Tuesday, September 29, 2026

TIME * The Brief - Richard Hall - September 29, 2026 - U.S.-China tariff cuts Why SpaceX’s latest mission matters Mass shootings rock South Africa Who really controls the Strait of Hormuz? 8,067 Ebola cases SpaceX in orbit

Richard Hall | September 29, 2026

Hello and welcome to The Brief. When it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, control seems to be in the eye of the beholder. As the United States and Iran look to revive peace talks, both sides claim dominance over the strategic waterway. We work through those competing claims today, and why it matters.

We also have a spectacular video of SpaceX’s Starship reaching orbit for the first time, and a story on why that matters.

IN TODAY’S BRIEF

U.S.-China tariff cuts
Why SpaceX’s latest mission matters
Mass shootings rock South Africa
Who really controls the Strait of Hormuz?
8,067 Ebola cases
SpaceX in orbit

READ THIS FIRST

U.S. and China to cut tariffs on $60 billion of goods

Cheng Xin—Getty Images

The U.S. and China have agreed to cut tariffs on $60 billion worth of goods, from U.S. coal to Chinese toys.

The late Sunday announcement falls under the “30-for-30” framework, covering roughly $30 billion of U.S. exports to China and $30 billion of Chinese exports to the U.S. The U.S.-China Board of Trade, established during President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing in May, recommended more favorable tariff treatment for “non-sensitive” products.

The proposed cuts would bring relief to a wide range of goods, including live horses, camels, and fishing tackle. The White House has not yet specified the size of tariff reductions or when the cuts will be implemented, although the Chinese Commerce Ministry said tariffs on around 90% of the products on each list would return to “most favored nation” levels, referring to ordinary baseline tariff rates that vary based on product.

The agreement marks the latest effort to ease economic tensions between the two global superpowers after an escalating trade war last year brought tariffs to prohibitively high levels.

Trump has sought to use tariffs to shrink the U.S. trade deficit with China and bring manufacturing back to the U.S. But the tariff war has also strained both economies and pushed Chinese exporters to seek other markets. —Miranda Jeyaretnam

Read the full story here.

Hiring abroad? The real cost might surprise you

Compensation is just the starting point.

Taxes, benefits, employer contributions, and compliance costs can add up quickly, and vary by country.

Use Oyster’s calculator to estimate what a global hire could really cost, so you can build a more accurate hiring budget and avoid surprises.

Calculate your hiring costs

HAPPENING NOW

SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit. Here’s why that’s so significant

Ronaldo Schemidt—AFP via Getty Images

For three and a half years, ever since the spring of 2023, when SpaceX launched the first of its massive Starship rockets, the company has been promising that before too long the towering, stainless steel machine would get to orbit. This morning, on the 14th such launch, it made good on that boast.

It took just 25 minutes and 17 seconds for the spacecraft to travel from its launch pad in Starbase, Texas, to its circular orbit 170 miles high.

There is no overstating how important today’s success was to SpaceX’s—and NASA’s—long-term plans. Starship is pivotal to getting human beings to the Moon and Mars, and SpaceX sees it as an ultimate replacement for its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, which accounted for nearly 51% of the global total of commercial launches—including 85% of all satellites—in 2025. Starship’s far larger payload bay can carry a cargo equivalent of nearly five Falcon 9s, ultimately consolidating launches and cutting costs.

Read the full story here.

IN THE NEWS

South Africa rocked by three mass shootings

Anne-Christine Poujoulat—Getty Images

South African police have launched manhunts after three mass shootings killed at least 32 people.

Police were searching for suspects early Monday after separate shootings took place over the weekend in impoverished townships, including Wedela in West Rand District outside Johannesburg, Lwandle in Western Cape, and Khayelitsha in Western Cape.

“Violence and criminality continues to spread in our country,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday. “This is the level of criminality that we must bring down, and our security forces are now going to continue pulling out all stops. It cannot go on like this.” He pledged stronger action by security forces to reduce violent crime in the country.

The shootings came amid a recent spate of mass shootings and other killings that have alarmed South Africans. Authorities have linked some of the attacks to criminal gangs fighting over territory or illicit businesses like illegal mining, drug trafficking, and extortion. —MJ

Read the full story here.

Your K-Cups Sat in a Warehouse for Months

Grocery store pods spend months going factory → warehouse → truck → shelf, losing the flavor oils that make coffee taste like coffee. Angelino's roasts, packs, and ships within days — 50+ flavors, compatible with Keurig®, from 39¢ a cup. New customers save 15%, no code needed.

Try Fresh-Roasted Pods

IN FOCUS

Who really controls the Strait of Hormuz?

Vahid Salemi—Associated Press

Since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, control of the Strait of Hormuz has acted as a measure of who has had the upper hand in the conflict.

Oil prices have risen and fallen in tandem with the strength of Iran’s grip on the strait, and Tehran’s ability to choke the narrow waterway has given it outsized influence in negotiations with a much stronger foe.

But as both sides dig in for a long fight, control of the waterway has also become a battle of perception. Leaders in Tehran and Washington publicly insist, almost daily, that they control it. With so much at stake, the fight for Hormuz is as much an information war as one involving ships and drones.

“We're winning tremendously. We have total control of the Hormuz Strait; massive amounts of oil are coming out of the Hormuz Strait,” President Donald Trump said on Saturday.

U.S. Central Command weighed in on Monday, declaring that Iran "does not control the Strait of Hormuz as evidenced by the thousands of ships that have passed through freely along with more than 1 billion barrels of oil just over the past few months."

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the U.S. of gaslighting over its claims to control the strait, and argued that oil prices tell the real story. “Either the market's dumb or the U.S. narrative-laundromat is faking it," he wrote on X.

Shipping data offers a mixed picture. Ship-tracking firm Kpler reported that crude oil flows out of the strait reached 49.2 million barrels in the week beginning Sept. 13—an increase on previous months but less than half the pre-war level.

Iran’s military has also claimed, without offering evidence, to have targeted 19 vessels that had attempted to transit the strait since Sept. 25, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported. NBC News reported on Sunday that eight U.S. Marines were injured two weeks ago when an Iranian cruise missile struck a vessel carrying them in the strait, according to three U.S. officials.

All of which raises the question of what constitutes control of the strait. Is it the amount of oil going through? The number of ships? The price of oil? The ability to carry out attacks on passing tankers?

The answer could well determine how the war ends, and on what terms.

ONE NUMBER

8,067

Congo's Ebola outbreak has reached 8,067 confirmed cases as of Sept. 26 . The health ministry reported 3,901 deaths and a fatality rate above 48%, as the disease has spread to 63 health zones in seven of Congo's 26 provinces.

SOURCE: CONGO HEALTH MINISTRY

A VIRAL MOMENT

Starship in orbit

SpaceX’s Starship rocket reached orbit for the first time on Monday, carrying 26 Starlink satellites.

Become an email marketing GURU.

Is your email strategy due for a tune-up? GURU Conference (powered by Constant Contact) is back Nov 12–13, 100% free and virtual. You'll get email tactics you can steal the same day from top B2B and B2C marketers. Last year, 29,000+ marketers showed up. Save your free spot.

Yes, Save My Spot!