U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Missouri's 2025 Congressional Map a Third Time, Keeping 2022 Lines for November
In an unsigned order with no noted dissents, the justices on Sept. 25 paused an appeals-court ruling issued four days earlier that would have required the Republican-drawn 2025 map. So Missouri will vote in November under the districts it used in 2022 and 2024.
U.S.
FDA-Approved mRNA Flu Shot Has No CDC Recommendation While a Court Order Keeps the Vaccine Advisory Panel From Meeting
A federal judge's March order froze Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s reshaped vaccine advisory panel, and the CDC has kept last year's flu guidance in place instead of weighing in on Moderna's newly approved mFlusiva.
110 Lawmakers, All but One of Them Democrats, Urge Congress to Override Trump's 2027 Pay Freeze for Federal Civilian Workers
Twelve senators and 98 House members asked congressional leaders to add a raise of at least 3.8%, and preferably 4.1%, to fiscal 2027 spending bills. The White House's August 26 plan freezes most civilian pay but raises pay for law enforcement and the military.
Trump Order Tells Labor, DHS and State to Weigh Employer Layoffs in H-1B Cases; Labor Dept. Must Start Reviewing Past Filings by About Oct. 18
The Sept. 18 executive order does not bar companies that cut jobs from hiring H-1B workers. It adds layoffs as a factor at each stage of the visa process, and its only hard deadline falls on the Labor Department.
Lawmakers in Both Parties Seek Limits on Hegseth's Firings of Senior Officers; Army Has No Senate-Confirmed Leaders After Driscoll's Exit
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or forced out at least 20 senior uniformed and civilian leaders and blocked dozens of promotions. The Pentagon says it is restoring merit. Critics in both parties say it has given no reasons. The one House letter often cited as new was sent in February 2025.
ICE Stops Listing Detainees With Final Removal Orders in Its Public Online Locator as of Sept. 15, AP Reports
ICE did not announce the change and has not confirmed it. Lawyers say clients have dropped out of the search tool, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association alerted its members on Sept. 18.
Supreme Court Votes 6-3 to Let DHS Resume Expanded SAVE Citizenship Checks of Voter Rolls While Appeal Proceeds
An unsigned emergency order paused a June ruling that found the overhauled federal database broke privacy and Social Security laws; the three liberal justices dissented, and a federal ban on systematic voter removals in the 90 days before an election limits what states can do before Nov. 3.
N.C.
Court Preliminarily Approves Plan to Pay Consumers From $96.5 Million in Generic Drug Price-Fixing Settlements; NC Attorney General Urges Claims by March 8, 2027
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 47 other states and territories say people who bought certain generic drugs between May 2009 and December 2019 can now file claims, while the drugmakers that settled deny any wrongdoing.
North Carolina Opens $65 Million Second Round of Helene Repair Grants for Local Governments, Tribes and Volunteer Fire Departments; Applications Due Nov. 23
Gov. Josh Stein announced the state-funded round on Sept. 25, 2026, two days before the storm's second anniversary. The money comes from the budget the General Assembly passed in July and pays for damage FEMA will not cover.
NC Medicaid Restores $901,400-a-Year Contract for Perinatal Quality Collaborative After 2025 Funding Cut
The state health department restored the maternal and newborn care program's money in June, backdated to April. The program had lost its funding on Oct. 31, 2025, during a Medicaid budget fight between Gov. Josh Stein and the Republican-led legislature, and its new newborn-screening and postpartum mental-health projects are now set to start in 2027.
NC 12 Closed Between Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe After Nor'easter Damages About 500 Feet of Pavement; All Ocracoke Ferry Routes Suspended
Tides broke through dunes near the Pea Island Visitor Center on Thursday. As of Friday morning NCDOT had no reopening estimate, and coastal flood warnings for Hatteras and Ocracoke islands run until 11 p.m. Friday.
Gov. Stein's Recovery Office Releases 117-Page Economic Plan for Western North Carolina, Two Years After Helene
Released Sept. 23, 2026, the plan creates no new funding. Instead, it combines existing regional strategies. It highlights a $29.2 million federal grant announced in July and a jobs coalition launched in April, while Stein presses Washington for more than $10 billion more.
Voter Groups Sue North Carolina Elections Board Over Absentee Ballot Rules Adopted in Sept. 4 Party-Line Vote
Three nonprofits and two voters asked a federal court to block new rules on unsealed inner envelopes, signature checks and ballot drop-off, after more than 8,000 mail ballots had already been cast.
Finance
10-Year Treasury Yield Touches 5.22%, Highest Since June 2007, Then Holds Near 5.16% Friday as 30-Year Tops 5.5%
The benchmark 10-year yield hit its highest level in 19 years on Thursday. It barely moved on Friday, while the 30-year yield set a new 22-year high and traders kept betting on another Federal Reserve rate hike.
Akamai Signs $11.6 Billion, Seven-Year Computing Deal With Anthropic and Issues Warrant for Up to About 5% of Its Stock
Akamai says Anthropic can add up to $9 billion more, which would bring the total to about $20 billion. Akamai expects to spend about $5.5 billion on equipment for the deal. Its shares rose sharply after the announcement and then gave back part of the gain.
MGM Resorts Discusses a Bid for Barry Diller's People Inc., WSJ Reports, a Day After People Dropped Its $48.30-a-Share Offer for MGM
People Inc., the publisher of Food & Wine and Southern Living, saw its shares rise more than 11% on Friday after the report. MGM shares fell almost 3%, following an 11% drop the day before.
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Finalized at 48.1 for September, Down From 51.7; Year-Ahead Inflation Expectations Rise to 4.6%
The final September reading was the lowest in four months and a bit above the preliminary 47.8. Survey director Joanne Hsu tied the drop to high prices, fuel costs and renewed trade disputes.
Brent Crude Settles at $106.60 After Saudi Arabia Says It Shot Down Six Houthi Missiles; Houthis Claim Strikes on Jazan, Riyadh and Yanbu
Saudi Arabia says it stopped six Houthi missiles aimed at Taif and Yanbu on Thursday. Separately, the Houthis claimed much larger strikes, which Saudi Arabia has not confirmed. Brent crude rose 3.4% that day, then eased Friday after reports that U.S. and Iranian negotiators at the U.N. were discussing a phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Costco Reports Fiscal Q4 Revenue of $95.7 Billion and $6.75 EPS, Including 15 Cents From Tariff Refunds
The warehouse retailer beat analyst estimates on sales and profit. Part of the profit came from a one-time refund of tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down, and a pending lawsuit says shoppers should get that money.
World
Danish Intelligence Sees 'Low but Growing Risk' of a Limited Russian Attack on a NATO Neighbor in Coming Months
Denmark's Defence Intelligence Service said on Sept. 24 that Russia will step up sabotage and cyberattacks and could make a small military move against a NATO country on its border. The agency also said a full invasion remains highly unlikely, and Moscow rejected the assessment.
Congo Fighting With Rwanda-Backed M23 Continues as Doha Talks Stall; M23-Aligned Accounts Claim Tanzanian and Angolan Troop Deployments
Pro-M23 social media accounts said in early September that Tanzania and Angola had sent troops into Congo. No confirmation from either government turned up in this review, and only two of eight Doha peace protocols have been signed.
Haiti Asks UN Security Council to Renew Gang Suppression Force Ahead of Sept. 30 Vote
The anti-gang force's 12-month authorization runs out Sept. 30. The force has deployed far fewer than its authorized 5,500 personnel, and critics point to civilian deaths in the wider fight against the gangs.
Pakistan Says Its Forces Killed 13 Afghan Taliban Fighters in Balochistan Border Clash; Kabul Denies Any Losses
The overnight fighting in the Gulistan sector came hours after Pakistan struck 10 sites inside Afghanistan that it said were used to launch drones. Kabul denies sending drones and says the strikes killed four civilians.
Saudi-Led Coalition Says It Intercepted Six Houthi Ballistic Missiles Aimed at Taif and Yanbu; Houthis Separately Claim 'Dozens' of Missiles and Drones Hit Saudi Bases in Jazan
Both claims came on Thursday, Sept. 24. France has since pledged troops and air defenses for the Yanbu oil port, after Riyadh asked four countries for air-defense help. Washington has ruled out a direct combat role.
Analysis
Unbiased, evergreen deep-dives on the bigger questions — not breaking news.
What Fauci's Released Diary Documents About the U.S. COVID-19 Response — and What It Leaves Unresolved
A 1,141-page personal diary released by Sen. Rand Paul's committee is roughly one-third routine administrative logging; a minority of entries bear directly on contested questions, and a few conflict with contemporaneous public statements.
Eight Months of Mamdani: What New York's Record Actually Shows, and What It Cannot Yet Show
A claim-by-claim audit of what Zohran Mamdani has delivered, how New Yorkers judge it, and what the evidence does and does not license anyone to conclude about the rest of the country.