Trump Rejects Iran’s Hormuz Proposal, Weighs New Strikes
Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days in exchange for the release of frozen funds, an end to US oil sanctions, and the lifting of the naval blockade. Trump rejected the offer Saturday, telling reporters the terms matched a June agreement Tehran had already broken. Vice President JD Vance chaired an unannounced, hours-long meeting at Camp David on Friday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. The group discussed resuming large-scale combat operations against Iran and weighed Saudi Arabia’s request for US help against the Houthis, who now target Riyadh. Trump told Kurdistan24 he expects the war to resume after the midterms: “Iran is not doing well.”
Trump Threatens a Diesel Export Ban, Rattling Europe
US diesel prices hit a record national average of $6.52 a gallon this week. Trump threatened to cut off diesel exports to France and Germany unless the two countries release 120 million barrels of fuel from emergency reserves over six months. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he expects Europe to ease the crunch without the ban. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic called the threat “unexpected” and warned it would hurt Europe’s economy. Analysts at Wood Mackenzie see a risk the ban backfires at home: US refiners sell surplus diesel to Europe, and cutting off that market could tighten supply and raise prices at American pumps. Republican lawmakers are pushing the restriction anyway, worried gas prices will cost them seats in November.
Cornell Rape Case Gets a Special Prosecutor
A former Cornell University student, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, sued seven current and former Chi Phi fraternity members September 14, alleging they drugged and assaulted her at the fraternity house in October 2024. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten reopened the case September 28 and moved to bring it before a grand jury. Governor Kathy Hochul removed Van Houten from the investigation three days later and appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor, saying she had lost faith in his office’s handling of the case. Cornell separately agreed to bring in outside counsel to review how the university responded when the complaint first surfaced. James called it an active criminal investigation and promised a process New Yorkers can trust.
Tennessee’s Corrections Chief Resigns After Botched Execution
Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection September 30. She survived two doses of pentobarbital and remains unconscious on a ventilator. Pike would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee since the state began keeping official capital-punishment records more than a century ago. Governor Bill Lee halted every scheduled execution in the state and ordered an independent review led by a former US attorney. Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada resigned three days later. Pike’s attorneys say the review doesn’t go far enough and are calling on Lee to commute her sentence.
Hiring Nearly Stalls as Borrowing Costs Hit a 24-Year High
The US economy added 29,000 jobs in September, far below the 90,000 economists forecast and down from August’s revised 133,000. Unemployment climbed to 4.2%. The Federal Reserve had raised interest rates a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4% earlier in the month, its first hike in three years, to fight inflation fueled by Iran-war energy costs. The 10-year Treasury yield touched 5.34% this week, the highest level since April 2002, and pushed 30-year mortgage rates above 7% for the first time since early 2025. Weak hiring makes another rate hike less likely this month, and stocks rose Friday on the news, even as wages trailed inflation for a sixth straight month.
This article references an ongoing criminal case involving alleged sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs support, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 1-800-656-4673.
Read more :
- Iran rejection / Hormuz / Camp David → US-Iran Deal: Will Reopening Hormuz Lower Gas Prices? and US This Week: Xi Summit, Iran Vote, Press Ban Blocked
- Diesel export ban / fuel prices → same Hormuz piece above, plus How Tariffs Actually Raise Prices for the broader pattern of trade restrictions raising US consumer costs
- Jobs report / Fed / Treasury yields → US Debt Has Passed $40 Trillion and Trump’s $5,000 Dividend: Who Will Really Pay?
Source Links
- Bloomberg — Trump’s rejection of Iran’s Hormuz proposal
- Al Jazeera — the terms of Iran’s offer
- Axios via La Voce di New York — the Camp David meeting on Iran and Yemen
- Al Jazeera — the diesel reserve standoff with Europe
- Yahoo Finance — the threatened ban on France and Germany
- CNN — timeline of the Cornell case
- NPR — James’s appointment as special prosecutor
- Washington Post — Strada’s resignation
- ABC News — Pike’s condition and the independent review
- CNN — the September jobs report
- The Hill — the 24-year high in Treasury yields
