September 30, 2026

MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 215.

• Iran said today that it has received a U.S. response to its latest proposal to restore the collapsed ceasefire, days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had rejected it. The proposal calls for the U.S. to lift its blockade of Iranian ports and for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,677 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said today that an increase in Russian airstrikes has brought "days of almost uninterrupted air raid alerts across Ukraine," amidst concerns that Russia may be renewing attempts to "weaponize winter" by targeting energy facilities to deny Ukrainians heating and running water. [more]

U.S. MILITARY | Pentagon officials confirmed yesterday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth intends to double his planned reduction in the number of generals and admirals in the U.S. military, from 10% to 20% of the roughly 800 such positions, with the cuts to be completed by January 1, 2027. Hegseth is expected to announce the change in his "State of the Force" speech today in Quantico, Virginia. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | In an unsigned order yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to continue quickly deporting migrants to countries other than their own while the justices consider whether the policy is legal, temporarily lifting lower court requirements that migrants be given a chance to object before being sent to countries to which they have no ties. The court will hear arguments in the case in December. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Amidst bipartisan criticism of the White House's recent federally funded campaign-style television ads promoting President Donald Trump, reports cite a letter sent by two prominent Democratic senators to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin as indicating the DHS has set aside $20 million originally meant for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to pay for the ads. Senators Patty Murray and Chris Murphy asked Mullin to provide further information about use of the funds within 48 hours. [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT SPENDING | In a review sent to lawmakers yesterday, the Government Accountability Office said President Donald Trump's plan to cancel some $810 million in congressionally approved spending through a so-called pocket rescission is illegal, and that the funds cannot be withheld after the fiscal year ends today. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects the courts to have the final word on the matter. [more]

U.S. FOREIGN POLICY | Amidst the Trump administration's continuing withdrawal from international and multilateral organizations, the Council of Europe said yesterday that the United States has left its anti-corruption watchdog, the Group of States against Corruption, becoming only the third country to do so, after Russia and Belarus. The State Department said U.S. membership, which requires an annual contribution, provides no tangible benefit to U.S. national security. [more]

U.S. PHILANTHROPY | In what the school says is the largest-ever single gift to a U.S. college, Carnegie Mellon University announced today that hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion to build a new 35-acre campus in Miami, Florida, and expand programs at the school's main Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, campus. [more]

U.S. AI INDUSTRY | In a social media post yesterday, President Donald Trump announced the signing of a voluntary accord under which several major artificial intelligence companies, including Anthropic, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Nvidia, and xAI, commit to "self-police" AI development through internal controls, independent external audits, and oversight committees on their boards of directors. [full accord] [more]

CALIFORNIA | Citing "substantial compliance" with dozens of court-ordered reforms, a federal judge yesterday ended 23 years of federal monitoring of the Oakland Police Department, the longest-running oversight of a police department in U.S. history. The oversight began in 2003 following a police brutality and corruption scandal. [more]

U.S. AND BURUNDI | Officials in Burundi said yesterday that their government has agreed to accept people deported from the United States who have no prior connection to the East African country, but provided few details on the number of such persons expected or when transfers would begin. [more]

U.S., QATAR, AND AFGHANISTAN | Reports say the United States and Qatar have agreed to postpone for nine months the closure of Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, which houses more than 1,000 Afghans who assisted the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan or who are relatives of U.S. service members. The camp had been scheduled to close today. [more]

U.S. AND IRAQ | The U.S. military announced today that it has completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq under an agreement reached with the Iraqi government in 2024, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group. [more]

U.K. AND E.U. | U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said today that rejoining the European Union is among the options his government could examine to reshape the country's long-term relationship with Europe, saying the current Brexit settlement has caused "more harm than good." [more]

KOREA | North Korea today rejected a South Korean military assessment that North Korean land mines likely injured three South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone last week, and threatened "immediate and merciless" retaliation if South Korean troops fire on North Korean soldiers fortifying the border. [more]

ISRAEL | A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely today, after what Israeli officials say may have been an attempted "terror attack" in which the co-pilot is believed to have stabbed the captain. The incident remains under investigation. [more]

PAKISTAN AND SAUDI ARABIA | Citing a mutual defense pact the two countries signed with Turkey in August, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said yesterday that Pakistan will use "whatever means are available" to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, but declined to say whether Pakistani forces have already taken part in airstrikes. [more]

SOCCER | An independent panel found yesterday that English Premier League club Manchester City committed almost all of the more than 115 league rule violations with which it had been charged, including artificially inflating its revenues by more than $1 billion over nearly a decade to appear to comply with the league's financial rules. The club, which faces sanctions that could include a points deduction or expulsion from the league, says it plans to appeal. [more]

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS | The Sweden-based Right Livelihood Award, often called the "Alternative Nobel Prize," was awarded today to two women and two women-led organizations challenging authoritarian rule, violence and discrimination against women, and the harms caused by artificial intelligence. The recipients are Pakistani human rights lawyer Jalila Haider, Ethiopian-born AI researcher Timnit Gebru, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, and the Rural Women's Assembly, a network of women farmers across Southern Africa. [full awardee info] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1949, the Berlin airlift officially ended after Western Allied powers delivered 2.3 million tons of food, fuel, machinery, and other supplies to West Berlin, which had been cut off during the 11-month Soviet blockade of the city. [more history]