Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including new Iran sanctions by the US, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's statements on Brexit, Morocco's king appointing Fatima Zahra Mansouri as the country's first female prime minister, and President Donald Trump's remarks on the Strait of Hormuz.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned 10 individuals and entities in multiple jurisdictions that it said procured weapons and weapons components for Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).
"Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran's enablers," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
The department said MODAFL is responsible for weapons research, production and acquisition for Iran's armed forces and oversees organizations developing Iran's ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he will “lay out to the country” different options for the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU, arguing that Brexit “has done more harm than good.”
Speaking at the annual Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Burnham said Britain could not have “the clear path we need into the rest of this century” without deciding on its future relationship with the EU, which he described as “still our largest market.”
The UK left the EU in 2020, four years after a referendum in which about 52% of voters chose to leave.
Moroccan King Mohammed VI on Tuesday appointed Fatima Zahra Mansouri as prime minister, making her the first woman to hold the post in the country.
Mansouri's Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won parliamentary elections on Sept. 23, with 97 seats.
The appointment was announced in a statement by the Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery.
The king appoints the prime minister from the party winning the most seats in the 395-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, while ministers are appointed on the premier’s proposal.
Trump claimed that the US had taken more oil out of the Strait of Hormuz over the past several days than “at any point in history.”
“You know, we took more oil out of the Hormuz Strait over the last couple of days than at any point in history,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Asked whether Iran was about to give up or concede, Trump said Tehran was “doing very poorly” and predicted that it would eventually give up.
Spain maintained their perfect start to the UEFA Nations League with a 4-1 victory over Croatia on Tuesday, while England secured their first points of the campaign by beating Czechia 2-0.
World champions Spain produced another commanding performance in Seville, with Lamine Yamal scoring twice and providing an assist.
Yamal opened the scoring early before Croatia drew level, but Marc Pubill restored Spain’s advantage shortly afterwards from a Yamal assist. The Barcelona winger struck again in the second half before Nico Williams completed the scoring late on, extending Spain’s unbeaten run to 40 matches.
England, meanwhile, responded to that defeat with a 2-0 win over Czechia in Prague. The hosts were reduced to 10 men in the first half when Pavel Sulc was sent off, but England had to wait until shortly after the interval for Anthony Gordon to break the deadlock. Captain Harry Kane added the second to seal Thomas Tuchel’s side’s first victory of the campaign.
Manchester City were found guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules during a nine-season period, with the club announcing it would appeal the landmark ruling.
An independent commission found City committed breaches between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, including arranging “sham” contracts with commercial partners, misstating accounts and concealing the true state of their finances from auditors and football regulators.
It found the arrangements artificially increased revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million ($1.2 billion), allowing the club to appear compliant with financial regulations. It concluded City would otherwise have substantially breached Premier League and UEFA spending limits.
Canadian pop star Celine Dion made a surprise appearance at Paris Fashion Week on Monday, performing at a L'Oreal Paris runway show beneath the Eiffel Tower.
Dion, 58, performed her 2002 hit I'm Alive at the end of the show, appearing on the catwalk in a black gown and drawing cheers from the crowd.
The appearance comes after Dion returned to regular live performances this month following years away from the stage after being diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome. Dion announced that she had been diagnosed with the rare neurological disorder in 2022, which causes muscle stiffness and spasms and can affect movement and singing.
Heavy metal band Slipknot has faced criticism from fans after announcing Marilyn Manson as a support act for its upcoming world tour.
Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, is scheduled to join the masked metal group for its shows at London’s Wembley Stadium and several dates on the South American leg of the tour beginning next July.
The announcement prompted thousands of reactions online, according to a BBC report, with some long-time Slipknot fans saying they would not attend because of previous sexual abuse allegations against Manson.
US President Donald Trump shared a copy of an accord on his Truth Social platform on artificial intelligence (AI) safety that he said was signed with several of the technology industry's leading executives outlining a joint commitment to strengthen safeguards around the development and deployment of advanced AI systems.
The White House Accord on "Super Intelligence," described as a “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities,” calls on companies developing and deploying frontier models to establish robust internal processes and controls designed to ensure their systems operate as intended and that potential problems are identified and addressed quickly.
According to the accord, each participating company should implement four layers of controls and audits covering model development and deployment.
OpenAI unveiled an always-on artificial intelligence assistant called Dots, alongside a $500 monthly ChatGPT plan, as it expands from answering users’ requests to carrying out work on their behalf.
Introduced at the company’s developer conference, Dots runs on its GPT-6 Astra model and has its own cloud computer and browser. OpenAI said it can connect to more than 4,000 apps, work toward a user’s goals around the clock and learn from feedback.
Users can message or call their dot through ChatGPT on desktop, web and mobile, or message it through Slack and Microsoft Teams. Text messaging is planned for later. The assistant can report progress, ask questions and carry context between the channels, according to OpenAI.
The European Union has paid more than €100 billion ($113 billion) in additional energy costs this year without receiving any extra gas or oil, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jorgensen said.
Speaking ahead of an informal meeting of EU energy ministers in Dublin, Jorgensen said the figure highlighted the risks of the bloc's continued dependence on imported energy.
"We have now surpassed €100 billion that we've paid extra for our energy this year without receiving one extra molecule of gas or oil," he said.
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