Pentagon, including a directive to reduce the number of four-star officers by 20%.Another possibility is that Hegseth is ordering the meeting to prepare the senior military officers for a new war of major military escalation. A congressional aide speaking to CNNsaid that unless Hegseth planned to announce “a major new military campaign or a complete overhaul of the military command structure, I can’t imagine a good reason for this.”There are several areas around the world where the US could potentially launch a new war, including Venezuela, as the US has deployed a fleet of warships to the Caribbean and has begun bombing boats in the area under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking, though US officials have told The New York Times that the real purpose of the deployment is regime change.The US and Israel could be preparing to launch another war on Iran, as the US has maintained a hardline policy against the Islamic Republic since the ceasefire that ended the 12-Day War, and tensions are soaring in Eastern Europe between Russia and NATO. President Trump has also recently floated the idea of retaking Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, an idea that would require military force since it has been rejected by the Taliban. The War Department may also be looking to turn military operations inward, as President Trump recently declared that Antifa is a “domestic terrorist organization.”

White House downplays Pete Hegseth military leaders meeting --The White House on Thursday downplayed plans for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toconvene top military leaders next week amid speculation about the purpose for the meeting.“It’s not particularly unusual that generals who report to the secretary of War and then to the president of the United States are coming to speak with the secretary of War,” Vice President Vance said in the Oval Office. “It’s actually not unusual at all and I think it’s odd that you’ve made it into such a big story.”President Trump suggested the generals would be “touring equipment sites” and “talking about the newest weapons.”“I think it’s great when generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with our now-secretary of War,” Trump said.The comments came from the Oval Office, just after Trump signed an executive order related to advancing a deal for U.S. and other investors to take over the TikTok social media app.The Washington Post first reported that Hegseth earlier this week ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice and without a stated reason. The meeting is expected to take place on Tuesday at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., according to the Post.More than a dozen people familiar with the matter told the Post that the directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide — all senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or above, their Navy equivalent and their top enlisted advisers — more than 800 generals or admirals.“The Secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to The Hill, offering no additional details.

North Korea’s Kim recalls ‘good personal memories’ of Trump, calls for US to drop denuclearization demand North Korea’s Kim Jong Un said he has fond memories of President Trump and suggested he would be open to resuming talks if the U.S. dropped its long-standing demand for denuclearization as a precondition to diplomacy. Speaking to the Supreme People’s Assembly on Sunday, Kim made clear he would never surrender his nuclear weapons program. “The world already knows well what the United States does after forcing other countries to give up their nuclear weapons and disarm,” Kim said in his speech, which was published by state media Monday. “We will never lay down our nuclear weapons,” he continued. “There will be no negotiations, now or ever, about trading anything with hostile countries in exchange for lifting sanctions.” Kim added he still holds “good personal memories” of Trump from when they first met and said there is “no reason not to” resume diplomatic talks with Washington if the U.S. “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization.” The North Korean leader, however, also said he has no intention of resuming talks with South Korea, which played a key role in brokering past summits between Trump and Kim. Tensions between North and South Korea have escalated in recent years, as North Korea has accelerated its weapons testing and Kim has more closely aligned with Russia and China. Kim suspended cooperation with the South after his 2019 summit with Trump ended in a standoff over U.S. sanctions.

South Korea's Lee Jae Myung says his country can't afford Donald Trump's demands - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in an interview with Reuters that his country cannot afford to meet President Trump’s demands that it invest $350 billion into America in exchange for the removal of punishing tariffs. “Without a currency swap, if we were to withdraw $350 billion in the manner that the U.S. is demanding and to invest this all in cash in the U.S., South Korea would face a situation as it had in the 1997 financial crisis,” Lee told Reuters through a translator, explaining the demands would plunge the country into a financial crisis. “Reaching detailed agreements that guarantee commercial reasonableness is now the central task — yet it also remains the biggest obstacle,” Lee said. Trump said Korea’s investment projects would be selected by him, and the country would have discretion on how their money would be used. Lee also said many in his country were angered by the “harsh” treatment workers at a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia faced during a recent immigration raid, warning it could make other companies wary of making in investments in the United States. “I do not believe this was intentional, and the U.S. has apologized for this incident, and we have agreed to seek reasonable measures in this regard and we are working on them,” he said in the interview. When asked if he would walk away from America’s demands, Lee said “I believe that between blood allies, we will be able to maintain the minimum amount of rationality.” The South Korean president hopes the talks on the country’s investment into America don’t extend into next year.

Faced with mounting US pressure, Mexico slaps trade tariffs on China - On Wednesday, September 10, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum announced legislation related to the 2026 budget proposal that would slap tariffs of between 10 percent and 50 percent on a wide range of goods, including ones made in the automotive, textile, plastic, steel, clothing, toy, footwear, furniture, paper and glass sectors. The proposal is part of the Mexican government’s stated goals of reducing reliance on imports and protecting Mexican industry. Those goals are set out in its “Plan México” industrial policy, which was made public in January. The proposal states that its aim is to “take advantage of our internal market so that production takes place in Mexico and employs Mexican workers.” At the same time, it seeks to contribute to the “balancing” of foreign trade for the “well-being” of “all Mexicans.” The reform bill states that “for years the national economy became integrated into global value chains, under frameworks that favored the importation of inputs, which led to the loss of essential productive sectors and a growing vulnerability to external shocks.” It states further: Trade liberalization, while expanding markets, did not always translate into greater technological capacity or an increase in national content in our exports. With this proposal, inspired by Plan Mexico, this trend will be corrected, and national industry will be strengthened given the international trade context and global reconfiguration. The reform bill sets a goal of sourcing “at least 50 percent of strategic supplies” in Mexico. Further, it says, “tariffs are no longer seen solely as a means of raising revenue, but become a strategic tool for economic and trade policy.” Around 50 countries with which Mexico has a free trade agreement will not be subject to the new proposed tariffs. China is not one of them. According to Mexico Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, the imposition of tariffs on Chinese products is a measure to try to reduce Mexico’s trade deficit with China, which exceeded US $57 billion in the first six months of 2025. Ebrard estimated that this would generate an additional 70 billion pesos (US $3.76 billion) in revenue for the government. This would extend to the 29 percent of Mexico’s car imports from China, “because the average price indicates a [Chinese] strategy to gain market share, which puts the Mexican industry at disadvantage,” as well as to auto parts and steel. Mexico recently surpassed Russia as the top recipient of cars from China, which sent about 280,100 vehicles to Mexico in the first half of 2025, a 25 percent increase year-on-year. Overall, Mexico is China’s second-largest trading partner in Latin America, and China is Mexico’s third-largest export recipient. The Mexico announcement triggered a swift pushback from Beijing, which urged Mexico to reconsider. Mexico should exercise “the utmost caution and think twice” before hiking tariffs on its goods, according to a Chinese government statement. It went on to accuse Mexico of pursuing “appeasement” in response to what it cited as US tariff abuses and bullying from Washington.

Supreme Court lets Trump administration freeze billions in foreign aid - The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to allow the Trump administration keep frozen billions of dollars in foreign aid that is set to expire next week, the latest turn in a lengthy legal saga over the congressionally appropriated funds. The emergency intervention came at the administration’s urging to lift a lower court’s ruling ordering it to spend $4 billion in funds approved for aid programs by Sept. 30, its expiration date. The unsigned order indefinitely extends the pause on U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s injunction that was put in place earlier this month by Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the nation’s capital by default, as the high court considered the appeal. The court gave a brief explanation of its reasoning, saying that the government “at this early stage” made sufficient showing that the lawsuit is precluded under the Impoundment Control Act and that the plaintiffs can’t force the government to pay up. The court also said that the asserted harm to Trump’s foreign policy powers appeared to outweigh potential harm faced by the respondents. “This order should not be read as a final determination on the merits,” the order read. “The relief granted by the Court today reflects our preliminary view, consistent with the standards for interim relief.” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson that the application raises “novel issues fundamental to the relationship between the President and Congress.” Solicitor General D. John Sauer had argued that letting Ali’s injunction stand would force the administration to obligate the money at “breakneck speed,” even as Trump has proposed cancelling the aid to Congress. The president’s proposal is known as a “pocket rescission,” a rare and legally murky bid to avoid spending appropriated money by asking Congress to cut the budget late into the fiscal year. It means the 45-day window lawmakers have to act on the request could be cut short by the budget year’s end, leaving the funds to expire. If lawmakers reject the request, the funds must be released. Kagan wrote that the “stakes are high,” pinning down the central issue as the allocation of the power of the purse between the president and Congress. She criticized the majority for granting any emergency relief with the weighty issues at play.

U.S. Presses India: Cut Russian Oil Imports or Watch Trade Deal Slip Away - Washington is making it clear to New Delhi: any path forward on a U.S.–India trade deal runs through Russia’s oil fields. In recent talks, U.S. trade negotiators told Indian counterparts that curbing purchases of Russian crude is critical to lowering America’s punitive tariffs and unlocking a deal, sources told Reuters on Friday.India is pushing back. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal called the negotiations “constructive,” but New Delhi is making room for strategic wiggle; officials have floated substituting Russian oil with crude from Iran or Venezuela, if permitted by Washington, to assuage U.S. pressure without fully changing Delhi’s energy equation.This is more than a trade spat. It reflects a tectonic tension between India’s insistence on “strategic autonomy” in energy policy and a U.S. willingness to weaponize trade for geopolitical ends. India has repeatedly accused the West of double standards: while America demands India abandon Russian oil, the U.S. and EU continue trading with some Russian exports. The stakes are high. Trump already slapped India with a 25 % reciprocal tariff, then tacked on another 25 % penalty tied to Russian oil imports—bringing the total to 50 %. That’s among the steepest trade punishments ever imposed on a major economy. But India is pushing back. India’s energy mix depends heavily on affordable sources, and discounted Russian crude has filled that role. Abruptly curbing it could send domestic fuel prices and import bills soaring.Still, Washington has leverage. In a world where global trade and energy are inseparable, pressuring energy buyers is the new frontier of diplomacy. India could blink—or it could double down. If India shifts just enough, tariffs might slide. But if New Delhi holds its ground, a standoff is coming—not just over trade, but over how much sovereignty a rising power can claim when energy is the currency of influence.

Trump's tariffs to hit pharmaceuticals, furniture and heavy trucks --President Trump on Thursday announced a slew of product-specific tariffs set to take effect on Oct. 1, including duties on any pharmaceuticals whose manufacturers don’t have plants in the U.S. The tariffs, which are on top of sweeping reciprocal duties Trump has imposed on countries worldwide, are likely to spur criticism, particularly when it comes to pharmaceutical imports. Experts have raised concerns that those tariffs could cause supply chain issues and make certain drugs more difficult and expensive to acquire. “Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump added that companies breaking ground on a facility or already under construction will be exempt from the tariffs. Trump in \July said he planned to announce pharmaceutical tariffs, but suggested they would start at a low rate and gradually increase, allowing companies to move their operations to the United States. He later threatened to impose tariffs of up to 250 percent on pharmaceutical imports. Trump separately announced the administration would impose a 50 percent tariff on all kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and associated products starting on Oct. 1, as well as a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture. “The reason for this is the large scale ‘FLOODING’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” Trump posted. “It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process.” The president also said there would be a 25 percent tariff beginning Oct. 1 on “Heavy (Big!) Trucks” made outside the United States. “We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!” Trump posted. Trump has already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, copper, and automobiles. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court next month will consider whether Trump can use emergency powers to justify his sweeping tariffs on other nations.

Democrats demand answers on Homan bribery investigation -- Democrats are expressing outrage over a reported probe involving White House border czar Tom Homan and an undercover operation last year in which he was recorded taking $50,000. “Did Trump’s DOJ shut down this bribery investigation? Was it Attorney General Bondi or FBI Director Patel? The act was caught on camera. The administration must turn over the tapes to Congress,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Sunday in a post on the social platform X. “Every decision made by Homan must be scrutinized for possible corruption,” she added. On Saturday, Homan used profanity when denying reports alleging he got $50,000 for contract awards in September 2024. When responding to a question on the allegations from NewsNation’s Libbey Dean, the border czar said it was “bulls‑‑‑.” “Border Czar Tom Homan was caught by the FBI accepting bribes – on camera – to deliver government contracts in exchange for $50,000 in cash. Pam Bondi knew. Kash Patel knew. Emil Bove knew,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Saturday in an X post. “And they made the investigation go away. A corrupt attempt to conceal brazen graft,” the Golden State senator added. Citing internal documents and several people who took part in the probe, MSNBC said Homan — as part of a 2024 undercover operation — was recorded taking $50,000 from agents pretending to be business people.

Trump administration orders federal authorities to ignore California mask law -The Trump administration ordered federal authorities Friday to ignore new legislation in California banning law enforcement officers from wearing masks to conceal their identity. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last Saturday signed the bill — which is slated to take effect Jan. 1, 2026 — making face coverings of local, state and federal officials a misdemeanor crime and imposing a civil penalty against officers for “tortious conduct.” “Governor Newsom is confused about his role under the U.S. Constitution,” Bill Essayli, acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a Friday post on social platform X. “He oversees California, not federal agencies. He should review the Supremacy Clause.” “California’s law to ‘unmask’ federal agents is unconstitutional, as the state lacks jurisdiction to interfere with federal law enforcement. I have directed federal agencies to disregard this state law and adhere to federal law and agency policies,” Essayli wrote in the post, which also featured a screenshot of his letter to agency heads. Essayli wrote in the letter that any official or individual who attempts to impede or interfere with operations will be prosecuted by his office. The Hill has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.

DHS refuses to comply with California's ICE mask ban -The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Monday it would not follow California’s new law banning its agents from covering their faces during enforcement operations.“To be clear: We will NOT comply with [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional mask ban,” DHS said Monday in a post on the social platform X.DHS suggested the masks provide protection for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who have seen a sharp rise in attacks in recent months.“At a time that ICE law enforcement faces a 1,000% increase in assaults and their family members are being doxxed and targeted, the sitting Governor of California signed unconstitutional legislation that strips law enforcement of protections in a disgusting, diabolical fundraising and PR stunt,” DHS said in a statement.Newsom, a possible 2028 presidential contender, signed a first-of-its-kind bill on Saturday banning ICE agents from wearing masks while operating in the state. He said ICE agents would no longer be “hidden from accountability,” arguing masks prevent “transparency” for citizens and hinder “oversight.” “That’s Trump’s America, but that’s not the America we’ve grown up in. And so we are pushing back,” the governor said during remarks at a local high school. The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration has hit California especially hard, where 27 percent of the residents are born outside the country. DHS has said 5,000 immigrants living in the U.S. illegally were arrested in Los Angeles from June to August.

Dallas ICE shooting: 1 killed, 2 in critical condition; suspected shooter identified --Three detainees were shot at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas this morning, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. One person is dead, and two others are in critical condition, according to DHS. No ICE officers were hurt, Dallas police said at a news conference. The victims’ identities have not been publicly released. The shooter, who was found dead with a self-inflicted gun wound, has been identified as Joshua Jahn, according to multiple senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. A bullet found near the shooter bore messages that were "anti-ICE in nature," special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI office, Joe Rothrock, said at a news conference. He said the attack was an act of "targeted violence." The shooter fired multiple rounds from a nearby roof or an elevated position down into the field office’s sally port, an ICE spokesperson confirmed. The motive or what the shooter was targeting was not immediately clear. A 29-year-old Texas man opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas today, the second instance in two weeks of a gunman setting up with a rifle on a rooftop, opening fire and communicating a message through writing on bullets. A bullet found near the shooter had the words “anti-ICE” written on it, according to the FBI. Other recent shooters, including those who assassinated Charlie Kirk and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, have also engraved messages on bullets. The anti-ICE messaging surprised Joshua Jahn’s brother, Noah Jahn. “He didn’t have strong feelings about ICE as far as I knew,” Noah Jahn said of his brother, who DHS officials said fired at the ICE building “indiscriminately.” Noem says more ICE agents and law enforcement officers will be hired in response to shootingMore ICE agents and law enforcement officers will be hired in response to the Dallas ICE facility shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. “We’re going to hire more ICE officers. We’re going to go out and hire more law enforcement officers. We’re not going to stand for this in the United States,” she said on Fox News' “The Ingraham Angle." Noem also called the shooter “evil” when she was asked about the anti-ICE messaging written on a bullet, and she pointed blame at Democratic lawmakers who she said are calling law enforcement “names” as part of the problem.

Trump cannot condition disaster and emergency grants on immigration policy, judge rules A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from conditioning disaster and security funds for states on their immigration policies. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued terms and conditions for federal grants, which state that grant recipients must coordinate and cooperate with immigration officials. Twenty Democrat-led states sued over the use of this policy at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of the DHS. They argued that their immigration policies should not impact their ability to receive disaster and counterterrorism grants. Judge William Smith, agreed, issuing a permanent injunction barring the department from enforcing the conditions. Smith, a former President George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the conditions were both “arbitrary and capricious” as well as “unconstitutional.” “The conditions not only jeopardize states’ fiscal planning but also threaten their capacity to protect public safety in the areas where federal and state cooperation is most critical,” he wrote. In response, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement that “cities and states who break the law and prevent us from arresting criminal illegal aliens should not receive federal funding.” “Radical sanctuary politicians need to put the safety of the American people first—not criminal illegal aliens. The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law. No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that,” McLaughlin added.

Judge stops Noem from tying disaster aid to immigration enforcement - --A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s effort to make states assist federal immigration enforcement activities as a condition of receiving disaster aid, calling the policy “coercive,” “hopelessly vague” and “unlawfully ambiguous.”The ruling ends a short-lived policy that could have stopped states from receiving billions of dollars in homeland security grants, including for disaster recovery, if they defied the immigration order.Judge William Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled Wednesday in favor of Democratic state attorneys general who filed a lawsuit in May challenging the administration’s policy. Smith, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, imposed a permanent injunction blocking the policy.Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha (D) said in a statement the ruling shows that the administration “may not illegally impose immigration conditions on congressionally allocated federal funding for emergency services like disaster relief and flood mitigation.”

Trump Admin Has Revoked Over 6,000 Student Visas -More than 6,000 foreign students have lost their visa under the Trump administration, according to State Department data – and several commentators praised the federal government for pulling permission. “The Trump Administration is protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” the State Department said in response to an inquiry made by The College Fix about the revocations. The Heritage Foundation said student visas have benefits to the country but they can be abused. “Student visas at best are a way to bring foreigners from many countries to learn from our best universities,” Hannah Fay, a communications fellow, told The Fix via email. “We allow a few of the most talented to remain and work, but the majority go home to build their own countries,” “Despite the clear intent of the law that they be temporary, many students see a visa as the first step in what they believe is an entitlement to remain for life,” Fay said. She said immigration enforcement is much better under Trump than Biden, saying the last president “was about open borders and mass migration, legal and illegal.” “They wanted as many visas issued as possible and standards as low as legally permitted,” Fay said. The State Department said there are several reasons visas can be revoked, including staying past the expiration date, criminal activity, and supporting terrorism. The National Association of Scholars, a higher education reform group, said the administration is correct to weed out “terrorist sympathizers.” “It would seem to me a good policy to review all existing student visas and revoke those belonging to known terrorist sympathizers,” Chance Layton, the director of communications for NAS, said via email. “Any arrest that occurs during anti-American agitation, protest, or subversive action is a reason to revoke a visa. Any act of espionage or technology transfer is a reason to revoke a student visa.” He said long-term fixes are also in the works. “It appears that, for the most part, the Trump administration will review these sorts of visas and will likely revoke many of them. Better yet, DHS is moving forward with formal rule-making, which will make it harder for a future administration to overturn these reforms,” Layton said.

How Trump alarmed (and tried to calm) CEOs with his new $100,000 H-1B visa fee --It was a roller-coaster weekend for businesses trying to understand how they would be impacted by President Trump's proclamation mandating a $100,000 fee on visas for skilled foreign workers.The executive order focused on H-1B visas was unveiled and signed after markets closed on Friday. Statements from the Oval Office that evening then led to a weekend of scrambling to figure out how it might change the lives of the estimated 730,000 holders of this type of temporary non-immigrant visa.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, standing beside Trump on Friday, even described the order's overall goal as making this widely relied-upon visa "not economic" in nearly all instances.But then, as the confusion mounted, Trump's team offered an apparent 180-degree turn on key specifics, such as whether this fee will be annual and whether it will ever be paid by existing visa holders.The final effects are still coming into focus, but the changing messaging over the weekend appears to have calmed many fears.Markets opened Monday morning with the tech sector — an industry heavily reliant on this via program — even up slightly.The effect was more evident on the stock prices of some Indian companies in a reflection of data that show the majority to H1-B visa holders are from the subcontinent. The declines were most notable among Indian information technology companies.A possible bottom line amid the noise came from Terry Haines of Pangaea Policy, who noted Sunday night in a note to clients that these visa rules are likely to remain "murky for months," adding that the larger context for tech at least is "a blip compared to the many tech positives."But it's clearly going to be an ongoing issue with a range of top companies — from Google (GOOG) to Amazon (AMZN) to Walmart (WMT) to JPMorgan Chase (JPM) — each sponsoring thousands of these visas, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.The confusion over the weekend centered around two specifics of the order: whether this new fee would be annual and whether it would apply to existing visa holders.The message from Trump's team on Friday in the Oval Office appeared to be a definitive yes on both accounts.White House staff secretary William Scharf handed Trump the order, calling the H-1B program "abused" and explaining that "what this proclamation will do is raise the fee that companies pay to sponsor H-1B applicants to $100,000."The current H-1B visa program includes a range of (much smaller) fees, some of which are paid initially and some that must be paid annually on a repeating basis. Lutnick then repeatedly described the $100,000 fee as an annual one, saying at one point, "$100,000 a year for H-1B visas," which could be repeated for six years.The larger goal of the order, Lutnick said, was to make the costs of retaining foreign workers for an extended period of time so high that it would force companies to, at least eventually, turn to US citizens.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick offers a summary as President Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on Sept. 19 establishing the "Trump Gold Card" and introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. The order itself wasn't fully clear on the subject, saying these types of non-immigrant visa would be restricted "except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000." But by Saturday, the White House message and interpretation of the order had flipped. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered on social media that "this is NOT an annual fee" and that it will only apply to new applicants and will "first apply in the next upcoming lottery cycle."That message was accompanied by letters offering a similar message from the US Customs and Border Patrol and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services to "set the record straight."But these clarifications came after hours of confusion, including notices that reportedly were sent to employees at Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon, and JPMorgan saying any visa holder outside the US should rush back to the country before the new rules took effect Sunday morning.

Goldman president criticizes barriers to migration amid H-1B row --Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President John Waldron criticized the growth of barriers to movement put up by countries around the world, amid rising concern among American firms about the Trump administration's decision to charge $100,000 for a key type of visa.

Report accuses DOGE of exposing Americans' personal data- A report issued Thursday accuses the Department of Government Efficiency of putting millions of Americans’ personal information in an unsecured cloud server. Released by Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the report describes “unprecedented privacy and cybersecurity risks” by the agency, which one whistleblower warned could end with every American needing to be issued a new Social Security number. Chuck Borges, former chief data officer at the Social Security Administration (SSA), filed a whistleblower complaint in August, revealing the existence of DOGE’s “vulnerable cloud environment.” His accusations of DOGE’s mishandling of Americans’ personal information came after an appeals court ruled that DOGE could continue accessing sensitive federal data. The report, compiled by the committee’s Democratic staff cites multiple whistleblowers, including Borges, and states that DOGE staffers “had been granted permission to move highly sensitive SSA data into an unmonitored cloud environment.” “Authorization to upload live SSA data to the cloud environment was apparently granted, according to whistleblower disclosures, by Michael Russo and Aram Moghaddassi, both of whom are DOGE-affiliated,” the report continues. Whistleblowers alleged that DOGE uploaded a live copy of Numerical Identification Files, also known as NUMIDENT, “which contains highly sensitive personal data on anyone who has held a Social Security number, including every American.” The information uploaded includes Social Security numbers, place and date of birth, parents’ names and other sensitive information, the report adds. An internal risk assessment conducted by the SSA found that there was a “between 35 and 65 percent” chance of a data breach with a “catastrophic adverse effect” occurring with the cloud environment. “SSNs are the backbone for accessing all kinds of public and private services, from acquiring a driver’s license to going to the doctor,” the report states. “Beyond the toll on individuals, if the entirety of U.S. SSN data was compromised, the possible impact on the ability of financial institutions and other major segments of the economy to function could be enormous,” the report continues. The report recommends the SSA “immediately shut down the cloud environment” and “thoroughly audit” its use. It also recommends the SSA to determine whether any data breaches or manipulation of the cloud environment has occurred. “[G]iven the lack of agency visibility into the cloud environment, we may never know the full extent of any damage done,” the report reads. The Hill has reached out to the White House and Homeland Security Committee chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Donald Trump signs order labeling Antifa 'domestic terrorist organization' --President Trump on Monday signed an order designating the anti-fascist movement antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, following through on a pledge in the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk to crack down on left-wing groups.The order designates antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization.” It gives government agencies a broad mandate to investigate any operations conducted by antifa or for any operation where an antifa member “provided material support.”The order alleges antifa uses “illegal means to organize and execute a campaign of violence and terrorism nationwide” to accomplish its goals of overthrowing the government and law enforcement.“Individuals associated with and acting on behalf of Antifa further coordinate with other organizations and entities for the purpose of spreading, fomenting, and advancing political violence and suppressing lawful political speech,” the order states. “This organized effort designed to achieve policy objectives by coercion and intimidation is domestic terrorism.”Trump’s order is sure to prompt questions and criticism about its legality and its implementation. Experts have said antifa is a decentralized ideology without a clear leadership structure, raising concerns about whether the order will be used to broadly crack down on left-wing organizations. It is also unclear what authority Trump has to designate a domestic terrorism organization, and his attempt to do so may draw legal challenges.In the wake of the political assassination of Kirk, the conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, Trump and other White House officials have pledged to crack down on left-wing groups that they claim have fomented violence in the United States.

The Real Violent Extremists Are The Freaks Who Run The US Empire -- Caitlin Johnstone -- The real violent extremists are the oligarchs and imperialists who run the US-centralized empire from both mainstream parties. Not Antifa. Not trans people. Not anti-genocide activists. Not protesters against ICE. The extremists who are inflicting the real violence and abuse in our world are the ones committing genocide, starting wars, backing blockades, imposing starvation sanctions, arming proxy conflicts, circling the planet with hundreds of military bases, and flirting with nuclear armageddon. Donald Trump is a violent extremist. Joe Biden is a violent extremist. Keir Starmer is a violent extremist. Benjamin Netanyahu is a violent extremist. Oligarchs who knit themselves into the murderous imperial power structure like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Miriam Adelson and Larry Ellison are violent extremists.The Democratic Party is a violent extremist organization. The Republican Party is a violent extremist organization.War profiteers like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are violent extremist organizations. Empire management firms which facilitate imperial violence and control like Palantir, Oracle and Starlink are violent extremist organizations. There is no designated terrorist group foreign or domestic which can hold a candle to the death toll and human suffering that has been inflicted by the western empire. I think it’s worth remembering this as the empire harnesses the emotional hysteria around Charlie Kirk’s death to whip up a moral panic about violent radical leftists in the United States in order to justify increased authoritarian measures to stomp out political dissent. The real violence is coming from the powerful manipulators who want you consenting to these measures. The call is coming from inside the house.The US and its allies have killed millions of people in their wars of aggression since 9/11, and displaced tens of millions. Their cruel sanctions have killed tens of millions since 1970. Their policies of imperialist extraction force populations throughout the global south to live lives of endless poverty and toil. They are currently perpetrating a genocide in full view of the entire world. These are the violent extremists. The only reason they are able to claim that some kid wearing a keffiyeh or a balaclava is a violent extremist while they themselves are not is because they control the narrative. The plutocrats who benefit from the imperial status quo own and control the media platforms and information systems which people use to learn about the world, and they use this narrative control to frame the imperial status quo as normal and any opposition to it as freakish extremism.That’s the only reason a westerner who supports genocide, warmongering, militarism and imperialism gets to call themselves a “centrist” or a “moderate”. They live in an empire whose propagandists actively normalize imperial abuses while spinning any deviation from this violent madness as abnormalities on the radical political fringe.But it’s a lie. Genocide is violent extremism. Mass murder is violent extremism. Siege warfare is violent extremism. Global tyranny is violent extremism. Peace is moderate and normal. Justice is moderate and normal. Health is moderate and normal. Equality is moderate and normal. Equitable wealth and resource distribution is moderate and normal.The genocidal, ecocidal, omnicidal nightmare we see before us in our world today is what it looks like when the violent extremists are in charge.

DOT to send California rail funds to other projects - The Trump administration ratcheted up the pressure Monday in its campaign against California’s high-speed rail line, saying it would shift federal funds for the system to other rail projects around the country.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said $2.4 billion out of roughly $4 billion the federal government has provided for the system over the years would go to other passenger rail projects around the country, with an emphasis on improving safety at highway crossings and “family friendly” amenities.A spokesperson for the California High-Speed Rail Authority said the move violates an agreement the two sides reached; but DOT said it plans to reprioritize more funding in the future.“This is the first of many Trump Infrastructure Dividends whereby recompeted federal dollars will be redirected from wasteful boondoggles to real infrastructure projects that benefit the American people,” DOT said in a news release.

High Seas Treaty to protect oceans ratified as Trump pushes mining - Four countries last week ratified the High Seas Treaty, allowing that United Nations agreement to take effect next year even as the Trump administration pushes to open the world’s ocean bottoms to critical minerals extraction. The ratification by four countries — Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, and Morocco — effectively started a 120-day clock on implementation of the 2023 U.N. oceans biodiversity treaty for international waters, generally defined as beyond 200 nautical miles of a nation’s coast. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the moment a “historic achievement for the ocean and for multilateralism.” But the Trump administration is already positioned to bypass the treaty’s fundamental principles, including a requirement that any ocean activity in international waters undergo an environmental assessment by the U.N. agency charged with overseeing that activity.

Internal docs: Zeldin races ahead without analysis in endangerment rollback - The Trump administration’s rush to overturn a 16-year-old climate science finding has scrambled EPA’s rulemaking process in ways that could come back to bite it in court.Internal agency notes and presentation slides reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News show that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin intends to sign off next week on the final policy and legal justifications for repealing the so-called endangerment finding and Biden-era climate rules for cars and trucks. Zeldin will make those decisions before agency staff have time to sift through all public comments — or complete the legally required regulatory impact analysis (RIA).EPA’s political appointees told career officials that the RIA will have no bearing on the final regulatory package, according to notes from a career official in EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. E&E News obtained the official’s notes through a third party granted anonymity to share the agency’s internal deliberations.Slides from a Microsoft Teams meeting last week show that Zeldin will consider “options” for the final rule repeals at a briefing Tuesday, just eight days after the public comment period ended. EPA intends to conduct the regulatory impact analysis and review comments in October, before publishing the final rules in the Federal Register in mid-December.

Every Democratic senator opposes EPA plan to axe endangerment finding -In a unanimous decision, the Democratic caucus in the Senate wrote a letter on Monday in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposal to axe a 2009 endangerment finding, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determination that concluded that the accumulation of six greenhouse gases posed a serious threat to public health. The proposal would also repeal regulations for motor vehicles and engines. The determination helped set up the legal basis for U.S. climate policy, according to a press release. The effort, led by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), comes after the Trump administration said it’d axe the finding in July. “With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers. In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in July. “We heard loud and clear the concern that EPA’s GHG emissions standards themselves, not carbon dioxide, which the finding never assessed independently, was the real threat to Americans’ livelihoods.” The administration used studies authored and published by scientists who deny the existence of climate change to justify the decision. The scientists behind the studies have been trying to plant seeds of doubt about climate change among the scientific community for years, according to CNN. In response to the decision, the Democratic caucus on Monday said, “Scientists, financial experts, international governments, and the American public agree that climate change is a looming crisis. Greenhouse-gas driven climate change is driving extreme weather, flooding, erosion, sea-level rise, heat waves, drought, catastrophic wildfires, famine, smog pollution, and other disasters.” “These effects drive illness, hospital visits, and deaths, as well as displacement, asset loss, infrastructure damage, rising insurance premiums, declining home values, and long-term destabilization of the national economy. … And yet, in this proposal, EPA proposes to abdicate all responsibility to address this dangerous pollution,” they added.

EPA reorganization sparks fears of ‘political interference’ - EPA on Monday launched an agencywide reorganization that’s expected to sweep a key research office under the oversight of Administrator Lee Zeldin, raising fears among unions about political interference. In an internal EPA memo obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News, Zeldin told staffers that the agency is ushering in a “new, more efficient, more effective EPA” that focuses on meeting statutory obligations. He said the revamp follows a six-month review by the agency’s leadership.The administrator in the note to staff declared that “today is day one of the new EPA,” and the first part of a transition period that will play out through the end of November.In the coming months, Zeldin said agency leaders will work with the newly created Office of Finance and Administration to make changes and that additional information will be shared Monday at an all-hands meeting at EPA at the assistant administrator level.“Under President Trump’s leadership, we have recommitted our agency to commonsense policies supporting clean air, land, and water for all Americans while unleashing American energy, revitalizing domestic manufacturing, cutting the cost of living for families, and growing innovation and entrepreneurialism,” said Zeldin. Zeldin touted the agency’s creation of a first-of-its-kind Office of State Air Partnerships and moves to elevate the issues of cybersecurity, emergency response, and water reuse and conservation. He also lauded the creation of the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions, or OASES, an effort unveiled in May as part of a reorganization announcement. OASES is slated to be located in the Office of the Administrator, according to EPA’s plans.“We are bolstering scientific capacity where it matters most — directly in our air, water, and land program offices — so that EPA scientists can better-support EPA’s core mission and statutory obligations,” Zeldin said. “We are prioritizing research through the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions to ensure that science is at the forefront of our decision making.” The new office, OASES, is expected to absorb functions previously housed under the Office of Research and Development, the scientific research arm of EPA established in the 1970s. EPA formally announced in July it would “eliminate” ORD, with the research office’s 1,500-or-so staffers facing either layoffs or reassignments to other program offices.Already, the looming revamp has helped prompt some 326 ORD employees to take advantage of two previous early retirement and deferred resignation offers, according to data provided by EPA in July. The agency has not released the number of takers for a third round of the “early out” offers.Zeldin’s email did not provide details about OASES’ structure, who will lead it and what the size its workforce will be. EPA press aides did not immediately reply Monday to questions seeking those details.More information, including “an overview of our new organizational structure” for OASES will be told to staffers during an all-hands meeting, according to an email sent by current acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development Maureen Gwinn, reviewed by E&E News.But scrapping the research office and shifting its replacement directly under Zeldin is riling unions that say critical researchers at EPA will no longer have representation and likely face pressure from political appointees.“They are putting it directly under the administrator and subjecting it to political interference, subjecting research at the office to political interference,” said Nicole Cantello, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, which represents EPA Region 5 employees. “They are splitting apart ORD for no reason.”Cantello said the Office of Research and Development has produced “unparalleled” research that scientists have relied on for decades to craft policy and regulations that protect the public and the environment. Splitting up the office, she said, is meant to intimidate scientists and will undermine the credibility of EPA science.

Judge allows wind farm halted by Trump to resume construction - Bucking the Trump administration, a federal judge has ruled that a nearly complete offshore wind project can continue construction for the time being.Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, granted a preliminary injunction Monday that temporarily allows Revolution Wind to keep building its wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island.Lamberth wrote that the wind developer is “likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.”The move comes after the Trump administration issued a stop-work order against the offshore wind farm in August, part of its broader crusade against renewable energy.It said at the time that it was halting the project over unspecified concerns related to “national security interests” as well as the “prevention of interference” with other economic uses of the ocean.Revolution Wind, a joint venture between Ørsted and a consortium led by Skyborn Renewables, then sued the administration. It argued that the stop-work order “was issued without statutory authority, lacks any evidentiary basis, and is unlawful.”The wind farm in question is 80 percent complete and would be expected to provide enough energy to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, according to the company.

Offshore wind scores rare win in Trump era - Offshore wind got the courtroom equivalent of a high-seas rescue Monday, when a federal judge allowed construction to continue at a massive project off the New England coast. Revolution Wind was at growing risk of cancellation after the Interior Department halted work on the $6.2 billion project in August. The fight over the 65-turbine development has come to symbolize President Donald Trump’s attack on the wind industry. Industry representatives worried four other projects under the East Coast could also be shut down. But those fears were eased, at least temporarily, after Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary injunction that allows work on Revolution Wind to resume. The ruling came in a lawsuit that Revolution Wind filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging Interior’s stop-work order. Interior had cited unspecified national security concerns in its decision. But Lamberth, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, called the stoppage “the height of arbitrary and capricious action” and said the government had not shown why Revolution Wind was out of compliance with its permit. “It keeps offshore wind going while the case is pending,” said Francis Pullaro, president of RENEW Northeast, an association of clean energy developers and environmental groups. “It was an important decision for the health and future of offshore wind.” The decision was particularly welcome in New England, where offshore wind is a centerpiece of a regional strategy to build new power generation and cut planet-warming pollution. Revolution Wind, a joint venture of Ørsted and a BlackRock subsidiary, is a 704-megawatt project capable of generating enough electricity to power 350,000 homes. The project signed contracts to sell its power to Connecticut and Rhode Island during Trump’s first term in office. The governors of both states hailed Monday’s ruling, saying it would put laborers back to work while ensuring new electricity supplies will be brought online. “Today’s court decision on Revolution Wind reaffirms what I’ve been saying from day one: Halting a fully permitted project that is already 80% complete harms Rhode Island families, businesses, and workers,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, a Democrat, said in a statement. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, struck a more conciliatory tone, hailing the resumption of construction while pledging to work with the Trump administration to support other technologies like nuclear, hydropower and natural gas. “We will continue to engage with the federal government on a durable path forward for this project and on shared energy priorities,” he said. What Trump will do next is unclear. The Interior Department did not respond to questions about whether the department plans to appeal the decision. Instead, Interior spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said Revolution Wind will be allowed to resume construction while the department reviews the project’s impact on national security and other industries, like commercial fishing. “The Department of the Interior remains committed to ensuring that prior decisions are legally and factually sound,” Peace wrote in a statement.

Energy Dept. plans to claw back $13B in green funds -The Energy Department is planning to claw back $13 billion in unspent climate funds, it announced Wednesday. In a press release, the department said it plans to “return more than $13 billion in unobligated funds initially appropriated to advance the previous Administration’s wasteful Green New Scam agenda.” The press release did not specify exactly where the money would have otherwise gone or what it will be used for now, if anything. Spokespeople for the Energy Department did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for additional information. Asked about the money during The New York Times’s Climate Forward event Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the funds “hadn’t been assigned to projects yet” but that they were aimed at subsidizing more wind and solar energy as well as electric vehicles. The Trump administration has repeatedly sought to curtail spending on renewable energy — and set up barriers that hamper its deployment — while trying to expedite fossil fuels and nuclear power. The Energy Department has made several attempts to cut climate spending, including previous funding rescissions. The Environmental Protection Agency has separately sought to rescind billions of its own climate spending that was issued under the Biden administration.

Trump administration seeks equity stake in lithium producer as loan hangs in balance - The Trump administration is pressing the developer of a massive Nevada lithium mine to give it an equity stake in the company as it considers whether to proceed with a promised $2.3 billion federal loan, according to an administration official and a Lithium Americas official familiar with the talks. Project developer Lithium Americas is willing to sell the equity stake — likely amounting to less than 10 percent — but the Canada-based company and the government are still negotiating, the officials said. General Motors, which is a joint venture partner in the Thacker Pass lithium project, would have to agree to the terms of the deal, according to the administration official. If finalized, the move would be the latest example of the Trump administration’s strategy to intervene in private sector companies. It previously took a 10 percent stake in chip maker Intel and a 15 percent share in rare earths producer MP Materials. And it received a “golden share” in U.S. Steel — giving it control over company decisions, such as blocking its planned closure of an Illinois plant. The latest development in the lithium mine talks comes after officials on both sides of the aisle raised concerns that abandoning the project would harm U.S. efforts to counter China’s dominance over minerals supply. The project consists of a mine to tap the largest-known lithium resource in North America and a processing facility, which the Energy Department loan would support.

Supreme Court green-lights Trump's FTC firing, to consider over-ruling 90-year precedent The Supreme Court agreed Monday to formally consider overruling its 90-year-old precedent that enables Congress to provide certain agencies with a degree of independence from the White House, a major test of President Trump’s expansive assertion of presidential power. The justices are set to review Trump’s contention that he can fire independent agency leaders at will, an argument that casts their for-cause removal protections as infringing on the separation of powers. Oral arguments are set for December, with a decision expected by next summer. Until then, the court’s order temporarily greenlights Trump’s firing of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member Rebecca Slaughter over the dissents of the court’s three liberal justices. The majority did not explain their reasoning, but Justice Elena Kagan wrote a brief dissent criticizing her colleagues for the emergency intervention. “Our emergency docket should never be used, as it has been this year, to permit what our own precedent bars,” Kagan wrote, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. “Still more, it should not be used, as it also has been, to transfer government authority from Congress to the President, and thus to reshape the Nation’s separation of powers,” Kagan continued. In taking up the case, the justices agreed to formally reconsider the Supreme Court’s 1935 decision, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, that upheld the FTC’s removal protections as constitutional. Ever since, it has served as the cornerstone of legal justification for other independent agencies. The high court’s conservative majority has taken steps to limit the reach of Humphrey’s Executor in recent years, leading to doubts about the precedent’s future. Those doubts have only increased in Trump’s second term as he seeks to shatter removal protections and assert authority to hire and fire nearly anyone in the executive branch at will. The court previously allowed Trump’s similar firings of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris to temporarily take effect. But the justices sent those cases back to lower courts, resisting the administration’s urgings to take up the broader legal issues on the court’s normal docket until it again raised the request in its latest appeal involving the FTC. “This Court’s resolution of this suit could control many of those cases and provide important guidance in others,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court filings. A Democrat appointed to the FTC in 2018, Slaughter sued after Trump attempted to fire her in March. Federal law requires “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance” for the president remove an FTC commissioner. Trump does not purport to have cause. Instead, his administration contends the protections violate the separation of powers by restricting Trump’s ability to fire executive branch officials. The administration also argues courts have no power to reinstate FTC commissioners. The case reached the Supreme Court’s emergency docket after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit kept intact a federal district judge’s July order reinstating Slaughter as the litigation proceeds. Chief Justice John Roberts allowed the firing to move forward until the Supreme Court decided what to do. Slaughter’s lawyers maintain that the lower courts got it right and opposed any emergency intervention. But they acquiesced in the administration’s request that the Supreme Court should take up the case without delay. “It is of imperative public importance that any doubts concerning the constitutionality of traditional independent agencies be resolved promptly,” Slaughter’s lawyers wrote in court filings. It caught the attention of the fired NLRB and MSPB members. They responded by filing conditional petitions urging the Supreme Court to take up their cases, too, if the justices wanted to move forward. The court refused to do so, instead only agreeing to directly review Slaughter’s case.

Conservative leaders urge Trump to let ObamaCare tax credits expire - Leaders from 35 conservative organizations are urging President Trump to allow Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to expire at the end of the year rather than extending or making them permanent. The letter comes as Democrats in Congress are calling on Republicans to meet their demands on health care as a condition of funding the government beyond Tuesday night’s shutdown deadline. At the top of their list of asks is extending the ACA subsidies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic that expire at the end of the year. Democrats have rejected a Republican-crafted seven-week stopgap as they push for concessions on health care. “We urge your Administration to continue fighting the radical Left’s agenda: specifically, by allowing the Biden COVID credits to expire,” the leaders of the conservative organizations wrote in the letter sent to Trump on Friday and first shared with The Hill. The signatories encompass leaders from organizations aligned with free-market economic philosophy, including Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; David McIntosh, president of Club For Growth; and Brent Gardner, chief government affairs officer at Americans for Prosperity.

Trump administration to link autism to Tylenol; medical experts push back - The White House is expected to make an announcement Monday on its efforts to identify the cause of autism and reportedly will link the neurological condition to acetaminophen, the common over-the-counter pain reliever. According to multiple reports, the announcement is expected to link the development of autism to pregnant women’s use of acetaminophen, which is the primary ingredient in Tylenol. Pregnant women already have few safe options for pain relief, and an announcement touting a link to autism could put them in a difficult position. Ibuprofen and the brand-name Advil are already discouraged due to the risks of miscarriage and birth defects. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement that “acetaminophen remains a safe, trusted option for pain relief during pregnancy.” “Despite recent unfounded claims, there’s no clear evidence linking prudent use to issues with fetal development,” it added. President Trump previewed the announcement, expected during a 4 p.m. EDT event, at Sunday’s memorial service for Charlie Kirk. “I think you’re going to find it to be amazing,” Trump said. “I think we found an answer to autism.” He didn’t provide other details, adding only that he expects it to be “one of the most important news conferences I’ll ever have.” The Wall Street Journal first reported earlier this month that Kennedy planned to release a report linking autism and the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy. Additionally, the White House will reportedly recommend the use of a medication known as leucovorin to decrease symptoms of autism. Leucovorin is a form of folic acid, an essential B vitamin. Major medical societies, including the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM), advise acetaminophen is safe to use, though they also recommend speaking with health providers before taking it.

Infectious disease specialists lament 'chaos' of recent ACIP meeting -Experts with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) today expressed alarm and concern about vaccine access now and in the coming years in the wake of last week's meeting of a federal vaccine advisory board. The comments were made at an IDSA briefing held to address lingering questions following the meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Among the primary questions were what the committee's recommendations on updated COVID-19 vaccines will mean for access to the shots. The experts also shared their concerns about the limited participation of CDC staff in the meeting, the type of data that were presented, and the false claims about vaccine safety that were made by several ACIP members during the 2-day meeting. "Ultimately, what this meeting presented was a sense of chaos, and a sense of lack of confidence in access to vaccines that are safe and prevent disease for the American public," said Helen Chu, MD, an infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Chu, a former ACIP voting member, elaborated on how last week's meeting differed from previous meetings of the group. "For over six decades, ACIP was regarded as the international gold standard for vaccine decision-making," Chu said. "Until recently, ACIP was comprised of experts, including doctors, public health specialists, scientists who study immunology and epidemiology, and experts in clinical trials who carefully weighed the evidence and made recommendations for vaccines." But that changed in June, when Chu and 16 other ACIP members were removed by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who replaced them with 12 new members—7 in June and 5 last week—with comparatively less expertise. Several of the new members also share Kennedy's anti-vaccine views. Chu said last week's meeting was a "clear departure" from the group's standard operating procedures, which she called a "careful, deliberate, and rigorous" process that included scientific review of safety and efficacy data, assessment of the data's quality and strength, and consideration of vaccine risks and benefits for different groups. One glaring example was that much of the information about what the committee was planning to vote on was not shared with the public ahead of time, as it typically is. "It's not clear how the agenda items were chosen, and why the committee made the decision to readdress two safe and effective vaccines—hepatitis b and measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV)—that have already been approved and used for many decades in the United States, or to change the recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines," she said. Chu also said the discussions focused less on data presentations from CDC scientists and more on a small set of unvetted studies and safety events, "essentially cherry-picking the data, rather than looking at the big picture." Ultimately, what this meeting presented was a sense of chaos, and a sense of lack of confidence in access to vaccines that are safe and prevent disease for the American public. Andrew Pavia, MD, a pediatric and adult infectious disease physician at University of Utah Health who has served on ACIP workgroups, echoed Chu's criticism, citing the lack of expertise of the new members, the abandonment of "careful, comprehensive, and transparent" review of all the factors that go into vaccine recommendations, the limited participation of CDC experts, and the exclusion of liaison groups from the proceedings. Pavia said he was particularly alarmed by ACIP members' discussions about the hepatitis B vaccines. Although the committee ultimately decided to table the vote for another meeting, members were considering a recommendation that children receive the first dose of the vaccine 1 month after birth if the mother tests negative for hepatitis B. The current recommendation is that all children receive the first dose at birth. Noting that no new safety concerns about the birth-dose of the hepatitis B vaccine have emerged in the more than 30 years it's been recommended, Pavia said there was "no particularly compelling" reason to revisit this recommendation. "The committee did not offer a coherent reason for addressing this," Pavia said. "Fortunately, they decided to delay a vote, but the discussion may sow confusion, and I fear that their deliberation is not over." Regarding the committee's recommendations for who should receive updated COVID vaccines, Chu said she believes they were actually broader than what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, though the language of the voting questions were confusing. In late August, the FDA approved the updated formulation of the COVID vaccines only for those 65 and older and for those aged 6 months to 64 years who are at high risk for severe disease. But in one of its votes, the ACIP essentially recommended the vaccines for everyone over 6 months of age based on shared clinical decision-making with providers. HHS later clarified in a statement that providers include doctor, nurses, and pharmacists, and that shared clinical decision-making allows for vaccines to be covered by insurance. In practice, Chu said, that could mean that anyone 6 months and older who wants a COVID vaccine—or, for children, whose parents want vaccination—should be able to get one after discussion with a pharmacist or a provider about the risks and benefits. "Theoretically, this should expand access to vaccines," Chu said. But both Chu and Pavia argued that the real-world application of this recommendation could be more complicated, since the ability of pharmacists to give vaccines varies by state. "In some states, the ACIP vote will make it clear that pharmacists can feel comfortable giving the vaccine," Pavia said. "In other states, they will look to the FDA, or they may look for documentation that a discussion has occurred with your provider." Pavia said this could result in doctors in states that require prescriptions for vaccines getting hundreds and hundreds of requests for an in-person or virtual consultation to get a prescription. "This is an incredible burden on physicians and patients," he said.

Former acting CDC director says he ‘can’t look to’ center for trusted info - Richard Besser, the former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says he “can’t look” to the CDC for trustworthy medical information on Sunday.“My biggest takeaway as a doctor is that I can’t look to the CDC anymore for the trusted information,” Besser said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I’m going to need to look to medical societies and other groups to provide that information. Besser’s comments came in reference to the CDC’s 12-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voting unanimously Thursday to update federal COVID-19 vaccine guidance to recommend people talk to a clinician before taking the vaccine.The panel also voted against a motion to require a prescription to receive the vaccine. Besser, currently the president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, served as acting CDC director from January 2009 to June 2009. In a Sept. 1 New York Times op-ed he co-authored with eight former CDC directors, Besser criticized the direction of the agency under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Last month, Kennedy and the White House ousted CDC Director Susan Monarez after she refused to preapprove the aforementioned vaccine panel’s recommendations.

Trump tells pregnant women ‘don’t take Tylenol’, contradicting standard guidance - President Trump and top health officials Monday said pregnant women should not take acetaminophen for pain relief due to a potential link to autism. Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol, one of the most widely used medications in the world. “Taking Tylenol is not good,” Trump said during a White House announcement. Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin updating the label on acetaminophen and will begin notifying physicians that Tylenol “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.” “All pregnant women should talk to their doctors for more information about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant. So ideally, you don’t take it at all, but if you have to, you can’t tough it out … probably, you’re going to end up doing it,” Trump said. Trump spoke in the Oval Office alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. Tylenol has been one of the only over-the-counter pain medications for pregnant women that is considered safe. Other options like ibuprofen or aspirin can increase risks of birth defects. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement before the announcement that “acetaminophen remains a safe, trusted option for pain relief during pregnancy.” “Despite recent unfounded claims, there’s no clear evidence linking prudent use to issues with fetal development,” it added. Major medical societies, including the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM), advise recommend that pregnant women consult with health providers before taking acetaminophen. “At this time, the weight of scientific evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy causes an increased risk for autism or ADHD is simply inconclusive,” SMFM President Sindhu Srinivas said. Experts say there are multiple causes of autism, and the increase in diagnoses is more likely due to improved detection.

Trump to pregnant women: ‘Tough it out’ - Speaking in the Oval Office and flanked by top health officials, Trump on Monday said pregnant women shouldn’t take acetaminophen because of the risk of autism, except in case of an extremely high fever — “if you can’t tough it out.” “Taking Tylenol is, uh, not good. I’ll say it. It’s not good,” Trump said. He claimed repeatedly that “there’s no downside” to not taking it. Many researchers have cautioned that there is no causal link between the use of acetaminophen while pregnant and autism, and data showing a potential link are not clear. Tylenol has been one of the only over-the-counter pain medications for pregnant women that is considered safe. Other options like ibuprofen or aspirin can increase risks of birth defects. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) warned there would be real-world consequences from the administration’s move, calling it “irresponsible.” “The conditions people use acetaminophen to treat during pregnancy are far more dangerous than any theoretical risks and can create severe morbidity and mortality for the pregnant person and the fetus,” ACOG president Steven J. Fleischman said. Kenvue, maker of Tylenol, disputed the idea of any link. “The facts are that over a decade of rigorous research, endorsed by leading medical professionals and global health regulators, confirms there is no credible evidence linking acetaminophen to autism. We stand with the many public health and medical professionals who have reviewed this science and agree,” the company said. “We will continue to reinforce that expecting mothers speak to their health professionals before taking any over-the-counter medication and will explore all options to protect the health interests of American women and children.” Trump and his health officials also announced they would be recommending leucovorin, a form of the B vitamin folic acid, as a way of treating autism symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration is initiating its approval for cerebral folate deficiency, which has some potential links to autism spectrum disorders. Leucovorin is used to treat side effects of chemotherapy. The Coalition of Autism Scientists said it does not support this recommendation. “There are only a handful of clinical trials of leucovorin and evidence connecting treatment to improvements in outcomes is very weak,” said the group. “All of them are very small, and the study designs and approaches to statistical analyses of the data are not all of high quality. It is premature to claim that leucovorin is an effective treatment for autism and add autism as a secondary indication.”

Trump suggests changes to childhood vaccine schedule ‘based on what I feel’ - President Trump on Monday gave personal suggestions on how and when parents should have children receive certain vaccines, offering advice that he said was based on his own feelings during a press event that claimed links between Tylenol, vaccinations and autism. “We want no mercury in the vaccine. We want no aluminum in the vaccine. The MMR I think should be taken separately,” Trump said, referring to the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella “This is based on what I feel. The mumps, measles and — the three should be taken separately. And it seems to be that when you mix them, there could be a problem,” Trump said. “So there’s no downside in taking them separately. In fact, they think it’s better. So let it be separate.” Trump’s comments came at a White House event where the president and top health officials said pregnant women should not take acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, because of potential links to autism. Trump also asserted that children should not receive the hepatitis B vaccine until they were 12 years old. He said the viral infection is sexually transmitted, but it can also be spread through used needles and open wounds. “You know, I’m making these statements from me,” Trump said. “I’m not making them from them, these doctors.” Asked if he felt it was appropriate for him to be telling the public what to do given it was based on his own feelings, Trump said it was “absolutely appropriate.”

Experts push back on Trump's tying autism to childhood vaccines, Tylenol --In a digressive press conference yesterday, President Donald Trump advised pregnant women to avoid taking acetaminophen, or Tylenol, during pregnancy because, he said, the painkiller and fever reducer raises the risk of autism. Trump also suggested that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine should be given as three separate shots to children and also linked vaccines to autism.The announcements were not based on any new evidence or research on the relationship between Tylenol use and autism or between vaccines and autism and was immediately discredited by scientists, researchers, and professional organizations around the globe“We want no mercury in the vaccine. We want no aluminum in the vaccine. The MMR I think should be taken separately. This is based on what I feel,” Trump said. “It seems to be that when you mix them, there could be a problem. So, there’s no downside in taking them separately. In fact, they think it’s better. So let it be separate.” No new data on the benefits of separate vaccines were presented, but it seems Trump was referencing the anti-vaccine argument that the current childhood vaccine schedule overwhelms a child’s immune system and that preservatives found in vaccines could cause autism.In a statement on the president’s remarks, the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote, “Pediatricians know firsthand that children’s immune systems perform better after vaccination against serious, contagious diseases like polio, measles, whooping cough and Hepatitis B. Spacing out or delaying vaccines means children will not have immunity against these diseases at times when they are most at risk.” The American Psychiatric Association also made a clear statement yesterday: “Vaccines do not cause autism. Claims of any such association have been repeatedly discredited in peer reviewed studies." When pressed by reporters on his reasoning, Trump held fast to the idea that children receive too many vaccines. “You have a little child, little fragile child, and you get a vat of 80 different vaccines, I guess, 80 different blends, and they pump it in,” he said. But hunches are not grounds for solid science, said Kevin Griffis, spokesperson for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy's (CIDRAP’s) Vaccine Integrity Project,.“The way to establish trust with people is to show the data you're using to make decisions. That's why the Vaccine Integrity Project held a public webinar to walk through the latest published data our team found on flu, COVID and RSV immunization, and why we posted the research protocol that guided the work and all the slides from the presentation,” said Griffis. “But whether you're talking vaccine policy or Tylenol, we aren't seeing that from the current administration. You can't trust pronouncements when no evidence is offered. Science isn't based off vibes or hunches.”The press conference was the latest effort by Trump and US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to link vaccines to autism.“It was just not based on evidence,” said epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, PHD, MPH, during an interview with journalist Katie Couric. “It was just word salad.”Jetelina explained that Trump’s comments on Tylenol seemed to be based on a Harvard–Mount Sinai analysis of 46 studies that identified a slight increased risk of autism associated with prenatal Tylenol use but did not demonstrate causation.“In more than two decades of research on the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy, not a single reputable study has successfully concluded that the use of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children,” the American Academy of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said yesterday.

Trump, RFK Jr. & Autism Claims: Fact vs Fiction - Katie Couric with Dr. Katelyn Jetelina – YouTube (interview, no transcript)

Tylenol and autism: What parents deserve to know -Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist - On Monday, RFK Jr.’s autism “report” landed. This was supposed to be the culmination of RFK Jr.’s months-long promise to “finally uncover” the cause of autism by September. But no report was published, no new science was unveiled, and no fresh data was presented. Instead, we got an X post, a press conference, and politicians coming to far-reaching conclusions from data that obstetricians, pediatricians, and scientists have already spent decades studying. As an epidemiologist, I could see the falsehoods spewing out like a firehose with a few kernels of truth mixed in. But as a mom, the aftermath was visceral. My DMs and texts lit up with worry. Even the faint suggestion of blame haunts pregnant women and parents, piling more weight on shoulders already carrying enough. Being told to “toughen up”, without regard for the confusion, doubt, and guilt that are placed on us far too often these days. This is where I believe this “report” is making a grave mistake. They are underestimating the power of parents. Parents don’t need fearmongering or false certainty—they want accurate information, context, and respect. Not chaos, but clarity. Not underestimation, but empowerment with the best evidence at their fingertips to help them make the best decisions for themselves and their families.What happened earlier this week is far, far from this. And parents deserve better.The idea that Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy could be linked to autism has been investigated by the scientific community for more than a decade. Some scientists have wondered if Tylenol might affect a baby’s brain during pregnancy by stressing cells or changing certain chemical pathways. These hypotheses primarily originate from laboratory and animal studies at high doses.There have also been many, many human studies.The paper behind many of the headlines this week is a Harvard/Mount Sinai study that reviewed over 46 studies evaluating the associations between Tylenol and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and ADHD, with six studies focusing specifically on autism. They found a mix of conclusions:

• 27 studies found a positive link (Tylenol in pregnancy is correlated with neurodevelopmental disorders)
• 9 studies found no link
• 4 studies showed a negative link (Tylenol is correlated with fewer neurodevelopmental disorders)

These authors found a pattern consistent with rat studies: Tylenol, particularly during third trimester, was associated with higher risk. Also, they found a dose-response relationship: the more Tylenol someone had during pregnancy, the greater the associated risk. Importantly, the overall increased risk they found in these correlative studies was quite small. BUT. These were not randomized controlled trials (the gold standard), because it would be unethical to assign pregnant women to take or avoid Tylenol (the risks of untreated fever are real). Instead, each of these individual studies had to rely on observational methods. And observational studies can be tricky. They’re always vulnerable to confounding variables (what caused moms to take Tylenol in the first place?) or other factors (like genetics or environmental exposures) that may explain the pattern.In 2024, a major study from Sweden took the evidence a step further. Researchers there did something clever: they compared siblings. One child had been exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy, the other had not. This kind of “natural experiment” is powerful because it controls for what siblings share, including genetics and family environment. We know autism has a strong genetic component, so studies like this, controlling for genetics, are critical.The Tylenol–autism link disappeared when comparing siblings. When the researchers examined the data without sibling comparisons, they reproduced the same association that older studies had found. That means the study was strong enough to detect the association—but also strong enough to show it evaporated once they controlled for genetic and other environmental factors.In other words, this evidence leans heavily toward correlation, not causation. (Tylenol is not the cause.)Many epidemiologists do think there is a rise in autism due to improved recognition and diagnostic criteria, but not at the dramatic rate that the “report” insinuated. (Read more here for a deep dive into the data trends.)Autism is rooted in brain development. While neuroscience is still being mapped, we do know that some autistic brains show differences in neuron growth and connectivity—differences that originate in utero, when the brain is forming.So why do some developing brains take this path while others don’t? Research shows that it’s highly genetic—85% of the risk is attributed to your genes. But genetics haven’t changed over time. Therefore, if there is an increase, it’s likely that environmental exposures.Tylenol use has decreased over time. So, again, another sign this isn’t leading to a dramatic rise in autism.

Michigan Democrat moves to impeach HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) announced Thursday she would introduce articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. due to “health care chaos” under his watch. On social platform X, Stevens wrote, “Health care chaos. Reckless cuts. Rising costs. Michiganders and families across the country are paying the price for RFK Jr.’s agenda. Enough is enough, which is why I’m drafting articles of impeachment against @SecKennedy.” Stevens has repeatedly called for Kennedy’s removal from his role since he became health secretary. She called for Kennedy to resign earlier this month, citing the slashing of medical research for pediatric cancer and vaccines. “Michiganders are tired of politicians who chase attention and ignore real problems. I’ve seen enough chaos from this administration and from Secretary Kennedy,” Stevens said in a statement Sept. 15. “He’s making Michiganders unhealthy and unsafe. He needs to resign now. It’s time for leaders who fight for science, for health, and for the people, not those who undermine the progress our families and researchers work so hard to achieve.” The move to impeach Kennedy comes amid federal health policies and recommendations that major medical organizations have spoken out against, including recommendations to alter childhood vaccination schedules and President Trump telling pregnant women not to take Tylenol. Republican senators are growing increasingly uncomfortable with health actions being taken by the Trump administration, with one lawmaker telling The Hill this week that Republicans are “starting to break ranks” over it.

The dirty secret of America under Trump: 1 in 5 children goes hungry --Earlier this month, US President Trump boasted in an interview with Fox News that, under his leadership, America had the “best economy we’ve ever had.” Any worker watching the interview would have wondered what America the president was talking about. But Trump quickly explained what he meant. “We have the best stock market we’ve ever had.” And that is true. The stock market, and the wealth of the financial elite that owns most financial assets, keeps hitting records. The NASDAQ has surged 27 percent in a single month. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made $100 billion in a single day. NVIDIA, whose chips power the AI boom driving layoffs throughout the country, has seen its stock price increase by 50 percent, mirroring the dizzying heights of the dot-com boom a quarter-century ago. Trump never ceases to boast about the fortunes created for the financial oligarchy. Left unsaid is that these fortunes are predicated on the impoverishment and ever greater exploitation of the workers of the United States and the world. In an indication of what the ruling class is planning and its implications, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Saturday announced the “termination of future Household Food Security Reports,” which have been released every year for 30 years to document the state of hunger in the country. The office of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins declared that the USDA’s reports—considered by researchers the gold standard for measuring hunger in America—“do nothing more than fear monger.” They are, in her words, “liberal fodder.” Rollins asserted, “Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity have remained virtually unchanged.” But this is simply a lie. Last year’s report showed that in 2023, 19 percent of America’s children were classified as “food insecure,” meaning they lived in households that “had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members because of a lack of resources.” In simple language, nearly one in five of America’s children were hungry. Last year’s report showed a sharp increase in hunger from 2021, when 13 percent of America’s children were classified as food insecure. Hunger in America has increased further due to the combination of soaring food prices, stagnating wages, growing unemployment and the Trump administration’s unrelenting assault on social programs. This year, the administration has cut millions of dollars in federal aid to food banks, and Trump’s “big beautiful bill” included the largest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, in years. The most palpable driver of hunger is the surge in food prices. Since February 2020, the price of steak has increased by 54 percent and ground beef by 51 percent. As a result, Americans are simply buying less beef. “We’re seeing people opt away from beef,” Chris Dubois of the spending research firm Circana told National Public Radio. Instead, more Americans are turning to Hamburger Helper, a filler food marketed to stretch smaller quantities of meat into larger portions. Sales of the product are up 14.5 percent over the past year. Sales of rice are up 7.5 percent as are sales of canned beans. “Beans and rice,” popularized by the self-help guru Dave Ramsey, are becoming the national diet.

Trump pressures DOJ to prosecute political rivals -- President Trump is growing more brazen in his calls to prosecute his political rivals, turning up the public pressure on Attorney General Pam Bondi and others in the Justice Department to go after his opponents. Trump has in recent days ousted a U.S. attorney who would not bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and posted on social media a message for Bondi saying the lack of charges against rivals like James and another rival, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) were “killing our reputation and credibility.” Trump caused a stir on Saturday with his Truth Social message directed at his own attorney general. “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,’” Trump posted. “There is a GREAT CASE….We can’t delay any longer.” The public pressure campaign from Trump comes after the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, resigned rather than bring charges against James, reportedly concluding there was not sufficient evidence to back Trump’s allegation she committed mortgage fraud. The claims against James came alongside similar allegations made against two other Trump foes — Schiff and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook — who also face accusations of mortgage fraud. Siebert had also been investigating former FBI Director James Comey, another probe in which he reportedly faced roadblocks. The message has led to a flurry of questions about whether Trump still has confidence in Bondi and whether he wants to see his rivals prosecuted regardless of evidence. “The president has every right to express how he feels about these people who literally campaigned on trying to put him in jail, who literally tried to ruin his life and ruin his businesses. He wants to see accountability for those who abuse their office and abuse their power,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday, referring specifically to James. Asked if that was retribution, Leavitt instead called it “accountability.” Trump’s comments sent shock waves among former prosecutors as well as those who have been actively targeted by the president. “He made it very clear that he was firing [Siebert] for not bringing a meritless mortgage fraud case against Letitia James, and he’s basically out in the open pressuring his attorney general, sending a message to other U.S. attorneys out there that if they don’t do his will, they don’t do his bidding and bring meritless cases against his enemies, they could be fired,” Schiff said during an appearance on MSNBC, noting his own work on Trump’s impeachment and on the Jan. 6 committee. “And what he wants to try to do is not just go after me and Letitia James or Lisa Cook, but rather send a message that anyone who stands up to him on anything – anyone who has the audacity to call out his corruption will be a target, and they will go after you. It’s an effort to try to silence and intimidate people, but I refuse to be silenced or intimidated.”

Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted at Donald Trump's behest - Former FBI Director James Comey was hit with two federal charges late Thursday, days after President Trump ramped up pressure on his Justice Department to prosecute his most prominent adversaries. The counts stem from testimony Comey gave before the Senate in 2020 as it probed investigations into ties Trump’s 2016 campaign had with Russia, which the president has long decried as a “witch hunt.”While Justice Department officials have portrayed the indictment as a step toward accountability, Comey said his “heart is broken” for the agency and that he is innocent.Comey is set to be arraigned Oct. 9 in federal court in Alexandria, Va. His case will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, an appointee of former President Biden.Comey’s indictment includes two counts: false statements to Congress, and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.The felonies each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, though if convicted, Comey would be a first-time offender who would likely receive a lesser punishment.They stem from an exchange between Comey and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during a Sept. 30, 2020, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Cruz asked Comey if he had ever authorized a leak about the FBI’s investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails and connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.The question zeroed in on conflicting accounts between Comey and his former deputy, Andrew McCabe, regarding a leak to The Wall Street Journal about the Clinton investigation days before the 2016 election.McCabe has indicated Comey knew about and authorized the leak. Comey maintains he was unaware and that McCabe in a conversation after the story published implied he, too, wasn’t involved.A 2018 inspector general report sided with Comey’s account, saying McCabe authorized the leak and “lacked candor” when he told his boss and later investigators that he didn’t.“What Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who’s telling the truth?” Cruz pressed.Comey responded, “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized.”The indictment does not identify a specific news story, but the charging documents allege Comey authorized an unnamed “Person 3” to leak details of an FBI investigation.ABC News and CNN reported Friday that refers to Daniel Richman, a Columbia Law School professor who has previously confirmed leaking a memo he received from Comey detailing the then-director’s interactions with Trump.The false statements charge requires prosecutors to prove that Comey “knowingly and willfully” made a “false, fictitious, or fraudulent” statement to Cruz, and it was material.The obstruction charge requires prosecutors to show that Comey in making a false statement corruptly endeavored “to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law.” Comey is charged in the Eastern District of Virginia, because his congressional testimony was given remotely from his home in McLean, Va., due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The charges against Comey followed a pressure campaign from Trump, who over the weekend issued a direct call to Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring charges against Comey as well as others the president considers to be his political adversaries. “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,’” Trump posted on social media, referencing Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).“There is a GREAT CASE….We can’t delay any longer.”Those comments came after the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, resigned under pressure to bring charges against Comey and James. Siebert reportedly had held off due to a lack of evidence in the cases.Trump swiftly installed Lindsey Halligan, who was tapped as an interim replacement. Halligan, a White House staffer who practiced insurance law before she joined his criminal defense team in 2022, has never tried a federal case. Just days later, Trump officials brought an indictment before a grand jury, borrowing a line popular among Democrats in announcing the move.“No one is above the law,” Bondi said.FBI Director Kash Patel, who worked on a review of the 2016 investigation as a staffer on the House Intelligence Committee, also implied Comey was corrupt.“Nowhere was this politicization of law enforcement more blatant than during the Russiagate hoax, a disgraceful chapter in history we continue to investigate and expose,” he wrote in a post on social media.“Everyone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account – no matter their perch.” Comey’s testimony before the Senate came on Sept. 30, 2020, meaning the indictment was filed just days before the five-year statute of limitations in the case was set to expire.

Comey’s indictment triggers questions over which Trump enemy could be next - The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey marked the first criminal charges to be brought against a political adversary of the president – but many fear they will not be the last. President Trump has a long list of perceived enemies, and he hasn’t been shy about repeatedly calling for their prosecution, telling reporters in the wake of Comey’s indictment, “I hope there will be others.” “It’s not a list, but I think there will be others. They’re corrupt,” Trump said Friday when asked, “who is the next person on your list in your retribution campaign?” “It’s about justice,” he added. Democrats and legal experts made clear they see the Comey case as laying the groundwork for charges against other Trump foes, including those recently listed by Trump in a post calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring charges as “we can’t delay any longer.” “The Department of Justice has become a political tool of a vengeful president,” Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Friday. “President Trump wears his corruption like a badge of honor and defies anyone daring to challenge him,” he added, adding that Bondi has complied with Trump’s directives. For some former prosecutors, the case highlights an erosion of the independence of the Department of Justice as well as the requirement to bring thoroughly vetted cases. The grand jury that reviewed the case rejected one proposed charge before approving one related to making false statements to Congress and another for obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Both related to testimony he gave in 2020 regarding the 2016 election. Comey has denied any wrongdoing. “It’s a very disturbing moment in our country’s history. A president demanded an indictment of one of his enemies, someone he repeatedly ridiculed and vilified in public statements and social media posts, and he got it. He got it even though career prosecutors who had worked on the case didn’t believe the evidence met the standard for obtaining an indictment,” Joyce Vance, who served as a U.S. attorney under former President Obama, wrote on her blog. “In some ways, important ones, today’s news is about Jim Comey. But really, it’s about Donald Trump. It’s about a president who wants to abuse the power of government and make himself unstoppable.” Those close to the White House, however, defended the prosecution, forecasting there would be more to follow. “Dear Lawfare Democrats: I bet you anything the rest of you are indicted by the end of February,” said Mike Davis, a conservative lawyer who has advised the White House on judicial appointments. Prosecutors already have a long list of active investigations into Trump’s targets, something critics see as a weaponization of the Department of Justice the president has long railed against. The FBI last month searched the home and office of Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton after securing a warrant based on suspicions he may have retained classified records and other sensitive material as he was preparing a memoir. Several outlets reported Friday that Espionage Act charges against Bolton are expected imminently. And the Justice Department is also already probing three other Trump adversaries on allegations related to mortgage fraud: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who led Trump’s first impeachment and served on the Jan. 6 committee; New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who won a civil case against Trump’s business; and Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Cook, a player in Trump’s efforts to pressure the Fed to lower interest rates.

New Pentagon restrictions on journalists sparks pushback - Media organizations and lawmakers are pushing back at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new crackdown on journalists working in the Pentagon that would revoke the press credentials of reporters who obtain military or defense information without the building’s approval. The new policy, laid out in a 17-page memo on Friday, requires credentialed press members to sign a pledge to not report information that has not been authorized for release, including unclassified information, or risk losing credentials that provide access to the Pentagon. The mandate quickly drew the criticism of Democratic and even some Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who called the move “so dumb that I have a hard time believing it is true.” “We don’t want a bunch of Pravda newspapers only touting the Government’s official position. A free press makes our country better. This sounds like more amateur hour,” Bacon wrote on the social platform X, referring to the Soviet Union’s official state newspaper. Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) also condemned the policy, calling it “an ill-advised affront to free speech and freedom of the press.” “This goes beyond attempting to suppress criticism — Mr. Hegseth’s goal appears to be eliminating a critical check on government corruption, unlawful practices, and the misuse of taxpayer dollars,” Reed said in a statement on Saturday. “American journalists are not, should not, and must not be mere stenographers for the party in power or the Pentagon itself.” Media organizations and newsroom leaders, meanwhile, have released their own condemnations of the mandate, with The New York Times calling it “yet another step in a concerning pattern of reducing access to what the U.S. military is undertaking at taxpayer expense.”

Legality of Pete Hegseth's crackdown on Charlie Kirk criticism questioned - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to oust service members celebrating or mocking the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk online has already seen at least eight people suspended or placed under investigation, with legal experts warning of a chilling effect on free speech.The disciplinary actions — including suspensions of at least five Army officers and an Air Force senior master sergeant, a Marine officer relieved of his recruiting duties and placed under investigation, and an Army Reserve major also being looked at, according to Task & Purpose — comes after Hegseth last week ordered staff to actively search for anyone working for the Defense Department who condoned or made fun of Kirk’s Sept. 10 death. But a “witch hunt” for people who criticize someone that the Trump administration is lionizing is “extremely dangerous” as it threatens to remove the long-held apolitical nature of the military, according to Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force judge advocate and now a law professor at Southwestern Law School. “Going beyond things that directly impact good order and discipline, directly impact the military mission, just to retribute and punish and therefore suppress and chill any personal expression based on ideological grounds is beyond the pale,” VanLandingham told The Hill. She added, “We’ve never seen institutionally … the ability of the Pentagon to limit speech utilized to such an extent purely on ideological grounds.” Kirk, the co-founder of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. A day after his death, Hegseth indicated Pentagon officials would be monitoring social media posts made by any military members commenting negatively about the late activist. “We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately. Completely unacceptable,” Hegseth posted last Thursday on the social platform X, responding to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, who wrote, “It is unacceptable for military personnel and Department of War civilians to celebrate or mock the assassination of a fellow American.”

US War Department Considers Using Charlie Kirk's Assassination for Military Recruitment Campaign - Officials at the US War Department are considering using the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk as a tool for a new military recruiting campaign, NBC News has reported. The report said that officials are considering using chapters of Turning Point USA, a political organization founded by Kirk, as recruitment centers. Possible slogans for the effort that officials have discussed include “Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors.” Some officials are resistant to the idea, warning that a recruitment campaign could be seen as the Pentagon capitalizing on Kirk’s death. Kirk, who was only 31 years old when he was murdered, never served in the military. When asked about the potential recruiting campaign, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell appeared to deny it. He told NBC: “The media is so desperate to attack this administration’s success that they are now inventing lies about our recruitment efforts. Leadership matters, and under the strong leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth men and women are coming out in droves to serve this great nation.” On Saturday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth posted a video on X of himself reciting the Lord’s Prayer, which he said was “for Charlie,” accompanied by a montage of scenes demonstrating US military power, including missiles being fired, naval warships, fighter jets, bombers, and US troops in action. Hegseth’s post drew criticism from some Christians for blending the prayer with militarism. “Pairing the Lord’s Prayer with military propaganda = shameful and gross,” Joshua Charles, a former White House speech writer and founder of the Catholic organization Eternal Christendom, wrote on X.

Former Disney CEO Eisner backs Jimmy Kimmel, blasts FCC 'intimidation' of ABC-Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on Friday issued a statement supporting Jimmy Kimmel, whose late-night show has been suspended indefinitely by Disney's subsidiary ABC for comments the host made about the killing of Charlie Kirk.Eisner, in a tweet, blasted Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr for what he called "out-of-control intimidation" of ABC and Disney in the hours before the network said it was yanking "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off the air Wednesday night. “Where has all the leadership gone?" asked Eisner."Maybe the Constitution should have said, 'Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one's political or financial self-interest,'" Eisner quipped in his post on X."By-the-way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny."

Jimmy Kimmel to return Tuesday after Disney lifts suspension over Charlie Kirk comments -Disney says it will reinstate comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday after pulling the late-night host off the air. The company said in a statement shared with multiple media outlets it took the comedian off the air “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for the country.” Kimmel had been taken off the air after saying last Monday that conservatives were trying to score “political points” off the assassination of Charlie Kirk and joking that President Trump was mourning his death “like a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.” The remarks earned the comedian a sharp rebuke from Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chair, who argued the late-night host should be punished by the network. Kimmel has long been a critic of Trump and his allies, and the president predicted Kimmel could be taken off the air “next” after CBS late night host Stephen Colbert had his show canceled by Paramount earlier this summer. Kimmel’s suspension sparked outrage from Democrats and first-amendment advocates, many of whom warned the Trump administration was using the power of government to crack down on speech it didn’t like. Even some Republicans expressed concern that Trump’s FCC had gone too far in trying to intimidate one of the world’s largest providers of news, sports and entertainment programming. Top names in media, from Howard Stern to John Oliver, urged their audiences to boycott Disney products or unsubscribe from the company’s streaming services, while Democrats on Capitol Hill threatened Congressional investigations into ABC’s suspension of its biggest Hollywood star.

Sinclair will preempt Jimmy Kimmel’s show, replacing with ‘news programming’ --Sinclair Inc., the second-largest provider of local news in the country, announced Monday that its ABC affiliates will preempt Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show starting Tuesday.The company, in a post on the social platform X, said it will replace broadcasts of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” with news programming. Kimmel will return to the air Tuesday, after he was suspended indefinitely by ABC and Disney last Wednesday. “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair added. Kimmel’s suspension came two days after he accused conservatives of trying to “score political points” off the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. He also joked that President Trump was grieving the conservative activist’s murder “the way a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.” It came shortly after Nexstar Media Group announced it would preempt broadcasts of the comedian’s show on its ABC affiliates. Nexstar, which owns The Hill, is the largest provider of local news in the country.

New York City mayor candidate Curtis Sliwa says he was offered money to quit race --Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee in the race for mayor of New York City, said Wednesday that he has received at least seven calls from "emissaries" of wealthy people who have repeatedly offered him money to end his campaign. Sliwa slammed those offers as "unethical and illegal."And he warned that if he receives one more such offer, he will begin revealing names of the wealthy New Yorkers who have made them, NBC affiliate WNBC reported.Sliwa reiterated his vow not to suspend his campaign."Cross my heart and hope to die," the Guardian Angels founder told WNBC when asked if he plans to stay in the race until Election Day, Nov. 4. President Donald Trump has suggested that Sliwa and Mayor Eric Adams drop out of the race to clear the way for a one-on-one match-up between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani."I would say that Cuomo might have a chance of winning if it was a one-on-one," said Trump, who has called Mamdani a "communist."Mamdani is a self-described democratic socialist. Adams and Cuomo are both Democrats, but are running as independents. Recent polls show Mamdani comfortably leading Cuomo, with Adams and Sliwa trailing by a wide margin.

FBI fires agents who knelt during 2020 racial justice protests: AP --The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, the Associated Press reported late Friday. Two sources told the AP that around 20 agents were fired, with an additional source confirming the firings. The sources also revealed that the agents had been reassigned last spring for their conduct during the protests. The photographs that led to the firings showed a group of agents kneeling during a protest in Washington that followed the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide outrage and demonstrations, which were heavily policed and monitored by local law enforcement officers and federal agencies. A 2020 internal FBI memo described the protests as a “national crisis.” David Bowdich, then-deputy director at the FBI, called for the bureau to investigate “violent protesters, instigators” and “inciters.” The firing of the group of FBI agents for their support during the protests comes amid larger restructurings at the FBI and increased scrutiny of FBI Director Kash Patel’s leadership.Patel has come under fire for his lack of law enforcement background and conduct during high-profile cases handled by the bureau.

Trump Goon Ed Martin Targets Sandy Hook Hero William Aldenberg for Suing Alex Jones --The Justice Department is going after one of Alex Jones’ worst enemies—and the nation’s most-litigated conspiracy theorist can’t contain his excitement. Top DOJ official Ed Martin sent a letter to Christopher Mattei, the lawyer representing FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg, who was one of the first officials to respond to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The letter came shortly after Jones posted a picture of himself and Martin on X, writing, “The Deep State is in DEEP S--t!”A former chair of the Missouri Republican Party, Martin was appointed by President Donald Trump in May to head the DOJ’s “Weaponization Working Group,” having briefly served as interim U.S. attorney for D.C. He previously worked as an attorney and advocate for the Jan. 6 insurgents, as well as spreading bogus claims about the 2020 elections being rigged and Russian interference in 2016 being a Democratic Party “hoax.”“I am writing to request information from you regarding your client FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg and his role in certain litigation that may benefit him personally and that may impact our citizens and our legal system,” Martin wrote to Mattei last Monday.“As you may know, there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit,” he added. “I encourage you to review those.” Jones, who was ordered in 2022 to pay $90 million to Aldenberg as a result of defamation proceedings brought against the conspiracy theorist by the FBI official and families of children killed in the shooting, had posted the picture of himself standing beside Martin just three days before the letter was sent. Martin’s increasingly bizarre efforts to name and shame officials who tried to hold MAGA figures to account culminated in him being caught on camera loitering outside the home of New York Attorney General Letitia James last month. Martin, who was wearing a trenchcoat in the August sunshine, was confronted by a neighbor who saw him and another goon peering into James’ property. The men claimed to be on some kind of architectural tour. Martin was trying to keep his latest plot out of the news. He instructed Mattei in his letter to “keep this correspondence confidential” given he did not “wish to litigate this in the media,” Jones had no such plans.“Breaking!” he wrote on Tuesday to his roughly 4.5 million followers, posting Martin’s letter. “The DOJ’s Task Force On Government Weaponization Against The American People Has Launched An Investigation Into The Democrat Party / Directing Illegal Law-fare Against Alex Jones And Infowars.” There is no indication from the text of Martin’s letter that the Justice Department is presently “investigating” Aldenberg, much less the Democratic Party as it pertains to the estimated $1.2 billion defamation proceedings against Jones for pushing fake claims and conspiracy theories about the slaying of 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7, along with six adult members of staff at the school.

Sandy Hook mass shooting hero threatened: Learn to recognize Trump’s politicized persecutions - Trump DOJ loyalist, Ed Martin Jr. appears to go after FBI agent who sued Alex Jones after responding to Sandy Hook school massacre — The Independent Trump Goon Threatens Sandy Hook Hero for Suing Alex Jones — The Daily Beast Ed Martin Comes To The Rescue … of Alex Jones?!? — TPM “Trump’s Justice Department is going after one of Alex Jones’ worst enemies—and the nation’s most-litigated conspiracy theorist can’t contain his excitement.Top DOJ official Ed Martin sent a letter to Christopher Mattei, the lawyer representing FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg, who was one of the first officials to respond to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The letter came shortly after Jones posted a picture of himself and Martin on X, writing, “The Deep State is in DEEP S–t!” - The Daily Beast

Follow the political persecution Explore this map Ed Martin Jr. — Alex Jones “Alex Jones, who was ordered in 2022 to pay $90 million to Aldenberg as a result of defamation proceedings brought against the conspiracy theorist by the FBI official and families of children killed in the shooting, had posted the picture of himself standing beside Martin just three days before the letter was sent.Martin’s increasingly bizarre efforts to name and shame officials who tried to hold MAGA figures to account culminated in him being caught on camera loitering outside the home of New York Attorney General Letitia James last month. Martin, who was wearing a trenchcoat in the August sunshine, was confronted by a neighbor who saw him and another goon peering into James’ property. The men claimed to be on some kind of architectural tour.Martin was trying to keep his latest plot out of the news. He instructed Mattei in his letter to “keep this correspondence confidential” given he did not “wish to litigate this in the media,” Jones had no such plans.” - The Daily Beast

Google admits censorship under Biden, YouTube welcomes back MAGA - Google admitted earlier this week that its COVID-era censorship policies were enacted at the explicit behest of the Biden administration, and the company now says it will allow any content creator that was silenced for this reason to return to YouTube. This is a massive win for free speech, as well as an acknowledgement that those of us who objected to the government bullying tech companies were right all along. This new policy was announced in response to an inquiry by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who asked Google for information about moderation decisions the company made during the Biden years. In response, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said in a statement that: “Senior Biden administration officials, including White House officials, conducted repeated and sustained outreach to Alphabet and pressed the company regarding certain user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies. While the company continued to develop and enforce its policies independently, Biden administration officials continued to press the company to remove non-violative user-generated content.” Alphabet’s statement goes on to accuse the Biden administration of creating a “political atmosphere that sought to influence the actions of platforms based on their concerns regarding misinformation.” Alphabet also notes that it has already revised its election integrity policies, which had led to the removal of content from YouTube. With this similar admission about the harms caused by the COVID policy, YouTube is now welcoming all creators terminated under such policies back to the platform. Lest you think that means a bunch of crazy conspiracy theorists are coming back, consider this: Long-time viewers probably remember, but this channel, The Hill, was previously suspended for a week for allegedly breaking a rule that YouTube now admits was wrong. In March 2022, we were informed that we had violated an election integrity policy by posting false information about the 2020 election, because we had played video footage on the show of Donald Trump saying the election was stolen. We didn’t say the election was stolen; we reported the fact that Trump had said it. Think how crazy that is — under YouTube’s previous policy, they couldn’t distinguish between Trump saying something and a news channel reporting that he had said something. Here’s me and my co-hosts at the time, Ryan Grim and Kim Iversen, talking about what happened to us after we had served our one-week stint in time-out. Now, more than three years later, I actually don’t blame YouTube as much for this kind of thing, even though it was wrong and crazy. We now know that this platform, as well as Twitter/X, Facebook and all the rest, faced relentless pressure to censor speech that dissented from the perspective of the Biden administration, particularly on COVID and the 2020 election. It was jawboning — the term we use to describe government figures trying to push companies to take some action — and it was wrong.

Epstein estate files include Musk, Thiel, Bannon - Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Friday released its third batch of documents tied to the estate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, revealing the financier’s reported associations with powerful men such as Peter Thiel, Steve Bannon and Elon Musk. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is also mentioned in the files. “It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world. Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims,” Oversight spokesperson Sara Guerrero said in a Friday statement. “Oversight Democrats will not stop until we identify everyone complicit in Epstein’s heinous crimes. It’s past time for Attorney General Bondi to release all the files now,” she added. According to the newly released files, the tech billionaire Musk was scheduled to visit Epstein’s island in December 2014. Bannon, a former strategist to President Trump, and the tech billionaire Thiel had meetings slated with the financier in 2019 and 2017, respectively. Andrew was listed on a manifest for a May 12, 2000, flight from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport to West Palm Beach, Fla. Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for crimes related to the sexual abuse of minors, also were recorded as being aboard the flight, according to the published records. Oversight Democrats on Friday produced not only flight logs, but also phone messages, ledgers and daily schedules for Epstein from 2010 to 2019. House Republicans said Friday they were not given advanced notice of the release. “They are intentionally withholding documents that contain names of Democrat officials, and the information they released today is old news,” a spokesperson for Republicans on the Oversight Committee told Axios. “We are focused on delivering transparency and accountability for the survivors, and will release documents in full,” the spokesperson added. The controversy around the Epstein files has been a sore spot for the Trump administration, as critics say the president’s campaign promises to champion the release of documents tied to the the financier’s dealings have not been fulfilled. The House, however, moved a step closer to having enough signatures to compel the Justice Department to release all remaining federal files on Epstein after a Democratic victory in an Arizona special election earlier this week.Trump has long denied reports about his alleged friendship with Epstein and has said that attempts to unveil potential criminal ties to the man are nothing more than a “witch hunt.”

Wall Street Journal calls Trump lawsuit free speech threat, asks for dismissal -The Wall Street Journal is asking a judge to dismiss President Trump’s lawsuit against the newspaper over its Jeffrey Epstein reporting, calling the suit a threat to free speech. “This case calls out for dismissal,” the Journal’s legal team wrote in a Monday filing. “In an affront to the First Amendment, the President of the United States brought this lawsuit to silence a newspaper for publishing speech that was subsequently proven true by documents released by Congress to the American public.” Trump sued the Journal this summer over a story it published about his alleged ties to Epstein and a birthday letter it reported he sent to the sex criminal in 2003. The president denies authoring the letter and has accused the Journal of defaming him with its reporting. After the Journal’s story was published, however, the Epstein estate released a copy of the letter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of a tranche of documents related to lawmakers’ Epstein investigations. Lawyers for the Journal argued in their court filing this week the president was trying to suppress journalism that is unflattering to him. “By its very nature, this meritless lawsuit threatens to chill the speech of those who dare to publish content that the President does not like,” the newspaper wrote, asking the judge to dismiss the suit. The Journal is owned by billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, an influential figure in business and politics with whom Trump has clashed for years.

Oracle to oversee TikTok's security, algorithm under new US entity - Technology company Oracle will provide security for the new TikTok entity in the United States, following the President Trump-backed deal to allow the social media company to keep operating in the U.S. The proposal will “allow Oracle, as the security provider for this new entity, to inspect it, to study how it behaves and see how it operates,” a senior White House official said. The U.S. TikTok investment group includes Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake, among other firms, the official said, adding that the full number of investors will be finalized before the end of the transaction. The official expects TikTok’s parent company ByteDance will hold less than 20 percent of the equity in the U.S. operations, which complies with the Biden-era divest-or-ban law. As part of the proposal, the algorithm of TikTok will be “retrained” and brought under the control of the U.S. joint venture, a result of what the official said was “a tough point of negotiation.” Per the deal, “a copy of the content recommendation algorithm … [is] going to be fully inspected and retrained by the security provider on U.S. user data and then it’s going to be operated by that U.S. entity. It’s going to be continuously monitored as it operates to ensure that it’s behaving appropriately — that it’s not being used for any kind of malicious purpose and that it’s not being unduly influenced,” the official said. Trump said Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping approved the deal that would allow TikTok to remain operating in the U.S. At the time, the Chinese government raised questions about how far along negotiations actually were in its description of the Trump-Xi call. When asked if China has agreed to all terms of the deal, the official said, “we feel confident that China has approved the deal and that all the necessary regulatory hurdles that go along with final approval of the deal will move forward.”

Nvidia to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, linking two artificial intelligence titans (Reuters) -Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply it with data center chips, the companies said on Monday, marking a tie-up between two of the highest-profile players in the global artificial intelligence race.The move underscores the increasingly overlapping interests of the various tech giants developing advanced AI systems. The deal gives chipmaker Nvidia a financial stake in the world's most prominent AI company, which is already an important customer.At the same time, the investment gives OpenAI the cash and access it needs to buy advanced chips that are key to maintaining its dominance in an increasingly competitive landscape. Rivals of both companies may be concerned the partnership will undermine competition.The deal will involve two separate but intertwined transactions, according to a person close to OpenAI. Nvidia will start investing in OpenAI for non-voting shares once the deal is finalized, then OpenAI can use the cash to buy Nvidia’s chips, the person said."Everything starts with compute," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement. "Compute infrastructure will be the basis for the economy of the future, and we will utilize what we're building with Nvidia to both create new AI breakthroughs and empower people and businesses with them at scale."The two companies signed a letter of intent to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems for OpenAI and said they aim to finalize partnership details in the coming weeks. The power for those chips is equivalent to the needs of more than 8 million U.S. households. Nvidia shares rose as much as 4.4% after the announcement to a record intraday high, while data center builder Oracle gained about 6%. Oracle is working with OpenAI, SoftBank and Microsoft on a $500 billion project called Stargate, a plan to build massive AI data centers around the world.

Trump-backed ‘Stargate’ project unveils plans for 5 AI sites --OpenAI and Oracle announced Tuesday that they are planning to build five new data center sites as part of the “Stargate” project, a development that would significantly expand U.S. AI infrastructure and could affect the makeup of the grid in multiple states. Stargate — which is backed by President Donald Trump — now has $400 billion in planned investment over the next three years and roughly 7 gigawatts of planned capacity, said the companies, which are partnering with SoftBank. That puts the initiative close to its initial goal to develop 10 gigawatts of data center capacity and spend $500 billion on AI infrastructure through 2028. “AI can only fulfill its promise if we build the compute to power it. That compute is the key to ensuring everyone can benefit from AI and to unlocking future breakthroughs,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement.The plans constitute one of the first major expansions of Stargate in the U.S. since it was unveiled at the White House in January with Altman and other technology leaders.Data center development is being watched closely partly because of its energy use and potential to remake the electric grid. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, AI build-out could consume roughly 12 percent of U.S. electricity by 2028.The bulk of the new capacity stems from an agreement inked by Oracle and OpenAI in July to spend more than $300 billion on data centers over the next five years. The companies said they are developing data center sites in Shackelford County, Texas; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; and a yet-to-be-named location in the Midwest.Shackelford County is about 157 miles west of Dallas and Dona Ana County is roughly 230 miles south of Albuquerque.Together with an operational Stargate site in Abilene, Texas, the new complexes are expected to create more than 25,000 jobs and generate more than 5.5 gigawatts of power capacity, the companies said. That’s more than double the electricity required to power San Francisco.The other two new Stargate sites, which are being developed by OpenAI and SoftBank, are in Lordstown, Ohio and Milam County, Texas. The Ohio complex has broken ground and is expected to be operational next year, while the Texas location is being supported by SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary. The companies said additional locations tied to Stargate could be announced soon.Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank officials said they reviewed more than 300 proposals for data centers across the country to select the sites.Stargate did not fully detail the power sources planned at the new sites, although the existing Abilene location is using natural gas.Since Stargate’s launch, the company has set its sights overseas, including an announcement this month that it would expand AI development in the United Kingdom. The Trump administration also has pushed to expand data center development through an AI action plan released in July and a Department of Energy proposal to construct new data center sites at the national labs.Stargate is one of several AI initiatives from large technology companies poised to alter the electricity mix.Microsoft, OpenAI’s backer, is developing a $4 billion data center complex in Wisconsin and is partnering with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania, for example. Meta is building an AI complex in Louisiana that will use Manhattan-size amounts of power. And Amazon is investing $20 billion to develop AI sites in Pennsylvania.Earlier this week, Nvidia said it would invest $100 billion in OpenAI and supply the tech giant with computer chips.

$100M cyberattack on Vegas Strip involved teen hacker, Police say — A teenager accused of involvement in a massive and “sophisticated” cyberattack that cost multiple Las Vegas casino properties hundreds of millions of dollars is in custody, authorities announced late last week. The costly scheme played out in 2023, between August and October, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a Sept. 19 news release. The alleged cyber intrusions were attributed to an organized threat-actor group that goes by the names “Scattered Spider,” “Octo Tempest,” “UNC3944” and “Oktapus.” As far as cyber-heists go, the scheme the hackers used on MGM Resorts, which operates MGM Grand, the Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, Luxor and Excalibur, was remarkably simple. Utilizing LinkedIn, a hacker impersonated an MGM Grand employee in a call with the company’s IT Department and requested a password reset, SFGATE reported, and gained access to MGM’s internal systems about 10 minutes later. Hackers then reportedly disabled slot machines and hotel key cards, blocked employee email access and prevented the hotel from booking guests and taking reservations. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, MGM Grand claimed $100 million in losses. At around the same time, Caesars Entertainment said in an SEC filing that it was also hacked. In that case, the company said hackers gained access to customer data, such as driver’s license information and social security numbers of people enrolled in Caesars loyalty program.While the financial damage in that hack is unknown, the company said in a statement that it had “taken steps to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized actor, although we cannot guarantee this result.” According to NBC News, cybersecurity experts widely believed the statement meant that Caesars paid the hackers for the hijacked data. The FBI’s Cyber Task Force, which includes LVMPD’s Cyber Investigative Group, assumed the investigation and identified the teen, who turned himself in at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center on Sept. 17. The male juvenile, who may end up being charged as an adult by the Clark County DA’s Office, is facing charges of extortion, obtaining and using another person’s identifying information to harm or impersonate and unlawful acts regarding computers, KTLA’s Las Vegas sister station 8News Now reported. Due to his status as a juvenile, the teen’s identity has not been released.

Critics question stablecoins' role in the financial system --The dollar-backed digital assets have to clear many hurdles before they find a place in the future of finance, speakers at a Columbia University event said.

• Key insight: It could take decades before stablecoins become accepted into the financial mainstream.
• What's at stake: Stablecoins are expected to reach the trillions in a few years, but safety, security and privacy concerns may hold back broad adoption.
• Expert quote: Better Markets' Amanda Fischer says stablecoins are "a solution in search of a problem."

Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review.

Adoption is key to stablecoin 'rewards' threat to bank deposits --In its recently passed bill, Congress prohibited stablecoin issuers from offering interest, but left the door open to "rewards" from exchanges. That provision could drive adoption of stablecoins and compete for deposits, but experts say the technology would have a long way to go.

• Key insight: Banks have been concerned that a broad take-up of stablecoins in the financial system could be a drain on core deposits, but experts say whether Congress bars stablecoin exchanges from offering rewards could be the key to broad adoption.
• Expert quote: "I found it quite cute that some of the trades waited until after the bill had been signed into law to really raise the magnitude of these problems." — Aaron Klein, Brookings Institution
• Forward look: Congress is considering a cryptocurrency market structure bill this fall that offers banks the best opportunity to resolve the issues around stablecoin exchange rewards.

The Trump administration's embrace of the cryptocurrency industry and the enactment of a stablecoin law over the summer have raised concerns in the banking industry that stablecoins could drain their core deposits, a critical source of bank strength.

The disaster playbook: What happens if a stablecoin fails? — As Congress prepares to debate sweeping market structure legislation this fall, one glaring question remains unaddressed: what happens when a major stablecoin collapses?

• What's at stake: Stablecoin failure could echo throughout the banking system.
• Forward look: The Senate will debate market structure legislation next month.
• Expert quote: "No one wants to hear about this" – Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

There's no designated lender of last resort for nonbank stablecoin issuers in either the recently-passed stablecoin bill or the crypto market structure bill being considered, which experts say could mean bailouts down the road.

CFTC Set To Allow Stablecoins As Collateral In Derivatives Markets --The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is looking to allow tokenized assets, including stablecoins, to be used in derivatives markets as collateral in a move supported by crypto executives. CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham said on Tuesday that her agency will “work closely with stakeholders” on the scheme and is encouraging feedback on using tokenized collateral in derivatives markets until Oct. 20.“The public has spoken: tokenized markets are here, and they are the future. For years I have said that collateral management is the ‘killer app’ for stablecoins in markets.”If implemented, stablecoins like USDC and Tether would be treated similarly to traditional collateral like cash or US Treasurys in regulated derivatives trading. Congress passed laws earlier this year regulating stablecoins, which have seen their adoption grow among financial institutions.Crypto executives from stablecoin issuers Circle Internet Group, Tether, Ripple Labs and crypto exchanges Coinbase and Crypto.com all gave their stamp of approval for the CFTC’s move.Circle president Heath Tarbert said that the GENIUS Act “creates a world where payment stablecoins issued by licensed American companies can be used as collateral in derivatives and other traditional financial markets.”“Using trusted stablecoins like USDC as collateral will lower costs, reduce risk, and unlock liquidity across global markets 24/7/365,” Tarbert added.

A Crypto Billionaire’s Path From Pariah to Trump Moneyman – Bloomberg -- Justin Sun was facing an SEC fraud case, but $90 million of Trump coins later, he's doing business with the president's family. After descending the stairs from his Airbus A330, the Chinese-born crypto billionaire Justin Sun bent down and placed a palm on the Los Angeles tarmac, as if to prove to himself he’d really reached the US. Then he stood and threw a celebratory fist in the air. It was May 16, and the cross-country victory tour of President Donald Trump’s biggest crypto benefactor was just beginning. Sun’s excitement was understandable. For years he hadn’t set foot in the US amid federal investigations that could have ruined his business. Now, after buying more than $90 million worth of two of the Trump family’s cryptocurrencies, he was returning as the president’s guest and business associate.

Crypto Treasury Narrative Bears Striking Similarly to Dotcom-Era Thinking -The crypto treasury narrative, which has become a major feature of the current market cycle, parallels investor sentiment from the dotcom era of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which caused the stock market to sink by about 80%, according to Ray Youssef, founder of peer-to-peer lending platform NoOnes app.The same overzealous investor psychology that led to over-investment in early internet and tech companies during the dotcom crash has not disappeared due to the presence of financial institutions in crypto, Youssef told Cointelegraph. He said:“Dotcoms were an innovative phenomenon of the emerging IT market, alongside major companies with serious ideas and long-term strategies, the race for investment capital also attracted enthusiasts, opportunists, and dreamers, because bold and futuristic visions of the future are easy to sell to the mass market.Today, the global financial market is driven by the idea of cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, and the Web3 revolution,” he added.He predicted that a majority of crypto treasury companies would fizzle outand be forced to offload their holdings, creating the conditions for the next crypto bear market, but that a select few would survive and continue accumulating crypto at a significant discount.Crypto treasury companies have dominated the headlines during the current market cycle, as institutional investment is touted as a sign that crypto has matured from a niche phenomenon to a global asset classcourted by nation-states and corporations.

What Does a $126 Million Liquidation Mean for Crypto Traders? - OneSafe Blog -In the constantly changing world of cryptocurrencies, sudden price fluctuations can surprise even the best traders. Recently, the market saw an astonishing $126 million in short positions liquidated in just one day, showing a huge change in market sentiment. In this article, we will look into what caused this spike, the effects on traders, and some strategies to face the unpredictability of crypto trading in such a volatile environment.

Chances Are - Once Stuck in the Doldrums, Weather Derivatives May Have the Wind at Their Back | RBN Energy -- The popularity of weather derivatives has ebbed and flowed since their introduction in the late 1990s but trading activity has rebounded in recent years as the trading community has increasingly begun to reassess the need to hedge weather-related risks — everything from high temperatures and rainfall levels to power prices and cooling demand. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the role of weather derivatives, how they are used to hedge risk, and why they may be becoming increasingly important to the energy industry. Weather derivatives, which have been around for about 30 years, are financial contracts that are linked to one or more specific, measurable variables, such as average temperatures, wind speeds and cumulative rainfall. They are financially settled using data from the National Weather Service (NWS) or other trusted, third-party providers. Perhaps most importantly, there is no physical damage required to trigger a payout (unlike insurance); the only thing that matters is whether the specific conditions of a derivative have been met. For example, a business impacted by the aforementioned Hurricane Harvey would have had to document any actual damage and file a claim for its insurance to pay out but could have quickly collected on any derivatives tied to above-average rainfall for that month. (Harvey dropped 40-50 inches of rain on Houston in August 2017, well above the monthly average of 5.4 inches.) Weather derivatives are fully customizable with the same structures found in other types of derivatives. . Let’s assume that, to protect itself against the effects of a warmer-than-expected summer month, a utility buys a cooling degree day (CDD) call option for a specific month with a strike of 270 CDDs and a tick price of $10,000. (The strike is the threshold at which payments begin. The tick price is the payout per unit. CDDs are a measure of how much air conditioning is required to keep temperatures at 65 degrees Fahrenheit.) If CDDs came in at 300, that would be 30 units above the strike and the utility would receive a payout of $300,000 (30 * 10,000). If total CDDs ended up below 270, the option would expire with no payout. A put option would have the opposite purpose. If that same utility buys a put option for CDDs with a strike of 270, the utility would receive a payout if CDDs came in below that figure, protecting it from the effects of a cooler-than-expected month. The utility pays an upfront premium for the protection offered in either scenario. As in any futures trading, there are two groups involved in weather derivatives. First, like the hypothetical utility noted above, there are the hedgers. These are businesses whose profitability is directly and materially impacted by variations in the weather. They use derivatives not to speculate, but to protect their bottom line from adverse conditions. In the energy sector, hedgers could include utilities and power generators, which need to manage fluctuations in consumer demand; renewable energy producers, which are particularly vulnerable to changes in the weather; and oil and gas producers, which often benefit from the high prices driven by extreme weather but are also operationally vulnerable to them (i.e., freeze-offs caused by cold weather and shutdowns due to hurricanes). Equally important are investors and market makers, who seek profit opportunities in the weather market by taking on the risk that hedgers are looking to avoid. In other words, speculators. These investors are essential to the functioning of weather derivatives because they provide liquidity — the ability to enter and exit the market quickly, easily and efficiently. Investors include every type of participant, including hedge funds, large banks and individual traders. According to our friends at Citadel, the ecosystem operates across two main venues: standardized exchanges like the CME, which offer listed futures and options for common locations, and the over-the-counter (OTC) market. While many are familiar with the listed products, it is the OTC market that represents the majority of weather risk transacted globally. The reason for this is customization. A company’s financial exposure to weather is unique, and an off-the-shelf product is often an imperfect hedge. Let’s look at how a weather derivative could function in real life, using the example of a Dallas-based data center. The operator in our hypothetical scenario has a power purchase agreement (PPA) to cover its electricity needs at a fixed price, but it is exposed to variable energy demand driven by the summer heat. High temperatures could cause the site’s cooling-related power usage to increase sharply, even if the cost of the power itself under its PPA did not move higher. (As we’ve noted in previous blogs, cooling costs are one of a data center’s major expenses, especially for those located in Texas and other warm climates.) To hedge that exposure to high temperatures, the operator could pursue a call option based on CDDs, much like the basic example we noted above. In this scenario, the operator’s call option is for a specific period of time (May through September), using data from a specific National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) location in Dallas, at a strike of 2,100 CDDs across the term of the contract, with a tick size of $10,000 per CDD, and the overall payout capped at $10 million. The cost of the premium is $500,000. Figure 1 below has two potential outcomes, one where the number of CDDs is above the strike and one where it is below. In Example A, the number of actual CDDs for the May-September period comes in at 2,400, or 300 above the strike in the operator’s call option. That results in a payout of $3 million based on the number of additional CDDs and the tick price (300 * $10,000) and a net benefit of $2.5 million (after factoring in the cost of the contract), which allows the operator to successfully hedge at least some of its increased cooling costs during those five months. Of course, if the number of actual CDDs comes in below the strike, as in Example B, there is no payout under the contract. Just like with insurance, you pay the premium but end up with nothing to show for it if the weather doesn’t cooperate, leaving only the cost of the hedge behind. That’s a pretty straightforward approach to hedging weather risk, but things can get a lot more complicated than that. In our next blog, we’ll look at how weather derivatives can tie together multiple variables into a more complex hedging strategy.

Tokenized deposits are banks' answer to the stablecoin boom --Excluded from the stablecoin revolution by law, banks deserve the opportunity to participate in the evolution of digital finance. Clarity on the treatment of tokenized deposits is an essential first step, writes Gordon Bava, of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.Following the enactment of the GENIUS Act, stablecoins have been enthusiastically embracedby the crypto industry, the business press and members of the Trump administration who are significantly involved in the crypto industry. Stablecoins are considered new, exciting, and cool and hold the promise of a stable value delivered faster and cheaper than traditional banking services. Excluded from the stablecoin revolution by law, banks deserve the opportunity to participate in the evolution of digital finance. Regulatory clarity on the treatment of tokenized deposits is an essential first step.

BankThink 'Soulbound' tokens offer versatile options for identify verification -- Identity is one of those fundamental concepts, like money, that we all assume we understand. Perhaps even more so, since we are born with it. By encoding and decentralizing on-chain identity management, "soulbound" tokens enable institutions to streamline compliance while introducing a base for new services, writes Noelle Acheson.

Morgan Stanley partners with crypto platform Zerohash --Morgan Stanley will be bringing crypto trading to its digital investing platform next year, the latest in a series of moves by U.S. banks and investment firms to incorporate digital assets into their offerings. The digital asset tech provider, which recently raised $140 million, will power Morgan Stanley's E*Trade crypto offerings early next year.

Fed's Barr "worried" about stress test changes for big banks --Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr warned that subjecting the stress testing models to the notice and comment process could lead them to "ossify."

Banks push back on CFPB plan to curb nonbank supervision --The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received pointed pushback from banks in their public comments on a proposed rule that would slash the number of nonbanks being supervised in four key markets.

CFPB drops enforcement actions against two more lenders --Washington Federal Bank and Planet Home Lending are both off the hook for the remainder of their consent orders, which the bureau quietly terminated.

• Key Insight: Washington Federal Bank and Planet Home Lending are only the latest in a long list of businesses against which the CFPB has terminated its consent orders.
• Supporting Data: Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the CFPB has dropped dozens of enforcement actions and initiated only two.
• Expert quote: "It's clear that they are trying to do as much as they can to make their remit as small as possible," said Amanda Fischer, chief operating officer of Better Markets.

Employees expect CFPB to terminate all enforcement actions

• Key Insight: As the CFPB abandons oversight requirements for Apple and U.S. Bank, experts both inside and outside the bureau see a wider pattern.
• Supporting Data: The CFPB has terminated dozens of enforcement actions and introduced only two new ones since President Trump returned to office.
• Expert Quote: "It's striking, the numbers," said Amanda Fischer, COO of Better Markets. "They're not bringing anything new."

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau scraps its consent orders in case after case, many employees at the agency now expect it to drop all pending enforcement actions and investigations that are not yet public. The embattled regulator has dropped more than half its Biden-era docket, including cases against Apple and U.S. Bank. But insiders at the bureau say that's just the beginning.

ICE First Look at August Mortgage Performance: "Delinquencies Up on Calendar Effect; Foreclosure Activity Slowly Trending Higher" -From Intercontinental Exchange: ICE First Look at Mortgage Performance: Delinquencies Up on Calendar Effect; Foreclosure Activity Slowly Trending Higher -Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. ... today released its August 2025 ICE First Look at mortgage delinquency, foreclosure and prepayment trends. The data shows the national delinquency rate rose in August, largely driven by a calendar anomaly, while foreclosure activity continued its slow upward trend. “The rise in the national delinquency rate for August is best understood in the context of how the calendar can impact payment processing,” said Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE. “Most of the uptick in the national delinquency rate can be attributed to delayed processing of end-of-month payments, as August closed on a Sunday this year. This calendar-driven effect is consistent with what we observed in prior years, so the increase should be considered a temporary adjustment rather than a shift in underlying borrower health.” Key takeaways from the ICE First Look include:
• The national delinquency rate rose by 16 basis points (bps) in August to 3.43%, up 10 bps from the same time last year, marking a return to annual increases after temporary reprieves in June and July.
• Mortgage delinquencies typically face little seasonal pressure from July to August, but the last day of August 2025 falling on a Sunday resulted in delayed processing and temporarily higher delinquency rolls. For instance, August 2003, 2008, and 2014 also ended on a Sunday, each experiencing a delinquency rise averaging 5.3%. This is similar to the 5.0% rise observed this year – suggesting that much of August’s delinquency rise may have been driven by the way the calendar fell.
• FHA loans continue to see the largest annual increases, with the non-current rate (delinquencies including foreclosures) up by 86 bps to 12.0% in August, while the non-current rates for VA, GSE, and portfolio-held mortgages remained effectively flat year over year.
• Serious delinquencies (loans 90+ days past due but not in foreclosure) rose by 16,000 in August and are up 32,000 year over year, while loans in active foreclosure increased by 3,000 for the month and 23,000 since last year.
• Foreclosure starts rose year-over-year (+6%) for the ninth consecutive month, and foreclosure sales (+22.5%) are up from the same time last year for the sixth consecutive month, contributing to a 12.3% annual increase in foreclosure inventory.
• Inflows and transitions to later stages of delinquency increased across the board, while cures to current from both early- and late-stage delinquency fell.
• August prepayment activity slipped by 1 bp to a 0.66% single month mortality (SMM) rate, reflecting seasonal home buying patterns and relatively steady interest rates in July.
Here is a table from ICE.

MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest Weekly Survey - From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 0.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 19, 2025. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 1 percent from the previous week and was 42 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 18 percent higher than the same week one year ago. “Mortgage rates declined further last week, with the 30-year fixed rate falling to its lowest level since last September to 6.34 percent. Interest rates generally have moved up following the FOMC meeting last week but remain in a range that should continue to lead to increased refinance activity. Refinance volume increased further last week and is now 80 percent higher than four weeks ago, accounting for more than 60 percent of all application activity,” “The refinance boost last week was from government applications, with VA refinance volume up almost 15 percent. While homebuyer demand typically tends to decrease during the fall, purchase application activity remains relatively strong right now, running 18 percent ahead of last year’s pace.” ... The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) decreased to 6.34 percent from 6.39 percent, with points increasing to 0.57 from 0.54 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The first graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index. According to the MBA, purchase activity is up 18% year-over-year unadjusted. Purchase application activity is still depressed, but above the lows of 2023 and slightly above the lowest levels during the housing bust. The second graph shows the refinance index since 1990. The refinance index has increased significantly from the bottom as mortgage rates declined.

Mortgage Rates Roughly Unchanged to Start New Week - After hitting the lowest levels in nearly a year (and nearly the lowest levels in 3 years) last Tuesday, rates lurched higher following Wednesday's Fed announcement. While the Fed cut rates as expected, and while the Fed's rate forecasts were well-received, Powell's guidance pushed back in the other direction. Economic data on Thursday morning made things worse making for a fairly sharp 2-day spike. Things calmed down after that. Friday's rates were a hair lower and now today's rates are right in line with Friday's. In other words, the volatile reaction to last week's Fed announcement is over and the market is waiting for the next source of inspiration. The most prevalent top tier 30yr fixed rate is now closest to 6.375% after briefly hitting 6.125% last week. We'll hear from almost every other member of the Fed via various speeches this week. This could create volatility on a smaller scale, but it will be next week's jobs report that has the power to either push rates back toward recent lows or reinvigorate last week's unfriendly rebound.

Housing September 22nd Weekly Update: Inventory Up 0.3% Week-over-week --Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 0.3% week-over-week. Inventory usually starts to decline in the fall and then declines sharply during the holiday season.The first graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015. The red line is for 2025. The black line is for 2019. Inventory was up 29.0% compared to the same week in 2024 (last week it was up 20.5%), and down 9.5% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week it was down 9.8%). Inventory started 2025 down 22% compared to 2019. Inventory has closed more than half of that gap, but it appears inventory will still be below 2019 levels at the end of 2025. This second inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research. As of September 19th, inventory was at 863 thousand (7-day average), compared to 860 thousand the prior week. Mike Simonsen discusses this data and much more regularly on YouTube.

New Home Sales increased to 800,000 Annual Rate in August -The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 800 thousand. The previous three months were revised up, combined.Sales of new single-family houses in August 2025 were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 800,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 20.5 percent above the July 2025 rate of 664,000, and is 15.4 percent above the August 2024 rate of 693,000. The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.
New home sales were above pre-pandemic levels. The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply. The months of supply was decreased in August to 7.4 months from 9.0 months in July. The all-time record high was 12.2 months of supply in January 2009. The all-time record low was 3.3 months in August 2020. This is above the top of the normal range (about 4 to 6 months of supply is normal)."The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August 2025 was 490,000. This is 1.4 percent below the July 2025 estimate of 497,000, and is 4.0 percent above the August 2024 estimate of 471,000. This represents a supply of 7.4 months at the current sales rate. The months' supply is 17.8 percent below the July 2025 estimate of 9.0 months, and is 9.8 percent below the August 2024 estimate of 8.2 months."Sales were well above expectations of 653 thousand SAAR and sales for the three previous months were revised up, combined. I'll have more later today.

New Home Sales Exploded Higher In August, But Prices Soared -- 11 Graphs Source: Bloomberg - With mortgage rates lower (but rising very recently), and mortgage applications spiking (though flat this week), and following record July cancellations, new home sales were expected to decline very modestly in August. The analysts could not have been more wrong as new home sales exploded 20.5% higher MoM (-0.3% exp) and are up 15.4% YoY. That is the biggest MoM spike since August 2022... The total new home sales SAAR surged to 800k (its highest since Dec 2021) and completely decoupled from existing home sales... The surge was driven almost entirely sales in the South region... The median new home price rose 1.9% y/y to $413,500, but the average selling price soared near record highs at $534,100... That was the 3rd biggest monthly jump (+11.7%) in average home price since Lehman... It appears the surge in sales was dominated by the most expensive homes... But, even with the jump in median new home prices, they are still well below the existing home price... Additionally, houses for sale in Aug. fell 1.4% m/m to 490,000 pushing the months’ supply at 7.4 in Aug. compared to 9.0 prior month. Did homebuilders finally capitulate? Is the sales jump sustainable? “Lower borrowing costs supported a surge in new home sales in August, and could drive further increases in the coming months, given the continued decline in mortgage rates since then,” Thomas Ryan, North America economist at Capital Economics, said in a note. The data suggest US homebuilders are successfully luring buyers off the sidelines with aggressive sales incentives. This month, 39% of builders reported cutting prices in a survey by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo, a post-pandemic high. Homebuilder Lennar Corp. recently reported offering sales incentives equal to 14.3% of its average sale price, more than double its usual 5% or 6% Despite the improved August numbers, US homebuilders are contending with lingering affordability concerns. Many buyers still can’t afford today’s prices and financing costs, and are increasingly nervous about the nation’s labor market.

Household Formation Drives Housing Demand -Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Household Formation Drives Housing Demand -A brief excerpt: In 2021, we saw rapidly rising home prices and rents indicating strong demand for both owner occupied and rental units. This suggested a sharp increase in household formation. Subsequent research indicated this was correct. If we look at the Historical Households Tables (based on the Current Population Survey), we see that from 2010 to 2019, about 1.1 million additional households were formed each year. However, in 2020 due to the pandemic, the number of households declined by over 100 thousand. There is much more in the article.

Canadian Hotels Report Strong Summer Business - I've been tracking the weak hotel occupancy numbers in the U.S. Meanwhile, Canadian hotels are reporting strong numbers! From CoStar: Canadian travelers push their home and native land to record summer highs Canada's hotel performance this summer has been historically strong, with August bringing in the highest occupancy for any month since August of 2014. That same month, revenue per available room has reached over 200 Canadian dollars ($139.92 U.S. dollars) for the first time ever, according to CoStar data. Canadian hoteliers can credit, in part, the increased animosity toward the United States due to President Donald Trump's trade policies that's led to more Canadians choosing not to visit or financially benefit their neighbor to the south. "In July, rooms sold is up almost 4% compared to the same time last year — it's up 3.7% — and I think that is a clear indicator that the 'buy Canadian' sentiment translates into 'stay Canadian' as well, and that the Canadian leisure traveler is voting with their wallet and saying, 'Well, I want to go somewhere, so let me just stay within the country,'"

DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven Increased 1.7% year-over-year - The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported: Travel on all roads and streets changed by +1.7% (+4.9 billion vehicle miles) for July 2025 as compared with July 2024. Travel for the month is estimated to be 296.0 billion vehicle miles. The seasonally adjusted vehicle miles traveled for July 2025 is 276.6 billion miles, a +1.6% ( 4.4 billion vehicle miles) change over July 2024. It also represents a 0.5% change (1.5 billion vehicle miles) compared with June 2025. Cumulative Travel for 2025 changed by +0.9% (+17.1 billion vehicle miles). The cumulative estimate for the year is 1,919.0 billion vehicle miles of travel. This graph shows the monthly total vehicle miles driven, seasonally adjusted. Miles driven declined sharply in March 2020 and really collapsed in April 2020. Miles driven are now at pre-pandemic levels.

Inflation outpaced wage growth in August

• Key insight: Americans earned more and spent even more in August, pushing the savings rate down.
• Supporting data: Income rose, spending jumped and the PCE price index increased month-over-month.
• Forward look: Rising wages and steady inflation may sustain spending, while the Fed's 2% inflation target likely remains out of reach for some time.

In August, Americans earned a bit more and spent even more, with rising wages and benefits driving higher household spending as inflation stayed steady, according to the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index report released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis . Personal income rose $95.7 billion, a 0.4% increase, in August. Disposable personal income climbed $86.1 billion, or 0.4%, while personal consumption expenditures jumped $129.2 billion, a 0.6% increase. Personal income, which rose $95.7B in August, was overtaken by consumer spending, which jumped $129.2B, pushing the saving rate to 4.6% amid steady inflation and higher wages.

Fascist Steve Bannon denounces teachers as “terrorists” in tribute to Charlie Kirk -- At Charlie Kirk’s public funeral in Glendale, Arizona, this past Sunday, longtime Trump advisor Steve Bannon launched into a furious condemnation of America’s educators. He denounced them as “terrorists” and signaled a new phase in the war against teachers and freedom of speech in the United States. Bannon—a raving fascist who gave a Nazi salute at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)— declared Sunday that “a third of teachers are terrorists,” casting educators as enemies of the family and the nation for encouraging independent thinking among youth. Bannon’s grotesque accusation was uncritically echoed by co-host Gina Loudon, on the right-wing network Real America’s Voice. “That’s right” she said in reply to Bannon. The criminalization and demonization of teachers is part of a calculated attempt by the ruling class to justify the ongoing destruction of public education, destroy the right to freedom of speech, and initiate a broad push for “patriotic education.” Workers across the country, especially educators, are facing firing, suspensions and “investigations” over their comments, primarily on private posts in social media, following the state-orchestrated deification of the late fascist Charlie Kirk. School districts have imposed disciplinary actions against school workers in at least 28 states and the District of Columbia. That includes: Texas (over 280 complaints being investigated in K-12 schools, with the state demanding the suspension of teaching licenses of those disciplined), Georgia (in Cobb County alone two educators were terminated, with as many as 15 placed on leave), Florida, South Carolina (multiple educators fired), Iowa, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, California and Pennsylvania. Additionally, the American Association of University Professors reported retaliation against about 60 professors and teachers in connection with critical comments they made about Kirk or people mourning him. The outright trampling on the First Amendment is demonstrated by the vague pretexts being utilized to victimize teachers. In the Klein School District in Texas, a teacher was fired for “senseless and completely unacceptable remarks.” In Tennessee, a university staff member was fired “effective immediately” for “inappropriate and callous comments.” In Massachusetts, a special education teacher was placed on leave for filming herself singing “God Bless America” next to Kirk’s death newscast. This blatant attack on the First Amendment and the purging of oppositional voices directly conflicts with the US Supreme Court decision in Pickering v. Board of Education (1968), which confirmed that public employees do not lose their First Amendment rights when accepting government jobs. It also affirms that teachers have the right to speak on “matters of public concern” without facing dismissal. Bannon’s attacks on teachers and the Trump administration’s drive for a “MAGA” curriculum follow the Nazi playbook, which targeted youth and imposed state control over education. The aim was to indoctrinate children with nationalism, obedience, racial “purity,” xenophobia and militarism, while purging dissident teachers and erasing history. On September 17, the “America 250 Civics Education Coalition” was launched by the Department of Education, in partnership with 40 right-wing organizations, to implement a new “patriotic” civics curriculum for K-12 schools. The coalition, stocked with Republicans and Trump loyalists, was handed $160 million by the Trump administration, which abruptly issued “non-continuation” notices for dozens of existing programs centered around American history and the arts, services to children with disabilities, and projects preparing students for college. “America 250 Civics Education” will write curricula, tour nationally, sponsor competitions, and provide speakers, all curated by extreme right-wing and overtly fascist groups, Christian nationalist zealots and opponents of public education. Among them are: Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College (a long-time mouthpiece for intellectual fascism), Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law & Justice, the 1776 Project Foundation, Priests for Life, Catholic Vote, the Claremont Institute, the Heritage Foundation and Moms for Liberty.

Trump Admin Has Revoked Over 6,000 Student Visas -More than 6,000 foreign students have lost their visa under the Trump administration, according to State Department data – and several commentators praised the federal government for pulling permission. “The Trump Administration is protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” the State Department said in response to an inquiry made by The College Fix about the revocations. The Heritage Foundation said student visas have benefits to the country but they can be abused. “Student visas at best are a way to bring foreigners from many countries to learn from our best universities,” Hannah Fay, a communications fellow, told The Fix via email. “We allow a few of the most talented to remain and work, but the majority go home to build their own countries,” “Despite the clear intent of the law that they be temporary, many students see a visa as the first step in what they believe is an entitlement to remain for life,” Fay said. She said immigration enforcement is much better under Trump than Biden, saying the last president “was about open borders and mass migration, legal and illegal.” “They wanted as many visas issued as possible and standards as low as legally permitted,” Fay said. The State Department said there are several reasons visas can be revoked, including staying past the expiration date, criminal activity, and supporting terrorism. The National Association of Scholars, a higher education reform group, said the administration is correct to weed out “terrorist sympathizers.” “It would seem to me a good policy to review all existing student visas and revoke those belonging to known terrorist sympathizers,” Chance Layton, the director of communications for NAS, said via email. “Any arrest that occurs during anti-American agitation, protest, or subversive action is a reason to revoke a visa. Any act of espionage or technology transfer is a reason to revoke a student visa.” He said long-term fixes are also in the works. “It appears that, for the most part, the Trump administration will review these sorts of visas and will likely revoke many of them. Better yet, DHS is moving forward with formal rule-making, which will make it harder for a future administration to overturn these reforms,” Layton said.

Professor: West Point policy limits free speech rights -- Tim Bakken, the longest serving law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, filed a lawsuit against his school on Monday for allegedly violating his free speech rights with a new policy instituted under President Trump. The lawsuit, filed in the federal court in New York, pushes back on a rule called the “Academic Engagement Policy” that says academics must get permission before attending events or publishing papers in their official capacity. The lawsuit lays out the numerous events, papers and appearances Bakken has made as a professor and the switch that occurred after Trump signed an executive order in January stating officials should “carefully review the leadership, curriculum, and instructors of the United States Service Academies and other defense academic institutions associated with their respective Departments.” Bakken’s suit says this has led to books being pulled from military academies and high scrutiny of course materials. “This is an action that seeks to defend and protect the fundamental right to freedom of speech, as embodied in the First Amendment to the Constitution, and the right to academic freedom, which is essential to a robust marketplace of ideas, an educated citizenry, and the flourishing of our republic,” the lawsuit reads. Bakken said in the lawsuit he was recently asked what the title of a paper would be before he could get permission to present it, which never happened to him before at West Point. He fears the future repercussions of his work. “For example, the book for which Plaintiff is currently under contract to publish is critical of some aspects of West Point and, should Plaintiff be required to seek approval to use his USMA affiliation in his publication, it is very likely such approval will be withheld,” the lawsuit reads.

CDC reports highlight 2024-25 flu season's deadly impact on US kids - Two new reports this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide more detail on the deadliest flu season for US children in more than a decade.The reports, published yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), include data on the 280 US children who died during the 2024-25 flu season, along with information on 109 children who died from a rare and severe neurologic complication of flu during the season. The 280 pediatric flu deaths are the highest number reported in the United States since the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic and the highest for a non-pandemic flu season since child deaths became nationally notifiable in 2004.In first report, researchers with the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases analyzed data from the Influenza-Associated Pediatric Mortality Surveillance System, which collects reports on pediatric flu deaths from state and local health departments. The analysis includes information on flu virus types, underlying medical conditions, vaccination status, and healthcare use during illness.The 280 children who died with flu from September 29, 2024 to September 13, 2025, represent a national rate of 3.8 deaths per 1 million children. The median age at time of death was 7 years, and 61% of deaths occurred in children under the age of 9 years. The influenza-associated mortality rate was highest overall in infants under 6 months of age (11.1 per 1 million), higher among girls (4.5) than boys (3.1). Among racial and ethnic groups, Black children (5.8) had the highest mortality rate.Influenza A viruses were associated with 240 deaths (86%) and influenza B viruses with 38 (14%). Of the 169 influenza A deaths with a known subtype, 95 (56%) were A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses, 73 (43%) were A(H3N2) viruses, and one (less than 1%) had both A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) detected.In the other MMWR report, researchers with the CDC and state and local health departments analyzed case reports on deaths among children from a severe and deadly form of influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) called acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), which occurs when a virus (most commonly flu) triggers an immune response that leads to brain swelling, bleeding, and tissue death. Children who survive ANE can experience lasting effects, including developmental delays, cognitive or behavioral challenges, and difficulty with movement or coordination.Although there's no surveillance system in the United States for flu-related neurologic complications, the CDC requested the reports in January, after it was alerted to several deaths of children with influenza-associated ANE. Of the 192 reports that met CDC criteria, 109 were categorized as IAE, 37 (34%) of which were subcategorized as ANE. Among the 109 patients with IAE, the median patient age was 5 years, 97 (89%) had influenza A, and 58 (55%) of 106 children with medical histories had no underlying medical conditions. Neurologic symptoms commenced a median of 2 days after illness onset. Of all IAE patients, 80 (74%) were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), 59 (54%) received mechanical ventilation, and 21 (19%) died. Among the 37 ANE patients, the median patient age was 4 years, 34 (92%) had influenza A, and 18 (51%) of 35 children with available medical histories had no underlying conditions. All ANE patients were admitted to the ICU, 33 (89%) received mechanical ventilation, and 15 (41%) died.

Aspirin cuts colorectal cancer recurrence in half, study suggests -- A new study suggests a medicine cabinet mainstay could be helpful in reducing the risk of colorectal cancer coming back.A small dose of aspirin was shown to halve recurrences of colorectal cancer in those who were in remission, only for it to return, according to Swedish researchers.The study included more than 3,500 patients with colon and rectal cancer from dozens of hospitals in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Patients whose tumors showed a specific genetic mutation in the PIK3CA signaling pathway.The mutation, according to Medical Xpress, was found in approximately 40 percent of patients. Those patients were randomly chosen to receive either 160 mg of aspirin daily or a placebo for three years after surgery. For patients with the genetic mutation in PIK3, the risk of recurrence was reduced by 55% in those who received aspirin compared with the placebo group.

US COVID declining after reaching peak --COVID activity has peaked and is now on a downward trend in many regions of the country, though emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations are still elevated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest update.The current COVID wave began in June, marked by a slow rise that never approached levels seen last summer.Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections are now at the moderate level and are highest in Northeast, followed by the West and the South.Nationally, test positivity has declined to 7.8%. ED visits are highest for children ages 4 and younger and are elevated for seniors. Hospitalization rates—elevated for seniors—continue to decline, and less than 1% of deaths in the most recent reporting week were due to COVID.The CDC’s latest variant projections suggest that proportions of XFG continue to rise, making up 85% of detections. In its other respiratory virus tracking, the CDC said flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity remain very low but are showing upward trends. Wastewater detections also remain very low.In its latest FluView update, the CDC received one more report of a pediatric flu death, which occurred during the week ending December 14, 2024, bringing the season’s total to 281, the highest number in a nonpandemic year since the condition became reportable in 2004.

Outpatient antibiotic use in COVID patients linked to 'downstream' antibiotic resistance --A study of more than 50,000 Canadian seniors diagnosed as having COVID-19 during the first 18 months of the pandemic found that antibiotic use within 7 days of diagnosis was associated with detection of antibiotic resistance organisms, researchers reported today in NEJM Evidence.The population-wide cohort study, led by researchers with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, analyzed data on residents of Ontario aged 66 years and older who had a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) from January 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. Because antibiotic use in COVID-19 patients was common in the early months of the pandemic in most countries, particularly in older patients, the researchers wanted to evaluate the relationship between peri–COVID-19 antibiotic exposure (within 7 days of index SARS-CoV-2 reporting) and isolation of an antibiotic-resistant organism from a clinical culture within 6 months.Of the 53,533 eligible patients included in the study, 8,228 (15%) were prescribed a peri–COVID-19 antibiotic, and 1,477 (3%) had a downstream drug-resistant organism identified. Peri–Covid-19 antibiotic use was significantly associated with the presence of any antibiotic-resistant organism (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 1.41) and the presence of gram-negative antibiotic-resistant organisms (aOR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.46) but not gram-positive antibiotic-resistant organisms (aOR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.70 to 1.48).Among all individuals who received an antibiotic, the attributable fraction of downstream antibiotic resistance related to peri–Covid-19 antibiotic use was 17% (95% CI, 7% to 26%). Among all individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, the population-attributable fraction of downstream antimicrobial resistance related to peri–Covid-19 antibiotic use was 4% (95% CI, 2% to 7%)."As antibiotics are often used in the outpatient setting in patients with Covid-19, without clear indications, this study suggests that a substantial burden of antimicrobial resistance in individuals with Covid-19 may have been avoidable," the study authors wrote

Study links long COVID to higher risk of heavy menstrual bleeding -- Women who have long COVID are at higher risk for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), perhaps from an outsized inflammatory response, British and French researchers report in Nature Communications. The team used data from a study involving 12,187 British women, the care of 54 women with long COVID for 3 months, and analysis of blood and endometrial (uterine lining) samples. The goals were to identify any relationship between COVID-19 and abnormal uterine bleeding, determine if long-COVID symptoms vary with the menstrual cycle, and explore potential underlying mechanisms. In total, 40% of participants had received one or two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. "These menstrual symptoms can have a profoundly negative impact on quality of life, interfering with physical, social, mental and material wellbeing," the team wrote. "HMB is a leading cause of iron deficiency anemia in developed countries, and, when extreme, can necessitate blood transfusion." Of all participants, 57% reported at least one abnormal menstrual symptom, such as irregular cycles, heavy bleeding, abnormal cycle length, and prolonged menstrual periods at baseline, and 20% had a condition affecting reproductive function (eg, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, HIV/AIDS, underactive/overactive thyroid, uterine polyps or fibroids, eating disorders, interstitial cystitis [bladder pain]). Differences in peripheral and endometrial inflammation may contribute to AUB and long COVID symptom severity. Compared with 9,423 uninfected women, 1,048 participants with long COVID reported heavier menstrual bleeding, longer periods, and bleeding between periods, while 1,716 who recovered from acute COVID reported mild menstrual disruption. Among the 54 women provided follow-up care across the menstrual cycle, heavy bleeding was greatest during the perimenstrual and proliferative (uterine lining–thickening) phases. Higher levels of the male hormone 5α-dihydrotestosterone and lower levels of endometrial androgen (male hormone) receptors were observed in long-COVID patients than in uninfected women. Greater menstrual inflammation was noted in long-COVID patients, and immune-cell clusters were seen in menstrual endometria.

Nearly 7 in 10 COVID survivors tested didn't know they had a dulled sense of smell --Even if they don't notice it, COVID-19 survivors' sense of smell may remain impaired for years after infection, the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Consortium reported yesterday in JAMA Network Open.The RECOVER-Adult study surveyed adults with and without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection about their symptoms roughly every 90 days from October 2021 to June 2025.The research team offered olfactory testing to all study participants who reported a change in or loss of smell (hyposmia or anosmia, respectively) or taste (ageusia), and to a random 15% sample of those with no impairment. Testing was performed using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), which includes 40 different odors, at 83 sites in 35 US states and territories. Participants included 2,956 COVID-19 survivors (1,393 with and 1,563 without self-reported anosmia) and 569 never-infected participants (9 with self-reported ageusia) who underwent olfactory testing an average of 1.8 years post-infection. The average participant age was 47.6 years, and 72.4% were women."Decades of research have found that verified olfactory dysfunction is a strong early factor associated with neurodegenerative disease, often preceding diagnosis by years," the study authors noted. "The olfactory system is closely connected to brain areas involved in memory, emotion, and decision-making.""Viruses may enter the brain directly through the nasal epithelium and cause neuroinflammation and abnormal protein aggregation in addition to olfactory damage," they added. "Formal testing is needed to characterize the presence, severity, and patterns of olfactory dysfunction." Of the 1,393 COVID-19 survivors, 111 (79.8%) who reported hyposmia, anosmia, or ageusia had hyposmia on olfactory testing, while 321 (23.0%) had severe impairment (average age- and sex-standardized score, 16th percentile). A total of 1,031 of 1,563 infected participants (66.0%) without self-reported change or loss of smell had hyposmia (average score, 23rd percentile), including 128 (8.2%) with severe impairment. Of the 560 uninfected participants without an impaired sense of smell, 336 (60.0%) had hyposmia, including 52 (9.3%) with severe cases. In contrast, 532 of the 1,563 participants (34.0%) with a history of COVID-19 infection without self-reported olfactory dysfunction had a normal UPSIT score (negative predictive value, 34.0%), as did 224 of 560 (40.0%) uninfected adults without self-reported anosmia. Infected participants with self-reported impaired smell and abnormal UPSIT scores were grouped into one of four clusters with distinct patterns: Cluster 1 (358 people) had isolated citrus smell loss; cluster 2 (389) had turpentine loss; cluster 3 (225) had moderate smell loss, primarily citrus, watermelon, cedar, licorice, and pizza; and cluster 4 (139) had extensive loss, with the greatest loss for fruit punch and bubble gum. "Our findings confirm that those with a history of COVID-19 may be especially at risk for a weakened sense of smell, an issue that is already underrecognized among the general population," co-lead author Leora Horwitz, MD, of NYU Langone Health, said in a news release.

Autism report prep, Covid peaking, bad ACIP headlines, falls and loneliness climbing, and more - Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist --Covid-19 levels may have peaked, but the messy ACIP vaccine headlines haven’t. This week will bring new headlines too, with RFK Jr.’s promised autism report expected to surface—I’ll get you ready for that. Plus: why falls among older adults are rising, and why loneliness is climbing among young people. Finally, a question from the YLE community about accessing Covid-19 vaccines at pharmacies.

• Covid-19’s summer wave has peaked. Wastewater, ER visits, and positive tests are all declining across the country. This surge was about the same size as last winter’s, but smaller than last summer’s, largely because no dramatically new variant emerged. The virus is still mutating, but in small steps rather than big leaps. We’ll see what this winter has in store when Covid waves usually begin in mid-November.
• RSV and flu: Not too much stirring, yet.
• Rhinovirus and enterovirus—also known as the common cold (gray line below)— continue to climb. In other words, there are a whole lot of people with stuffy noses and feeling crappy right now.

One of the quickest ways to drive down vaccine uptake is through confusing—or flat-out wrong—headlines. Especially now that we are all living headline to headline, trying to keep up with the firehose.I was disappointed in the coverage following last week’s coverage of ACIP’s. Headlines were confusing and, at times, plain incorrect. I hope the media steps up; this won’t be the last vaccine rodeo. Let’s be clear: Covid-19 vaccines are still recommended for everyone over 6 months of age—even by RFK Jr.’s handpicked ACIP members. (Surprising, yes, but likely a product of political and grassroots pushback. Still, we’ll take the win. Go here for my thoughts.)

• Broad recommendation: The CDC still recommends vaccines for everyone 6 months and older under “shared clinical decision making.” This is broader than FDA’s approach (which excludes off-label use), but narrower than some professional organizations.
• Insurance coverage: Vaccines remain covered across private plans, Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare—no cost-sharing. Health insurance groups (AHIP, ACHP) affirmed they’ll continue coverage.
• Pharmacy access: Pharmacists can counsel and vaccinate under shared decision making in all 50 states, which matters since >90% of adults get Covid vaccines in pharmacies.

Potential barriers to keep in mind:

• Provider knowledge: Some providers, like pharmacists, aren’t yet familiar with shared decision making. It requires both education and time, which are already in short supply. Fair reimbursement for vaccine counseling could help.
• Healthcare access: Not everyone has a provider to discuss vaccines or insurance coverage with.
• Prescription rules: In some states, you may still need a prescription. Because vaccines are still considered off-label for some groups (like healthy adults and children, due to CDC and FDA misalignment), some states require prescriptions at pharmacies.
  • The good news: More than 23 states have “decoupled” from federal rules.
  • The bad news: Utah, Nevada, West Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida still haven’t.

Remember RFK Jr.’s promise to “find the cause of autism” by September? Well, it’s September. Word is his report is coming today (or this week). So consider this your prep. Scientists have been studying autism for years by looking at genetics, environmental exposures, and other factors. Revisit the YLE post below for more. I imagine he will do with this report what he does best: Mix kernels of truth with outright falsehoods. Word is that the report will cover the following (and likely more). Some quick nuance for you:

• Tylenol during pregnancy. Early studies hinted at a possible correlation. But this was largely put to rest after a major 2024 study compared siblings—one exposed to Tylenol in utero, the other not. This “natural experiment” took into account genetics and family environment, and the result was clear: the link disappeared. There’s some data to suggest that fevers during pregnancy are linked to autism, which Tylenol can help prevent. Check out a deep dive here.
• Folic acid during pregnancy. Large studies show folic acid is important for preventing serious conditions like neural tube defects. A few small studies have explored whether very high levels might shape development differently, but the evidence isn’t consistent. Check out a deep dive here.
• Leucovorin: A treatment? A rare condition called cerebral folate deficiency, where folate in the blood looks normal but the brain doesn’t get enough, has been associated with developmental differences. In children who are both autistic and have this condition, leucovorin (folinic acid) has been studied in small trials. Some studies suggest possible benefits for communication and behavior, but much more research is needed. Be wary of anyone telling you to run out and buy this.
• Vaccines. Over 25 epidemiological studies, including a fantastic 2019 analysis of more than 600,000 children in Denmark, have refuted any link.

One of the most harmful things this report could do is blame mothers and burden families with unfounded guilt. Autism is not something to “cure”—it’s a natural part of human diversity. People with autism deserve understanding, respect, inclusion, and the supports they need.A recent review by Dr. Thomas Farley highlighted that, among those over 65, fall-related deaths have more than tripled over the past thirty years. Over 85 is the highest risk group. This now surpasses deaths from cancer, car crashes, and overdoses. There are a few potential explanations for this:

• Prescription trends: Many older adults are increasingly prescribed fall risk–increasing drugs (FRIDs), which are medications that can cause dizziness, drowsiness, or loss of balance. These include opioids, benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, and some antidepressants prescribed, despite safer alternatives, at rising rates despite warnings from geriatric experts.
• Reporting changes: Death certificates increasingly list falls as the cause of death.
• Frailty: Today’s oldest-old are living longer but often with more comorbidities, making them more vulnerable.

CDC confirms 23 more US measles cases as 2025 total tops 1,500 -In its weekly measles update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there are now 1,514 confirmed measles cases in the United States reported this year, with 23 new cases reported in the past week. Eighty-six percent of the cases have been part of 40 outbreaks reported to the CDC. Of note, 92% of case-patients are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status, 4% have only one measles, mumps, and rubella dose, and 4% were fully vaccinated.Twelve percent of cases have required hospitalization, with 29% of those hospitalized aged 19 years or younger. There have been 3 confirmed measles deaths this year.Georgia's health department reported three more measles infections with links to its most recent case; two patients were unvaccinated and one had an unknown vaccination status. Georgia now has 10 confirmed cases in 2025. In 2024, Georgia officials reported six cases. Finally, as many as 11 babies exposed to measles in Utah were given postexposure prophylaxis (prevention) after four cases were identified in the Bear River Health Department's jurisdiction.The infants under 1 year of age, who cannot be vaccinated, were administered an immunoglobulin that provides short-term immunity.

Measles cases up 31-fold in the Americas region this year -The Pan America Health Organization (PAHO), in its latest measles update late last week, said countries in the Americas region have reported 11,313 cases so far this year, 23 of them fatal, in 10 countries. The number represents a 31-fold increase compared to last year at this time, when 358 cases had been reported in the Americas by mid-September.Almost all (96%) of the cases and all of the measles deaths have been recorded in Canada (4,849 cases, 1 death), Mexico (4,553 cases, 19 deaths), and the United States (1,454 cases, 3 deaths). According to PAHO, additional cases have been reported in Bolivia (320), Brazil (28), Argentina (35), Belize (34), Paraguay (35), Peru (4), and Costa Rica (1). "Over 71% of confirmed cases were unvaccinated, while vaccination status was unknown in an additional 18%," PAHO said. Children younger than 1 year old have been the hardest hit. Meanwhile, in Utah, the Bear River Health Department has reported its first measles case of the year, in an unvaccinated child from Cache County. So far this year Utah has reported 34 measles cases. Finally today, Israel, which has been experiencing a measles outbreak since May, has reported another child death, involving an unvaccinated 1-year-old, raising that total to 3. There are 24 people currently hospitalized, including 8 children in intensive care units. According to news reports, most of the children in the outbreak have been unvaccinated.

US lab data show sharp increase in superbug incidence --New data from a network of US laboratories shows incidence of a multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogen has surged in recent years. In a review of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Laboratory Network, researchers from the CDC and state health departments report that the age-adjusted incidence of carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CP-CRE) clinical cultures reported to the network rose by 69% from 2019 through 2023. In addition, incidence of a particular type of carbapenemase gene that was once rare in the United States saw a more than four-fold increase. The authors of the research report, published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, say the findings could complicate treatment for CP-CRE infections, which are already difficult to treat and associated with high mortality. The data come from 29 states that submit clinical CP-CRE isolates to the CDC's AR Laboratory Network, which was formed in 2016 and works to identify, track, and respond to emerging and enduring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threats. The 29 states have mandated CRE isolate submission. Infections caused by CRE—which includes carbapenem-resistant strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterobacter—are among the superbugs the lab network keeps track of because they are resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics and are a major concern for hospital patients. In 2017, CRE caused an estimated 13,100 infections in US hospital patients, and 1,100 deaths. CRE that carry carbapenemase genes, which encode enzymes that break down carbapenem antibiotics, are concerning because the genes can be shared between bacteria, facilitating the spread of the resistant pathogens. From January 2019 through December 2023, the annual unadjusted CRE incidence rose by 18% (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14 to 1.22). The study authors say the 69% increase (IRR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.61 to 1.78) in CP-CRE clinical cultures reported by labs representing more than one-third of the US population appears to be driven by a 461% increase (IRR, 5.61; 95% CI, 4.96 to 6.36) in incidence of CRE carrying NDM (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase) genes. While all CP-CRE infections are difficult to treat, NDM-producing strains are particularly problematic because they are resistant to some of the newer antibiotics that have been developed in recent years to treat carbapenem-resistant infections, leaving even fewer treatment options. Prior to 2018, KPC (K pneumoniae carbapenemase) was the predominant carbapenemase in the United States. But the authors say the AR Lab Network data show that KPC incidence declined from 2019 through 2023. By 2023, NDM incidence had become comparable to KPC incidence, and NDM had become the most common carbapenemase in E Coli. "The increasing diversity of carbapenemases among CRE complicates treatment, as most new U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved antimicrobial agents active against CRE target specific carbapenemase classes," the authors write. "Consequently, treatment should be tailored to the carbapenemase type, but carbapenemase testing is limited in clinical laboratories, and public health laboratory results may not be timely for clinical decisions." The authors add that understanding local CRE epidemiology and integrating carbapenemase testing into lab workflows, "may help ensure that patients receive timely, appropriate antibiotic therapy."

Study highlights impact of antimicrobial resistance in China --A new study by Chinese researchers describes the burden and historic trends of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in China over the past three decades. The findings were published last week inBMC Medicine.Using data collected for a study on the global burden of AMR from 1990 to 2021, researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology conducted the first nationwide assessment of the AMR burden in China, covering 12 infectious syndromes and 22 bacterial pathogens. To estimate deaths directly attributable to resistant bacteria, they considered a scenario in which those infections were replaced by antibiotic-susceptible infections. To estimate associated deaths, they considered a scenario in which resistant infections were replaced by no infection.In 2021, 160,268 deaths were attributable to AMR and 711,852 were associated with AMR, accounting for 14% of global deaths attributable to AMR and 15% of deaths associated with AMR. Among the 12 infectious syndromes analyzed, bloodstream infections accounted for the most AMR-attributable deaths in 2021 (74,119), followed by lower respiratory infections (60,839) and peritoneal and intra-abdominal infections (11,827). Bloodstream infections were also the infectious syndrome with the greatest increase in deaths over the study period. The pathogen-drug with highest number of AMR-attributable deaths in 2021 was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.Over the 31-year study period, two trends became clear: The number of AMR-attributable deaths in children under 5 declined by 95%, while AMR-attributable deaths among people aged 65 and over rose by 68%. The study authors say the reduction in AMR mortality in young children can be attributed in part to the introduction and expansion of pneumococcal vaccination since 1998, along with improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene in China. The increased mortality among those 65 and older, on the other hand, is likely a reflection of chronic health issues and weakened immune systems among China's fast-aging population.

Study highlights US gaps in TB preventive care for immigrants --A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco identified pervasive gaps in tuberculosis (TB) testing and treatment for non–US-born adults at US community health centers. The retrospective cohort study, published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, analyzed individual-level demographic and TB clinical data on non–US-born adults who sought care at 12 community clinics from June to December 2019. Over 70% of people with TB in the United States were born or lived outside of the country in settings with a high incidence of TB, with over 90% of these diagnoses attributed to reactivation of asymptomatic or latent TB infection (LTBI) acquired before immigration. The aim of the study was to characterize the LTBI "care cascade" (screening, testing, and treatment) in the community healthcare clinics where immigrants typically receive primary care."Systematic reviews have highlighted large gaps in TB infection testing and treatment for persons migrating from high to low-TB incidence settings with a wide range of barriers to guideline-directed care," the study authors wrote. "However, there are limited data on the gaps in care for non-U.S.-born persons from geographically diverse primary care clinics in the U.S."A total of 8,460 non–US-born adults were included in the analysis, with a median of 702 per site. Of those included, 2,765 (33%) had at least one TB infection test ordered, 2,572 had valid results for at least one test, and 1,022 had at least one positive result. Among the 1,022 with a positive test, 787 (77%) were diagnosed as having a TB infection, of whom 377 (48%) were offered preventive treatment at the seven clinics that provided on-site LTBI treatment. Of the 173 patients who were treated at those clinics, 141 (82%) completed treatment. Another 190 patients were referred to an outside clinic, with no follow-up recorded.

CDC data show declines in sexually transmitted infections, rise in newborn syphilis -- New provisional data today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show signs of progress amid continuing challenges in the fight against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).The good news is that combined cases of the three most common STIs—chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis—in 2024 were down by 9% from the previous year, marking the third straight year of declines. Reported chlamydia cases fell by 8%, gonorrhea infections by 10%, and primary and secondary syphilis (the most infectious stages of the disease) by 22% compared with 2023, with similar declines seen in men and women. Rates of all three STIs were also down.But cases of congenital or newborn syphilis, in which the infection is transmitted from mother to child, continue to rise. The declines in STIs follow a decade of increases and failed efforts to stem the tide. From 2011 through 2021, reported STIs rose by 42% in the United States.The CDC attributes the declines to better awareness of STIs, increased use of newly approved at-home STI tests, better point-of-care tests, and use of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP), which involves taking the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours of unprotected sex. The CDC recommends doxy PEP for high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men and transgender women with a recent history of STIs. But the 2.2 million STIs reported last year still represent a 13% increase from 2015. Furthermore, cases of congenital syphilis rose for the 12th straight year. The nearly 4,000 cases reported in 2024 represent a 2% increase from 2023. Although the increase is smaller than in recent years, cases of congenital syphilis are nearly 700% higher than they were a decade ago.Congenital syphilis can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage, or neonatal death. Infants who survive but don't receive adequate treatment can develop blindness, deafness, developmental delays, or skeletal abnormalities.

Costco recalls over 3,000 pounds of ahi tuna over listeria contamination risk -Western United Fish Company has recalled over 3,000 pounds of poke sold at Costco over potential listeria contamination. The recall includes 3,314.7 pounds of Kirkland Signature brand Ahi Tuna Wasabi Poke with item number 17193. The product is packaged in clear, plastic clamshell containers with a package date of Sept. 18 and sell-by date Sept. 22. Green onions used in the poke have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. That is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. Symptoms of listeria include high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. The affected poke was sold at Costco stores in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Secret Service STOPS Attack On NYC Cell Signals Before Trump, Other Leaders' UN Speeches The recall was initiated after the green onion supplier notified the company of a positive Listeria monocytogenes test result in the onions used on 9/17/2025. Anyone who has one of the products should dispose of it immediately and contact Costco for a refund. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the poke so far.

12 brands of cinnamon recalled for high lead levels -- The Food and Drug Administration issued a recall for a dozen brands of cinnamon sold nationwide for elevated lead levels. Consuming the cinnamon “may be unsafe,” and consumers should throw away the products immediately, the FDA warned. The recalled cinnamon brands include:

• El Chilar, sold at El Torito Market
• Marcum, sold at Save-A-Lot Food Stores
• SWAD, sold at Patel Brothers
• Supreme Tradition, sold at Dollar Tree
• Compania Indillor Orientale, sold at Eurogrocery
• ALB Flavor, sold at Eurogrocery
• Shahzada, sold at Premium Supermarket
• Spice Class, sold at Fish World
• La Frontera
• Jiva Organics, sold at Taj Supermarket in California
• Super Brand, sold at Asian Supermarket in Little Rock, Ark.
• Asli, sold at A&Y Global Market in Columbia, Mo.

Consuming the affected cinnamon could lead to elevated levels of lead in the blood, which can cause health problems after long-term exposure, according to the FDA. “No illnesses or adverse events have been reported to date in association with these products,” the FDA said in the recall notice.

Childhood plastic exposure could be fueling obesity, infertility, and asthma - Summary: A sweeping review from NYU Langone Health reveals that everyday exposure to plastics—especially during childhood—poses lasting risks for heart disease, infertility, asthma, and even brain development issues. These chemicals, found in packaging, cosmetics, and common household items, can disrupt hormones, ignite chronic inflammation, and lower IQ.Plastic chemicals tied to hormone disruption, inflammation, and brain development issues may fuel chronic diseases that begin in childhood. Experts call for both personal lifestyle changes and sweeping global policies to reduce unnecessary plastic use. Childhood exposure to chemicals used to make plastic household items presents growing health risks that can extend long into adulthood, experts from NYU Langone Health report.This is the main conclusion after a review of hundreds of the latest studies on the topic, publishing online Sept. 21 in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. The article is being released to coincide with a gathering of experts the same week in New York City to discuss the global impact of plastics on human health.In their report, the authors outline decades of evidence that substances often added to industrial and household goods may contribute to disease and disability, particularly when they are encountered early in life. The review focuses on three classes of chemical -- phthalates used to make plastic flexible, bisphenols, which provide rigidity, and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which help materials resist heat and repel water. The results of the studies, which together assessed thousands of pregnant mothers, fetuses, and children, tied these toxins to a wide range of long-term health concerns, including heart disease, obesity, infertility, and asthma. "Our findings point to plastic's role in the early origins of many chronic diseases that reverberate into adolescence and adulthood," "If we want kids to stay healthy and live longer, then we need to get serious about limiting the use of these materials," The chemicals are found in a range of items, such as food packaging, cosmetics, and paper receipts, notes Trasande, who is also a professor in the Department of Population Health. Experts have found that as plastics are used, heated, or chemically treated, microplastic and nanoparticles are released and become ingested.Chemicals used in plastic materials have been shown to prompt an overactive immune response (inflammation) throughout the body's tissues as well as disrupt the function of hormones that influence many bodily processes. The substances are also believed to affect brain development, with numerous studies linking early-life exposure to IQ loss and neurodevelopmental issues such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Lancet review also explored strategies to reduce the use of plastic and to help safeguard human health."There are safe, simple steps that parents can take to limit their children's plastic exposure without breaking the bank," said Trasande, who serves as director of NYU Grossman School of Medicine's Division of Environmental Pediatrics and NYU Langone Health's Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards. Replacing plastic containers with glass or stainless steel, and avoiding microwaving and dishwashing plastic, have proved helpful, he says. Trasande adds that by offering clear guidance, health care providers can empower parents to make informed decisions about the products they use and steer them toward safer options. He also suggests that clinicians partner with schools and community organizations to engage younger generations about the health risks of plastic exposure. At the policy level, the researchers call for stricter regulatory measures to reduce the use of nonessential plastic items, particularly in low-income communities with profound heath disparities. Their review comes on the heels of the most recent round of negations for the United Nations' Global Plastics Treaty, which took place in Geneva last month. The developing treaty represents an international effort to tackle plastic pollution, with more than 100 countries calling for legally binding caps on production.

Trump plans to limit safety checks on chemicals - The Trump administration is proposing to narrow the scope of safety reviews of chemicals that are already out on the market, it said Monday. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a proposed rule that when it assesses the safety of existing chemicals it would take a narrower approach. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a written statement framed the move as finding a balance between environmental protection and support for industry. “This work is yet another example of how we can and will protect human health and the environment while allowing manufacturing and industrial sectors to thrive,” he said. The proposed rule would undo Biden-era regulations that required EPA to consider every use of a chemical and every exposure route. It is also proposing to add assumptions that workers will be using appropriate personal protective equipment in workplace settings, which the Biden administration argued could lead to an underestimation of worker exposure. The chemicals that are undergoing such evaluations are a group that have been designated by the EPA as high-priority because of their potential health risks. The move comes as the administration seeks to balance its deregulatory, pro-business agenda with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which is skeptical of chemical exposure. It has made several moves aimed at loosening restrictions on toxic chemicals. The chemical industry praised the move.

Ebola outbreak in DR Congo adds 11 new cases in past week -Eleven new Ebola virus cases have been added to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the past week, pushing the case total to 57, including 35 deaths, for a death rate of 61.4%, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported yesterday.First declared on September 4, the outbreak is still confined to the Bulape Health Zone in Kasai Province. Of the 57 cases, 47 were confirmed, and 10 were probable; of the 35 deaths, 25 were confirmed, and 10 were probable. Five of the confirmed cases were diagnosed in healthcare workers. Ebola, which spreads through infected blood and other body fluids, typically causes fever and weakness, followed by diarrhea and vomiting. Infected patients range in age from 0 to 65 years, with those 0 to 9 years making up 23% of all cases. While females account for most cases (61%), their death rate is lower than that of males (56% vs 73%).. As of September 21, investigators have identified 1,180 contacts for follow-up. Of all contacts, 94 completed 21 days of monitoring, while the rest are still being tracked. Of 26 patients admitted to the Ebola Treatment Centre since the outbreak began, 2 recovered and were released on September 16, 5 died, and 19 are still being treated.

Cholera surges in Chad as vaccine campaign launches in Sudan --Twenty three countries in Africa have battled cholera outbreaks this year, with Chad as the latest nation to report a surge. Meanwhile, outbreak responders this week launched a vaccine campaign in Sudan, one of the hardest-hit countries and where an ongoing civil war has created conditions fueling the outbreak.At an Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) weekly briefing today, Yap Boum, PhD, MPH, deputy incident manager for Africa CDC's mpox response, said nearly 250,000 cases have been reported this year, a number that has already topped the total reported for 2024. Though South Sudan, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been the highest-burden countries, outbreaks continue to strike other countries, including Chad, where cases have risen about 872% over the past 6 weeks. The group said Chad’s outbreak began in mid-July at a refugee camp in Dougui, then quickly spread to host communities and multiple health districts. The main drivers are movements of refugees from Sudan, overcrowded refugee camps, and poor hygiene conditions. Boum said the current hot spots are six health districts in Ouaddai province and one district in Sila province, both in the country’s southeast. In other developments, health officials are tracking a significant rise in Burundi, which Boum said requires close monitoring and stepped-up response actions. Meanwhile, trends are stable or declining in high-burden countries.Though the overall trend is stable in the DRC, one of the high-burden countries, population movements, flooding, and persistent humanitarian crises continue to fuel disease activity. In recent weeks, South Kivu province has been an emerging hot spot, accounting for 60% of new cholera admissions. Africa CDC weather projections say moderate to locally heavy rainfall, which heightens flooding risk, is expected to continue along the Gulf of Guinea on Africa’s west-central coast. Africa CDC said flooding has been a key driver of cholera activity in Chad, South Sudan, and Sudan.

Quick takes: Avian flu in Wisconsin poultry, plague in New Mexico, new UK mRNA vaccine plant | CIDRAP

• The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) todayannounced that highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu has been detected in commercial poultry in Jefferson County, in the southeast, east of Madison. The agency is working with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on a joint incident response and said the birds will be culled. It added that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Jefferson County Public Health are monitoring exposed farm workers. The DATCP's poultry outbreak page says the Jefferson County farm has more than 3 million birds and the outbreak is the state's first since April. The finding is part of a recent rise in poultry outbreaks in a handful of Midwestern states.
• The New Mexico Department of Health yesterday reported its second plague case of the year, which involves a 77-year-old man from Bernalillo County, home to Albuquerque. The man was hospitalized and has now been discharged. The state said it averages about two plague infections a year. The disease, caused by Yersinia pestis, is spread by rodents, which can transmit the bacteria to humans through infected fleas. Symptoms in people include sudden fever onset, chills, headache, weakness, and often swollen, painful lymph nodes.
• The UK Health Security Agency (HSA) today announced the opening of a new Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre in Harwell that has the capacity to make up to 250 million mRNA vaccine doses in a year in the event of a pandemic. In a statement, the HSA also said the country has established a $66.7 million (£50 million) fund to bring more research and development investments to the country and that Moderna is investing more than $1.3 billion (£1 billion) in a partnership with the United Kingdom over the next 10 years to discover new therapies, create jobs, and bolster pandemic preparedness.

Los Angeles cat H5N1 deaths prompt new warning about raw pet food -The Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LADPH) yesterday issued an animal health alert, following the severe illnesses and deaths of two indoor-only cats from the same household after eating commercially sold raw pet food.In a statement, county veterinary officials said one of the cats tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N1 that belongs to the B3.13 genotype, which has been circulating in US dairy cows as well as in poultry. The second cat was not available for testing.The first cat became ill about 1 to 2 weeks after eating a batch of commercially available raw food and died several days later. The second cat’s symptoms began 5 days after the first cat became ill. Both had appetite loss followed by neurological symptoms. Samples were obtained for the second cat. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) conducted the testing and is conducting genetic sequencing testing. The LADPH is monitoring household members and veterinary clinic staff who had contact with the cats, and so far, no human illnesses have been detected.The new cluster of cat infections from H5N1 is the first in Los Angeles County since a cluster of 10 (9 confirmed and 1 suspected) were reported in December 2024 and January 2025 in pets exposed to raw milk, raw pet food, and raw meat.Officials didn’t name the company but said an investigation into the food product is ongoing with the involvement of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).“With this strong scientific evidence of the linkage between contaminated raw products and cats developing severe or fatal H5 bird flu infection, veterinarians should strongly advise pet owners to not consume nor feed raw dairy, raw meat, raw poultry, and raw pet food diets to pets,” the health department said. Earlier this month, the FDA warned pet owners after tests found a link between H5N1 samples in a sick cat in San Francisco and a brand of raw cat food that contained chicken.

Illinois announces first Powassan virus case - The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) yesterday reported a Powassan virus infection in a state resident, who became seriously ill, for the first time.In a statement, the IDPH said investigators are still trying to determine if the patient was exposed to a tick bite in Illinois or another state. Officials will conduct tick surveillance, including dragging and testing ticks for Powassan and other viruses, in parts of Illinois where the patient spent time before symptoms began.Health officials urged Illinois residents to take precautions against ticks, which are known to spread the virus. Sameer Vohra, MD, IDPH director, said, “With warm weather still prevalent, tick-borne diseases remain a potential threat here in Illinois.” He also urged people who live in wooded or grassy areas where ticks are present and who experience fever, headache, or fatigue to immediately contact a health provider. Powassan virus is spread by infected ticks, most commonly the black-legged type. The virus can cause severe disease, including meningitis and encephalitis, and can sometimes be fatal. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ArboNet data show that as of September 16, 36 Powassan virus cases from 9 states have been reported this year, 33 of them involving neuroinvasive disease. Most were reported from Wisconsin and Minnesota, with several Northeastern states also reporting cases.

Deadly Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever detected in animals in southern France -- The first serologic survey of animals in southern France reveals that Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), which is fatal in up to 40% of people, has been circulating among cattle and wildlife for years, with antibodies against the tickborne virus identified in over 2% of samples.Researchers in Montpellier, France, used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and pseudo-plaque reduction neutralization tests (PPRNT) to detect CCHFV antibodies in blood samples from 8,609 cattle and 2,182 wild animals (eg, wild boars, red deer) from 2008 to 2022.One of the deadliest viruses, CCHFV recently expanded into Western Europe via Hyalomma ticks carried by migratory birds. It was already circulating in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia. There is no vaccine or antiviral drug for the illness The findings were published yesterday in PLOS One.In total, 2.04% of cattle and 2.25% of wild animals tested positive for CCHFV antibodies, with higher rates seen in the Pyrenees-Orientales and Hautes-Pyrenees regions along the Spanish border."These findings reveal spatial clusters of CCHFV circulation and suggest the existence of enzootic [continual] transmission cycles involving local tick vectors and animal hosts," the authors wrote. "These findings highlight the importance of environmental and anthropogenic factors in shaping the dynamics of CCHFV transmission.""It also raises questions about the role of additional tick vectors, such as Hyalomma lusitanicum, in the transmission cycle," they added. The team called for continued surveillance and integrated approaches to monitor zoonotic pathogens.

New World screwworm confirmed in cow just 70 miles south of US-Mexico border --Yesterday, Mexico confirmed a case of New World screwworm (NWS) in Sabinas Hidalgo, in a cow in Nuevo Leon state, less than 70 miles from the US-Mexico border.The flesh-eating parasitic infection, carried by the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly, a type of blowfly, is causing a large outbreak in Central America. NWS can infect any warm-blooded animal, but human cases are rare. So far this year, US officials haven't confirmed any cases in animals."This is now the northernmost detection of NWS during this outbreak, and the one most threatening to the American cattle and livestock industry," the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a news release. "Sabinas Hidalgo is located near the major highway from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to Laredo, Texas, which is one of the most heavily trafficked commercial thoroughfares in the world." Preliminary reports from Mexico's National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) indicate that the latest infected animal, an 8-month-old cow, had recently been moved to a certified feedlot in Nuevo Leon from a southern Mexico area with active NWS cases. The previous northernmost identification was reported on July 9 in Veracruz, roughly 370 miles south of Sabinas Hidalgo. US ports remain closed to imports of cattle, bison, and horses from Mexico."We are firmly executing our five-pronged plan and will take decisive action to protect our borders, even in the absence of cooperation," the USDA said. "Furthermore, we will pursue aggressive measures against anyone who harms American livestock." The United States and Mexico have been monitoring nearly 8,000 traps in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico since July. More than 13,000 screening samples have been submitted, without detection of NWS flies. Among other efforts, the USDA said it has dedicated $100 million to enhance sterile-fly production and develop tools such as advanced traps, lures, and therapeutics. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has updated its national disease-response registry and is training federal, state, tribal, and veterinary partners, according to the release.

Michigan reaches 16 CWD-positive counties with addition of Genesee --Genesee County, Michigan, has become the state's 16th county positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in wild deer, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reported today.Genesee County is in the southeastern part of the state's Lower Peninsula. The case was identified in an emaciated 2.5-year-old doe that was continuously drinking water and walked directly up to the responding conservation officer."Genesee County was under focused CWD surveillance in 2022, when approximately 300 deer were tested, with none testing positive," the press release said. "The DNR has continued to test deer that appear sick in Genesee County when possible."Since CWD was first detected in Michigan wild deer in 2015, more than 110,000 deer have been tested for the disease in the state. In total, more than 144,000 wild deer have been tested since surveillance began in 2002, with 263 infected deer identified. Since direct hunter submissions of deer to the state's veterinary diagnostic laboratory began in 2020, more than 3,200 samples have yielded 56 additional confirmed cases. CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects cervids such as deer, elk, and moose. Caused by infectious misfolded proteins called prions, the disease has also been found in Clinton, Dickinson, Eaton, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kent, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, Ogemaw, and Washtenaw counties. No cases of CWD infection have been reported in people, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that infected animals not be consumed by people or domestic animals.

Canada wildlife decline 'most severe' in decades: WWF --Biodiversity in Canada has plunged 10% over the last half century, with hundreds of species facing extinction, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a report Monday. "On average, every species group included—birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles and amphibians—is trending in the wrong direction," the WWF said in a statement as it released the 2025 Living Planet report for Canada. While certain populations, like sea otters, are improving, the conservation group said 52% of all species studied for this year's Canada report are declining, including the rare snow owl. "This is the most severe decline we've observed since reporting started," WWF Vice President for Canada, James Snider, wrote. WWF said that between 1970 and 2022, biodiversity in Canada had decreased by 10%. Species globally assessed as at-risk of extinction in Canada, such as the North Atlantic right whale and leatherback sea turtle, declined by 43%, according to the report. Regions such as the boreal forest with lower levels of human presence saw smaller decreases, while habitats in Canada's grasslands declined 62%. Last year, WWF reported a global wildlife population decline of 73% since 1970. Conservation expert Jessica Currie, who worked on the report, told AFP that habitat reduction—largely because of agricultural expansion—"is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss." The report notes Canada's economic reliance on its vast natural resources, but says conservation needs to be front-of-mind in management of industrial or infrastructure projects.

Survey: Wildlife refuge fan base is large but not diverse - The American public really likes the nation’s wildlife refuges now facing fresh challenges from the Trump administration, a new Fish and Wildlife Service survey has found. In the latest round of an illuminating survey conducted once every five years, the FWS reported that 42 percent of refuge visitors were “extremely satisfied” with their experience and 44 percent were “very satisfied.” “Millions of visitors are drawn each year to the world-renowned wildlife-related recreation opportunities offered by national wildlife refuges, like hunting, fishing and wildlife observation, that also generate demonstrated economic contributions to local communities,” Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik said in a statement. Nesvik added that the National Wildlife Refuge System’s visitor survey “provides meaningful feedback to help us ensure these lands remain healthy, resilient and accessible for generations to come.”

Zinke: Public land sale threat remains - Western lawmakers who’ve teamed up to advance public land protections said Tuesday that they expect some congressional Republicans to again look for more ways to sell federal land. “I don’t think the threat is gone,” said Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), during a Zoom call with the outdoors group Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors, or HECHO. Zinke, who served as Interior secretary during the first Trump administration and was the leading Republican voice opposed to land sales earlier this year, co-founded the Bipartisan Public Lands Caucus with co-chair Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) in May. At the time, some Republicans were trying to include the sale of public lands in the budget reconciliation package that became the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The effort was ultimately quashed after significant bipartisan opposition. Zinke acknowledged on Tuesday that some land sales or exchanges are commonplace and had occurred when he was leading the Interior Department. But decisions about selling land were limited in scope and followed a process to consider potential conflicts like Native American treaty rights, water rights and subsurface minerals, he said.

Drought gripping the Northeast, NYC raises fears of autumn wildfires -- Waterways and wells are running dry in parts of New England and trees in New York City are already shedding their leaves as a late-summer drought engulfs the U.S. Northeast, raising the risk of wildfires. More than 80% of the region is now abnormally dry or in drought, according to a U.S. monitoring service, compared to just 11% this time last September. Some parts of the Northeast have gone weeks without significant rains—akin to conditions less than a year ago that led to a historic outbreak of brush fires that scorched New York City and nearby areas. In New York state, environmental officials have urged consumers to voluntarily cut back on water use as streamflow plummets and groundwater levels dry up. Elevated wildfire risk has set in across New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, which is experiencing its first statewide drought since record-keeping began in 2000. "This spring was pretty wet in some of these areas into early summer, which really allowed vegetation to flourish," says Samantha Borisoff, a climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. But as those plants dry out—and drought stress causes trees to drop their leaves weeks early—the stock of potential fuel for fire is continuing to grow. The drought is linked to sparse summer rains, which have been running below normal for weeks. Storms are often hit-or-miss across the Northeast in the summer months, said Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist with the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts. Thunderstorms can cause severe downpours and localized flooding in some areas, while the next neighborhood over remains mostly dry. That variability—paired with unusually warm temperatures and a lack of moisture from tropical storms passing offshore over the Atlantic Ocean—has left some communities starved for rain. In densely populated areas, the risk of fire is even greater. That includes New York City, which has seen only sporadic storms in the final weeks of summer. Manhattan's Central Park received less than half its average rainfall for August, according to the National Weather Service. Looking back further, summer rains in the park have come in 5 inches below the average seasonal total. That's causing increased concern leading into the fall fire season, said Kevin Woods, chief of fire operations for the New York City Fire Department. In 2024, New York experienced one of its driest autumns on record, with a record number of brush fires to match. Crews responded to 229 fires in a two-week period from late October into November, Woods said, exhausting firefighters and leaving the department's resources stretched thin. "These are the same units that respond to structural fires, gas leaks, emergencies—whatever it may be," Woods said. Intense brush fires broke out deep in city parks, including Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Inwood Hill Park in upper Manhattan. "Our biggest challenge was water supply, because there are not too many hydrants in the middle of a park." To prepare for this fall, Woods said the department has invested in miles of lightweight forestry hose, which is easier for firefighters to haul into remote areas by hand. They've also stepped up training on "water relay," or the use of additional pumps to push water over longer distances from its source. Through the end of the year, forecasters have predicted drought will likely ease across New York City, while keeping its grip on large swaths of New England.

Turkey facing worst drought in over 50 years - Turkey is experiencing its worst drought in over half a century, with rainfall dropping by 27% compared to the last three decades and even more in some regions, according to data published this week. Between October 1, 2024 and August 31 this year, precipitation in Turkey averaged at 401.1 millimeters (15.8 inches) compared to 548.5 mm between 1991 and 2020, the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM) said in its monthly report. "Over 11 months, rainfall in Turkey has dropped to its lowest level in the past 52 years," the MGM said, noting a reduction of more than 60% in southeastern Anatolia, a typically arid region that borders Syria. Less than 250 mm fell over 11 months, compared to average rainfall of over 1,000 mm over the past 30 years. Turkey's Mediterranean regions have not been spared, with Marmara and the coast along the Aegean Sea recording the lowest precipitation in 18 years. Water shortages paired with abnormally high temperatures made for a hellish summer in Turkey. The month of July was the hottest in 55 years: average temperatures exceeded those between 1991-2020 by 1.9C, and even broke records with 50.5C in Silopi in the southeast at the end of the month. Adana, the southern region known for its citrus fruit production, also saw its hottest day in 95 years when it hit 47.5C in early August. In the west, Cesme's reservoir lake dropped to three percent of its usual water levels—so much so that an old road, normally submerged, reappeared and made it to Turkish TV screens. The situation triggered multiple forest fires in the west and around Hatay in the south, prompting mosques across the country to pray for rain at the beginning of August. An NGO study published in early July estimated that 88% of Turkey risks desertification. Rainfall is set to decrease by a third between now and the end of the century, while temperatures could rise by 5 to 6C compared to averages recorded between 1961-1990, experts predict. Atypical weather has affected Turkey's most important exports such as apricots, apples, figs and hazelnuts, which make up 70% of global production. In late August, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan estimated agricultural losses of 23 billion Turkish lira ($557 million) for the country's 50,000 insured farmers and promised state aid for the 420,000 without any cover, whose incomes have collapsed.

Human activity has extended fire seasons across the world --Human activity has added an average of 40 days to the global wildfire season, fundamentally changing when fires occur around the world. New research from the University of Tasmania, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, shows that more than half of all burned area now happens outside the natural fire season, the period when lightning and dry conditions naturally coincide. The study analyzed fuel moisture and lightning data across more than 700 ecological regions worldwide, finding that humans have altered wildfire timing in nearly every environment on Earth, from tropical savannas to boreal forests to Mediterranean landscapes. "Before people began influencing fire, wildfires mostly happened when lightning struck during dry conditions," "Our study separates natural fire seasons from those driven by people, showing just how much human influence has reshaped when wildfires occur across the globe." The transformation is most dramatic in tropical grasslands, where people have effectively extended the wildfire season by around three months, with most fires now occurring in this human-driven window. Importantly, even remote boreal forests and tundra are beginning to experience longer fire seasons, stretching beyond what natural lightning ignitions would allow. This global shift in wildfire seasonality poses significant ecological risks. Species have evolved over millennia to cope with wildfires occurring during specific seasonal windows. When wildfires happen outside these natural periods, ecosystems face unprecedented stress. "We're not just seeing more wildfires, and fires of a greater intensity, we're seeing them at times of the year when ecosystems haven't evolved to cope with them," "This temporal mismatch can hamper species recovery and disrupt reproductive processes which are often closely tied to specific seasons, thereby threatening biodiversity in ways we're only beginning to understand."

Wildfire retardants help stop fires, but also impact ecosystems - In 2020, when a backcountry campfire in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains was not properly put out during a high-risk wildfire season, aircraft rushed to the scene to prevent a bigger blaze. Soon, a creek ran the colour of rust, dyed by fire retardant that was accidentally dropped directly into it. It created an otherworldly scene, and a rare opportunity for a group of scientists, The Narwhal reports. Long-term retardants, like those dropped on North Racehorse Creek near the B.C. border in southern Alberta, are key tools for fighting wildfires: they dampen the intensity of the flames and slow them down, giving firefighters a chance to get on top of the blaze. Retardants are often dropped by helicopter or airplane on forests or on infrastructure when a fire is raging nearby, though there are restrictions on where they can be dumped, including a prohibition on spraying them over waterways.But accidents happen. The North Racehorse Creek incident was reported by an Alberta Forestry and Parks employee to researchers with the Southern Rockies Watershed Project at the University of Alberta. They were able to get to the site two weeks after the incident to measure the impacts on the aquatic ecosystem — a unique opportunity as most studies on the effects of fire retardants on water occur in labs.The scientists were particularly interested in phosphorus, a main ingredient in the retardant that is also a key fertilizer in agriculture. Too much phosphorus has the potential for negative impacts, including algae blooms and dead fish. To get a sense of the scope of the contamination, researchers sampled the creek above the release and at the site. Then they returned a year later, in 2021, to measure again, this time taking samples downstream.Their peer-reviewed results, published in June in “Environmental Science & Technology,” showed a lasting impact from the release, as the phosphorus clung to sediment and travelled far downstream, contradicting previous studies that suggested retardants quickly wash away and dissipate. In fact, the scientists found that the phosphorus became more concentrated downstream over time.Another study, published months earlier by U.S. researchers, showed another impact from retardants: the potential for heavy metal contamination. Cadmium, one of the heavy metals found in retardants, is a known carcinogen that can impact aquatic and human health. Retardants are a common response to intense wildfires — they were dropped as wildfires raged in Jasper National Park last year, for example. They help establish a barrier by making the forest less flammable, and are distinct from short-term retardants and suppressants that are used to put out fires. But the decision to drop the retardant in the first place is part of a complex balance of inevitable trade-offs, as decisions have to be made quickly with limited information and time.“There’s a fair bit of chaos, sometimes, at the start of some quite major incidents,” “And it really does take some time to get that order in the chaos and start to get ahead of the game.” The retardant that stained Racehorse Creek is a popular product, called Phos-Chek, captured in so many pictures of wildfire-fighting efforts that it has become widely recognizable: an iconic red plume falling from an airplane.Once dropped, it coats the forest in a protective slurry that resists fire, the red dye acting as a marker. Phos-Chek, like all retardants, has to pass government tests in both the United States and Canada before its use is approved — but that doesn’t mean it’s benign. And it also doesn’t mean the impacts are always well understood. “There’s lots of work that’s been done on the toxicology of retardants, but most of that work has been done in buckets or aquarium tanks,” “What there is not much of — in fact, what is extremely rare — is real-world studies of retardant impacts in the field.”Madelyn Lux, then an undergraduate student studying environmental science, took a close look at those samples, which showed 33% more phosphorus in the water where the retardant was dropped and 133% more at a location one kilometre downstream, compared to upstream samples. One year later, there was 167% more phosphorus in the water six kilometres downstream, and the sediments were enriched with it.While fires themselves can lead to a rush of phosphorus into water bodies through erosion, this drop happened in an area with limited-to-no fire impacts, making it a prime case study.“It shows that phosphorus is, first of all, being stored in stream-bed sediments, because we’re still finding impacts one year later, and it’s starting to move downstream, because we’re finding impacts six kilometres down from where the drop was,” Lux said in an interview.Silins hasn’t seen any figures on how often a creek or water body is blasted with retardant in Canada and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which is owned and operated by the federal, provincial and territorial agencies responsible for wildland fire management in Canada, told The Narwhal it does not have any national data on long-term retardant use. U.S. data shows there were 259 reported accidental drops into U.S. waterways between 2012 and 2021. Less than half a percent of all drops mistakenly end up into waterways there — in total, there were more than 80,000 drops in the U.S., or more than 500 million litres of retardant during that time frame. In B.C., more than 162 million litres of retardant was used between 2010 and 2024, according to statistics provided to The Narwhal by the provincial wildfire service. The amount varies wildly from year to year, from as low as 1.7 million litres in 2011, to as much as nearly 21 million litres in 2017.

Heat waves in US rivers increasing up to four times faster than air heat waves, analysis finds --As the frequency and intensity of heat waves increase across the U.S., a similar but more striking phenomenon is occurring in American rivers. Analysis of data from nearly 1,500 sites in the contiguous United States between 1980 and 2022 revealed that heat waves in rivers are accelerating faster than and lasting nearly twice as long as air heat waves, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State. "Rivers are often thought of as safe and cool havens protected from extreme temperatures," said Li Li, corresponding author and Barry and Shirley Isett Professor of Environmental Engineering in Penn State's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "Our study shows, for the first time, that rivers are experiencing a more rapid increase in frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves than air, and are increasing at about two to four times the rate of air heat waves." The research, published in the journal PNAS, found that periods of abnormally high riverine water temperatures are a threat to aquatic ecosystems, water quality and America's food supply and energy stability. "Our findings show that riverine heat waves are increasing faster than air heat waves, a trend likely happening worldwide," said Kayalvizhi Sadayappan, lead author and postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State. "This raises the risk of rivers experiencing both extreme heat and low water flows at the same time, which can cause conditions that can lower oxygen levels, stress aquatic life and even trigger large-scale fish die-offs." Rising river temperatures can put pressure on several aquatic species, many of which are cold-blooded, especially cold-water fish such as salmon and trout, Sadayappan said. The study found that since 1980, rivers across the contiguous United States have experienced an average increase of 11.6 days per year when water temperatures rose above 15 degrees Celsius (°C), or 59 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) — a temperature threshold that can stress many species. These warm-water days have climbed the fastest in the Northeast, the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian region, with significant increases observed at 82% of the sites studied. The researchers also tracked more extreme conditions, defined as days when river temperatures exceeded 20°C, or 68°F. They found that critical thermal stress days are rising most quickly in the Southern and Appalachian regions, with significant increases recorded at 74% of sites. By contrast, rivers in the Midwest showed the slowest rise in both categories, adding only about five extra days per year above 15°C and less than one day per year above 20°C. In addition to harming water quality and threatening aquatic life, riverine heat waves impact livelihoods and cultural traditions that revolve around these ecosystems, especially for Indigenous communities, Sadayappan said. They also raise drinking water treatment costs, limit recreation and farming, and disrupt energy production by causing shutdowns and wasting energy.

Either too little or too much: Report finds world's water cycles are getting more erratic--The water cycle has become increasingly erratic and extreme, swinging between deluge and drought, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It highlights the cascading impacts of too much or too little water on economies and society. The State of Global Water Resources report says only about one-third of the global river basins had "normal" conditions in 2024. The rest were either above or below normal—the sixth consecutive year of clear imbalance. 2024 was the third straight year with widespread glacier loss across all regions. Many small-glacier regions have already reached or are about to pass the so-called peak water point—when a glacier's melting reaches its maximum annual runoff, after which this decreases due to glacier shrinkage. The Amazon Basin and other parts of South America, as well as southern Africa were gripped by severe drought in 2024, while there were wetter-than-normal conditions in central, western and eastern Africa, parts of Asia and Central Europe, it says. "Water sustains our societies, powers our economies and anchors our ecosystems. And yet the world's water resources are under growing pressure and—at the same time—more extreme water-related hazards are having an increasing impact on lives and livelihoods," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. "Reliable, science-based information is more important than ever before because we cannot manage what we do not measure. The WMO's State of Global Water Resources Report 2024 is part of WMO's commitment to provide that knowledge," she said. The annual State of Global Water Resources Report is one of a suite of WMO reports which provide intelligence and insights to decision-makers. It is an authoritative assessment of global freshwater availability, including streamflow, reservoirs, lakes, groundwater, soil moisture, snow and ice. It is based on data contributed by WMO Members, as well as information from global hydrological modeling systems and satellite observations from a wide range of partners. The report highlights the critical need for improved monitoring and data sharing. "Continued investment and enhanced collaboration in data sharing are vital to close monitoring gaps. Without data, we risk flying blind," said Celeste Saulo. An estimated 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water at least a month per year and this is expected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050, according to UN Water, and the world falling far short of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation.

Super Typhoon Ragasa moving toward Philippines, China and Vietnam - The Typhoon Ragasa, known locally as Nando, intensified into a super typhoon 00:00 UTC (08:00 LT) on September 21, 2025, east of Cagayan, Philippines. By 09:00 UTC, its center was located 450 km (280 miles) east of Aparri with sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) and gusts up to 230 km/h (145 mph). The system is moving west-northwest toward Batanes and the Babuyan Islands, bringing life-threatening storm surges exceeding 3 m (10 feet), destructive winds, and very rough seas. Satellite image of Super Typhoon Ragasa at 08:30 UTC on September 21, 2025. Forecast timeline:

• The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) forecasts Ragasa will reach its maximum strength of about 270 km/h (165 mph) while tracking north of Luzon on September 22. This represents the highest expected wind intensity during the system’s lifetime.
• On September 22 (afternoon to evening, local time), Ragasa is expected to pass very close to or make landfall over the Batanes or Babuyan Islands. At this stage, the system will be near peak intensity, bringing destructive winds capable of heavy structural damage, life-threatening storm surges exceeding 3 m (10 feet), and extremely hazardous seas with waves up to 14 m (46 feet).
• Ragasa is forecast to make landfall over the Leizhou Peninsula, southeastern China, on September 24–25 as a weakening but still significant typhoon. Hazards include damaging winds, coastal inundation, and heavy rainfall across Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, with risks of urban flooding in coastal cities including Zhanjiang.
• After crossing the South China Sea, Ragasa is forecast to make landfall along the northern coast of Vietnam, near the Gulf of Tonkin, on September 25. By this time, the typhoon is expected to have weakened significantly, with maximum sustained winds near 120 km/h (75 mph), equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Despite reduced wind strength compared to its Philippine peak, Ragasa will still pose major hazards, including damaging winds, coastal inundation, and widespread flooding rains that will spread inland into northern Vietnam and later Laos.

Typhoon Ragasa, known in the Philippines as Nando, intensified into a super typhoon at 00:00 UTC (08:00 PHT) on September 21, approximately 535 km (333 miles) east of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, according to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).At 07:00 UTC (17:00 local time) on September 21, Ragasa’s center was about 450 km (280 miles) east of Tuguegarao City, moving westward at 15 km/h (9 mph) with maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) near the center and gusts up to 230 km/h (143 mph), according to PAGASA.

Eye of Super Typhoon Ragasa moves over Calayan Island, Cagayan, Philippines - --Super Typhoon Ragasa, locally named Nando, began crossing Calayan Island in Cagayan province, northern Philippines, at around 03:00 UTC (11:00 LT) on September 22, 2025, bringing destructive winds, extreme seas, and life-threatening storm surge. The Philippine weather bureau reported maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (134 mph) and gusts up to 295 km/h (183 mph). Satellite image of Super Typhoon Ragasa over Calayan, Philippines at 06:40 UTC on September 22, 2025. Super Typhoon Ragasa, locally named Nando, passed directly over Calayan Island in Cagayan province, northern Philippines, on September 22. Satellite and ground observations confirm the eye of the storm reached the island around 03:00 UTC (11:00 LT) and remained overhead over the next couple of hours. At 03:00 UTC, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported Ragasa was a super typhoon with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 270 km/h (165 mph), moving west at 22 km/h (14 mph). The agency said that an earlier eyewall replacement cycle had ended, and Ragasa maintained a symmetric 74 km (46 miles) wide eye with strong radial outflow and highly favorable conditions for sustaining extreme intensity. Authorities in the northern Philippines carried out large-scale evacuations ahead of Ragasa’s passage. In Cagayan province, more than 8 200 people were moved to safer areas, while in Apayao province, over 1 200 residents sought shelter in evacuation centers. Power outages were reported across Calayan Island and in the upland province of Apayao as Ragasa’s destructive winds brought down transmission lines. Domestic flights were cancelled while ferry and fishing boat operations were suspended due to extremely rough seas. Classes and government work were suspended in 29 northern provinces, including in the capital Manila, as precautionary measures. Super Typhoon Ragasa over the Philippines on September 22, 2025. Credit: JMA/Himawari-9, RAMMB/CIRA, The Watchers At 06:00 UTC (14:00 LT), the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the center of Ragasa over the coastal waters of Babuyan and Calayan. PAGASA estimated maximum 10-minute sustained winds at 215 km/h (134 mph) near the center and gusts up to 295 km/h (183 mph), moving westward at 25 km/h (16 mph). The agency warned of life-threatening conditions across northern Luzon, including storm surges exceeding 3 m (10 feet) in low-lying coastal areas of Batanes, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur. Sea conditions are extremely dangerous, with significant wave heights forecast up to 14 m (46 feet) around Batanes and Babuyan, 12 m (39 feet) along northern Ilocos Norte, and 10 m (33 feet) along northern mainland Cagayan.

Schools shut, flights cancelled as Typhoon Ragasa nears Hong Kong -Hong Kong shut schools and canceled flights on Tuesday as Super Typhoon Ragasa neared the financial center with a force that officials warned would be among the most destructive in the city's recent history. The powerful storm posed a wide threat to lives and homes, prompting authorities in mainland China to order businesses and schools to shut down in at least 10 cities across the nation's south, affecting tens of millions of people. Ragasa had already toppled trees, torn the roofs off buildings and killed at least two people in a landslide while lashing the northern Philippines, where thousands sought shelter in schools and evacuation centers. The super typhoon was generating maximum sustained winds of 220 kilometers (137 miles) per hour near its center while moving west across the South China Sea, according to Hong Kong's weather service. The Hong Kong Observatory issued its third-highest typhoon warning, T8, at 2:20 pm (0620 GMT) on Tuesday, saying that Ragasa "has an extensive circulation with fierce winds". "The weather is expected to start deteriorating rapidly later today, with winds strengthening quickly," the observatory said, adding that "significant" storm surge may cause water levels to rise up to four meters by Wednesday morning. Yang Lee-o, who has lived in the seaside neighborhood of Lei Yue Mun for 40 years, said government workers had already spent a day placing sandbags. "Lei Yue Mun is the hardest hit whenever there's a typhoon or rainstorm," said the 71-year-old, adding that the water level went up to her thighs during a previous super typhoon. Scores of workers have set up barricades and elevated walkways, with some business owners moving their wares out of the area. Hong Kong's number-two official, Eric Chan, previously said Ragasa would pose a "serious threat" comparable to the super typhoons of 2017 and 2018, which cost hundreds of millions in property damage. Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the world warms due to the effects of human-driven climate change. Hong Kong's airport will remain open, but there will be "significant disruption to flight operations" from 6:00 pm (1000 GMT) Tuesday until the next day, the Airport Authority said. More than 500 Cathay Pacific flights are expected to be canceled. Thousands of workers rushed home on Tuesday afternoon after the T8 signal was announced, with bus operators saying that service will be reduced later in the day. Classes were to be suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the Hong Kong Jockey Club also canceled Wednesday's horse-racing meet. Hong Kong's stock exchange changed its rules this year to keep markets open during typhoons, with the operator telling Bloomberg News that it was "closely monitoring" the situation. Ragasa—named after the Filipino word for rapid motion—is expected to make landfall in the central and western coastal areas of Guangdong within 24 hours, the province's emergency management bureau said on Tuesday morning. Shenzhen earlier ordered the evacuation of 400,000 people. Emergency management authorities in the Chinese tech hub said that except for emergency rescue personnel and those ensuring people's livelihood, "do not go out casually."

Red alert issued as Super Typhoon Ragasa threatens dammed lake overtopping, Taiwan - Around 1 800 homes were evacuated from villages in Taiwan’s Hualien County on September 22, 2025, due to the risk of Matai’an Creek dammed lake overflowing. A red alert was issued for the region at 07:00 local time on September 22, mandating evacuations of around 1 800 homes in the following villages: Daping Village, Daquan Village, Datong Village, Daan Village, Dama Village, Dahua Village, Dajin Village, Beifu Village, Xifu Village, Dongfu Village and Mingli Village in Wanrong Township, as well as Changqiao Village in Fenglin Township. This comes as Super Typhoon Ragasa threatens the mountainous region with 500 to 800 mm (20 to 31 inches) of rain, causing fear of flash flooding and landslides for these downstream communities, due to lake overtopping. The lake in question had formed due to a large rock avalanche in the region earlier this year on July 21. The mass movement blocked the valley floor and impounded a growing barrier lake. This was the Matai’an Creek dammed lake, with an estimated overtopping volume of 86 million m3 (3 billion feet3). The landslide deposit consists of coarse rock debris that forms a natural dam. While such dams can be relatively porous, fine-grained material may reduce seepage, increasing the likelihood of overtopping. While back estimates said that overtopping should occur sometime in mid-October, due to influence of Ragasa the lake could overflow by September 24; thus, prompting the evacuations. The evacuations are currently ongoing as height differences between the villages have slowed the process.

Matai’an Creek Barrier Lake overflow triggers destructive flooding in Hualien County, Taiwan - YouTube videos - Two people died and three others remain missing after heavy rains produced by Super Typhoon Ragasa caused the Matai’an Creek Barrier Lake to overflow on September 23, in Guangfu Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. The dark brown floodwaters, laden with mud and debris, smashed into the Matai’an Creek Bridge at 14:50 local time (06:50 UTC), bringing it down and washing away the embankment. Residents in the area scrambled to higher ground, clinging to utility poles, walls, and rooftops as the floodwaters surged higher. The floodwater swept away multiple vehicles, including military trucks, along Provincial Highway 9. A second, larger surge occurred around 16:30 LT (08:30 UTC), prompting additional evacuation warnings for nearby areas. Rescue teams from Taipei, New Taipei, and Taitung County, along with private search-and-rescue units, had been dispatched with boats and water-rescue equipment. The Guangfu Station and nearby railway lines were also flooded, halting train operations and causing the temporary closure of some bridges and roads in the area. Officials have urged residents to move to the upper levels of their homes if possible, while search and rescue teams are prioritizing those trapped at ground level. By 19:00 LT (11:00 UTC), the Hualien County Fire Department confirmed two flood-related deaths and reported that hundreds remained stranded. Approximately 10 000 Hualien residents had been evacuated earlier on September 22, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center. The agency had issued mandatory evacuations for some 1 800 homes in the region, and red-flagged the Matai’an Creek Barrier Lake area as Typhoon Ragasa approached. The lake that formed earlier this year has an overtopping volume of 86 million m3 (3 billion feet3). YouTube video The Hualien County government announced the suspension of work and classes in Guangfu Township on September 24 to allow recovery and cleanup. The sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa was lifted earlier the same day, although some ferries and flights were canceled. Ragasa is now moving toward China. Landfall is expected near Yangjiang just after 09:00 UTC on September 24, with maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph). After that, Ragasa is forecast to take a more westvard trajectory into northern Vietnam and Laos on Septmeber 25.

Typhoon Ragasa makes landfall Yangjiang City, Guangdong, after leaving 17 dead in Taiwan - Typhoon Ragasa made landfall on the coast of Hailing Island, in Yangjiang City, Guangdong, at around 17:00 LT (09:00 UTC) on September 24. Sustained winds near the center reached 145 km/h (90 mph) at the time of landfall, with minimum central pressure at 955 hPa. Winds exceeding 100 km/h (62 mph) along with heavy rainfall were already affecting parts of Guangdong, including Zhuhai, where police vehicles patrolled the streets with megaphones urging people to stay indoors. Residents in high-rise buildings in Zhuhai were ordered to evacuate, with some moving to nearby hotels for shelter. According to the Associated Press, a weather station in Chuandao town, southern China, recorded maximum gusts of 241 km/h (150 mph) at noon. This set a new record for the highest wind speed in Jiangmen City since record-keeping began. China had evacuated nearly 2 million people from Guangdong on September 23 as a pre-emptive measure. Authorities across mainland China ordered businesses and schools to close in at least 10 cities across the south, affecting tens of millions of people. Ragasa had already battered Taiwan, Hong Kong, and parts of southern China prior to landfall. At least 17 people were confirmed dead after the Matai’an Creek barrier lake overflowed in Hualien County, Taiwan, on September 23. Hundreds were reported missing or stranded after the overflow as rainfall totals exceeded 700 mm (28 inches).

At least 10 dead as Tropical Storm Bualoi (Opong) sweeps through Philippines – 2 YouTube videos - At least 10 people have been confirmed dead in Philippines as of September 26 due to Tropical Storm Bualoi, which made landfall Eastern Samar on September 25 before crossing into Masbate and sweeping through the Bicol region. The storm left behind a trail of destruction, displacing thousands who were already reeling from the destruction left by former Super Typhoon Ragasa. Tropical Storm Bualoi (known in the Phillipines as Opong) made its first landfall in San Policarpo, Eastern Samar at 23:30 local time (LT) on September 25, according to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). It then crossed into Masbate and swept through the Bicol region in the southern part of the country’s biggest island, Luzon on September 26. PAGASA classified the system as a Severe Tropical Storm at landfall, with 10-minute sustained winds of 65–90 km/h (40–55 mph) and gusts exceeding 130 km/h (81 mph) in exposed areas. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), estimated Bualoi’s peak intensity at 111 km/h (69 mph) with a minimum central pressure of around 993 hPa near the time of landfall. The system was moving west to west-northwest at 37–46 km/h, with rainbands extending 400–450 km (250–280 miles). A total of 10 fatalities have been confirmed as of September 26, but local reports suggest more fatalities are likely to have occurred. Two villagers were killed after being pinned by a fallen tree and a concrete wall that collapsed, and a third drowned in the hard-hit central province of Masbate. Seven villagers reportedly died in central Biliran province due to flash floods. Widespread power outages, flooding, and two minor landslides were also reported. At least 13 others were reported missing, mostly fishermen from three central provinces, who have not been accounted for after venturing into the sea before the storm hit. Bualoi is the 15th tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines in 2025. It follows Typhoon Ragasa, which earlier this month caused over 25 deaths in the Philippines and Taiwan before striking China and Vietnam.

Gabrielle becomes second hurricane of 2025 Atlantic season, swells affecting Bermuda, U.S. East Coast, and Atlantic Canada - The Watchers Tropical Storm Gabrielle intensified into a hurricane on September 21, 2025, becoming the second hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season after Erin. The storm is forecast to undergo rapid strengthening and could become a major hurricane early this week as it passes east of Bermuda. Swells and rip currents are already affecting Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast, and Atlantic Canada. Satellite image of Tropical Storm Gabrielle at 12:00 UTC on September 21, 2025. Credit: NOAA/GOES-East, Zoom Earth, The Watchers Gabrielle intensified into a hurricane at 21:00 UTC (17:00 AST) on September 21, becoming the second hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season. At that time, the center was located about 515 km (320 miles) southeast of Bermuda. Maximum sustained winds were 120 km/h (75 mph) with higher gusts, and the minimum central pressure was 992 hPa. At 09:00 UTC on September 22, the center of Hurricane Gabrielle was located 335 km (210 miles) SE of Bermuda. The system had maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h (90 mph) and minimum central pressure of 978 hPa. Gabrielle was moving NNW at a speed of 17 km/h (10 mph). A turn toward the north is forecast later today, followed by a faster northeastward or east-northeastward motion on Tuesday. On the forecast track, the center of Gabrielle is expected to pass east of Bermuda tonight, September 22. Additional steady to rapid intensification is expected over the next 24–48 hours, and Gabrielle could reach major hurricane strength early this week. Hurricane-force winds currently extend about 35 km (25 miles) from the center, with tropical-storm-force winds reaching up to 280 km (175 miles). The Bermuda Weather Service (BWS) forecasts Gabrielle’s closest approach at roughly 290 km (180 miles) east-southeast of the island late on September 22. While the strongest winds are expected to remain offshore, Bermuda may experience showers, gusty conditions, and large southeast swells. Seas are forecast to become rough with an increased rip current risk, particularly along southern and eastern coasts. Swells generated by Gabrielle are already affecting Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast from North Carolina northward, and Atlantic Canada, producing dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents. These hazards are expected to continue through the coming days.

Hurricane Gabrielle forecast to approach Azores on Thursday, September 25 - A Hurricane Watch was issued for all islands of the Azores at 11:00 AST (15:00 UTC) on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, as Category 4 Hurricane Gabrielle moves east-northeastward over the North Atlantic. The system is forecast to approach the archipelago late Thursday, bringing the risk of hurricane-force winds, storm surge, and 75–125 mm (3–5 inches) of rainfall to the central and western islands. Swells are already affecting Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast, and Atlantic Canada. Satellite image of Hurricane Gabrielle at 16:30 UTC on September 23, 2025. Gabrielle is forecast to approach the Azores late on Thursday as a hurricane. In response, a Hurricane Watch is now in effect for all of the islands of the Azores and interests there should closely monitor Gabrielle’s progress. Swells generated by Gabrielle will continue to affect Bermuda, the east coast of the United States from North Carolina northward, as well as Atlantic Canada, during the next couple of days, likely causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. At 15:00 UTC (11:00 AST) on September 23, the center of Hurricane Gabrielle was located about 2 840 km (1 765 miles) west of the Azores and 630 km (390 miles) east-northeast of Bermuda. Gabrielle’s maximum sustained winds are estimated at 220 km/h (140 mph), with higher gusts, making it a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The minimum central pressure is 948 mb. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 65 km (40 miles) from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 220 km (140 miles). The cyclone is moving east-northeast at 31 km/h (20 mph) and is expected to accelerate in this direction through Thursday. The current forecast brings the center very near or over the Azores late Thursday before the system turns more poleward. The Azores Meteorological Service issued a Hurricane Watch for all islands, expecting hurricane conditions by Thursday night. Forecast rainfall totals are 75–125 mm (3–5 inches) across the central and western Azores and 25–50 mm (1–2 inches) in the eastern islands.

Humberto becomes a hurricane in Atlantic; chances of second system increase — Humberto is now a hurricane, while development chances are increasing for another disturbance in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Located about 465 miles northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands, Humberto is moving toward the northwest at about 3 mph. According to the NHC, significant strengthening is forecasted, and Humberto is expected to become a major hurricane this weekend. A slow west-northwest to northwest motion is expected over the next few days. The maximum sustained winds have increased to about 75 mph. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Showers and storms associated with a tropical wave continue to show signs of organization near Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands. According to the NHC, an area of low pressure is expected to form along the wave today when it is near the southeast Bahamas. The low is expected to become a tropical depression today or over the weekend when it is in the area of the central and northwest Bahamas. The disturbance will then track northwestward or northward over the southwestern Atlantic. “While there is significant uncertainty in the long-range track and intensity of the system, the chance of wind, rainfall, and storm surge impacts for a portion of the southeast U.S. coast during the next several days are increasing,” the NHC said. The chance of formation in the next 48 hours is 80 percent. The chance of formation in the next seven days is 90 percent. The center of post-tropical cyclone Gabrielle continues to move through the Azores, the NHC said. Gabrielle will start moving away from the area during the next few hours, then approach the coast of Portugal by early Sunday. Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph. According to the NHC, little change in strengthening is likely through Friday night, but gradual weakening should begin on Saturday.

Tropical Storm Humberto forecast to become a major hurricane, Imelda shows signs of formation - Tropical Storm Humberto is forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane by the weekend, while tropical disturbance AL94 shows high chance of cyclonic development within 2 days from September 26, 2025. Tropical Storm Humberto is forecast to become a hurricane by September 27, as it continues to strengthen over the central Atlantic. The storm was located about 748 km (465 miles) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands as of 11:00 AST (15:00 UTC) on September 26, 2025. Maximum sustained winds near the center (averaged over 1 minute) reached 80 km/h (50 mph). It was moving northwestward at 13 km/h (8 mph), with an estimated minimum central pressure of 1 004 hPa. Tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 72 km (45 miles) from the center. Humberto formed on September 24, and at the rate it is strengthening, it is forecast to become a major hurricane by the weekend. Meanwhile, AL94, a tropical disturbance located near the islands of Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos, has an 80% chance of formation in the next 48 hours and a 90% chance of developing into a tropical storm within the next 7 days. Upon formation, it will be named Imelda. The forecast indicates that Imelda is likely to form near the Bahamas as early as the weekend. While both these systems don’t pose any hazard to land as of September 26, the forecast for how these could affect islands around them, and the northeastern U.S., is expected to become clearer as more data becomes available.

New research links hurricane size surges to local ocean temperature spikes - When people hear about hurricanes, they often focus on the category rating: Category 1 through 5, based on maximum wind speeds. But not all hurricanes with the same wind speeds are alike. Some are compact storms while others can span the size of entire states. Larger hurricanes bring far greater damage, generating wider footprints of high winds, heavier rainfall and more dangerous storm surge. A new study led by Purdue University researchers has uncovered why some hurricanes grow significantly larger than others and why this growth occurs rapidly under certain ocean conditions. The research shows, for the first time, that hurricanes grow in size much faster when traveling over locally warm waters where the ocean surface is significantly warmer than the rest of the tropical oceans. "This discovery can be put directly into use for daily forecasting of hurricane size and impacts," said Danyang Wang, postdoctoral researcher in Purdue's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). "It can also be used to better model hurricane size in long-term risk models used by industry to evaluate property risks." The discovery, led by Wang with guidance from professor Dan Chavas of Purdue's EAPS department, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS). Wang developed the underlying theory, extracted and analyzed data from historical records and climate simulations, and wrote the manuscript. Chavas provided high-level feedback on how to connect the theory to real-world storms. They were joined by collaborator Ben Schenkel, a research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations at the University of Oklahoma. Schenkel provided a tropical cyclone size database used in the analysis and helped clarify results across multiple datasets. Before this work, scientists knew that some hurricanes expanded significantly during their lifetimes while others stayed compact. But the factors behind that difference were not well understood. Wang and Chavas showed that the rapid growth of storms is tied to "hot spots" in the ocean. These are localized areas where the water is significantly warmer than the surrounding tropical waters. The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season gave a striking example of why storm size matters. Hurricane Helene expanded rapidly before making landfall, ballooning into one of the largest storms in U.S. history at an estimated width of over 400 miles and causing unprecedented damage. "Two hurricanes with the same maximum wind speed can be two very different sizes," Wang said. "But think of one donut the size of South Carolina and another the size of Texas."

Study warns coral reefs will dramatically shrink as climate heats up - Florida’s coral reefs are dying off at a faster rate than they can grow, a trend that scientists warn is expected to accelerate across much of the Caribbean.A recent study published in Nature examined more than 400 coral reefs across the Atlantic, including in the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists predicted that within two decades more than 70 percent of reefs in the tropical western Atlantic will fall into net erosion, meaning they lose more of their structure than they create.The study warns that sea-level rise and reef erosion are occurring simultaneously, increasing water depth over reefs and weakening their ability to protect coasts.If the planet warms more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, 99 percent of the reefs in the region will be in net erosion by 2100, the study found. Global temperatures are about 1.3 degrees higher than before the industrial era.

Extreme rainfall floods Kolkata, leaving at least 12 people dead – news video - At least 12 people died after record breaking rains flooded Kolkata, West Bengal on September 23, 2025, leaving roads inundated, transport paralyzed, and power disrupted. Parts of Kolkata (population 6.2 million) received extremely heavy rains over the past 36 hours, causing widespread flooding and leaving at least 12 people dead. An average of 251.6 mm (9.9 inches) of rainfall fell over the city in the 24-hour period ending 08:30 IST on September 23, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). This ranked as the third-highest daily September total on record and the sixth-highest single-day total overall for the city. Kolkata’s southern and central neighborhoods recorded the largest accumulations, with Garia Kamdahari receiving around 332 mm (13.1 inches), Jodhpur Park 285 mm (11.2 inches), Kalighat 280 mm (11 inches), Topsia 275 mm (10.8 inches), and Ballygunge 264 mm (10.4 inches), while Thantania in the north registered 195 mm (7.7 inches). Most of the rainfall appears to have fallen within four hours during the early hours of September 23, an equivalent to a month’s rainfall for this region, coinciding with a high tide on the Hooghly River that severely restricted drainage and caused widespread flooding which persisted into September 24. At least 12 deaths were reported, including nine in Kolkata, mostly from electrocution, and two drownings. The private utility Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) told local media that several electrocutions were linked to faulty internal wiring or infrastructure outside its direct responsibility, though officials have not independently confirmed this. Roads in several districts were submerged up to waist level, metro and rail services faced interruptions, and multiple flights were delayed or canceled. Sixteen trees were uprooted across the city, causing further traffic disruption. Schools and colleges were ordered to remain closed while authorities focused on pumping operations and clearance. IMD linked the rainfall to a low-pressure system developing over the Bay of Bengal and warned of additional heavy showers in the following days. The U.S. Consulate in Kolkata issued a weather alert advising of continued flood risk. The timing of the event coincided with preparations for the Durga Puja festival, damaging temporary pandals and clay idols in several neighborhoods. Relief operations, according to municipal officials, included distribution of food and essentials in waterlogged wards. This event is now among Kolkata’s most extreme rainfall episodes, following 369.6 mm (14.6 inches) on September 28, 1978, and 259.5 mm (10.2 inches) on September 26, 1986.

Massive 50 m (164 feet) deep sinkhole opens near Vajira Hospital, Bangkok – 2 videos - A sinkhole measuring about 30 m x 30 m (98 x 98 feet) and 50 m (164 feet) deep opened around 06:30–07:00 LT on September 24, 2025, in front of Vajira Hospital, Bangkok, swallowing vehicles and damaging utilities. A massive sinkhole formed around 06:30–07:00 LT on September 24, 2025, on Samsen Road, Dusit district, Bangkok, directly in front of Vajira Hospital. The crater measured about 30 m x 30 m (98 x 98 feet) and 50 m (164 feet) deep, swallowing several vehicles, damaging electricity poles, and rupturing water pipes. So far, no injuries or fatalities have been reported. Authorities rapidly evacuated patients, hospital staff, nearby residents, and a police station amid fears of further collapse. Vajira Hospital halted outpatient services for at least two days, delaying thousands of routine appointments. Power and water in the surrounding area were shut off as a precaution. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) deployed drones to survey the site, detecting continued ground movement around the sinkhole. Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said that the collapse began at the joint between an under-construction metro tunnel and a planned station. According to the governot, soil from above the station slipped into the tunnel, setting off a chain reaction that caused the ground to give way. Local reports also pointed to a burst underground water pipe that may have accelerated the erosion, though engineers have yet to confirm the exact sequence of events. Roads around the Vajira–Sanghi intersection were shut down, with traffic redirected through other parts of Dusit district. Officials cautioned that heavy monsoon rains could make stabilization more difficult.

Strong North Pacific SST anomaly raises probability of colder winter 2025/26 in U.S. and Canada - A large sea surface temperature anomaly has developed in the North Pacific Ocean, extending toward the U.S. West Coast. Forecasts suggest the anomaly could help trigger colder-than-average conditions across central and eastern United States and Canada during the upcoming 2025/26 winter season, with a weak La Niña further reinforcing the setup. 5km sst anomalies september 24 2025 f Sea surface temperature anomalies Pacific Ocean - September 24, 2025. Credit: NOAA/OSPO A significant sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly is growing across the North Pacific, with monitoring systems identifying it as among the largest heatwave events since 2013. Data from NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch show persistent positive anomalies stretching from the western basin toward the North American coast, creating conditions known to influence atmospheric circulation through the “atmospheric bridge.” Such anomalies modify the position and strength of the jet stream, altering pressure fields over the Pacific–North American region. When a strong warm pool persists, the downstream effect often favors the development of a ridge over the northeast Pacific and a trough over the central and eastern United States. This configuration increases the probability of Arctic air intrusions into North America, raising the likelihood of colder-than-average winters in those regions. The 2013–2015 “warm blob” in the northeast Pacific coincided with altered winter circulation patterns. While the western U.S. experienced persistent warmth and drought, much of central and eastern North America saw colder winters and enhanced snowfall. Current monitoring indicates that the 2025 anomaly (NEP25A) has grown to an area of around 8 million km2 (3.1 million miles2), comparable to or exceeding some phases of the 2013–2015 event.

Asteroid 2025 SU4 flew past Earth at 0.06 lunar distances - A newly discovered asteroid designated 2025 SU4 flew past Earth at just 0.06 lunar distances (0.00015 AU / 22 380 km / 13 906 miles) from the center of our planet at 08:34 UTC on September 24, 2025. This is the 107th known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and the 16th so far this month. The only month we discovered more <1 LD flybys was March with 18. 2025 SU4 is belongs to Aten group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 2 and 5 m (6.6–16.4 feet). The object was first observed at Mt. Lemmon Survey, Arizona on September 23 — some 27 hours before close approach. It flew past us at a speed (relative to Earth) of 9.18 km/s at 08:34 UTC. This is the 4th closest asteroid flyby of the year, after 2025 BP6 on January 26 at 0.025 LD, 2025 OS on July 19 at 0.027 LD, and 2025 FY6 on March 23 at 0.057 LD. All of these objects had diameters between 1.1 and 6 m (3.6–19.7 feet). With a distance of 0.058 LD, 2025 SU4 tied with 2025 PF2, which passed at the same distance on August 15 and measured 2.5 to 5.6 m (8.2–18.4 feet) in diameter.

CME forecast to strike interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS on September 24-25 - The A coronal mass ejection (CME) launched from the Sun on September 19, 2025, is forecast by NASA’s ENLIL model to strike interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS on September 24 or 25, an extremely rare event that comes as the comet brightens 40-fold and prepares to disappear into the Sun’s glare. CMEs striking Solar System comets have been observed before, often bending or disconnecting their plasma tails. But no such interaction has ever been documented with an interstellar comet. “What happens to an interstellar comet is anyone’s guess,” said Dr. Tony Phillips of SpaceWeather.com. The potential impact comes during a phase of intense activity, giving astronomers only a short window to record changes to its tail and brightness.

Rivers in the sky, Arctic warming, and what this means for the Greenland Ice Sheet -"Atmospheric rivers" are large-scale extreme weather systems that are making headlines more frequently. When viewed in satellite images, they appear just as described—like rivers in the sky. Though they are often reported in places like California, these weather systems have the potential to bring high heat and dump disastrous amounts of precipitation on areas throughout the mid and high latitudes.A team of researchers, including UConn Department of Earth Sciences associate professor Clay Tabor and Ph.D. student Joseph Schnaubelt, looked at howatmospheric rivers impacted the Greenland Ice Sheet in the past to get a better understanding of how these weather systems may enhance melting in the Arctic as the climate continues to warm. Their results are published in AGU Advances.An important question that paleoclimate scientists like Schnaubelt and Tabor are trying to answer is how the Arctic will respond to climate change, and for this they focused deep into the past on a time called the Last Interglacial, between 130,000 and 115,000 years ago."Earth goes through glacial cycles, and the Last Interglacial was the last time the Arctic was warmer than present day," says Schnaubelt. "We know that that's the direction we're headed toward, and we wanted to see how atmospheric rivers impacted the Greenland Ice Sheet."Tabor explains that atmospheric rivers can have an impact in different ways. On one hand, they can lead to increased accumulation of the ice sheet, where they bring massive amounts of snow, but they can also bring more heat to the region, leading to enhanced rainfall and melting of the ice sheets. These nuances are important to tease out because melting ice sheets contribute to sea level rise. "We found that during times when the orbital configuration made the Arctic the warmest, we had more summertime storms impacting the ice sheet," says Schnaubelt. "That's trouble for the future, because we know that the Arctic's getting warmer, we could expect there to be more summertime storms, and when this happened, we saw more ice sheet melt." Schnaubelt says another key finding is that elevation is an important factor in how atmospheric rivers impact the ice sheet. At lower elevations, precipitation tends to fall as rain, but at higher elevations, storms lift upwards where they cool and precipitation falls as snow. As the ice sheet melts and experiences reductions in elevation, this could lead to enhanced melting from atmospheric rivers.

Ice dissolves iron faster than liquid water, offering explanation for Arctic's rusty rivers - Ice can dissolve iron minerals more effectively than liquid water, according to a new study from Umeå University. The discovery could help explain why many Arctic rivers are now turning rusty orange as permafrost thaws in a warming climate.The study, published in PNAS, shows that ice at minus 10 degrees Celsius releases more iron from common minerals than liquid water at 4 degrees Celsius. This challenges the long-held belief that frozen environments slow down chemical reactions."It may sound counterintuitive, but ice is not a passive frozen block," says Jean-François Boily, Professor at Umeå University and co-author of the study."Freezing creates microscopic pockets of liquid water between ice crystals. These act like chemical reactors, where compounds become concentrated and extremely acidic. This means they can react with iron minerals even at temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius." To understand the process, the researchers studied goethite—a widespread iron oxide mineral—together with a naturally occurring organic acid, using advanced microscopy and experiments. They discovered that repeated freeze-thaw cycles make iron dissolve more efficiently. As the ice freezes and thaws, organic compounds that were previously trapped in the ice are released, fueling further chemical reactions. Salinity also plays a crucial role: fresh and brackish water increase dissolution, while seawater can suppress it. The findings apply mainly to acidic environments, such as mine drainage sites, frozen dust in the atmosphere, acid sulfate soils along the Baltic Sea coast, or in any acidic frozen environment where iron minerals interact with organics. The next step is to find out if the same is true for all iron-bearing ice. This is what ongoing research in the Boily laboratory will soon reveal.

A new explanation for Siberia's giant exploding craters -- Scientists may be a step closer to solving the mystery of Siberia's giant exploding craters. First spotted in the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas of Western Siberia in 2012, these massive holes, known as giant gas emission craters (GECs) can be up to 164 feet deep. They seem to appear randomly in the permafrost and are formed when powerful explosions blast soil and ice hundreds of feet into the air. For more than a decade, researchers have been coming up with theories about the origin of these craters, ranging from meteor impacts to gas explosions. However, none of these have been able to explain why the craters are only found in this specific area and not in the permafrost elsewhere in the Arctic. Now, research published in the journalScience of the Total Environment proposes a new and more complete explanation that links the craters to specific factors unique to the two peninsulas, the vast gas reserves in this region and the effects of climate change."We propose that the formation of GECs is linked to the specific conditions in the area, including abundant natural gas generation and seepage and the overall limited thickness of the continuous permafrost," wrote the researchers in their paper.Helge Hellevang, an environmental geoscientist at the University of Oslo, and his colleagues studied past research, looked at the geological data and used numerical calculations to develop a conceptual model of what is happening.According to their model, GECs form when gas and heat rise from deep underground. The heat melts the permafrost seal (a layer of permanently frozen ground that acts as a lid), making it thinner. Meanwhile, the gas builds up underneath it, and with nowhere to go, the pressure rises. As the climate warms, the permafrost thaws even more, making the lid thinner. Eventually, pressure becomes too great and causes an explosive collapse that creates a large crater.Dr. Hellevang and his colleagues say their model is just a first step. The next stage will be fieldwork and computer simulations to test their model. The team also believes that there may be many more of these craters in Siberia hiding in plain sight. The reason is that they quickly fill up with water and dirt, making them look like lakes that form from thawing ice. So while GECs are a relatively recent discovery, they could have been a feature of the landscape for much longer.

A hard look at geoengineering reveals global risks --With CO2 emissions continuing unabated, an increasing number of policymakers, scientists and environmentalists are considering geoengineering to avert a climate catastrophe. Such interventions could influence everything from rainfall to global food supplies, making the stakes enormous. In brief, manipulating other aspects of Earth's climate system might reduce some effects of climate change. But the wondrous complexity of our planet complicates every one of these proposals. Climate scientists at UC Santa Barbara analyzed two approaches that involve reducing the amount of sunlight warming Earth's surface: cloud seeding over the eastern Pacific and introducing aerosols into the stratosphere. The two geoengineering proposals the authors evaluated both involve releasing aerosols into the atmosphere; the difference is in what type, and how high up.Cloud seeding, or marine cloud brightening (MCB), involves injecting sea salt within 2 kilometers of the surface to promote more reflective cloud cover over the oceans. Meanwhile, stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) blocks sunlight farther up by releasing sulfates high in the atmosphere. By modeling local effects on the Pacific Ocean, they found that the first strategy would completely disrupt one of the planet's major climate cycles, the El Niño Southern Oscillation. At the same time, the second would scarcely affect the system at all. The results, published in the journal Earth's Future, underscore the importance of considering the broad range of consequences that any geoengineering solution may have. "We need to be careful about implementing geoengineering proposals before we fully understand what's going to happen," But understanding this requires an account of their effects on the ocean's climate cycles, chief among them being the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO is a two- to seven-year climate cycle that shifts the distribution of warm water in the tropical Pacific. This has profound implications for global weather patterns and atmospheric circulation. For instance, El Niño years bring warm waters to the west coasts of the Americas along the equator, causing wet winters in California. In contrast, South and Southeast Asia experience stronger monsoons when the western Pacific heats up in La Niña years.Proponents of geoengineering have sometimes targeted the eastern sides of ocean basins (west coasts of the continents) for marine cloud brightening due to their strong effect on global temperature. Unfortunately, the southeastern Pacific in particular seems to have a large influence on ENSO. "Deploying MCB in the subtropical eastern Pacific dramatically reduces ENSO amplitude by approximately 61%," the authors write. The authors thought the proposals could have impacts, "but we didn't expect two-thirds of ENSO's variance to disappear," Xing said. The implications seem clear: "Don't do MCB over the eastern Pacific Ocean because it might cause super strong chain reactions from ENSO's disappearance." "There's nothing that compares to the speed with which ENSO would change in these MCB experiments," Stevenson said. "It just does not naturally drop 60% in 10 years, even under climate change." Blocking sunlight from reaching Earth would also lower photosynthetic activity, decreasing the productivity of crops, forests and, crucially, marine algae. Algae form the foundation of the ocean food web and generate around 70% of oxygen in the atmosphere. The team plans to investigate the effects these proposals may have on marine ecosystems. This study highlights the importance of understanding the nuances and trade-offs when designing and choosing geoengineering solutions. "Two interventions can get to the same warming target globally and have extremely different regional climate impacts," Stevenson said. "The most important question is, 'Are we thinking of all of the potential consequences?'"

Ocean Warming Threatens Microbe That Makes Nearly a Third of Earth’s Oxygen -- Earth wouldn't be the lively place it is without photosynthesis, which harnesses solar energy to fuel most of the planet's food webs.A variety of plants, algae, and cyanobacteria provide this service, but few do it quite like Prochlorococcus, considered to be Earth's most abundant photosynthetic organism. Tiny even for cyanobacteria, this marine microbe wields outsized influence in its habitats and beyond, contributing nearly a third of the planet's oxygen production and forming a vital foundation to food webs. According to a new study, though, Prochlorococcus and its many beneficiaries may be more vulnerable to rising ocean temperatures than previously thought.Prochlorococcus are widespread, inhabiting more than 75 percent of sunlit surface waters. They're most prevalent in and around the tropics, where they're well-adapted to warm, nutrient-poor conditions."Offshore in the tropics, the water is this bright, beautiful blue because there's very little in it, aside fromProchlorococcus," says lead author François Ribalet, an oceanographer at the University of Washington.Given this affinity for heat, some experts think Prochlorococcus may fare well as ocean temperatures continue to riseas a result of burning fossil fuels and loss of carbon sinks.Yet the new study raises doubts, suggesting hotter isn't always better for Prochlorococcus.Their ideal range is 19 to 28 degrees Celsius (66 to 82 Fahrenheit), the authors report, noting many tropical and subtropical waters are forecast to exceed that upper limit within 75 years."For a long time, scientists thought Prochlorococcus was going to do great in the future, but in the warmest regions, they aren't doing that well, which means that there is going to be less carbon – less food – for the rest of the marine food web," Ribalet says.Existing data about these microbes came largely from lab-grown cells, so Ribalet and his colleagues sought new data from wild Prochlorococcus in their element."I had really basic questions," Ribalet says. "Are they happy when it's warm? Or are they not happy when it's warm?" To find answers, the researchers analyzed 800 billion Prochlorococcus-sized cells they encountered during 90 research voyages spanning 13 years. The researchers measured microbes using a laser in the shipboard device, then applied a statistical model based on established methods for estimating Prochlorococcus growth, all with minimal disturbance of their subjects. Cell division rates varied by latitude, which the authors linked to variations in water temperature rather than in sunlight or nutrients. The microbes were at their best in relatively warm water, between 19 and 28 °C, but had surprising difficulty just above that range.Cell division slowed to a crawl in water warmer than about 30 °C, down to one-third the rate recorded in water at the low end of their tolerance range. "Their burnout temperature is much lower than we thought it was," Ribalet says. The study suggests that by the end of this century, Prochlorococcus productivity could fall by 17 percent in the tropics under a moderate warming scenario, and by 51 percent with more severe warming. Globally, it could drop 10 percent from moderate warming and 37 percent from the more extreme scenario. "Their geographic range is going to expand toward the poles, to the north and south," Ribalet says. "They are not going to disappear, but their habitat will shift." The study was published in Nature Microbiology.

EU states agree broad UN emissions target avoiding 'embarrassment' -The EU agreed on a broad emissions-cutting target on Thursday to bring to a UN conference in Brazil, sparing the bloc potential diplomatic embarrassment but risking its reputation as a climate champion. Environment ministers for the 27-nation bloc met in Brussels with the clock ticking down on a UN deadline to produce an official pledge to fight global warming for 2035. The countries have not been able to agree on their level of ambition, so they settled for a compromise "statement of intent" to cut emissions between 66.25% and 72.5% compared to 1990 levels. "It's very positive that member states have been able to reach a consensus," Lars Aagaard, climate minister of Denmark, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, told a press conference. The EU "is and will remain a global climate leader," he said. The EU—behind only China, the United States and India in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions—has been by far the most committed of the major polluters to climate action. The bloc was hoping to come up with an ambitious submission to November's COP30 climate conference but months of negotiations failed to produce an agreement, leaving Brussels scrambling for a last-minute solution. The UN has pushed for world leaders, among them EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, to announce their commitments at the General Assembly in New York next week. Denmark suggested a "statement of intent" with a target range rather than a hard goal backed by a detailed plan—a majority of states eventually getting on board on Thursday after a long day of talks in Brussels. "This statement of intent allows the EU to show up in New York with something tangible and avoid complete embarrassment," said Jens Mattias Clausen of Concito, a Danish think tank. Like most other parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the EU had already missed a February deadline to provide a 2035 emissions reduction target and a detailed blueprint for achieving it. The deadline was extended to September—still allowing plans to be assessed before COP30 starts on November 10, in the Brazilian city of Belem. As the statement of intent does not count as the official EU submission, the bloc is all but sure to also miss the second deadline.

UN chief warns 1.5C warming goal at risk of 'collapsing' -UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP Friday that efforts to cap climate warming at 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial level are failing, as the UN prepared to host a climate week event alongside its annual diplomatic gathering. The climate goals for 2035 of the countries that signed the Paris Agreement, also known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), were initially expected several months ago. However, uncertainties related to geopolitical tensions and trade rivalries have slowed the process. "We are on the verge of this objective collapsing," he told AFP. "We absolutely need countries to come... with climate action plans that are fully aligned with 1.5 degrees (Celsius), that cover the whole of their economies and the whole of their greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "It is essential that we have a drastic reduction of emissions in the next few years if you want to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit alive." Less than two months before the COP30 meeting in Brazil, dozens of countries have been slow to announce their plans—particularly China and the European Union, powers considered pivotal for the future of climate diplomacy. Efforts to combat the impact of man-made global warming have taken a back seat to myriad crises in recent years that have included the coronavirus pandemic and several wars, with Guterres seeking to reignite focus on the issue. The UN hopes that the climate summit co-chaired Wednesday in New York by Guterres and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be an opportunity to breathe life into efforts ahead of COP30. Guterres said he was concerned that Nationally Determined Contributions, or national climate action plans, may not ultimately support the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. "It's not a matter to panic. It's a matter to be determined, to put all pressure for countries." Containing global warming to 1.5 Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era is the most ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which aggregates the work of scientists worldwide, predicts a 50:50 chance that the climate will have warmed by an average of 1.5C by 2030-2035. Scientists emphasize the importance of containing global warming as each fraction of a degree increase further increases risks such as heat waves or destruction of marine life. Containing warming to 1.5C rather than 2C would significantly limit its most catastrophic consequences, according to the IPCC. According to the UN, 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded.

Trump tells UN General Assembly climate change ‘greatest con job’ on world -- President Trump on Tuesday claimed climate change was “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” as he used his speech to the United Nations to bash efforts to reduce carbon emissions and move toward clean energy. “It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world in my opinion. Climate change, no matter what happens you’re involved in that,” Trump said at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong,” Trump continued. “They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same counties no chance for success.” Trump called the idea of a carbon footprint “nonsense” and a “hoax made up by people with evil intentions.” And he urged nations to move away from efforts to shift their economies toward investments in clean energy. “If you don’t get away from this green scam your country is going to fail,” Trump said. “And I’m really good at predicting things.” The president has for years cast doubt on the effects of climate change, which experts have warned could have catastrophic environmental impacts if nations do not take steps to mitigate it. His administration has quickly moved in the early months of his second term to slash environmental regulations. The administration announced in July it would exempt dozens of chemical manufacturers, oil refineries, coal plants, medical device sterilizers and other polluters from Clean Air Act rules.

China doubles down on climate — a day after Trump called it a ‘scam’ - — China pledged Wednesday to cut its world-leading levels of climate pollution by up to 10 percent during the next decade — one day after President Donald Trump urged global leaders to abandon their effort to halt the Earth’s rising temperatures. The move, announced virtually by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also includes plans for increasing electric vehicles sales and ramping up wind and solar power, which Xi said he aimed to grow six times over 2020 levels. That projection, while low according to China’s current trajectory, dwarfs the amount of renewable energy produced in the U.S. and seems to contradict Trump’s assertion Tuesday that China doesn’t use the wind turbines being made in its own industrial plants. Xi said the transition to cleaner energy is the “trend of our time.” In a nod to the U.S., he added, “while some country is acting against it, the international community should stay focused on the right direction.” “These targets represent China’s best efforts based on the requirements of the Paris Agreement,” Xi said, referring to the 2015 climate pact. “Meeting these targets requires both painstaking efforts by China itself, and a supportive and open international environment.” Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, countries are required to submit new emission-cutting plans every five years that should be stronger than the previous targets. Instead, Trump has moved to exit Paris for a second time. Xi’s message of rising determination to stem pollution contrasts with Trump’s remarks made a day earlier on the same stage at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. There, Trump denounced the effort to slow climate change as a “hoax” and a “con job” and told nations they would lose the global energy race by pursuing wind and solar over fossil fuels. “If you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail,” Trump told the assembled leaders, while asserting — falsely — that China foists wind turbines on the world while not using them at home. “Those windmills are so pathetic and so bad,” Trump said Tuesday. “And most of them are built in China, and I give China a lot of credit. They build them, but they have very few wind farms. So why is it that they build them, and they send them all over the world, but they barely use them?” In fact, China has installed vast amounts of wind power over the past decade. In just the first five months of this year it added 46 gigawatts of new wind energy, enough to power more than 30 million homes. During the same period, Trump’s government has frozen permits for several wind farms proposed or under construction in the Atlantic, where the U.S. has a small fraction of offshore turbines compared with China. China’s support for global climate efforts is notable, said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “That is a sharp contrast with not only the lack of attention on climate change, but, you know, active backtracking on climate policies here in the U.S.”

Internal docs: Zeldin races ahead without analysis in endangerment rollback - The Trump administration’s rush to overturn a 16-year-old climate science finding has scrambled EPA’s rulemaking process in ways that could come back to bite it in court.Internal agency notes and presentation slides reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News show that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin intends to sign off next week on the final policy and legal justifications for repealing the so-called endangerment finding and Biden-era climate rules for cars and trucks. Zeldin will make those decisions before agency staff have time to sift through all public comments — or complete the legally required regulatory impact analysis (RIA).EPA’s political appointees told career officials that the RIA will have no bearing on the final regulatory package, according to notes from a career official in EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. E&E News obtained the official’s notes through a third party granted anonymity to share the agency’s internal deliberations.Slides from a Microsoft Teams meeting last week show that Zeldin will consider “options” for the final rule repeals at a briefing Tuesday, just eight days after the public comment period ended. EPA intends to conduct the regulatory impact analysis and review comments in October, before publishing the final rules in the Federal Register in mid-December.

Every Democratic senator opposes EPA plan to axe endangerment finding -In a unanimous decision, the Democratic caucus in the Senate wrote a letter on Monday in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposal to axe a 2009 endangerment finding, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determination that concluded that the accumulation of six greenhouse gases posed a serious threat to public health. The proposal would also repeal regulations for motor vehicles and engines. The determination helped set up the legal basis for U.S. climate policy, according to a press release. The effort, led by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), comes after the Trump administration said it’d axe the finding in July. “With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers. In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in July. “We heard loud and clear the concern that EPA’s GHG emissions standards themselves, not carbon dioxide, which the finding never assessed independently, was the real threat to Americans’ livelihoods.” The administration used studies authored and published by scientists who deny the existence of climate change to justify the decision. The scientists behind the studies have been trying to plant seeds of doubt about climate change among the scientific community for years, according to CNN. In response to the decision, the Democratic caucus on Monday said, “Scientists, financial experts, international governments, and the American public agree that climate change is a looming crisis. Greenhouse-gas driven climate change is driving extreme weather, flooding, erosion, sea-level rise, heat waves, drought, catastrophic wildfires, famine, smog pollution, and other disasters.” “These effects drive illness, hospital visits, and deaths, as well as displacement, asset loss, infrastructure damage, rising insurance premiums, declining home values, and long-term destabilization of the national economy. … And yet, in this proposal, EPA proposes to abdicate all responsibility to address this dangerous pollution,” they added.

EPA reorganization sparks fears of ‘political interference’ - EPA on Monday launched an agencywide reorganization that’s expected to sweep a key research office under the oversight of Administrator Lee Zeldin, raising fears among unions about political interference. In an internal EPA memo obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News, Zeldin told staffers that the agency is ushering in a “new, more efficient, more effective EPA” that focuses on meeting statutory obligations. He said the revamp follows a six-month review by the agency’s leadership.The administrator in the note to staff declared that “today is day one of the new EPA,” and the first part of a transition period that will play out through the end of November.In the coming months, Zeldin said agency leaders will work with the newly created Office of Finance and Administration to make changes and that additional information will be shared Monday at an all-hands meeting at EPA at the assistant administrator level.“Under President Trump’s leadership, we have recommitted our agency to commonsense policies supporting clean air, land, and water for all Americans while unleashing American energy, revitalizing domestic manufacturing, cutting the cost of living for families, and growing innovation and entrepreneurialism,” said Zeldin. Zeldin touted the agency’s creation of a first-of-its-kind Office of State Air Partnerships and moves to elevate the issues of cybersecurity, emergency response, and water reuse and conservation. He also lauded the creation of the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions, or OASES, an effort unveiled in May as part of a reorganization announcement. OASES is slated to be located in the Office of the Administrator, according to EPA’s plans.“We are bolstering scientific capacity where it matters most — directly in our air, water, and land program offices — so that EPA scientists can better-support EPA’s core mission and statutory obligations,” Zeldin said. “We are prioritizing research through the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions to ensure that science is at the forefront of our decision making.” The new office, OASES, is expected to absorb functions previously housed under the Office of Research and Development, the scientific research arm of EPA established in the 1970s. EPA formally announced in July it would “eliminate” ORD, with the research office’s 1,500-or-so staffers facing either layoffs or reassignments to other program offices.Already, the looming revamp has helped prompt some 326 ORD employees to take advantage of two previous early retirement and deferred resignation offers, according to data provided by EPA in July. The agency has not released the number of takers for a third round of the “early out” offers.Zeldin’s email did not provide details about OASES’ structure, who will lead it and what the size its workforce will be. EPA press aides did not immediately reply Monday to questions seeking those details.More information, including “an overview of our new organizational structure” for OASES will be told to staffers during an all-hands meeting, according to an email sent by current acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development Maureen Gwinn, reviewed by E&E News.But scrapping the research office and shifting its replacement directly under Zeldin is riling unions that say critical researchers at EPA will no longer have representation and likely face pressure from political appointees.“They are putting it directly under the administrator and subjecting it to political interference, subjecting research at the office to political interference,” said Nicole Cantello, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, which represents EPA Region 5 employees. “They are splitting apart ORD for no reason.”Cantello said the Office of Research and Development has produced “unparalleled” research that scientists have relied on for decades to craft policy and regulations that protect the public and the environment. Splitting up the office, she said, is meant to intimidate scientists and will undermine the credibility of EPA science.

High Seas Treaty to protect oceans ratified as Trump pushes mining - Four countries last week ratified the High Seas Treaty, allowing that United Nations agreement to take effect next year even as the Trump administration pushes to open the world’s ocean bottoms to critical minerals extraction. The ratification by four countries — Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, and Morocco — effectively started a 120-day clock on implementation of the 2023 U.N. oceans biodiversity treaty for international waters, generally defined as beyond 200 nautical miles of a nation’s coast. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the moment a “historic achievement for the ocean and for multilateralism.” But the Trump administration is already positioned to bypass the treaty’s fundamental principles, including a requirement that any ocean activity in international waters undergo an environmental assessment by the U.N. agency charged with overseeing that activity.

Judge overturns stop-work order for Revolution Wind - A federal judge issued an injunction overturning the Interior Department’s decision to halt work on Revolution Wind on Monday, throwing a lifeline to an embattled project that has become the poster child for President Donald Trump’s attacks on the wind industry. The ruling is a victory for Revolution Wind and the offshore wind industry, which has been reeling from the Trump administration’s efforts to stop projects along the East Coast. Revolution Wind was 80 percent complete when Interior halted the project in August, citing national security concerns. Project officials said they faced a Monday deadline for deciding whether to move forward, because of scheduling issues related to the specialized vessels needed to build the $6.2 billion development.Ruling from the bench, Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia called Interior’s stop-work order “the height of arbitrary and capricious.” The issues Interior cited for stopping the project had been reviewed for years as part of the project’s permit application, he said. The government failed to provide any factual findings for why it believed Revolution Wind was no longer in compliance with its permit, Lamberth said.“There is no question in my mind, of irrevocable harm to the plaintiff,” said Lamberth, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. “The balance of the equities is cut in favor of Revolution Wind continuing work while the government conducts whatever review of potential national security resource concerns they have.”

Judge allows wind farm halted by Trump to resume construction - Bucking the Trump administration, a federal judge has ruled that a nearly complete offshore wind project can continue construction for the time being.Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, granted a preliminary injunction Monday that temporarily allows Revolution Wind to keep building its wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island.Lamberth wrote that the wind developer is “likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.”The move comes after the Trump administration issued a stop-work order against the offshore wind farm in August, part of its broader crusade against renewable energy.It said at the time that it was halting the project over unspecified concerns related to “national security interests” as well as the “prevention of interference” with other economic uses of the ocean.Revolution Wind, a joint venture between Ørsted and a consortium led by Skyborn Renewables, then sued the administration. It argued that the stop-work order “was issued without statutory authority, lacks any evidentiary basis, and is unlawful.”The wind farm in question is 80 percent complete and would be expected to provide enough energy to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, according to the company.

Interior says offshore wind turbines imperil search and rescue - When federal officials sought this month to halt an offshore wind project planned off the coast of Maryland, they reached for a new rationale: impaired search and rescue operations.The Trump administration has sought to impede five permitted wind projects in the Atlantic over the past five months, but the move to cancel approval for the Maryland Offshore Wind Project took a different tack with its rescue concerns.In a Sept. 12 court filing, lawyers for the Trump administration asked a federal judge to cancel the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s December 2024 approval of the wind project under former President Joe Biden. The reason, the administration’s lawyers wrote, was because BOEM had identified an error in its prior work.“BOEM underestimated impacts to operations by search and rescue helicopters attempting to navigate throughout the project area,” acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson said in the filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Offshore wind scores rare win in Trump era - Offshore wind got the courtroom equivalent of a high-seas rescue Monday, when a federal judge allowed construction to continue at a massive project off the New England coast. Revolution Wind was at growing risk of cancellation after the Interior Department halted work on the $6.2 billion project in August. The fight over the 65-turbine development has come to symbolize President Donald Trump’s attack on the wind industry. Industry representatives worried four other projects under the East Coast could also be shut down. But those fears were eased, at least temporarily, after Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary injunction that allows work on Revolution Wind to resume. The ruling came in a lawsuit that Revolution Wind filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging Interior’s stop-work order. Interior had cited unspecified national security concerns in its decision. But Lamberth, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, called the stoppage “the height of arbitrary and capricious action” and said the government had not shown why Revolution Wind was out of compliance with its permit. “It keeps offshore wind going while the case is pending,” said Francis Pullaro, president of RENEW Northeast, an association of clean energy developers and environmental groups. “It was an important decision for the health and future of offshore wind.” The decision was particularly welcome in New England, where offshore wind is a centerpiece of a regional strategy to build new power generation and cut planet-warming pollution. Revolution Wind, a joint venture of Ørsted and a BlackRock subsidiary, is a 704-megawatt project capable of generating enough electricity to power 350,000 homes. The project signed contracts to sell its power to Connecticut and Rhode Island during Trump’s first term in office. The governors of both states hailed Monday’s ruling, saying it would put laborers back to work while ensuring new electricity supplies will be brought online. “Today’s court decision on Revolution Wind reaffirms what I’ve been saying from day one: Halting a fully permitted project that is already 80% complete harms Rhode Island families, businesses, and workers,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, a Democrat, said in a statement. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, struck a more conciliatory tone, hailing the resumption of construction while pledging to work with the Trump administration to support other technologies like nuclear, hydropower and natural gas. “We will continue to engage with the federal government on a durable path forward for this project and on shared energy priorities,” he said. What Trump will do next is unclear. The Interior Department did not respond to questions about whether the department plans to appeal the decision. Instead, Interior spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said Revolution Wind will be allowed to resume construction while the department reviews the project’s impact on national security and other industries, like commercial fishing. “The Department of the Interior remains committed to ensuring that prior decisions are legally and factually sound,” Peace wrote in a statement.

Energy Dept. plans to claw back $13B in green funds -The Energy Department is planning to claw back $13 billion in unspent climate funds, it announced Wednesday. In a press release, the department said it plans to “return more than $13 billion in unobligated funds initially appropriated to advance the previous Administration’s wasteful Green New Scam agenda.” The press release did not specify exactly where the money would have otherwise gone or what it will be used for now, if anything. Spokespeople for the Energy Department did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for additional information. Asked about the money during The New York Times’s Climate Forward event Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the funds “hadn’t been assigned to projects yet” but that they were aimed at subsidizing more wind and solar energy as well as electric vehicles. The Trump administration has repeatedly sought to curtail spending on renewable energy — and set up barriers that hamper its deployment — while trying to expedite fossil fuels and nuclear power. The Energy Department has made several attempts to cut climate spending, including previous funding rescissions. The Environmental Protection Agency has separately sought to rescind billions of its own climate spending that was issued under the Biden administration.

Grid batteries defy Trump crackdown on renewables -A clean energy technology often linked with renewables is notching record growth in President Donald Trump’s America, encroaching on fossil fuels even in the Texas oil patch. Batteries that can store and release big amounts of electricity are increasingly connecting to the electricity grid and major industrial projects like data centers, even without the federal grants and loans offered in the Biden administration.Those batteries are providing critical backup to the wind and solar industries that Republicans routinely chastise as unreliable — and this year stripped of grants and long-term tax cuts.“This year is looking extremely strong now with some projects moving ahead quicker than anticipated,” said Allison Weis, global head of storage at consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.Batteries are expected to account for roughly a quarter of all installations to the grid this year, according to the Energy Information Administration, with storage costs projected to decline substantially in the coming years. In the second quarter of this year, battery installations were 63 percent higher than the same period last year, according to the American Clean Power Association.All together, the battery market is threatening plans for new natural gas, diesel and coal plants. The reason is simple: Batteries allow companies to store and use power when they need it. That means a data center developer can store solar-generator electricity and use it at night, instead of relying on a fossil fuel plant, like a gas peaker, to step up.“Batteries and solar are like peanut butter and jelly,” said Mark Dyson, managing director for carbon-free electricity with the environmental group RMI. “There’s a natural diurnal cycle to the sun, obviously, and also therefore to how batteries are going to be operating most economically.”In deep-red Texas, the battery buzz is growing louder.“We’re really trying to change the game,” Jon Parrella, the Houston area-based chief executive officer for battery firm Terraflow Energy, said in an interview. “We can get data centers online faster without having to have the grid infrastructure change as massively as everybody thinks [it needs].”Several factors are driving private investment. Many companies are looking to batteries to meet clean energy pledges — and power demand growth forecasts not witnessed in the U.S. for decades, driven in large part by a scramble to stand up artificial intelligence data centers. Developers are also seizing on batteries to bypass sluggish permitting for new large projects like power plants.Meanwhile, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the marquee Republican legislation this year that cut wind and solar subsidies, delivered a win for batteries, preserving a key tax credit through 2033.And signs of trouble in fossil fuel markets are also spurring battery growth. Natural gas prices are projected to rise in the coming years, while low crude oil prices are forecast to stymie U.S. production.

Newsom signs sweeping California energy affordability package - — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of bills Friday to boost oil drilling, rescue wildfire-threatened utilities and extend the state’s landmark climate program as he attempts to rein in energy costs while meeting the state’s ambitious climate targets.Taken broadly, the package represents a compromise between increasing fossil fuel extraction — which has been on the decline in the nation’s eighth-largest oil-producing state — and continuing to ratchet down greenhouse gas emissions.“We’ve got to manifest our ideals and our goals, and so this lays it out, but it lays it out without laying tracks over folks,” Newsom said, against a backdrop of towering redwood trees projected on the screen of a planetarium in a San Francisco science museum. “We set the tone and pace for the rest of the nation.” State Democrats opened their legislative session in January with a promise to focus on affordability, which gained even more political urgency as wildfires and refinery closures raised the threat of higher electricity and gasoline costs. The final package of legislation came together only earlier this month, in a last-minute agreement capping weeks of talks between state lawmakers and Newsom’s office.

Meta's massive data center development puts focus on Louisiana. -Data center mania is sweeping across the U.S., grabbing headlines and spurring investor interest. It has now reached Louisiana, where Meta is building one of the largest developments in the Western Hemisphere. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at two gigantic projects planned for Louisiana, the early challenges the Bayou State faced in luring developers, and why it may now be a strong contender to emerge as a major Southern data center hub after a relatively slow start. As we discussed in God Blessed Texas, the Lone Star State is easily one of the nation’s leaders for data centers, with only Virginia edging it out in both data center counts and associated power demand. Texas hosts more than 350 data centers, far more than the two dozen or so operating in its neighbor to the east, but Louisiana has two hyperscale projects being built that are generating plenty of attention because of the size and capital involved. The $10 billion site being constructed by Meta in Richland Parish (more on this below) in northern Louisiana is slated to consume about as much power as the city of San Diego (though the city’s peak loads can be higher) and could boost the state’s electricity consumption by an eye-opening 15%. Louisiana hasn’t always been on the radar for giant data center projects. It has historically lagged behind states like Texas because it lacked the basic infrastructure to lure those projects. The Dallas-Fort Worth area, a prime location for data center development (see Where You Lead I Will Follow), has benefited for years from a dense fiber-optic backbone and fast internet speeds (we’ll discuss this in further detail in a future blog), while Louisiana’s broadband network has ranked in the lower third nationally, without the speed or reach of many other states. Louisiana also didn’t offer many tax incentives to data center firms. Major tech firms want reliable fiber, steady power and business incentives. Without those, Louisiana wasn’t seen as especially attractive to data center developers. Louisiana lawmakers made big changes to close the state’s broadband gap and quickly ramped up incentives to bring in Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. In 2024, the state received more than $1.3 billion in federal broadband funding to deliver high-speed internet statewide. State legislators also passed Act 730 (HB 827) in June 2024, which established generous sales tax rebates for data center equipment. That law paved the way for more tax incentives, including property tax abatements and payroll credits, all designed to attract data center projects. The process was fast-tracked, and lawmakers crafted legislation in a single session to seal the Meta deal. Those efforts gave Louisiana a compelling package for Meta to build in Richland Parish, including tax rebates on the billions of dollars it is spending on data center equipment. It's very likely that with these changes, Louisiana is setting itself up to host more data centers. As we discussed recently in Won’t Get Fooled Again, we’ve been grappling with the challenges of tracking and ranking data center projects in Texas and Louisiana, in part to help us better assess their impact on power and gas demand in Gulf Coast gas markets, as tracked in our proprietary Arrow Model. In that blog, we explained that we’re using a scoring system that assigns each project a score from 1 to 3 based on public information. A project ranks as a 1 if it has an offtaker, a 2 if it also controls the site, and a 3 if construction is underway. Projects missing these criteria don’t make it into our detailed forecasts. The Arrow Model carves up the region into pipeline “corridors” (aka arrows) that are used to determine changes in the region’s inflows, outflows and flows within each state via groups of pipes that serve similar markets from comparable supply sources. Data centers have been emerging as an important data input in the model because it’s likely their ongoing development will result in significant bump-ups in power and gas demand in various parts of Texas and Louisiana. Next, we’re going to dive into two major projects under development in Louisiana.

Governors push PJM to hold down power costs - — Governors of 11 states have hardened an ultimatum to Eastern power grid operator PJM Interconnection to do more to hold down electricity costs for millions of people or face actions that could include some states leaving the regional market. “We need states to have more of a say in how PJM operates,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. “We need to move more quickly on energy-producing projects, and we’ve got to hold down cost. If PJM cannot do that, then Pennsylvania will look to go it alone.” Led by Shapiro, a Democrat, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, the governors convened a daylong meeting here Monday that produced a recital of their frustrations with PJM’s management and a pointed warning that their patience was running out. Two of the 13 states PJM serves — Kentucky and West Virginia — did not join the others in a continuing campaign for PJM policy changes. Formed 98 years ago, PJM is both the oldest and largest regional electric grid, coordinating a wholesale power market for 67 million people from Chicago to the Atlantic coast. PJM is under increased scrutiny as governors struggle to address rising electricity prices hitting their states. Costs showing up on utility bills stem from wholesale market rules and dynamics and the extraordinary demand growth from big tech companies. “Our families are being crushed,” said Democratic Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland. PJM’s deeply complex market rules and an unwieldy governance structure dominated by industry interests are sources of frustration to critics. But the speed of the digital economy and a broader affordability crisis are spurring top state officials to get directly involved in how PJM operates. The goal is to shield consumers from costs tied to expectations of unprecedented electricity demand growth resulting from the build-out of artificial intelligence hubs. In northern Virginia, PJM hosts the nation’s largest cluster of data centers for cloud computing and AI models. Last month, Google pledged to spend another $9 billion in Virginia. In June, Shapiro announced that Amazon plans to spend $20 billion on new data centers in Pennsylvania. Ohio and Indiana, both inside PJM, are also growing data center hubs. Some electricity costs are tied to PJM “capacity payments” to electricity companies that guarantee future supply. Average wholesale power prices across PJM increased 41 percent in the first six months of this year compared to a year ago, according to the PJM independent market monitor, Joseph Bowring. “The current conditions are not the result of organic load growth,” Bowring wrote. “The current conditions in the capacity market are almost entirely the result of load additions from data centers, both actual historical and forecast.” How the governors ultimately respond is unclear. In addition to Shapiro, Youngkin and Moore, the conference heard from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey. Murphy noted “billions of ratepayer dollars and the stability of our grid at stake.”

PJM to Critics: Fix Permitting & Siting for New Power in Your States - Marcellus Drilling News - All week we’ve told you about a summit convened on Monday by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro with the sole purpose of beating up on the PJM Interconnection electric grid (see Gov. Shapiro Convenes Gang to Blame PJM Grid for His Policies). Shapiro got a bunch of his fellow Democrat governors in PJM, and even Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, to complain and moan about PJM (see Governors Pile on Bashing PJM Grid, Including Va.’s Youngkin). They either want to take it over and run it themselves (which would be an unmitigated disaster) or perhaps leave it altogether (also a disaster). PJM is responding to the carping from Monday.

Chances Are - Once Stuck in the Doldrums, Weather Derivatives May Have the Wind at Their Back | RBN Energy -- The popularity of weather derivatives has ebbed and flowed since their introduction in the late 1990s but trading activity has rebounded in recent years as the trading community has increasingly begun to reassess the need to hedge weather-related risks — everything from high temperatures and rainfall levels to power prices and cooling demand. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the role of weather derivatives, how they are used to hedge risk, and why they may be becoming increasingly important to the energy industry. Weather derivatives, which have been around for about 30 years, are financial contracts that are linked to one or more specific, measurable variables, such as average temperatures, wind speeds and cumulative rainfall. They are financially settled using data from the National Weather Service (NWS) or other trusted, third-party providers. Perhaps most importantly, there is no physical damage required to trigger a payout (unlike insurance); the only thing that matters is whether the specific conditions of a derivative have been met. For example, a business impacted by the aforementioned Hurricane Harvey would have had to document any actual damage and file a claim for its insurance to pay out but could have quickly collected on any derivatives tied to above-average rainfall for that month. (Harvey dropped 40-50 inches of rain on Houston in August 2017, well above the monthly average of 5.4 inches.) Weather derivatives are fully customizable with the same structures found in other types of derivatives. . Let’s assume that, to protect itself against the effects of a warmer-than-expected summer month, a utility buys a cooling degree day (CDD) call option for a specific month with a strike of 270 CDDs and a tick price of $10,000. (The strike is the threshold at which payments begin. The tick price is the payout per unit. CDDs are a measure of how much air conditioning is required to keep temperatures at 65 degrees Fahrenheit.) If CDDs came in at 300, that would be 30 units above the strike and the utility would receive a payout of $300,000 (30 * 10,000). If total CDDs ended up below 270, the option would expire with no payout. A put option would have the opposite purpose. If that same utility buys a put option for CDDs with a strike of 270, the utility would receive a payout if CDDs came in below that figure, protecting it from the effects of a cooler-than-expected month. The utility pays an upfront premium for the protection offered in either scenario. As in any futures trading, there are two groups involved in weather derivatives. First, like the hypothetical utility noted above, there are the hedgers. These are businesses whose profitability is directly and materially impacted by variations in the weather. They use derivatives not to speculate, but to protect their bottom line from adverse conditions. In the energy sector, hedgers could include utilities and power generators, which need to manage fluctuations in consumer demand; renewable energy producers, which are particularly vulnerable to changes in the weather; and oil and gas producers, which often benefit from the high prices driven by extreme weather but are also operationally vulnerable to them (i.e., freeze-offs caused by cold weather and shutdowns due to hurricanes). Equally important are investors and market makers, who seek profit opportunities in the weather market by taking on the risk that hedgers are looking to avoid. In other words, speculators. These investors are essential to the functioning of weather derivatives because they provide liquidity — the ability to enter and exit the market quickly, easily and efficiently. Investors include every type of participant, including hedge funds, large banks and individual traders. According to our friends at Citadel, the ecosystem operates across two main venues: standardized exchanges like the CME, which offer listed futures and options for common locations, and the over-the-counter (OTC) market. While many are familiar with the listed products, it is the OTC market that represents the majority of weather risk transacted globally. The reason for this is customization. A company’s financial exposure to weather is unique, and an off-the-shelf product is often an imperfect hedge. Let’s look at how a weather derivative could function in real life, using the example of a Dallas-based data center. The operator in our hypothetical scenario has a power purchase agreement (PPA) to cover its electricity needs at a fixed price, but it is exposed to variable energy demand driven by the summer heat. High temperatures could cause the site’s cooling-related power usage to increase sharply, even if the cost of the power itself under its PPA did not move higher. (As we’ve noted in previous blogs, cooling costs are one of a data center’s major expenses, especially for those located in Texas and other warm climates.) To hedge that exposure to high temperatures, the operator could pursue a call option based on CDDs, much like the basic example we noted above. In this scenario, the operator’s call option is for a specific period of time (May through September), using data from a specific National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) location in Dallas, at a strike of 2,100 CDDs across the term of the contract, with a tick size of $10,000 per CDD, and the overall payout capped at $10 million. The cost of the premium is $500,000. Figure 1 below has two potential outcomes, one where the number of CDDs is above the strike and one where it is below. In Example A, the number of actual CDDs for the May-September period comes in at 2,400, or 300 above the strike in the operator’s call option. That results in a payout of $3 million based on the number of additional CDDs and the tick price (300 * $10,000) and a net benefit of $2.5 million (after factoring in the cost of the contract), which allows the operator to successfully hedge at least some of its increased cooling costs during those five months. Of course, if the number of actual CDDs comes in below the strike, as in Example B, there is no payout under the contract. Just like with insurance, you pay the premium but end up with nothing to show for it if the weather doesn’t cooperate, leaving only the cost of the hedge behind. That’s a pretty straightforward approach to hedging weather risk, but things can get a lot more complicated than that. In our next blog, we’ll look at how weather derivatives can tie together multiple variables into a more complex hedging strategy.

Illinois utility tries legal power play to thwart competition - Stymied by Illinois’ governor in its bid to monopolize high-voltage transmission projects, one of the Midwest’s largest utilities is trying a legal end-run to accomplish the same goal. Ameren Illinois is asserting a right to build, own and profit from nearly $2 billion in new power lines that the region’s grid operator had already declared open to competitive bidding. Consumer groups are challenging Ameren’s claim in separate pleadings before a state court and at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. At the core of Ameren’s claim is an obscure legal doctrine cited in decades-old cases involving other monopoly services such as water and sewer utilities. Ameren now says the so-called first-in-the-field doctrine also applies to high-voltage transmission projects. That is despite federal regulators having opened up the industry to competition more than a decade ago. Ameren officials declined to be interviewed because the company has a policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation. But Shawn Shukar, president of the utility’s transmission subsidiary, said in an email statement the company is acting for the benefit of its 1.2 million customers by claiming dibs on two 765-kilovolt transmission lines approved by the board of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).

WV-DEP Hearing for Gas-Fired Plants Reveals Ammonia Plant was Axed -Marcellus Drilling News -SeLast Thursday, MDN informed you about a public hearing scheduled for that day by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV-DEP) for the Adams Fork Energy Project in Mingo County (see WV DEP In-Person Hearing Today for Ammonia/Power Plant Project). We now have coverage of what happened at the event. There were two main bits of news coming from the hearing: (1) The owner of the land where a much-ballyhooed ammonia plant would have been located, a plant that would turn natural gas into ammonia, is “off the table” and won’t get built. (2) Most of the people who attended, nearby residents, don’t want the two gas-fired power plants to be built there.

Trump has vowed to make coal king again. How's it going? - Trump has made rescuing coal a top priority in his second term, something he promised and failed to do during his first term. The administration is approving mining leases, fast-tracking permits for mines and forcing some coal-fired power plants to remain open while exempting others from EPA rules. But since the Obama administration’s big crackdown, more than 300 power plants — the primary destination for U.S. coal — have stopped burning coal while coal production has fallen by half since 2006. Trump officials are pushing to reverse course; opening massive tracts of public land to coal mining, largely in the West; and quickly approving projects that could yield more than 800 million additional tons of federal coal for power plants and export markets in states like Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and Utah. The administration also plans to lift a Biden-era ban on coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, a region of rolling grasslands in southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming that pumps out 40 percent of the nation’s coal but has seen production crater since the 1990s. It’s the United States’ main source of thermal coal to fuel power plants.At the same time, DOE is trying to scrub coal’s dirty image; and offering up $200 billion in loans for infrastructure, including coal-powered electricity generation. EPA also joined the fray, exempting a host of aging coal plants from federal environmental air and water regulations while clawing back climate regulations.“President Trump has expedited the expansion of beautiful, clean coal – a critical energy source that Joe Biden tried to eradicate under his radical climate agenda,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. “President Trump has unleashed coal because its capabilities allow us to supply more energy, lower electricity prices, and stabilize the grid while creating thousands of high paying jobs.” Production of thermal coal used for power generation and metallurgical coal for steelmaking is forecast to rise this year compared to the prior year. At the same time, demand for coal to burn for electricity is also up, and coal-fired power plants are expected to generate 9 percent more power for all of 2025 compared with last year, the first year-over-year increase in coal generation since 2021, according to federal data. They also point to eye-popping projections for electricity demand with the proliferation of data centers, and the growing string of decisions in states like Arizona, Kentucky and New Mexico to delay the retirement of coal plants that need fuel from the Powder River Basin.“Obviously, the demand is not where it was in the early 2000s but there is still demand,” said Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, whose members include mining giants Peabody, Core Natural Resources and Navajo Transitional Energy. “We might not have enough coal [leases] to meet the demand going forward,” said Deti.Michelle Bloodworth, the president of America’s Power, a trade group representing coal interests, said her members want to preserve every megawatt of existing coal-fired generation and argued those plants are needed for grid stability and make economic sense, especially when the grid is strained. Some power plant owners, she said, are talking about building new facilities and making investments given the forecasts for power demand and support from the Trump administration. The governor of coal-heavy West Virginia this week also called for the construction of new coal plants.“There’s a lot of units that are not running, certainly at capacity,” she said. “There’s a lot you can do to make a coal plant, an existing coal plant, almost a new cutting-edge technology. You just have to invest in it.”But experts say the temporary upticks in coal production and demand aren’t proof of a bigger trend, and instead temporary fluctuations driven by the price of gas and weather.Andy Blumenfeld, a coal analyst at McCloskey by OPIS, said almost 8,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation are scheduled to either close or shift to natural gas by the end of the year. That number includes a 1,500-MW plant in Michigan that the DOE has ordered to continue operating. That downward power trend is extending into mining and leasing on federal land, where active coal leases in the U.S. have steadily declined from almost 500 in the 1990s to about 280 two years ago, according to federal data. Blumenfeld also said coal miners in the Powder River Basin have already locked up 16 years’ worth of leasing and the administration isn’t likely to drive a surge of new activity.Brendan Pierpont, director of electricity modeling at Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan energy and climate policy think tank, agreed. He said coal is in a long-term structural decline that’s unlikely to ease even with Trump’s intervention or the rush to build new power-hungry data centers.That’s because the country’s existing coal fleet is aging — the average age hovering around 42 years — as maintenance and fuel costs rise, he said. There are no plans for new facilities on the horizon, Pierpont said, and utilities and data center developers looking for the cheapest and fastest sources to power demand are moving toward storage and gas peaking units, not coal.“I don’t see anything that’s going to kind of stop this long-term trend, because it’s really driven by these fundamental economic factors,” said Pierpont. “These are older, less economic clunkers, essentially, and … it’s pretty clear that economics there are going to be a limiting factor.”

Enbridge Inc $ENB Stock Holdings Lifted by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio -Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB - Free Report) TSE: ENB by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 531,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 21,967 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Enbridge were worth $24,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Enbridge Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company. The company operates through five segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Gas Distribution and Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in Canada and the United States.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy -Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,500 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 2,328 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $25,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It is the largest exporter of LNG in the US. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with several interstate and intrastate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.

''All clear' in Portage County after vehicle crashes into pipe connected to natural gas well, causing evacuations - (WOIO) - A one-vehicle crash into a pipe connected to a natural gas well in Suffield Township prompted evacuations for several hours Wednesday, according to the Suffield Fire Department. The accident happened around 8:30 p.m. and first responders evacuated the area of Palm Road from Randolph Road to Saxe Road. Suffield firefighters said the gas company was able to isolate the leaking gas line and the area was declared safe around midnight. Firefighters said representatives with the gas company, gas well officials, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials will be on the scene Thursday to reassess everything. The person who was driving the vehicle fled after the crash and remains at large.

Dunbridge Road in Bowling Green closed after gas service line struck - (WTVG) - A portion of South Dunbridge Road will be closed until further notice after a construction crew hit a gas line.According to a press release from Bowling Green officials, the road will be closed between 815 South Dunbridge and Napoleon Road. Crews from Columbia Gas were sent to the area to address the issue.

Artificial intelligence dominates discussions at Shale Insight Conference - Farm and Dairy— The “modern-day gold rush” is here in Appalachia, according to oil and gas industry leaders. But it’s not gold they are referring to, it’s artificial intelligence. Rural areas are particularly “compelling” for AI data center development as they provide lower startup and operational costs, Babst Callard officials said at the 2025 Shale Insight Conference, held in Erie, Pennsylvania. AI was the main topic of discussion on Sept. 18 at the annual conference where industry leaders from the Marcellus Shale Coalition discussed how Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are the ideal locations for AI data centers due to the states’ abundant supplies of natural gas reserves.The conference featured information on developing AI data centers as well as studies on how the emerging technology could make the oil and gas industry safer and more efficient. Natural gas is necessary to power AI data centers, according to industry leaders who spoke at the conference. These data centers require massive amounts of energy to operate 24/7, and, because of this, many will be accompanied by their own natural gas power plants. Power demands for individual AI data centers can exceed 100 megawatts or more, consuming as much energy annually as 100,000 households, reports the International Energy Agency. “In the United States, power consumption by data centers is on course to account for almost half of the growth in electricity demand between now and 2030,”according to a recent International Energy Agency report, consuming more energy than all manufacturing industries in the U.S. combined, including aluminum, steel, cement and chemicals.The Trump administration has put a particular focus on the development of AI data centers. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI,” followed by policy guidelines in July called “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan.”The policy outlines the Trump administration’s goals for AI data centers, including expediting permits and removing AI regulations that hinder its development. Discussions at the Shale Insight Conference revolved around Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia being prime spots for AI data center buildout.Trump announced a $90 billion investment in AI data centers across Pennsylvania at Sen. Dave McCormick’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh on July 15.According to Trump, AI data centers will be accompanied by power plants of all kinds, from natural gas, nuclear and “clean, beautiful coal.”Central Ohio is also seeing significant growth in AI data centers. Amazon announced in December 2024 that it would invest an additional $10 billion to expand its data center infrastructure. Columbus is a particular hotspot; the city is home to five Cologix data centers, and data centers from mega corporations Google, Amazon and Meta (Facebook) in New Albany. According to Data Center Maps, Ohio has 191 data centers — the state with the fifth most data centers. Babst Calland, a law firm that represents energy companies, noted that data centers are the backbone of businesses dealing with finance, healthcare and e-commerce..

AI Data Centers are Triggering Another Boom in the Shale Patch - Hart Energy. -- Utilities have since been locking in gas offtake deals with data centers to secure pipelines and generation capacity in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas,

EPA Issues Sandstone Development Permit For Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permit In Cyclone, McKean County --On September 24, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced it has issued Sandstone Development, LLC a permit for an oil and gas wastewater injection well in Cycle, Lafayette Township, McKean County. Sandstone applied for one UIC Class IIR injection well permit for the injection of produced fluids in the McKay 7A conventional well for the enhanced recovery of oil and gas in the McKay Lease area.The permit will allow Sandstone to inject up to 10,500 gallons of oil and gas wastewater a day into the Upper Devonian Kane Sandstone Formation in the subsurface interval between approximately 2,295 feet to 2,315 feet below ground surface.A hearing on the permit application was held in May. Read more here.Visit EPA’s Sandstone Development Permit webpage for a final copy of the permit, a comment and response document and the procedures for appealing the permit. nIn January 2024, DEP issued a permit to Catalyst Energy, Inc. for a controversial oil and gas wastewater injection well in Cyclone, Keating Township, McKean County.EPA issued a permit for this well in August of 2022.DEP’s permit has since been appealed. EHB Docket# 2024019Visit DEP’s Injection Control Wells website to learn more about state-issued permits for oil and gas injection wells. Resource Links - McKean Injection Wells:

• -- Homeowner Complaint Results In DEP Emergency Plugging Of A Penn Resources, Inc. Conventional Oil Well Leaking Gas, Oil, Wastewater In McKean County [PaEN] [Lafayette Twp.]
• -- Exploding Water Well Shed Triggers DEP Investigation Of 59+ Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In Cyclone, McKean County; Highlights Limits On Providing Temporary Water For Well Owners Impacted [PaEN]
• -- Marcellus Drilling News: DEP Approves Catalyst Energy Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In McKean County [Jan. 26 Inspection Found Gas Bubbling From Well] [PaEN]
• -- Guest Essay: DEP Ignored Abandoned Wells During Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permitting Process [PaEN]
• -- 40 Individuals File Appeals, Most Handwritten, Of DEP’s Permit For Catalyst Energy Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In McKean County [PaEN]
• -- Environmental Hearing Board Denies Supersedeas, Allows Operation Of Catalyst Energy, Inc. Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In McKean County During Appeal [PaEN]
• -- Bradford Era: 7-Part Series Details Concerns Residents Of Cyclone, McKean County Have With Catalyst Energy Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well [PaEN]

24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 15 – 21 = For the week of September 15 – 21, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica decreased from the previous week, but not by much. There were 24 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, down from 26 issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania finally improved a bit, but only because of one driller. PA issued 11 new permits last week, with 10 of the 11 going to Range Resources. Range’s permits were spread across three counties, with one permit in Allegheny, five in Beaver, and four in Washington. The other PA permit went to Beech Resources for a well in Lycoming County. ALLEGHENY COUNTY | ANTERO RESOURCES | ARSENAL RESOURCES | ASCENT RESOURCES | BEAVER COUNTY | BEECH RESOURCES | BELMONT COUNTY | BROOKE COUNTY | EXPAND ENERGY | GULFPORT ENERGY | HARRISON COUNTY | LYCOMING COUNTY RANGE RESOURCES CORP | RITCHIE COUNTY | TAYLOR COUNTY | WASHINGTON COUNTY

Full Speed Ahead for Largest U.S. Gas-Fired Plant, Coming in SWPA -Marcellus Drilling News - Homer City Redevelopment is transforming the former Homer City Generating Station in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, into the $24 billion Homer City Energy Campus, one of the largest redevelopment projects in state history (see Largest Gas-Fired Power Plant in the U.S. Coming in Western Pa.). The 3,200-acre site will host data centers powered by seven natural gas turbines generating 4.5 GW, supported by pipelines built by EQT Corp. (see Homer City Power Pledges to Buy $15 Billion of PA NatGas from EQT). The project promises 10,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent positions, positioning the county as a hub for AI and high-performance computing.

NESE Pipe Cleared by NOAA to “Disturb” Marine Life in Raritan Bay - Marcellus Drilling News - In yet another sign that Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project is a done deal and moving forward, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) granted the project permission to “disturb” (harass) 15 varieties of whales, seals, porpoises, and dolphins, as it builds a 24-mile pipeline on the floor of the bay. “Uh, excuse me, Mr. Whale? Could you please swim about a mile over in that direction for the next few days?” Environmentalist wackos are having a cow, or maybe it’s a whale, at the news.

Venture Global Seeking Extra 15 Months for Plaquemines LNG, Extending Commissioning Cargo Window - - Venture Global LNG Inc. is asking for an additional 15 months to bring both phases of its Plaquemines project in Louisiana to commercial service. At A Glance:
Request would shift deadline to Dec. 31, 2027
Venture cites unique commissioning process
Plaquemines cargoes garner more than $7/MMBtu

VG Wants an Extra 15 Months for Commissioning Plaquemines LNG -- Marcellus Drilling News - We’ll begin this post with this statement: We’re not surprised. At the end of last December, Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG export facility officially shipped its first cargo to Germany. Unfortunately for Venture Global’s contracted customers, they will have to wait to receive their legally contracted shipments. Venture Global said that it would (as it did with the Calcasieu Pass facility) pretend the Plaquemines LNG is not “commercially ready” while shipping all sorts of LNG cargoes around the world. The practice allows the company to cream the market and make more money for the first couple of years (see Plaquemines LNG Coming Online, Will Hose Customers for 2 Years). We consider it a disgusting business practice. And now, VG wants *another* 15 months added to the calendar to continue this practice.

Sempra Sanctions Port Arthur Phase 2, Fourth U.S. LNG Project to Advance in 2025 --Sempra’s Port Arthur Phase 2 LNG project is the fourth U.S. export project to be sanctioned this year after an equity agreement valued at $22.2 billion. At A Glance:
Sempra offers 45% stake valued at $22.2 billion
KKR-led group could become majority controller
Both Phase 2 trains targeted for completion by 2031

Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG Facility Makes FID to Build Phase 2 - Marcellus Drilling News - Not quite a month ago, EQT Corporation, the largest Marcellus/Utica-only natural gas producer (second largest natural gas producer in the country) signed a deal with Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project in Jefferson County, Texas, to buy (not sell) LNG from the plant to resell it to other countries (see EQT Announces Deal to *Buy* LNG from Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG). The deal was contingent upon Sempra making a final investment decision (FID) to proceed with building the project. Yesterday, Sempra made its decision and is moving forward.

DOE Approves Golden Pass LNG Imports as Terminal Nears Startup — The Offtake --A look at the global natural gas and LNG markets by the numbers

• 50 Bcf: Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC’s request to import cargoes as soon as Oct. 1 to cool down equipment has been granted, kickstarting the countdown for first production later this year. The export project developer previously asked the U.S. Department of Energy for permission to re-export up to 50 Bcf of previously imported volumes for up to two years. The Texas terminal is designed with a nameplate capacity of 18 million tons/year (Mt/y) at peak output. Once operational, Train 1 could add up to 790 MMcf/d in feed gas demand at full output, according to NGI calculations.
• 15 Bcm: Equinor ASA has disclosed first production from two wells in the Askeladd Vest subsea field expected to boost and stabilize feed gas supplies for its Hammerfest LNG export terminal in Norway. The tieback project is targeted to sustain feed gas levels to the Melkøya processing plant while Equinor and partners complete the Snøhvit extension project. Recoverable volumes from Askeladd Vest are estimated at 15 billion cubic meters. Hammerfest LNG exports around 4.6 Mt/y, most of which lands in Europe.
• 13 Mt/y: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved Sempra’s request to add the construction of a nitrogen rejection unit (NRU) to its plans for Port Arthur LNG Phase 2. LNG developers have been pursuing NRU projects for existing terminals and during expansions as a solution for growing Permian Basin feed gas supplies with higher amounts of nitrogen and heavy hydrocarbons. Sempra disclosed a final investment decision for the 13 Mt/y capacity Port Arthur expansion earlier in the week.

Woodside Lands Turkey’s BOTA? as Customer for Former Driftwood LNG - Marcellus Drilling News - MDN chronicled the rise and fall of Tellurian, founded by Charif Souki (who also founded Cheniere Energy), and Tellurian’s LNG export project, Driftwood. Tellurian’s primary focus was to build Driftwood LNG, a 27.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) facility that would cost $14.5 billion. Construction began on the project in March 2022, even without a final investment decision (see Tellurian Begins Construction of Driftwood LNG with No FID). The company spent more than $1 billion building Driftwood before its financial wheels came off. In July 2024, Australian LNG giant Woodside announced a deal to buy Tellurian and Driftwood for $1.2 billion, renaming it Louisiana LNG (see Australia’s Woodside Buying Tellurian & Driftwood LNG for $1.2B). Woodside pulled the trigger on an FID earlier this year and, as of last week, reports the plant is now 22% built and on track to start up in 2029 (see Former Driftwood LNG Plant Already 22% Built, On Track to Start 2029).

Turkey Secures U.S. LNG Through 2045 in Landmark Deal --Turkey’s state energy company, BOTAS, has signed a landmark 20-year U.S. LNG supply agreement with Mercuria, anchoring Ankara’s strategy to reduce dependency on pipeline gas and reposition itself as a regional hub, according to the Daily Sabah. The deal, signed in New York during President Erdogan’s U.N. visit, will deliver around 4 billion cubic meters annually from 2026 onward, cumulatively totaling about 70 bcm. A separate preliminary nine-year LNG pact was also agreed with Australia’s Woodside, calling for roughly 5.8 bcm of supply beginning in 2030, primarily sourced from the company’s Louisiana LNG project.The Mercuria contract is structured with flexibility in delivery, allowing cargoes to be shipped either at U.S. loading terminals or regasification points in Turkey, Europe, and North Africa, Turkish media noted, with Turkish officials describing the agreements as both insurance against future pipeline risk and an essential foundation for a gas trading hub that can serve Southeast Europe and the Balkans. Ankara has already invested heavily in floating storage regasification units at Dörtyol and Saros and expanded underground storage at Silivri and Tuz Gölü. These facilities give Turkey the capacity to absorb rising LNG inflows and to arbitrage flows between U.S., Australian, and Middle Eastern producers on one side and European buyers on the other.The shift is being closely watched in Moscow. For years, Russia relied on Turkey not only as a major customer but also as a transit state for flows through TurkStream into southern Europe. Long-term U.S. and Australian LNG contracts erode that role, raising the risk of lost market share for Gazprom and weakening Russian leverage at a time when European demand for pipeline gas is already shrinking.

US weekly LNG exports rise to 31 cargoes - US liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants shipped 31 cargoes during the week ending September 24. According to the Energy Information Administration, pipeline deliveries to the LNG terminal increased compared to the prior week, when 24 cargoes were shipped.

Evolution - How LNG Exports Came to Dominate U.S. Natural Gas, and Where the Market is Heading | RBN Energy -- Ten years ago, U.S. exports of natural gas in the form of LNG were a footnote in the market. But that all changed in 2016. In February of that year, the first shipment of LNG from the Lower 48 states set sail when the vessel Asia Vision departed from Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana. This was the culmination of a remarkable turnaround, not only at Sabine Pass, but for the U.S. natural gas market as a whole. Eight years earlier, Sabine Pass had been completed as an import terminal, as it was projected that the U.S. would face significant shortages of natural gas supplies. Shale turned that business model on its head. U.S. LNG exports also reshaped global trade patterns. Before U.S.-sourced cargoes hit the market, most LNG shipments were locked into destination-specific contracts, requiring delivery to a designated port. In addition, buyers were largely limited to long-term supply deals priced off crude oil through rigid formulas. The emergence of flexible, Henry Hub-linked pricing broke that mold, giving buyers new negotiating leverage and fostering a more liquid, globally interconnected LNG market. Today’s RBN blog is the first in a multi-part series that will trace the rise of U.S. LNG exports, examine their influence on the global gas trade, and take a closer look at the quirky mechanics of LNG pricing. Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula LNG Plant south of Anchorage began operations in 1969. It was the first LNG export facility in the U.S., coming online almost 50 years before Cheniere’s Lake Charles facility. And for decades, it shipped small volumes of LNG, averaging about 200 MMcf/d, mostly to Japan. As we noted in Road to Alaska, it stopped operations in 2016 due to the depletion of Cook Inlet reserves. Unfortunately, the process of super-cooling natural gas to negative 260° Fahrenheit, where it liquifies, is a capital-intensive and very expensive process. Over the next 40 years, LNG facilities around the globe were developed only in producing areas that had limited local markets for the natural gas — including the Middle East, Australia and north Africa. As Alaskan oil and gas production declined in the 2000s and 2010s, the economics for production of LNG in Alaska ultimately deteriorated to the point that Kenai was permanently shut down in 2016, not coincidentally the same month that Cheniere’s Lake Charles LNG export facility came online. To export natural gas as LNG, it must first be transported as a gas by pipeline to an LNG export facility. There, it is supercooled to its liquefaction temperature before being loaded onto ships as a liquid. These ships then transport the LNG to overseas markets, where it is regasified — meaning heating the LNG so that it evaporates back into natural gas’ vapor state. Together the cost of this process is about $5-$6/MMBtu, sometimes well above the cost of the U.S. natural gas itself. The economics only work because the price of natural gas in the global marketplace over the past decade has averaged 3.5 times the price of natural gas in the U.S., sometimes getting to as much as 10 times U.S. gas. Consequently, the profit for each cargo of LNG transported from the U.S. to international markets is far above pipeline gas markets in North America. As natural gas export flows have increased, the U.S. natural gas market has transformed from an isolated entity, disconnected from global markets, into a crucial component of global natural gas supply and demand. As illustrated in Figure 4 below, exports (teal bar segments) comprised just 6% of production in 2016, rising to 21% by 2023-24, with further growth anticipated as additional LNG export capacity becomes operational. But there is a potential gotcha, and it’s a big one. The low cost of U.S. natural gas, which has been a huge benefit for homeowners, businesses, industrial operations and power generation, hasn’t risen to match the prices paid in other parts of the world for a simple reason: the U.S. lacks sufficient LNG export capacity. Most likely, if export capacity was unconstrained, the price gap between U.S. and global markets would narrow, converging around the cost of liquefying and transporting U.S. gas overseas. This hasn’t occurred yet due to the current limitations in export capacity. But if more capacity were available, U.S. prices could be expected to rise, global prices would fall, or most likely both would adjust to narrow the differential between them. In the next installment of this series, we’ll examine how U.S. export pricing mechanisms have evolved over time and how those shifts have influenced global markets.

U.S. Natural Gas Consumption Forecast to Climb This Winter, but Prices to Hold Steady on Record Output -- Natural gas demand in the United States is set to hit record highs this winter, with prices remaining flat compared with last year, according to the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA).
Chart from the Natural Gas Supply Association showing the Winter 2025-2026 U.S. natural gas supply forecast at 115.5 Bcf/d, up about 4 Bcf/d year over year. The graphic compares a three-year average, 2024-2025 actuals, and 2025-2026 projections for total production, net Canadian imports, and LNG imports. Total production is projected at 108.5 Bcf/d, Canadian imports at 6.9 Bcf/d, and LNG imports at 0.1 Bcf/d. At A Glance:
Output strong despite fewer rigs
Storage entering winter at five-year highs
AI, LNG demand wild cards at play

A Great Lakes oil pipeline faces 3 controversies with no speedy resolutions -For more than a decade, controversy over an oil pipeline that passes directly through a Native American reservation and then across a sensitive waterway that is also a key shipping lane has brewed in Wisconsin and Michigan.Since taking office in January 2025, the Trump administration has joined an already complex fray, with policy decisions and legal filings as well as administrative and judicial appointments that have shifted the strategies and potential outcomes of the situation. The changes affect not just pipeline operator Enbridge but also the environmental, Indigenous and political leaders working to shut down the pipeline, known as Line 5.Part of the dispute is slated to come before the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming months, but that will not deliver the final resolution of the situation. Built in 1953, Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipeline carries petroleum products mostly from western Canada's tar sands to refineries in eastern Canada, using the Great Lakes as a shortcut. It traverses 645 miles (1,040 km) through Wisconsin and Michigan and transports approximately 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids per day from Superior, Wisconsin, to Marysville, Michigan, and then across the Saint Clair River to Sarnia, Ontario.The pipeline has been the subject of intense scrutiny since soon after a 2010 oil spill into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan from another Enbridge pipeline with a similar start and endpoint. The 2012 publication of Sunken Hazard, a report from the National Wildlife Federation about the potential for a spill from Line 5,fomented public concern and launched an advocacy movement that began with questions about Line 5's safety and has led to calls for its complete shutdown. While the entire pipeline is being scrutinized, there are two primary areas of concern. In Wisconsin, the pipeline runs for 12 miles (19 km) across the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. And when it crosses from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to its Lower Peninsula, the line splits into two parallel pipes that run along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.In 2021, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer revoked Enbridge's easement to operate the pipeline across the Straits of Mackinac. The governor asserted that Enbridge "repeatedly violated the 1953 easement and that the continued operation of the dual pipelines violates the state's solemn duty to protect the Great Lakes."Some of her concerns exist because the pipeline sits in the open water of the Great Lakes and has been damaged multiple times by ship's anchors, is subjectto corrosion, and has been found to be bent and deformed by the extremely powerful currents in the Straits of Mackinac. Enbridge refused to comply with the shutdown order and has taken the battle into the courts while continuing to send petroleum products through the pipeline across the straits. The Trump administration—through a Sept. 19, 2025, court filing—is supporting Enbridge's claim that the pipeline is not subject to state regulation and oversight. There has been a long back-and-forth about whether state courts have jurisdiction, as state officials argued, or whether federal courts should handle it, as Enbridge claimed. In June 2025 the trial was set for a state court when theU.S. Supreme Court unexpectedly stepped in at Enbridge's request. The case has not yet been scheduled for oral arguments before the court, but they—and a potential ruling—are expected sometime between October 2025 and June 2026. The state court has said it will continue its proceedings without waiting for a Supreme Court decision. But the ground is set for the continuation of an extended and complicated legal battle. While Enbridge is fighting the shutdown of its existing pipeline, the company is seeking state and federal permission to build a replacement, by digging a new tunnel below the Straits of Mackinac.The company needs both federal and state permits before construction can begin. The federal permits are expected to come quickly as a result of a Trump administration policy.On the first day of his second term, Trump declared a "national energy emergency." In general, the policy is being used to try to slow the transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy sources, and to remove climate change as a factor in environmental reviews and permitting.For Line 5, the most consequential provisions of the order are those that call for"emergency approvals" and "expediting the Delivery of Energy Infrastructure." The tunnel is on the Army Corps of Engineers' list of projects eligible for fast-track approval.However, Enbridge still needs state permits, which many groups are opposing based on potential environmental damage to the shoreline, the safety of the tunnel and the need to address climate change by slowing down oil extraction.In addition, all of the federally recognized tribal governments in Michigan oppose Line 5's continued existence, contending that Indigenous fishing rights in the Straits of Mackinac are at risk from the pipeline both ecologically and culturally. Their position, expressed in a state-court challenge to the tunnel, could end up testing the power of their rights under treaties with the U.S. government.In addition to both of those disputes, a Native American tribe in Wisconsin undertook its own efforts to reduce the risk of environmental damage from the pipeline on its land and the surrounding watershed.In 2013, the Bad River Band declined to renew Enbridge's pipeline easement through its territory, which is sometimes referred to as the "Everglades of the Great Lakes" because of its extensive and pristine wetlands. In 2017 the tribe voted to require Enbridge to remove the line from its land.Enbridge refused to comply and has contested the validity of the Bad River Band's decision, inherently challenging the tribe's sovereignty. At the same time, the company is attempting to reroute the pipeline around the reservation—though still within the Bad River watershed. In 2019 the tribe sued Enbridge to force the removal and ultimately won a federal judge's ruling that the company must remove the pipeline by June 2026and pay US$5.15 million for ongoing trespassing. Enbridge has appealed, and many observers expect that case to also come to the Supreme Court.

Dallas Fed Survey Shows Weakened Oil & Gas Activity Outlook -- Oil and gas activity in the Dallas Fed’s Eleventh District slipped again in the third quarter, with the headline business activity index at -6.5 versus -8.1 in Q2 as executives pointed to elevated uncertainty and higher costs, according to the latest release on Wednesday of the Dallas Fed’s Energy Survey. Company outlook deteriorated to -17.6, according to the survey, while production also edged lower. The oil production index held at -8.6 and natural gas at -3.2. Oilfield services weakened, with equipment utilization at -13.0 and prices received for services at -26.1, while operating margins remained deeply negative at -31.8.Respondents, which included 139 firms surveyed from September 10-18, reported cost pressures above series averages. Finding and development costs rose to 22.0 and lease operating expenses to 36.9. Labor conditions were little changed, with the aggregate employment index improving to -1.5 and hours worked to -3.7, while wages and benefits registered 11.5. In terms of price expectations, the survey found some slippage. The average West Texas Intermediate (WTI)forecast for year-end 2025 is $63 per barrel, down from $68 last quarter, with a survey price during collection of $63.80. Henry Hub is seen at $3.30 per MMBtu at year-end, rising to $3.94 in two years and $4.50 in five. Data were collected across Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico. On average, executives expect WTI at $69 in two years and $77 in five, consistent with a restrained capex stance as the uncertainty index stays elevated at 44.6. Around the publication, crude futures firmed on a U.S. stockpile draw and supply issues, providing a modest tailwind to sentiment. The Dallas Fed set its next survey release for December 17, 2025.

Oil execs worried about Trump’s energy policies, Dallas Fed says - Oil and gas executives have grown increasingly pessimistic about the outlook of their companies and more uncertain about the future, according to a regional survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.Respondents to the Dallas Fed’s third-quarter energy questions pointed to concerns about changes to energy policy under President Donald Trump, market volatility and increased drilling tied to tariffs. Benchmark U.S. oil was trading for around $65 a barrel Wednesday, a price considered to be relatively low as the industry taps complex underground formations.“We have begun the twilight of shale,” wrote one executive with an exploration and production company, noting job cuts and consolidation in the energy sector. “The U.S. isn’t running out of oil, but she sure is running out of $60 per barrel oil. $100 per barrel? $150 per barrel? Price likely must cover for less-than-optimal geology over time.” The Dallas Fed does not name executives that provide comments so they can speak more freely. The survey used data from 139 energy firms across Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana.

130-Foot Tug Sinks In Bremerton Marina, Releasing Thousands Of Gallons Of Diesel & Oil -- A 130-foot tugboat, the Dominion, sank at the Bremerton Marina on September 17 around 4 p.m., releasing diesel and lube oil into the waters. The tug reportedly carried an unknown quantity of diesel fuel and about 200 gallons of lube oil when it went down. In response, the U.S. Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology quickly established a unified command to manage the spill and prevent environmental damage. Absorbent pads and containment boom were placed around the sunken vessel, and additional equipment, such as skimmers and vacuum trucks, was used to recover oil as tides shifted. As of Saturday, September 20, responders estimated that approximately 5,000 gallons of oil-water mixture had been collected, with 2,500 gallons identified as oil. Two levels of containment boom remain around the tug, and absorbent pads are still being used to collect any remaining oil. The Coast Guard has set up a safety zone from the Manette Bridge to the Bremerton Ferry Terminal, 200 yards off the marina breakwater. Non-commercial vessels are advised to avoid the area, and the Coast Guard has deployed a patrol vessel to enforce the zone. Divers surveyed the sunken tug Dominion to check how much fuel remained in its tanks. By Friday, contractors had recovered about 900 gallons of diesel and oil. In the following days, more small oil leaks were spotted, leading to the use of skimmers and containment measures. The Washington Department of Ecology has sent two Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams (SCAT) to inspect nearby shorelines, including areas from Lions Park to the Manette Bridge. Initial surveys found some weathered oil, but officials said it likely did not come from the Dominion. Further inspections are planned. No oiled wildlife has been reported so far. The public is urged not to attempt capturing oiled animals. Any sightings should be reported to 1-800-22BIRDS with detailed information. The Port of Bremerton has closed the marina to public fishing as a precaution. The Coast Guard is using the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to support cleanup and reduce environmental damage. A salvage plan is being developed to raise the tug. The cause of the sinking is still under investigation. Officials stress that only trained response contractors should be on site, and public volunteers are not needed, as they could interfere with recovery.

Oil Spill Cleanup Underway After Tug Sinks At Marina - A tugboat that sank at the Bremerton Marina in Seattle continues to leak oil. The Dominion, a 130-foot tugboat, which sank around 4 p.m., Wednesday, was reported to contain an unknown amount of diesel fuel and about 200 gallons of lube oil when it sank. Containment boom and absorbent pads were quickly placed around the vessel. Supplemental boom was deployed to collect the pollution as tides shifted. Vacuum trucks and skimmers were also deployed to collect recoverable product. Additionally, the Coast Guard established a safety zone from the Manette Bridge, to the Bremerton Ferry Terminal, extending 200 yards off the Bremerton Marina breakwater. As of Saturday, responders estimate that approximately 5,000 gallons of oil water mixture has been recovered, with 2,500 gallons estimated to be oil. The Port of Bremerton is closing the marina to public fishing. Oiled wildlife recovery efforts are underway. A salvage plan is being developed to raise the vessel. The cause of the sinking is under investigation.

Sempra Pushes DOE for Mexico LNG Deadline Extension--San Diego’s Sempra has asked the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to remove the fixed start date of Jan. 25, 2026 in the free-trade agreement (FTA) order for its Energía Costa Azul (ECA) Phase I LNG export facility in Mexico. Line chart showing NGI’s El Paso Permian, El Paso San Juan, and SoCal Border–Ehrenberg daily natural gas prices from September 2024 to September 2025. Prices fluctuated sharply through winter with a notable February 2025 spike above $8.00/MMBtu, followed by steady spring and summer values mostly between $1.00-3.00/MMBtu. Late September 2025 shows a steep decline, with SoCal Border–Ehrenberg dipping below zero while El Paso San Juan and El Paso Permian remain positive. Chart source: NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index. At A Glance:
ECA project completion slips later into 2026
Yuma pipeline proposal aims to ease constraints
KKR, Canadian Pension Plan invest $10B in Sempra unit

International group starts process for $38M compensation for Tobago oil spill - Trinidad Guardian -- The International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Fund has estimated the payout for the Gulfstream oil spill at £4.2 million, or $38 million (TT). The fund confirmed that compensation payments have begun, but the process is expected to continue until 2027. A report published last week ahead of the IOPC’s November governing body meeting in London showed that while £10 million has been raised in a special Gulfstream Major Claims Fund, just over £1 million had been paid out as of June 30, 2025. The fund projects that an additional £21.5 million will be paid between Jul-09876543223456789qwsertyhujy 2025 and March 2027. In a separate update on September 12, the IOPC confirmed that its Claims Manager, Mark Homan, visited Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month. He met with officials from the Ministry of Energy and the Tobago House of Assembly and toured affected areas. According to the IOPC, discussions focused on the sale of oil recovered from the Gulfstream barge and the disposal of waste collected during the cleanup. The fund said the waste remains stored in three specially dug pits at the Studley Park dump, and no timeline has yet been set for its final removal. The Gulfstream overturned off Cove on February 7, 2024, spilling thousands of barrels of bunker fuel oil that polluted Tobago’s coastline and beaches. The tug Solo Creed, which had been towing the barge, was detained by Angolan authorities in May 2024 and later formally arrested by a court in October. However, according to IOPC records, by the time its governing bodies met in London the following month, the vessel had “escaped arrest” and had not been located since. In May this year, the IOPC confirmed that the government had hired a company to carry out satellite surveillance in an effort to track the tug. As of August 29, the vessel had not been detected. Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said the Government remains committed to finding the tug and its owner to pursue Tobago’s multimillion-dollar damage claim. “Through the maritime services division, we are collaborating to locate the vessel using relevant technology and an expert agency. The ownership of that vessel has not been confirmed, and it is under active investigation at this time,” he told Guardian Media earlier this month. He added that T&T will continue to pursue its $244 million claim once the vessel is found and its owner identified. The Gulfstream barge itself was removed from the Cove site and taken to Sea Lots, Trinidad, where, according to the IOCP, it was broken up and sold for scrap in March this year. By April this year, the IOPC reported that 290 claims worth US$30.3 million had been submitted. These included fisheries claims from Tobago, claims for cleanup operations, and claims from Bonaire for aerial surveillance and beach cleaning. At that time, it said further claims were expected, including for tourism losses.

Global Gas Prices Slide as EU Fast-Tracks Ban on Russian Supplies — LNG Recap - Global natural gas prices continued a downward slide ahead of the heating season as traders reacted to signs of falling volatility and a creeping LNG supply build in Asia. Bar chart shows Russian Federation annual LNG exports by destination region from 2022 to 2025, with volumes in million tons. Exports are divided by Europe, Asia, Americas, and Unknown. Europe and Asia dominate exports, but total volumes decline from about 33 Mt in 2022 to under 20 Mt projected in 2025, with steep drops in Asia-bound cargoes. Data compiled by NGI from Kpler. At A Glance:
EU hastens Russian LNG ban to Jan. 2027
Chinese LNG imports drop 18%
FERC approves Plaquemines Block 15 startup

BP Sees Natural Gas ‘Pulled in Two Directions’ as U.S. Demand, LNG Exports Rise --Natural gas remains a pivotal — though uncertain — pillar of the global energy system, underscoring the role that U.S. demand and supply growth may play in international energy trade, according to BP plc. Bar chart showing LNG exports by region (US, Middle East, Russia, Rest of World) from 2023 to 2050, comparing current trajectory versus a scenario keeping global warming below 2°C. The chart indicates growth in LNG exports through 2050 on the current trajectory, led by the US and Middle East, while exports decline sharply under the below 2°C scenario. Source: BP plc. At A Glance:
U.S. gas output climbing sharply
LNG growth fastest in U.S., Middle East
Gas demand up 20% by mid-2040s

IGU Warns Additional Natural Gas Investment Needed to Match Global Energy Growth -The International Gas Union (IGU) warned in its latest annual report that global energy demand is on track to surpass most projections in the coming years and stressed that investments in natural gas must be made at the same pace to keep up. Bar chart shows global natural gas demand by region from 2020 to 2025, measured in billion cubic meters (Bcm). North America, Asia, and the Middle East make up the largest shares, with Europe and Russia contributing significant volumes. Smaller contributions come from Africa, South America, and Oceania. Overall demand trends upward through 2025, with total global consumption projected to exceed 4,000 Bcm. Source: International Gas Union.At A Glance:
Energy demand on track to outpace projections
Uncertainty increasingly clouding supply outlook
Natural gas seen stabilizing energy mix

Egypt to offer five new mediterranean gas blocks in H1 FY2025/26 – EgyptToday -- The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) is preparing to open bidding for five new offshore gas blocks in the Mediterranean Sea before the end of the first half of fiscal year 2025/2026, a government official told Al Arabiya Business. The bidding will be conducted via the Egypt Exploration Gateway, which will receive proposals from international energy companies seeking exploration rights. This step aligns with Egypt’s wider strategy to increase oil and gas output over the next two years. According to the official, the Ministry of Petroleum plans to drill 10–12 new development wells in targeted concession areas, supported by investments exceeding $350 million. These efforts are expected to raise natural gas production by more than 850 million cubic feet per day, supplementing Egypt’s current output. EGAS has already completed seismic survey programs with global partners across nine exploration areas, which will be gradually tendered to investors. The surveys confirmed geological formations likely to contain hydrocarbons, with early indicators suggesting 15–20% chances of gas accumulation. To encourage participation, the ministry also aims to settle part of its arrears to foreign partners by Q4 2025. This step is designed to improve investor confidence and boost the submission of competitive financial and technical offers. In parallel, EGAS has agreed with domestic gas operators on an exceptional plan for the current and upcoming fiscal years to secure local supplies. The goal is to reach 6.6 billion cubic feet per day of gas production by 2027. Earlier this month, EGAS announced 29 new natural gas discoveries across the Mediterranean, Western Desert, and Gulf of Suez during FY2024/2025. These finds added 1.85 trillion cubic feet of reserves. The company also finalized six new agreements and awarded nine exploration blocks, bringing total committed investments to $479 million, with signature bonuses of $14.5 million, according to EGAS Executive Managing Director Mahmoud Abdel Hamid.

Turkey's BOTAS, Mercuria sign 20-year LNG supply deal - - Turkish state energy company BOTAS has signed a 20-year deal with Mercuria for the annual supply of around 4 billion cubic metres (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) starting in 2026, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Wednesday. The deal, signed in New York during President Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the United Nations General Assembly, will total approximately 70 bcm over its duration. Supplies will be sourced from loading terminals in the United States and regasification facilities in Turkey, Europe, and North Africa. "This agreement will significantly contribute to the $100 billion trade volume target with the U.S.," Bayraktar said, adding that the deal aims to enhance supply security and diversify Turkey's energy sources. The energy deals come as Turkey moves to improve ties with Washington. On Monday, Ankara announced it had lifted retaliatory tariffs imposed in 2018 on a range of U.S. imports, including passenger cars and fruit. The decision was seen as a gesture of goodwill ahead of Erdogan's scheduled meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday. BOTAS is responsible for Turkey's oil and gas infrastructure and gas trade, while Mercuria is one of the world's largest energy and commodity groups. A Turkish Energy Ministry statement also said BOTAS signed a long-term preliminary LNG deal with Woodside Energy, Australia's top gas producer. That agreement provides for the supply of some 5.8 bcm of LNG to BOTAS for nine years, starting in 2030, mostly from Woodside's Louisiana LNG project.

Woodside Secures 45-Year Extension for North West Shelf LNG Project -Woodside Energy Group Ltd. has been granted a final federal approval from the Australian government to extend the life of one of its largest natural gas and LNG production projects for more than four decades.
Map of Australia showing major natural gas liquefaction facilities and market hubs, including Gorgon, Wheatstone, Pluto, North West Shelf, Prelude, Ichthys, and Darwin in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, plus Gladstone, Queensland Curtis, and Australia Pacific LNG projects in Queensland, with Wallumbilla marked as a market hub. Source: Energy Information Administration. At A Glance:
North West Shelf extension approved to 2070
Partners secure tolling pathway for assets
Australian volumes balance global markets

Natural gas import bill down 11% in April-August -India’s natural gas import bill fell 11% to $5.8 bn in Apr-Aug FY26 as LNG volumes dropped 12.6%. Consumption and reliance on imports eased, though domestic production remains stagnant, keeping dependency high. Qatar, US, and UAE remain key suppliers. The country imports as much as 50% of its natural gas requirements. India’s natural gas import bill declined by 11% to $5.8 billion during April to August of financial year 2025-26, compared with $6.5 billion in the same period of FY25, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The country imported 14,170 million standard cubic meters (mmscm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) during the period, reflecting a 12.6% decline over Apr-Aug of FY25. In August, the import bill remained unchanged from last year at $1.2 billion, while the volume imported declined by 5.5% to 2,887 mmscm. During the five month period, the country’s natural gas consumption decreased by 7.8% to 28,705 mmscm. The country’s reliance on imported gas also decreased during the period to 49.4% from 52.1% in the same period last fiscal. Domestic natural gas production too declined marginally by 3% to 14,725 mmscm during Apr-Aug of FY26. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) produced 7,698 mmscm of natural gas during this period, down from 7,843 mmscm in the corresponding period of FY25. Production remained below targets, highlighting the widening gap between demand and domestic supply. Oil India produced 1,339 mmscm of gas during Apr-Aug, up from 1,322 mmscm last year. In the current financial year, ONGC is targeting to produce 44.51 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (mmtoe) while Oil India is aiming 4 million tonnes of oil production and 5 billion cubic meter of gas output. One of the key agendas of the government has been to boost domestic production of crude oil and natural gas, and thereby reduce the country’s dependency for energy. However, the domestic production of crude oil and natural gas has remained stagnant and the country’s import dependency has only increased.

Russia Considers Extending Gasoline Export Ban As Fuel Crisis Worsens -Russia is considering extending its current ban on exports of gasoline and introducing a ban on diesel exports as fuel shortages have emerged amid intensified Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries and other energy infrastructure. The government discusses extending the gasoline export ban for producers through the end of October, from September 30, sources with knowledge of the talks told Russian news agency Interfax on Tuesday. At the end of August, Russia extended the gasoline ban until September 30, 2025, for producers, and until October 31 for non-fuel-producing traders. Now the government considers another extension, for producers until October 31, and this is “highly likely”, one of Interfax’s sources said. Russia doesn’t need a ban on diesel exports, amid sufficient supply, sources at oil companies told the Russian news agency. Meanwhile, shortages of some fuel grades have emerged in the country, traders and retailers tell Reuters, as Ukraine’s attacks are curbing refining capacity. The drone hits on some of Russia’s biggest refineries slashed refining processing rates by one fifth on certain days. There isn’t a run on pump stations in the country, but some popular gasoline grades are not available everywhere, according to Reuters. Russia has not commented on the extent of the damage done by Ukrainian drones, but various reports have said that at least 10 refineries have been targeted with drones by Ukraine, and some of them have sustained damages and had to temporarily halt crude intake. Early this month, the Ryazan refinery in the region southeast of Moscow was targeted. The facility is operated by oil giant Rosneft and is one of the biggest crude processing plants in Russia with a capacity to process more than 260,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude—or 5% of Russia’s refining capacity. Ukrainian drones have also caused various degrees of damage at the fuel loading and gas processing complex at the Ust-Luga port on the Russian Baltic Sea. Repairs at the most seriously damaged unit at Ust-Luga could take up to six months, according to reports.

Iran's gas exports to Iraq fall in April-August period -Natural gas exports from Iran to neighboring Iraq fell by 40% between April and August this year, continuing a downward trend from 2024, according to the data from Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO). No reasons for the decline in exports were mentioned, but the value of the exports in the period stood at $950 million, which was much lower than the value of gas exports to Iraq in April-August 2024. An earlier report by local media said all Iranian exports to Iraq had declined in the five-month period, by 18% on the year, to a total of $3.75 billion.

Iran Completes Key Gas Pipeline Project for South Pars Field | Pipeline Technology Journal --The Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOECC) has finished a crucial new pipeline for Phase 16 of the South Pars gas field, a move that secures stable production from the aging offshore platform. The project manager, Mohammadreza Atefehpour, confirmed the completion on Monday, stating the new line was commissioned to replace an old, dilapidated pipeline that had been a cause for concern. Launched in February 2024 by Oil Minister Javad Owji with a planned budget of €130 million ($140.1 million), the project is hailed as a strategic undertaking for Iran's energy sector, expanding production capacity and bolstering energy security. Atefehpour noted that the modernization effort not only restores steady output from the platform but also represents a significant technical and managerial achievement for the country's oil and gas industry. The project faced considerable safety and engineering challenges, requiring innovative methods to ensure the new pipeline's operational integrity. According to Atefehpour, the initiative has also played a pivotal role in advancing domestic expertise and technology localization within the industry, which was necessary to overcome the challenges and deliver the critical project. By successfully completing the project, IOECC has demonstrated its capacity to handle complex infrastructure projects independently, reducing reliance on foreign technology and services. The new pipeline is expected to be a key component in maintaining Iran’s natural gas production capabilities from one of the world's largest gas fields.

U.S. Presses India: Cut Russian Oil Imports or Watch Trade Deal Slip Away - Washington is making it clear to New Delhi: any path forward on a U.S.–India trade deal runs through Russia’s oil fields. In recent talks, U.S. trade negotiators told Indian counterparts that curbing purchases of Russian crude is critical to lowering America’s punitive tariffs and unlocking a deal, sources told Reuters on Friday.India is pushing back. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal called the negotiations “constructive,” but New Delhi is making room for strategic wiggle; officials have floated substituting Russian oil with crude from Iran or Venezuela, if permitted by Washington, to assuage U.S. pressure without fully changing Delhi’s energy equation.This is more than a trade spat. It reflects a tectonic tension between India’s insistence on “strategic autonomy” in energy policy and a U.S. willingness to weaponize trade for geopolitical ends. India has repeatedly accused the West of double standards: while America demands India abandon Russian oil, the U.S. and EU continue trading with some Russian exports. The stakes are high. Trump already slapped India with a 25 % reciprocal tariff, then tacked on another 25 % penalty tied to Russian oil imports—bringing the total to 50 %. That’s among the steepest trade punishments ever imposed on a major economy. But India is pushing back. India’s energy mix depends heavily on affordable sources, and discounted Russian crude has filled that role. Abruptly curbing it could send domestic fuel prices and import bills soaring.Still, Washington has leverage. In a world where global trade and energy are inseparable, pressuring energy buyers is the new frontier of diplomacy. India could blink—or it could double down. If India shifts just enough, tariffs might slide. But if New Delhi holds its ground, a standoff is coming—not just over trade, but over how much sovereignty a rising power can claim when energy is the currency of influence.

Kuwait's offshore oil project boosts national energy strategy, strengthens global position - The Ministry of Oil has underscored the critical role of the offshore oil exploration project in securing Kuwait's future as a key global energy provider. Fully supported by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), the initiative is set to significantly bolster the country’s oil reserves and strengthen its status as a reliable player in the global energy market. This was highlighted by Sheikha Tamader Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Director of Public Relations and Media at the Ministry of Oil, during a panel discussion organized by the Ministry on Monday. The event, titled “Opportunities and Challenges in Offshore Oil Exploration and Production...Julaia Offshore Field”, also featured representatives from KOC. Al-Sabah emphasized that the offshore exploration project aligns with Kuwait’s long-term oil strategy, particularly its goals for 2040. She noted that it marks a pioneering step in the nation’s energy sector by introducing advanced offshore drilling and production technologies while simultaneously enhancing local expertise and nurturing the talents of young professionals. “These recent discoveries in the Al-Nokhtha and Al-Julaia fields are the result of decades of dedicated research and work, not just happenstance,” Al-Sabah said. “What has been achieved so far forms the foundation for a new beginning in offshore exploration.” The Ministry, in cooperation with KOC, plans to continue expanding these efforts, ensuring adherence to the highest safety standards and protecting the marine environment. Al-Sabah stressed that the offshore exploration project is crucial for securing Kuwait’s energy future, a responsibility the Ministry holds with full commitment. In their segment of the panel, KOC representatives discussed the project’s national significance, emphasizing its role in boosting Kuwait’s hydrocarbon reserves and reinforcing the country’s position as a leading global energy supplier. They highlighted the strategic importance of the project in positioning Kuwait as a prominent regional offshore operator, in line with international industry standards. The KOC representatives pointed out that offshore exploration has been a key focus of Kuwait’s oil strategy for over 60 years. Initial exploration efforts began in the 1960s when Shell conducted its first offshore survey in 1961, followed by the drilling of the first two exploratory wells. A major milestone in this long-term endeavor came with the discovery of the Al-Julaia offshore field, which now ranks as Kuwait’s second purely offshore field. This significant find, estimated to hold around 800 million barrels of oil, has further solidified Kuwait’s position on the global oil production map. The field spans 74 square kilometers and contains substantial commercial quantities of hydrocarbons, marking a pivotal moment in Kuwait's offshore exploration history.

Oil gains as tension flares in Europe, Middle East - Oil prices gained in Asian trade on Monday supported by geopolitical tension in Europe and the Middle East, although the prospect of more oil supply and concern about the impact of trade tariffs on global fuel demand weighed. Brent crude futures rose 34 cents, or 0.54%, to $67.07 a barrel by 0317 GMT while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude contract for October was at $63.02 a barrel, up 34 cents, or 0.54%. The October WTI contract expires on Monday and the more active November contract gained 36 cents, or 0.58%, at $62.76 a barrel. "Reports over the weekend that Russia was threatening over the Polish border has provided traders with a timely reminder of the ongoing risks to European energy security from the north east," said Michael McCarthy, CEO of investment platform Moomoo Australia and New Zealand. Polish and allied aircraft were deployed early on Saturday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched airstrikes targeting western Ukraine near the border with Poland, armed forces of the NATO-member country said. The deployment came after three Russian military jets violated NATO Estonia's airspace for 12 minutes on Friday, while on Sunday, Germany's air force reported that a Russian military plane entered neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea. The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Monday over Estonia's accusation that Russian fighter jets violated its airspace, diplomats said. In recent weeks, Ukraine stepped up drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, hitting terminals and refineries, while U.S. President Donald Trump has urged the European Union to halt Russian oil and gas purchases. In the Middle East news, four Western nations recognised Palestinian state, prompting a furious response from Israel and adding to jitters in the key oil-producing region. Brent and WTI settled down more than 1% on Friday to mark a slight decline last week as worries about large supplies and declining demand outweighed expectations that the year's first interest-rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve would trigger more consumption. Iraq has increased oil exports following the gradual unwinding of voluntary production cuts under an OPEC+ agreement, the country's state oil marketer SOMO said on Sunday. Iraq's oil exports averaged 3.38 million barrels per day in August, according to the oil ministry. SOMO expects September's average exports to range from 3.4 million to 3.45 million bpd. "Rising inventories over the past six months have also confirmed that supply has been outpacing demand," Tim Evans said in the newsletter Evans on Energy. "Increased strategic reserves accumulated by China and the U.S. have helped soak up the surplus, but the added inventories still reduce the near-term upside potential for prices and leave the downside open," Evans said.

Oil Prices Soften as Oversupply Woes Take Center Stage -- Oil prices softened Monday morning as the newest European Union sanctions package against Russia seemed likely to impact Russian oil flows less than expected. In crude oil, NYMEX-traded WTI for October delivery dropped $0.38 to $62.80 barrel (bbl), while ICE Brent for November delivery fell $0.45 to $66.23 bbl. Among oil products, October RBOB gasoline futures slid $0.0087 to $1.9620 gallon, and the front-month ULSD contract retreated $0.0138 to $2.2851 gallon. The U.S. Dollar Index eased by 0.155 points to 97.115. The EU's revised 19th sanctions package will add more than 100 tankers to its sanctioned vessels list as part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet. Details have yet to emerge, but early reports suggested the economic block will refrain from implementing broad secondary sanctions against buyers of Russian oil, instead targeting specific entities across India and China. The sanctions will reportedly affect about a dozen Chinese and several Indian companies, mostly refiners and shippers. Meanwhile, Iraq was reportedly nearing a deal to restart flows on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline which can deliver up to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from northern Iraq to export terminals in Turkey. The pipeline has been shut since 2023 over disputes between the Iraqi federal government, Kurdish regional government and international oil companies after Turkey was fined $1.5 billion for "unauthorized exports." An agreement could see the immediate restart of at least 200,000 bpd of oil flows to international markets already burdened by oversupply woes amid lackluster global demand growth and OPEC's commitment to open the spigots.

Iraq Stated That it Increased its Oil Exports Under an OPEC+ Agreement -- The oil market traded lower on Monday as the market sentiment was weighed down by oversupply concerns. The market was pressured by Iraq stating that it increased its oil exports under an OPEC+ agreement. The expiring October WTI contract posted its trading range by mid-morning. The market traded to a high of $63.18 in overnight trading, with tensions rising in the Middle East over several Western nations recognizing a Palestinian state as well as in Eastern Europe after Estonia said Russian fighter jets entered its airspace without permission on Friday. However, the market gave up its gains and sold off to a low of $61.98 early in the session. The market later bounced off its low and retraced some of its losses ahead of the October contract’s expiration at the close. The October WTI contract went off the board down 4 cents at $62.64. Meanwhile, the November WTI contract also settled down 12 cents at $62.28 after it posted the day’s trading range from a high of $63.00 to a low of $61.61 by mid-morning. The November Brent contract settled down 11 cents at $66.57. The product markets ended the session in mixed territory, with the heating oil market settling down 66 points at $2.2923 and the RB market settling up 75 points at $1.9782. Iraq’s SOMO said Iraq has increased oil exports following the gradual unwinding of voluntary production cuts under an OPEC+ agreement. SOMO’s Director General, Ali Nizar Al-Shatari, said the increase in Iraqi exports is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenues at current price levels. He did not specify the size of the export increase but said that an additional 200,000 bpd of production would increase government coffers. Iraq’s oil exports averaged 3.38 million barrels per day in August, according to the oil ministry. SOMO expects September’s average exports to range from 3.4 million to 3.45 million bpd. Oil officials said an Iraqi Oil Ministry delegation and the Kurdish regional government agreed on Monday on an initial deal with foreign oil firms to restart oil exports via pipeline to Turkey. The resumption of Kurdistan exports is subject to Iraqi cabinet approval on Tuesday. Oil officials said Iraq’s Oil Ministry will start procedures to restart crude exports from the Kurdistan region, with flows expected to resume via pipeline to Turkey within 48 hours. IIR Energy reported that U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 1 million bpd of capacity in the week ending September 26th, cutting available refining capacity by 249,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to increase to about 1.2 million bpd in the week ending October 3rd. White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, said President Donald Trump is set to hold a series of high-stakes meetings at the United Nations this week, beginning with bilateral talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and leaders from Ukraine, Argentina, and the European Union, on Monday. She added that in a separate multilateral summit, President Trump will convene with leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan.

Oil Prices Drop After Iraq-Kurdistan Agreement to Restart Pipeline -- Oil prices fell for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday after a preliminary agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to resume operations of an oil pipeline, raising concerns about oversupply. Brent crude futures fell by $0.42, or 0.63%, to $66.15 per barrel by 03:32 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $0.36, or 0.58%, to $61.92 per barrel. Both contracts have declined around 4% over five sessions. "Concerns over oversupply remain dominant, while demand forecasts remain uncertain as the year-end approaches. The restart of the Kurdistan pipeline has also pressured prices." Two oil officials confirmed that the governments of Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region had reached an agreement with oil companies to resume crude exports via Turkey on Monday. The agreement will allow exports of approximately 230,000 barrels per day from Kurdistan, which had been halted since March 2023. Global oil markets are preparing for increased supply and slower demand, due to rapid growth of electric vehicles and economic issues stemming from tariffs. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that global oil supply is set to increase faster this year, with a possible surplus in 2026 due to rising production from OPEC+ members and non-OPEC producers. Market risks remain, including potential EU sanctions on Russian oil exports and any escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Preliminary Reuters surveys on Monday suggested a rise in U.S. crude inventories last week, with expected declines in gasoline and distillate stocks. Other data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) indicated that Saudi Arabia’s crude exports in July fell to their lowest level in four months. Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, increased its oil exports under an OPEC+ agreement, according to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).

Oil gains as restart of Kurdistan oil exports stalls - Oil prices rose on Tuesday after a deal to resume oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan stalled, pacifying some investor concerns that the restart would add to global oversupply fears. Brent crude futures were up 61 cents, or 0.9%, to $67.18 a barrel at 1110 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 67 cents, or 1.1%, at $62.95 a barrel, both recouping modest earlier losses. Brent and WTI had fallen for the previous four sessions, dropping around 3%. Investors on Tuesday were watching developments around the deal to restart oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan. Two oil producing firms asked for assurances their debts would be repaid, stalling the deal. The deal between Iraq's federal and Kurdish regional governments and oil firms is designed to lead to the resumption of about 230,000 barrels per day of oil exports from Kurdistan to the global market via Turkey. They have been suspended since March 2023. Overall, the global oil market is bracing for elevated supply and slowing demand, hampered by the take-up of electric vehicles and economic pressures fuelled by U.S. tariffs. In its latest monthly report, the International Energy Agency said world oil supply would rise more rapidly this year and a surplus could expand in 2026 as OPEC+ members increase output and supply from outside the producer group grows. Still, risks overhang the market as traders monitor the European Union's consideration of stricter sanctions on Russian oil exports, as well as any escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. "Supportive elements are still low OECD oil inventories," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. "On the other hand, higher crude exports from OPEC+ are a headwind for prices as well as the lack of new sanctions targeting Russian oil exports." U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories likely fell, a preliminary Reuters poll on Monday showed.

Oil settles up $1/bbl as restart of Kurdish oil exports stalls (Reuters) - Oil prices settled up more than $1 a barrel on Tuesday after a deal to resume exports from Iraq's Kurdistan stalled, pacifying some investor concerns that the restart would exacerbate worries about global oversupply. Brent crude futures settled up $1.06, or 1.6%, at $67.63 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.13, or 1.8%, to end at $63.41 a barrel. Both benchmarks recouped modest earlier losses. Pipeline oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region to Turkey had yet to restart on Tuesday despite hopes of a deal to end the deadlock, as two key producers asked for debt repayment guarantees. The deal between Iraq's federal and Kurdish regional governments and oil firms aims to resume exports of about 230,000 barrels per day of oil from Kurdistan to the global market via Turkey, halted since March 2023. Brent and WTI had fallen for the previous four sessions, dropping around 3%. "This was a perfect example of do not count your barrels until they have been pumped. The market sold off on reports of a Kurdistan deal, and the lack of a deal has now taken those barrels out of the market," Overall, the global oil market is bracing for elevated supply and slowing demand, hampered by the take-up of electric vehicles and economic pressures fueled by U.S. tariffs.In its latest monthly report, the International Energy Agency said world oil supply would rise more rapidly this year and a surplus could expand in 2026 as OPEC+ members increase output and supply from outside the producer group grows.Still, risks overhang the market as traders monitor the European Union's consideration of stricter sanctions on Russian oil exports, as well as any escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.. "Supportive elements are still low OECD oil inventories," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, referring to stockpiles in higher-income economies around the world. "On the other hand, higher crude exports from OPEC+ are a headwind for prices as well as the lack of new sanctions targeting Russian oil exports." U.S. crude and gasoline stocks fell, while distillate stocks rose last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks fell by 3.82 million barrels in the week ended September 19, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories fell by 1.05 million barrels, while distillate inventories rose by 518,000 barrels from last week, the sources said. "The market will be keeping a close eye on distillate inventories, the soft underbelly of the market," A build in distillate stocks would help soften concerns surrounding Russian supplies amid attacks on the country's oil infrastructure. Ukraine's military struck two Russian oil distribution facilities in the Bryansk and Samara regions overnight, Kyiv's general staff said.

Oil Prices Climb Further on U.S. Inventory Dip - Crude oil prices extended their gains today, after the American Petroleum Institute reported an estimated inventory decline for the week to September 19. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $67.73 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate was trading at $63.47 per barrel, as the API estimated oil inventories had shed over 3.8 million barrels last week, following another weekly draw of 3.42 million barrels for the week before that.Earlier in the week, prices took a dip after news broke that Iraq, Turkey, and the Kurdistan regional government had finally reached a deal to restart exports from northern Iraq via the pipeline to Turkey. However, a follow-up revealed unresolved differences between two of the companies operating the fields in Kurdistan, which will delay the restart of exports. Per a Reuters report, Norwegian DNO and UK Genel have asked for guarantees that the debt accumulated by the Kurdistan regional government with oil producers in the region will be repaid. The regional government has piled up some $1 billion in arrears due to oil producers. DNO, which is the largest oil field operator in Kurdistan, is owed around $300 million.“Prices are expected to remain supported but range-bound in the near term,” LSEG analyst Emril Jamil told Reuters, noting that news about curbs in Russian fuel exports has contributed to the upward pressure on benchmarks.Energy Aspects has estimated that damages to Russian refineries from Ukrainian drone strikes have disrupted some 1 million barrels daily in processing capacity. This disruption appears to be affecting diesel exports, with OilX and Vortexa both predicting that this month’s flows could drop to the lowest in five years, according to a Financial Times report. Russia has had a gasoline export ban for most of this year due to refinery disruption from the drone strikes, but also higher borrowing costs for fuel stations that discouraged stockpiling, Reuters reported earlier this week. Diesel exports have not been restricted deliberately yet.

WTI Holds Gains Despite 'Small' Draw; US Crude Production Nears Record High - Oil extended its biggest gain in more than a week, as US President Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric against Russia and traders watched for supply disruptions from the OPEC+ member. Additionally, in the US, API showed crude inventories fell 3.8 million barrels last week, though holdings of distillates increased. “Oil prices remain supported as inventories in the OECD stay low, and it looks like the US will have another large crude draw,” according to Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst with UBS Group AG. Still, he added, higher OPEC+ crude exports so far in September remain a headwind. All eye snow on the official data... API

• Crude -3.8mm
• Cushing +72k
• Gasoline -1.00mm
• Distillates +518k

DOE

• Crude -607k (-2.7mm exp)
• Cushing +177k
• Gasoline -1.08mm
• Distillates -1.69mm

Following last week's huge draw, crude inventories were expected to tumble once more (and did according to API), but the official data showed a very modest 607k drawdown in crude stocks while products saw significant draws too... US production rose 19k barrels/day on the week, back near record highs, despite the big drop in rig counts... Oil prices held their gains after the official data hit, up near three week highs.. But as Bloomberg reports, oil is little changed this month as traders weigh a bearish fundamental outlook against long-running geopolitical tensions. On the supply front, Iraq is finalizing a deal to restart crude exports from its Kurdistan region following a two-year halt. That could bring about 230,000 barrels a day back to the international market, exacerbating a looming glut. Some market metrics point to strengthening, with Brent’s prompt spread — the difference between its two closest contracts — at 77 cents a barrel in backwardation, more than double the level two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the difference between the two closest December contracts widened to $1.68 a barrel from less than $1 a fortnight ago.

Concerns Over Russian Crude Supplies and a Draw in Inventories -- The oil market continued to trend higher on Wednesday amid concerns over Russian crude supplies and a draw in crude inventories. The market was lifted after U.S. President Donald Trump increased its rhetoric against Russia and made a shift in Ukraine’s favor, stating that he believed Ukraine could retake all the territory captured by Russia. The crude market was also supported by news that Ukraine’s military struck two oil pumping stations overnight in Russia and a state of emergency was declared in the Russian city of Novorossiisk, which is Russia’s major seaport on the Black Sea and contains major oil and grain export terminals. The oil market traded mostly sideways in overnight trading, posting a low of $63.25. However, the market bounced off that level and never looked back. The market was further lifted during the session in light of the EIA report showing draws across the board. The market rallied to a high of $65.05 ahead of the close. The November WTI contract settled up $1.58 at $64.99 and the November Brent settled up $1.68 at $69.31. The product markets ended the session higher, with the heating oil market settling up 4.92 cents at $2.3772 and the RB market settling up 1.97 cents at $2.0188. The Kremlin rejected the central arguments for U.S. President Donald Trump’s U-turn on the war in Ukraine. On Tuesday, U.S. President Trump said he believed Ukraine could retake all its land controlled by Russia and that Ukraine should act now with Moscow facing “big” economic problems, in a sudden rhetorical shift in Ukraine’s favor. The Kremlin countered that the Russian economy was stable, despite problems in some sectors caused by sanctions, and that Russian forces’ slow advance in Ukraine was part of a deliberate strategy rather than a sign of weakness. Russian nationalists and political insiders interpreted his shift as a sign that he was washing his hands of the war in Ukraine after his unsuccessful and unrealistic attempts to broker a quick peace deal. They noted that he had not promised any more U.S. help to Kyiv, but rather placed the onus squarely on Ukraine itself and the European Union. The Kremlin said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later on Wednesday. Iran’s Oil Minister, Mohsen Paknejad, said the triggering of the United Nations snapback mechanism won’t add “new burdensome restrictions” on Iran’s oil sales, as Tehran and European powers struggle to reach a deal to prevent the return of U.N. sanctions this week. The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan said eight oil companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan, representing over 90% of production, reached agreements in principle with Iraq’s federal and Kurdish regional government to resume oil exports. IIR Energy said U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in 1 million bpd of capacity in the week ending September 26th, cutting available refining capacity by 249,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to increase to about 1.2 million bpd in the week ending October 3rd.

Oil pulls back from seven-week high - Oil prices edged down on Thursday, retreating from the previous session’s seven-week high, as some investors took profits after U.S. stocks closed lower and in anticipation of slower winter demand as well as the return of Kurdish supplies. Brent futures were down 43 cents, or 0.6%, at $68.88 a barrel by 1310 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures lost 48 cents, or 0.7%, to $64.51. Both benchmarks gained 2.5% on Wednesday to reach their highest since August 1, driven by a surprise drop in U.S. weekly crude inventories and concerns that Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure could disrupt supplies. “We have a generally risk-off market,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS. Two consecutive down days for U.S. equities are putting pressure on oil prices, he added. Comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday about potentially stretched equity valuations further spooked markets, including oil, said Jorge Montepeque at Onyx Capital Group. Price pressure also came from bearish expectations on supply fundamentals, with more oil expected soon from Iraq and Kurdistan. “The return of Kurdish supplies adds back fears of an oversupply narrative, propelling a pullback in prices that hover near a seven-week high,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova. Oil flows from Iraqi Kurdistan were expected to resume in days after eight oil companies struck a deal on Wednesday with Iraq’s federal and Kurdish regional governments. As the peak demand season gradually ends, prices have yet to reflect expectations of mounting oversupply, Haitong Securities said in a report. Underscoring investor caution over demand, J.P. Morgan analysts noted on Wednesday that U.S. gasoline demand has started to pull back, mirroring broader moderation in travel trends.

Oil Swings as NATO and Russian Tensions Escalate | Rigzone - Oil fluctuated in choppy trading as tensions between Russia and NATO intensified, with European leaders warning the Kremlin that Western military alliance is ready to respond with force to violations of its airspace. West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses to settle near $65, after earlier falling as much as 1.4%, as European diplomats concluded that a recent Russian incursion into Estonia was a deliberate tactic ordered by Russian commanders. Those comments echo earlier remarks by US President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday said that NATO should shoot down Russian aircrafts that cross into their airspace. Russian flows have been in the spotlight over the past few weeks amid global efforts to pressure Moscow to make peace in Ukraine by targeting its energy assets. Crude received a bump earlier Thursday after Trump told Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "stop buying any oil from Russia," just a day after urging Europe to stop purchasing energy from the OPEC+ member, leading oil investors to cover bearish positions. Elsewhere, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered an urgent meeting of top military commanders for an unusual meeting early next week, fueling concerns over wider unrest that could imperil global crude flows. Still, the confluence of bearish inputs didn't succeed in breaking out of a narrow range since early August as traders balance a bearish outlook against escalating global tensions. Market watchers led by the International Energy Agency are forecasting excess supply later in the year due to increased output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners, as well as from outside the group. The commodity was down earlier as traders assessed future flows from Iraq's Kurdistan to global supply chains. A landmark agreement to resume exports could return 500,000 barrels a day to the market, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in an interview. The prospect of rising flows from the Kurdistan region, following a two-year export halt, amplifies concerns that the oil market is headed for oversupply. WTI for November delivery slipped 1 cent to settle at $64.98 a barrel in New York. Brent for November edged up 11 cents to settle at $69.42 a barrel.

Russia Will Introduce a Partial Ban on Diesel Exports - The oil market looked ready to post an inside trading day before a late bout of buying pushed the market to its highs and settled higher on news that Russia will introduce a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of the year and extend an existing ban on gasoline exports. The market traded lower in overnight trading and posted a low of $64.06 by mid-morning in light of expectations that oil flows from the Iraqi Kurdistan region would resume in days after eight companies struck a deal with Iraq’s federal and Kurdish regional governments. The crude market, however, bounced off it low and retraced its losses. It posted a high of $65.06 on the close, breaching its resistance at its previous high of $65.05. The November WTI contract settled down 1 cent at $64.98, while the November Brent contract settled up 11 cents at $69.42. The crude market continued to trend higher in the post settlement period, posting a high of $65.34. Meanwhile, the product markets ended the session higher, with the heating oil market settling up 4.93 cents at $2.4265 and the RB market settling down 1.66 cents at $2.0022. Bloomberg reported that Indian officials have again told the Trump administration that a significant reduction in Russian oil imports by India’s refiners would require the U.S to instead allow crude purchases from sanctioned suppliers Iran and Venezuela. A delegation visiting the US this week reiterated the request in meetings with American officials. Indian representatives have emphasized that simultaneously cutting off Indian refiners’ supply from Russia, Iran and Venezuela could lead to a spike in global prices.The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) scrambled fighter jets on Wednesday to identify and intercept four Russian military planes off Alaska. NORAD detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. NORAD said the Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace.Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. saying it wanted a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program was a “deception”. This follows Iran and the United States signaling a possible softening in nuclear tensions on Wednesday, with Iran insisting it has no ambitions to build nuclear weapons and the U.S. expressing readiness to resume talks aimed at resolving the standoff over its nuclear program. A few hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the U.N. General Assembly that Iran will never seek to build a nuclear bomb, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said “we have no desire to hurt them”. Two Iraqi oil ministry officials said oil flow from Iraq’s Kurdistan region to Turkey will restart on Saturday. Earlier, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that the federal oil ministry will receive crude produced from fields in the Kurdistan region and export it through the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline in a “historic agreement”. The breakthrough will allow exports to resume of about 230,000 bpd from Iraqi Kurdistan which have been suspended since March 2023.

Oil Prices Rise To Nearly $69 On Mounting Supply Concerns - Oil prices surged on Friday as Moscow moved to restrict fuel exports following Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s critical energy infrastructure, heightening global supply concerns. Brent crude rose 4% to $68.76 per barrel, up from the previous close of $66.12, while U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) inched up to $65.08 from $65.07. Ukraine has intensified drone attacks on Russian refining and distribution facilities, disrupting operations and fueling shortages. Strikes targeted the Salavat petrochemical complex in Bashkortostan, one of Russia’s largest plants operated by Gazprom, as well as oil depots in the Bryansk and Samara regions. Regional Governor Radiy Khabirov confirmed the Salavat facility was hit early on September 24. Amid these disruptions, Russia is grappling with reduced refining capacity and fuel scarcity. Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak announced that Moscow would extend its gasoline export ban until year-end and impose restrictions on diesel exports for non-producers over the same period. The measures follow a temporary ban between July 28 and August 31, which failed to halt record fuel price hikes. Domestic fuel prices remain under pressure due to refinery outages and rising demand, particularly from the agricultural sector. Russia, one of the world’s top energy exporters, produces more than 40 million tons of gasoline annually. Adding to upward momentum, U.S. crude stockpiles declined unexpectedly. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 600,000-barrel drawdown last week, bringing commercial inventories to 414.8 million barrels, against forecasts of an 800,000-barrel build. Meanwhile, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government announced the reopening of its oil wells for export under an agreement with oil producers, Iraq’s Oil Ministry, and state-owned SOMO. The KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources said exports would resume within 48 hours, helping ease some supply concerns and tempering price gains.

Oil gains on Ukraine drone attacks cutting Russian supply - (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday as Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure cut the country's fuel exports. Brent futures settled at $70.13 a barrel, up 71 cents, or 1.02%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $65.72 a barrel, gaining 74 cents, or 1.14%. Both benchmarks are set to register their biggest increases since mid-June. "Markets continued to be focused on the situation between Russia and Ukraine,". "These drone attacks by Ukraine are beginning to add up." Russia will introduce a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of the year and extend an existing ban on gasoline exports, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. The drop in refining capacity has left several Russian regions facing shortages of certain grades of fuel. In addition to the drone attacks, U.S. government action was also supportive. "President Trump continues to pressure U.S. allies to reduce Russian imports," "We might see India and Turkey reduce some of their Russian imports." NATO's warning of a response to further violations of member nations' airspace has ratcheted up tensions from the war in Ukraine and raised prospects of additional sanctions on Russia's oil industry, said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes. On the supply side, crude oil exports are scheduled to resume on Saturday from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, the state news agency said, citing state marketer SOMO, which will transport the oil via pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port. "The market will be watching Kurdish production to see what that will add to supply," Lipow said. On the demand side, U.S. gross domestic product increased at an upwardly revised 3.8% annualized rate in the past quarter, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its latest estimate on Thursday. "If Russia's supply to China and India is changed they'll be looking for supply," Again Capital's Kilduff said. "U.S. economic data has been OK. And with the Fed easing interest rates that will contribute to demand." However, stronger-than-expected economic data could make the U.S. Federal Reserve more cautious about cutting interest rates after a cut of 25 basis points last week, its first since December.

Iraq resumes Kurdish oil exports to Turkey after 2-1/2-year halt (Reuters) - Crude oil flowed on Saturday through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey for the first time in two-and-a-half years, after an interim deal broke the deadlock, Iraq's oil ministry said. The resumption started at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), according to a statement from the ministry. "Operations started at a rapid pace and with complete smoothness without recording any significant technical problems," the ministry said. The agreement between Iraq's federal government, the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and foreign oil producers operating in the region will see 180,000 to 190,000 barrels per day of oil flow to Turkey's Ceyhan, Iraq's oil minister told Rudaw on Friday. The U.S. had pushed for a restart, which is expected to eventually bring up to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude back to international markets at a time when OPEC+ is boosting output to gain market share. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline was halted in March 2023 when the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Turkey to pay Iraq $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorised exports by the Kurdish regional authorities. The preliminary plan, agreed on Wednesday, calls for the KRG to commit to delivering at least 230,000 bpd to Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO, while keeping an additional 50,000 bpd for local use, according to Iraqi officials with knowledge of the agreement. An independent trader will handle sales from the Turkish port of Ceyhan using SOMO's official prices. For each barrel sold, $16 is to be transferred to an escrow account and distributed proportionally to producers, with the rest of the revenue going to SOMO, the officials said. Norway's DNO said it has no immediate plans to export through the pipeline but that its local buyers could still ship its crude through it. The company and its joint venture partner Genel Energy have said the issue of Kurdistan's around $1 billion in arrears to producers, of which DNO is owed about $300 million, needs to be addressed. The eight oil companies, opens new tab that signed the deal and the KRG have agreed to meet within 30 days of exports resuming to work on a mechanism for settling the outstanding debts.

Ukraine, Russia exchange drone strikes ahead of UN General Assembly --Russia and Ukraine exchanged deadly drone strikes ahead of the United Nations General Assembly kicking off in New York this week. “Rescue efforts and rubble clearing continue after the Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia — guided aerial bombs targeted civilian infrastructure, ordinary homes. Fifteen apartment buildings and ten private houses have been damaged,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X early Monday morning. “As of now, three people are confirmed killed. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Donetsk, Dnipro, Sumy, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions also came under drone attacks overnight. Over 140 drones in total were launched, some of them ‘shaheds,’” he added. Shaheds are Iranian-made drones. Sergey Aksyonov, who was appointed by Russia as head of the Crimean peninsula, claimed Ukrainian drones that hit a vacation resort Sunday killed three people and injured 16, The Associated Press reported. Since the start of his second term, President Trump and his administration have pushed for an end to the war in Ukraine, which will reach a four-year mark in February. Trump met this summer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and Zelensky in Washington, D.C., looking for a path to peace. Zelensky recently said he expected to meet again with Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Trump and Zelensky are expected to talk about security guarantees, supported by both the Ukrainians and their European allies. “The UN General Assembly is now effectively beginning its work, with leaders gathering in New York. And it’s for the fourth time in a row that Russia accompanies one of the world’s highest-level annual diplomatic events with killings. That is precisely why it is so important for this diplomatic week to be productive,” Zelensky wrote Monday.

Russian Refinery Hits Spark Diesel Rush, Funds Load Up --Diesel bulls are leaning back into the market as fresh strikes on Russian refining tighten the near-term balance and spur a rush into distillate hedges. According toBloomberg, funds now hold their strongest net-long in European diesel since early 2022, and diesel options activity on ICE has set monthly records, while front-month low-sulphur gasoil trades in the low $700s per metric ton. These moves follow renewed disruption at Gazprom’s Salavat petrochemical complex in Bashkortostan, its second hit in a week, adding to a rolling loss of Russian refining capacity. The supply picture has deteriorated across several Russian hubs since August amid repeated Ukrainian drone strikes. Markets are responding by marking down export availability of diesel and other middle distillates. European paper barrels have responded accordingly, reflecting tighter prompt supply heading into autumn refinery maintenance, according to the Financial Times. Offsetting supply is coming to the market, though. India’s refiners have lifted product exports to multi-year highs, including gasoil, feeding Europe and the Mediterranean and partially cushioning the loss of Russian volumes. But the scale and timing of these barrels remain unsteady due to disruptions in Russia’s internal logistics and refinery runs.At the same time, Moscow is weighing an extension of its gasoline export baninto October amid domestic tightness, with officials signaling that broader fuel-export restrictions remain on the table “if needed”. Any additional curbs, or operational adjustments by refiners reacting to them, would reverberate through regional product balances and freight, especially for ARA-linked diesel benchmarks. U.S. distillate inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week to September 19, leaving stocks about 8% below the five-year average; total commercial petroleum inventories eased by 0.5 million barrels as refineries ran at 93% of capacity.

Ukraine Launches Huge Daytime Attack On Russian Black Sea Fleet At Novorossiysk Port On Wednesday a major daytime drone attack from Ukraine rocked the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, which reportedly involved both aerial and sea drones.The city center was hit, and explosions were also witnessed in the water very near the city. The Novorossiysk Hotel, located about 2 kilometers from the port, was also struck along with several buildings and cars. At least 20 cars were on fire, either from a direct hit or falling debris.It appears that docked vessels of Russia's Black Sea Fleet may have been among intended targets, given that earlier in the war Russia hadtransferred much of its fleet from Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk.BBC reports that "Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of Krasnodar Krai region where the city of Novorossiysk is located, has said on his Telegram channel that at least two people were killed and three were injured in the attacks." Russian media report that a state of emergency has been declared in Novorossiysk, and in Sochi — evacuation from beaches due to the UAV threat. Everything is "going according to plan." pic.twitter.com/Yq1iOo7wg2"Kondratyev accused Ukraine of attacking the city and said five residential buildings were damaged in the attacks," the report continues. "There have also been reports of naval drones being seen in Novorossiysk docks. Footage we’ve verified shows a submersible approaching the port before being fired upon and exploding."

Iran Says It Will Suspend Cooperation With IAEA Due To 'Snapback' Sanctions - Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said on Saturday that the UK, France, and Germany’s effort to re-impose UN Security Council sanctions on Iran may lead Tehran to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).The statement came a day after the UN Security Council voted against a resolution to permanently lift sanctions on Iran. The resolution would have blocked the triggering of the “snapback” mechanism of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, which will re-impose UN sanctions on Iran on September 28 unless the UK, France, and Germany decide to delay the measures.The three European countries, known as the E3, had asked Iran to restart cooperation with the IAEA and resume negotiations with the US to offset the sanctions. Tehran suspended cooperation with the IAEA in the wake of the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran over the agency’s role in providing a pretext for the initial attack and its lack of condemnation of the US and Israeli bombings of Iranian nuclear sites. Tehran also suspects that Israel obtained information about the Iranian nuclear scientists it assassinated from the IAEA.Iran recently signed a new deal with the IAEA to restart cooperation, but it does not appear to have placated the E3 countries. “Despite [Iranian] Foreign Ministry’s cooperation with the Agency and the proposals presented to settle the [nuclear] issue, the actions of European countries have effectively suspended the path of cooperation with the Agency,”Iran’s SNSC said.Regarding talks with the US, Iranian officials have said they would be willing to resume negotiations if they can receive assurances that they won’t be used as cover to launch another war. Israel began the 12-Day War with a surprise attack on June 13, two days before the US and Iran were set to hold another round of talks.The SNSC said the triggering of the snapback sanctions was “ill-considered.” Iranian officials have argued that the E3 doesn’t have the right to impose the sanctions since the US was the party that withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. Some Iranian officials have warned that if snapback sanctions are re-imposed, Tehran could withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a step that could be used by Israel and the US as a pretext to launch another war, even though Israel is not a signatory to the NPT. Unlike Iran, Israel actually has a secret nuclear weapons program and a stockpile of nuclear weapons that’s not officially acknowledged by the US and Israel.

UN humanitarian chief slams impunity in face of Gaza 'horror' - UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher on Wednesday slammed impunity in the face of the "horror" unfolding in Gaza, calling on those with power to stop the "21st-century atrocity." In recent weeks, Israel has launched a major air and ground offensive on Gaza City, exacerbating already dire humanitarian conditions created by the army's bombardment and obstruction of aid. "So we gather once again to share our testimony and our shame, to try to find words to convey the horror... to repeat that something must be done and, I fear, to accept that nothing will," Fletcher said at an event organised by Jordan and Belgium on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "A child has been killed on average every hour for almost two years in Gaza, the lucky children sleep in tents" while schools "have become sites of horror, depriving over 700,000 children of their right to education," he said. Children have suffered particularly in Gaza since Israel launched the war, which has been determined to be a genocide, in October 2023. "We are told again and again that this is a price a population somehow has to pay for war," Fletcher said. "Lawyers and historians will argue long and hard about what to call this, and despite bans on international journalists, they will have immense amounts of evidence to consider justice." But until then, "our words will not reach... those scraping through the rubble for food (or) enduring amputations without anesthetic." "I fear that we will gather again to solemnly intone the death toll, to try to find new words to express the horror, to call again for action, but how many more must die, and what further damage will we have done to our shared humanity?" Fletcher added. The US-backed Israeli offensive has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee Gaza City, the territory's largest urban center. The offensive came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has rejected the findings, saying the probe was "distorted and false." Large parts of Gaza have been laid to waste due to the Israeli offensive, and last month a body backed by the United Nations officially declared famine in part of the territory.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Says It Won't Allow Aid Flotilla To Break Blockade on Gaza - The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a threat to the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is attempting to break Israel’s starvation siege on Gaza, warning that it wouldn’t allow the boats to breach the Israeli blockade.The Israeli Foreign Ministry has also labeled the flotilla as “Hamas,” suggesting that Israel may target the boats with military strikes. Earlier this month, two of the boats came under drone attack while they were in port in Tunisia, causing fires and damage but no injuries to the crew.“Statement Regarding the Hamas Flotilla (‘Sumud’): This flotilla, organized by Hamas, is intended to serve Hamas,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on X. “Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow the breach of a lawful naval blockade.”The ministry said that if the “flotilla participants’ genuine wish is to deliver humanitarian aid rather than serve Hamas, Israel calls on the vessels to dock at the Ashkelon Marina and unload the aid there, from where it will be transferred promptly in a coordinated manner to the Gaza Strip.” But the IDF continues to block food aid and humanitarian goods from entering Gaza despite an ongoing famine in the Palestinian territory.Dozens of boats are participating in the Sumud Flotilla, marking the fourth attempt this year to break Israel’s blockade, and the first time multiple vessels are being used in a single effort. According to a flotilla tracker, a total of 51 boats are heading to Gaza, with the majority currently off the coast of Libya.The first boat to try to break the blockade this year, the Conscience, came under Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in May, halting its journey.In June, another boat, the Madleen, made it close to Gaza’s coast before being boarded and seized by Israeli forces and taken into an Israeli port. The third boat, the Hamdala, was also captured by Israeli forces, and the humanitarian aid it was carrying was seized when it attempted to break the blockade in late July.Back in 2010, Israeli forces raided six boats attempting to break the blockade on Gaza, and nine Turkish activists were killed on one of the vessels.

Spain's PM says he will send warship to protect Gaza aid flotilla - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday he will join Italy in sending a military warship to protect an international flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza after it was attacked by drones off Greece. Sanchez told a press conference in New York, where he has been attending the UN General Assembly that the citizens of 45 countries were on board to deliver food to the population of Gaza and express solidarity with their suffering. "The government of Spain insists that international law be respected and that the right of our citizens should be respected to sail through the Mediterranean in safe conditions," he said. "Tomorrow we will dispatch a naval vessel from Cartagena with all necessary resources in case it was necessary to assist the flotilla and carry out a rescue operation." The Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, with many lawyers and activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. The vessels were attacked by 12 drones in international waters 30 nautical miles (56 km) off the Greek island of Gavdos, said Marikaiti Stasinou, a spokesperson for March to Gaza Greece, which is part of the flotilla. Thunberg told Reuters on Monday that they had drones flying over them each night. "This mission is about Gaza, it isn't about us. And no risks that we could take could even come close to the risks the Palestinians are facing every day," Thunberg said in a video call from the ship. Israel has repeatedly criticised the flotilla for its implied support for Hamas - a claim that is unfounded, but made no comment on whether it was responsible for the drones. Israel's genocide in Gaza has killed over 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and has spread famine, destroyed most buildings and displaced the population, in many cases multiple times.

Spain To Join Italy in Sending Warship To Assist Gaza Aid Flotilla After Israeli Attack - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Wednesday that Spain will join Italy in sending a military warship to help the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is attempting to deliver aid to starving Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and came under drone attack following threats from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. “Last night, multiple civilian boats were targeted by unmanned drones,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said on Wednesday. “The attacks included the deployment of explosive and incendiary devices, deliberate dispersal of chemical substances onto civilian vessels, disabling of emergency communication devices, and calculated physical damage designed to render the ships unseaworthy and endanger volunteers aboard.”The group added that all of its crew remain safe. According to a flotilla tracker, the flotilla consists of 52 boats, and the majority of them are currently right off the coast of Crete. Two boats previously came under drone attack when they were in Tunisia.Italy was the first country to announce it was deploying a warship to aid the flotilla, citing the presence of Italian citizens on the boats. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that to “ensure assistance to the Italian citizens on the flotilla,” he had “authorized the immediate intervention of the Italian Navy’s multi-purpose frigate Fasan.” Sanchez announced his plans to deploy a warship while attending the UN General Assembly in New York. “The government of Spain insists that international law be respected and that the right of our citizens should be respected to sail through the Mediterranean in safe conditions,” he said. “Tomorrow we will dispatch a naval vessel from Cartagena with all necessary resources in case it was necessary to assist the flotilla and carry out a rescue operation,” Sanchez added. According to Ann Wright, a retired US Army colonel and peace activist, at least 22 American citizens, including six veterans, are among the more than 500 unarmed crew members on boats in the flotilla. The US government has stayed quiet about the Israeli attacks on the flotilla boats despite the presence of US citizens.The Sumud Flotilla marks the fourth attempt to break Israel’s starvation blockade on Gaza this year, but the first time that multiple vessels are involved. The first boat to try to break the blockade this year, the Conscience, came under Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in May, halting its journey.In June, another boat, the Madleen, made it close to Gaza’s coast before being boarded and seized by Israeli forces and taken into an Israeli port. The third boat, the Hamdala, was also captured by Israeli forces, and the humanitarian aid it was carrying was seized when it attempted to break the blockade in late July. Back in 2010, Israeli forces raided six boats attempting to break the blockade on Gaza, and nine Turkish activists were killed on one of the vessels.

More Attacks On The Gaza Aid Flotilla, And Other Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix - Caitlin Johnstone - The Global Sumud Flotilla which is bringing aid to break the Israeli siege on Gaza has once again come under attack. Activists say drones are dropping explosive objects which have reportedly burned the arm of one crew member and destroyed the main mast of one of the boats.As Middle East Eye recently noted, US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack has admitted that Israel was behind the attacks on flotilla boats in Tunisia which we discussed earlier this month, stating offhand during an interview that “Israel is attacking Tunisia.”This happens as the Israeli government repeatedly issues statements branding the boats a “Hamas Flotilla” and claiming the activists are “pursuing a violent course of action,” something Israel tends to do when preparing to launch attacks on civilians in hospitals or press uniforms. The Israelis will literally launch drone strikes on activist boats for trying to bring formula to starving babies and then turn around and say the world hates them because of their religion. On Tuesday Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced the move by France, the UK, Canada and Australia to formally recognize the state of Palestine,telling CBS Mornings that “There is no Palestinian state no matter how many papers they put out, and the only time there’ll ever be one is if there is a negotiation with Israel.” It’s so surreal how Israel can come right out and explicitly say there will never, ever be a Palestinian state, and western officials will just keep babbling on about the possibility of Israel and Palestine negotiating a two-state solution as though it never happened.Sure is a crazy coincidence how all of Israel’s defensive actions in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen and the West Bank just so happen to look exactly the same as what it would look like if Israel was trying to massively expand its territory and take control of the middle east. Kamala Harris’ new book reportedly contains an admission that polls found her refusal to oppose the genocide in Gaza likely cost her the election. If I was a Democrat and I knew my refusal to oppose an active genocide was what got Donald Trump elected, I personally would shut the fuck up for a while.All the Democrats had to do was run an anti-genocide candidate. That’s all they needed to do to keep Trump out. It’s the most reasonable request voters could possibly have made of a candidate for the world’s most powerful elected office, and they adamantly refused to do it. In a recent interview with Rachel Maddow, Harris referred to Trump as a “communist dictator”. Democrats and Republicans are always calling each other communists while in real life neither of them will even give Americans a normal healthcare system because that would make the corporations sad.

Netanyahu Fumes as UK, Canada, Australia, and Portugal Announce Recognition of Palestinian State - The UK, Australia, Canada, and Portugal all announced on Sunday their formal recognition of a Palestinian state, a step that comes a day before the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York.“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a post on X.In response to the announcements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that there would never be a Palestinian state and bragged about his work over the years to prevent one.“It’s not going to happen. There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said. “For years, I have prevented the creation of that terror state, against tremendous pressure, both domestic and from abroad.The Israeli leader also said Israel would continue expanding Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “Moreover, we have doubled the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, and we will continue on this path,” he said.The Trump administration has discouraged its allies from recognizing a Palestinian state and has banned Palestinian Authority officials from attending the General Assembly. Trump has previously threatened a trade deal with Canada over its plans to recognize Palestine. Netanyahu said that he will announce his response to the Western countries recognizing Palestine after he returns from the US. The Israeli leader will attend the General Assembly in New York and is expected to travel to Washington for his fourth White House visit of the year.

Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba says recognition of Palestine inevitable -- Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba told the United Nations that Tokyo’s recognition of Palestine is a matter of “when” and not if, criticising Israeli officials for rejecting the idea of Palestinian statehood.His remarks come as more countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, Portugal and France, have recognised Palestine amid Israel’s war on Gaza. “I feel strongly indignant at the statements made by senior Israeli government officials that appear to categorically reject the very notion of Palestinian state-building,” Mr Ishiba said. “For our country, the question is not whether to recognise a Palestinian state, but when. The continued unilateral actions by the government of Israel can never be accepted,” he said. While affirming Japan’s close alliance with the US, Mr Ishiba warned Tokyo may take new measures if Israel continues obstructing a two-state solution, stressing the need for accountable Palestinian governance alongside peace with Israel.“I must state clearly that if further actions are taken that obstruct the realisation of a two-state solution, Japan will be compelled to take new measures in response,” he added.Almost 80 per cent of UN member states now recognise Palestine.Japan, despite being a key US ally, has been signalling a shift on Palestine – unlike South Korea and Singapore, which still withhold recognition of Palestine.Mr Ishiba said that the “terror inflicted by Hamas and the devastation in Gaza we are witnessing today have left many feeling deeply saddened”.He added: “What matters the most is that Palestine can exist in a sustainable manner, living side by side in peace with Israel.“As we invite Palestine to assume its role as a responsible member of the international community. The Palestinian side must establish a system of governance that ensures accountability,” he said.Israel and the US have been critical of the decisions by several nations, including the UK, to recognise Palestine, saying they are a “reward for Hamas”.UK’s Keir Starmer and his ministers reject that claim, and the PM announced a fresh wave of sanctions against Hamas recently, describing it as a “brutal terror organisation”. He repeated his demands for the release of hostages taken in the 7 October attacks. Canada, Australia, Portugal and France joined Britain in recognising Palestinian statehood on Sunday, as part of a coordinated effort to build global momentum towards a two-state solution.Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the establishment of a Palestinian state “will not happen”, in an angry response to recognition by the UK, Canada and Australia.“It will not happen,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video message. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River,” he said.

Irish rap group Kneecap banned from entering Canada for speaking out against genocide - The three-man Irish hip hop band Kneecap has been banned from entering Canada ahead of their sold-out concert dates in Toronto and Vancouver planned for October. Liberal MP Vince Gasparro, the parliamentary secretary for combating crime, announced the measure in a video statement filled with lies and doublespeak on the platform X (owned by jet-setting Hitler-saluting neo-Nazi, mega billionaire Elon Musk). Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh (Mo Chara), Naoise Ó Cairealláin (Móglaí Bap) and JJ Ó Dochartaigh (DJ Próvai) have been courageously speaking out against Israel’s Gaza genocide, which has been supported and facilitated by Canada and all the imperialist powers. Kneecap has garnered support and popularity among global audiences and fellow artists due to their courageous stand. After their performance at the Coachella music festival in April, where they projected statements condemning the Israeli government, their weekly US streams nearly doubled. Their set in June in Glastonbury “was so popular that organizers had to shut access to the arena to stop overcrowding,” according to a New York Times article. For this reason, Kneecap has become a target for persecution by Zionist organizations, right-wing media outlets and now governments. Canada is second on the list of countries to deny them entry after Hungary did so on July 24. The Hungarian government, whose far-right President Tamás Sulyok falsified his father’s Nazi past, has accused Kneecap of engaging in “antisemitic hate speech.” In his extraordinary announcement, Gasparro builds his entire case against Kneecap on the Terrorism Act charge the UK government has levelled against Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, which he is scheduled to fight in court in London on September 26. Equating an investigation with guilt, Gasparro accused the band of “advocating for political violence, glorifying terrorist organizations and displaying hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community.” The words “violence,” “hate” and “terrorist/terrorism” are repeated four times in the 1 minute and 40-second-long video. Meanwhile, this is how Gasparro refers to the slaughter of well over 65,000 Palestinians and the mass starvation of hundreds of thousands: “Let me be clear, Canada is never to be used as a platform for extremism or political violence and we will not tolerate international conflicts being used as an excuse to intimidate and harass Canadians here at home.” Kneecap has announced they will pursue legal action against Vince Gasparro. “No member of Kneecap has been convicted of ANY crime in ANY country EVER…We will be relentless in defending ourselves against baseless accusations to silence our opposition to a genocide being committed by Israel,” they wrote in a statement. They have also called to their fans to “stand up and speak out.”

One million Syrian refugees returned from abroad since Assad fall: UN- One million Syrian refugees have returned from abroad since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last December, the United Nations said on Wednesday, urging more support to allow others to follow. "In just nine months, one million Syrians have returned to their country following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government on 8 December 2024," the UN refugee agency said in a statement. In addition, it said that another 1.8 million people who had been displaced inside the country during its nearly 14 years of civil war had also returned to their areas of origin. While describing the mass returns as "a sign of the great hope and high expectations Syrians have following the political transition in the country", UNHCR warned that those returning faced "immense challenges". "Destroyed homes and infrastructure, weak and damaged basic services, a lack of job opportunities, and volatile security are challenging people's determination to return and recover," it said. The agency added that more than seven million Syrians remained displaced inside the country, with more than 4.5 million Syrian refugees still abroad. "They have endured a lot of suffering in the past 14 years and the most vulnerable among them still need protection and assistance," UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in the statement. UNHCR pointed to a recent survey indicating that 80 percent of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq wish to go home one day, including 18 percent wanting to go within the next year. But it stressed that sustained return and reintegration could only take place with more targeted investments in the areas of return. "This is a rare opportunity to resolve one of the largest displacement crises in the world," Grandi said. Yet UNHCR lamented that funding to address the crisis was "dwindling". Inside Syria, UN agencies have said they received less than a quarter of what they need to provide aid this year, while receiving just 30 percent of the funding needed to address the wider Syria situation.

World’s First China-Europe Arctic Express Launched, Cutting Transit Time To 18 Days --China has launched the world’s first China-Europe Arctic Express, a major step for the “Polar Silk Road” that aims to transform trade between Asia and Europe. On Monday, the container ship Istanbul Bridge departed from the Beiyi Container Terminal at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang province, embarking on its maiden voyage to Felixstowe, the United Kingdom’s largest container port. The vessel is carrying over 1,000 containers and will sail via the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which is expected to greatly shorten transit time. The 4,890-TEU vessel, built in 2000, is operated by Hong Kong-based Safetrans Line under the Chinese-invested company Sea Legend. Its exhaust gas scrubber status is currently “pending.” The new China-Europe Arctic Express offers a direct link between Chinese ports such as Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai, and Ningbo and Western Europe. Sea Legend said the transit time from Ningbo-Zhoushan to Felixstowe will take about 18 days, far shorter than alternative routes. For comparison, the same voyage via the Suez Canal would take over 40 days, while a route via the Cape of Good Hope would add another 10 days, making it more than 50 days in total. Even China-Europe Railway Express takes more than 25 days. According to Sea Legend, this new service will not only enhance supply chain speed but also reduce business inventory requirements by around 40% and lower capital costs. Li Xiaobin, COO of Sea Legend, added that the service provides a safer, more stable option for trade by passing through politically stable waters, reducing the risks of piracy, congestion, and geopolitical tensions. The route also promises environmental benefits, with claims that it could cut carbon emissions by about 50% compared to traditional detours. However, environmental experts have raised concerns about possible damage to fragile polar ecosystems and the safety risks of navigating the NSR with vessels that are not fully ice-class certified. A launch ceremony for the route, dubbed the “Polar Silk Road,” was held in Ningbo on Monday. China has indicated plans to expand the service into a year-round operation by 2030, despite ice build-up during winter months currently limiting it to seasonal sailings. The Istanbul Bridge is expected to arrive in the UK by October 10, strategically aligning the route with Europe’s pre-Christmas stocking-up season.