Politics & World
Congress Sends Sweeping Russia Sanctions Bill to Trump
The House approved a wide-ranging package of Russia sanctions, completing congressional action and leaving President Trump to decide whether the measure becomes law.
You’re reading the edition from Thursday, September 17, 2026. Read today’s
Thursday, September 17, 2026 · 4-minute read
Russia Sanctions Bill, Canada’s EU Bid, and Olympic Crocodiles
Congress sends a Russia sanctions bill to Trump, the EU floats Canada as a member, and an Olympic rowing venue comes with 500 crocodiles.
Need to know
Politics & World
EU Proposes Canada as First Associate Member
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed Canada as the EU’s first associate…
Sources: Reuters, Axios, DW
Politics & World
Fencing Rises Around Shuttered Kennedy Center
Barriers were installed around the Kennedy Center a day after its Trump-aligned board voted to shut…
Sources: The Hill, USA Today
2,500miles
The distance three wild dog brothers trekked across Zambia in search of mates and territory. That makes their odyssey the longest recorded movement by any African mammal, surpassing every tracked journey by elephants, lions, or other wild dogs.
Source: Smithsonian
In the know
Worth a longer read
People’s houses are collapsing into the ocean. FEMA gives them no other option
Why FEMA leaves coastal homeowners with no real option but to watch their houses collapse into the ocean.
NPR News · Rebecca Hersher
The Uphill Climb to American Citizenship
How the climb to American citizenship has grown steeper for immigrants navigating naturalization amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Dispatch · Mindy Belz
The Mind-bending Joyrides That Gave Rise to Tesla
How mind-bending early joyrides in electric prototypes gave rise to Tesla.
IEEE Spectrum · Charles J. Murray
- Today
Constitution Day marks 239 years since delegates signed the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787.
- Tuesday, Sept. 22
The autumnal equinox arrives, marking the official start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.
Etcetera
- The medieval abbess who invented the world’s oldest constructed language — and never said why
- Would you have survived the Salem witch trials?
- The geologist who identified an Ice Age mastodon tooth via reverse image search
- The 2032 Olympic rowing venue comes with 500 resident crocodiles
- Max Verstappen raced 100 go-kart drivers at once — and beat them all
- The 16-minute Victorian train delay caused by a solar storm
- Venus may have swallowed its own moon
- Missing pages of a priceless Henry VIII-era manuscript, finally found
Today’s clickbait, so you don’t have toA 9-Year-Old Ran Up $118,000 on Dad’s Corporate Card Promoting His Roblox Channel
On this day · September 17
The Historybook- 1787Delegates sign the US Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
- 1862The Battle of Antietam becomes the bloodiest single day in American military history
- 1908Thomas Selfridge dies in a Wright Flyer crash, aviation’s first airplane fatality
- 1976NASA unveils the Space Shuttle Enterprise, its first orbiter, in Palmdale, California
- 1978Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Accords
Compiled by the Desk, not linked to a source · Report an error
Quote of the day
“A republic, if you can keep it.”
— Benjamin Franklin, when asked what form of government the Constitutional Convention had created, Sept. 17, 1787
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