“The US, Denmark and Greenland have signed a defence deal that allows Washington to build two new military bases in the Arctic territory, while reaffirming Copenhagen’s sovereignty over it. Before a signing ceremony at the UN General Assembly in New York, US President Donald Trump said ‘we will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations’. … The deal amends and updates a 1951 defence agreement between Denmark and the US.” (09/22/26)
“President Donald Trump used his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Tuesday to defend the nearly seven-month U.S. war with Iran, claim Tehran’s regional power has been broken, and raise the prospect of either a negotiated agreement or further escalation. … Trump also claimed credit for settling eight conflicts. … He listed Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the war in Gaza, which he said included the return of all hostages. Trump also said the U.S. had reached an agreement with Denmark and Greenland that would expand America’s Arctic security role.” (09/22/260
“The lawyer for Lindsay Clancy, who was charged in the deaths of her three children, has asked the judge in the case to investigate the holdout juror, Michael P. Desronvil, who refused to acquit Clancy, which led to a mistrial. The lawyer, Kevin Reddington, submitted the request Friday to Judge William Sullivan to get the juror’s mobile phone metadata from when he was deliberating the case. It also requests the court preserve the original questionnaires, jury notes and the court’s responses. … Also on Monday, Reddington and co-counsel Martin Weinberg filed a motion to dismiss the case against Clancy on double jeopardy grounds. They argued that the circumstances of the trial prevent the prosecution from trying her again.” (09/22/26)
“The developing El Niño climate phenomenon is now the strongest on record, according to scientists monitoring Pacific Ocean temperatures. Daily sea surface temperatures in a key region of the central-eastern Pacific were 3.05C above average on 19 September – exceeding the previous record of 3.02C set during the very strong El Niño of 2015. Some longer-term measures of El Niño have not yet hit record levels but this is likely to change, with the peak not expected until later this year. El Niño can cause major shifts in weather patterns around the world, with the Met Office saying many of the expected impacts are already being felt.” (09/22/26)
“Senator John Curtis wrote a letter to a Senate panel to call for an investigation into businesses owned by Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and payments by a Russian oligarch for his wedding celebrations in the Bahamas this year. Congressional Democrats launched an investigation last week into the wedding payments. The open letter marks the second time in two days that prominent Republicans have broken with the increasingly unpopular president, six weeks from midterm elections in which his party is defending thin majorities in the US Congress. Republicans Ashley Hinson and Mike Rogers, who are both running for Senate, on Monday called for a swift end to the Iran war, trying to distance themselves from the unpopular conflict that has pushed energy prices higher and driven up the cost of living, Americans’ top concern heading into the midterms.” (09/22/26)
“Lithuania’s prime minister has told the BBC his country has made evacuation plans in the face of threats from Russia, but added they ‘will not surrender’ if attacked. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius told Newsnight that Lithuanians feel ‘constantly threatened’ by Russia, in part because of drones entering the nation’s airspace. He told Newsnight if his country was attacked, ‘we will fight back… we will engage’. But he said there were plans for ‘a variety of scenarios’ and used an example of getting elderly citizens out of cities ‘smoothly’ and avoiding traffic jams. Lithuania, a Nato member, shares a land border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. NATO is thought to have several thousand troops stationed in the Baltic state, including US and German forces.” (09/22/26)
“Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has admitted his country doesn’t have enough potash to satisfy U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for the critical fertilizer. ‘Everyone keeps saying: Ah, potash! Even if we wanted to supply [potash] to other, Western markets, we simply do not have those volumes — everything is contracted,’ Lukashenko said Monday at a meeting with Vladimir Orlovsky, head of the Belarusian state customs authority. That same day, Trump said his country was ‘working on a deal’ to purchase Belarusian potash fertilizer, as it’s ‘substantially’ cheaper than Canada’s offering. Washington and Ottawa are embroiled in an escalating trade dispute. … Canada is the world’s largest potash producer, producing 15 million metric tons annually, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. Belarus produces around 6 million metric tons — only slightly more than annual U.S. import volumes of 5.6 million metric tons.” (09/22/26)
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he will ‘tell the truth’ about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani when he speaks at the U.N. General Assembly later this week. ‘Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani. Shame on you for supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people. Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews,’ Netanyahu said in a video posted to X. ‘I’m coming to the U.N. I am going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell you the truth about you.’ Mamdani previously has called Netanyahu ‘a war criminal’ and ‘architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people’. When asked by a reporter in July about ‘What do you think that these people who are frustrated with Netanyahu should do when he arrives in New York City for the United Nations meeting,'” (09/22/26)
“A grand jury in Mississippi has concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges in the case of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old who was found dead two days after a boat outing with friends on July 4. The grand jury in Jackson County, Miss., found unanimously that the circumstances and condition of Mr. Wells’s body were ‘consistent with drowning,’ according to a copy of its report posted on social media on Monday by the county district attorney’s office. It also said there was no credible evidence of criminal conduct by the people who traveled with him to an island off the Mississippi coast that day. … The report noted, however, that there is no statute of limitations in Mississippi for homicide cases, and that if any evidence emerges suggesting that the death of Mr. Wells was not accidental, it should be referred to the grand jury for consideration.” (09/2/260
“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a thinly veiled warning to the Democratic establishment, making clear she wouldn’t step aside for any other potential presidential candidates in 2028 — including Kamala Harris. ‘I don’t think that my decisions would come down to deference,’ she told The New York Times when asked which factors would weigh on her decision about whether to launch a White House bid. The 36-year-old New York Democrat (the youngest woman ever [s]elected to Congress) has yet to announce a presidential campaign, but her comments make clear she isn’t waiting for a nod from Democratic leaders or a potential primary rival before deciding her own political future.” (09/22/26)
