Wednesday, September 30, 2026

President Trump on Wednesday called the completed withdrawal of US troops from Iraq a "victory for the United States" and "a decisive victory over ISIS, which has been completely decimated." Central Command had announced the departure from Erbil Air Base, ending the Operation Inherent Resolve mission launched in 2014. UPI reported roughly 2,500 personnel and equipment were withdrawn. The counter-ISIS task force headquarters has relocated to Jordan, with operations continuing in Syria.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Wednesday, expected to announce a reduction of up to 20% in general and admiral positions, doubling a 10% cut he ordered in 2025. He also said roughly 20 admirals and generals have resigned or been fired since he took over the department. Officials have not said how the cuts would be implemented, as the U.S. continues its war against Iran.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that Boeing won the contract to build the Navy's F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter, worth more than $20 billion. The aircraft will succeed the Super Hornet fleet. Boeing beat Northrop Grumman for the deal; Lockheed Martin had earlier been eliminated from the competition. Boeing is also building the Air Force's F-47. Details of the new jet's design have not been disclosed.

President Trump on Tuesday said he and leaders of major artificial intelligence companies signed a voluntary accord including internal and external reviews, describing it as a plan to "self-police" AI development. The agreement was called "morally binding." The signing came amid growing calls for tighter oversight of AI technology.

The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday it has started an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies over risks posed by the technology. The agency is using its consumer-protection powers to examine whether the companies have misled the public about dangers from their AI systems.

The Senate voted 53-47 on Wednesday against the Stop Insider Trading Act, a House-passed bill sponsored by Sen. Pete Ricketts that would have barred members of Congress from buying new stock in public companies. No Democrat voted for it; Democrats said the measure didn't go far enough and objected to an attached voter ID provision they said would make voting harder for some citizens.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked the Ratepayer Protection Act, a House-passed bill meant to address rising electricity costs tied to data centers, in a procedural vote that failed to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Democrats called the bill "toothless," saying it would only require states to consider making data centers pay more, and said Republicans had agreed to stronger language elsewhere. The bill had passed the House with bipartisan support.

Republican senators blocked a Democratic-led resolution that would have required the State Department to report on violence against Americans in the West Bank or halt aid. The vote follows an incident in which Israeli settlers set homes on fire and clashed with Israeli forces trying to enforce a Supreme Court order letting the Tubassi family return home, with authorities accused of not doing enough to confront the settlers. It was the family's second such attack in a month.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered military service academies, including West Point and the Naval Academy, to stop appointing civilians to tenured faculty positions, according to a memo he signed Tuesday. Hegseth said tenure can cause “academic stagnation, faculty complacency” and curriculum drift from “warfighter education,” and directed military department secretaries to develop hiring plans prioritizing “institutional flexibility and contributions to the warfighting mission.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a short stay roughly an hour before Christa Pike was set to be executed Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Tennessee. Pike's attorneys argue her history of child sexual abuse wasn't presented to the jury before she was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. The court said it needed time to resolve the issue on the merits; one of three judges dissented.

A co-pilot allegedly stabbed the pilot and attempted to crash Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The plane, carrying about 180 people, dropped over 17,000 feet before passengers and crew stormed the cockpit and subdued the attacker. It landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia; the pilot, identified as Smit Machchhar, was hospitalized, and the co-pilot was arrested. Passengers later arrived in Tel Aviv.

King Mohammed VI issued a royal decree tasking Fatima Zahra El Mansouri, a lawyer and politician from the centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party, with forming Morocco's next government, likely a coalition, after her party's election win. She is the first woman to lead Morocco's government and only the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are "strong indications" Iran played a part in an incident over the weekend at RAF Fairford, a base used by U.S. forces, without giving details. Five men were arrested on suspicion of plotting a terrorist act near the base earlier in the week.

The United Nations Command and South Korea's military said Wednesday that North Korean land mines found in the Demilitarized Zone violated the Korean War armistice agreement, after investigators found an active mine south of the inter-Korean border. South Korea is demanding an apology from Pyongyang for blasts earlier this month that seriously injured three South Korean personnel.

Russia told NATO in a diplomatic document it is prepared to use "the entire arsenal of forces and capabilities at its disposal, including nuclear weapons" if the alliance attempts to isolate Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania. The document also raised the possibility of strikes on NATO members' "decision-making centers" at the outset of a conflict. NATO rejected the allegations, saying the alliance is defensive.

French high school students have been protesting since last week over teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms. More than 400 people have been detained as demonstrations spread across France, with some protests turning violent and reports of injuries and arrests, according to the BBC and Reuters.

African heads of state broke ground on a $16 billion oil refinery project in Kenya, part of Aliko Dangote's bid to expand industrial projects across Africa by 2030. The project faces protests over land issues. Honeywell will help build the refinery.

Britain's MI5 issued a public alert accusing a Chinese institute of operating as a front for espionage, saying it has been used to recruit academics to spy on UK research, including artificial intelligence and other technology fields. The government told UK academics to cut ties with the institute. The alert is part of a broader British effort to publicize the scale of Chinese espionage activity.

South Africa's president ordered a crackdown on unsafe streets after the murders of 12 women near Johannesburg sparked public outcry over violence against women. The killings have drawn national attention to the scale of gender-based violence in the country.

The UK and France are ending their 'one in, one out' migrant deal after failing to agree on an extension. The pilot scheme allowed Britain to return some migrants who crossed the English Channel in small boats to France, in exchange for accepting an equal number of asylum seekers with family ties to the UK.