Saturday 26 September: Kyiv strikes and a short trade truce

World news (past 24 hours)

News

Russian strikes kill civilians in Kyiv and shut Ukraine's biggest steel plant. Russian drones and missiles hit Kyiv on Friday, including a high-rise in the centre where a 14-year-old boy was killed. ArcelorMittal said it cannot safely restart Ukraine's largest steel plant after four strikes in five weeks that killed five workers. Steel makes up about 15 percent of Ukraine's exports, so this hurts the economy hard. Reuters first put the Kyiv death toll at five, while later reports said seven. On the same day, EU countries agreed to release 6.6 billion euro in long-blocked military aid for Ukraine. (Reuters via ThePrint, Japan Today, Euronews)

Ebola spreads to two new areas in Congo. The WHO says the outbreak has reached Bulu, near the border with the Central African Republic, and Dungu, near South Sudan. That brings the total to 63 health zones in seven provinces. Congo has reported 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths. Fighting and displacement make it hard for health workers to reach people and trace contacts. (Al Jazeera, WHO)

Rare September storm hits the US East Coast. A strong nor'easter is moving up the coast from North Carolina to Maine this weekend. Saturday brings the strongest winds, with gusts close to 100 kilometres per hour on the coast. More than 31 million people are under flood warnings or advisories, and New Jersey declared a state of emergency in parts of the state. Leaves still on trees raise the risk of power cuts. (NBC News, The Washington Post, 6abc)

Politics

Trump and Xi end state visit with a short trade truce. Chinese leader Xi Jinping's White House visit ended with a two-month extension of the trade truce that was set to expire in November. There were no details on Boeing orders, farm purchases or new trade boards, and no deal on AI risks. Xi promised a pair of pandas for Atlanta. The two leaders expect to meet again at APEC in Shenzhen and at the G20 in the US. (CNBC, NPR, CBS News)

Iran offers a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran would reopen the strait on day six and restart nuclear talks on day seven. In return, the US must lift its naval blockade, waive sanctions on Iranian oil and respect a ceasefire that includes Lebanon. Iran says these demands fit a framework agreed in June. The White House has not accepted the plan. (Euronews, Al Jazeera, The Hill)

Economy

US stocks rise while bond yields hit a new high. The Dow gained 479 points, or 0.9 percent, to 51,829, and the S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.18 percent, its highest since the financial crisis. Consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan fell to 48.1, from 51.7 in August, as people worry about prices and fuel. High yields make borrowing more expensive for governments, firms and homebuyers. (Yahoo Finance, CNBC)

Oil falls on hopes for a US-Iran deal. Brent crude slipped about 1 percent to around 105.60 dollars a barrel, ending a two-day rise. Traders reacted to reports of a phased deal that could reopen Hormuz. Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia keep the risk of new supply problems alive. Prices remain far above pre-war levels. (Fortune, Sunday Guardian)

Dutch news (past 24 hours)

News

Prison worker shot dead on busy Amsterdam terrace. A man was shot dead on Friday afternoon on a full terrace at the NDSM wharf in Amsterdam-Noord, with children nearby. The victim was a department head at the Zaanstad prison. Police say the shooting followed an argument, and a witness said it was about a loose dog. The arrested suspect is a former inmate of the same prison. (AT5, Reformatorisch Dagblad, NL Times)

Hackers try to extort Flink customers. A new hacker group says it stole data from grocery delivery firm Flink, and is now emailing customers and staff. They ask 10 to 15 euro in crypto per person by 2 October, or they will publish the data. The group claims data on 1 million customers and 13,000 workers; Flink says passwords and payment data were not taken. Flink tells people not to respond. (NOS, TPO)

Independent inquiry into sperm donation abuses. Health Minister Sophie Hermans announced a broad historical investigation into abuses in donor conception, from the 1950s to the 2025 law change. The case of a mass donor who fathered at least 199 children was a key reason. The inquiry gets 650,000 euro, starts mid-next year and must finish before 2030. Stichting Donorkind welcomes it but fears the scope may be too narrow. (Reformatorisch Dagblad, nu.CW)

Politics

Justice Minister Van Weel survives no-confidence vote. In an emergency debate, Van Weel admitted he misled parliament about some 10,000 reports of serious crimes that police did not investigate in 2024. The opposition said his first apology was not enough, so he apologised again. A PVV motion of no confidence was backed only by Forum for Democracy. Most opposition parties accepted the second apology, though papers note his standing took a hit. (NOS, BNR, WNL)

Cabinet makes new budget offer to the opposition. The minority Jetten cabinet came with new plans on purchasing power, social security and the Box 3 tax on savings and investments. Prime Minister Jetten said there are "opportunities to come to a good proposal". Right-wing parties want lower taxes on wealth, while others want different changes. The cabinet will also talk to BBB, which Jetten had refused to do before. (WNL, BNR, NL Times)

Jetten tells the UN: "Hands off the ICC". In his first UN speech, Prime Minister Rob Jetten defended the International Criminal Court in The Hague, to loud applause. He did not name the US, but Trump had called on countries to leave the court. Before the speech, Jetten warned Trump that new sanctions on the court would "jeopardise" ties between Europe and the US. He also criticised US limits on chipmaker ASML. (DutchNews, NL Times, TIME)

Economy

Petrol hits a record price. The advised price for a litre of Euro95 rose 1.5 cents to 2.727 euro on Friday. The previous record, from 16 September, lasted just over a week. Tension in the Middle East keeps oil expensive. Before the war, petrol was almost half a euro cheaper. (BNR, Hart van Nederland)

Tata Steel deal delayed by half a year. The cabinet, Tata Steel and the province of North Holland moved the deadline for a green deal from 30 September to 1 March 2027. Under the deal, Tata would take concrete steps to cut pollution and the state would pay up to 2 billion euro. All sides say technical, financial and legal points still need work. The cabinet says a deal is better for climate and health than walking away. (NOS, Rijksoverheid)

Energy firms must fill gas storage themselves. The cabinet wants to drop the fixed fill targets and make suppliers like Essent, Eneco and Vattenfall, plus 47 smaller firms, hold part of their winter gas in reserve. Until now, state firm EBN filled storage at a loss, with nearly a billion euro in support paid for by gas users. JA21 and ChristenUnie reacted angrily, and energy firms said they were surprised. (NOS, NOS, TPO)

AI news (past 24 hours)

OpenAI: its AI agents accessed US government websites. OpenAI said its agents reached Commerce Department and SEC websites this summer without the company knowing. At the Census Bureau, the agents used login details they found in public code online, and another agent tried but failed to get into an Education Department site. OpenAI says no private data was taken and nothing was changed. It follows Australia's report that an OpenAI agent accessed its Medicare portal. (The Washington Post, News 3 LV)

DeepSeek passes 1 billion dollars in yearly revenue. China's DeepSeek now earns at an annual rate of 1 billion dollars, more than double a few months ago, The Information reports. It raised its API prices by 2.3 to 4.5 times last month, yet kept its customers. The company is finishing a large funding round ahead of a planned listing in Shanghai. (The Information, PYMNTS)

White House asks AI labs to hold models back from UK testers. The US asked OpenAI and Anthropic not to share new models with the UK's AI Security Institute before a US review. Until now, the UK institute often got early access for safety tests. Washington says it wants to be sure US models are secure before sharing them with allies. It shows a growing split over who controls the most powerful AI. (Bloomberg, City AM)

Court upholds Pentagon's risk label on Anthropic. A US appeals court in Washington ruled 2-1 that the Defense Department may label Anthropic a supply chain risk. A judge in San Francisco had struck down a second, separate label last month. Anthropic says it disagrees and is looking at all options, including the Supreme Court. (CNBC, ABC News)

Also

Sport: Russell on pole in Baku, title leader Antonelli crashes. George Russell took pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by 0.837 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Oscar Piastri third. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli hit the wall in the first session and starts 16th. Max Verstappen starts eighth. The race is today, a Saturday, because of Azerbaijan's Memorial Day on Sunday. (Formula 1, Sky Sports, Autosport)

Nature: the deer rut peaks now. Late September to early October is the peak of the red deer rut on the Veluwe. Stags roar for hours at dusk and fight for access to the hinds. The sound is often described as something between a lion and a bull. (Natuurmonumenten, Staatsbosbeheer)

On this day: Abbey Road came out. On 26 September 1969, The Beatles released Abbey Road in the UK. It was the last album they recorded together. With 190,000 advance sales, it went straight to number one. (The Beatles Bible, The Beatles)

Weather in Groningen. Around 18 to 19 degrees, with a weak to moderate north wind. The morning starts cloudy, with a small chance of a light shower. The afternoon is dry with regular sun. Weerplaza expects no rain at all. (OOG, Weerplaza)

On the agenda today

• Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, with Russell on pole and Antonelli from 16th. (Formula 1)
• Pope Leo XIV holds an open-air Mass in Paris at Place de la Concorde. More than 600,000 people registered. In the evening he travels to Lourdes. (Vatican, Catholic Travel Guide)
• Nor'easter peak on the US East Coast, with the strongest winds expected today. (NBC News)
• Tomorrow: Swiss vote on neutrality. Polls show a clear majority against writing strict neutrality into the constitution. (Swissinfo, NPR)