Friday morning news: September 18, 2026

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Carney EU association / Trump threat » President Trump is threatening the European Union with tariffs if it moves ahead with plans to make Canada the first associate member of the EU.

Trump said that if he decides it's, his words, at all a hostile act, he'll put very serious tariffs on Europe, or stop trading with Europe on many things.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to forge stronger ties with Europe amid a trade war between the US and Canada. He blames that friction on Trump, alluding to him in a speech to the European Parliament.

CARNEY: We are pursuing resilience so no one, no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.

Trump also called Canada a terrible trade partner after talks between the neighboring countries collapsed last month. About two-thirds of what Canada sells abroad had been going to the United States, but that number has dropped in recent weeks.

Canada joined Europe's defense buying program this year, the first country outside Europe to do so. But associate membership doesn't exist yet. Europe would have to invent it, and Carney says Canada is not seeking full membership.

CARNEY: Canada and Europe should s-secure our strategic autonomy through deep cooperation in the full range of strategic capabilities.

He listed critical minerals, defense, artificial intelligence, energy, space, and payments. The two sides plan to meet in Montreal at the end of October to work out the details.

Speaker Johnson recesses early » The House of Representatives is on recess two weeks early, starting just one day before a vote on impeaching Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more from the nation’s capital.

HARRISON WATTERS: Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday the House is closing up shop until after the November midterms.

JOHNSON: So the House has done its job, and will return here on a moment's notice if the Senate sends us things to continue to work on.

WATTERS: The House calendar originally had members staying in town until September 30th.

On Tuesday, GOP Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie surprised his party by introducing eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who the Trump administration now calls the Secretary of War.

MASSIE: Peter Brian Hegseth, in his capacity as Secretary of Defense, has executed unlawful orders in contravention of section 2C of the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

WATTERS: Massie says Hegseth has run out the clock on the War Powers Act and continued the war on Iran without approval from Congress.

Massie’s impeachment resolution would have forced a vote within two legislative days, but the House left town before that could happen. Massie on Wednesday questioned the move.

MASSIE: Why would we be canceling days when the country is burning, the inflation is rampant? There are things we could do here. Why would we cancel our own majority?

WATTERS: Speaker Johnson said members could return with 48 hours notice if necessary.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters in Washington.

Ukraine attack » In Ukraine:

SOUND: [Odesa attack aftermath]

At least 19 people were injured Thursday, after a barrage of Russian missiles and drones targeted Kyiv and the surrounding region.

The injured included two children.

SOUND: [Apartment cleanup]

Meanwhile, residents are left to pick up the pieces.

AUDIO: [Speaking Ukrainian]

This woman says her mother was in her apartment when the door was blown down. She says she's thankful she wasn't hurt, but they're still trying to clean up the debris.

And on Capitol Hill, lawmakers this week passed their own legislation aimed at ending the Ukraine war.

South Carolina Senator Darline Graham celebrated passage of the bill named after her late brother.

GRAHAM: The Lindsey O. Graham sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. A critical piece of legislation that will assist President Trump in his noble efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to a close.

It now heads to President Trump's desk for signature.

S. Korea abortion pills » South Korea is moving to approve abortion pills for the first time. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The government announced the plan Wednesday. Doctors could prescribe a two-drug combination through the ninth week of pregnancy, starting early next year, once regulators sign off. Officials say women already buy the pills from unverified online sellers.

South Korea has had no enforceable abortion ban or legal limits since 2021. The Constitutional Court struck down the old ban in 2019 and told lawmakers to write a new one. They never did.

This comes amid a demographic crisis in the country. South Korea has the world’s lowest fertility rate.

At a rally Thursday, opposition lawmaker Cho Bae-sook said, her words: if the unborn live, Korea lives.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Chinese advanced chip » Chinese tech company Huawei has unveiled new artificial intelligence chips, aimed at competing with American chip giant Nvidia.

Washington bars China from buying the top AI chips, so Chinese companies build their own. Huawei showed off a system, due next year, that wires thousands of its chips together to act as one machine.

But researchers say Huawei still has only a fraction of Nvidia’s AI computing capacity. And Huawei says it can't make enough chips to meet demand at home.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected in Washington next week to meet President Trump.

On Sunday, Trump stressed the importance of staying ahead of China on artificial intelligence.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: John Stonestreet is standing by for Culture Friday. And later: Why The Fellowship of the Ring still sets the standard for Middle-earth, after 25 years.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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