Federal Reserve raises interest rates a quarter point.
Today's events
Interest-rate hike.
Federal Reserve policymakers voted 12-0 to raise the benchmark rate a quarter point to 3.75–4 percent, saying inflation remains elevated and the move supports a timelier return to the 2 percent goal.1Sep 16 · FedCanada procurement ban.
Trump signed a memorandum directing budget and trade officials to remove Canadian-origin goods from the federal civil procurement system, citing Canada's “Buy Canadian” preferences. Canadian firms can access over $280 billion in U.S. federal contracts.2Sep 16 · WHPalestinian visa sanctions.
State told Congress the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority had again failed their commitments, and extended sanctions denying visas to their members and officials. The waiver for the U.N. observer mission stands.3Sep 16 · StateCarbon rules repealed.
The Environmental Protection Agency repealed most of the 2024 greenhouse-gas standards for fossil-fuel power plants, dropping carbon-capture requirements for coal units and new gas turbines. A concurrent proposal seeks comment on rescinding the rest.4Sep 17 · Fed. Reg.North Korean labor exports.
Eleven governments, the United States among them, reported 35,600 to 101,280 North Korean laborers working abroad — nearly all in China and Russia — earning $450 to $800 million in 2025 for nuclear and missile programs.5Sep 16 · StateGoogle ad-tech remedies.
A federal court in Virginia ordered behavioral relief in Justice's advertising-technology monopolization case against Google, requiring close integration with rivals including the open-source Prebid, data sharing, and a ban on self-preferencing bids.6Sep 16 · DOJQuantum chip foundry.
Commerce finalized a research award of up to $1 billion to Anderon, a newly formed subsidiary of IBM, under the CHIPS and Science Act to establish a quantum semiconductor foundry.7Sep 16 · CommerceActively exploited flaws.
The cybersecurity agency added two vulnerabilities under active exploitation to the catalog federal agencies must patch: a privileged-interface flaw in Cisco's Identity Services Engine and a default-permissions flaw in Acronis Backup.8Sep 16 · CISAHypersonic missile order.
The Navy placed a production delivery order worth up to $200 million with Castelion for Blackbeard, an air-launched hypersonic weapon giving carrier fighters long-range strike against maritime and land targets.9Sep 16 · Navy
Allied Governments
Russia blamed for drone attack.
Britain told the security body in Vienna that Germany's federal investigation found the Russian state responsible for an August drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, and that Russia fired about 2,800 jet-powered drones at Ukraine in August.aSep 17 · UK FCDOUkraine air defence money.
Britain's prime minister hosted NATO's secretary general at the Harwell science campus, who thanked the U.K. for a £100 million contribution toward further defensive equipment for Ukraine announced last week.bSep 16 · UK No.10Canada joins fighter programme.
Britain welcomed Canada becoming the first observer nation in the Global Combat Air Programme, as the two leaders discussed the Multilateral Defence Mechanism and the Defence Security Resilience Bank.cSep 16 · UK No.10
Voices
“Inflation remains elevated. Today's policy action will support a timelier return to the Committee's 2 percent goal. The Committee will deliver price stability.”
Federal Open Market Committee statement · Sep 161
“Canada has unreasonably imposed new barriers to United States companies seeking to access the Canadian government procurement market…”
Presidential Memorandum, Restoring Reciprocity in Government Procurement · Sep 162
“It is in our national interest to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for glorifying terrorism.”
State Department media note · Sep 163
“[W]e urge the UN Security Council to reestablish the Panel of Experts in the same strength and structure it had prior to its disbandment.”
Joint statement of eleven governments, Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team · Sep 165
“The Court's ruling in the Google ad tech case marks a significant victory for this Department's efforts to protect and restore competition.”
Assoc. AG Stanley E. Woodward Jr., DOJ · Sep 166
“To win in contested environments, we must deliver lethality at scale inside the operational window of relevance.”
Vice Adm. John Dougherty IV, Naval Air Systems Command · Sep 169
Sources
- Federal Reserve, “Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement,” September 16, 2026. federalreserve.gov/newsevents/…/monetary20260916a
- White House, “Restoring Reciprocity in Government Procurement” (Presidential Memorandum), September 16, 2026. whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/…/restoring-reciprocity
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Sanctioning Officials of the Palestinian Authority and Members of the Palestine Liberation Organization,” September 16, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/sanctioning-pa-and-plo-officials
- Federal Register (Environmental Protection Agency), “Partial Repeal of the Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units,” September 17, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/partial-repeal-carbon-pollution-standards
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Joint Statement of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) on the Report Covering the DPRK's Overseas Labour Program,” September 16, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/msmt-dprk-overseas-labour
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Department of Justice Again Wins Substantial Relief Against Google,” September 16, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/relief-against-google
- U.S. Dept. of Commerce, “Department of Commerce Announces Finalization of CHIPS R&D Award with Anderon,” September 16, 2026. nist.gov/news-events/news/…/chips-rd-award-anderon
- CISA, “CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog” (CVE-2026-76460, Cisco Identity Services Engine; CVE-2026-87886, Acronis Backup), September 16, 2026. cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/…/two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities
- U.S. Navy, “Navy Awards Production Delivery Order for Blackbeard Hypersonic Missile,” September 16, 2026. navy.mil/Press-Office/…/blackbeard-hypersonic-missile
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, “Russia's threat extends beyond Ukraine: UK statement to the OSCE,” September 17, 2026. gov.uk/government/speeches/…/russias-threat-beyond-ukraine
- UK Prime Minister's Office, “PM meeting with NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte: 16 September 2026,” September 16, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/pm-meeting-nato-secretary-general
- UK Prime Minister's Office, “PM meeting with Prime Minister Carney of Canada: 16 September 2026,” September 16, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/pm-meeting-prime-minister-carney