Sunday, October 4, 2026
World Brief Now

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5 PM CT update·Sunday, October 4, 2026

Zelenskyy ready for U.S.-backed talks; Iran reviews U.S. reply; Alito says he’s staying as Court opens Monday

Evening: FlyDubai attacker likely acted alone; seabed search for missing air ambulance; Wright sees gas and diesel falling; Hassett says Powell should go; Trump names AI task force leaders.

In this update

  1. Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready for U.S.-backed talks with Russia by end of October
  2. Update: Iran reviews U.S. reply as Ghalibaf vows Hormuz stays shut until conditions met
  3. Officials: FlyDubai co-pilot appears to have acted alone in cockpit ax attack
  4. Coast Guard to scan seabed for missing Bermuda-to-Boston air ambulance with six aboard
  5. Energy Secretary Wright: gas and diesel prices will keep falling; Trump knew war would lift prices
  6. Hassett: Powell should ‘move on’ from the Federal Reserve board
  7. Update: Trump names Clayton, Ferguson, Michael and Kupor to lead ‘Super Intelligence Force’
  8. Alito says he weighed retiring this year but believes he ‘can still make a contribution’
  9. Court opens term Monday at 9 a.m. CT: Suncor climate case first, guns and religious schools ahead

Published · Updated 5:07 PM CT
9 stories · 13 linked sources

World4 stories

Ukraine5 PM CT

Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready for U.S.-backed talks with Russia by end of October

Ukraine is ready to hold trilateral talks with the United States and Russia this month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday at a Kyiv news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Al Jazeera reported. Zelenskyy said Washington is pushing for technical-level talks by the end of October, possibly in the United Arab Emirates or “another country proposed by the American side,” and that the U.S. has also been in touch with Moscow; U.S. ceasefire efforts had been paused since the Iran war began. Both Kyiv and Moscow have also said they will step up long-range strikes, with Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy sector as winter approaches.

Sources
Middle East5 PM CT

Update: Iran reviews U.S. reply as Ghalibaf vows Hormuz stays shut until conditions met

Update since the morning brief: Iran is reviewing Washington’s response to its seven-day plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and will give its final position through intermediaries, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Sunday, Iran International reported. Parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said “the Strait of Hormuz will not open until our seven conditions based on the Islamabad memorandum are met” and warned of “new surprises,” while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is “more prepared than before” if the U.S. strikes again, Al Jazeera reported. Iran International said the dollar rose above 2.7 million rials on Sunday’s free market, and noted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Saturday statement that Iran would have no oil cargoes on the water this week.

Sources
Terrorism5 PM CT

Officials: FlyDubai co-pilot appears to have acted alone in cockpit ax attack

Early indications suggest the FlyDubai co-pilot accused of attacking his captain with a crash ax and trying to seize the controls of an Israel-bound flight acted alone rather than for an organization or foreign government, multiple U.S. officials and a former Israeli security official told NBC News Sunday, while cautioning the investigation is at an early stage. The Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight carried 174 mostly Israeli passengers, and crew members and passengers entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker, whom NBC identified as Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami; authorities have not released his name. A senior U.S. official had earlier told NBC there were no indications Iran directed or was involved in the attack.

Sources
Search5 PM CT

Coast Guard to scan seabed for missing Bermuda-to-Boston air ambulance with six aboard

The U.S. Coast Guard kept searching Sunday for six people aboard a Canadian-registered Gulfstream G100 air ambulance that vanished early Saturday on a flight from Bermuda to Boston, after crews found a debris field confirmed to be from the jet off Nantucket, the Associated Press reported. Four Canadians and two Bermudians were aboard; searchers have covered about 2,840 square miles, and Rear Adm. Matt Lake said the Coast Guard is deploying sonar to search the seabed in 80 to 90 feet of water. Air traffic control audio indicates the pilot reported electrical problems and declared an emergency as the jet approached the coast, the AP said.

Sources

White House / President2 stories

Energy5 PM CT

Energy Secretary Wright: gas and diesel prices will keep falling; Trump knew war would lift prices

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that diesel and gasoline prices “have been going down” and he expects that to continue, saying diesel, which CBS noted topped $6.50 a gallon in recent weeks, should fall “below $6 before too long.” Wright said President Trump was “well aware of the risks to energy flows” before the Iran war but decided “the world cannot sustain a nuclear-armed Iran,” and he called last week’s G7 agreement to release 100 million barrels of fuel over four months a “big deal.” He would not say whether military action could escalate after the midterms, saying both diplomatic and military tracks remain open.

Sources
Economy5 PM CT

Hassett: Powell should ‘move on’ from the Federal Reserve board

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell should leave the Fed board, calling it “completely unprecedented” for a chair to stay on after his chairmanship ends, Fox Business reported. “I think that it’s time for him to move on and to respect the independence of the Fed,” Hassett told Larry Kudlow; if Powell stepped down, the president could fill his seat. Fox Business noted the Justice Department investigated Powell over cost overruns on the Fed’s headquarters renovation but brought no charges.

Sources

Supreme Court2 stories

Supreme Court5 PM CT

Alito says he weighed retiring this year but believes he ‘can still make a contribution’

Justice Samuel Alito, 76, told CBS News in an interview published Sunday that he considered retirement earlier this year but decided to stay: “I think I can still make a contribution.” Alito said calls for him to step down while Republicans control the Senate were not a factor because “it’s too hard to predict what the political situation will be,” and he said he would decide cases involving President Trump the same way no matter who held the office. He also sat down with Shannon Bream for “Fox News Sunday,” and Fox News reported he plans to be on the bench when the term opens Monday.

Sources
Supreme Court5 PM CT

Court opens term Monday at 9 a.m. CT: Suncor climate case first, guns and religious schools ahead

The Supreme Court opens October Term 2026 on Monday, Oct. 5, at 10 a.m. Eastern (9 a.m. CT) with Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County (No. 25-170), with Kannon Shanmugam arguing for the companies, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris for the United States in support, and Kevin Russell for Boulder, followed by Johnson v. United States Congress (No. 25-735), the Court’s day call shows. Reuters reported Boulder seeks damages from ExxonMobil and Suncor for climate-change harms, nearly 60 state and local governments have filed similar suits, and Justice Alito is recused. Fox News reported the term’s docket already includes state bans on AR-15-style rifles, whether states can exclude religious schools from a taxpayer-funded preschool program, and proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Sources

AI1 story

AI Policy5 PM CT

Update: Trump names Clayton, Ferguson, Michael and Kupor to lead ‘Super Intelligence Force’

Update since the morning brief: President Trump formally announced the “Super Intelligence Force” in a Truth Social post Sunday, saying it will coordinate with the federal government to “ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence,” CBS News reported. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton will lead it alongside FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon chief technology officer Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, reporting to Trump and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, with outreach to consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, infrastructure providers and industry. It follows last week’s White House accord in which leaders of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia and SpaceXAI signed voluntary safety standards, including “four layers of controls and audits.”

Sources

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