“Mississippi’s attorney general said she will not retry a police officer after jurors failed to reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge stemming from the fatal shooting of a [b]lack motorist. Jurors on Monday deadlocked on the charge against Mississippi Capitol Police officer Michael Rhinewalt and acquitted a second Capitol police officer, Steven Frederick, who was also charged with manslaughter in the September 2022 shooting of 25-year-old Jaylen Lewis. The case has raised questions about policing in the majority-[b]lack city of Jackson and prompted a lawsuit from Lewis’ mom. The two officers who shot Lewis are both white. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office, which prosecuted the two officers, said in a statement that it ‘followed the process’ and will not pursue a new trial against Rhinewalt.” (09/29/26)
“The U.S. Senate on Monday night passed a bipartisan bill establishing national rules for college sports that would give schools and athletic associations greater legal protection to enforce limits on athlete compensation while expanding medical and scholarship protections for athletes. The bill, known as the Protect College Sports Act, passed in a 77-22 vote and will go to the House for consideration. … The bill would give schools and athletic associations limited protection from antitrust lawsuits when enforcing specified rules, preempt certain state rules on NIL, transfers and eligibility and permit a voluntary arrangement to pool and sell some broadcast rights.” (09/29/26)
“[Defense] Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce plans to reduce by 20% the number of positions reserved for generals and admirals during his State of the Force address on Wednesday. Hegseth approved reduction plans for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the military’s joint pool earlier this month, according to memos seen by Fox News Digital. The services were directed to implement the plans and complete the reductions by Jan. 1, 2027. Wednesday’s address in Quantico, Va. is expected to lay out Hegseth’s priorities for the military in the year ahead, with the reduction in senior leadership positions among the changes he will unveil.” (09/29/26)
“Argentinian President Javier Milei has threatened the British government with legal action unless it stops an oil project off the disputed Falkland Islands, the British-administered territory over which Buenos Aires claims sovereignty. Milei gave the United Kingdom a two-week ultimatum on Monday evening, saying it must halt all work on the Sea Lion oil project or Argentina will ask the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, a maritime court in Hamburg, Germany, to order a stop to the project. … The UK rejects Argentina’s sovereignty claim, arguing that the islanders have the right to determine their own future and develop their natural resources.” (09/29/26)
“Spain’s coalition government has approved new housing measures following protests over the country’s housing crisis, sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home in Madrid last week. Ministers met on Tuesday to discuss the proposals, which include a ban on evictions until 2030. Announcing the measures, Health Minister Mónica García said they would bring relief to more than five million people – but opposition politician Míriam Nogueras said the agreement left ‘small landlords out in the cold’. The proposals (which have been presented in the form of two decrees) come into effect immediately, but must be approved by Congress within a month, although the government hopes to hold the vote as soon as this Friday. Pedro Sánchez’s leftist coalition government lacks a majority in parliament and has struggled to get right-leaning parties to approve previous decrees.” (09/29/26)
“A 77-year-old Florida man convicted of beating a woman to death with a hammer is scheduled Tuesday to become the 16th person executed this year in the nation’s busiest death chamber. Curtis Wilkie Beasley was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft auto in a 1995 attack on Carolyn Monfort. The Florida Supreme Court last week rejected appeals that executing a man his age who is suffering from cognitive decline would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Beasley, who would become Florida’s seventh prisoner over the age of 70 to be executed this year, is set to receive a three-drug injection at the state prison starting at 6 p.m.” (09/29/26)
“A jury deliberating on a federal bribery charge against Trayon White, a Washington, D.C., councilmember, could not come to a unanimous decision, leading to a mistrial Monday. The jury, eight women and four women, told U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras that they could not agree on a decision after four days of deliberations. A meeting will take place after Oct. 14 to what happens next. … White was allegedly shown on video accepting envelopes full of cash from business owner Allieu Kamara, who reportedly said he wanted the favor of D.C. officials. White was arrested in August 2024. White and his defense attorney said that there was no crime: that White accepted money but that it was not a bribe and there was no quid pro quo. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for D.C., said she plans to retry the case.” (09/28/26)
“U.S.-Canada relations, already tense, are likely to deteriorate further after the United States went ahead early Tuesday with a decision to ban nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles. The ban amounts to barely a ripple in $880 billion worth of annual two-way trade between the two northern neighbors. But it marks another ratcheting up of President Donald Trump’s second-term trade war with America’s longtime ally and trading partner. … The latest sparring began over the summer when Trump reached back to a Great Depression law to impose 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, charging that Canada discriminates against U.S. dairy, auto and alcoholic beverage producers. Canada promptly counterpunched with tariffs of 15%, 25% or 50%, matching U.S. imports dollar for dollar.” (09/29/26)
“EU lawmakers are calling for the Commission to forbid European firms and banks from applying U.S. sanctions, as Washington weighs sanctioning the International Criminal Court over its actions concerning Israel. The U.S. has already targeted nine of the court’s judges and four prosecutors since the Netherlands-based institution issued a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ‘To protect its values, [the EU] needs to protect the ICC and the people who work there. It means … activating the blocking statute,’ said Dutch lawmaker Dirk Gotink of the center-right European People’s Party after a closed-door meeting of the economy committee on Monday evening.” (09/28/26)
“SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket came back to Earth earlier than planned after its first orbital flight Monday, with an explosion visible on the company’s livestream just after touchdown in the Pacific Ocean. … Starship launched from South Texas just before 9 a.m. ET on a planned test flight of about 10 hours. It was set to orbit Earth about six times before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile. But SpaceX decided to bring it back to Earth after only about 3 hours. As part of the mission, Starship deployed 26 of the company’s new, better-performing Starlink V3 internet satellites. The cause of the apparent explosion was not immediately clear, and the company didn’t offer any details.” (09/28/26)
