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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR
President Trump on Saturday said he rejected Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and bring the Iran war to an end. Trump yesterday told Axios that he expects U.S. negotiators to engage in more talks with Iran this week, but on a different deal to Iran’s initial proposal. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Barak Ravid reports.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi yesterday said Iran was still awaiting an official U.S. response to the ceasefire proposal before abandoning efforts to restart talks about the plan, and brushed off Trump’s comments as a “first reaction” to the proposal. Araghchi added that only a “negotiated solution” can get the United States out of a deadlock. Erika Solomon and Alan Rappeport report for the New York Times; Trevor Hunnicutt, Yomna Ehab and Jana Choukeir report for Reuters.
Iranian Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia yesterday said Iran’s armed forces are prepared for any renewed U.S. attacks. Separately, Iranian Army Commander-in-Chief Amir Hatami said the war was at a critical and decisive stage, and added that Iran would not accept a situation where it was unable to trade while foreign powers used the strait. Reuters reports.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday that Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear program, even if the United States accepts their proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Parisa Hafezi and Don Durfee report.
Eight U.S. Marines were injured on Sep. 14 when an Iranian missile struck the ship they were operating on in the strait, sources told NBC News. The Marines were not a U.S. Navy ship, and sources declined to define what type of ship it was. The U.S. Defense Department did not disclose any Sep. 14 attacks against U.S. forces.
IRAN WAR – YEMEN
Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry yesterday said seven people were killed and 40 injured in a strike on shops at a market in the Mawiya junction in Taiz province. Children were amongst the injured, and Yemeni military sources told Reuters that Houthi militants had recently established a military camp near the market. Ahmed Tolba and Mohammed Ghobari report.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Gloucestershire police have arrested five men on suspicion of terrorism offenses after stopping three suspicious vehicles driving toward Royal Air Force Fairford base in Gloucestershire, southwest England. Armed officers initially arrested the men on suspicion of committing offenses under the Explosives Act, and later arrested them on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act, according to Counter Terrorism Policing. Gloucestershire police Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone said around 85 households were also advised to evacuate. RAF Fairford hosts the United States Air Force, which was authorized to use the base for “defensive” strikes on Iran earlier this year. Mason Boycott-Owen and Pieter Haeck report for POLITICO.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Saturday told the U.N. General Assembly that “China holds that the sovereignty and security of countries in the Middle East, including the Gulf, should be respected.” Han said that major countries also have “special responsibilities for safeguarding international peace and security” and that they should “take the lead in complying with the rules.” Antoni Slodlowski reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russian attacks in Ukraine over the weekend have killed at least 12 people, and injured many more. Russian airstrikes in Kyiv on Friday killed seven people, including a child, and injured 58. Russian drone attacks across Ukraine yesterday killed five people, struck the headquarters of Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile service provider, and struck military infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the attacks on civilian areas as “terrorism.” Dan Peleschuk and Anna Pruchnicka report for Reuters; Ron Popeski reports for Reuters; Max Hunder reports for Reuters; Reuters reports.
Ukrainian city Kharkiv’s Mayor Ihor Terekhov today said a guided Russian aerial bomb injured 22 people, including children, as it struck an apartment in the northeast city. Authorities in Kyiv reported a Russian drone hit a petrol station. Jekaterīna Golubkova reports for Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today said Ukraine was paying the price for its own attacks on Russia in recent months. Dmitry Antonov reports for Reuters.
Ukraine’s Brigadier-General Andrii Biletskyi today said Ukraine’s Third Army Corps recaptured more territory from Russian forces in the north of the Donetsk region. Operation “Vivaldi” has so far in total recaptured 176 sq km in the north of Donestsk. Anna Pruchnicka reports for Reuters.
South Korea’s presidential office today demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine after Ukraine unilaterally disclosed the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea despite a prior agreement to keep the matter confidential. The office said Ukraine’s subsequent denial that a confidentiality agreement existed was false and damaged trust between the two countries. Kyu-seok Shim reports for Reuters.
The Trump administration has made legally binding commitments to spend $307 million of the $400 million of Congress approved Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding before the Sep. 30 deadline, sources told Reuters. Patricia Zengerle and Mike Stone report.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov on Saturday met his German counterpart Johann Wadephul on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The meeting, requested by Wadephul according to Lavrov, was the first of its kind since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. Wadephul said on social media that he told Lavrov that Russia “must end its war of aggression against Ukraine and cease its hostile actions against Germany and its allies.” Lavrov addressed the assembly after the meeting and said Russia’s fight would be “seen through to the end.” Farnaz Fassihi reports for the New York Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Around seven out of ten Swiss voters yesterday appear to have rejected a proposal to introduce a stricter version of the country’s neutrality principle, according to projections from Swiss polling institute GFS Bern. Russia had openly backed the initiative, which argued that Swiss neutrality should always be applied and “not adjusted on a case-by-case or ad hoc basis.” Pieter Haeck reports for POLITICO.
The EU is developing proposals that would see four countries closest to joining the bloc given a clear step-by-step path toward membership, sources told POLITICO. Targeted “roadmaps” are being considered for Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania, though unclear timelines as to when they might be formally admitted remain. Gabriel Gavin reports.
The EU and the United States on Friday rejected a declaration by member countries of the U.N. that pledged international collaboration and solidarity in preparing for and responding to pandemics. The declaration is largely ceremonial and not legally binding. The EU disagreed with the statement on intellectual property protection lines, while the United States objected because the document included “divisive ideologies that lack definitional consensus.” Apoorva Mandavilli reports for the New York Times.
Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry yesterday said its forces killed 28 fighters and captured 32 others on Saturday, including alleged members of the Islamic State group said to have crossed from Pakistan. The ministry claimed several IS-affiliated groups had been sent with the support of Pakistani authorities “with the aim of carrying out acts of subversion and creating insecurity.” Abdul Qahar Afghan and Munir Ahmed report for AP News.
U.S. AI DEVELOPMENTS
OpenAI, Anthropic, and security researchers are investigating tens of thousands of incidents in which their frontier models made moves that external evaluators would consider problematic, sources told Axios. The incidents occurred in internal testing and in the real world, and many have yet to become public as security researchers continue to investigate. Madison Mills reports.
A report published on Saturday detailed how OpenAI agents went to great lengths to access data on the U.N. Trade and Development website in June. Rowan Howard-Jones, the author of the report, said the bots appear to have been tasked with looking up publicly available information, but resorted to extreme techniques when presented with obstacles to retrieving it. Robert McMillan reports for the Wall Street Journal.
OpenAI on Friday disclosed dozens of incidents in which its models behaved in ways it has deemed problematic, including interacting with several U.S government websites in unexpected ways and leaking more than 50 images from ChatGPT users online. The models accessed publicly available information on two websites operated by the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as U.S. Census Bureau data. The company says it could take months to fully investigate the security incidents. Madison Mills reports for Axios; Kaitlyn Huamani and Garance Burke report for AP News.
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” said that requiring a “kill switch” for AI would not be enough to prevent people from using the technology to carry out attacks. Gates said he was not opposed to a kill switch but argued that companies should monitor sophisticated AI Models and keep records of “exactly what’s being done.” Jalen Beckford reports for POLITICO.
Trump planned to host Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for dinner in the White House yesterday, sources told Axios. Amodei did not attend last week’s state dinner due to a scheduling conflict, and so Trump personally invited Amodei to the dinner. Maria Curi and Marc Caputo report.
Co-founder of Palantir Joe Lonsdale on Friday said efforts by some leading AI companies to warn of existential risks from AI amounted to a dangerous attempt to shape public policy. Lonsdale criticized what he described as efforts by people close to Anthropic and at OpenAI to fund outside groups advocating stronger AI regulation, which he argued could lead to a small number of companies shaping the rules governing the AI industry, entrenching their market power. Joe Brock reports for Reuters.
The White House late Friday announced China had agreed to set up a dialogue on AI, with a communications channel to help defuse serious incidents. The two sides agreed to refer to AI as “super intelligence” according to a fact sheet with outcomes from Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ben Berkowitz reports for Axios.
U.S. CHINA DEVELOPMENTS
The U.S.-China Board of Trade today unveiled $60 billion of reciprocal tariff cuts between the two countries. China is set to cut tariffs on a broad range of U.S. agricultural goods as part of the cuts, but top import item soybeans were excluded from the reduction list. Ella Cao, Naveen Thukral, and Lewis Jackson report for Reuters.
U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue yesterday said Trump asked Xi if he would like to buy U.S. weapons. The State Department said that U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China and “there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.” Edward Wong reports for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday said the Trump administration is comfortable maintaining its trade standoff with Canada, even as new U.S. import bans on Canadian products take effect this week. David Shepardson reports for Reuters.
A classified intelligence assessment provided to Congress asserted that Saudi Arabia has left open the option of developing a nuclear weapon, according to sources. The sources emphasized that Saudi Arabia has not made any decision to pursue a nuclear weapon. Julian E. Barnes and Robert Jimison report for the New York Times.
The Army Reserve is examining whether it can provide Southern Command with police forces, medical personnel, and other support units within the next four months, according to an internal Army message reviewed by CBS News. Though the message makes no reference to Cuba, the request is for continued military planning aimed at Cuba according to U.S. officials. James LaPorta reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
A federal judge on Friday held the Trump administration in contempt for deporting a young asylum seeker to El Salvador in violation of three court orders and ordered the government to bring him back to the United States. According to court documents it was the second time 19-year-old E.L.A had been removed. Avery Lotz reports for Axios.
A Government Accountability Office report found ICE wasted millions of dollars on scaled-back and mismanaged projects. According to the report, released on Thursday, ICE failed to properly develop a strategic plan while rushing to execute Trump’s mass deportation agenda, and invested billions in six new initiatives without conducting necessary analyses. Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Attorney General Todd Blanche yesterday repeatedly said that it is a “privilege” for journalists to be in the White House or fly with the president, a day after CNN was kept off Air Force One for Trump’s trip to Tennessee. Blanche said the “president has every right to decide who flies on his plane.” David Cohen reports for POLITICO.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a bid by Missouri Republicans to make their map the congressional map for the state’s midterm elections. The five-page opinion came without any dissents and said it “should come as no surprise” given its previous rulings on the issue. James Romoser reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTION
Trump on Friday sought to unilaterally withhold more than $800 million in spending on immigration, race, and education that Congress approved. The White House said that Trump is committed to cutting “wasteful and harmful government spending that does not benefit American citizens.” Trevor Hunnicutt reports for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the Trump Administration can deploy an online system that combines citizenship information, Social Security numbers and other sensitive data about Americans, allowing states to use it to look for ineligible voters. States are not required to use the federal system, and it has mistakenly flagged U.S. citizens as noncitizens in past searches. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented, and Brown Jackson said that the “harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the government experiences” when it cannot take action. Abbie VanSickle reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.
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