Strictly Come Dancing is reportedly getting a new spin-off show, its first new show in 22 years, and it will be led by pro dancer Dianne Buswell
Dianne Buswell at the BAFTAs(Image: PA)
Strictly Come Dancing is reportedly getting a new spin-off show, 22 years after It Takes Two launched. According to TV insiders, the BBC’s dance competition will launch Strictly Pro Dance Off, led by popular star Dianne Buswell.
The show would see Strictly’s pro dancers go head-to-head in dance challenges and would launch alongside the next series, which launches this Saturday.
In it, a ‘teacher pro’ would show a dance routine to two other stars, who would then perform it on the dancefloor, with the ‘teacher’ picking who did it best. The winner would go on to the next week to face another star. Each duel is set to last seven minutes, so the show is short and draws in the social media generation.
According to The Sun, a source said the goal was to appeal to a younger audience. “It’s obviously part of the renewed drive to bring in a younger market to the show, which, along with hiring more influencers to compete, is seen as future-proofing the contest,” the source explained.
They added that there would be “inevitable” comparisons to the US version of Dancing With The Stars, as their series, The Next Pro, also featured professional dancers competing in head-to-head challenges. The source acknowledged that they were “different formats” but said the focus on the pros would still cause some to see similarities.
The source also said that Strictly was putting more of a focus on the pro dancers as they are aware that much of the appeal of the show comes from the public’s love for pros like Dianne.
Another popular pro dancer is Johannes Radebe, but he will not have a partner this year – as he has been announced as one of the three new hosts.
Emma Willis and Josh Widdicombe are the other two, replacing Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly. Unlike Claudia and Tess, who had fixed roles on the dancefloor and in the ‘Claudetorium’, Emma, Josh and Johannes will operate in a more fluid team.
There are set to be a lot of changes to the hosting roles this year. Emma previously revealed that she and her co-hosts would be dancing as well, which Tess and Claudia didn’t do. “We have to dance in the opening show, the three of us together have some choreography,” she said.
Johannes seemed excited by the plans. “Can you imagine?” he laughed. “For my own mental health and well-being, I need to be shaking my tush. You’ll see me, and not only me, in the launch show — there’s going to be more dancing than you’ve ever seen.”
The three of them also shared that Claudia and Tess sent them good luck messages. Emma said: “They have been in touch with all of us, sending love and congratulations and just saying enjoy it – it’s so fun.”
WASHINGTON, United States: The US military honor guard has been rehearsing and the new White House helipad is ready. But will Xi Jinping and Donald Trump achieve lift-off at their summit next week?
Warnings of an AI apocalypse hang heavy over the Chinese president’s first talks at the White House with his US counterpart, with both countries racing for supremacy in this technology.
Trump’s Iran war casts a long shadow too, as China seeks to avoid US sanctions against countries dealing with Tehran, despite reports that Beijing supplied Tehran with intelligence for a strike on US troops.
A trade war is of even greater concern and the world’s two largest economies are still seeking to mitigate the fallout from Trump’s global tariffs. The threat of war over Taiwan looms large as well.
Behind it all is desire to manage tensions between a superpower keen to keep its place at the top and a rapidly rising rival determined to make the 21st century a Chinese one.
“I’ll be discussing almost everything with him,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, ahead of their meeting on September 24.
‘Don’t expect much’
But the two leaders are more likely to simply extend a relative truce rather than produce any concrete results, like when Xi hosted Trump in Beijing four months ago, experts said.
“I don’t expect much to come out of this,” Jonathan Czin of the Brookings Institution told AFP.
“In many ways, this is going to be a recapitulation of Trump’s visit to Beijing back in May, where the focus was really on the ostensible rapport between the two leaders.”
With fears about AI making global headlines, agreement to cooperate on regulation or a slowdown is expected to be a major topic of discussion between Trump and Xi.
But any major deals are “politically out of reach for now,” said Wang Dong, a professor at Peking University, as Beijing and Washington both fear losing out in the race for AI dominance.
Tensions over Iran will also come up. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to meet his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng this weekend for pre-summit talks including on Iran sanctions.
Trump has, however, played down reports that Chinese entities supplied Iran with satellite imagery for an attack on a US military base in Jordan, saying Xi had “behaved reasonably well” and that “we spy on them, too.”
On trade, there is “room for progress on tariffs, agricultural purchases and selected export controls,” Yue Su of The Economist Intelligence Unit told AFP.
‘Spectacle’
Yet Trump has, as so often before, appeared more interested in the optics of his meeting with a powerful foreign leader than with the substance.
“This is less a summit and more a spectacle. This is designed for deep public consumption,” said Kurt Campbell, former US Deputy Secretary of State and now Chairman of The Asia Group.
Trump pushed for a new granite helicopter landing pad on the White House South Lawn to be open in time for Xi’s visit, which will include a grand state dinner.
Troops in flashy uniforms have been rehearsing on the White House driveway this week ahead of the welcome ceremony.
Trump’s only disappointment is that his under-construction $400 million ballroom won’t be ready — though he has said that when finished it will “top” Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where Xi hosted him in May.
During the Beijing trip Trump showered praise on Xi, only for the Chinese leader to warn about possible “conflict” over Taiwan.
Fears of a possible Chinese invasion of the self-governing island and global semiconductor hub — which Beijing claims as its territory — remain the most sensitive topic between Washington and Beijing, said Peking University’s Wang.
One possible concrete deliverable is an announcement of further summits.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shenzen, China. The Kremlin has suggested a three-way meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump is meanwhile expected to invite Xi to the G20 summit in December at his Doral resort in Miami.
Brian Wolfe, a standout pitcher at Servite who played three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, has died at age 45, his wife shared Tuesday on Facebook.
“I’m am sorry to write this but after a really really difficult and torturous battle Brian Wolfe passed away early this morning,” Rachell Wolfe wrote.
No other details have been provided.
Wolfe was one of Orange County’s most dominant high school pitchers during the late 1990s. After going 8-0 with an ERA of 0.27 as a sophomore in 1997, he was the Friars’ ace the next two seasons.
Honored both years as a member of The Times’ All-Orange County team, Wolfe went 11-2 with a 1.37 ERA and a county-best 139 strikeouts as a junior and was 12-0 with a 1.30 ERA and nearly 100 strikeouts as a senior.
After committing to Cal State Fullerton in the fall of 1998, Wolfe opted to sign with the Minnesota Twins organization after being drafted in the sixth round (179th overall) the following summer. He spent the next several years working his way up through the minor leagues with the Twins, Milwaukee Brewers and Blue Jays before making his major league debut with Toronto as a relief pitcher in 2007.
Wolfe appeared in 72 games over three seasons with the Blue Jays, compiling a 5-5 record and a 3.81 ERA in 82.2 innings pitched. He became a free agent after the 2009 season and spent the next nine years playing in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball, playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (including the 2013 season as teammates with Shohei Ohtani), Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (winning the Japan League title in 2014 and 2015) and Saitama Seibu Lions.
Former MLB outfielder Brandon Barnes posted a tribute to Wolfe on Wednesday, calling his fellow Orange County native “one of my best friends and a mentor.”
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to cut trade with the European Union after the bloc proposed to make Canada its first ever associate member.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect a day before Canadian leader Mark Carney was due to address the European Parliament.
Her pitch comes as both Canada and the European Union seek to pivot away from an aggressive United States under Trump’s leadership.
“I think it’s laughable,” Trump told reporters when asked about the plan.
“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things.”
He added: “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility.”
Von der Leyen pitched closer cooperation on tech, defense and energy to Carney, who became the first non-European head of government to attend the annual “State of the European Union” speech.
The German told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that, as democracies face a “fracture in the international rules-based system,” Brussels and Ottawa needed to pull closer together.
“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen told the Canadian premier, drawing a standing ovation in the chamber.
A broader alliance
Carney has been pursuing closer ties with the European Union as Canada gets drawn ever deeper into a trade war with the United States.
He is set to address the parliament on Thursday, with his visit meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month.
Von der Leyen said it was time to move from cooperation based on trade to a broader “alliance for the future” and “bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”
“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defense industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.
She listed energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, cyber and economic security as other fields of cooperation.
“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said.
But both the EU and Canada have been buffeted by tariffs and territorial threats from the US and competition from China.
“In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is forging stronger relationships with trusted partners,” Carney’s office said in a statement.
What’s in a name?
While EU treaties do not envision the possibility of becoming an “associate member,” the idea was first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year for Ukraine.
Under that plan, which met a cold reception from a country pushing for full membership, Ukraine would have been allowed to attend the bloc’s summits and have a representative in the European Commission.
It would have also benefited from parts of the EU budget, but without full voting rights.
“We don’t really know yet what it means,” said Tobias Cremer, a center-left European lawmaker from Germany and the main sponsor of a resolution urging stronger EU-Canada cooperation, after von der Leyen’s “associate membership” pitch.
Under EU rules, member states have to approve any form of partnership with a third country and it was unclear how much support von der Leyen’s proposal would receive from capitals.
Brussels and Ottawa already enjoy a considerable level of cooperation.
The CETA free-trade agreement that abolished almost all tariffs has been credited with boosting trade in goods and services by more than 80 percent since 2016.
And this year Canada became the first non-EU country to join a flagship defense loan program.
Carney later flew to Britain for his first meeting with new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
They attended a football match between Everton and Wolverhampton together before Carney’s return to Strasbourg for his Thursday speech.
The spokesman for US Central Command has told Al Jazeera its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is ‘highly effective’. Captain Tim Hawkins says Iran does not control the waterway and that 900m barrels of oil have passed through the strait since May.
Accordingly, employees will have time off on May 8th from 2026. On this day in 2025, white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and Leo XIV took office as the 267th pope in the history of the Church.
Leo, whose real name is Robert Francis Prevost, celebrates his name day on September 17th. This is the feast day of St Robert Bellarmine.
A member of the Society of Jesus, St. Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) was a brilliant intellectual, professor, and preacher, engaged in the theological struggle against Protestants in the service of the papacy.
St. Robert Bellarmine is remembered for his intellectual rigour, commitment to the Church, and dedication to serving the poor. His writings continue to be studied for their theological depth and clarity, making him one of the leading figures in Catholic thought during and after the Counter-Reformation. His approach to debates, characterised by charity and respect, solidifies his reputation as a saint and teacher in the Church.
He was responsible for a revision of the Vulgate translation of the Bible and numerous works, including a catechism that enjoyed great success.
He could have been elected pope in 1605 were it not for Spain’s veto. He also took part in the judicial proceedings against Galileo and the Giordano Bruno.
Wunmi Mosaku has confirmed the birth of her second child — with style.
The “Sinners” actor posed for photos with her two children, a then-10-week-old son and nearly 3-year-old daughter, for the October issue of British Vogue. In the cover story, the 2026 Oscar nominee reflected on her childhood in Manchester, being pregnant during awards season and her commitment to maintaining a joyful workplace.
Mosaku described this past awards season as “the most inclusive red carpet run I’d ever had.”
“Designers happily embraced my growing bump with no pushback or compromise,” the British Nigerian actor said to the outlet. “I really hope designers remain equally excited about dressing regular curves, not just pregnancy bumps. I’m nervous about what comes next. I am hoping not to go back to sample sizes being sent and forking out for tailoring out of pocket. Long may it continue where designers actually dress me and my body as I am!”
But she also admitted to “struggling with pain, stretching ligaments and exhaustion” as she made the rounds for “Sinners’” awards season run. In addition to Mosaku’s Academy Award nomination for supporting actress, “Sinners’” Oscars haul included wins for filmmaker Ryan Coogler, star Michael B. Jordan, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw and composer Ludwig Göransson.
Mosaku, who is married to talent agent Tash Moseley, announced her pregnancy in January in an essay for Vogue timed to the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, where she walked the red carpet in a custom yellow dress that did not hide her baby bump.
“In my Nigerian culture, we don’t really announce this kind of news,” she wrote then. “It’s meant to be protected. Everything in me resists sharing it publicly — not because I’m not grateful or joyful, but because this feels like one of the few things that truly belongs to me.”
In addition to sharing her news, the actor also addressed her hope that “we could let women simply be” without scrutinizing their bodies as well as the specific worries that comes with pregnancy as a Black woman.
“Being pregnant as a Black woman, you’re not just worrying about whether your baby will be okay: You’re praying you will be too,” she wrote. “Holding joy and fear at the same time is not abstract; it’s rooted in lived experience, medical bias, and real statistics.”
Mosaku also discussed her forthcoming maternity wear line, Iyadé, in her latest British Vogue interview. The brand’s name is a Yoruba word that means “mother has arrived.”
“I’m so proud of all my designs,” Mosaku told the outlet. “And I know Iyadé needs to exist. I can’t be the only mother who is disappointed with maternity and nursing wear. I cannot be the only person.”
MADRID: Raphinha scored a hat trick as Barcelona earned yet another big win on Wednesday, routing Racing Santander 7-2 for its best-ever start to a season.
The Catalan club had never won seven games in a row. It has won six straight in the league and another in the Champions League.
Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal also found the net for Barcelona, which has scored at least five goals in five of its seven matches across all competitions this season.
In the English League Cup, Manchester United was stunned 3-2 by Brighton after squandering a two-goal lead to crash out in round three.
In the Europa League, Benfica beat AC Milan 2-0 on the road in the first round of the league stage.
Barcelona and Raphinha stay red-hot in Spain
With his hat trick, Raphinha took his league-leading tally to nine goals in six matches. The Brazil forward has scored a goal in all but one game this season.
“Happy for the goals and for the victory, which is the most important thing,” Raphinha said. “The players have the hunger to always want more. It’s a mentality to always try to score more goals and to create more scoring opportunities.”
João Cancelo also scored for Barcelona, which was helped by an own-goal from Racing’s Asier Villalibre. Maguette Gueye and Yassir Zabiri scored for the visitors.
Barcelona has only failed to score fewer than four goals this season in a 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona had previously won six games in a row to start the season — in 1929-30, 1960-61 and 2018-19, the club said.
Yamal had a goal disallowed for offside, missed a penalty and hit the post before finally scoring late for Barcelona.
The La Liga champion has also crushed Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia in the league, and Feyenoord in the Champions League.
Hansi Flick’s team has outscored opponents 33-7 in seven games across all competitions. Barcelona has a three-point league lead over Real Madrid, which won at Elche on Tuesday.
Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García was replaced by Wojciech Szczesny at halftime because of an apparent injury. Szczesny’s blunder led to a Racing goal after the goalkeeper tried to control the ball inside the area and was robbed in front of the net.
Atletico Madrid routed visiting Osasuna 4-0 with goals by Jonathan David, Lee Kang-In, Robin Le Normand and Álex Baena.
It was the second win in a row for Diego Simeone’s team, which moved to third. Osasuna has lost three in a row.
Sevilla jumped to fourth by winning 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruña with a second-half goal by Miguel Sierra. Sevilla has won two in a row. Deportivo stayed seventh.
The game between Levante and Athletic Bilbao was postponed because of heavy rain in the city of Valencia.
United upset by Brighton rally in League Cup
Manchester United was booed at Old Trafford after it fell to a third defeat of the season, and second in as many games following Sunday’s loss to Manchester City.
“We had the game exactly where we wanted it and let it get away from us in a big way,” United coach Michael Carrick told Sky Sports. “We can’t accept that as a group. I take responsibility for it.”
United led 2-0 after 10 minutes through goals from Shea Lacey and Mason Mount. But Brighton rallied with Charalampos Kostoulas pulling one back before halftime, and Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper secured victory after the break.
Defeat means United has suffered elimination from the League Cup at the earliest stage for the second season in a row after being knocked out by fourth-tier Grimsby last year.
Benfica tops Milan as Europa League kicks off
Benfica beat AC Milan in the highlight match in the Europa League.
Dodi Lukébakio and Jakub Kaminski scored a goal in each half for the Portuguese club.
Sparta Prague won 4-1 at Ararat-Armenia for the round’s biggest victory.
Sunderland beat visiting AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in its first European match in more than seven decades. Lyon won 2-1 at Anderlecht, while Bayer Leverkusen defeated visiting Celje 2-0.
Celta Vigo’s winless start to the season reached seven matches after a 1-0 loss at Omonia.
A European city with a lot of history and beauty at odds with its negative reputation is quicker to get to from the UK via train than by plane.
New research from global travel booking site Omio has identified 25 European routes where travelling by train is actually faster than flying once airport transfers, security queues and boarding times are taken into account. While many holidaymakers automatically book flights for a weekend escape, the findings suggest they’re often overlooking rail journeys that are not only quicker, but also less stressful.
They’re also much less environmentally damaging, with the emissions per plane passenger typically several times higher than those of train passengers.
A trip from London to Brussels is one of the biggest examples of where rail beats air. The Eurostar takes just 125 minutes, making it 83 minutes faster than flying once airport transfers, security checks and boarding times are factored in. Tickets start from around £148, with passengers arriving directly in the heart of the Belgian capital.
Whether or not the city is worth a visit is a different matter. Brussels is, according to some people, a boring city.
“As much as I tried, I still could not shake the feeling that Brussels was undeniably boring,” one travel blogger recently wrote of Brussels following a trip there. Back in 2008, it was awarded the title of the world’s dullest city in a survey of international travelers, who judged it duller than Zurich and Warsaw.
Having made a short visit to the city in recent years, the criticism does seem a little just. Brussels does have a functional, workman-like feel to it, thanks to the huge number of governmental buildings. And yes, it does look like an AI picture generator’s attempt to ‘simulate a standard European capital’, as one online commenter complained.
However, there are plenty of redeemable qualities of Brussels. The atmosphere is pleasant enough, many of the buildings are beautiful, and it is home to two of the Continent’s great contributions to culinary culture – waffles and chips – even if there is a distinct Sunday afternoon feel to the place.
“Brussels is an ideal destination for a short city break, thanks to its impressive medieval architecture, relaxed atmosphere and more than 100 museums. Visitors can spend the day wandering the city’s historic streets before stopping for Belgian beer and world-famous chocolate. With average July temperatures of 23°C, it’s also an ideal city to explore on foot,” writes Omio.
Given Brussels’s closeness to the UK, a day trip is well on the cards. If you do go down that route, I suggest the following one-hour tour of the city:
Starting at the famed Manneken Pis statue depicting a urinating child (who had been dressed up in a miniature gown and hat to celebrate the city’s graduating students when I was there), dash to the Monument a Everard t’Serclaes, helping the reclining lady’s leg become even shinier with a quick, traditional good luck rub.
Pausing in the central Grand Place square for a moment, take in the opulent Baroque guildhalls and the neo-Gothic King’s House. Not wanting to waste any more time or spend six euros, read the first paragraph of the Grand City Museum’s Wikipedia entry while looking at its exterior.
Culturally enriched, next up was a portion of mayonnaise-covered frites eaten while looking at a René Magritte painting on the side of a house, before a crispy waffle powers you up the hill towards the Royal Palace. Glance back at the impressive view of the city’s rooftops as you barrel onto a coach and out of there, catching a glimpse of one of Auguste Rodin’s Thinkers through the window before quickly stopping to stand in front of ‘Belgium’s Eiffel Tower’, the futuristic Atomium statue.
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that he’s going to block a proposed sale of $2.8 billion in heavy weaponry to Israel over concerns that the powerful bombs may not be used in line with U.S. and international law.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said he would withhold approval for the sale because of “grave, unresolved concerns” about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“The Trump administration has not provided sufficient assurances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians,” Meeks said in a statement. “I therefore will not clear this sale at this time.”
Meeks’ objections, however, likely will not affect the sale, which was informally notified to lawmakers on Tuesday. Once it is formally notified to Congress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio can bypass the normal congressional review process by making an emergency determination that the transaction is an urgent national security interest.
Rubio has done so in the past, including bypassing a normal congressional review process to approve a nearly $3-billion sale to Israel last year. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion in January.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment about either the new proposed sale or Meeks’ objection to it.
The $2.8-billion package includes 40,000 powerful 2,000-pound bombs, the Associated Press has reported. The transfer of 2,000-pound bombs had been paused by the Biden administration over concerns about the possibility of mass casualties.
The proposed sale is just the latest in a series of Trump administration steps to improve Israel’s military capacity and it comes as Israel is facing increased international isolation over its war in Gaza in response to the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
The conflict in Gaza has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and decimated the enclave. The U.S. brokered a fragile ceasefire, but violence has continued.
CINCINNATI — Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell left his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday after one inning, with what the team identified as left groin tightness.
Snell gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.
Snell threw 19 pitches. Blake Treinen replaced him in the second inning.
Wednesday marked Snell’s eighth start of the season. His 2026 debut was delayed by shoulder fatigue. After one start, he landed back on the injured list to undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow.
Since returning, he hasn’t given up more than one run in a start. Through Wednesday’s abbreviated outing, Snell has a 1.86 ERA.
Snell has a history of left groin and adductor strains. He spent time on the IL in 2021, 2022 and 2024 for such injuries.
They also agreed to expand air travel and reinstate direct flights between both countries.
Published On 16 Sep 202616 Sep 2026
Israel and Morocco have agreed to upgrade their diplomatic ties, including elevating their respective missions to embassies and appointing ambassadors to both countries.
A meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers was hosted by the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, in New York on Wednesday.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita also agreed to advance economic and trade relations, including completing two agreements by the end of this year on investment protection and preventing double taxation.
“[The] establishment of full diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations between Morocco and Israel is in the common interest of both countries and will advance the cause of peace,” the US mission to the UN said in a joint statement on behalf of all three countries.
The two sides also agreed to expand air travel, including by reinstating direct flights operated by carriers from both nations, and confirmed plans for high-level bilateral visits in the coming months.
The announcement comes just a day after the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, an initiative spearheaded by US President Donald Trump during his first term in office. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and Kazakhstan have all joined the accords, which are aimed at normalising ties between Arab and Muslim-majority countries and Israel.
Native authorities issue condolences after two adults and a child swept away by floodwaters in southwestern US state.
Published On 17 Sep 202617 Sep 2026
Indigenous authorities in the United States have said that three people have been killed in flooding in the southwestern state of New Mexico, where heavy rains left roadways blocked by water.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said on Wednesday that police had responded to reports of people being swept away by floodwater at 12:30am (06:30 GMT) near the community of Newcomb in northwestern New Mexico.
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Nygren said that two adults and a child were killed in the incident and offered condolences to the community, while advising residents to exercise caution in areas impacted by rainfall.
“There are no words that can ease the pain of losing a loved one so suddenly, and our hearts are especially heavy knowing that three lives were lost,” Nygren said. “To the family, relatives, and loved ones who are grieving today, we offer our deepest condolences. We pray that you are surrounded by strength, comfort, and the love of your family and community in the difficult days ahead.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, issued a special briefing on Tuesday warning of the possibility of widespread thunderstorms in the coming days. The service repeated those warnings on Wednesday, noting that moisture levels are expected to be at record levels for mid-September.
“A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for the western third of New Mexico and the South Central Mountains today,” NWS Albuquerque said in a social media post on Wednesday. “However, flash flooding could occur anywhere in central and northern New Mexico today.”
Heavy rainfall is predicted across parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah through Thursday. Flash flood warnings were issued for parts of northwestern New Mexico, along with flash flood watches for large areas of central and northern Arizona.
The deaths on Wednesday come several weeks after three hikers were swept away and dozens were rescued after heavy rainfall caused flooding at the Grand Canyon, a popular destination for tourists and outdoor recreation in Arizona.
American housemate Johanne, 44, was labelled ‘disrespectful’ after she walked into the storage room while Omar was praying towards the end of Wednesday night’s episode of the ITV series. She began searching for a drink, apparently unaware of what he was doing.
Once Johanne realised, she apologised and left the room. She later apologised to Omar again, explaining that she had no idea he was praying. While some viewers criticised the interruption, others argued it was a genuine mistake and questioned whether Omar had been given enough privacy in the shared house.
“Omar should have let them know he was going in to pray you could tell she genuinely didn’t know #bbuk,” one viewer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Another suggested: “I do think Omar should probably have a more private place to pray though how are all housemates going to know #bbuk.”
The encounter nevertheless left some fans cringing. As OK! reports, one posted: “I’ve never gotten worse second hand embarrassment in my life #bbuk.” A second wrote: “Stop that was so awkward poor Omar #BBUK.”
Others took a harsher view of Johanne’s behaviour. One wrote: “Wow Joanne is so disrespectful my lord. #bbuk.” Another added: “Joanne interrupting Omar praying? ! Holy s*** that’s incredibly disrespectful #BBUK.”
The debate came just four days after the new contestants moved into the house, with tensions already emerging. Tonight’s episode also saw Charlotte, who is an amputee, and Rochelle at the centre of the drama after Rochelle revealed she had long had a phobia of people with limb differences.
Meanwhile, Millie, Pauline and Rochelle were confirmed as the housemates facing the series’ first eviction.
The trio had been offered a lifeline if they could identify Big Brother’s moles, Tays and Philip. All three failed to expose the undercover housemates, leaving them facing the public vote.
Voting is now open for Friday’s (September 18) eviction, with viewers asked to choose the housemate they want to leave.
The evicted contestant will then join presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best for a live interview.
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to pass a law to revoke the citizenship of anyone who defames Israel’s soldiers, his latest threat against the Israeli directors of “NAZA,” a documentary about soldiers’ killing of Gaza civilians.
Directed by Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, NAZA alleges that mass civilian deaths were routinely built into Israeli targeting decisions in Gaza, something Netanyahu and the military reject.
The film, which won a major prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, takes its title from an Israeli military term for expected “collateral casualties” and is built around anonymous interviews with intelligence officers and soldiers.
It has drawn a backlash in Israel, with the military examining potential legal action against those involved in it. But it has also played into the charged political atmosphere ahead of Israel’s October 27 election, which public opinion polls show Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition could lose.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu accused some of his election rivals of failing to take a tough stand against the documentary, saying this made them unfit for office. And on Wednesday, he pledged to advance two bills that he said aimed at addressing the “immense damage” done to Israeli soldiers.
“The first, to revoke the citizenship of anyone who defames (Israeli) soldiers, and the second to hit them in their pockets and increase the statutory damages for defamation they can be sued for by 20 times,” Netanyahu said in a social media video.
“We will hit them both in their pockets and in their citizenship, as their place is not with us.”
Netanyahu cited three incidents in proposing the bills: “the recent film NAZA which portrayed (Israeli) officers and soldiers as war criminals“; 2025 remarks by left-wing ex-general turned politician Yair Golan that “a sane country does not kill children as a hobby“; and a military legal officer’s 2024 leak of a video showing soldiers abusing a Gaza detainee.
Reuters could not immediately reach the NAZA filmmakers for comment.
In 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a law that permits stripping citizenship from Israelis who carry out actions that constitute a breach of trust against the state. Any new legislation would likely face similar court challenges.
The NAZA filmmakers say they believe it is important that Israelis watch the documentary and grapple with the narrative it presents.
Gaza health authorities say more than 73,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign that has left much of Gaza in ruins.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli tallies.
WASHINGTON — The House approved a resolution Wednesday holding billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress, referring the matter to the Department of Justice after he defied the Oversight Committee’s subpoenas in its investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The action was swift and without a formal vote, and now leaves it to the Justice Department to decide whether to seek criminal prosecution. Black has refused to respond to the subpoenas’ requests to appear and to turn over any potential nondisclosure agreements involving the investigation into Epstein.
Republicans and Democrats from the Oversight Committee joined in a bipartisan effort to advance the resolution forward.
“No one is above the law,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the Oversight Committee chairman, said in a statement. “We will continue to seek transparency for the American people and justice for survivors in our investigation of the federal government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell criminal cases.”
California Rep. Robert Garcia, the panel’s top Democrat, called the vote “an important step toward justice and accountability.”
Black’s lawyers have denounced the Oversight Committee’s pursuit of the former head of a private equity firm as an abuse of congressional power. They said he “had no knowledge of any of Epstein’s heinous conduct.”
“The Committee has continued to insist on looking for information that does not exist,” attorneys Susan Estrich and Aaron Cutler said in a statement. They called the action “politically motivated” and have sued the committee and asked the Office of Congressional Conduct to open a probe into Comer’s tactics.
“This an outrageous action that ignores the facts and the truth about Mr. Black,” they said.
Epstein investigation churns in Congress
Black is the latest among several prominent figures, including former President Clinton and Bill Gates, who have been asked to appear as part of the Oversight Committee’s long-running probe of Epstein. Survivors of Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse have told personal stories of being young women in a trafficking enterprise organized by Epstein and his colleague Maxwell.
In June, Black did appear for a voluntary interview at the committee. Lawmakers said later that he refused to answer their questions about the nondisclosure agreements.
The committee issued two subpoenas seeking to compel Black to produce the NDAs and to appear for a deposition July 16. The committee said it had accommodated Black’s request to delay the deposition to Sept. 3, but he refused to appear.
On Tuesday the Oversight Committee voted unanimously to approve the contempt recommendation, sending it to the full House.
Black co-founded the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and stepped down in 2021 during the fallout over his ties to Epstein. Lawmakers have alleged that Black paid Epstein $180 million during their years-long relationship.
A 2021 review commissioned by Apollo found that Black paid Epstein $158 million from 2012 to 2017, after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The review said the payments were for “bona fide tax, estate planning and other related services.”
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and director Mark Walter have sold their stakes in the club to majority owner Clearlake Capital.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has also sold his stake, meaning Clearlake – led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano – have now acquired full control of the club.
Boehly, Walter and Wyss each had a 12.8% stake, with Clearlake previously owning 61.5% of the Blues.
American Boehly will leave his role as chairman, a position he has held since 2022, when the consortium bought the club for £2.3bn from Roman Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the UK government in March 2022 over alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin – something he has denied.
Multiple sources said talks started within Chelsea‘s ownership group after a rift, first apparent in 2024, led both sides to explore buying each other out.
Boehly, who is a co-owner of baseball franchise the Los Angeles Dodgers, said it had been an “honour” to serve as Chelsea chairman.
“I would like to thank the many who helped secure a bright future for the club, including the English Premier League, the coaches and players, the talented leadership and staff at Chelsea, and the legions of dedicated fans,” he added.
“I have valued my partnership with Clearlake and the wider ownership group, and the collective decisions and investment we have made to support the immediate and long-term success of the club. I am confident that Chelsea is well positioned for continued success under Clearlake’s leadership.”
The rapper also challenged Robert Kraft to match the donation as fallout from his removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour grows.
Published On 16 Sep 202616 Sep 2026
Rapper Macklemore says he will donate the entire $1m he earned from singer Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to organisations supporting Palestinians, days after he was dropped from the tour over his support for Palestine.
Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, announced the donation on Instagram on Wednesday, saying the money would go to six groups working directly to support Palestinians. He also called on pro-Israel billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, to match it after Kraft confirmed on Tuesday that he had barred Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium in the US state of Massachusetts.
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“Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting,” Macklemore wrote. “A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth.”
In a statement on Wednesday evening, Kraft said that before Macklemore issued the challenge, Sheeran had called and asked him to commit $2m in humanitarian aid to the region. Kraft said Sheeran now planned to approach other venue owners in an effort to raise more money.
“I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting,” Kraft said.
Macklemore’s announcement comes as the fallout over his removal from Sheeran’s tour continues to grow. Macklemore said on Monday that he was dropped from the remaining United States dates after using his performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to speak in support of Palestinians.
All of the supporting acts for Sheeran’s upcoming US Loop Tour have now pulled out in solidarity with the rapper. Some of the artists are Irish and pointed to their own country’s history of occupation in explaining their decision to withdraw.
Sheeran has said the decision to remove Macklemore was ultimately made not by him but by the tour promoter.
Kraft later said he had opposed allowing the rapper to perform, citing what he described as Macklemore’s history of “antisemitic rhetoric and imagery”.
Kraft, in a statement to Al Jazeera, said the decision to ban Macklemore from his venue wasn’t about “diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians” but argued that “advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas”.
In his latest statement on Wednesday, Macklemore said he wanted to pull the conversation away from himself and the controversy surrounding the tour.
“That is what this has always been about. Not me. Not a tour. Not the headlines or the controversy,” he wrote. “It is about Palestinians’ right to freedom, dignity and safety in their own homeland.”
He also acknowledged that donating money carried far less risk than the work being done by people in Gaza and those organising in support of Palestinians.
“Writing a check is one of the least costly forms of solidarity available to me,” he wrote. “I am doing it because I can, and because these organizations are doing the work while much of the world debates it.”
He ended with a call for people to keep paying attention.
“When the news cycle moves on, which it will, don’t move with it. Free Palestine.”
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank know they shouldn’t ask what time their loved ones are going to make it home.
There’s simply no way to give an accurate answer. What used to be a short ride from one place to another could now take hours, or it might not happen at all.
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Before driving, Palestinians check dedicated WhatsApp and Telegram groups and channels where people share updates on road conditions. But this isn’t typical traffic news: Instead, chats focus on which Israeli military checkpoints are open, which roads are off limits to Palestinians and whether Israeli settlers are attacking Palestinians as they drive their vehicles.
Sometimes pins are sent to warn people driving near towns where Israeli forces are conducting raids.
And if there’s no time to check the groups, then there’s always Basma FM. The Palestinian radio station, based in Rawabi near Ramallah, carries three traffic updates per hour.
The channel started broadcasting on October 2, 2023 – just days before the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 and the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, and what has become a pogrom against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“Our idea was to target young people. We wanted to offer entertainment and culture news. But five days later, we realised we couldn’t,” said Fatima Barqawi, Basma FM’s news and traffic director.
The team had originally planned traffic updates as part of their programming. “We thought we could tell parents picking up their children from school to know where there was traffic, but after the war on Gaza started, we had to shift focus,” Barqawi said.
Her department has seven employees who verify information with their sources and provide updates on roadblocks.
“Things change each second. We could say there’s a closed checkpoint and Israeli soldiers decide to reopen it. Or vice versa,” Barqawi explained.
Dangers on the roads
The issue for Palestinians driving through the West Bank isn’t simply being late for appointments or held up for hours – it’s that there is an inherent danger to travelling in the occupied territory.
Palestinians in the West Bank drive white-plated vehicles, making them easily identifiable compared to the yellow-plated cars driven by Israeli settlers.
Israeli soldiers have killed Palestinians near checkpoints after claiming they were conducting ramming attacks, and Israeli settlers often attack Palestinian cars or block them from using certain highways.
These attacks are increasing as illegal Israeli settlements grow at a record pace.
It is hard to miss the large infrastructure projects Israel is implementing, expanding highways to connect Israeli settlements to one another and to Israel. This ends up isolating Palestinian communities, often forcing Palestinians to use poorly paved roads or dangerous mountainous routes to avoid Israeli settlers and roadblocks.
It’s a journey of fear and anxiety, a young Palestinian woman who did not wish to be named told Al Jazeera. “I used to blast my music and drive, now I’m on high alert. Always on edge.”
The woman recounted how Israeli soldiers assaulted her fiancé near a checkpoint in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, because they mistakenly thought he had passed without stopping. A year later, she said, a soldier pointed his rifle at her.
“He was shouting at me. The sun was blocking my view, and I was careful crossing the checkpoint but that wasn’t enough. I saw the green beam [from the gun] and thought that was the end,” she said.
Attacks at checkpoints
Many Palestinians report being assaulted, humiliated and sometimes arrested at these checkpoints and roadblocks.
Israel has long imposed movement restrictions on Palestinians, controlling the road system and Palestinians’ access to the wider world. But since the war on Gaza began, these restrictions have intensified.
As of December 2025, the United Nations documented 925 barriers across the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, a 43 percent increase over the 20-year annual average of 647, the UN’s humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA, reported.
Almost all of of the villages and cities in the West Bank have iron gates at their entrances, and Israeli forces close them arbitrarily. Some of the gates are only open during certain hours.
A new report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said the restrictions are used to deliberately fragment Palestinian life, with roadblocks and military checkpoints cutting off people from their work, schools, hospitals and one another.
The report, titled The Elimination Project, says there’s a broad rapid and systematic Israeli assault in the West Bank that aims to dismantle the foundations of Palestinian existence, and road closures are just one of them.
That is why, as Heba Erkat prepared her notes before heading into the studio for Basma FM’s Wednesday afternoon bulletin, she knew the information about to be read out could change rapidly.
Her colleague read the news, and then Erkat started listing updates at 61 checkpoints across the West Bank.
It was a relatively good day: only 12 of the checkpoints were either closed or had long queues.
But, as Erkat noted at the end of the segment, “the situation changes by the minute”.
Universal Studios Hollywood’s landscape-changing, park-altering new thrill ride, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, is officially open. The coaster boasting spinning, drifting cars along 4,100 feet of track had been in a soft launch phase since late July. But as of Wednesday morning, the theme park has declared the ride fit for daily operation.
“It elevates us to a new level,” says Jon Corfino, the park’s lead creative executive. “When we first started thinking about this 10 years ago, we recognized that. It’s our first big outdoor coaster. It changes the complexion of who we are, even the visual nature of who we are. You can see this from the freeway.”
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The theme park hosted a private ribbon-cutting ceremony — in this case, a metal chain cutting to better represent the action-focused, garage-like grit of the “Fast & Furious” film franchise — on Tuesday evening. Mark Woodbury, the chairman and chief executive of Universal Destinations & Experiences, and Scott Strobl, executive vice president and general manager of Universal Studios Hollywood, together sliced the cable.
‘“Fast & Furious’ has delivered 25 years of high-speed thrills and big blockbuster movie moments and it was the perfect story for us to build this incredible, one-of-a-kind innovative attraction,” Woodbury said, noting a similar coaster, set to open next year, is under construction for Universal’s Florida resort.
Universal Studios Hollywood’s Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift towers over the theme park.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
The coaster reaches a top speed of 72 mph, the fastest coaster in Universal’s global portfolio, and places riders in authentic, mini-re-creations of real cars that can rotate 360 degrees to create the drifting sensation of a stunt vehicle. With four inversions that bring guests upside down, Hollywood Drift is decidedly intense.
Wait times on Wednesday were hovering around 90 minutes. “I’m a big fan of the movies, and I think this is the best coaster in Southern California, hands down,” said L.A.’s Peter Lee, 43, as he was exiting the attraction on Wednesday. Lee has ridden the coaster 10 times since late July, but wanted to attend its opening day to purchase a picture of himself on the ride on its first proper day of operations.
Phillip Lambert Duke, 42, of Orlando, came to Universal Studios Hollywood to experience the West Coast edition of Halloween Horror Nights but said Hollywood Drift will be a highlight of the trip. “It’s fantastic,” Lambert Duke said. “It’s beautiful. I love how all the cars move independently of one another. “
Yet Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift has also attracted some unwanted attention from the neighboring community of Toluca Lake, where residents have cried foul at the sound of rider screams emanating from the coaster. “Untenable,” “disturbing” and “like someone is getting murdered” have been a few of the ways longtime Toluca Lake homeowners have described the noise of riders.
An upside down rider enjoying Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift at Universal Studios Hollywood.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
A number of Toluca Lake residents sent a media alert and hosted reporters in their neighborhood on Wednesday’s opening day to showcase just how disruptive the screams could be. Standing in the backyard of a house situated near a neighboring golf course, rider screams are certainly audible, and residents said the consistency of them is destroying their quality of life.
“It’s a constant stress,” said Colby Jensen, 55, a Toluca Lake resident of 26 years. Jensen said some residents have begun exploring their legal options, citing both the emotional duress of hearing constant screams and also a fear of potentially lower property values.
“It’s not just a noise, like the freeway, which is in the background,” Jensen said. “It’ll be quiet for a minute, and then you’ll hear this cacophony of screams. It inherently raises your blood pressure and stress level and it’s unnatural to hear that.”
Sofia S., who declined to give her full last name, said she just returned home to Toluca Lake after graduating from Indiana University. The 22-year-old noted the coaster has made it difficult to work from home.
“I have a little dog, and she’s barking a lot more because she thinks people are trying to come into the house,” she said.
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift was designed as one of the quietest thrill rides ever constructed so as not to disrupt the working studio below and the communities nearby. Its track has been filled with pea gravel to mitigate rumbles, and multiple walls and glass-outfitted curved shields have been placed on or near its layout. Universal has even stated that it can rotate the cars so riders scream away from the nearby neighborhood at particularly extreme moments. Such measures have been welcomed by the community, but they’re not enough, say many neighbors.
Universal has scheduled a community meeting with residents for Sept. 30. The park also last month pledged to build additional sound barriers to further dampen rider screams.
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift has been the most anticipated theme park attraction of 2026.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
At Tuesday’s media event, Universal executives declined to discuss community concerns or efforts to alleviate them, but later issued a statement acknowledging that community feedback has been an important part of the process.
“Testing completed to date confirms the attraction is operating in compliance with sound ordinances applicable to Universal property, which are more stringent than city and county codes,” the emailed comment reads.
Toluca Lake residents dismiss criticisms that this comes with the territory of living next to a theme park, noting for much of its history Universal focused on indoor attractions and has previously worked with the community, such as adjusting the audio on its “WaterWorld” stunt show.
Fred Iberri, who said he’s lived in his inherited Toluca Lake home since the early ’70s, said everyone has a right to peace in their home.
“People say, ‘If you don’t like it, it’s your choice to live next to a theme park.’ That’s not true. Universal hasn’t had a coaster outside until three months ago,” Iberri said. “I’ve been here for 52 years, my family for 90, and Toluca Lake has been a peaceful neighborhood until three months ago. Anyone who says that doesn’t know us or the neighborhood. It’s not so easy for seniors to just pick up and move.”
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The association said Wednesday that the television tribute — titled “CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton” — will be recorded live at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville.
The tribute will air Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. Pacific on ABC and Disney+, and will stream on Hulu a day later.
In a news release, CMA described the special as a “joyful, emotional celebration” dedicated to Parton, the rhinestone-studded singer whose life began humbly, in a one-room cabin at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Robert Deaton, veteran executive producer of the Country Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, will fill that role on the Parton project.
“Dolly gave Country Music its heart, and giving some of that heart back to her is an incredible honor,” said Deaton in a news release Wednesday. “My hope is simply that we do right by her story, her music and the people who love her, so that this evening feels like the tribute my friend deserves.”
Sarah Trahern, CMA chief executive, added that the tribute is the association’s “responsibility”: “This special is our way of saying thank you, on behalf of every artist, industry member and fan who found a piece of themselves in her music.”
The tribute is in partnership with Belmont University, which hosted the 2025 world premiere of “Dolly: A True Original Musical,” a biographical production about the “9 to 5” singer that is scheduled for its Broadway debut on Jan. 19, what would have been the Parton’s 81st birthday.
The university also previously launched “Dolly U,” an immersive educational partnership designed to connect students with hands-on opportunities in entertainment, media and creative industries.
Greg Jones, president of Belmont University, welcomed the special with a statement of his own: “It is a privilege to welcome artists, friends and fans from around the world to celebrate her extraordinary life and legacy from this stage in Nashville, honoring a woman whose love for Tennessee was woven into everything she did.”
Both the CMA and Belmont University will make a donation from the proceeds to Parton’s Imagination Library, which was launched by the Dollywood Foundation in 1995 to address childhood literacy by giving millions of children the gift of a free book each month. Disney will also support the program.
News of the television tribute follows an announcement last month by Parton’s estate that revealed plans for Dollyfest, a two-day celebration in Nashville and London next year across two consecutive weekends to honor her legacy.
Additional details for the CMA special, including performers and tickets, will be announced at a later date.
WASHINGTON, United States: The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates for the first time since 2023, defying President Donald Trump’s demand for cuts, as central bank chief Kevin Warsh stressed the need to combat inflation that has been “too high” for “too long.”
The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to raise rates by 25 basis points to between 3.75 and 4.00 percent, saying the rate hike would support a “timelier return” to its two-percent target for inflation.
Warsh, appointed by Trump, said the decision was a “serious” one, but needed to be taken.
“The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long,” he told a press conference.
And Wednesday’s rate hike may not be the last — the vast majority of Fed policymakers indicated that at least one more rate hike was likely necessary before the end of the year, according to their Summary of Economic Projections.
US households and businesses have been battered by years of higher-than-target inflation, and prices have surged in the wake of Trump’s war on Iran, his signature tariff policies and the ongoing AI boom.
Trump has launched an unprecedented assault on the Fed’s independence since taking office, attempting to fire a Fed Governor and launching a criminal probe against Warsh’s predecessor in his quest for lower rates to spur economic activity.
The president’s Republican Party faces a stern test in upcoming midterm elections, with rival Democrats seeking to wrest control of both houses of Congress and economic issues front-and-center for voters.
Growing calls for hike
The Fed has held rates steady since January, choosing to wait to gauge the effects of the Iran war’s energy price shocks and to let the impact of tariffs on prices ripple through the economy.
Since July, however, a growing faction of policymakers had indicated a rate hike may be required to tame inflation, as the war grinds on and prices remained elevated.
On Friday, August’s consumer price index came in at 3.4 percent — unchanged from the month before, but still well above the Fed’s long-term two-percent target.
In its SEP, the Fed raised its forecast for its preferred gauge of inflation — the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index — by 0.1 percentage points to 3.7 percent by year-end.
The Fed also raised its projection for GDP growth by year-end to 2.3 percent, up 0.1 percentage points.
‘Rather unfortunate’
US stock markets largely priced in Wednesday’s rate hike, but they were still down on the news — expected with any rate hike as equities become less attractive.
Yields on 10-year US Treasury bonds — which have surged in recent days as uncertainty on long-term inflation has spiked — were also up past the five-percent threshold.
Following the Fed’s announcement, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the decision was “rather unfortunate” and that Trump had been clear that he wanted lower interest rates.
Warsh was named to his position after a contentious Senate confirmation process, where Democratic lawmakers accused him of being a “sock puppet” for Trump, which he denied.
So far, Trump has supported Warsh, claiming that the Fed chair wants lower rates and accusing the board of being “political.”
The Fed has a dual mandate to deliver maximum employment while keeping inflation to its long-term two-percent target.
It mainly achieves these goals by setting the key US interest rate — lower rates tend to spur economic activity but fuel inflation, and hiking them cools both activity and prices.
The Fed’s SEP showed that at least 12 of 18 policymakers who participated in the projection expected one more rate hike would be required before the end of the year.
Four policymakers expect two more rate hikes to be required.
Warsh has criticized the Fed’s policy of offering such projections in the past and did not participate in the previous iteration in June.
This projection also included only 18 policymakers, suggesting he had once again withheld his contribution.
