CENTCOM Says It Destroyed Five Iranian Tankers; Jordan Reports Intercepting 18 of 20 Iranian Missiles
U.S. Central Command says Iranian forces twice tried to hit a Navy warship and that it then struck five tankers tied to Iran's oil network; Jordan's army says it shot down 18 of 20 Iranian ballistic missiles, with no casualties reported.
U.S.
Justice Department Asks Supreme Court to Let DHS Resume Voter-Roll Citizenship Checks; Challengers' Response Due Sept. 15
The administration filed an emergency application on Sept. 8 after a federal judge and a divided D.C. Circuit panel blocked the expanded SAVE database, which lower courts found violated federal privacy and Social Security law.
D.C. Circuit Upholds Injunction Blocking IRS From Sharing Taxpayer Addresses With ICE
A three-judge panel ruled unanimously on September 8, 2026 that the IRS policy behind 47,289 address disclosures to ICE likely violated Section 6103 of the tax code, leaving a lower court's preliminary injunction in place.
Federal Judge Issues 14-Day Order Requiring Missouri's 2025 Map, Hours After Kavanaugh Declines to Block State Court Order Requiring the 2022 Map
Two courts have now told Missouri's secretary of state to use two different congressional maps for the Nov. 3 election, and both orders are in effect.
Rubio Visits Colombia, Ecuador and Peru on Sept. 8-10 Trip Covering Counternarcotics, Trade and Earthquake Aid
The State Department lists three agenda items for the trip, which follows an August U.S.-Venezuela oil arrangement that critics in the region have called colonial.
Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans Lapses Sept. 9; DHS Published No Termination Notice in the Federal Register
USCIS notices say El Salvador's TPS designation and its work permits end Sept. 9, 2026, while immigration lawyers say the department missed a statutory 60-day review deadline that they argue triggers an automatic six-month extension.
Judge Rules West Point's Faculty Pre-Approval Speech Policy Unconstitutional, Four Months After Blocking It
U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel, who blocked the U.S. Military Academy's pre-approval rule for civilian faculty in May, issued a ruling against the policy on September 8, 2026, after the academy declined to appeal and agreed in August to a permanent bar.
N.C.
North Carolina Report Finds Reported Crime Down in All Four Major Categories From January Through June 2026
State analysts told the Governor's Crime Commission on Sept. 3 that violent, property, financial and drug offenses all fell against the same months of 2025, while domestic-related offenses such as kidnapping and intimidation rose.
First $55 Million Round of North Carolina's $193.5 Million Helene Infrastructure Grant Program Closes; State Sources List Sept. 8 and Sept. 16 Deadlines
The Renew NC Community Infrastructure Program's opening round covers water, sewer, roads and parks work in 29 storm-affected counties, and arrives amid a two-year fight over how slowly Helene recovery money has moved.
North Carolina Awards $2.4 Million to 46 Small Businesses Under One NC Small Business Program for Fiscal 2026
The state announced 50 technology-commercialization grants across 13 counties for the fiscal year that ended June 30, down from $4.12 million and 90 businesses the year before, in a year when the federal SBIR/STTR programs the grants are tied to lapsed for six months.
UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Question Chancellor and Police Chief Over No Alert Carolina Message After Aug. 31 Greenlaw Hall Incident
At a Sept. 4 Faculty Council meeting, Chancellor Lee Roberts and Police Chief Brian James said the suspect was in custody within about 17 minutes, faster than a campus-wide alert can be approved; some faculty and students called the silence an abandonment.
N.C. Justice Officials Brief State Crime Commission on Rising Fraud and Sextortion Reports, Citing $432 Million in 2025 Internet-Crime Losses
State Department of Justice staff told the Governor's Crime Commission on Sept. 3 that fraud, extortion and sextortion complaints in North Carolina have climbed, drawing on SBI, FBI and FTC data that measures reports rather than confirmed crimes.
Matthews Mayor Asks Charlotte to Cover Small Towns' Share of I-77 Toll Penalty Before Sept. 23 CRTPO Vote
Mayor John Higdon says Charlotte should pay the state repayment bill facing smaller towns, as regional planners face an Oct. 5 state deadline to restore support for the I-77 South express lanes or reimburse NCDOT for design work it puts at $69.58 million.
Finance
Amgen Shares Fall About 10% After Novartis Says Pelacarsen Missed Its Main Goal in a Phase III Heart Trial
Novartis reported on September 4 that pelacarsen lowered lipoprotein(a) but did not cut cardiovascular events in an 8,323-patient study; Amgen fell 9.8% on September 8 after a BMO Capital Markets downgrade, while Novartis's Zurich-listed shares fell about 1.9% on September 7.
Treasury's Enlarged Long-Bond Buybacks Take Effect Sept. 9, Raising the Per-Operation Cap From $2 Billion to at Least $4 Billion
Treasury announced the change on Aug. 19; the 10-year and 30-year yields fell that day and gave back the decline the next session.
EverBank and WaFd Agree to $3.9 Billion Reverse Merger, Creating a Bank With About $75 Billion in Assets
Under the deal announced Sept. 7, EverBank's investors would own about 59.2% of the combined company, which would keep the EverBank name and trade on Nasdaq as EVBK after an expected early-2027 close.
Iran Says Hormuz Corridor Deal With Oman Is Days Away as Brent Trades Near $97
Iran's Foreign Ministry says a temporary shipping corridor agreed in principle with Oman on August 26 will be announced shortly; the United States says the strait is already open and keeps its naval blockade in place.
Canada's Counter-Tariffs of 15% to 50% Take Effect on C$27.6 Billion of U.S. Goods
Ottawa's surtaxes on more than 700 American products began at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, matching the 50% U.S. Section 338 tariffs that hit Canadian goods on Aug. 22, and paired with a C$7.5 billion aid package for Canadian workers and businesses.
GameStop Projects Q2 Net Income of $290-310 Million as Net Sales Fall to $780-800 Million; eBay Stake Added $238 Million in Net Gains
GameStop's preliminary second-quarter figures show profit up and sales down, with about $238 million in net gains tied to its eBay stake and about $75 million in losses on digital assets; full results were due September 8.
World
WFP Asks for $101 Million for Congo Ebola Response, Citing 5,500 Cases and 2,642 Deaths in the Outbreak's First 100 Days
The Bundibugyo-strain outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, declared a global health emergency in May, had more than 6,600 confirmed cases reported as of early September, and the U.S. has both pledged money and barred entry from three African countries.
U.K., Canada and 10 Other European Countries Announce Trade Restrictions on Israeli Settlement Goods; Israel Closes British Consulate in Jerusalem
Twelve governments said on September 8 they will curb trade with Israeli West Bank settlements; Israel called the move hostile and retaliated, and the Trump administration said the United States will not join.
Houthi Missiles and Drones Hit Four Southwestern Saudi Cities; Saudi-Led Coalition Says 73 Wounded
The Saudi-led coalition said the September 8 attacks on Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait started fires and briefly halted work at oil and utility sites; the Houthis said the strikes answered three days of Saudi air raids in Yemen.
Militants Raid Hunting Lodge and Town in Mozambique's Niassa Province; Police Report 11 Abducted, Three Americans Evacuated
Mozambican police say attackers struck Marangira and a nearby safari camp on Sept. 3, killing at least one person and taking hostages, including a South African mechanic; three U.S. hunters were flown out unhurt.
Taiwan's Air Force Budgets NT$6.88 Billion for 26 Hardened Aircraft Shelters in Hualien and Taitung
The shelters, listed in the defense ministry's 2027 budget proposal and scheduled through 2031, are part of a "one aircraft, one shelter" policy for F-16Vs on Taiwan's east coast, where deliveries of 66 new jets from the United States began in August 2026.
North Korea Commissions Destroyer Kang Kon at Wonsan; U.S., South Korea and Japan Begin Freedom Edge Drills the Next Day
Kim Jong Un attended the September 6 commissioning of the 5,000-ton Kang Kon, the second Choe Hyon-class destroyer to enter service since June, and called it part of North Korea's "state nuclear counteraction system."
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.