Trump press ban, Saudi stealth jets, drugs in space (Updated)
episodePreviously titled “Saudi stealth jets, AfD and Russia and drugs in space (Updated)” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 18, 2026
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What is the opening overview and date for today’s Reuters World News briefing?
Hi, I'm Kim Vinell in Wanganui, New Zealand.
And I'm Christopher Walgesper in Chicago. It's Friday, September 18th, today. The US State Department authorizes stealth fighter jets for Saudi Arabia. The Bank of Japan raises rates to their highest in three decades.
And the International Space Station winds down, while the race to make drugs in space gets going. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.
President Trump says he's banning three major news outlets CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House. Effective immediately. Trump announced the ban on Truth Social, calling the outlets, quote, fake news, and threatening more news organizations could follow. It's the administration's latest test of constitutional First Amendment protections of free speech and the press. It comes more than a year after he banned the Associated Press for refusing to recognize his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of F 35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, a move that could reshape the military balance in the Middle East. The deal, which still needs congressional approval, is worth an estimated $24 billion and would include 48 Lockheed Martin stealth aircraft.
Now, Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to operate. Operate the F-35 for the past decade. The potential sale comes as Riyadh has called on Washington this week to intervene in its conflict with the Iran-backed Houthis, who have launched fresh attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure. While President Trump has been noncommittal about widening US military engagement in the region, China has stepped in to use its influence in Iran to ease tensions around the Red Sea.
The fighting has moved closer to shipping routes around the Babel Mandib Strait, one of the world's most important waterways for global trade and energy supplies. and China depends heavily on oil and trade flowing through the region, giving it its own stake in keeping those shipping lanes open. Timor Azari is covering the situation from Riyadh.
So the Houthis control the entire western coast of Yemen. They're all along the Red Sea. Um, that means that uh at the closest point with Africa, they're about 20 kilometers away. And that means that they're in control of the choke point. And it means that most of international shipping is in their sights. So while before they needed complex drones and missiles and other technology to hit international shipping, they can probably do it with a mortar now or even an RPG. If they're on a boat.
And these developments come at a tricky time for Saudi Arabia, which is under pressure from multiple directions.
This Houthi advance uh is really a disaster for Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is being attacked from the east, uh, you know, from Iran, from the north, from Iraq, and from the west, from Yemen. Our reporting shows that uh the US has said is it will not uh rush to uh at least a military intervention here. Essentially, after the Houthis did this lightning advance in Yemen, they then held an in person meeting with American Diplomats in Muscat in Oman. So, I mean, you have to imagine in the riyad this this will not be received well. Uh not only is the US not supporting you, they are meeting and thereby sort of legitimizing your enemy um at the moment where you're being hurt the most. Um so for the US it uh you know it's gotten a bloody nose in in Hormuz um and is still dealing with the with the fallout of that.
And and Trump uh clearly does not want to get involved in a another conflict, uh in a in another strait, um, you know, right when he's uh uh looking at midterms.
Japan's central bank is raising its policy rate to 1.25%, a 31-year high. Governor Kazuo Yueda says the Bank of Japan is no longer trying to spur inflation up to its 2% target, instead, guarding against overheating the Japanese economy. The BOJ still lags its peers.
Why did former President Trump announce a ban on CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House?
The European Central Bank's rate is at 2.5%, while the US Federal Reserve just raised its benchmark rate this week to between 3.75 and 4%.
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Chapters
3 chapters
1
What is the opening overview and date for today’s Reuters World News briefing?
0:00–4:27
2
Why did former President Trump announce a ban on CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House?
4:27–9:23
3
How is the U.S. State Department’s approval of F‑35 stealth jets affecting Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks on the Red Sea?
9:23–10:22
Speakers
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