Araghchi says Iran ready for war to resume as Russia hits Kyivstar and DOT still tees up Monday CAFE
Energy Secretary Wright cites nearly 13 million barrels a day through Hormuz; Ramaphosa condemns South Africa shootings with no arrests yet; SCOTUS third-country response still due Monday 4 p.m. Eastern.
12 PM CT video brief · 2:07Presenter voice and image generated with AI tools.Read transcript
I'm Nora Vale with your midday World Brief for Sunday, September 27. Araghchi says Iran is fully prepared for war to resume, still awaits an official U.S. reply. Waltz rejects frozen-asset demands. Wright cites nearly 13M bpd through Hormuz. Russia hits Kyivstar HQ; defense ministry claims Vodafone Ukraine data center strike. Zelenskyy: Kyiv data center hit twice; two children wounded. Ramaphosa condemns South Africa shootings that killed 27. Police still report no arrests; one probe cites illegal-mining turf wars. DOT still set Monday to finalize ~34.5 mpg CAFE by 2031, down from 50.4. AAA had gas at $4.48 Saturday. No new Supreme Court orders Sunday. Third-country deportation response still due Monday at 4 p.m. Eastern. In national weather, from the National Weather Service: Hurricane Nolo, with top winds near 105 mph, may bring impacts to parts of Hawaii. A strong Nor'easter off the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast will bring coastal flooding, rip currents, strong wind gusts, and heavy rain to the region through Monday evening. Our opinion. Iran needs real enrichment limits in writing before America unlocks frozen cash or lifts the blockade. Ukraine needs an endgame, not blank checks while drones hit civilian telecom. End the EV mandate Monday, cut wasteful non-citizen spending before Wednesday's fiscal deadline, and clear the path to remove criminal aliens. Full stories and sources are at WorldBriefNow.com. I'm Nora Vale. Thanks for watching.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Iran is “fully prepared for the war to be resumed” and will “stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war,” while also saying Tehran remains ready for diplomacy and that “it is up to President Trump to choose.” Araghchi said that despite President Donald Trump’s public rejection Saturday of Iran’s seven-day Hormuz reopening plan, the rejection had still not been officially communicated through mediators, and that Tehran wants frozen assets released and to “be able to sell our oil.” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, also on “Meet the Press,” said the offer was rejected for “a number of reasons,” calling it a “pretty cynical attempt” that sought release of the blockade, sanctions and “access to billions in assets.” Separately, Al Jazeera and Iran International reported that Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Sunday the “running average” of crude oil in transit was nearly 13 million barrels per day, with Wright citing a day last week above 20 million barrels.
Russia hit the headquarters of Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile service provider, on Sunday, the company told local media, with Kyivstar telling Interfax Ukraine that its Kyiv head office was hit but that there were no casualties, Reuters reported. Russia’s defense ministry also said Sunday it hit a data center belonging to Vodafone Ukraine, the country’s second-largest cell network provider; Vodafone Ukraine did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia struck a data center in Kyiv twice Sunday morning, wounding two children and an adult, Reuters reported. Ukraine’s digital ministry has said Moscow has also hit data centers belonging to Ukrainian internet providers over the past week, causing service outages to about 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
South African police were on Sunday hunting the perpetrators of two separate shootings that killed 27 people within hours of each other, Reuters reported, with President Cyril Ramaphosa saying “This cannot go on like this” after the incidents came only days after another shooting killed 11 people at a house party near Durban. In Wedela township about 80 km from Johannesburg, 17 people were killed and 15 injured at a tavern Saturday evening when suspects armed with AK-47 rifles opened fire, police said; provincial police commissioner Tommy Mthombeni said one line of inquiry was a “turf war in terms of illegal mining,” and that Saturday’s shooting could be retaliation for another at the same tavern about a month ago. In Lwandle on the outskirts of Cape Town, gunmen killed 10 and injured 11 around 2 a.m. Sunday; a police official said a “business jealousy might have been the issue,” and Reuters reported no arrests had been made.
The Transportation Department remains set Monday to finalize sharply lower vehicle fuel-economy standards after President Donald Trump said Saturday he approved new Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules that “TERMINATE” what he called the Biden administration’s EV mandate, the New York Post and Washington Examiner reported. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the administration would formally announce the change Monday; a December proposal set a fleetwide average of about 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031, down from 50.4 under Biden. AAA put the national average for regular gasoline at $4.48 a gallon on Saturday, the New York Post reported.
The Trump administration’s pocket rescission of about $810 million in congressionally approved spending — announced Friday and still pending as the federal fiscal year ends Wednesday, Sept. 30 — includes some $567 million aimed at Health and Human Services programs supporting refugees, asylees and other noncitizens, Fox News reported. The White House also sought to rescind funds for migrant-student education programs, “Woke International Education,” and other initiatives it argued do not benefit American citizens. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the Government Accountability Office has concluded pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act; OMB Director Russ Vought has argued the Act does not forbid rescinding funds near fiscal-year end.
As of Sunday midday, the Supreme Court’s public docket for Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., No. 26A406, still showed only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Sept. 24 order directing respondents to file a response by 4 p.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 28, with no further Sunday order on the government’s stay application. The Court’s orders page listed no new overnight Sunday miscellaneous orders as of this edition — the most recent miscellaneous order shown was dated Sept. 23. The application seeks a stay of lower-court limits on third-country removals while the case proceeds.
Verified facts only. Every item is supported by the reporting or official records it links to.
Every source linked. Wire services, national news outlets, and primary documents such as whitehouse.gov releases, Supreme Court opinions and court filings.
Analysis labeled. Our point of view appears only in the What This Means (As an American Citizen) box under each story, never mixed into the facts.
Corrections in the open. Mistakes are fixed quickly and noted publicly.
