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  Supreme Court Deals Trump a Setback on Mail-In Voting Rules The Supreme Court just handed the Trump administration a loss in its months-long legal fight over new mail-in voting restrictions, keeping a lower court's block on the rules in place ahead of the midterms. Given how many twists this case has already taken, here's the full picture. Where this started Trump signed the executive order at the center of this fight back in March, framing it as an election integrity measure aimed at what he's long called "massive cheating" in mail-in voting. The order directed the U.S. Postal Service to begin a rule-making process requiring ballots to carry a unique Intelligent Mail barcode or similar tracking technology, and it also pushed federal agencies to compile voter eligibility lists using citizenship and identity data. By August, USPS had turned that directive into a concrete rule: state election officials would need to submit each mail voter's name and addre...

  Xi Jinping's Historic White House Visit: What Happened and Why It Matters Chinese President Xi Jinping just wrapped up his first trip to Washington in more than a decade, and it was a first in another sense too: it marks the first time a Chinese leader has made two separate formal state visits to the United States. Here's a rundown of the visit and what came out of it. The visit, day by day Xi's plane landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on September 23, kicking off a fast-moving three-day stop. Thursday brought the formal pageantry, a full state arrival ceremony at the White House followed by a state dinner that evening. Xi traveled with his wife, Peng Liyuan. The visit closed out Friday with a quieter, more personal note. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted Xi and Peng for tea in the White House's Red Room before the group traveled together to the National Archives, where they viewed historical records documenting the long arc of U.S.-China ...

  'Better Deal': Why Trump Just Rejected Iran's Truce Offer Iran put a new proposal on the table to end the ongoing war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said no. Here's what's behind that decision, and why both sides may actually be getting something out of the standoff. What Trump said Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump rejected the Iranian proposal outright, arguing that Iran's willingness to negotiate is itself a sign of weakness, since Tehran is "losing so badly." At the same time, he insisted he's open to making a deal, just not the one Iran put forward. The offer on the table Iran's latest proposal closely resembles the memorandum of understanding the two countries had signed back in June. That earlier agreement fell apart last month over disagreements on the deal's terms, which triggered an escalation in attacks, especially around the Strait of Hormuz — a critical oil-shipping chokepoint that remains effectively blo...

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Trump Signs Greenland Security Deal, Expanding U.S. Military Access to the Arctic President Trump signed a new security agreement with Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday, September 22, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The deal grants the United States wide-ranging powers to secure and defend the Arctic island, which remains Danish territory. What the deal does The agreement reaffirms Greenland's sovereignty as part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but gives the U.S. broad access to the island's airspace and territory. It allows the U.S. to expand the existing Pituffik Space Base, the northernmost American military installation, which serves as an early-warning system for incoming missiles. Beyond expanding Pituffik, the amended deal lets the U.S. establish two new bases and leaves the door open for additional defense areas. The accord calls for wide U.S. military mobility on Greenland's territory, including undersea access, on the basis that...

  Jonathan Taylor Thomas Arrested After Traffic Stop in Westlake Village Former Home Improvement star Jonathan Taylor Thomas was arrested in Southern California this week. It's a rare bit of news from an actor who has mostly stayed out of the spotlight for years. What happened Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Thomas was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over Monday in Westlake Village, California. A law enforcement statement given to People said the driver was being detained for a DUI investigation, and that Thomas got out of the vehicle and was told to sit back down. Sources say he refused, was uncooperative, and appeared drunk in public. The sheriff's department's account is more serious. Authorities said Thomas, whose legal name is Jonathan Taylor Thomas Weiss, kept leaving the vehicle and approaching deputies, which distracted them from their investigation. When deputies tried to detain him, he allegedly kicked one in the stomach. The driver was also arrested f...

  North Carolina Is Not Blue, and the Polls Are Starting to Show It The newest North Carolina Senate poll has Roy Cooper at 48% and Michael Whatley at 43%. Democrats will call a 5-point lead comfortable, but the trend line tells a different story. The gap is closing Earlier surveys from other outlets had Whatley trailing by 10 points or more. Now we're looking at two polls with Cooper up 5. That's a race moving in Whatley's direction, and it's happening while Cooper enjoys near-universal name recognition after years as governor. A challenger who is less known but gaining ground, against a well-known opponent stuck under 50%, is exactly the position you want to be in this far into a campaign. North Carolina's presidential record Donald Trump carried North Carolina in 2016, 2020, and 2024. Three elections, three wins. This is a state that has repeatedly chosen Republicans at the top of the ticket, and Whatley, as a Trump-endorsed candidate, is running in a state...

Judge Skeptical of Trump's White House Ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW, But Doesn't Restore Access Yet A federal judge signaled Wednesday that he has doubts about President Trump's ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds, but he has not yet ordered access restored. The hearing is the latest clash in an increasingly tense relationship between the president and the press. What happened in court Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the outlets were not given due process before their access was cut off. Kelly, who was appointed by Trump, said near the start of the afternoon hearing that due process wasn't followed here. He heard arguments from attorneys for the news outlets and the Justice Department. Kelly did not rule from the bench on whether to restore access and kept the ban in place while he weighs both sides. How the dispute began Trump announced last week that the three outlets were banned from the...

Taylor Swift's "Cleveland!" Drops Friday: Everything We Know Taylor Swift has fans guessing again. She announced on Wednesday that she is releasing The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore this Friday, with one of its four new songs titled "Cleveland!" Here is what has been confirmed and what is still speculation. The release: what's coming Friday The Encore is an extended edition of her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl , and it arrives Friday, September 25. It has four new tracks: "Patient Zero," "Cleveland!," "Pink Clouding" and "Babylon." The original 12-song album stays intact, so the expanded edition has 16 tracks. According to Spotify, "Cleveland!" is track 14. The rollout moved fast. Swift announced "Patient Zero" on Tuesday, her first new song since her wedding this summer. Less than a day later she revealed the full four-song extension. How the songs came about In her Instagram announce...

  Harvey Weinstein Sentenced to 15 Years After Sex Crimes Retrial The headline question of how long Harvey Weinstein would spend in prison after his New York retrial has an answer: Weinstein has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in New York in 2006. The sentencing came on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, and closes a long chapter in a case tied closely to the #MeToo movement. The sentence Weinstein, 74, faced up to 25 years for the 2006 assault of Miriam Haley at his Manhattan apartment. Prosecutors recommended 20 years plus five years of post-release supervision, the same sentence imposed on this charge in 2020. The judge landed below that request. Weinstein appeared in the downtown Manhattan courtroom in a wheelchair, his hands cuffed to his seat. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree criminal sexual act. What Weinstein and his accuser said in court Weinstein addressed the court, again denying the allegations while apologizin...

  Blue Jays Eliminated From Playoff Contention After 4-2 Loss to Orioles After coming close to winning the World Series last year, the Toronto Blue Jays will not return to the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The elimination became official Wednesday in Baltimore. What happened in Baltimore The 4-2 loss to the Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader mathematically ended Toronto's postseason hopes with four games remaining. Both teams had entered the doubleheader one loss from elimination. Pete Alonso was a big part of the outcome. He hit his 41st home run of the season, and Chris Bassitt took a shutout into the sixth inning. Alonso's two-run shot in the fifth pulled him even for the AL lead in homers. Toronto starter Max Scherzer took the loss. He allowed four runs and four hits in five innings, striking out seven, in the 500th appearance of his career. A baserunning sequence in the second inning also stood out, when the Blue Jays chased a runner in a rundow...

Why the CDC Isn't Counting Pennsylvania's Measles Deaths as the Outbreak Accelerates Measles was once so rare in the United States that public health agencies rarely needed to argue about what counts as a measles death. That has changed. The CDC updated its measles dashboard on Friday but still did not count four measles deaths in Pennsylvania, where the outbreak appears to be accelerating. The omission has become a political and scientific dispute. What happened Members of Congress asked on Monday for an immediate briefing on the decision to change how measles deaths are reported, as cases nationwide reach levels not seen in decades. According to the account in one report, the CDC added a clarifying note to its website and left the fatalities out of its national count. Reports differ on how many deaths are involved. The Guardian's account refers to four deaths, while a summary from Newsy Today refers to two that were reported by Pennsylvania health officials. Check th...

Trump Midterm Poll: Economic Worries Deepen Republican Troubles, CNN Survey Finds With the 2026 midterm elections drawing closer, a fresh national survey suggests Republicans are heading into November with more headwinds than they had the last time Donald Trump was president in a midterm year. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds Trump at record unpopularity, leaving Republicans with a bleaker midterm landscape than eight years ago. This post walks through the key numbers from the poll, how they compare with 2018, and what they do and don't tell us about the midterms. Key takeaways Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot, though by less than in 2018. Trump's approval on the economy has fallen sharply since his first term. Enthusiasm for Trump among Republicans has dropped. Democratic-leaning voters report more motivation to vote. Voters are also skeptical about what a Democratic-controlled Congress would deliver. Democrats hold an eight-point edge on the ...