Xi Jinping Arrives in Washington for Sept. 23-25 State Visit, With Trump Summit Set for Sept. 24
Xi's first U.S. state visit since 2015 comes seven weeks before the Busan tariff truce expires on Nov. 10 and with a $14 billion Taiwan arms package still not sent to Congress.
U.S.
Trump Met Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez in a Pull-Aside at a U.N. Reception on Sept. 22
The informal encounter in New York was the first between the two leaders since U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January; Rodríguez said they discussed energy, mining and security cooperation.
Five TV Networks Suspend White House Pool Coverage After CNN, MS NOW and Politico Lose Press Passes; Judge Sets Sept. 23 Hearing
The White House started a 24/7 'Trump TV' stream on Sept. 21, the same day ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC halted shared pool coverage and the three barred outlets sued over their revoked credentials.
Allina Health Doctors Struck Two Minnesota Hospitals Sept. 14-17 Over Pay, AI Use and Noncompete Clauses
Hospital-based physicians represented by Doctors Council-SEIU walked out at Allina's Mercy and Unity campuses in a four-day unfair-labor-practice strike; no contract was reached and both sides dispute how many doctors took part.
Voting-Rights Group Asks Supreme Court to Block Missouri's 2025 Congressional Map After Appeals Court Ordered Its Use
A three-judge 8th Circuit panel ruled 2-1 on Sept. 21 that Missouri must use the 2025 map on Nov. 3, and paused its own order until Sept. 28 so the Supreme Court could weigh in; referendum backers filed an emergency application late Sept. 22.
ShinyHunters Says It Breached FBI Recruitment Systems and Took 2-3 Terabytes of Personnel Data; FBI Says It Is Investigating FBIjobs.gov
The cybercrime group says it used an undisclosed Oracle PeopleSoft flaw to reach FBI personnel records and shared a sample Reuters partly matched against other data; the FBI has confirmed only that it is looking into unauthorized activity on its jobs site.
N.C.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board Votes 5-4 to Fire Superintendent Crystal Hill; Chair Stephanie Sneed Steps Down From Leadership Post
The board terminated Hill "for convenience" on Sept. 22, six weeks after reinstating her, days after she sent a 224-page memo alleging financial misconduct and after the district attorney asked the SBI to investigate.
North Carolina Joins 40-State, $694 Million Settlement With Auto Lender Credit Acceptance
State attorneys general say the subprime lender made loans borrowers could not repay; the company settled without admitting wrongdoing, and North Carolina's share is about $9.5 million.
Stein Calls for Change to NC Film Grant Funding Structure at Wilmington Studio Roundtable
At a Sept. 15 roundtable at Cinespace Film Studios in Wilmington, Gov. Josh Stein asked lawmakers to let the state's film grant program run on a multi-year cash-flow basis, after the program stopped making new awards; a Republican state senator blames program mismanagement for the shortfall.
National Weather Service Issues Coastal Flood Warning Through Sept. 25 for North Carolina's Outer Banks
Forecasters warn of 2 to 4 feet of ocean overwash from Oregon Inlet to Ocracoke, and the state transportation department says stretches of N.C. Highway 12 may close.
Carolina Journal Poll Puts Cooper at 49% and Whatley at 34% in NC Senate Race; Vance Rallies for Whatley in Greensboro
A poll released Sept. 17 by the conservative-funded Carolina Journal showed the widest Cooper lead in its own series, while other September surveys showed a gap closer to six or seven points; Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Whatley on Sept. 21.
National Weather Service Issued Flash Flood Warnings for Parts of Edgecombe, Halifax and Nash Counties on Sept. 21
The Raleigh forecast office reported 2 to 4 inches of radar-estimated rain near Tillery; the warning expired at 11:15 p.m., and by Sept. 22 the flood threat had shifted to the western Carolinas and the coast.
Finance
AMD Closes Above $1 Trillion in Market Value for the First Time as Chip Stocks Rally on Sept. 21
Advanced Micro Devices rose about 10% on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, as Intel gained roughly 12% and Arm Holdings about 17%, lifting the Nasdaq 100 to its first record close since June; the next session's chip moves were far smaller.
Oil Trades Just Under $100 as U.S. and Iranian Envoys Hold Qatari-Mediated Talks at the U.N.
Brent crude hovered just under $100 a barrel on Sept. 23 after Trump said his envoys spent three hours in indirect, mediator-shuttled talks with Iran's delegation in New York, while Saudi Arabia restarted a pipeline that bypasses the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
Priority Technology Agrees to CEO-Led Take-Private Deal at $8.05 a Share, an Enterprise Value of About $1.6 Billion
An investor group led by Chairman and CEO Thomas Priore will buy the shares it does not already own for $8.05 each in cash, after a special committee of independent directors negotiated the price up from an initial $6.00–$6.15 offer.
Treasury's Iran Aviation Sanctions Take Full Effect Sept. 23 as Wind-Down License Expires
A U.S. wind-down permission for aviation business with Iran expired at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 23, 2026, exposing foreign fuel suppliers, ground handlers and ticket sellers to U.S. secondary sanctions; Iran, China and Russia call the measures illegal.
10-Year Treasury Yield Trades Near 4.94% on Sept. 22, Below the 5.04% Peak It Hit Sept. 15, Its Highest Since 2007
The benchmark yield has slipped back under 5% after last week's high, as oil prices fell for a fourth session and investors waited on jobs data and a run of Federal Reserve speeches; the 30-year yield remains above 5%.
US and China Announce AI Incident Notification Proposal and Say Trade Board Is Operating, After Eight-Hour New York Talks
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met September 20 in Manhattan; both sides said the trade body agreed in May is now running, and the AI proposal goes to Trump and Xi at their September 24 Washington summit.
World
Trump Signs Law Authorizing Tariffs Up to 100% on the Five Largest Buyers of Russian Oil and Gas
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 became law on September 18; it does not set any tariff by itself, and India, the second-largest buyer of Russian crude, says it is weighing its response.
Takaichi Meets Trump and Zelensky at U.N., Two Days Before Trump-Xi Summit in Washington
Japan's prime minister held a roughly 35-minute meeting with President Trump on China and economic security, pledged continued support to Ukraine's president, and used her first U.N. speech to ask that Japan's "enemy state" label be cut from the U.N. Charter.
Russia's FSB Orders 10-Day Night Movement and River Limits in Two Districts Bordering Estonia
The order covers the Kingisepp and Slantsy districts from Sept. 16 to Sept. 26; Estonian border officials call the measures unusual but say the threat level has not changed.
Russia Fires 212 Drones and Missiles at Four Ukrainian Cities Overnight; Four Killed at Dnipro Pipe Plant
Ukraine's air force says Russia launched 212 drones plus ballistic, cruise and anti-ship missiles overnight Sept. 21-22, hitting the Interpipe plant in Dnipro hours before President Volodymyr Zelensky met President Donald Trump at the United Nations.
UNICEF Reports Nine Children Killed in Gaza in Recent Weeks; Israel Says Hamas Committed 14 Ceasefire Violations Sept. 4-15
A UN humanitarian report relays a UNICEF count of child deaths during the October 2025 ceasefire, while the Israeli military reports its own tally of Hamas violations, days before President Trump addresses the UN General Assembly.
Pezeshkian Departs for U.N. General Assembly; Trump Says Iran Faces Being "Wiped Out" or Economic "Rot" Without a Deal
Iran's president left Tehran on Sept. 22 to address the 81st U.N. General Assembly, about seven months into the war with the United States and Israel, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz still disrupted.
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.