⚡ TODAY IN HISTORY

On October 1, 1908, the Ford Model T went on sale, putting the automobile within reach of ordinary American families. In 1971, Walt Disney World opened its gates in Orlando, Florida. Today? U.S. drivers paid a national average of $4.32 for a gallon of gasoline in mid-September, up 36% from a year earlier, as the war with Iran disrupts oil supplies.

TOP NEWS

Co-pilot stabs captain, tries to crash Israel-bound jet 174 ABOARD

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a flydubai co-pilot stabbed the captain and then tried to crash the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight on Wednesday, while the motive remains under investigation. The wounded captain opened the cockpit door so passengers could subdue the attacker, and the Boeing 737 landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with 174 passengers, including 27 children.

Last U.S.-led troops leave Iraq 23 YEARS

Under a 2024 deal between Washington and Baghdad, the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group finished pulling out of Iraq on Sept. 30, ending a military presence that began with the 2003 invasion. Iraqi forces now lead the fight against the militants, though several Iran-backed Iraqi militias still refuse the government’s order to disarm.

Borrowing costs hit their highest level since 2002 5.29%

Strong economic data and worries about government debt pushed the yield on the 10-year Treasury note — a key driver of U.S. mortgage rates — to 5.29% on Wednesday. That matches levels last seen in 2002 and makes loans more expensive for home buyers, businesses and governments.

Tennessee inmate survives two lethal injections

Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way on Wednesday, Tennessee gave Christa Pike, 50, two injections of pentobarbital for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Knoxville job program. Pike survived and remained in a hospital early Thursday, and her lawyers said the state had once again failed to carry out a lawful execution.

Government stays open as the new fiscal year begins DEC. 11

Because President Donald Trump signed a stopgap spending bill on Sept. 2, federal agencies stayed funded when fiscal year 2027 started at midnight. The measure holds spending at current levels through Dec. 11, following a 43-day shutdown in fall 2025 and two funding lapses earlier this year.

WORLD

Iran receives U.S. reply to its offer to end the war 7 MONTHS

Iran confirmed Wednesday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi received Washington’s formal answer to a Tehran proposal, sent through Qatari mediators, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iranian ports and eases oil sanctions. Iranian officials did not reveal what the reply said, and President Donald Trump had called the offer unacceptable days earlier.

Projectiles strike three tankers near Iran

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, a British naval agency that tracks threats to merchant ships, reported on Sept. 30 that unknown projectiles hit three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. With the waterway closed to normal traffic, Iraq began importing gasoline through a Syrian port this week to get around it.

Hurricane Polo’s remnants flood the U.S. Southwest

After growing into one of the strongest storms ever measured in the Pacific, Hurricane Polo struck Mexico’s Baja California peninsula this week, flooding coastal towns. Polo’s leftover rain then swamped roads across the U.S. Southwest, and residents of small New Mexico towns evacuated over fears that a dam could fail.

NATO chief sees no immediate threat to alliance soil

At a defense summit in Brussels on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance faces no immediate threat to its territory and urged Russia to stop making nuclear threats. Rutte spoke as Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, braces for another winter of Russian missile and drone attacks and the blackouts they bring.

Hundreds held, dozens hurt in French school protests

Protests over conditions in France’s schools escalated this week, leaving hundreds of people detained and dozens wounded, Euronews reported. In the northern city of Lille, high school students demanding more resources burned garbage in the streets on Sept. 30, the same day nearly 8,000 firefighters marched in Paris for more staff and funding.

POLITICS

Supreme Court lets third-country deportations resume

Acting on an emergency request from the Justice Department, the Supreme Court on Tuesday paused a Boston judge’s ruling that required migrants to get notice and a chance to raise fears of torture before being sent to countries other than their own. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson objected, and the court will hear full arguments on the policy in December.

$500 Obamacare refund checks go out 1 MILLION

The Trump administration began sending one-time $500 payments on Wednesday to nearly 1 million Affordable Care Act enrollees in 30 states who buy coverage on HealthCare.gov without federal subsidies. The White House says the money comes from surplus enrollment fees, and the checks arrive about a month before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

U.S. bans nearly $1 billion in Canadian goods $967M

Citing what he called Canadian discrimination against American products, President Donald Trump barred imports of Canadian dairy, many alcoholic drinks and motorcycles starting at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The banned goods are worth $967 million, a sliver of the $880 billion in yearly trade between the two countries, and add to tariffs both sides have imposed since the summer.

AI firms sign White House pledge to police themselves

After a White House meeting on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he and leaders of a large group of artificial intelligence companies had signed an accord that includes internal and outside reviews of AI development. The pact is voluntary, unlike the European Union’s AI rules, which are written into law.

Trump again says Iran war will end ‘very, very soon’

Speaking Tuesday, President Donald Trump said Iran is “failing very badly” and repeated his forecast of a fast end to the seven-month war, without offering a timeline. Trump predicted in February that the fighting would last only weeks, and more recently said he expects it to run past the Nov. 3 midterms.

MARKETS

Dow sheds 443 points as bond yields climb -0.9%

Reports showing the U.S. economy grew faster in the spring than first estimated kept Treasury yields high on Wednesday, pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average down to 50,906. The S&P 500, which tracks 500 large U.S. companies, slipped 0.3% to 7,651.54, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.2% to 26,861.

Inflation cools more than economists expected 3.4%

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, showed prices rose 3.4% in the year through August, below the 3.7% forecast. Traders cut the odds of a Fed rate hike in October to 37%, down from about even a day earlier, according to CME Group.

Brent crude creeps back toward $100 $98.03

Doubts over when the Iran war will let crude flow freely again lifted Brent, the international oil benchmark, 1.9% to $98.03 a barrel on Wednesday. The same day, Washington pressed European governments to release more of their emergency oil reserves as fuel prices rise.

AI boom lifts Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise gained 3.9% after raising its revenue outlook for a networking unit that is benefiting from artificial-intelligence spending. Database maker MongoDB added 3.4% after its board expanded a stock buyback by $1 billion, days after CEO Chirantan “CJ” Desai said he would leave for a senior role at Meta.

Wall Street closes a split third quarter

From July through September, the S&P 500 gained 2% and the Nasdaq rose 2.5%, while the Dow lost 2.7%. Higher oil prices and Treasury yields weighed hardest in the final stretch, with the Dow falling 4.3% in September alone.

ENTERTAINMENT

Judge clears Paramount’s Warner Bros. takeover $81B

A federal judge on Wednesday approved Paramount’s settlement with 12 states that sued in July to block its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, removing the last major obstacle to the deal. The companies expect to close on Oct. 6, joining two of Hollywood’s five remaining legacy studios, with Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz serving as co-CEO alongside David Ellison.

‘Avengers: Endgame’ returns to No. 1, seven years later $26M

A re-release of Marvel’s 2019 superhero film led North American theaters over the Sept. 25–27 weekend with $26 million, edging out the video game adaptation ‘Resident Evil.’ The win made ‘Endgame’ the first re-release to top the box office since ‘The Lion King’ returned in 3D in 2011.

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ closes in on $1 billion

About two months after opening, the latest Spider-Man film has earned $950.7 million in North America, according to box office tracker The Numbers. ‘Brand New Day’ held first place for six straight weekends this summer, the longest streak since ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’

Stevie Wonder unearths four songs from his 1976 classic

As ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ turned 50 on Sept. 28, Stevie Wonder announced ‘Through the Eyes of Wonder,’ his first studio album in 22 years, featuring four unreleased tracks from the original sessions. Wonder opens an 18-date tour on Oct. 13 in Birmingham, England, and will play the 1976 album in full at every stop.

Jim Carrey weds Min Ah in private L.A. ceremony

Actor Jim Carrey, 64, married artist and actress Min Ah, 32, in a small ceremony in Los Angeles on Sept. 30, TMZ reported. The pair kept their relationship out of public view for years before appearing together at France’s César Awards in Paris in February.