Hurricane Polo bore down on Baja California Sur as a Category 3 storm; the White House moved to rescind about $810 million in health and education funds days before the fiscal year ends; and a BTG/Nexus poll put Lula ahead of Flávio Bolsonaro one week before Brazil’s vote. Ten stories as of Monday morning, September 28.
1. Baja California Sur / Mexico. Category 3 Hurricane Polo, with sustained winds near 115 mph, bore down on Mexico’s Baja California Sur on Monday as fishing towns and resort hubs braced for life-threatening winds, flash floods and a possible second landfall farther north, BBC News, AFP and Reuters reported. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expected Polo to move over Baja California Sur later Monday, then briefly across the Gulf of California before a second landfall in northwestern mainland Mexico. Schools closed, beaches were restricted in Cabo San Lucas, and navy and army units deployed with specialised machinery. Forecasters warned of heavy rain, destructive storm surge and mudslides in steep terrain.
2. Washington. The Trump administration moved to cancel about $810 million in congressionally approved health, education and related spending through a so-called pocket rescission days before the fiscal year ends September 30, Roll Call reported. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the White House budget office “intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation” of bipartisan appropriations. Roughly $567 million targets HHS refugee-resettlement accounts, with further cuts to migrant-student aid, foreign-exchange education grants, health research and HUD housing counseling. The administration called it “historic action to eliminate wasteful and harmful spending”; House Appropriations ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro accused the White House of unlawfully impounding funds.
3. São Paulo / Brazil. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva led Senator Flávio Bolsonaro 42% to 37% in a BTG/Nexus poll released Monday, one week before Brazil’s October 4 first-round presidential election, with a simulated runoff still a technical tie, Folha de S.Paulo reported. The Nexus survey of 2,000 voters ages 16 and older, conducted September 25–27 with a two-point margin of error, showed Lula up slightly from 40% a week earlier while Bolsonaro held at 37%. In a second-round matchup Lula had 46% to Bolsonaro’s 44%. A runoff, if needed, is set for October 25. Reuters said the race remains neck-and-neck as Flávio seeks to inherit his imprisoned father’s far-right base.
4. Kyiv / Kharkiv / Ukraine. Russia’s round-the-clock bombardment killed at least seven civilians across Ukraine on Monday, officials said, as a guided aerial bomb struck a Kharkiv apartment building and drones hit offices and a National Academy of Sciences building in Kyiv, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a strike on a residential high-rise wounded dozens, including children. A drone hit an office centre in central Dnipro during working hours, killing three. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine would “pay a price” for recent attacks. The strikes followed Sunday’s nationwide bombardment that killed eight.
5. Wissant / Calais, France. Three people, including a 10-year-old child and two women in their thirties, died Monday off northern France when an inflatable “taxi boat” carrying 105 migrants ran into trouble while attempting to cross the English Channel to Britain, BBC News, AFP and the Guardian reported. French authorities said the dinghy left near Sangatte around 5:15 a.m.; initial findings pointed to a crush or stampede on the overcrowded vessel rather than a sinking. Survivors were brought into Calais; nine others needed medical treatment. Prefects said the dead were believed to be Eritrean; a judicial investigation is underway in Boulogne.
6. Alamata / Addis Ababa / Ethiopia. Ethiopian military and allied militiamen claimed Monday to have captured the strategic southern Tigray town of Alamata after a TPLF-led offensive shattered the 2022 Pretoria peace deal last week, Reuters reported, as the army chief accused Sudan and Egypt of backing the rebels. A pro-government militia posted video of soldiers waving flags in Alamata’s streets; Reuters could not immediately verify it. Field Marshal Birhanu Jula named Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea as external backers; Sudan’s army called the charge “baseless.” TPLF fighters seized Erebti in Afar on Sunday and pushed toward Afdera, threatening the Djibouti trade corridor, Al Jazeera reported. Phone and internet in Tigray remained down.
7. Durban / South Africa. Refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa said Monday they fear fresh violence as an unofficial September 30 deadline set by the anti-immigration movement March and March approaches, Al Jazeera reported from Durban. The group has staged protests demanding undocumented foreigners leave and has no legal power to deport anyone; the government says citizens cannot enforce immigration law. Hundreds who slept for months outside Durban’s Refugee Reception Centre were cleared in mid-September — 274 bused to Lindela detention, about 150 left seeking other shelter — after earlier clashes. Authorities say they processed tens of thousands for deportation or repatriation over the summer while warning private groups against vigilante enforcement. Local elections are November 4.
8. Taipei. Taiwan pushed back Monday against what it called Beijing’s effort to rewrite World War Two history after Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump highlighted a wartime U.S.–China alliance at last week’s Washington summit, Reuters reported. Taipei notes the Republic of China government — then based on the mainland and now in Taiwan — fought alongside the Allies, while the People’s Republic was founded only in 1949. Mainland Affairs Council deputy Shen Yu-chung said Xi is “continuously trying to guide” the narrative toward the PRC; Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said China wants to “overwrite the true history.” Neither the White House nor China’s Taiwan Affairs Office immediately commented.
9. Seoul / DMZ. South Korea’s military said Monday it was “highly likely” that a blast that seriously injured South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarised Zone on September 21 was caused by a North Korean mine, Reuters and Yonhap reported. The Joint Chiefs’ assessment followed a week-long probe of the western-sector explosion. Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul said if a final investigation confirms North Korean responsibility, Seoul will take corresponding measures. A joint investigation with the United Nations Command continued.
10. Sydney / Lane Cove. Goodman Group, Australia’s biggest property company, withdrew its application for a controversial A$1.2 billion ($841 million), 90-megawatt data centre known as Project Mars in Sydney’s Lane Cove suburb after intense community push-back, BBC News reported Monday. The facility would have stood about 20 metres from the nearest homes. A planning consultation drew 374 submissions, only nine in support. In a letter to the New South Wales Department of Planning, Goodman cited an evolving “policy and regulatory environment” and community views. NSW MP Anthony Roberts called it “a huge win for the Lane Cove West community.”
Coming up. Monday 28 September — U.N. General Assembly high-level week winds down in New York. Tuesday–Wednesday 30 September–1 October — G20 trade ministers, Milwaukee. Sunday 4 October — Brazil general election (first round; runoff 25 October if needed). October 12–18 — IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, Bangkok. The standing calendar is at The Watch.
Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; BBC News; Al Jazeera; AFP / France 24; Folha de S.Paulo; Roll Call; Yonhap; The Guardian.
