Tuesday, September 29, 2026

The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to pause a federal district judge's ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from quickly deporting migrants with final removal orders to countries other than their own without a chance to raise torture or persecution fears. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented. The Court will hear full oral arguments on the policy in December, with a ruling expected by next summer.

Former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, in a hearing titled "Oversight of Jack Smith's Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans," where Republicans accused him of secretly obtaining Republican lawmakers' phone records and fundraising data. Chairman Chuck Grassley said investigators obtained at least 4,782 donor checks tied to Trump contributions. Smith defended his decision to prosecute Trump but could not recall some subpoena details when questioned.

The Senate passed the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act 77-22 Monday night, led by Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell. It sets national rules for NIL compensation, recruiting, transfers and conference realignment, raises the cap on direct athlete pay from about $21 million to $48 million per school, and gives athletes five years of eligibility starting at enrollment or age 19. President Trump had urged passage; the bill now heads to the House.

Justice Samuel Alito told the Supreme Court on Monday that he is recusing himself from a major climate change case involving energy companies, set to be heard the following week. The decision reverses his earlier indication that he would not step aside. Alito had faced scrutiny over his ownership of oil company stock.

OpenAI announced a new AI assistant called dots, which can handle workplace tasks such as scheduling meetings, arranging travel and debugging systems in the background. Separately, the company halted release of its GPT-6.1 Astra model, previously due in ChatGPT and Codex in October, after researchers raised safety and security concerns. Safety head Saachi Jain said the model did not meet required standards, without elaborating further.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico asked a federal judge on Monday to extend a temporary block on President Trump's ban excluding their reporters from White House grounds, which expires Oct. 8. The outlets said the administration has "persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban," including barring CNN from its television pool duty over the weekend despite a restraining order.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to announce a 20% reduction in senior leadership positions for generals and admirals during a State of the Force address at Quantico, Virginia. Services must complete the cuts by the start of 2027, with some positions downgraded rather than eliminated. The move doubles a prior May 2025 directive requiring at least 10% cuts, which Hegseth said aimed to shift resources from headquarters to frontline forces.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) blocked a bipartisan bill Monday that would have barred President Trump from demolishing the Kennedy Center and other memorials to past presidents. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sought unanimous consent to pass the measure, which also had support from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), but Lee's objection prevented it from advancing without a floor vote.

Federal prosecutors charged Wilber Garces Perez, a Venezuelan national with a final removal order, with assault after ICE officers shot him during a traffic stop in Austin. An affidavit says he struck an agent with his car before being shot. Accounts differ on body camera footage: one report says the shooting officer wore no camera and another agent turned his off, while another says footage exists but hasn't been released.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declined to grant clemency to Christa Pike, clearing the way for her execution by lethal injection Wednesday. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, committed when Pike was 18. Her attorneys had cited childhood sexual abuse and mental disorders in seeking commutation to life in prison. If carried out, it would be Tennessee's first execution of a woman in 200 years.

British counterterrorism police said they found fuel but no explosives at the scene near RAF Fairford, where five British men aged 23 to 25 were arrested Sunday and later released on bail. A UK police chief said

Estonia's government said with "full confidence" that Russian special services commissioned an August arson attack on Milrem Robotics, a Tallinn-based defense manufacturer that supplies unmanned vehicles to Ukraine. Estonia called the fire a "deliberate" attack. The claim follows accusations that Russia has conducted sabotage operations across several NATO countries supporting Ukraine.

Israeli settlers attacked a West Bank village, setting fire to two homes belonging to the al-Tubasi family and blocking Israeli soldiers from carrying out a Supreme Court order to let the family return home. Security forces were also targeted. CNN said about 100 settlers were involved. Netanyahu blamed a "handful of rioters," while critics said authorities failed to confront the settlers.

Malaysia has begun sending Myanmar asylum seekers, including children, back to Myanmar. Human rights groups say up to 5,000 returnees could face violence, persecution or forced conscription, and the UN and rights organizations had warned against the move on safety grounds. The repatriations began September 29.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI appointed the country's first woman prime minister after her party won recent elections. Her appointment makes her only the second woman to lead a government in the Arab world.

Argentine President Javier Milei said his government would seek international arbitration against the UK over the Sea Lion oilfield project off the disputed, UK-controlled Falkland Islands. Milei set a two-week deadline for the project to be scrapped, escalating a dispute over resources that could affect the South Atlantic archipelago's economy.

Iran's rial fell to a record 2.548 million per U.S. dollar on Tuesday, according to the tracker Pashizi, down from about 1.79 million per dollar in mid-July when a Memorandum of Understanding collapsed. The decline follows renewed U.S. sanctions, a naval blockade and an intensified bombing campaign amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, compounding an economic downturn that began before the war.

A journalist was crowned king of Uganda's Tooro Kingdom on Tuesday, following the death last month of the kingdom's previous ruler, known as the "boy king." The coronation comes amid a dispute over a young heir whom the royal clan does not recognize, which had caused grief and controversy within the traditional monarchy.