#1Trump Awards Medal of Freedom to 9/11's "Man in the Red Bandana"
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, President Trump presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Alison Crowther on behalf of her son, Welles Remy Crowther, the young volunteer firefighter who led strangers down the South Tower stairs before he was killed. The ceremony took place at a "Steel Across America" event on the Ellipse, where a 21-foot beam recovered from the South Tower is on display. Source: Fox News — https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-posthumously-awards-medal-freedom-9-11s-man-red-bandana
#2NTSB Recovers Black Boxes From Deadly Miami Amazon Cargo Jet Crash
Investigators pulled the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the Boeing 767 that overran a runway at Miami International on Sunday, traveling roughly 1,300 feet past the pavement and striking a cleaning-crew van and an SUV. Five people were killed and five injured; both pilots survived. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, leading 32 investigators, described the scene as "utter devastation." Source: The Epoch Times — https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/investigators-recover-black-boxes-from-amazon-cargo-plane-crash-in-miami-6084392
#3Growth Surges While Voters Still Feel the Squeeze
The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model now pegs third-quarter growth near 5 percent, even as stock momentum cools. But headline inflation sits at 3.4 percent with gas around $4.15, and roughly a third of Americans now rank cost of living as their top issue heading into November's midterms. Source: The Epoch Times — https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/momentum-builds-for-us-economy-slows-for-stocks-6084624
#4NYC Releases 170,000 Pages on Ground Zero Air Quality
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the release of more than 170,000 pages of city records that call into question the long-standing public assurances that the air around Ground Zero was safe to breathe in the months after the attacks. Comedian and longtime first-responder advocate Jon Stewart joined the announcement. The dump lands one day before the 25th anniversary. Source: Fox News — https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-drops-massive-9-11-records-trove-old-claims-about-ground-zero-come-under-fire
Top World Stories
#5Houthis Slam Saudi Oil Facilities With Missiles and Drones
Iran-backed Houthi forces launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at southern Saudi Arabia, striking energy targets in Jazan, Najran, Abha and Khamis Mushait and wounding 73 people. Fires broke out at refinery and utility sites, temporarily halting some operations. Riyadh has vowed retaliation. Source: The Daily Caller — https://dailycaller.com/2026/09/08/saudi-arabia-houthis-attack-oil/
#6US Hits Iranian Tankers as IRGC Threatens Gulf Ports
CENTCOM struck crude tankers near Kharg Island and Jask, extending a campaign designed to choke off Tehran's oil revenue. The Revolutionary Guard responded by warning that vessels in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports hosting American forces are now fair targets. Brent crude climbed about 2 percent to just over $99 a barrel. Source: Washington Examiner — https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/4717252/us-hits-iranian-tankers-response-to-missile-attacks/
#7Kremlin Says Trump Told Putin He Wants the Ukraine War Ended
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov described an hourlong call between the two leaders as constructive and candid, following US envoy visits to both Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend. The diplomatic opening came alongside one of the war's more complex Russian barrages, mixing ballistic, cruise and anti-ship missiles with jet-powered drones against the Ukrainian capital. Source: The Epoch Times — https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/trump-told-putin-he-wants-end-to-russia-ukraine-war-kremlin-6084615
Science & Technology
#8America's First New Reactor Designs Since 1973 Go Critical
A wave of executive orders, deregulation and private capital has pushed small modular reactors and microreactors from slideware into operation, with several new designs achieving criticality this year and more expected before December. These are the first new US reactor designs to reach that milestone in more than five decades. Source: The Epoch Times — https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/nuclear-renaissance-the-race-for-small-modular-reactors-john-haughey-6074774
#9NASA Targets Three Uncrewed Moon Base Missions Before Year's End
Following the Artemis II crew's historic lunar flyby in April, NASA has laid out plans for more than a dozen uncrewed missions supporting a permanent lunar base, with the first three slated to launch before the end of 2026. The push is explicitly framed as a race to establish American presence at the lunar south pole ahead of China. Source: Washington Examiner — https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/space/4582732/nasa-plan-moon-base-mission-2026-what-to-know/
Wildcard
#10The World's Oldest Octopus Was Never an Octopus
A 300-million-year-old fossil from Illinois's Mazon Creek beds, celebrated since 2000 as the oldest known octopus, has been reclassified as a relative of the nautilus. Researchers used a synchrotron to peer inside the specimen and counted 11 teeth per row, well past the seven or nine an octopus should have. The fossil sits at Chicago's Field Museum, where the argument had simmered for a quarter century. Source: Fox News — https://www.foxnews.com/travel/ancient-ocean-mystery-deepens-long-misidentified-fossil-finally-revealed-researchers
