Domestic:

Tropical Storm Ian strengthened into Hurricane Ian the morning of Monday, Sept. 26, as the status was updated around 5 a.m. The west coast of Florida, specifically from Fort Myers to Tampa Bay, is anticipated to be hit the hardest. Parts of the Tampa Bay area were ordered a mandatory evacuation, including Hillsborough County. The storm is also approaching western Cuba, which as of Monday has stopped all national train services. In addition, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for all 67 counties in Florida, urging all residents to prepare for the storm and make arrangements to evacuate if necessary. 

The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) has added declassified artifacts to its museum in Langley, Va. While still closed to the public, they have added several recently declassified artifacts, such as a model of the compound in Kabul, Afghanistan where al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed by a drone strike two months earlier. The model was used to brief President Biden prior to the strike. The CIA aims to facilitate trust and transparency between citizens and the CIA, “which is sometimes hard,” Janelle Neises, the deputy director of the museum, said to Fox News. 

International:

Following Mahsa Amini’s death by Iran’s “morality police,” thousands of Iranians across the country are protesting, experts told USA Today. Amini, who was 22 years old, was killed after being accused of not properly covering her hair. The fight for increased autonomy for women has continued in 13 cities despite pushback from Iranian police. Women are burning their headscarves and cutting their hair in defiance of what many deem historically violent treatment of young women by the police. Protestors have been injured, arrested and 17 people have been killed. 

Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden, who fled the United States after being charged with violating the Espionage Act in 2013. An ex-United States security contractor, Snowden’s award of citizenship comes as Russia is implementing a non voluntary military draft as tensions between the U.S. and Russia continue to rise. Snowden is ostensibly ineligible for mobilization into the Russian military due to the fact that “he hasn’t served before,” according to his lawyer, Anatoly Kucharena, when talking to USA Today. This comment succeeds Putin calling up 300,000 civilians to join the Russian army last week.