Trump Is Not Banning “Fake News.” He Is Banning Independent Scrutiny

September 18, 2026

Source: USA TODAY

President Donald Trump has once again turned his hostility toward the press into a test of presidential power. Today, he announced that reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House because, in his view, they produce “FAKE NEWS.” Asked whether a particular report triggered the decision, Trump offered no specific example. Instead, he described the ban as the cumulative result of stories he had grown tired of. But this is not a government responding to a demonstrably false report; it is a president deciding that repeated unfavorable coverage is itself grounds for exclusion.

Saudi Arabia Is Discovering the Price of a War It Did Not Start

September 18, 2026

Saudi Arabia Is Running Out of Strategic Depth

Saudi Arabia was drawn into the Iran war hoping that its new regional alliances would provide strategic depth. Instead, seven months into the conflict, the kingdom is confronting something much more dangerous: the war is moving toward its own territory, its energy infrastructure is being hit, its Red Sea access is under pressure, and the partners whose military weight was supposed to multiply Saudi power have so far stopped short of entering the fight.

China urges Iran to control Houthis post-attack on Saudi Arabia, reports

Sep 17, 2026, 8:49 AM ET

By: Sinchita Mitra, SA News Editor

China has reportedly asked Iran to help subdue Yemen's Houthis after Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing as the Iran-backed group launched a military attack in the past week.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Meet The First New Cat Species Discovered in 100 years

This 10-year-old male tiger cat is the first of his species (named Leopardus tilcayo) known to science. He is approximately 18 inches from head to end of body and weighs only 3 pounds, making him smaller than the average domestic cat. 

JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK

By Jason Bittel

Published September 17, 2026

In 2016, Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a biologist and National Geographic Explorer working in Bolivia, received a call from a local wildlife sanctuary that had just been given what they described as “a weird cat.” It came from a local man who found it as a kitten on a road near a forest. The man took the animal home, believing it to be a domestic breed. But after about a year of living with the clearly wild animal, he realized it would be better off at a sanctuary.

Japan's Historic Milestone: Over 100,000 People Are 100 or Older with Women Dominating the Age Group

September 17, 2026

Source: USA Today

Japan has reached a remarkable milestone as its centenarian population surpassed 100,000 for the first time, with 107,677 individuals aged 100 or older recorded as of September 1, 2026. This achievement not only underscores the country's famed longevity but also highlights significant demographic and social-security challenges ahead.

Iran War Updates: U.N. panel cites possible U.S. war crimes as Trump again says Iran wants a deal

 

By Frank Andrews, Khaled Wassef

Updated on: September 17, 2026 / 6:35 PM EDT / CBS News

What to know about the Iran war today:

• There are "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes with two strikes in Iran that killed at least 178 civilians, a U.N.-commissioned panel of human rights experts said Thursday.
• Oil prices dropped for a second day Thursday after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a damaged Saudi oil pipeline should be back online again "relatively soon" after being hit by drones. Meanwhile, gas and diesel prices continue to soar as energy experts warn those costs are likely to climb in the days ahead.
• President Trump insisted Wednesday again that Iran wants to make a deal to end the six-and-a-half-month war. "Hopefully we're toward the end of the war," he said during a midterm appearance in North Carolina.

What could EU associate member status mean for Canada?

9 hours ago

James Gregory

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed the European Union's ambition to make his country the first associate member of the bloc – but what would that mean in practice?

Canada seeks full membership in U.K.-led military coalition

By The Canadian Press

Updated: September 17, 2026 at 6:13a.m. EDT

Published: September 16, 2026 at 5:44p.m. EDT

LIVERPOOL — Prime Minister Mark Carney met for the first time face-to-face with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday, bonding over common values, a love of sports and a shared loss of their fathers to Alzheimer’s disease.

Jamie Dimon sends strong warning to all Americans but still bets on small businesses

Courtesy of Yahoo Finance
Hillary Remy
Tue, September 15, 2026 at 2:03 PM PDT 4 min read
JPM+0.07%

Jamie Dimon has spent several years weighing in on interest rates, banking crises and the health of the American consumer, often in language sharp enough to move markets.

The Data Center Distraction: The House is Counting Trees While The Forest is burning

Is that what we asked you to do? Who cares who pays the electric bill when the real price is environmental destruction and the degradation of our communities?

DATA CENTERS

September 16 2026

The House has just passed a bill designed to protect consumers from a single consequence of America’s data-center boom: higher electricity bills. The vote was 417-3, an extraordinary display of bipartisan agreement. WHAT A JOKE!!! On all of us. Apparently, the House can’t see the forest for the trees. The Ratepayer Protection Act raises the question of whether data-center companies should pay for the additional power generation, transmission, and grid infrastructure they require. That is a legitimate question if you are a concerned consumer. But we have already moved beyond that question. This legitimate concern is simply not the biggest issue being raised in communities where these facilities are appearing, and this bill is a distraction from the far more serious concerns about the environmental damage, resource consumption, and degradation of the communities where data centers are being built.

Trump administration plans to send powerful bombs to Israel in $2.8 billion weapons sale

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE AND MATTHEW LEE
Updated 5:18 PM PDT, September 15, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000-pound bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.

The $2.8 billion package includes 40,000 of the bombs, made up of 20,000 Mk84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final.

Democrats keep pressure on Hakeem Jeffries to punish rogue members

 POLITICO 

3 hours ago

Many Democrats — including No. 2 Katherine Clark — are signaling that Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez should lose her spot on the Appropriations Committee

Riley Rogerson

09/16/2026, 8:50pm ET

House Democrats aren’t letting rogue members off the hook for bucking their party. They hope Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries won’t either.

Economics Needs a New Approach to Inflation

By Andrew Elrod

September 13, 2026

The question isn’t whether the mainstream economic consensus on inflation is right or wrong. It’s clearly wrong. The question is, can we do anything about it?

Review of Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers by Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli (W. W. Norton & Co., 2025)

Johnson-Massie feud boils over: "Why are we taking days off our calendar?"

3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Kate Santaliz

Mike Johnson's decision to send the House home early — again — is fueling an increasingly bitter feud with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) over whether the speaker is using the calendar to dodge politically painful votes.

Why it matters: The House will now be gone for more than six weeks ahead of the midterms, delaying Massie's effort to force a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his handling of the Iran war.

Trump threatens to impose ‘serious tariffs’ on Europe if Canada joins EU as associate member

The president's threat comes as Canada seeks closer ties with Europe amid its deteriorating relationship with Washington

By Jalen Beckford

09/16/2026 05:36 PM GMT-7

President Donald Trump pulled out one of his favorite words as he threatened retaliation if the European Union were to admit Canada as an associate member. Trump told reporters Wednesday that he might respond with “serious tariffs” if Canada were to become integrated with the 27-member EU to a degree that he perceived would be hostile to the U.S. amid a trade war with its northern neighbor.

House Votes to End U.S. Hostilities With Iran — But Curb Your Enthusiasm Cause the War Does Not End Yet

IRAN WAR

September 15, 2026

The House of Representatives voted 220–204 on Sept. 15 to direct President Donald Trump to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran. All Democrats who voted were joined by seven Republicans, the largest Republican break with Trump on the conflict so far. The resolution is the third House attempt this year to invoke Congress' war powers and halt the U.S. military campaign. 

Although the vote is significant, it does not immediately stop the fighting. The measure must still pass the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain, and the Trump administration has argued that Congress cannot use the War Powers Resolution to restrict the president's authority as commander in chief. Previous attempts have failed to produce a change in U.S. military operations.

State of U.S. democracy reaches new low, report finds

World

September 15, 20262:57 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Rob Schmitz

U.S. democracy has reached its lowest levels in 50 years, according to a new global report that tracks democratic performance around the world

For several years, Dr. Seema Shah, who heads the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance's democracy assessment team, said their researchers have observed a global pattern of democratic decline: "Severe drops in scores that measure freedom of expression, freedom of the press, credible elections, effective parliament," she said.

Europe Is Becoming Canada’s Second Economic Pillar

September 15, 2026

By Yiannis Damellos

For most of its modern history, Canada has lived economically in the shadow of the United States. Geography made it mandatory: the world's largest economy sits immediately south of Canada, connected by roads, railways, pipelines, electricity grids and integrated supply chains. But under Mark Carney, Ottawa is attempting something much more ambitious than negotiating better terms with Trump's hegemonic apparatus. It is beginning to redesign Canada’s economic geography. Europe and Great Britain are emerging as the second pillar of that strategy—not as a replacement for the United States, but as a safety net, to build the foundation of a more diversified and strategically autonomous Canada.