Friday, September 18, 2026
Trump has declared he faces a 'big decision' on whether to 'annihilate' Iran, as a tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz and tensions spiral toward open conflict. The US simultaneously approved visas for Iranian leaders to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, a surreal diplomatic footnote to a potential war footing.
The Trump administration has approved the long-sought sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, a deal that now requires Congressional sign-off and has rattled allies concerned about advanced stealth technology spreading across the Middle East. The timing is pointed: Riyadh is actively seeking US support in its ongoing war against Yemen's Houthis.
At least 48 people have died and roughly 100 more are hospitalised in southern Nigeria after drinking a locally brewed alcohol suspected to be laced with methanol. A total of 182 people are believed to have consumed the drink, with cases concentrated in the Odigbo and Irele local government areas of Ondo state.
International visitor numbers to the United States dropped 12% in August, deepening a slide that has confounded an industry that expected a record summer. The decline points to a structural shift in how the world perceives the US as a destination, with implications for hotels, airlines, and cities that depend on inbound travel spending.
AI infrastructure company Crusoe has closed a $3.9 billion funding round to build both massive data centers and smaller modular 'AI factories' designed for distributed compute demand. The raise values Crusoe at $30.9 billion, reflecting the intensifying race to own the physical layer of the AI economy.
