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One wonders if same members of the SBC who are distraught at the pending ban of W.O. in the SBC are equally distraught that a woman who self-identifies as a man would be precluded from being ordained clergy.

September 30, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. American forces withdrew from Iraq today, after two decades of military presence. They are leaving behind a battered nation. And a clash in the cockpit of a plane flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv this morning prompted Israel and Saudi Arabia to scramble fighter jets in fear of a hijacking. Read more here. There’s more news below. But let’s start on campus. Heather Ainsworth for The New York Times Justice for Jane Doe? The mood at Cornell is tense. Local prosecutors are reviewing a decision not to prosecute seven students accused of raping a student there in 2024. The school’s rugby team acknowledged that some of the accused were players. The mayor of Ithaca, where Cornell is based, called for a moratorium on all permits for student events. At a town hall event, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decried the “culture of rape” at elite institutions. Takes and gossip fly alongside facts and accusations. The home page of the student newspaper is consumed by the story. A recent civil lawsuit discloses gruesome details: Men are said to have given ketamine and alcohol to a woman at a frat house. Then one invited his fraternity brothers over to have sex with her. The revelations led the district attorney to reopen the case, reviving a debate about how students accused of sexual misconduct can be punished. And the fallout — an alleged assault first forgotten, then revived — has gripped the nation. As Cornell hunkers down, Emma Goldberg, who covers New York, is on campus. We asked her what she’s seen, what she’s heard, what she’s learned. Sam: What are the vibes at Cornell right now? Emma: Yesterday, I talked to people outside Cornell classrooms, libraries and Collegetown Bagels, a local hangout. A lot of freshmen feel outraged by the allegations. They just sat through orientation lectures about how seriously the school takes these sort of complaints! Some students let me scroll through their feeds on Sidechat, an app where students anonymously share gossip and opinions about campus news. Many sympathized with the victim, known as Jane Doe, and vented about Cornell’s response. Others said sexual violence is pervasive nationwide and thought Cornell was being unfairly singled out. Some defended Greek life. A number of students told me they’re less likely to rush sororities and fraternities. A young woman told me somebody handed her an open drink at a frat party Saturday. Her whole friend group panicked. In Ithaca, N.Y., on Monday. Heather Ainsworth for The New York Times So what are students doing? Some of the people who think the university mishandled the case are taking matters into their own hands. How? Student journalists at the campus newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, published the names of the seven accused fraternity members. As their essay put it, “Cornell Won’t, We Will.” Now their readers are naming and shaming the alleged perpetrators in social media posts. Journalists tread carefully in cases like these. How did Sun editors try to do that? One of their reporters, Cereese Qusba, has spent 23 months reporting out what happened to Jane Doe, frustrated by how the attention faded after her initial campus police report in 2024. The editor in chief, Sophia Dasser, wanted to tell readers how Cornell disciplines students in such cases, how it shares information with prosecutors or how often sexual assaults take place on campus. But she said the school wasn’t very forthcoming. (The university says federal law prevents it from talking about specific cases.) “The victim allegedly received these acts uncensored,” Dasser told me. “It would almost be wrong for us to censor it to the rest of the campus and leave only the victim to have experienced the alleged acts in raw details.” I wrote a story about the newsroom’s decision-making. People sound frustrated. Students I’ve interviewed are bewildered about why only a few of the men involved in this case were reportedly expelled. They’re also marveling over the strangeness of learning that guys they knew — from class and clubs — could be guilty of something so sinister. Now students seem a little jaded. “I got the feeling if something bad happened I would be protected,” one young woman told me. “It’s sad to find out that’s not true.” Here’s what we know about the case. FREE TO READ An artist’s concept shows the Beta Pictoris system, 63 light-years from Earth. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI) Other life? Researchers found radio waves streaming from an alien planet. Caleb Flynn: An Ohio jury convicted Flynn, a former music pastor and “American Idol” contestant, of murdering his wife. The trial captivated the internet. Roller coaster: Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles is permanently closing its X2 ride following lawsuits linking the coaster to brain injuries and deaths. Fat Bear Week: Backpack, a male brown bear known for his gentle demeanor, won Alaska’s annual contest. See photos of him. Your pick: The most clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about scientists discovering a virus that is a tiny bit human. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Boys Town Junction in Monrovia, Liberia. Carielle Doe for The New York Times The Supreme Court agreed the Trump administration can, for now, resume rapidly deporting immigrants to countries other than their own. ICE plans to hire another 5,000 people by the end of the year to support Trump’s deportation campaign. Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for Senate in Texas, told a group of conservative donors and lobbyists last week that President Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas had hurt him politically, according to an audio recording obtained by The New York Times. Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican, accused Jack Smith, the former special counsel who charged Trump, of perjury, citing text messages about a basketball game that Schmitt appeared to have misunderstood. When challenged, Schmitt called Smith a “dirtbag” and left the hearing. The Republican nominee for governor of Colorado says he was forced to kill a man at age 7. Some Republicans worry his sensational account of his biography could drag down the ticket. White House Meeting Trump summoned the world’s most powerful technology executives to the White House and asked them to voluntarily regulate themselves. The tech leaders also agreed to adopt Trump’s preferred name for A.I. — “super intelligence.” More on A.I. Times Exclusive: Months before OpenAI’s artificial intelligence went rogue, employees raised an alarm with top executives. The warning was ignored. OpenAI apologized for four instances in which its models gained access to Australian government websites, including one in which it hacked the country's Medicare portal. A.I.-powered disinformation campaigns are targeting Black Americans, an important voting bloc, before the midterm elections. See how groups aligned with Anthropic and OpenAI have funneled money into the fight for control of Congress: Daniel Wood/The New York Times Around the World The king of Morocco appointed the country’s first female prime minister. The move projects a modern image for Morocco, despite its economic challenges. In Britain, the police found no explosives in the vans of five men arrested near an air base where American jets take off. But officials warn of a real Iranian threat. Indonesia suspended some prison officials after inspectors found inmates with expensive cars, flat-screen TVs and a golf simulator under construction. More than 100 Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians and soldiers in the West Bank when the Israeli military tried to return a Palestinian family to their home after they were forced out. Other Big Stories A hedge fund billionaire, Ken Griffin, made the largest donation in the history of American higher education — $3 billion. It’s going to Carnegie Mellon University. Fatal crashes involving e-bikes and electric scooters in New York City have reached a record high this year. A Utah man was freed after 37 years on death row as a result of new DNA evidence. A 57-year-old man was killed in Brooklyn after his bag got stuck in a subway door and he was dragged by the train, the police said. THE MORNING QUIZ This question comes from a recent edition of the newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.) Bobby Pulido, a Texas Democrat running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, has an unusual qualification. What is it? He was a horse-racing jockey. He served aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln during the war in Iran. He wrote the code for Anthropic’s first large-language model. He’s a famous Tejano singer. OPINIONS Bill McKibben, the author and climate activist, is demoralized. He argues that we weren’t built for a world like this. If your partner’s digital life is disrupting your relationship, you might have a case of “attention infidelity,” Jessica Grose writes. The Anniversary Sale ends soon: Morning readers, enjoy our best offer. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your interests with expert coverage of news, culture, business and more. Save now: $1/week for your first year. TODAY’S NUMBER 15,153 — That is how many ratings, averaging five stars, there were as of this morning on Ali Slagle’s recipe for crispy gnocchi with sausage and broccoli. One commenter wrote: “Certified banger, 10/10, no notes. Will make again and again.” SPORTS W.N.B.A.: The New York Liberty, a no. 8 seed, beat the top-ranked Minnesota Lynx in the playoffs. N.H.L.: Brock Faber, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild and the gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team, fractured his skull in the team’s preseason finale. A FAMILY SECRET Sebastian Barry Gareth McConnell for The New York Times I couldn’t stop reading this remarkable, career-spanning profile of the Irish author Sebastian Barry, who had much to hide. (“The modern habit is to tell everything, isn’t it,” Barry told our reporter. “Let’s start a new fashion of people not communicating their central despair!”) Now he’s wrestling with the secrets. The result is a beautiful, complicated piece. More on culture The MacArthur Foundation announced its 2026 “genius grant” winners. The award recognizes “exceptional creativity” and comes with a no-strings-attached stipend of $800,000. Who got one? Min Jin Lee’s novel “American Hagwon” is a soapy, sweeping, and deeply satisfying epic about the Korean diaspora, Alexandra Jacobs writes. RECIPE OF THE DAY Julia Gartland for The New York Times I dig a midweek dinner of these spicy roasted chicken thighs, served over rice with a mess of steamed spinach on the side. Maybe some mango chutney if there’s some sitting in the back of the fridge? A smear of yogurt? This is good living. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Protect your knees with this weekly workout. Read “The Radiance,” by Ayad Akhtar. Is it a campus satire? A philosophical exploration? A medical mystery? Autofiction? “Who cares?” A.O. Scott writes in his review for The Times. “Taxonomy is taxidermy. Whatever this book is, it’s alive.” Prepare for the joys of sleeping with the window open as the temperature falls into deeper autumn. Consider these flannel sheets recommended by the snuggle cats at Wirecutter. Toasty! GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was vetoing. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson

THIS DAY IN HISTORY September 30 1954 USS Nautilus—world’s first nuclear submarine—is commissioned The U.S. Navy commissions the USS Nautilus. Four years later, the groundbreaking submarine accomplished the first voyage under the geographic North Pole. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1950s 1955 James Dean dies in car accident American Revolution 1776 General George Washington complains about his militia Arts & Entertainment 2005 Michael Eisner resigns as Disney CEO 1868 First volume of “Little Women” is published 1928 Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and bestselling author, is born Black History 1962 Riots erupt over desegregation of Ole Miss Cold War 1949 Berlin Airlift ends Hispanic History 1962 Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta establish the National Farm Workers Association 1822 Joseph Marion Hernández becomes the first Hispanic elected to Congress Middle Eastern History 1918 Lawrence of Arabia leads liberation forces into Damascus Sports 1927 Babe Ruth hits 60th homer of 1927 season 1947 World Series broadcast on TV for first time U.S. Presidents 1918 President Woodrow Wilson speaks in favor of female suffrage Women’s History 1889 Wyoming legislators write the first state constitution to grant women the vote World War II 1938 Munich Pact signed

🎒 Heftiest bear crowned A brown bear known as Backpack, officially named Bear 89, wades through Brooks River in Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska on Sept. 8. Image from video: explore.org via AP Backpack — "Lord of Lard, Earl of Girth" — won the 12th annual Fat Bear Week, officially declared the heftiest bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park & Preserve. 20 years old and packing an estimated 1,000-1,200 pounds, Backpack prevailed from a bracket of 16 chunky bears after a week of online voting. He pulled in more than 100,000 votes in the final round. The competition celebrates the resilience of 2,200 brown bears living in the Alaska Peninsula preserve. Bear 910 stands beside the Brooks River in Alaska on Sept. 9. Photo: C. Loberg/National Park Service via AP Above, the runner-up: Bear 910, the daughter of a former champion. Meet Backpack.

🧍‍♂️ AI agents' normal-people problem Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images AI companies are staking their future on the mass adoption of agents, hoping that they can solve the annoyances of modern life — email, travel bookings, online purchases, Axios' Shane Savitsky writes. Why it matters: The frenzy around Meta's Muse shows there's serious consumer curiosity about the technology. But there's little evidence that most Americans are willing to invest the time needed to re-engineer their lives in a way that puts AI at the center. Driving the news: Meta's Muse vaulted to the top of Apple's App Store on the back of its integrations with Facebook and Instagram and a cute, fuzzy mascot. Microsoft released a souped-up Copilot with an agentic Autopilot feature, while OpenAI yesterday announced its own agentic assistant, dots. Reality check: Agents only become truly useful when people hand them access to their digital lives — and people really don't want to. A 13-country Thales poll this year found broad pushback against the core uses of agents: Only 13% of respondents would let an "AI helper" read their emails, 11% would let one rebook travel, and just 7% would let it move money between bank accounts.

🇮🇷 Hope fades on Iran talks Efforts this week by Qatari mediators to broker a diplomatic breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran have made little progress, with neither side willing to budge, three sources familiar with the talks tell Axios' Barak Ravid. "It is stuck," one of the sources said. "The Iranians are asking for things the U.S. can't accept. And the U.S. thinks it is winning so there is no need for compromise." Why it matters: The stalemate bolsters the belief on both sides that a renewed military conflict is becoming more likely. 💣 U.S. officials think President Trump could order a return to major combat operations after the midterms. Qatari officials will keep trying but are growing increasingly frustrated with both sides, two of the sources said. More on the talks.

Trump christens AI "constitution" With America's tech titans crowded around a single White House table yesterday, President Trump extracted what he called a "morally binding" compact on AI safety, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. The terms were simple: Press ahead, project optimism and police yourselves. Why it matters: The White House Accord on Super Intelligence, signed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, xAI and Nvidia, formalizes industry self-regulation as Washington's response to the most alarming run of AI safety failures yet. 🖊️ Zoom in: Trump, who increasingly treats American AI dominance as central to his legacy, cast the accord as proof that an industry fractured over safety can still govern itself. He compared the document to "a constitution," claimed there was "a lot of commonality" among the tech leaders, and praised what he described as "tremendous self-policing." The one-page pact, which is deliberately light-touch, calls for "four layers of controls and auditing," including outside evaluators and independent board oversight. Between the lines: The accord refers vaguely to future "laws or regulations," preserving the possibility of a tougher federal regime if ultimately needed. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, a MAGA bogeyman and the industry's most prominent advocate for slowing frontier development, signed the pact but stressed to reporters that it was only "a start." Trump AI adviser David Sacks, by contrast, treated the accord as mission accomplished — declaring on X that the companies were "accepting responsibility" for AI safety thanks to Trump's leadership. Zoom out: The White House pact capped an extraordinary day for the AI race across three capitals of American power. 1. In Washington, Trump spent yesterday pulling AI deeper into both the machinery and mythology of his presidency. In the morning, he unveiled America.gov, an AI-powered front door to federal services, and vowed not to "stifle" a technology he says will eclipse the Industrial Revolution. Hours later, Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to replace "AI" with "Super Intelligence" in official usage — and called on Congress to write the new terminology into law. 2. In Silicon Valley, OpenAI spent the day racing deeper into the age of autonomous AI while struggling to contain its risks. At its highly anticipated DevDay, the company unveiled a sweeping slate of products designed to make AI more persistent, capable and independent in everyday life, including a new personal assistant. But midway through Sam Altman's keynote, an explosive New York Times report revealed that OpenAI executives had brushed aside internal safety warnings months before its models began hacking outside systems. 3. On Wall Street, Anthropic's leaked IPO prospectus distilled the surreal economics of the AI race. According to Reuters, the company laid out a path to a valuation north of $2 trillion while warning prospective investors that its technology could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity." Altman said OpenAI will delay its IPO until it can "make confident safety decisions" — even as the company reportedly seeks at least $30 billion in private funding at a roughly $1.4 trillion valuation. The bottom line: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, seated at Trump's right hand for the East Room lunch, supplied the day's credo: "Trust and innovation are not in conflict. Safety is how trust is earned."

ShinyHunters Arrest The FBI and Dutch National Police yesterday announced the arrest of an alleged member of the ShinyHunters cyber group, which claimed responsibility last week for hacking the FBI's jobs website. The 24-year-old suspect was arrested on Sept. 15, a week before ShinyHunters said it stole two to three terabytes of data related to FBI employees and job applicants, including intelligence assignments and medical records. The hack was intended to pressure the bureau into retracting or revising this public advisory detailing alleged extortion tactics. It was posted days after the parent company of online learning platform Canvas paid ShinyHunters an undisclosed ransom following a hack that forced many colleges to postpone final exams. The FBI estimates ShinyHunters has breached more than 140 organizations and extorted $70M since last year. Dutch authorities say information found on the suspect's laptop also revealed a plot to orchestrate two murders abroad, separate from his alleged ShinyHunters activity.

🌈 Rainbow hour Photo: Jackie Rick Finish Liner Jackie Rick captured this colorful calm over the Atlantic from Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island last week, ahead of the weekend storms.

A Conclusion in Search of Evidence (Anna Moneymaker / Getty)   View in browser When President Trump returned to office last year, the administration had revenge on the agenda. First, the FBI purged agents who’d been involved in investigations into Trump while he was out of office. Second, the Department of Justice launched a major probe to prove a “grand conspiracy” to politically persecute Trump, which would rely in part on the former agents’ cooperation and testimony about improper or illegal actions. Perhaps you have spotted a potential flaw in the plan. The administration apparently did not. The team conducting the probe sought to compel testimony from agents involved in an August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago, in which the FBI recovered documents that Trump had removed from the White House. Last week, lawyers representing agents involved in the search filed a motion saying that if they were forced to testify to a grand jury, they would relay “their firsthand memories of investigating a properly predicated allegation” that Trump had “unlawfully retained hundreds of highly classified documents,” as well as “factually supported opinions on why and how such retention put the country’s national security at risk.” No one should be surprised that the agents, who appear to have already been fired for simply doing their job, were not eager to testify in court that they’d been involved in anything untoward. Although such testimony would pose serious problems for the DOJ probe, the motion’s intent was not to sabotage it, The New York Times notes, but rather to seek assurances that if the agents testified, they would not be violating a federal judge’s order that bars publication of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report about it. (Smith testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee today—more on that in a moment.) More to the point, the agents were never likely to have the sort of damning information about a conspiracy that prosecutors want. The facts of the Mar-a-Lago case are not complicated: Trump absconded with documents, many of them highly sensitive; did not turn them over when asked to do so by the National Archives and later via a subpoena; and was found in possession of them at Mar-a-Lago. Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, didn’t really dispute any of these facts. He argued that he had declassified the materials—a claim for which he provided no evidence—and that he rightfully possessed them. (Prosecutors further alleged that he’d suggested to his lawyers that they hide some documents, and that he’d tried to hide others from them.) The grand-conspiracy probe, which attempts to tie together the documents case, investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, and other investigations into Trump allies, has been a mess. In April, a career prosecutor leading the team was removed, reportedly after she concluded that there was not enough evidence to charge John Brennan, the CIA director under President Obama who has repeatedly tangled with Trump, with any crimes. (Brennan is reportedly facing two separate DOJ criminal investigations, which a law professor told The Washington Sun is an indication of either prosecutorial incompetence or malice; those might not be mutually exclusive.) She was replaced by Joseph diGenova, who was a federal prosecutor in the 1980s but has more recently been known for propagating conspiracy theories. He and his wife were appointed to Trump’s defense team during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe in 2018 but quickly withdrew; they were later involved in Trump’s attempt to challenge the 2020 presidential-election results. DiGenova abruptly resigned earlier this month and implied that he had been under pressure to bring unjustified charges. “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem,” he told the New York Post. Yesterday, another member of the team, Kurt Olsen, departed. The Times reports that Olsen faced difficulties with his security clearance; The Washington Post says that he was also frustrated by pressure from DOJ officials to move faster. If even Olsen thinks DOJ is being hasty, that would be stunning: He pushed DOJ to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 election and more recently was the driving force behind more conspiracy theories, including about voting in Fulton County, Georgia, in 2020. People like diGenova and Olsen are die-hard loyalists, not just deep-staters or fair-weather Trump fans. The problem with the grand-conspiracy probe is the fundamental premise, not staffing. Trump’s view of the world is zero-sum, such as in trade or diplomacy. The motive for the probe is that because Trump suffered during his criminal probes, his antagonists must have done something just as bad and must suffer the same. Perhaps you can see the flaw here too: Trump and his allies are starting with a conclusion of guilt and attempting to work backwards to find the charges and evidence to justify it. The risks of this were vividly displayed during Smith’s testimony today, in one of the most excruciating exchanges I’ve ever seen in politics. Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri seemed convinced that he had caught Smith perjuring himself—when, in fact, Schmitt had failed to recognize the difference between the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team, eviscerating not only Schmitt’s dignity but also his theory that Smith had been covertly meeting with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to conspire against Trump. A robust debate continues about whether it was politically prudent to prosecute Trump for his various offenses in order to uphold the rule of law, or whether doing so simply inflamed his supporters and fostered an atmosphere of partisan retribution. Legally, the matter is simpler. On one side of the ledger, Trump did take the documents, Trump did try to overturn an election that he lost, and Trump’s 2016 campaign did have a series of inappropriate contacts with foreign governments. (The weakest case against Trump involved falsified business records, but that one produced a felony conviction.) On the other side, federal law-enforcement agencies did their job and investigated those actions, for which many were fired. Given the facts, is the DOJ probe investigating a grand conspiracy, or is it evidence of one? Related: A Department of Justice for an age of conspiracy theories Trump is turning DOJ into his personal law firm. (From 2025)

Canada’s first major LNG export terminal plans to double its capacity The multinational owners of Canada’s first large-scale liquefied natural gas export terminal agreed Tuesday to a C$33 billion (US$23 billion) expansion in British Columbia that will double the facility’s capacity and expand Canada’s exports to overseas energy markets. Read More.

Bosnian Serb leaders meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin ahead of weekend election in Bosnia Bosnian Serb pro-Russian ruling politicians on Tuesday met with Russia's President Vladimir Putin just days ahead of a general election this weekend in Bosnia. Read More.

Rivals for LA mayor set to meet in forum as city struggles with homelessness, Hollywood job losses Two Democratic rivals seeking to lead troubled Los Angeles will meet in a high-stakes forum Tuesday just days before mail ballots drop, as voters weigh whether to stick with unpopular incumbent Karen Bass or turn to a little-known City Council member backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Nithya Raman. Read More.

Burkina Faso opens its first gold refinery in a push for economic sovereignty DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery as its military-led government seeks greater economic sovereignty after severing ties with traditional Western partners. https://apnews.com/article/burkina-faso-gold-refinery-nationalism-sovereignty-f39f714232e1784bb5051cdf44f0b992?

Watchdog says Trump can't cancel more than $800M in spending approved by Congress President Donald Trump is not permitted to withhold beyond the end of the fiscal year ending Wednesday more than $800 million in spending approved by Congress. That's according to a review from the Government Accountability Office that was sent to federal lawmakers and Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday. Read More. Trump hails the US military’s exit from Iraq after 12-year mission against Islamic State BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group and prompting President Donald Trump to hail the conclusion of “a very expensive excursion into Hell.” https://apnews.com/article/iraq-us-withdrawal-militias-disarmament-kurds-a097a39f3d1a3515adc2ba3298a6816f?

Trump says top tech firms have signed accord to ‘self-police’ AI development WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he and a large group of leaders of artificial intelligence companies had signed a voluntary accord that will include internal and external reviews during a meeting at the White House aimed at addressing Americans’ fears about the technology. https://apnews.com/article/trump-ai-anthropic-musk-595796511f110fc006cca0d01329733e? Trump says top tech firms have signed accord to 'self-police' AI development President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he and a large group of leaders of artificial intelligence companies had signed a voluntary accord that will include internal and external reviews during a meeting at the White House aimed at addressing Americans' fears about the technology. Read More.

⚓️ 1 for the road: Storm turns up shipwreck Exposed shipwreck remains along the southern shore of Nantucket, Mass. Photo: Jason Graziadei/Nantucket Current via AP Maritime experts in Nantucket are inspecting weathered wooden beams exposed by last weekend's powerful nor'easter — possibly the remnants of a 19th-century shipwreck. The Egan Maritime Institute is surveying the site and working with state archaeologists to determine the wreckage's origins. 🌊 The splintered timbers, fastened together by rusted iron, emerged near an area where remains believed to be from the Warren Sawyer have been found before. That ship ran aground in 1884 while carrying cotton and scrap iron from New Orleans to Boston. Go deeper.

👨🏽‍💻 AI could force millions into new roles Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios Roughly 11 million American workers might need to change jobs over the next decade as the economy adapts to the AI era, Axios' Emily Peck writes from a new McKinsey Global Institute estimate. 🧑‍🔧 By the numbers: About 7% of current employees might need to shift occupations, the model found. Many who don't switch jobs will still see their work transformed by AI: About 70% of U.S. workers will face some level of role reinvention. Read the report.

Meet OpenAI's new agent, "dots" Screenshot: OpenAI ChatGPT maker OpenAI today launched "dots" — AI agents with disarmingly cute avatars that can be asked to perform a range of tasks, Axios' Ina Fried reports. 👾 Powered by GPT-6 Astra, dots can work across connected apps, Codex and ChatGPT Work to do research, analyze data, prepare documents and build software. They can work in the background and reach out when they need more input. Users can also set boundaries around dots' actions. Dots are available to OpenAI's Pro, Business and Enterprise users, with one dot per user to start. OpenAI says in an announcement: "Your dot is always within reach, whether it is through ChatGPT, Slack, or Teams." "You can ask questions, explore ideas, and give feedback along the way; or you can simply hop on a voice call when you need to talk something out." (Go deeper.) 🤝 OpenAI says it envisions teams of dots eventually working together. CEO Sam Altman said at a developer event today: "This is the real deal version of AI we've always imagined." 🖼️ The big picture: OpenAI's dots will compete with a growing crop of consumer AI assistants used to book travel, cancel subscriptions and more, including Meta's Muse agent. Meta dove headfirst into the consumer market, launching Muse widely to its massive audience. The app topped the download charts early on. OpenAI is targeting high-end subscribers, mostly developers — at least for now. Read the announcement ... Go deeper.

Federal prosecutors charge Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent in Texas with assaulting an officer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced an assault charge against a Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot in his car by a federal immigration agent in Texas, accusing the man of striking an officer with his side mirror while trying to drive away. https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-austin-texas-wilber-rafael-garcesperez-e3ca63b090ee1b33ee154eecb99e3311? Former ‘American Idol’ singer Caleb Flynn convicted of fatally shooting his wife A former Ohio music pastor who once appeared on “American Idol” was convicted of murder Tuesday in the killing of his wife while he was having an affair. https://apnews.com/article/american-idol-caleb-flynn-trial-ohio-d2a4d31d28e6ad2a4c057312bbbfa0c5?

👋 Good morning! Happy GeoSports day to you and yours. In today's edition: The NHL is back, the Protect College Sports Act passes the Senate, Bears crush Eagles on "MNF," American cyclist scores stunning victory, MLB postseason power rankings, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🎓 PCSA passes Senate: U.S. senators on Monday overwhelmingly voted to pass the Protect College Sports Act, representing a historic moment for the NCAA. But the question that looms now is whether the bipartisan bill will pass in the House, where it faces a far tougher challenge. 🏈 Welcome back, Case! The Bears crushed the Eagles, 27-7, on "Monday Night Football" behind a stellar game from veteran QB Case Keenum (24/34, 247 yards, 3 total TD), who was making his first NFL start since 2023. Philadelphia's loss leaves the Bills, Chiefs, Raiders, Vikings and 49ers as the only undefeated teams left through three weeks. 🏀 Lynx win Coach, ROY: Minnesota's Olivia Miles was named the unanimous WNBA Rookie of the Year, while Cheryl Reeves was named Coach of the Year for a record fifth time. Now, they'll try to avoid getting swept on the road tonight against the 8th-seeded Liberty. 🏀 Year 24 loading: LeBron James addressed the media for the first time as a member of the 76ers at the NBA's annual media day on Monday. Topics covered included his unwavering championship mindset and that he "had visions" of joining the Knicks, but changed his mind after they won the title. 🏈 NFL news: The Giants acquired J.J. McCarthy from the Vikings for a fifth-round pick to provide depth at QB following Jaxson Dart's injury; Dolphins star RB De’Von Achane and Giants star pass rusher Brian Burns will both miss the rest of the season after tearing their ACLs.   🏒 PUCK DROP THE NHL IS BACK Caption The NHL returns to action tonight, as the puck drops on the league's 110th season — and first since 1993-94 to feature an 84-game schedule. Preseason title favorites: The Hurricanes and Panthers, who've combined to win the last three Stanley Cups, open as co-favorites to hoist the chalice next spring. Hurricanes (+650): Rod Brind'Amour's squad will try to become the fourth team in the past decade to repeat as champions, and they'll do so with a roster that looks almost identical to last season's title-winning outfit. Why mess with success, I guess? Panthers (+650): The talent here is undeniable, with newly-acquired Brady Tkakchuk joining his brother Matthew in Florida alongside steady veteran Sam Reinhart and the return of superstar Aleksander Barkov, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. Avalanche (+700): Like the Canes, the Avs return most of the players who powered their Presidents' Trophy-winning campaign last season. It helps when you have Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, two of the five best players in the sport. Oilers (+800): Speaking of dynamic duos, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will try yet again to lead this team to the promised land, as Edmonton carries the flag for a nation still seeking its first Stanley Cup in over three decades (1993 Canadiens). Golden Knights (+850): Vegas almost pulled off the unthinkable last year, reaching the Stanley Cup Final after changing coaches in the final month of the regular season. Let's see how they fare this year under rookie head coach (and longtime Vegas assistant) Ryan Craig. Names to watch: Countless figures will come to define this season, but these three are worth keeping a particularly close eye on. Connor Hellebuyck: The three-time Vezina Trophy winner has been with the Jets since he was a rookie in 2015, but that relationship seems to be coming to the end after he requested a trade out of Winnipeg this summer. The league's best goalie is currently suspended without pay amid his holdout, and remains under contract through 2030-31. Mike Babcock: Edmonton's new head coach* was a rather surprising hire given the longtime bench boss faced numerous allegations of mental abuse from players during his NHL career. "I am absolutely shocked they hired him," said Oilers legend Mark Messier. But Edmonton's players vetted him themselves, and the NHL's investigation concluded "there is no current basis to restrict his employment. Alex Ovechkin: The league's all-time leading goal scorer (929) begins his 22nd season at age 41 following yet another campaign in which he led the Capitals in goals (32) and points (64). This may or may not be his final season, and for now he'll hope his play on the ice distracts from his controversial appearance in a recent video supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin's political party. Go deeper: Strengths, weaknesses and X factors for every team (ESPN) *Coaching carousel: Babcock was one of five new head coaches hired this offseason. The others: Peter Laviolette (Kings), Jim Hiller (Maple Leafs), Manny Malhotra (Canucks) and Ryan Craig (Golden Knights).   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Dario Belingheri/Getty Images) 🚴 33 years Brandon McNulty stunned the field on Sunday at the cycling world championships, becoming the first American cyclist in 33 years to hold the title of road racing world champion. The last one to do so? Lance Armstrong in 1993. What he's saying: "I'm really at a loss for words. Until the last 300 meters I didn't believe it, I was so tired," said the 28-year-old Phoenix native. "I knew something could happen but it would take a miracle. I guess today, a miracle happened." (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) 🏈 115-35 With Sunday's win over the Dolphins, Patrick Mahomes improved to 115-35 in his career, matching Tom Brady's record for the most wins in NFL history through a QB's first 150 starts (including postseason). But that's only where the similarities begin between the GOAT and his heir apparent. Pretty eerie: Through those first 150 games, Brady and Mahomes both went exactly 98-31 in the regular season and 17-4 in the playoffs. They both went 5-2 in their first seven AFC Championships and 3-2 in their first five Super Bowls. And they both tore their ACL and missed the playoffs in their ninth season. (Luke Hales/Getty Images) ⚾️ 100 losses The Angels lost 100 games this season for the first time in franchise history (62-100), which is sort of surprising given their long history of mediocrity. Even more surprising? They had been the only active team without such a season on their ledger. Welcome to the club, fellas. Most and fewest: No franchise has more 100-loss seasons than the Athletics (18), while the Phillies (14), Orioles (13), Braves (13) and Pirates (10) are the others with at least 10. On the other end, the Brewers and Giants join the Angels as the only teams with just one such season, while the Dodgers, Yankees, Reds and Diamondbacks have two each. Curry poses for a photo during Monday's media day. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo) 🏀 $652 million Stephen Curry's two-year, $116 million extension pushed his career on-court earnings to $652 million, the most by any player in NBA history. Add that to his new 10-year, $400 million endorsement deal with Li-Ning, and it's been an awfully lucrative summer for the greatest shooter of all time. $500M club: Curry is the only NBA player with more than $600 million in past or active contracts, but there are seven others in the $500M club: Kevin Durant ($598M), LeBron James ($592M), Kawhi Leonard ($543M), Paul George ($519M), Joel Embiid ($515M), Donovan Mitchell ($514M) and James Harden ($510M).   ⚾️ ROAD TO THE WORLD SERIES MLB PLAYOFF POWER RANKINGS (Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports) The unpredictable gauntlet that is the MLB postseason begins today, so before the first pitch is thrown let's rank the 12 clubs still chasing a championship, courtesy of Yahoo Sports' Jordan Shusterman. Dodgers (100-62): They've looked much more vulnerable this season, but the two-time defending champions hold onto the top spot until someone knocks them off their perch. Brewers (103-59): With Jacob Misiorowski, Jackson Chourio and more, it's time to see whether Milwaukee's regular-season success will finally translate to October. Rays (98-64): Tampa Bay had the fourth-lowest payroll in the majors but the third-best record, which stands out even more after the AL featured just two 90-win teams. Padres (91-71): For the first time in franchise history, San Diego has reached the playoffs three years in a row. And this time they enter with MLB's best record since late July. Braves (94-68): After an uncharacteristic down year, Atlanta is back and looking as dangerous as ever. That starts with Chris Sale, making his Braves playoff debut tonight. Yankees (93-68): The question of greatest intrigue across the tri-state area is whether or not Aaron Judge (calf) will be on the Wild Card roster. We'll find out shortly. Cubs (89-73): Pitching remains a question mark, but a team with the league's best offense and defense has to feel pretty good entering the playoffs, right? Guardians (85-77): Cleveland always seems to find a way to reach the postseason, but that hasn't changed the fact that their 77-year title drought is the longest in baseball. Phillies (88-74): If everything clicks, few teams can match the high-end talent of Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo. Red Sox (87-75): They enter the playoffs in a bit of a slump, but we've seen what they can do when they get hot (i.e. go on a 32-5 run to completely turn their season around). White Sox (84-78): After three consecutive 100-loss seasons, no team is playing with house money quite like the Southsiders. Astros (81-81): Yes, they played .500 ball this season. But they also led the majors in HR, boast the likely MVP in Yordan Alvarez and still have Josh Hader to close things out. Crazier things have happened.   🏀 GO DEEPER GOOD READS: NBA EDITION (Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports) With the NBA season tipping off in three weeks and training camps beginning today, here's just a taste of the content our experts have been producing in preparation for the league's 81st campaign. Kevin O'Connor: NBA Pressure Rankings: Who faces the most heat this season? Training camp is the time of year when everybody in the NBA gets to believe things will be different. But some people need more than a good media day; they need a season that changes the conversation about their careers. Here are the 10 players, coaches and executives feeling the most heat entering this season. (Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports) Dan Devine: The NBA's 5 most interesting newcomers Here are the five most interesting folks who joined a new team this summer, from LeBron James' pursuit of a fifth title in Philadelphia, to Ja Morant's much-needed career reset in Portland, and beyond. (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) Steve Jones: NBA dark-horse contenders? Raptors, Warriors among teams that could make unexpected run Seemingly every season, an unlikely team emerges as a serious threat to make a deep run in the playoffs. So let's roll the dice on some teams that look like they might fit the bill, whether they're already good and simply being slept on, or could steadily improve throughout the season.   📆 ON THIS DAY SEPT. 29, 1954: THE CATCH (New York Daily News Archive via Getty Images) 72 years ago today, Willie Mays made the most iconic catch in baseball history — an over-the-shoulder grab in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series that just about every kid who's ever worn a glove has tried to emulate. Clutch catch: The score was tied 2-2 in the eighth with two on and no outs when Cleveland's Vic Wertz crushed a fly ball to the Polo Grounds' uniquely deep center field. Mays tracked it down, then turned and threw a bullet to second base to stop the go-ahead run from scoring. Two innings later, his Giants hit a walk-off homer before going on to sweep the series. (Bettman Archive/Getty Images) "I always played shallow when I was young. I didn't think nobody could hit a ball over my head," Mays later recalled. "When Vic hit the ball, in my mind, I was always going to catch [it]. … Everyone said, 'Well, it was a hard catch.' I said, 'Nah, it was an easy catch.'" What a legend.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, SEPT. 29 (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports) ⚾️ MLB Wild Card The postseason begins today with all four best-of-three Wild Card series kicking off at the higher seed's stadium: Phillies at Braves (2pm ET, NBC); White Sox at Astros (5pm, Peacock/NBCSN); Red Sox at Yankees (8pm, NBC); Cubs at Padres (10pm, Peacock/NBCSN). Pitching matchups: Jesús Luzardo (PHI) vs. Chris Sale (ATL) in Atlanta, Payton Tolle (BOS) vs. Cam Schlittler (NYY) in New York, Matthew Boyd (CHC) vs. Michael King (SD) in San Diego, and a bullpen game in Houston started by Hagen Smith (CWS) and AJ Blubaugh (HOU). 🏒 NHL Opening Night Tonight's season-opening tripleheader on ESPN kicks off with a matchup between the two most recent Stanley Cup winners, as the defending champion Hurricanes host the Panthers in Raleigh (5pm). Then the Bruins host the Rangers in prime time (8pm) and the Golden Knights host the Blackhawks in the nightcap (10:30pm). Plus: The only other games tonight are Canadiens at Maple Leafs (7pm) and Canucks at Oilers (10pm) in a pair of all-Canadian battles. 🏀 WNBA Playoffs Two teams can clinch a spot in the semifinals tonight, as the Aces (up 1-0) visit the Fever (6:30pm, Prime) and the Liberty (up 1-0) host the Lynx (8:30pm, USA) in Game 2 of their best-of-three series. No. 1 and done? Top-seeded Minnesota suddenly finds itself on the brink of elimination on the road. Can Olivia Miles and Co. send the series back to Minneapolis, or will the Liberty become the first 8-seed to win a playoff series under the current best-of-three format (since 2022)? More to watch: ⚽️ Friendly: USMNT vs. Chile (8pm, TNT) … St. Louis hosts the Americans' second game of the international break. ⚽️ UEFA Nations League: Spain vs. Croatia (2:45pm, FS1) … La Roja seek to extend their historic unbeaten run to 40 straight matches in today's group-stage tilt. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   🌎 LET'S PLAY GEOSPORTS GeoSports is back in Yahoo Sports AM, and we'll be writing the questions every Tuesday. How to play: You'll be asked five trivia questions that combine sports with geography. Tap where it happened! The closer you are, the more points you get.

Florida AG files to block ChatGPT development and place restrictions on OpenAI Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed Monday for a temporary injunction against OpenAI and Chat GPT, upping his legal challenge against the artificial intelligence company that he says has admitted it can’t regulate its own technology. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/28/florida-ag-files-to-block-chatgpt-development-and-place-restrictions-on-openai/? How AI-powered bungling by Florida cops cost a father his freedom and $45,000 The supermarket assistant manager was working a day shift in Jacksonville when he stepped out of the store’s office and saw two sheriff’s deputies talking with his boss – who then pointed directly at him. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/28/how-ai-powered-bungling-by-florida-cops-cost-a-father-his-freedom-and-45000/? The signs offer quick cash for homes. But states want more oversight. WE BUY HOUSES. CASH 4 HOMES. FA$T CA$H. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/09/29/repub/the-signs-offer-quick-cash-for-homes-but-states-want-more-oversight/?

OpenAI delays latest model over security concerns, as industry faces new safety pressures OpenAI said Monday it’s decided to hold back the release of a model, called GPT-6.1 Astra, out of security concerns voiced by its researchers, the latest in the company's effort to decelerate the pace of the technology’s advance. Read more. What to know: In a statement from OpenAI's head of safety systems Saachi Jain, the version “didn't quite meet the bar.” It had become more persistent in completing tasks, but OpenAI needed to balance that capability against unauthorized behavior. OpenAI paused training of its most advanced models last week, saying training would resume “only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards.” That was after it disclosed instances in which AI agents exceeded their instructions, including by accessing government websites without authorization. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Nvidia unveils security platform to stop AI agents from going rogue Contradicting Trump, Pope Leo says artificial intelligence safety concerns not ‘fake news’ We’re in this together, Earth’s leaders told each other at the UN. But how does that work, exactly?

CNN, MS NOW and Politico ask a court to block Trump from enforcing his White House media ban Three news outlets that President Donald Trump abruptly banished from White House grounds this month asked a federal court to block the ban until the case is resolved. Read more. What to know: They say the Trump administration has “persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban” despite a judge’s restraining order— including selectively barring CNN from White House pool duties. A two-week temporary restraining order on Trump’s ban that restored the outlets’ White House access expires Oct. 8. “The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” lawyers for the three outlets wrote in a filing late Monday. The filing came a day after the Trump administration made clear it was not backing down. “It is a privilege, and not a right, to be there,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said on ABC on Sunday speaking about the White House. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Taxpayers have funded nearly $1.5M in pro-Trump ads. Criticism is mounting, including from the GOP Second prosecutor resigns from Justice Department ‘grand conspiracy’ probe targeting Trump foes Alito steps aside in a major climate case after scrutiny over oil stock holdings Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow transgender medical care restrictions in prison Trump disputes his ambassador’s account that he asked China’s president if he wanted to buy US arms From motorcycles to booze, US ban on $1 billion worth of Canadian imports goes into effect