September 26, 2008 (Friday)
- Senators John McCain and Barack Obama take part in the first of the United States presidential election debates. (ABC News Australia)
- 2008 Chinese Milk Scandal: Japan and Hong Kong detect melamine in Chinese food products including breakfast cereals and crackers. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- German commandos storm a KLM airliner at Cologne-Bonn Airport and arrest two men suspected of planning to carry out a terrorist attack. (AFP via News Limited)
- Subprime mortgage crisis:
- In the biggest bank failure in American history, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seizes Washington Mutual and sells most of the bank to JPMorgan Chase. (The New York Times) (FDIC)
- A Ukrainian vessel carrying 30 T-72 tanks is captured by pirates 200 miles off Somalian coast. Russia sends its military ship to combat piracy in Somalia. (The New York Times)