World
Houthi forces have moved onto Perim island at the Bab al-Mandab strait, witnesses say, a day after seizing the Red Sea port city of Mokha. The island sits at the narrowest point of the waterway linking Asia and Europe, which matters more than usual because the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed. A Houthi spokesman said navigation is safe for all shipping companies except Saudi vessels. Fighting in south-west Yemen has displaced at least 46,000 people and pushed oil prices higher. Saudi Arabia relies on the Red Sea to ship crude to Asian buyers, so any disruption at Bab al-Mandab raises freight and insurance costs for cargo owners and adds to fuel bills for importers in Europe and Asia.
BBC News
Politics
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill into law on Saturday, targeting oil revenue while Russian voters cast ballots in a parliamentary election. The measure is named for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and moved through Congress with support from both parties. Ukraine and Russia both reacted quickly. Voting for all 450 State Duma seats is in its second day; Moscow said its electronic voting system came under a powerful, non-stop cyberattack overnight. Most anti-war candidates were barred before voting began, and President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to hinder the vote. United Russia is expected to keep its dominance in the tightly controlled system.
Al Jazeera
Business
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point this week, the first increase in more than three years, with all 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee voting for it. The move lifts the overnight funds rate to 3.75% to 4%. Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation is too high and has been for too long, but warned the decision will not immediately lower prices. Brent crude has traded above $100 a barrel during September, and benchmark Treasury yields hit a 19-year peak. Policymakers see headline inflation at 3.7% this year and do not expect to reach their 2% target until 2029.
CNBC
Technology
Huawei's Ascend processors now account for roughly half of the AI chips sold in China, according to market estimates, as export controls keep the most advanced Nvidia parts out of the country. Estimates put Huawei's share at 50% to 60% this year, with revenue near $12 billion. Chinese cloud providers ordered about 800,000 Ascend 950PR chips for 2026. China has also set out a five-year plan for national AI data centres worth roughly $295 billion, requiring at least 80% domestic technology. The limit is high bandwidth memory: domestic HBM supply holds finished Ascend output to well under 300,000 units a year.
Reuters
Science
Engineers at the Robotics and AI Institute have built a two-armed robot that trades stiffness for speed, aiming to catch, throw and hand over objects the way people do. AthenaZero is about 1.6 metres tall with 22 actuators across 27 joints, and uses quasi-direct drive motors with the heavy transmission parts moved away from the joints. Reflected inertia is about an order of magnitude lower than a conventional high-stiffness arm, giving an effective hand mass comparable to a human's. The team says dynamic manipulation needs hardware that can be pushed around by the world, not arms that fight contact.
Science Robotics
Sports
Brighton beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, handing the defending Premier League champions their first league defeat of the season and letting Manchester City take over at the top without kicking a ball. Brighton led 2-0 at half time, with both goals coming from outside the penalty area, and added a third after the interval. The win took Brighton to 10 points from five matches and left Arsenal level on 12 points with Manchester City, behind on goal difference. Arsenal had conceded only one league goal in their first four games before Saturday.
Sky Sports
Health
The CDC has not published new COVID-19 or RSV recommendations for the 2026-2027 season and has carried over last year's flu guidance, so four medical groups have issued their own advice. The American Academy of Pediatrics covered children, the American Academy of Family Physicians covered adults, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists covered pregnant people, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America covered patients with weakened immune systems. All four recommend a flu shot for everyone six months and older, and their COVID-19 and RSV advice varies by age and risk.
Healthline
Environment
The Environmental Protection Agency has repealed most of the 2024 rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas fired power plants, and proposed scrapping the remaining federal limits on the sector. Administrator Lee Zeldin signed the final rule on 14 September. EPA said the repealed provisions relied on technology that is not available at the needed scale and speed, and estimates the change removes more than $300 billion in costs for plant operators. A companion proposal would rescind the findings that underpin regulation of power plant greenhouse gases, with a public hearing set for 1 October.
AP News