FTC investigating Anthropic, OpenAI and other companies over potential AI risks

September 30, 2026 / 11:07 AM EDT / CBS News

By Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. She previously worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.

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Mary Cunningham

The Federal Trade Commission confirmed Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into Anthropic, OpenAI and other artificial intelligence companies over the potential risk their technology poses to consumers.

The probe, which the agency first opened this summer, comes amid growing concerns about the safety of AI and whether advanced “large language models” developed by leading tech companies could harm people.

Anthropic and OpenAI have each reported incidents in which their AI agents escaped testing environments and carried out cyberattacks. AI experts have also said the tech could pose serious threats, with one former Anthropic researcher recently warning that AI could grow “smart enough to kill us.”

News of the FTC’s investigation into the AI companies was first reported by the New York Post.

OpenAI and Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

—This is a developing story and will be updated

Edited by Alain Sherter

US second-quarter GDP revised higher amid robust consumer spending

2026-09-30 1:10 PM UTC / Reuters

[1/3]Shoppers walk down 5th Avenue in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., January 6, 2026. REUTERS/Angelina Katsanis Purchase Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – The US economy grew at a solid clip in the second quarter, driven by robust consumer spending and business investment related to the buildout of AI infrastructure.

Gross domestic product increased at a ​2.2% annualized rate, revised up from the previously estimated 1.5% pace, the Commerce Department’s Bureau ‌of Economic Analysis said in its third estimate of second-quarter GDP on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected that GDP growth would be unrevised.

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The economy grew at a 2.5% rate in the first quarter. That was revised up from the ​previously reported 2.1% pace.

The BEA revised GDP data going back to 2021 to reflect updated ​information. The growth numbers suggest the economy has so far held up in ⁠the face of headwinds from the US-Israeli war with Iran, thanks to businesses aggressively investing in AI ​and generous tax refunds from last year’s tax legislation underpinning consumer spending.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more ​than two-thirds of the economy, grew at a 3.8% rate last quarter, revised up from the previously reported 3.4% pace. Spending grew at a 0.7% rate in January-March quarter.

But even as consumers continue to spend, household budgets are increasingly under strain from higher inflation, notably ​gasoline prices. A survey from the Conference Board on Tuesday showed consumer confidence diving to a near 12-1/2-year ​low in September.

Despite the anxiety over inflation, the vigorous pace of consumer spending appears to have continued in the ‌third quarter, ⁠thanks to an AI-driven stock market rally as well as households tapping their savings and saving less. Business spending on equipment maintained double-digit growth.

Final sales to private domestic purchasers, which exclude trade, inventories and government spending, increased at a 4.6% pace in the second quarter. That was revised up from the previously reported ​4.2% pace of growth. ​This measure of domestic ⁠demand increased at a 1.8% pace in the January-March quarter, revised up from the previously reported 1.7% rate.

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When measured from the income side, the economy grew at ​a 2.6% rate, revised up from the initially estimated 2.2% pace, reflecting ​strong corporate profits. Gross ⁠domestic income increased at a 2.5% pace in the January-March quarter. The average of GDP and GDI, also referred to as gross domestic output and considered a better measure of economic activity, grew at a 2.4% rate last ⁠quarter. Gross ​domestic output was previously estimated to have increased at a ​1.8% rate. Output increased at a 2.5% rate in the first quarter.

The Federal Reserve this month raised interest rates for the ​first time in three years to tame inflation.

Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Texas US Senate candidate Paxton said Trump hurt Republicans, New York Times says

2026-09-30T14:51:27.376Z / Reuters

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, U.S., September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Callaghan O’Hare

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton told a group of donors that President Donald Trump’s midterm convention hurt him and other Republicans running in November’s elections, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing ​an audio recording of the candidate and attendees.

Paxton, who defeated four-term Senator John Cornyn in a ‌Republican primary after receiving Trump’s endorsement, made the remarks to a private gathering of conservative donors and lobbyists last Thursday, the Times reported. Reuters has not independently verified the recording.

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In the recording, someone asks Paxton, “Do you feel like he’s a little bit ​of a drag?” the Times said. The questioner did not identify who he was asking about and ​that part of the recording was less distinct than Paxton’s reply.

“So to be honest ⁠with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, ​yeah, not good,” Paxton said in the audio clip posted on the newspaper’s website.

Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux ​said in an emailed statement: “This is more manipulated nonsense from the New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist.”

He added that Paxton is looking forward to Trump’s visit to Texas this week.

The comments were made at a small private fundraiser in ​Washington, the Times reported. Three people with knowledge of the event confirmed Paxton’s attendance; two of them remembered ​the question and one recalled Paxton’s response, the report said. The audio recording was shared by an attendee who opposes Paxton’s ‌candidacy, ⁠it said.

Trump gave Paxton his blessing in the race against Cornyn in May and has praised the candidate since. Paxton faces Democratic state Representative James Talarico, a rising star and prodigious fundraiser, in the November election as Republicans seek to defend a narrow majority in the chamber. Independent polls have shown a tight race.

Trump’s MAGA Inc super ​PAC will spend at least $10 ​million on Paxton’s campaign, ⁠according to a Federal Election Commission filing from early September.

Trump and his Republican Party held the unusual convention in Dallas earlier in September, hoping to strengthen their midterm election ​prospects, but it does not appear to have had the desired effect.

The president’s popularity ​has declined ⁠since he launched a war on Iran in February that has disrupted oil shipments from the Middle East and pushed fuel prices near record highs, hitting US household finances. Since the war started, Trump’s Republicans have also lost support, ⁠and ​in recent weeks have lost their longtime edge as the better ​party for economic policy.

Last week, Trump’s approval rating fell to 32% — lowest of his political career — as Republicans have soured on his handling of ​the cost of living amid the unpopular Iran war, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by David Gaffen

Ken Paxton says Trump’s convention hurt the GOP. He has a point

2026-09-30T15:46:34.470Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/30/politics/ken-paxton-trump-midterm-convention

It seemed a highly questionable decision even at the time — to hold an unorthodox GOP midterm convention dubbed “Trump-a-palooza” largely focused on a historically unpopular president. But President Donald Trump muscled the idea through anyway, and no Republicans seemed willing to object.

Now it’s pretty clear it was a dud – and might well have hurt the GOP.

And even the man who seemingly could have benefitted most is apparently saying that out loud.

The New York Times on Wednesday published audio of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton privately complaining to conservative donors and lobbyists that Trump’s much-hyped midterm convention — which was held in Paxton’s home state and focused heavily on him and his race — did more harm than good.

“So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers,” the Texas attorney general said. “Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”

(In a statement to CNN, Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux called the Times’ story “manipulated nonsense” to “create a story that doesn’t exist.” He didn’t elaborate on that claim.)

But no one has to take Paxton’s word for it; the publicly available data point in the same direction.

While we’re largely talking about shifts within the margin of error, the GOP’s numbers have clearly trended in the wrong direction since the convention was held in Dallas on September 9 and 10. And at the very least, the convention didn’t provide any sort of “bounce” that presidential nominating conventions often spark.

The generic ballot and enthusiasm

That’s most evident if you look at the so-called “generic ballot” — i.e. asking voters to choose between an unnamed Republican and an unnamed Democrat.

The major polling aggregators including Nate Silver and FiftyPlusOne all show that, if anything, it’s Democrats who have gotten a bump since the midterm convention. They both show Democrats expanding their margin on the generic ballot by at least two points since September 9.

Indeed, Democrats appear to have gotten a sudden spike that actually started around that point.

And individual polls bear this out too:

• Democrats expanded their lead among registered voters from 7 points in June to 11 points shortly before the convention to 12 points in a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
• They expanded their lead from 5 points in late August to 7 points right after the convention to 8 points last week, per Reuters-Ipsos polling.
• They went from up 6 points in August to up 8 points a week after the convention in polling from Strength in Numbers-Verasight.
• An NPR-PBS-Marist College poll around the same time showed them leading by 12 points — after leading by 9-10 points in the spring.

Three other polls — from CNN, NBC News and Fox News — all showed no change from previous polling. But that also suggests the convention was a waste.

Only one high-quality poll, from the New York Times and Siena College, showed the generic ballot improved for the GOP after the convention. But the prior poll there was from back in May.

Beyond the generic ballot, the data also suggest the convention didn’t help the GOP much with its enthusiasm deficit. The Marist poll shows 76% of Democrats said they cared a great deal about who wins control of Congress, compared to 67% of Republicans.

There is some uncertainty here, because the shifts are small and the convention wasn’t the only variable that could have moved voters. It seems relatively few people watched the convention beyond the most politically inclined — despite Trump’s false boasts of massive ratings. So it’s entirely possible the impact was negligible and the movement we’re seeing comes down to other factors.

But consider this: If there is one person who seemingly stood to gain, it should have been Paxton.

The convention wasn’t just held in his home state, after all; this is also a candidate who is struggling to rally his base behind him in a red state. Trump could at the very least help with that, one would assume.

Of course, Trump also spent much of the convention rather curiously ragging on the way Paxton looks, dresses and speaks.

And polling suggests Paxton’s problems very much remain — or have grown worse.

A ReconMR-Siena College poll that spanned the convention and a Marist College poll last week both showed Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leading by 6 points (the former among likely voters and in the latter among registered voters). Those are Talarico’s biggest leads to date in the general election period.

A Texas Southern University poll, meanwhile, shows a 47-46 Talarico advantage.

But perhaps more to the point, both the Siena and Marist polls showed Paxton’s image ratings still languishing badly. His net favorability was 17 points underwater in the former (38% favorable to 55% unfavorable) and 21 points underwater in the latter (33%-54%). He did improve slightly in the Texas Southern poll, but he was still in the red by double digits.

(Maddux, the Paxton adviser, added in his comments to CNN that “every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September. Ken Paxton is going to win this race, and he looks forward to closing strong alongside President Trump including when he comes to Texas this week.”)

So it seems the convention did no favors to the one man it really could have served to benefit. And, combined with the weird personal insults, one could perhaps understand why Paxton might feel a little sour about that.

But if history is any indication, Trump is unlikely to accept that his attempts to make the midterms about himself could be hurting Republicans.

He’s more likely to plow forward and keep the spotlight on himself.

Democrats split on AOC as some battleground candidates distance themselves from ‘Squad’ lawmaker

Candidates in competitive races are distancing themselves from AOC while others like Abdul El-Sayed welcome her support

September 30, 2026 9:49am EDT / Fox News

Former Kamala Harris advisor and founder of Authentic Mike Nellis spoke with Fox News Digital about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s skyrocketing political profile.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is fast becoming a central figurehead in the 2026 midterm election cycle, and a polarizing one at that.

Some moderate candidates are shunning the progressive rising star’s endorsement, Axios reported this week, while others in tight races are welcoming her with open arms.

Several Democratic strategists who spoke with Fox News Digital said they were not shocked that some on the left are keeping her at arm’s length.

“It wasn’t especially surprising, like, her numbers with independent voters aren’t always great, and it’s very circumstantial depending upon where you would want to deploy somebody with that type of background and somebody who, you know, a lot of Americans have an impression of already — sometimes positive, sometimes negative,” Mike Nellis, a former political advisor for former Vice President Kamala Harris, told Fox News Digital. “I always just encourage people, like, you do what you gotta do, cause it’s hard to play coalition politics.”

DEMOCRAT CHALLENGING MIKE LAWLER WON’T COMMIT ON CAMPAIGNING WITH AOC, MAMDANI OR REJECTING DSA

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has emerged as a leading figure on the left and a potential contender in the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential conversation.(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

And there are at least two candidates who appear to think the original “Squad” member is more of a liability.

HASAN PIKER SAYS HE’D ‘ABSOLUTELY’ CAMPAIGN FOR AOC IN 2028 AS EL-SAYED DISTANCES HIMSELF

Cait Conley, who is running to unseat Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in a district near Ocasio-Cortez’s, told CNN’s “State of the Union,” “I’m good” when asked if she would campaign with Democratic socialists like her or New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Conley’s campaign did not return a request for comment by Fox News Digital by publication time.

And Sam Forstag in Montana reportedly removed all mention of Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement from his campaign website. He told Axios, “I don’t intend to be having a lot of folks from out of state campaigning with me over these next 40 days.”

Forstag’s campaign did not return multiple emailed requests for comment by Fox News Digital.

JAMES CARVILLE PREDICTS 2028 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY WILL TEST TRUE STRENGTH OF PARTY’S SOCIALIST WING

“In the final days leading up to an election, you want to make your message specific and local and repeatable and national celebrities just don’t help with that,” a veteran Democratic strategist who works on House and Senate campaigns told Fox News Digital.

Sam Forstag is running as a Democrat for a seat in one of Montana’s two U.S. House districts.(Sam for Montana)

The strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said “AOC is more of a celebrity” than most of the other potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders. “I think AOC is one of the few Democrats who has transcended to just culture generally, which makes her visits heavier in the discourse.”

And that celebrity status is being used in other key races. Ocasio-Cortez joined forces with fellow progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders to headline a trio of rallies for left-wing candidate Abdul El-Sayed in July, a couple of weeks before the Democratic Senate primary in the key battleground state of Michigan.

El-Sayed ended up narrowly edging more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., in a nomination battle that highlighted the ongoing battle between the left and the center for the ideological future of the Democratic Party.

While Ocasio-Cortez has yet to return to Michigan since the early August primary, El-Sayed’s campaign says they’d welcome her return to the campaign trail.

“There are a lot of Michiganders who can’t wait to have AOC back in town,” El-Sayed campaign communications director Roxie Richner told Fox News Digital.

AOC BACKS FLORIDA DEM ANGIE NIXON FOR US SENATE: ‘I’M PROUD TO ENDORSE HER’

El-Sayed and former House Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., are facing off in the race to succeed Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. The midterm showdown is a must-hold for the Democrats as they try to win back the Senate majority from the Republicans.

Ocasio-Cortez also appeared in Florida recently alongside far-left Senate candidate Angie Nixon, who is running an underdog campaign against Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla.

A Democratic victory there is a long shot, but Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign trail travels come as speculation mounts about her own future political plans.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon, speaks during a visit to the Ball and Chain Cuban restaurant/nightclub as she campaigns in the Little Havana neighborhood on Aug. 29, 2026 in Miami, Fla.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The Democratic socialist is widely seen as a potential successor to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., when he is through in the upper chamber. But there’s also buzz about a potential 2028 presidential campaign — something Ocasio-Cortez has not confirmed nor denied.

“I think she’s a unique political talent. She’s clearly got, like, a large group of people in the country who would get behind her, and those are the beginnings of what you need to build an operation to run for president. So I think she’d be stupid not to think about it,” Nellis said. “At the same time, you know, do you take a 5% chance of being the Democratic nominee… or do you take like a much better than 50-50 chance of being the next United States senator from New York? If it were me advising her, I’d probably tell her to run for Senate.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign for comment on the Axios report.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

The Odds: The Midwest Polling Gap

10:02 AM EDT, Wed September 30, 2026 / By Ainsley Ehlers, CNN

The Odds: The Midwest Polling Gap

CNN News Central’s John Berman and Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten look at polling misses where Republicans outperformed September polls in the Midwest and its impact in the battle for the Senate. They break down what the Senate map would look like if a similar polling miss occurs this year and examine the prediction market odds for the Democratic Senate candidates in those states.

3:48 • Source: CNN

Senate committee advances Nicole Saphier’s nomination for surgeon general

September 30, 2026 / 10:14 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced President Trump’s pick for the next surgeon general on Wednesday, sending Nicole Saphier’s nomination to the full Senate.

Saphier’s nomination advanced as part of a group of nominees in a party-line vote.

Mr. Trump nominated Saphier in April. A radiologist and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Monmouth, Saphier was a Fox News medical contributor until her nomination. She authored a book in 2020 titled, “Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis,” and she is known for her criticism of how public health authorities handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Trump called Saphier a “STAR physician” and “an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans.”

Nicole Saphier testifies before senators on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. Eric Lee/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Saphier’s nomination came after Mr. Trump pulled his nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and advocate for his agenda, after her nomination had stalled for months. At the time, Mr. Trump put the blame on GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the HELP Committee’s chairman, calling him “a very disloyal person” and pointing to Cassidy’s consternation over Kennedy’s nomination at the start of his term. Cassidy ultimately supported Kennedy, despite his longtime vaccine skepticism, allowing his confirmation to move forward.

When Saphier appeared before the committee earlier this month, Cassidy sought assurances about her views on vaccines. Saphier testified that the MMR vaccine is not lethal, despite what the president has suggested. She called it “our greatest tool for combating measles infections,” while encouraging people to get vaccinated. And she also said she does not believe childhood vaccines cause autism.

Cassidy said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” after the hearing that Saphier had earned his vote, citing those statements about vaccines.

“When somebody is willing to be honest to the American people and say that vaccines are safe, you should be taking it, and the consequence of not can even include death, well, what else can you ask for when it comes to vaccines?” Cassidy said.

Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.

Jack Smith Senate testimony: Key moments and CNN’s first reactions

9:56 AM EDT, Wed September 30, 2026 / By Sam Meyer, CNN

Jack Smith Senate testimony: Key moments and CNN’s first reactions

Former special counsel Jack Smith is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where GOP members of the committee have accused him of “abuse of authority” and targeting of Republicans.

Smith, who secured two indictments against President Donald Trump, told senators he continues to stand by his decision to prosecute the president, saying his team “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation.”

US faces another major Middle East troop withdrawal, but threat remains

September 30, 2026 6:00am EDT / Fox News

About 2,500 troops had remained as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the coalition formed in 2014 to fight ISIS

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

President Donald Trump says Iraq is ready to stand on its own without U.S. troops, while Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi says armed groups outside state control will have “no justification” after the coalition mission ends.

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The U.S. military is scheduled to end its mission in Iraq on Wednesday, bringing to a close a military operation that has lasted more than two decades — despite an ongoing war in Iran sparked earlier this year.

The Iraq mission began with the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and later evolved into a campaign to help Iraqi forces defeat the Islamic State group after the terrorist organization’s rapid rise across Iraq and Syria.

In recent years, however, the remaining U.S. military presence has increasingly served as both a counterweight to Iran’s influence and a frequent target of Iran-backed militias.

The Iraq agreement was reached before the U.S. and Iran entered direct conflict earlier this year and under a different administration and military leadership — leaving the final phase of the withdrawal to unfold in a dramatically different security environment than the one envisioned when the timeline was negotiated.

TRUMP REVEALS WHEN US MILITARY WILL LEAVE IRAQ AFTER 23-YEAR MISSION

With U.S. forces leaving by Sept. 30 and as Baghdad tries to rein in Iran-backed militias, Iraq could also be entering its most dangerous period since ISIS seized Mosul in 2014.(REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen)

The deadline stems from an agreement reached by Washington and Baghdad in 2024 under President Joe Biden to wind down the U.S.-led coalition’s military mission after Iraqi officials concluded their security forces were increasingly capable of handling the fight against ISIS.

It follows the U.S. military’s 2021 departure from Afghanistan, also under the Biden administration, which ended another two-decade American war and left no U.S. troops in the country. The withdrawal, however, was chaotic, widely viewed as “botched” and resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and dozens of civilians.

HOW IRAN ATTACKS ARE FORCING THE PENTAGON TO RETHINK ITS DECADES-OLD MIDDLE EAST BASE STRATEGY

The Pentagon declined to confirm to Fox News Digital whether the timeline remains on track or provide details about any continuing U.S. military involvement in Iraq after Wednesday. The Iraqi Embassy did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The danger to U.S. forces persisted through the final months of the mission. Army Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, was killed at Erbil Air Base in July during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian attack drone.

About 2,500 U.S. troops had remained in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition established in 2014 after ISIS seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria. American forces had previously withdrawn from Iraq in 2011 before returning three years later to help Iraqi and partner forces combat the terrorist group.

That threat has since diminished significantly.

Iraqi government forces celebrate while holding an Islamic State (IS) group flag after they claimed they have gained complete control of the Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, on January 26, 2015, near the town of Muqdadiyah.(YOUNIS AL-BAYATI/AFP via Getty Images)

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessed this summer that ISIS in Iraq “almost certainly remains severely degraded,” focused largely on its own survival and unable to capitalize on instability from the war with Iran, according to the latest Lead Inspector General report on Operation Inherent Resolve.

CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper told lawmakers in May that ISIS attacks in Iraq and Syria had fallen 70% since 2023 and were at their lowest level since 2013.

The U.S. mission had already shifted accordingly. Rather than routinely fighting alongside Iraqi forces, American troops increasingly trained, advised and provided intelligence to local forces expected to carry out counterterrorism operations with limited or no direct U.S. involvement.

The Pentagon also began moving the infrastructure for that fight out of Iraq. Operation Inherent Resolve shifted its headquarters to Amman, Jordan, this year, allowing U.S. personnel and assets to redeploy while Iraqi forces assumed greater responsibility for counterterrorism operations.

But the declining ISIS threat has coincided with a different challenge for Baghdad: powerful Iran-backed armed groups that have resisted efforts to surrender their weapons.

US-BACKED EFFORT TO DISARM IRAQ’S IRAN-LINKED MILITIAS HITS SETBACK, EXPERTS SAY

The Iraqi government had initially sought to bring armed groups operating outside state control to heel by the same Sept. 30 deadline. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi argued that the departure of U.S. forces would eliminate a key justification for the militias to remain armed.

Several powerful Iran-backed groups, however, have resisted calls to disarm. Two prominent factions initially agreed to surrender their weapons by the deadline, while other armed groups refused, according to a U.S. government report released this summer.

A U.S. sergeant stands next to his battalion commander, a lieutenant colonel, in Iraq.(Rockfinder/iStock via Getty Images)

Baghdad has since pushed back its timeline. Zaidi said last week that the government now aims to complete the process by June 30, 2027, beginning with a 90-day period in which armed groups would halt attacks in exchange for assurances that U.S. forces would not target them. The groups would then gradually surrender their weapons or be brought under state control.

The holdouts remain heavily armed. U.S. military officials said the groups retain rockets, missiles, drones and, in some cases, air defense systems capable of threatening American personnel and facilities across the region.

The DIA reported that Iran-aligned militias launched hundreds of attacks on U.S. forces and diplomatic facilities in Iraq after the war with Iran began.

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That leaves the end of the U.S. mission arriving as the threat that brought American forces back to Iraq has substantially diminished, while Baghdad’s effort to disarm some of the groups that have targeted those forces remains unfinished.

越南罕见承认 河内大型开发项目存在公众异议

2026-09-30 19:19 / 联合早报

越南政府计划将河内红河河畔一个面积达1万1000公顷的区域，改造成由高档住宅区和公园组成的综合体，引起当地现有的约25万居民强烈反对。 （法新社）

（河内法新电）越南领导人罕见地承认，公众对政府推出的河内百年发展计划存在异议，超过25%的人表示反对，特别是影响住宅和历史街区的部分。

越南政府今年5月批准了《河内首都总体规划（百年愿景）》，并于9月份对此展开公众咨询。

这项规划包括拆除数千户房屋，建造豪华住宅群、公园，以及在著名的还剑湖附近建造一座备受争议的现代拱门。

据官媒报道，越南国家主席苏林9月27日公布了咨询结果。他说，人们几乎一致（92%）支持湖泊项目，另有71.8%的人支持红河计划。换言之，有超过四分之一的人不支持发展红河周边地区的计划。

苏林对河内居民说：“虽然大多数市民意见一致，但在一些具体问题上仍有不同意见……对于有长远影响的计划来说，这是正常的，甚至是必要的。”

他敦促河内当局与公众展开更多对话，并强调不能为了追求速度而牺牲质量或社会共识。

美国俄勒冈大学越南问题专家武祥说，当局公布这些数字很罕见。这类调查结果通常只向官员公布，不会对外公开。

公众反对建“凯旋门”和高档住宅

河内当局计划在还剑湖边兴建新的拱门，被称为“凯旋门”。还剑湖是河内市中心著名景点，四周分是林荫街道、法式建筑和传统寺庙。然而，在湖畔竖立一座高耸的现代主义风格拱门，并悬挂一面巨大国旗的计划，令不少居民震惊。

居民陈氏生在脸书说，拟建的拱门看起来“像断头台或绞刑架”，获得数千个点赞。

在红河的另一侧，当局计划耗资300亿美元（约386亿新元）打造一个由高档住宅区和公园组成的综合体超级开发项目，面积达1万1000公顷，而现有的约25万居民将因此需要搬迁。

不少居民对此计划既愤怒又难过。只透露名字为江的女居民说：“我们社区的居民百分之百反……如果失去所拥有的土地，我们未来怎么办。”

另一名要求匿名的居民认为，针对红河计划的71.8%支持率，是低估了当地人的反对程度，并称之所以有这个支持率，是因为住在远离开发区的河内居民也参与了公众咨询。

武祥认同这一点。他说：“如果调查由独立机构进行，那真正持批评和反对意见的人，很可能远高于苏林公布的数字。”

这也促使许多居民担心他们的声音会被忽视。江说：“如果他们（政府）想做，他们就会做，不管民众有什么意见。”