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US allies need to shoot down Russian aircraft testing NATO boundaries, Czech president warns

2026-09-24T12:31:20-04:00 / Fox News

Petr Pavel said Moscow interprets continued restraint as weakness and will ‘push further on’ without decisive action

By Morgan Phillips, Brooke Curto Fox News

Published September 24, 2026 12:31pm EDT | Updated September 24, 2026 1:10pm EDT

Czech president warns NATO cannot appear weak against Russia

In a Fox News Digital exclusive interview, President Petr Pavel says Moscow is testing the alliance’s defenses and warns that failing to respond decisively could encourage further provocations.

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NEW YORK — Czech President Petr Pavel insists that NATO needs to outright demonstrate its willingness to respond to Russian aggression or else Moscow will continue to push the alliance and its European boundaries.

“There might be the time when we will have to shoot down some of these planes or unmanned vehicles that are testing our readiness,” Pavel, a retired general and former chair of NATO’s Military Committee, predicted in a conversation with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City this week.

Pavel said alliance members understandably want to avoid escalation, but risk sending the wrong signal as he warned Moscow views restraint as weakness and is testing allied defenses with its continued aggression.

“What I am afraid of is that they see a lack of will on our side to take decisive action,” Pavel said. “Within Russian perceptions it demonstrates weakness. And they respect power.”

The warning followed fresh incidents along NATO’s eastern flank, where a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter crossed from Kaliningrad into Polish airspace Wednesday, prompting Poland to scramble fighter jets. Romania scrambled F-16s Thursday after another unidentified aerial target crossed its border from Ukraine.

Denmark’s military intelligence service also warned Thursday that Russia is likely to intensify hybrid attacks against NATO in the coming months and assessed a “low but growing” risk of a limited Russian military attack against one or more NATO countries bordering Russia.

Czech President Petr Pavel warned that NATO may need to take more decisive action against Russian aircraft and drones testing allied airspace, saying Moscow could interpret restraint as weakness and continue pushing further.(Fox News Digital)

ROMANIAN F-16 SHOOTS DOWN DRONE AFTER AIRSPACE BREACH, MARKING FIRST FOR NATO ALLY

Pavel said in a speech before the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday that Russia’s “aggressive posture poses a direct threat to European security” and warned that the risk is growing.

He told Fox News Digital that the pattern of recent escalation was familiar from his years at NATO, recalling Russian aircraft testing U.S. pilots over Syria and repeatedly violating Turkish airspace before Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in 2015.

“They are, on one hand, provoking. On the other, testing what will our reaction be,” Pavel detailed.

NATO already has procedures for accidental airspace violations, Pavel said, including warning aircraft and attempting to establish contact. But he drew a distinction between mistakes and aircraft that deliberately enter allied airspace and refuse to respond.

“If it is deliberate and the violator doesn’t respond to our measures, then we will have to act, because otherwise Russia simply would push further on,” the Czech president added.

Putin is testing the boundaries of NATO with aircraft incursions, allied states say.(Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/Reuters)

RUSSIA’S NEIGHBOR REVEALS PERSONAL APPEALS TO TRUMP AS US WEIGHS NATO TROOP PULLBACK IN EUROPE

The comments come amid recent drone incursions involving NATO members along the alliance’s eastern flank, including incidents in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

Pavel was similarly skeptical that President Vladimir Putin is serious about talks to end the war in Ukraine, saying he has seen no significant Russian effort to negotiate. He argued that while Moscow publicly expresses willingness to hold talks, the conditions it has attached would effectively strip Ukraine of sovereignty.

He said a genuine negotiating process would require Russia to agree to a ceasefire first and then enter talks without preconditions.

RUSSIA PREPARING HYBRID ATTACKS ON NATO’S EASTERN FLANK, INTELLIGENCE WARNS

The Czech president also warned that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have exposed another vulnerability across the NATO alliance: depleted weapons stockpiles and defense-production systems struggling to keep pace with demand.

“With the amount of ammunition, especially intelligent ammunition, consumed over a short period of time, we all understand on both sides of the Atlantic how short we are when it comes to stocks of these kinds of equipment,” Pavel said.

Pavel’s warning comes as NATO confronts a series of airspace violations, drone incidents and hybrid activity along its eastern flank. NATO’s military leadership said Friday that Russia’s actions continue to “test Allied resolve.”(Olena Bartienieva/Getty Images)

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He said the lesson for both Europe and the United States is to accelerate weapons production and overhaul procurement systems he described as “extremely long and rigid.”

Pavel’s warning underscores a broader challenge facing NATO as it weighs how forcefully to respond to Russian activity without triggering a wider confrontation, while simultaneously replenishing the military stockpiles needed to sustain deterrence over the longer term.

U.S. troops help Ecuador arrest dozens linked to notorious Mexican cartel

September 24, 2026 3:42 PM EDT / CBS/AFP

U.S. troops helped Ecuador dismantle a local branch of Mexico’s notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), arresting more than 30 members, Ecuador’s interior minister said Thursday.

Quito, a Washington ally, is enthusiastically cooperating with Donald Trump’s crackdown on organized crime across Latin America.

Thursday’s early-morning operation “was conducted jointly with U.S. troops and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),” Ecuadoran Interior Minister John Reimberg wrote on X.

Over 30 Ecuadorans were arrested for allegedly belonging to the group with a “direct connection to the CJNG,” he said.

The minister said the group was involved in trafficking cocaine from Colombia, the world’s largest producer, to international markets via ports in southwestern Ecuador.

Some 320 Ecuadoran police officers and 50 uniformed personnel from the U.S. Southern Command took part in the operation spanning several cities, he said.

Reimberg also released photos and videos of the operation, showing officers conduct raids and arrests suspects.

The operation “was conducted jointly with U.S. troops and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),” Ecuadoran Interior Minister John Reimberg said. Ecuadoran Interior Minister John Reimberg

The military offensive against criminal organizations in Ecuador has caused alarm among human rights organizations, which denounce cases of excessive use force, torture and enforced disappearance.

Right-wing President Daniel Noboa brushed off those concerns during an address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

“We receive plenty of criticism regarding the fight against organized crime and very little concern about the number of victims we are seeing from organized crime,” Noboa said.

Earlier this year, American commandos joined Ecuadorian troops in a joint mission aimed at dismantling a suspected criminal hub operated by an alleged narco-terrorist organization along the country’s coast.

Ecuador has gone from being one of South America’s safest countries to a cocaine trafficking hub in a few short years, plagued by gangs with ties to Mexican and Colombian cartels.

Criminal gang violence continues unabated in Ecuador following the recapture in June 2025 of the country’s biggest drug lord, Adolfo Macías, who leads the “Los Choneros” gang, after his escape from a maximum-security prison in 2024. In July 2025, the Ecuadoran government extradited Macías to the United States, where he faces multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/explainer-mexicos-jalisco-new-generation-cartel/

Explainer: Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel

(02:06)

Officer who thwarted Ontario synagogue shooting fended off gunman despite being shot multiple times

2026-09-24 15:57 EDT / CBS News

One of the officers who helped prevent a shooting at an Ontario synagogue on Yom Kippur continued fighting off the gunman despite being shot multiple times, officials revealed Thursday. Police also confirmed the shooter was targeting the Jewish community in a “hate-motivated” attack.

Constable Jeff Smith was shot several times, suffering wounds to his head and torso, but continued fending off the attack until a second officer, Constable Mike McCurdy, arrived, Belleville Police Service Chief Murray Rodd said at a Thursday news conference.

Smith was shot almost immediately with a shotgun, Rodd said, before he was even able to get out of his car.

“Despite suffering life-threatening injuries, within moments of encountering the armed suspect, Constable Smith exited his vehicle and engaged the attacker,” Rodd said. This went on for almost three minutes before McCurdy arrived.

Rodd said Smith and McCurdy’s actions prevented “what would have become an unimaginable tragedy” and that they were the only thing that prevented the gunman from getting into the synagogue.

Spray from buckshot can be seen on the side of a vehicle where a police officer was stationed outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Ontario, Canada. Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Smith remains hospitalized and is set to undergo several surgeries related to “serious head trauma,” Rodd said, adding: “While his recovery will be lengthy and challenging, he is making progress every day.”

Smith’s injuries include bone fractures, and he still has shrapnel inside him, officials said.

The shooting took place Sunday near Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario. The gunman, identified as Sean Ward, 29, from Quinte West, was hospitalized with serious injuries after the shooting and later died, police said earlier this week.

Rodd said Thursday the attempted attack was a “hate-motivated crime.”

A police officer walks past the Sons of Jacob Synagogue. Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images

“This was a deliberate attack directed at members of the Jewish community during one of the holiest observances of the year,” he said.

Rodd also noted the shooter “had the means, the motive, and the mechanisms to cause a mass casualty and the destruction of the Jewish synagogue. The loss of life and irreversible damage that could have been rippled through our community for generations cannot be overstated.”

Rodd said the shooter had several firearms with him, in addition to the shotgun, and enough ammunition to continue a gun battle for a “long period of time,” along with containers of gasoline in his car.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/police-officer-shot-ontario-synagogue-yom-kippur/

Police officer shot outside Ontario synagogue during Yom Kippur

(01:59)

MS NOW and CNN says they have been granted access to White House

2026-09-24T16:10:11.737Z / Reuters

The CNN booth at the White House after US President Donald Trump announced he would ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) – US news outlets MS NOW and CNN said on Thursday that they had been granted access to the White House.

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Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Ismail Shakil; Editing by David Ljunggren

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Soros-linked prosecutor faces primary challenge as fellow Democrat targets his record

2026-09-24T13:34:23-04:00 / Fox News

The Fairfax County commonwealth’s attorney faces a challenge from within his party over handling of violent crime cases

By Charles Creitz Fox News

Published September 24, 2026 1:34pm EDT

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephen Descano is facing a forceful rebuke from a former federal prosecutor who extensively criticized his record after announcing her bid to unseat him.

Descano, a Democrat, has faced criticism over what opponents describe as lenient prosecutorial decisions, particularly in serious cases involving illegal immigrant suspects. Former federal prosecutor Brittany Dunn-Pirio said that if there weren’t systemic problems in his office, she would want to work there.

“If this office were doing its job, I wouldn’t be running against it. I’d be applying to work for it. But it isn’t,” Dunn-Pirio said on her new campaign website after Washington, D.C.-area media reported her bid late Wednesday.

VIRGINIA DEMS SPLIT ON DOJ PROBE OF SOROS-BACKED DA ACCUSED OF GIVING ‘SWEETHEART DEALS’ TO ILLEGAL ALIENS

Video

“I’m a Democrat. This race isn’t about whether reform was right. It’s about whether the office can tell the difference between a first-time nonviolent offender who deserves a second chance and a violent or sexual offender who doesn’t,” Dunn-Pirio said on her website.

“It’s about whether deadlines are met, evidence is given to the defendant and victims are spoken to.”

VIRGINIA DEM DEFENDS SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR FROM DOJ PROBE AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGING ALLEGATIONS

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, left, and Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid, right, testify before Congress.(Tom Williams/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Descano and Dunn-Pirio for further comment.

Descano campaign spokesman Nathan Kiker defended the incumbent’s record, telling Fox News Digital that “Steve Descano has spent his tenure proving that you can reform the justice system and keep our community safe at the same time.”

“Today, Fairfax County is recognized as the safest large county in the nation because Steve focused on accountability and the root causes of crime rather than failed policies of the past. We are proud to put that record before the voters,” Kiker said.

Dunn-Pirio also pointed to “botched sexual assault cases” and prosecutors declining to meet with victims, along with her contention that the justice system too often favors the “well-connected.”

One case that has drawn the scrutiny of Descano’s office involves Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone charged with murdering Stephanie Minter. Minter was stabbed and killed at a Hybla Valley bus stop in February after Jalloh had cycled through the criminal justice system following numerous previous arrests.

Descano has pushed back on claims that his office simply allowed Jalloh to walk free, telling Congress his prosecutors obtained convictions against him “wherever possible.”

SOROS-BACKED DA’S LAX ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION POLICIES LED TO ‘PREVENTABLE’ BUS STOP STABBING MURDER: COMPLAINT

Nine of the illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes in Fairfax County in 2026, left to right from top: Juan Arevalo Mendez, Moises Domingo Rico Rosales, Cristian Wilfredo Alvarenga Aguilar, Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia, Roni Mendez-Escobar, Israel Christopher Flores-Ortiz, Misael Lopez Gomez, Maldin Anibal Guzman-Videz, Luis Alonzo Sort-Portillo.(DHS)

Dunn-Pirio previously served as a prosecutor in Frederick County, Virginia, and as a federal prosecutor in the district covering Lexington, Kentucky. She said she resigned from the DOJ in 2025 after working on COVID-related fraud and similar cases.

“I couldn’t stomach propping up a system that gave pardons to the well-connected while prosecuting average Americans for the same conduct,” she said, according to a release obtained by FairfaxNow.

She also said Descano’s office has spent too much time “failing the people I care about.”

A carousel on her new campaign website highlights cases that have drawn public scrutiny of Descano, including:

REPEAT OFFENDER WITH DOZENS OF PRIOR CHARGES ARRESTED FOR BURGLARIZING CHURCH IN SOROS-BACKED DA’S COUNTY

“We need a Commonwealth’s Attorney who can make this office work,” Dunn-Pirio said. “Every person in Fairfax should feel safe, and every person in Fairfax should be able to trust the office that’s supposed to protect them.”

Descano’s campaign did not immediately respond to an additional request for comment on Dunn-Pirio’s criticism.

Dunn-Pirio, most recently an associate at the civil litigation firm Harman, Claytor, Corrigan & Wellman, served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Kentucky for two years before resigning in November 2025. At the Justice Department, she specialized in COVID relief fraud and public corruption cases, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“Most recently I was a federal prosecutor, and I resigned from the Justice Department because I couldn’t stomach propping up a system that gave pardons to the well-connected while prosecuting average Americans for the same conduct,” Dunn-Pirio said.

Before becoming a federal prosecutor in 2023, Dunn-Pirio served as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Frederick County, an assistant attorney general in the state criminal appeals courts and a law clerk to Judge Randy Bellows in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

Dunn-Pirio emphasized that she is a “cradle Democrat,” distinguishing her candidacy from a challenge to Descano from the political right.

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Video

She said she volunteered for former Vice President Al Gore at age 9, helped lead the College Democrats at the University of Notre Dame, remains active in local Democratic groups and previously managed a campaign for Virginia Del. Marcus Simon, D-Falls Church.

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Republicans hold only one seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, while Democrats hold the remaining seats. Dunn-Pirio’s challenge to Descano will be decided first in the Democratic nomination contest ahead of the 2027 election.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6395689146112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6395701493112

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Senate inches closer to US infrastructure permitting reform bill

2026-09-24 16:51:01 UTC / Reuters

By Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan

September 24, 2026 4:51 PM UTC Updated 3 hours ago

Wind turbines generate power on a farm near Throckmorton, Texas U.S. August 24, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford

• Summary

• Senator Whitehouse says Trump has improved wind and solar stance
• He says White House needs to provide more clarity on those projects
• Uncertain whether bill will get vote before November elections

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) – The US Senate is nearing a deal to reform laws ‌to speed up permitting of large infrastructure projects after the White House compromised on how renewable energy is treated, though a vote is uncertain before the midterm elections, a top Senate Democrat said on Thursday.

Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, ​the top Democrat on the environment committee, and fellow Democrat Martin Heinrich have negotiated ​permitting legislation with Republican counterparts for months, after the talks had been cut off in ⁠December when President Donald Trump halted five near-complete offshore East Coast wind farms.

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Whitehouse said ​the Trump administration has given Democrats assurances for improvements in how wind and solar energy projects ​would be handled in the bill.

“I appreciate very much what the Trump administration has done to move in this direction,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“Now it’s just a question of proper, ordinary Senate procedure playing out, ​and “more clarity from (the) executive branch on what they mean” on their promises for wind and ​solar, he said.

The US House of Representatives, which has not passed the permitting bill, is scheduled to ‌be in ⁠recess until after the November midterm elections.

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Whitehouse said the broad parameters that have been agreed would be put into legislative language in coming “days or hours” so that other lawmakers, industry and environmental groups can review it.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said the administration “is actively working to pass historic ​permitting reform to help ​improve energy infrastructure and ⁠lower costs.”

In his second term as president, Trump has hindered the expansion of clean energy technologies that were a cornerstone of former President Joe Biden’s ​climate policy.

Democrats had said they were willing to reform bedrock environmental ​laws like the ⁠National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act, which Republicans say cause lengthy delays for major projects.

Republicans have faced demands from Democrats to accelerate the construction of modern transmission lines that ⁠can ​move electricity from intermittent sources like wind and solar.

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Major industry ​trade groups representing electric utilities, renewable energy companies and the oil and gas sector have urged lawmakers to pass ​bipartisan reform of permitting this year.

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Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; editing by Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Spicer

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Epstein’s top advisers reportedly under federal investigation, marking major development for survivors

2026-09-24T18:58:54.706Z / CNN

Federal investigators are reportedly probing two of Jeffrey Epstein’s closest advisers – his longtime lawyer Darren Indyke and his accountant Richard Kahn – marking a major development for the hundreds of survivors and victims who have pushed for accountability for those who may have aided the notorious sex offender.

The Wall Street Journal first reported this week that federal authorities have opened an investigation into Indyke and Kahn. CNN spoke with a source who was interviewed by investigators earlier this year about Epstein, including the two men. Investigators are speaking with potential witnesses who had dealings with Epstein, including survivors, the source said. Officials from a number of agencies including the US Attorney’s office for Southern District of New York (SDNY) are soliciting documentation connected to Epstein, such as emails and checks, they added.

According to the source, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, investigators appeared interested in a wide range of topics that Indyke and Kahn would have had knowledge about, including Epstein’s numerous shell companies like the Florida Science Foundation. The non-profit was created in November 2007, and multiple survivors have told CNN that Epstein abused them there while he was also serving jail time.

A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement to CNN: “We don’t comment on the existence, or lack thereof, of investigations. We have always said with regard to Epstein that if the evidence presents itself, we will investigate.” A spokesperson for SDNY declined to confirm the investigation or comment.

CNN has reached out to lawyers for Indyke and Kahn for comment on reports they are under investigation. They have both previously denied wrongdoing and claimed they have no knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

Indyke and Kahn are among the most controversial and villainized men from Epstein’s inner circle, known to have had intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of Epstein’s business dealings over many years. In addition to being co-executors of Epstein’s estate, they are also among the first beneficiaries in line to receive millions of dollars from Epstein’s trust should it ever pay out.

That arrangement has drawn scrutiny from victims as the estate defends itself against civil litigation from Epstein’s victims and pays for the defense of its co-executors in civil suits seeking damages for their alleged role in enabling Epstein.

Epstein died in prison in 2019 while waiting trial for federal sex trafficking charges. Only one person, his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, has been prosecuted in the US in relation to Epstein’s vast sex trafficking operation.

Survivors and advocates have long pushed for more investigations and prosecutions related to Epstein’s crimes, as well as transparency about the vast amount of information various agencies have collected about Epstein over the years. The passage of a new law last year forced the Justice Department to release millions of documents related to Epstein, but millions more remain in the DOJ’s possession and have yet to be made public.

Lauren Hersh, the co-founder of World Without Exploitation, which works closely with Epstein survivors, said in a statement that Epstein’s crimes were only “made possible by a network of people and institutions around him that enabled exploitation, protected powerful people and failed the women and girls who were harmed.”

“We welcome the news that federal prosecutors are investigating Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn and asking questions that should have been asked years ago,” Hersh said. “Survivors deserve a full accounting of how Epstein and those in his orbit were able to operate for so long, and accountability for everyone who enabled or participated in their exploitation.”

Indyke and Kahn have also both been the subject of litigation in recent months, including a class-action suit filed in August by Epstein survivors alleging they enabled Epstein’s crimes.

“Each played critical roles in enabling Epstein’s acts,” the victims alleged in the lawsuit filed in August, “by providing Epstein the necessary financial and legal support for his sex trafficking operation.”

Their overlapping roles as both beneficiaries of and coexecutors for Epstein’s estate has led to allegations in court recently that they have an inherent conflict of interest.

“They had all these contradictory roles. As an executor of an estate, you are a fiduciary, which is a very high standard for your conduct,” Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Epstein victims, told CNN in an interview last week. “And I don’t see how, as executors of the estate, they could also make the decision about whether they were responsible in any way. You’re making a decision about your own personal liability, so they decided they had no liability. Surprise, surprise.”

At a class-action settlement hearing last week in Manhattan, Freeman raised the issue in an objection. Though the judge dismissed her argument, the point underscores the unusual roles Indyke and Kahn hold, as among Epstein’s closest advisors in both life and his affairs after his death.

Publicly, both have said they do not expect to receive their bequests, given the estate’s depleted finances and expected litigation and settlements still to come.

Daniel Weiner and Daniel Ruzumna, attorneys for Indyke and Kahn respectively, recently told CNN that it will likely take at least three more years for the estate to complete the probate process and that neither of their clients have received any funds from the estate.

If Indyke and Kahn “were to receive any funds from the 1953 Trust, they would do so only after all claims against the Estate are finally resolved and the Estate is fully probated,” the two said in a joint statement.

Indyke testified to lawmakers earlier this year that he “had no knowledge whatsoever” of Epstein’s wrongdoing and rejected “any suggestion” he assisted or facilitated his former boss’ crimes. Kahn told Congress that his relationship with Epstein had been “strictly on a professional level.”

“I never observed any sexual abuse or trafficking of women and never received a complaint – either by one of Epstein’s victims or any one else – of such abuse or trafficking,” Kahn said.

CNN’s Em Steck contributed to this story.

Mortgage rates are back above 7%. How much higher could they climb?

September 24, 2026 / 3:45 PM EDT / CBS News

House hunters are facing a fresh affordability crunch as mortgage rates hit 7% this week, marking their highest level in almost two years. The coming weeks aren’t likely to offer any relief, with some experts telling CBS News that borrowing costs could continue to rise.

Rates are “far more likely to go up than down by the end of the year or in the next month or two,” Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com, told CBS News.

Data from Freddie Mac released on Thursday shows that the average rate on a conventional 30-year mortgage has risen to 7.03%, the highest since January 2025. Mortgage rates have increased by more than a full percentage point since the end of February, when they briefly dipped below 6%.

The roughly 1 percentage-point increase in the rate since then translates into an additional $276 per month in cost for a borrower financing a $400,000 home loan at the current average rate.

Separate data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) this week puts the rate on a 30-year home loan even higher, at 7.12%

“Higher inflation, the prospect of tighter monetary policy, potentially stronger economic growth and ballooning federal debt have pushed up mortgage rates,” Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist for the MBA, said in an email.

Mortgage rates tend to track yields on the 10-year Treasury note, which have spiked in recent months as the war in Iran drives up energy costs and fuels inflation. Bond buyers are seeking higher yields to compensate for what they view as riskier investments as they grapple with the longer-term impact of the conflict and of rising U.S. government debt.

Bond market turbulence has increased in recent days, with the 10-year Treasury yield hitting 5.1% on Thursday, the highest level in roughly two decades, Zillow Home Loans senior economist Kara Ng noted.

“That kind of bond market move introduces real upside risk to mortgage rates,” she said in an email.

How much higher could rates go?

Experts are mixed on where home loans are headed, with some forecasting higher rates over the next few months. Yet Zillow predicts mortgage rates could dip to 6.7% by year’s end and 6.3% by the end of 2027, offering modest relief to buyers.

Volatility in the bond market is “a reminder that the path down is not guaranteed to be smooth,” Ng said.

The direction of mortgage rates will depend on the inflationary impact of the Iran war, Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, told CBS News in an email. If a deal is reached to end the war, oil prices and mortgage rates could tumble, he said.

But if the war continues to disrupt oil flows, it could have a greater impact on rates, he added.

Inflation in August rose at an annual rate of 3.4%, up one percentage point since the war started. Stubborn inflation prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its meeting earlier this month.

Another rate increase could be in store before the end of the year, with interest rate traders pricing in a 66% probability of a rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting in October, according to CME Group.

Expectations of additional rate hikes could add more pressure to an already expensive housing market. Investors often anticipate rate decisions, and their expectations can drive up the bond yields that influence mortgage rates, Krimmel said.

To be sure, even if inflationary pressures from the war subside, other factors could still keep mortgage rates elevated.

“Over the longer term, budget deficit pressures and economic growth driven by AI and data center investment will prevent mortgage rates from falling meaningfully,” Yun said.

Where buyers can save

Home buyers may still have some forces working in their favor, despite the current rise in borrowing costs, experts note.

Home-buying activity tends to slow after the peak summer season, giving house hunters access to more inventory and a chance to secure a lower price.

“Less competition means more negotiating power, and the ability to be more selective and deliberate about the right home,” Ng said.

Home prices are already showing signs of softening. In August, for example, more than one in five homes in the market saw their price cut, according to Krimmel.

“Price cuts and the gains on your monthly budget can be greater than the gains from what you might get on saving 10 or 12 points on your interest rate,” he said.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

What can Democrats offer rural communities? This Wisconsin House candidate says ‘trust’

2026-09-24T18:05:35.921Z / CNN Politics

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 2:05 PM EDT, Thu September 24, 2026

What can Democrats offer rural communities? This Wisconsin House candidate says ‘trust’

Inside Politics

Democrat Rebecca Cooke is running to unseat Wisconsin GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden in a district that has a lot of farm country. She says she’ll do it by showing up in rural communities where Democrats have struggled for decades. What can she offer those communities that past Democrats haven’t? She says: “Trust is the thing that I offer most because of my shared lived experience. I grew up on a dairy farm in this district…so being able to communicate and talk with people and speak that rural language, I think, is what a lot of our party is missing.”

5:02 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/24/politics/video/inside-politics-rebecca-cooke-wisconsin-house-race-rural-democrats-trust