CENTCOM Reports Biggest Wave of Tanker Strikes Since War Began as Iran Claims It Hit 10 Ships and a U.S. Base; Vance Says He Is "Extremely Skeptical" of Iran's Wedding-Strike Account
U.S. Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian tankers on September 9 — the largest exchange of shipping attacks since the war began — while Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed it hit 10 ships and a U.S. base in Jordan; Vice President JD Vance had said days earlier, on September 3, that the U.S. is investigating but doubts Tehran's account of a September 1 strike on a wedding in Sirik County.
U.S.
Treasury Designates Hezbollah- and Kataib Hezbollah-Linked Companies and Individuals in Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and the UAE
The September 10 action by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is the latest step in "Operation Economic Outcast," a campaign against Iran and its allied armed groups announced on August 24, 2026.
Trump Pledges $5,000 Payments to Adult Citizens If Republicans Hold Congress; Budget Group Puts Cost Above $1.2 Trillion
At the RNC's midterm convention in Dallas on Sept. 9, 2026, Trump said he would issue a $5,000 "dividend" to every adult U.S. citizen if the GOP keeps the House and Senate; he gave no funding or legal mechanism, and Republicans including Rep. Chip Roy objected on cost and on principle.
U.S. Officials Say Trump Declined Saudi Request for Strikes on Houthis, Offered Intelligence and Targeting Data
Axios and CNN report that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked for U.S. strikes after Houthi forces took Yemen's port of Mokha on Sept. 10; the White House has not confirmed the calls.
Federal Judge Rules Two Immigration Law Provisions Cannot Be Used Against Noncitizens' Protected Speech
U.S. District Judge Noël Wise issued a 90-page declaratory judgment on Aug. 28, 2026, in a suit brought by The Stanford Daily and an anonymous student visa holder; the government has not said whether it will appeal.
White House Says $500 Checks Will Go to Nearly 1 Million ACA Enrollees in 30 States Starting in October
President Trump announced the payments in a recorded Oval Office address on September 10, 2026, describing them as refunds of Affordable Care Act exchange "user fees"; the administration has not released its calculations, and Democrats and some health-policy analysts dispute that enrollees were overcharged.
Georgia Guard Member Charged With Two Felonies After Allegedly Drawing Gun on Fellow Soldier in D.C.
Police say Zion Mitchell, 21, pointed a loaded pistol at another guardsman during an Aug. 25 argument over hairstyle rules; he faces assault and firearm charges and is being held in the D.C. Jail.
N.C.
National Weather Service Forecasts Rain From a Coastal Low in Central North Carolina Starting Sept. 15, With Isolated Flash Flooding Possible
Forecasters expect up to about 1.5 inches of rain in Raleigh and up to 3 inches east of the Triangle through midweek, with a 10% chance of up to 5 inches in Wayne and Wilson counties.
NC Utilities Commission Holds Sept. 9 Hearing on Duke Energy's 850-Megawatt Simple-Cycle Gas Plant in Rowan County
Duke Energy Carolinas is asking state regulators to certify two gas-fired combustion turbines at its Buck site, with data-center growth at the center of the fight over whether the plant is needed and who should pay for it.
North Carolina Awards $125,000 Grant for SteelFab's $19 Million Fayetteville Expansion and 38 Jobs
Gov. Josh Stein and the state Commerce Department announced the Cumberland County project on Sept. 9; city and county governments had already approved a separate $691,037 in local incentives.
NC Supreme Court Sets Nov. 10 Arguments in Two Stein-Legislature Appointment Power Cases
The court allotted 2.5 hours, split between a dispute over filling appellate judicial vacancies and a dispute over the makeup of state boards and commissions.
All Five Living Former NC Governors File Brief Backing Stein in Appointment-Power Cases Set for Nov. 10 Argument
Democrats Cooper, Perdue and Easley and Republicans McCrory and Martin asked the North Carolina Supreme Court to accept a joint friend-of-the-court brief in Stein v. Berger and Stein v. Hall, two consolidated challenges to laws limiting the governor's board and judicial-vacancy appointments.
NC Audit Finds Lottery Sales Rose to $6.6 Billion in FY2025 While Education Transfers Held Near $1.08 Billion
State Auditor Dave Boliek's performance audit reports the share of lottery sales sent to the Education Lottery Fund fell from 23% in fiscal 2023 to 16% in fiscal 2025, and asks lawmakers to decide whether the lottery's goal is total dollars or a target percentage.
Finance
U.S. Average Diesel Price Reaches $6.06 a Gallon on Sept. 11, a Nominal Record; California Averages $7.98
AAA's national diesel average topped $6 for the first time in nominal dollars as the U.S.-Iran war, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on Russian refineries squeeze global diesel supply; adjusted for inflation, the 2022 and 2008 peaks were higher.
ECB Raises Key Rates 25 Basis Points, Lifting Deposit Rate to 2.50%; Euro Slips to About $1.16 as U.S. Producer Prices Rise 0.4% in August
The European Central Bank's second hike since the U.S.-Iran war began was unanimous and widely expected; the euro gained against most major currencies but fell against a dollar lifted by hot U.S. producer-price data one day before the August CPI report.
Kroger Reports 0.2% Identical-Sales Growth in Second Quarter, Lowers Full-Year Sales Outlook and Reaffirms Earnings Guidance
In CEO Greg Foran's first earnings report, Kroger posted $971 million in operating profit for the 12 weeks ended August 15, 2026, cut its full-year identical-sales range to 0.2%-0.8%, and left its adjusted per-share earnings forecast unchanged.
Labor Department Releases August CPI Report Sept. 11; Futures Markets Put Fed Rate-Hike Odds Above 70% Ahead of Sept. 15-16 Meeting
Forecasters expected headline inflation near 3.3% to 3.4% and core inflation easing to 2.4%, days before a Federal Reserve meeting at which the White House has publicly lobbied against a rate increase.
Gold Trades Back Above $4,400 an Ounce as Dollar Slips to Four-Month Low, Ending Three-Session Slide
Gold rose about 1% on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, as traders waited on U.S. inflation data before the Federal Reserve's September 16 decision; the metal remains roughly 21% below its January 28 intraday record of $5,589.38.
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.
World
Russian Drones Hit Pavlohrad Shopping Center; Canada Pledges C$350 Million for Ukrainian Air Defense
Ukrainian officials say a daytime drone attack on a shopping center in Pavlohrad killed at least four people on Sept. 10, hours after Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a partnership declaration in Calgary.
Lithuania and Latvia Warned in July of Possible Russian Attacks on Energy and Transport Links; NATO Allies Report Foiling an Arctic Cable Operation
Baltic and Polish leaders cited intelligence about possible strikes on infrastructure, Moscow called the warnings a pretext for NATO buildup, and Western officials say submersibles were confronted near Svalbard in the spring.
Iran's President Arrives in New Delhi for BRICS Summit; Foreign Minister Holds De-escalation Call With Pakistan's Army Chief
Masoud Pezeshkian landed in India on Sept. 11 ahead of the Sept. 12-13 BRICS summit and was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir about restarting talks with Washington.
IAEA Board Votes 23-3, With 8 Abstentions, to Report Iran to the UN Security Council
The nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board formally reported Iran to the Security Council over unverified nuclear material, a step the U.S., Britain, France and Germany drafted and Russia, China and Niger opposed.
Drone Crossed Moldovan and Romanian Airspace on Sept. 8, Delaying Zelensky's Flight to Norway
Moldova closed its airspace for about an hour, holding or diverting seven aircraft including President Volodymyr Zelensky's plane; Norway's prime minister said the plane was "almost hit," while Moldovan and Ukrainian officials say it took off only after the drone had crashed.
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.
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.