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Record August Heat August was the joint-hottest month ever recorded globally, tying July 2023, according to data released by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Explore the data here. Combined global air and sea surface temperatures averaged 62.53 degrees Fahrenheit (16.96 degrees Celsius), nearly 3 degrees (1.65 C) above preindustrial levels. That exceeds the 1.5 C warming threshold set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, though the target refers to long-term averages rather than a single month. Copernicus attributed the heat primarily to greenhouse gas emissions, compounded by a supersized El Niño warming the Pacific. Western Europe and the contiguous US both recorded their hottest summers, and the eight hottest months on record have all occurred since July 2023. Watch how El Niño shapes global climate. August is typically cooler globally than July—a reversal that has occurred only four other times since 1940. See how much climate change influences daily temperatures in your city.

Remembering 9/11 The American flag is flying at half-staff today as the US recognizes the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The day remains the deadliest terrorist attack in modern history. In total, 2,977 people were directly killed—2,606 in the World Trade Center, 246 across four hijacked planes, and 125 at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Tens of thousands more were injured in the aftermath or suffer from long-term illnesses caused by the debris (read Wednesday’s write-up). The attacks were the catalyst for protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Over 7,000 US military personnel were killed, and another 53,560 were wounded across both missions. Today’s anniversary comes five years after the Taliban, which harbored al-Qaida, regained control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US and NATO troops in 2021. See how Afghanistan has changed here. Roughly 83% of Americans born before 2001 say they remember exactly where they were or what they were doing when they learned of the attacks. But over a quarter of the US population was born after 9/11. See how your state teaches the history in school here. See also how the attacks unfolded via news reports and eyewitness footage (warning—sensitive).

🍳 GOP leadership scramble Rep. Tom Emmer at the Republican midterm convention yesterday in Dallas. Photo: Mark Felix / Bloomberg via Getty Images DALLAS — Republicans don't yet know whether they'll control the House next year, but they're already gaming out what comes next. Why it matters: House Republicans are maneuvering ahead of postelection leadership contests, particularly given that they could lose the majority, scrambling the current leadership slate. Emmer intends to stay on as his party's whip, telling us in Dallas today that he has no plans to try to move up the leadership ladder after the November midterms. The House Republican Conference elects its party leadership during the lame duck session after the midterm elections. Emmer expressed confidence that Republicans will maintain control of the chamber, predicting that Johnson would remain speaker and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) would remain in his current post. "Anybody who's talking otherwise is already being a loser," Emmer said. "We are going to win in November." 🤔 The intrigue: Emmer's comments come as other Republicans are beginning to make moves that could position them for a leadership shakeup after the election. Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has decided not to seek a waiver to remain atop the committee next Congress, prompting speculation about his leadership ambitions. Asked about Jordan's maneuvering, Emmer said it was "news to me" and praised Jordan as "one of the best leaders" in the Republican conference. Asked if he thinks Jordan would make a good minority leader, he said, "You're not going to get me to start pitting my friends against one another." 👉 Emmer also pointed to Trump saying last week that Republicans should "keep Jim right where he is." Between the lines: Hudson (R-N.C.), who is in his last term as chair, wouldn't say what his future plans are. 🗳️ "I'm just thinking about the election, you know, and that's what everybody needs to be focused on next 50 days," he told us today. "I believe God opens doors and closes doors. I have no anxiety about what happens Nov. 4 or 5. I'm focused on Nov. 3, and I think the whole party is." — Kate Santaliz

👟 Not running from Trump DALLAS — House Republican leaders have a message for anyone reading the GOP no-shows in Dallas as Republicans distancing themselves from President Trump: Don't delude yourself. Why it matters: GOP leaders are convinced the convention is delivering on its promise to fire up Trump voters for November. The no-shows shouldn't be read as a lack of enthusiasm for the president, they insist. ❌ "I don't buy it," Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told us during a sit-down interview at the convention today when asked whether Republicans are running from Trump. 🐖 "It's Washington D.C. hogwash," National Republican Congressional Committee chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) told us in a separate sit-down at the convention today. 💎 "[Trump] is a total asset, and the more he gets a stage like this to talk about what he's actually accomplished for the American people, the better," Hudson said. Driving the news: Only 100 lawmakers and candidates planned to come to the convention, we previously reported, with most battleground members staying home. Emmer blamed some of the absences on the convention coming together late, saying members had already scheduled fundraisers and campaign appearances. He said he was "pleasantly surprised" by the turnout given that members were being asked to contribute and sacrifice valuable time on the campaign trail. "Trump has got us here," Emmer said. "The policies that we were able to pass because of his leadership are Republican policies." Between the lines: If there was any doubt about the convention's Trump-first strategy, the president erased it last night. ⚡️ "I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot," Trump told the crowd. 🖼️ Framed photos of the president are also plastered around the halls of the American Airlines Center. Yes, but: The Trump-first strategy comes at a time when Republicans in competitive races are navigating political headwinds over the economy, rising consumer prices and the war in Iran. And the decision by most battleground House Republicans to stay home underscores the various calculations candidates are making about how best to spend the final weeks before Election Day. 😳 Most Republicans are too scared to bluntly tell Trump how unpopular he is, Axios Marc Caputo previously reported. 🛶 "We have no choice. We're stuck on the boat with him whether we like it or not," said a top Republican campaign official who's in contact with Trump's political operation. Zoom in: The overwhelmingly pro-Trump crowd also offered a glimpse of the pressure Republican leaders on the other side of the Capitol face from the party's base: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) was booed when Trump mentioned him from the stage, prompting the president to defend him. Thune, who has faced Trump's ire over the Senate's failure to pass the SAVE America Act, notably did not have a speaking slot at the convention. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) also faced some light heckling over the legislation during his remarks yesterday. The bottom line: GOP leaders are still declaring the experiment a success, with Hudson telling us the midterm convention is here to stay. "This is great for our party, great for morale," Hudson told us. — Kate Santaliz and Hans Nichols

A Turning Point for the Right (Al Drago / Getty)   View in browser When Charlie Kirk was assassinated last September, many of his allies on the right memorialized him as a hero of free speech and the founder of an enduring political movement. Critics on the left tended to emphasize his long history of offensive remarks and dismiss him as little more than a troll. With a year of distance, neither view appears complete. Since his death, the MAGA movement has stumbled: Its factions are bickering, and Republicans are facing potentially disastrous midterm elections. President Trump seems disconnected from his base and reality. The current plight points to Kirk’s rare ability as a political node, someone who united otherwise disparate forces under one umbrella—and also to how much the movement depended on Kirk personally. Just how fragile a peace Kirk had managed to keep became clear three months after his killing, at an annual conference of Turning Point USA, the organization he’d co-founded. At the summit, feuding parties each tried to claim Kirk’s endorsement of their views. Ben Shapiro, the Daily Wire impresario, used the occasion to blast the broadcaster Tucker Carlson for conducting softball interviews with anti-Semites and other white supremacists. Citing Kirk’s stiff-arming of the Hitler-admiring influencer Nick Fuentes, whose followers were sometimes ejected from Turning Point events, Shapiro assailed Carlson for giving Fuentes a platform. Carlson mounted a counterattack in that evening’s keynote speech, arguing that it was Shapiro who was betraying Kirk’s commitment to open debate. These conflicts among leading right-wing figures have continued ever since. Kirk’s widow, Erika, now leads Turning Point and is well-regarded, but she does not seem to have the muscle that her husband did to quell conflicts. Carlson has become a furious critic of Trump and has vowed to create a rival political movement (although his ability to follow through is in question). Candace Owens, another prominent media personality, has become a proponent of conspiracy theories about Kirk’s death and has baselessly suggested at various times that the Israeli or French governments or “Egyptians” were involved. Fuentes has become a more influential commentator, but overall, MAGA media figures are seeing splintering audiences. No movement leader is as important as Trump, but the president has also had a tumultuous year. He is obsessed with building a ballroom at the White House—in part as a legacy project, but also perhaps because Kirk’s assassination and the attempts on his own life have instilled an understandable sense of paranoia that makes having a secure space at his residence feel imperative. As Trump has become more cloistered and withdrawn from public appearances, he has lost touch with his base, and he is pursuing an unpopular long-term war in Iran that betrays his campaign platform and writing off voters’ concerns about the economy and inflation. These dynamics, along with the natural pendulum swing against the sitting president’s party in midterm elections, mean that Republicans have bleak expectations for November. Not only are Democrats leading in polls of the generic House ballot and gaining in several Senate forecasts, but GOP voters are less enthusiastic than their Democratic counterparts. The problems are particularly acute among young voters. Although that group is typically heavily Democratic, Trump nearly matched Kamala Harris’s showing with the demographic in 2024, for which Turning Point received a great deal of credit. Today, however, young voters disapprove of Trump by wide margins—even greater than the general population. Young people who voted for Trump are also more likely to regret their vote than older ones, a recent Navigator poll found. Young men have turned against the president more than almost any other group has. What’s notable is that this drop in support and enthusiasm for Trump and Republicans comes at the same time that Turning Point is growing. As Reuters reported today, the organization has expanded since Kirk’s death, especially on campuses, but the people flocking to these chapters aren’t uniformly loyal to Trump. Turning Point could yet be an important presence in the midterms. The group was central to the Trump campaign’s plan for voter turnout in the 2024 election, helping deliver the president his first popular-vote victory among his three tries. Wired reports that Turning Point once again plans to spend large sums on field operations from now until the midterms. Kirk’s legacy on free speech and debate also remains up for grabs. As I wrote shortly after the assassination, an ironic phenomenon was emerging in which Kirk was being praised for his commitment to open discourse at the same time that right-wing figures were attempting to stifle any criticism of him. Some professors who were fired or punished in that period have since been reinstated or paid damages, but Trump and his allies have abandoned even a perfunctory commitment to free speech. Many of the tensions on display today have always been present in the MAGA movement. Trumpism is a big tent; it includes populists and plutocrats, isolationists and interventionists, and a dozen more dyads. The seams would inevitably have become visible at some point, but in retrospect, Kirk appears to have helped stave that off by maintaining connections across many factions and the sway to keep figures such as Fuentes outside. In his absence, the conflicts have come into the open. Related: The irony of using Charlie Kirk’s murder to silence debate Ali Breland: “I watched 12 hours of Nick Fuentes.”

Ella Langley leads Country Music Association Awards nods, with mentor Miranda Lambert close behind Ella Langley, riding the wave of her crossover megahit “Choosin’ Texas,” led Thursday's nominations for the 2026 Country Music Association Awards with nine nods, followed by her mentor Miranda Lambert with six. Read More.

Mortgage rates climb: Average rate on a 30-year home loan hits the highest level in over 14 months Mortgage rates rose for the third week in a row, pushing the average long-term U.S. home loan rate to its highest level in over 14 months. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 6.76% from 6.71% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.35%. Read More.

Anthropic says it blocked misuse of its AI that could have supported biological weapons Anthropic said Thursday it has blocked efforts by bad actors to use its artificial intelligence models for malicious activity such as cyberattacks, surveillance, and research that could have led to biological weapons. Read More.

Official media: Algeria severs diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates Algeria announced Thursday that it's severing diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, in a Foreign Ministry statement reported by state media. Read More.

Trump wants to send Americans money. Congress and economists don't seem thrilled with the idea Donald Trump's pitch to send Americans $5,000 checks should Republicans prevail in the November midterms is drawing scorn from some members of Congress — the very people who have constitutional authority over federal spending. Read More. Rubio pledges US won't take unilateral action against drug trafficking despite recent strikes Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged Thursday that the U.S. would not take military action against narcotics traffickers in Latin American countries without the approval of its allies, even as the Trump administration keeps up a yearlong campaign of deadly strikes against alleged drug boats in international waters. Read More.

The Big Tech Alums Building Trump’s AI War Machine By Toni Aguilar Rosenthal As lawmakers demand Congress put artificial intelligence safeguards in place amid new warnings from AI whistleblowers, the Trump administration is using a new, obscure office to do exactly the opposite. The agency, which is dedicated to turning the U.S. military into an “AI-first warfighting force,” is staffed by alumni of Amazon, Palantir, Meta, and Salesforce. All firms that are at the center of the government’s AI contracting boom and which have the most to gain from the minimal implementation of AI safeguards. The Department of Defense founded the little-known Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) in 2022 when it merged multiple offices, including the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, the Defense Digital Service, and the Chief Data Officer, into a single entity. It now leads all things AI at the Pentagon, from “the development and deployment of algorithmic warfare” and drafting AI-related policy to helping guide the procurement of AI systems from private contractors like Amazon and Palantir. Under President Donald Trump, the CDAO has focused on integrating AI systems into weapons, combat decisions, surveillance regimes, and target identification processes. Some of these CDAO-managed military “capabilities” helped select the 13,000 targets bombed in the first 38 days of Donald Trump’s ongoing war against Iran. One thousand were struck in the first 24 hours alone. Those so-called “targets” included civilian infrastructure. Several members of the CDAO’s leadership, responsible for helping decide which companies nab multimillion-dollar defense contracts and what safety guardrails will be enforced for them, have passed through the D.C. revolving door from tech industry C-suites. It’s common practice for such employees to receive equity as part of their compensation, enabling them to profit from the company’s growth, though The Lever could not verify whether CDAO employees hold equity in their former firms. Now, the former corporate colleagues of these Big Tech alums are among those poised to profit most from the Trump administration’s push to streamline AI procurement, accelerate AI adoption, and defang basic AI safeguards. Amazon Alum At The Helm Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Cameron Stanley currently leads the CDAO. Stanley started his career as an Air Force Lieutenant before spending several years in the private sector, including at global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, a massive federal contractor. Then, after a multiyear stint focused on military technology and artificial intelligence at the Defense Department ending in 2024, Stanley decamped to Amazon Web Services, a division of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing, before rejoining the government in 2026. Stanley’s most recent former employer has fared extraordinarily well under the Trump administration. Amazon Web Services is one of the CDAO’s approved Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace vendors, which offers fast-tracked procurement pathways to Pentagon customers, and the Amazon subsidiary has raked in a number of other federal contracts in the first two years of Trump’s second term. Per publicly available spending data, which excludes classified programs and other exempted awards, Amazon Web Services earned at least $277 million from defense contracts in fiscal year 2025, and it has collected another $358 million in Pentagon spending so far in fiscal year 2026. Following the Defense Department’s dispute with Anthropic over basic AI deployment safeguards, Amazon was also one of eight tech companies to secure a deal with the Pentagon to deploy its frontier AI models in classified military capacities for all “lawful operational use.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has requested clarification from the agency and the companies (including Amazon) regarding what, exactly, “lawful operational use” means, and whether these companies have essentially gifted Donald Trump the ability to use AI to “engage in domestic surveillance — including spying on U.S. citizens exercising their legal rights — or [to] build autonomous weapons systems that have enormous power to make decisions about targeting without human intervention.” Amazon Web Services also plays a role in the Palantir-led and CDAO-managed Project Maven (now known as the Maven Smart System), an AI-integration system designed to accelerate the so-called “kill chain” from target identification to destruction in just “four clicks.” Integrating large language learning models into Project Maven means the system can now target up to 5,000 objectives a day. Project Maven, whose Pentagon contract is worth up to $1.3 billion, is now being “repurposed for border control and drug policing at home,” according to The New Yorker. Palantir’s Inside Man Stanley isn’t the only public official who came to CDAO from a company with a stake in Project Maven. Rob Malpass, who previously worked at Palantir, is now the CDAO’s Deputy Chief Digital and AI Officer of the Intelligence Mission Area. Malpass is also a Trump-world nepo baby. He is the son of David Malpass, a longtime Trump ally who served in the U.S. Treasury Department during Trump’s first term and subsequently led the World Bank from 2019 to 2023. The younger Malpass spent nearly a year working under his father at the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, where the staff was reportedly told to give him “preferential treatment.” Leaked audio revealed that bank staff referred to the 22-year-old “as a ‘prince’ and ‘important little fellow,’ who could go ‘running to daddy’ if things went wrong,” according to The Guardian. Malpass left his father’s side to join Trump’s first National Economic Council in 2019 before moving to Palantir in 2021. Like Amazon Web Services, Palantir has also been one of the top government contractors to benefit from the second Trump administration. In 2025, the Army awarded the company almost $10 billion to establish “a comprehensive framework for the Army’s future software and data needs” over the next decade. It is one of the largest Pentagon contracts ever delivered. And $700.7 million of that has been earmarked to support the CDAO’s Managed Service Solution for DOD. Ties To Meta And Salesforce Another AI industry insider, CDAO Chief of Staff Kaydee James, joined the office after a stint as chief of staff at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which wielded AI tools to “delete” federal contracts and workflows, fire staff, and surveil government workers. Previously, from 2021 to 2023, James worked at Meta, one of the many Big Tech firms going “all in” on AI. In 2025, Meta dumped $14.3 billion into an AI infrastructure company called Scale AI in exchange for a 49 percent ownership stake. Last year, the Pentagon contracted with Scale AI to provide “our warfighters and mission operators with cutting-edge AI tools.” In May, CDAO expanded Scale AI’s contract ceiling from $100 million to a whopping $500 million potential over the lifetime of the award. Before her time at Meta, James worked at Salesforce. The cloud-based customer relationship management giant won a 10-year Army contract worth $5.6 billion this past January. Billion-Dollar Windfalls All told, Trump’s federal government — and the AI insiders it’s hired — have spent the first years of Trump 2.0 propping up what looks to be an AI bubble of gargantuan proportions through deregulation, hundreds of billions of dollars in federal contracts, as well as direct and hidden public subsidies. Indeed, the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization, found that federal spending on AI-related contracts rose to $7.2 billion in 2026, up 966 percent compared to 2024. What’s more, the value of potential awards has soared to $91.8 billion, a 1,912 percent jump from just two years earlier. Much of that windfall has been overseen by the industry alums helming the CDAO. But the office and its corporate ties could now face scrutiny if lawmakers follow through with their promises to curb the AI gold rush. Following insider warnings that AI companies are “gambling with our lives,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) pushed a sweeping AI safety bill, saying “we need to pass the bipartisan AI Kill Switch Bill asap.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), meanwhile, announced he’ll be introducing legislation “to ban superintelligence and pause AI development.” While the public waits for Congress to implement basic safeguards against the terrifying warnings that continue to emerge from industry whistleblowers, AI companies — thanks, in part, to their former colleagues now in government — just keep cashing in.

🐶 1 fun thing: Girl Scout pup treats Photo: Girl Scouts of the USA/AP Girl Scouts of the USA is rolling out its first cookies for dogs. The blueberry-muffin-flavored cookies, called Patch Pals, will be sold online starting in January. 🍪 Also coming this January: Sparkables, the group's first allergy-friendly cookie. The crunchy oatmeal cookie has chocolate chips and colored sprinkles. Read the announcement.

🎤 In rare remarks about the 9/11 attacks, former President George W. Bush said at his presidential library in Dallas that many Americans "don't pay attention to the lessons of 9/11, because what happens overseas matters to our national security at home." Go deeper.

🌡️ Hottest summer on record Graphic: NOAA The contiguous U.S. just experienced both its hottest summer and hottest August on record, Alex Fitzpatrick writes from new NOAA data. By the numbers: This past summer (June–August) clocked in at an average temperature of 74.4°F. That's 3°F above the 20th-century average. In August alone, the average temperature was 75.6°F — 3.5°F above the historical average. 🥵 Zoom in: "Record-breaking heat extended across much of the Southwest, with Arizona (tied), New Mexico, Utah and Colorado each recording their warmest summer on record," per NOAA. The records were driven in part by notably higher-than-average nighttime temperatures, with many areas experiencing little evening relief. Data: Copernicus Climate Change Service; Chart: Ben Geman/Axios 🌎 The big picture: Europe's Copernicus service says August was the hottest month on record for Earth as a whole amid human-caused climate change and a turbocharged El Niño, NPR reports. Go deeper.

"Hypermiling" returns Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios High gas prices are reviving an old pastime: obsessing over your car's gas mileage, Axios' Joann Muller reports. With gas averaging $4.28 nationally, drivers are rediscovering "hypermiling" — squeezing every possible mile out of a tank by laying off the gas and avoiding hard braking. 😨 Hypermiling was all the rage in 2008, the first time $4 gas had Americans staring anxiously at their fuel gauge. But the idea goes back much further: Drivers practiced similar fuel-saving tricks during World War II gas rationing and the 1970s oil shocks. 🛞 How it works: Hypermilers keep their tires properly inflated, accelerate gently, anticipate stoplights, coast whenever possible and religiously obey the speed limit. One Wisconsin man told The New York Times that he's getting 83.2 mpg from a Toyota Prius rated at 52 mpg. Gift link. There's another option: Engaging your car's "Eco" driving mode, if available. Go deeper.

Pentagon Employee DataRepublican Posts Inside Info About Hacks Against the Far Left It was a bad week for the Autistici/Inventati collective. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/10/datarepublican-influencer-noblogs-hack-pentagon/? Fired After the Charlie Kirk Revenge Purge, They’re Still Unemployed The grief Emily Taylor had been holding at bay finally washed over her in January. It had been four months since a lone gunman shot Charlie Kirk in the throat at Utah Valley University, killing the conservative commentator in minutes. That winter “was the first time in my entire life that I didn’t go back to school,” said the former English professor, holding back tears. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/10/charlie-kirk-fired-censorship-free-speech/? FAA Investigates Drone Pilot Who Films Animal Abusers For years, animal rights groups and the agriculture industry have played a cat-and-mouse game over drone videos of conditions at major farms. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/08/faa-drone-pilot-animal-abuse-cattle-farm/? United Airlines Ships War Materiel to Israel Aboard Passenger Flights United Airlines is set to resume the shipment of military hardware to Israel aboard passenger flights, according to shipping data reviewed by The Intercept. The airline, one of the biggest in the world, had halted the practice more than six months ago amid the outbreak of the war on Iran. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/09/united-airlines-flights-israel-weapons-hardware-transport/? Cops Are Using Flock to Spy on People for the Crime of Standing Around Flock Security likes to describe its national private network of cameras and license plate scanners as a public safety boon. “I can think of no greater mission than rescuing our children,” tweeted Flock CEO Garrett Langley, sharing a promotional company video. “Another child rape suspect located and arrested with help from Flock,” chief strategy officer Rahul Sidhu posted last month. Last week, venture capital firm and Flock investor Andreessen Horowitz put the company’s benefits in civilizational terms: “Flock eliminates crime. Decline is a choice.” https://theintercept.com/2026/09/09/flock-cameras-police-loitering-curfew-surveillance/?

Iran-backed Houthi rebels take strategic port city in Yemen, raising threat to Red Sea shipping ADEN, Yemen (AP) — The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group on Thursday took over Yemen’s port city of Mokha, an area vital to controlling shipping through the Red Sea, Houthi and Yemeni officials said. https://apnews.com/article/yemen-iran-houthi-rebels-red-sea-mokha-e4e799701b382799a955969c212800ea?

They seem to be taking down his videos. This one should work...

Missouri is poised to revert to former congressional districts after court rejects Trump-backed map JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri is poised to hold its November election with congressional districts passed after the last census, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday again rejected a new map backed by President Donald Trump that Republicans hoped could help them win an additional seat in the pivotal midterms. https://apnews.com/article/missouri-redistricting-congressional-map-trump-c505162fe7880f60eb4dd587bc51d313?

👋 Good morning! Or shall I say, "G'day, mate!" as the NFL prepares for kickoff in Australia. In today's edition: The death of the one-handed backhand, Seahawks win opener, Coco advances, NFL off-field storylines, baseball's iron men, College Football Challenge (make your picks!), and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏀 Team USA into final four: While you were sleeping, the Americans walloped Hungary, 108-56, to secure their spot in the FIBA Women's World Cup semifinals in Berlin, where they're seeking their fifth straight gold medal. ⚾️ Ohtani to the IL: After missing six of the Dodgers' last seven games (knee), Shohei Ohtani will be placed on the 15-day injured list. In a corresponding move, the team will reportedly call-up top prospect Josue De Paula from Double-A Tulsa. 🏈 NCAA enacts timing protocol: In the aftermath of Saturday's Michigan debacle, the NCAA has enacted "a standard timing protocol that ensures consistency in the administration of all college football games." 🎤 Brunson to host SNL: Jalen Brunson's magical summer is about to get an encore when the newly-minted NBA champion hosts the Season 52 premiere of "Saturday Night Live" on Sept. 26. The Finals MVP is just the fifth NBA player ever tapped for this role, joining Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and LeBron James. ⚽️ Messi expands portfolio: Lionel Messi has reached a preliminary agreement to become the majority owner of Eldense, a club in Spain's Segunda División. He already owns or has stakes in Cornellà (Spain), Deportivo LSM (Uruguay), Leones de Rosario FC (Argentina) and Inter Miami.   2026 NFL MELBOURNE GAME Watch the 49ers take on the Rams LIVE from Melbourne tonight at 8:35pm ET on Netflix, and also stream on mobile with NFL+.   🎾 END OF AN ERA THE DEATH OF THE ONE-HANDED BACKHAND (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) The one-handed backhand has been going out of style for decades. This year brought the clearest sign yet that it might be nearing extinction. 149 years later: This is the first year in tennis history, dating to the inaugural Grand Slam in 1877 (Wimbledon), that no man with a one-handed backhand reached a major semifinal. Stefanos Tsitsipas was the streak's last hope, but he fell on Sunday in the Round of 16. Age of extinction: From 1970-90, players with one-handed backhands won more than 60% of Grand Slams, utilizing the signature shot of Rod Laver, Roger Federer and others to great effect. In the early 2000s, they made up roughly half the men's top 100, and eight years ago Federer won his 20th slam while relying heavily on "the shot that made [him] famous." Now? It's all but disappeared from the top of the sport. Just five men ranked in the current ATP Top 100 use a one-handed backhand: No. 14 Lorenzo Musetti, No. 48 Denis Shapovalov, No. 53 Tsitsipas, No. 57 Daniel Altmaier and No. 84 Aleksandar Kovacevic. And they're joined by just 45 additional ranked men. The shot is even more scarce on the WTA Tour, where just 14 ranked women use one hand, led by No. 31 Diane Parry. What gives? Tennis is simply a different sport now than it was even a couple decades ago, as Federer himself explained on the eve of the US Open. The game, which used to be a relatively even split between baseline and net play, has shifted almost exclusively to the baseline, where the power and control afforded by a two-handed grip is crucial. And the shift has become self-perpetuating, Federer added: As one-handed backhands disappear, so do the coaches who teach them. "My coaches when I was growing up were, I would say, 90% one-handers. So I think when your coach is a one-handed tennis player, you will most likely be a one-handed tennis player too. Nowadays, probably the coaches are mostly double-handed players, and it's just easier to teach a kid to have two hands on the backhand side." "One of my kids is switching from a double-hander to a one-hander, and I just see how hard it is for him to hit it and control it. Sure, eventually you get control, but it just takes time, and nowadays we don't have time. Everything has to happen immediately." Bottom line: Tennis has long been a delicate balance between power and finesse. But as the pendulum swings inexorably toward the former, one of the sport's signature shots has all but faded from the game it once dominated.   📸 SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS Josh Jobe celebrates with teammates after sealing the win with a pick. (Jane Gershovich/Getty Images) 🏈 Seattle, Washington The Seahawks rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Patriots, 13-10, in the NFL season opener despite losing QB Sam Darnold to a hip injury just five plays into the game. Throwing the game away: "We want to be aggressive and just not reckless," said Pats head coach Mike Vrabel after Drake Maye threw three interceptions on New England's final three drives, including an egregious game-sealing pick in the end zone. Coco is moving on. (Julian Finney/Getty Images) 🎾 Queens, New York No. 4 Coco Gauff came back from a set down to beat No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2, and advance to her second career US Open semifinal. Last time she made it this far, she won the tournament (2023). More quarterfinals: No. 2 Elena Rybakina beat Qinwen Zheng (and clinched the WTA No. 1 ranking); Top-seeded Alexander Zverev cruised in straight sets; Unseeded Karen Khachanov advanced in a walkover. Schwarbomb No. 44 was worth four runs. (Matt Slocum/AP Photo) ⚾️ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Kyle Schwarber blasted a towering grand slam to lift the Phillies to an 11-7 victory over the Astros and increase his lead in the MLB home run race. He now has 44 dingers on the season, three more than Pete Crow-Armstrong. Chasing the Babe: Schwarber has hit 231 homers since joining the Phillies in 2022. Five more this month and he'll pass Babe Ruth (235) for the most home runs in a player's first five seasons with a team.   🏈 SEASON KICKOFF THE OFF-FIELD GRIDIRON GAMES A giant NFL football outside Melbourne Cricket Ground, site of today's game between the Rams and 49ers. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) The NFL is back, and the stakes extend well beyond wins and losses. As the action gets underway on the field, here are some of the key off-field business storylines worth monitoring this season, courtesy of Yahoo Sports Biz author Dylan Dittrich. 🌎 The league goes (even more) global. The NFL will play a record nine international games this season, beginning "tonight" in Melbourne in perhaps its most ambitious global venture to date. In total, the schedule takes teams to seven different countries, including a first visit to France. Just getting started: The NFL has already approved a move to 10 international games next season, and an 11th will likely follow, though that will require negotiations with the players. In addition, Roger Goodell said this summer that he has "no doubt" that there will eventually be an NFL franchise based internationally. 📺 Who blinks first in media rights staring contest? Just under a year ago, Goodell suggested the NFL could look to enter media rights negotiations in 2026, well ahead of schedule. Fast forward a year, and all momentum on that front has been replaced by abundant uncertainty among the league's partners as Paramount navigates the Warner Bros. acquisition, NBCUniversal faces life after Comcast and Fox voices a desire to negotiate closer to the end of its current deal.* Also worth watching: The league rebuked Nielsen's new methodology rollout, which it cautions could be negative for sports. Meanwhile, the boost from last year's Big Data switch is in the rear view. Could more apples-to-apples annual comparisons cast doubt on the NFL's up-and-to-the-right viewership trends? Workers install the pitch at MetLife Stadium, home of the Giants and Jets, ahead of the World Cup this summer. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images) 🏟️ The grass versus turf debate rages on. Seven NFL stadiums switched from artificial turf to natural grass to host World Cup matches. But that switch was only temporary, inciting an outcry from players who believe their well-being and preferences are #WorthTheCost of using natural grass. Though 92% of players prefer a natural surface, the situation is not black-and-white, even as the stadium split between turf and grass is nearly 50/50. Both the Patriots (turf) and Bills (natural grass) were forced to replace their fields this preseason. Ear to the ground: You'll never hear more about field quality, particularly in relation to non-contact injuries, than you will this season. In the players' eyes, the World Cup proved that using natural grass is feasible, and the choice of field is a matter of safety versus financials. While grass and turf surfaces must conform to NFL and NFLPA protocols, injuries on turf will be dissected under a more powerful microscope. 👋 So long, Sunday afternoon? The NFL season began on a Wednesday. The Packers will face the Rams in the league's first Thanksgiving Eve game. Santa will bring another Christmas Day triple-header down the chimney. Each year, the league seems to extend its reach further into non-traditional days of the week, diluting the Sunday slate. In 2006-07, Sunday afternoon games accounted for 83% of the total slate. This season? Just 72%. Reality check: For all the handwringing about the dilution of Sundays, this year's Sunday slate lost just one game relative to last season. The primary loser was Monday, with doubleheaders nixed (will anyone miss them?). Wednesday windows will dredge up the dilution discourse, but at least in the short term, the league's vice grip on Sundays hasn't weakened. *There's also the matter of the looming U.S. Court of Appeals decision on $14.1 billion in potential Sunday Ticket damages, as well as the reported DOJ probe into the league's broadcast distribution practices. Those, too, could impact the media rights state of play, though uncertainty will persist even if the legal status quo prevails.   ⚾️ IRON MEN THE PURSUIT OF 162 (Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports) Not taking days off has always been a point of pride around the game of baseball, where the best ability, it is often said, is availability. This season, MLB players are proving that sentiment is still true. Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports: Four MLB players have started every one of their clubs' games this season: Atlanta's Matt Olson, Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero, Baltimore's Pete Alonso and Philadelphia's Bryce Harper. Another four — Chicago's Pete Crow-Armstrong, Pittsburgh's Bryan Reynolds, Cincinnati's Sal Stewart and Atlanta's Ozzie Albies — have appeared in every game. That's eight players on pace to finish the year with 162 games played, which would be the highest tally since 2005. Since the move to a 162-game season in 1961, there have been just four seasons (1962, 1964, 1974, 1980) in which more players appeared in 162 games. It's a fascinating trend, one seemingly at odds with the contemporary discourse about load management. Only four hoopers, for instance, started all 82 games during the most recent NBA season. But any baseball old heads, the ones starting sentences with "back in my day" and griping about the softness of the modern position player, are not standing on factual ground. Off-days have always been part of the sport. Today's game is not, in fact, poisoned with an over-abundance of entitled lollygaggers looking to do the least. This season's eight iron men are a testament to that. Keep reading: Why MLB players appearing in every game is trending up   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, SEPT. 10 (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 Rams vs. 49ers Two NFC West foes go head-to-head "tonight" (8:35pm ET, Netflix) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the NFL's first-ever game in Australia, where the Rams are 3.5-point favorites over the Niners. Local time at kickoff? 10:35am tomorrow morning. Not back yet: Three-time DPOY Aaron Donald didn't make the trip with the Rams, so his return to the field following his 2024 retirement will have to wait. "I think he'll be ready to go sooner rather than later," said head coach Sean McVay. 🎾 US Open, Semifinals The women's final four take the court today with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Jessica Pegula getting things started (7pm, ESPN), followed by No. 2 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 4 Coco Gauff. All chalk: This is the first time since 2009 that the top four women's seeds reached the semifinals at any Grand Slam, and the first time since 1975 they did so at the US Open. The final four that year? No. 1 Chris Evert, No. 2 Virginia Wade, No. 3 Martina Navratilova and No. 4 Evonne Goolagong. More to watch: ⚽️ Champions League: Bayern Munich vs. Bodø/Glimt (3pm, Paramount+) … One of six games to wrap up Matchday 1. 🏈 NCAAF: Florida A&M at No. 7 Miami (8pm, ACC) … Miami's Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney will look to stay hot after connecting 12 times for 234 yards and 3 scores in the opener. 🏀 FIBA Women's World Cup: China vs. France (8:30am); Belgium vs. Germany (11:45am); Australia vs. Spain (2:45pm) … Quarterfinals on HBO Max. 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stage 18 (8:45am, Peacock) … Riders compete in a 20-mile time trial from El Puerto de Santa María to Jerez de la Frontera.   ⚾ LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME Altuve hits a double in the third inning. (Houston Astros/Getty Images) Jose Altuve notched his 2,500th career hit on Wednesday, becoming just the second active MLB player to reach the milestone. Question: Who is the only other active player with 2,500+ hits? Hint: First baseman. Answer at the bottom.   🏈 WHO YA GOT? MAKE YOUR PICKS! (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) College Football Challenge is back for another week! Over 2,300 of you submitted entries for Week 1, and it's not too late to join in on the fun ahead of Saturday's slate. How it works: Each week, you'll make 10 picks against the spread regarding Saturday's best matchups. Among your choices for Week 2: No. 1 Ohio State (+1.5) at No. 4 Texas No. 11 Oklahoma (-5.5) at Michigan No. 6 Oregon (-22.5) at Oklahoma State No. 18 Tennessee (-13.5) at Georgia Tech Arkansas (+12.5) at No. 20 Utah Make your picks.   Trivia answer: Freddie Freeman

Donalds, Luna to speak at ‘multi-millionaire-palooza’ in Dallas Wednesday Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters says tonight’s first midterm Republican convention in Dallas has one mission: to defy history and grow Republican majorities in both the House and Senate in November. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/09/donalds-luna-to-speak-at-multi-millionaire-palooza-in-dallas-wednesday/? ps:Well they did a lot of gerrymandering, I'd be very surprised if they didn't keep both the house and senate!! Pathetic!!!!

Trump doesn’t have the power to limit mail-in voting, lawmakers tell US Supreme Court The hotly contested U.S. Postal Service rule restricting mail-in voting usurps Congress’ authority, as well as states’ power to administer elections, more than 250 current and former members of Congress said in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/09/repub/trump-doesnt-have-the-power-to-limit-mail-in-voting-lawmakers-tell-us-supreme-court/? Appeals court hands Trump a loss on mail voting as Supreme Court considers his executive order WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court on Thursday upheld a block on President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting, a decision that comes as the Supreme Court considers the same case and states have already started sending out ballots for the high-stakes midterm elections. https://apnews.com/article/trump-mail-voting-executive-order-midterms-3e2c89ab0a0f7faca75e50ff34adee15?

Angie Nixon says there are ‘$10 million reasons’ to oppose Ashley Moody ST. PETERSBURG — Three weeks after her double-digit victory in the Florida Democratic U.S. Senate primary, Angie Nixon is making her case to general election voters by linking GOP incumbent Ashley Moody to Donald Trump, saying she “rubber-stamps everything he does.” https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/09/angie-nixon-says-there-are-10-million-reasons-to-oppose-ashley-moody/? Doctors ask state for hearing on new proposed vaccine rule Florida physicians want a formal hearing on the DeSantis administration’s latest effort to weaken vaccine requirements for Florida schoolchildren. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/09/doctors-ask-state-for-hearing-on-new-proposed-vaccine-rule/? TikTok wants state’s suit dismissed, responds to state ban on minor social media use TikTok wants to scroll past Florida’s claim it isn’t complying with the state’s social media ban for minors, seeking to dismiss a lawsuit Attorney General James Uthmeier brought earlier this summer. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/10/tiktok-wants-states-suit-dismissed-responds-to-state-ban-on-minor-social-media-use/?

However, after reading Hobie's post, " NIV changes, from 'ta hagia' to 'hagia haggiwn'. ", I can see there is a difference. I highly recommend people read that.