The American Times News | Economy, Geopolitics, Calculators

The reported Houthi missile attack toward Riyadh on September 19, 2026, marked a new phase in the latest Saudi-Yemen escalation. Saudi authorities said their air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh. Residents in the capital reported hearing loud explosions, while Reuters footage showed a large smoke plume in the area around King Khalid International Airport. No casualties or confirmed damage in Riyadh were reported from the intercepted missile itself.  The significance of the incident goes beyond whether the missile reached its intended target. Riyadh is far from Yemen's southern border, while Yanbu sits on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast and has become increasingly important as an alternative outlet for oil while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted. At the same time, fighting inside Yemen has intensified. Houthi forces have advanced along parts of the Red Sea coast, including the strategic port city of Mokha, raising fr...

The Middle East's maritime security crisis is increasingly shaped by developments across several connected locations rather than a single battlefield. From Iran's southern coastline to Yemen's Red Sea ports, military activity and shipping disruptions have created a complicated environment for energy producers, commercial operators and regional governments. Qeshm Island has attracted attention because of its position near the Strait of Hormuz, while renewed fighting around Yemen has placed additional pressure on the Red Sea shipping network. These developments are unfolding alongside continuing U.S.-Iran tensions and diplomatic efforts to reduce the conflict. The situation has also become more complicated since the United States and Iran began discussing possible arrangements over maritime access and the terms of a broader settlement. As of October 2, 2026, some energy shipments through Hormuz have resumed, but the waterway has not returned to an established pattern of norma...

A $500 laptop from South Korea, a $30 pair of sneakers from Vietnam, and a $40,000 electric car from China. On the surface, these are three normal purchases, but in 2026, the tariff bill attached to each one could be completely different. That uncertainty is now visible in search data. According to Google Trends, searches for terms like "US tariff calculator" and "duty calculator" have risen steadily through September 2026. At the same time, searches for "tariff refund" increased by over 1,000% after the Supreme Court's decision in February 2026 raised questions about tariffs collected under a specific legal authority. This article explains why rates are so confusing right now, what the Court's ruling actually means, and how to estimate your own costs. Why There Is No Longer One Simple Tariff Rate For many years, US tariffs were relatively predictable. That changed starting in 2025, when multiple trade authorities began to be used together. Four di...

Creator Income Tax Calculator: The $14,000 Gap Between Gross Earnings and Real Take-Home Pay You can earn $48,000 a year from YouTube ad revenue, TikTok Creator Rewards and Instagram brand deals, but you will not keep $48,000. After self-employment tax, federal tax, and legitimate business expenses, a full-time creator at that level typically keeps around $34,000 . That nearly $14,000 gap is the number that surprises most creators during their first tax filing. The reason is simple. Platforms do not withhold taxes like a traditional employer. The creator economy has now crossed 200 million creators worldwide and is projected to generate about $314 billion in 2026, yet most creators are still filing with guesswork. Why Creator Income Does Not Work Like a Paycheck A W-2 job automatically deducts income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from every paycheck. Creator income does not. Whether you are paid via YouTube AdSense, TikTok brand deals, Instagram Subscriptions, or Twitch donations,...

A powerful El Niño has developed in the tropical Pacific, and climate agencies now expect it to become one of the strongest events in the modern record. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the event is likely to intensify to very strong levels, peak toward the end of 2026 and persist through February 2027. The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) at Columbia University has also reported unusually strong agreement across its 22-model ensemble. Its September 21 assessment showed Niño 3.4 reaching about +3.0°C by mid-September, with the models indicating that very strong El Niño conditions could continue through the winter of 2026–27. This matters because the event is developing on top of an already exceptionally warm global climate. Why This El Niño Is Different According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), August 2026 was the warmest August on record globally , with an average surface air temperature of 16.96°C. Global sea-surface tempe...

The latest Ukraine drone attack on Moscow unfolded alongside Russia's September 18 to 20, 2026 parliamentary elections, creating an unusual overlap between battlefield escalation and domestic politics. On the first day of voting, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 350 Ukrainian drones had been headed toward the Moscow region overnight. Two days later, on September 20, Russian authorities reported a much larger wave, saying more than 1,600 drones had been intercepted across Russia since Saturday, including about 450 directed toward Moscow. The timing gave the attacks an obvious political dimension, but their precise purpose remains a matter of competing claims. Sobyanin said the September 20 operation was designed to disrupt the elections, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described Ukraine's long-range strikes as part of a campaign against Russian oil, logistics and other infrastructure supporting the war effort. What is clearer is the scale. The attack...

Is the United States taking over Greenland? That question became a major international issue again in September 2026 after President Donald Trump announced a new security agreement involving Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk. But the agreement that was actually signed is different from a transfer of sovereignty. On September 18, Trump described the emerging arrangement as giving the United States permanent control over security and other needs in Greenland. Denmark and Greenland presented it differently, emphasizing that the framework strengthens Arctic and North Atlantic security while recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Greenlandic people's right to self-determination. The agreement was signed in New York on September 22. The full text is now public, which makes it possible to look beyond political descriptions and examine what the document actually changes. The Deal Is About Defense Access, Not a Transfer of Territory The most im...