U.S. Strikes About 100 IRGC Targets Near the Strait of Hormuz; Iran Fires Missiles and Drones at Bases in Five Countries
CENTCOM says its September 1 strikes hit Iranian air defense, radar, mine-laying and maritime sites; Iran says it answered with missiles and drones at U.S. and partner bases in Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq, and says a U.S. missile killed civilians at a wedding in Kuhestak.
U.S.
Justice Department Asks Supreme Court to Lift Boston Judge's 14-Day Order Blocking New USPS Mail-Ballot Rule
Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed an emergency application on Sept. 3 seeking a stay of Judge Indira Talwani's Aug. 27 restraining order, days before North Carolina and Alabama begin mailing ballots.
Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Aug. 6 Birthright Citizenship Order for a Certified Class of Children
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman granted a preliminary injunction on Sept. 2 in the same Maryland case the Supreme Court decided in June, writing that the new order is "almost certainly unconstitutional" as applied to that class.
Center for Immigration Studies Says Census Survey Shows Foreign-Born Population Down 2.9 Million From January 2025 to July 2026
The private research group's reading of the Current Population Survey also estimates the unauthorized population fell 2.3 million; economists at Brookings and the Peterson Institute say the survey's weighting makes the size of the drop uncertain.
State Department Designates Five Cuban Entities and Raúl Castro's Grandson Under Executive Order 14404
The September 3, 2026 action names oil-import firm Abapet, state-owned Banco Exterior de Cuba, nickel and energy companies, and 31-year-old Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, as Cuba's grid runs a peak power shortfall of roughly 2,300 megawatts.
N.C.
North Carolina's 100 County Boards Begin Mailing Absentee Ballots Sept. 4 While USPS Rule Stays Blocked by Court Order
North Carolina is the first state to send 2026 general-election mail ballots, and it is doing so under a federal judge's temporary block on a Postal Service rule that 23 states, including North Carolina, are challenging.
Federal Jury in Charlotte Convicts Two on Misdemeanor Counts From November 2025 ICE Facility Protest
William Stanley and Heather Morrow were found guilty September 2 of blocking a federal entrance and impeding federal employees; Morrow was also convicted of interfering with a federal officer, and no sentencing date has been set.
Trump Signs Funding Bill Moving Federal Hemp THC Limits to Dec. 11; NC House Vote on HB 328 Set for November
Congress pushed most of the new federal hemp THC standard from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, and North Carolina House members say they will take up their own hemp bill, House Bill 328, when they return in November.
National Weather Service Issues Heat Advisory for Union, Anson and Richmond Counties; Charlotte Forecast High of 97 on Sept. 3
Forecasters say heat index values could reach 107 to 108 degrees in the three advisory counties, with strong thunderstorms expected to end the hot stretch Saturday.
CMPD Officers Shoot and Wound Man on Autumn Frost Trail After Protective-Order Call; State Bureau of Investigation Reviewing
Charlotte police say 39-year-old Darnell Simms fired first and officers returned fire on Sept. 1; the North Carolina SBI and CMPD Internal Affairs are both investigating, and no body-camera video has been released.
North Carolina WARN Filings Show 3,402 Announced Layoffs So Far in 2026, About 30% of Them in the Charlotte Area
State Commerce Department notices logged large cuts at Lowe's, Thermo Fisher Scientific and a Family Dollar distribution center, even as North Carolina's unemployment rate stayed near 3.6%.
Finance
Dow Closes Up 624 Points as 10-Year Treasury Yield Eases From Its Highest Level Since November 2023
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Sept. 3 he would be inclined to hold rates steady rather than raise them if inflation keeps cooling, and traders cut the odds of a September hike from 63.2% to 50.4%.
BLS Releases August Employment Report Friday as Fed Officials Debate a Rate Increase at the Sept. 15-16 Meeting
Forecasters going into the 8:30 a.m. release expected roughly 53,000 to 58,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate near 4.1%, while Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has pointed to inflation as the bigger worry.
Broadcom Reports $29.6 Billion in Quarterly Revenue, Up 86%; Shares Close Down 3.4% After $34.8 Billion Guidance
The chipmaker beat analyst estimates for the quarter ended Aug. 2 and said AI chip sales rose 221% to $16.7 billion, while its fourth-quarter revenue forecast came in roughly $200 million below the Wall Street consensus.
Fed Governor Waller Says He Could Back Holding Rates Steady If the Sept. 11 Inflation Report Shows Cooling
Waller's Sept. 3 remarks set a data condition for the Sept. 15-16 policy meeting and read as less hawkish than Chair Kevin Warsh's Aug. 28 Jackson Hole speech; futures pricing for a rate increase fell toward a coin flip.
World
Nepal and China Report 1,280 Combined Flood Deaths and More Than 5,600 Missing as of Sept. 3
Nine days after a Himalayan glacier collapse sent a debris flood down the Trishuli valley, Nepal and China are still searching for the missing, and the U.S. aid package has grown to $3.6 million.
Tens of Thousands March Across Spain Over Ceuta Border Crossings; Madrid Authorities Put Capital Turnout at 50,000
Protests on Sept. 2, 2026 followed a July surge of migrants from Morocco into Spain's Ceuta enclave, with the Spanish government, opposition parties, Morocco and the EU disputing the cause and the response.
Ukraine's SBU and Military Intelligence Exchange Gunfire in Kyiv; Three HUR Officers Wounded, Zelensky Orders Dismissals at Both Agencies
Officers of Ukraine's domestic security service and its military intelligence directorate shot at each other in Kyiv on September 2, 2026, during a dispute over the detention of a Russian Volunteer Corps commander; President Volodymyr Zelensky called it "absolutely disgraceful," dismissed an SBU department head, and ordered the deputy heads of both agencies removed.
Ukraine Reports 5 Killed and 66 Injured in Overnight Russian Strikes; Odesa Governor Says 17 Hurt
Ukraine's Air Force says Russia launched 163 drones and other aerial targets overnight on September 3, as U.S.-mediated talks remain without a scheduled next round.
Israel Says Special Forces Captured Hamas Internal Security Chief in Gaza City Raid; Medics Report Four Palestinians Killed
The Israeli military and Shin Bet confirmed the September 1 operation and said accompanying airstrikes protected the extraction team; Hamas called the raid a violation that could bring down the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
IAEA Says It Has Not Verified Iran's Enriched Uranium Stockpile Since June 2025 Strikes
In a quarterly report dated September 1, 2026, the UN nuclear agency said it still has no access to Iran's four declared enrichment plants and cannot confirm the size or location of a stockpile last measured at 440.9 kilograms of 60% uranium.
Analysis
Unbiased, evergreen deep-dives on the bigger questions — not breaking news.
What Fauci's Released Diary Documents About the U.S. COVID-19 Response — and What It Leaves Unresolved
A 1,141-page personal diary released by Sen. Rand Paul's committee is roughly one-third routine administrative logging; a minority of entries bear directly on contested questions, and a few conflict with contemporaneous public statements.
Eight Months of Mamdani: What New York's Record Actually Shows, and What It Cannot Yet Show
A claim-by-claim audit of what Zohran Mamdani has delivered, how New Yorkers judge it, and what the evidence does and does not license anyone to conclude about the rest of the country.