Saturday, September 26, 2026

Good morning! On this day in 1960, the first televised U.S. presidential debate aired live from Chicago, featuring Democratic Sen. John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard M. Nixon discussing domestic issues.

Everything old is new again. Fifty-four years after President Nixon brought pandas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing from China to the National Zoo in Washington, China is now sending America another pair of pandas. Americans lined up by the thousands to see the popular pandas, but China eventually called them home as international relations soured. New pairs have since landed in San Diego and Washington, and now it’s Atlanta’s turn again. You can read about it in today’s Et Cetera section.

The age at which Americans can start collecting full Social Security checks could drop for millions of workers. A new bill in Congress would move retirement up years early for some, just as Social Security speeds toward insolvency, and not everyone thinks it's a good idea. So who would qualify, and who gets left out? Amy has the full story on today's episode of The Flyover Podcast. Tune in here!

Today’s sponsor, Daily Health Digital, shares a Boston doctor’s approach to addressing what researchers call “joint drought,” which may help explain why joint stiffness and difficulty moving become more common with age.

Iran Offers Deal to Open Hormuz

Iran proposed a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart nuclear talks with the United States, saying that Iran doesn't want a nuclear bomb that it labeled as an “unholy” weapon.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the plan’s conditions echo a June ceasefire deal that collapsed weeks later: a halt to fighting on all fronts, lifting the U.S. naval blockade and oil sanctions, and releasing billions in frozen Iranian assets.

President Masoud Pezeshkian told reporters Tehran wants an agreement before the November midterms and is open to lowering enrichment and allowing outside inspections.

Oil prices dipped on the news, with Brent crude falling about 2.5% to roughly $103 per barrel. A U.S. official called the talks "positive and constructive."

SCOTUS OKs Fed Voter Database Use

The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to use an expanded federal database to check voters' citizenship ahead of November's midterm elections.

The 6-3 emergency order, with the liberal justices dissenting, lifts a lower court block on the overhauled SAVE system, which now links citizenship records to Social Security data and lets states run bulk searches of voter rolls.

In its brief to the court, the administration said the system has verified more than 65 million voters across 26 states since May 2025 and flagged roughly 28,600 as potential noncitizens.

The ruling hands President Trump a win in his push to find noncitizen voters, though its immediate impact may be limited: federal law bars most states from systematically purging rolls within 90 days of an election. The underlying legal fight is expected to continue.

Heated WNBA Season Reaches Playoffs

The WNBA playoffs tip off Sunday with four best-of-three first-round series, closing the book on a record-breaking and headline-filled regular season.

In Sunday’s playoffs, the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx host the New York Liberty. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces will face the Indiana Fever, whose star guard Caitlin Clark helped the team draw 3.31 million viewers in a game against Chicago, the WNBA's largest regular-season TV audience in 29 years.

Off the court, an officiating crisis over the league's treatment of Clark drew congressional scrutiny, while Fever guard Sophie Cunningham ignited a national debate over transgender athletes in the WNBA.

In the wake of all this, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who faced persistent player criticism, announced her retirement effective at year's end, with no successor yet named.

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Seniors: This Is Why You Struggle to Stand Up After 60

Harvard research recently uncovered a hidden condition that dries out your joints from the inside, a slow, invisible process called "joint drought" that gets worse each decade after 50.

It's not just cartilage loss or inflammation. Your joints are literally starving for the lubricating fluid they need to move freely.

A Boston doctor's targeted approach to reversing joint drought has already helped over 300,000 Americans move with less stiffness, without surgery or injections.

The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country.

➤ Some American workers could start collecting full Social Security years early, but critics warn of fallout. (Hear Details)

➤ Coastal flood alerts cover 33 million people as a rare multiday nor'easter threatens the East Coast through the weekend. (Listen Now)

➤ The robotic spacecraft launched to save a failing NASA telescope has itself plunged back to Earth. (Podcast Available)

➤ The five major TV networks resumed White House pool coverage Friday after a judge ordered the administration to restore credentials for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. (More)

➤ An ad campaign promoting President Trump began airing on national cable and broadcast networks, leading Democrats to demand the White House pull the taxpayer-funded ad. (More)

➤ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said President Trump made a "final decision" to grant Ukraine a Patriot missile manufacturing license amid intensifying Russian air attacks, though U.S. officials haven't confirmed. (More)

➤ President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to halt all support for Iran during their summit, with U.S. Ambassador David Perdue saying China has shown signs of pulling back. (More)

➤ Today’s college football slate is headlined by No. 1 Texas, led by quarterback Arch Manning, visiting No. 14 Tennessee, where his uncle Peyton Manning played in the ‘90s. Other matchups include No. 20 Oregon playing No. 12 USC and No. 4 Ole Miss against No. 21 Florida. (See Full Schedule)

➤ Utah-based billionaire Ryan Smith says his group will aggressively pursue a baseball expansion team for the state, where he already owns the NBA's Utah Jazz and the NHL's Utah Mammoth. Salt Lake City and Nashville are viewed as favorites for MLB's next two teams. (More)

➤ San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk was fined $14,926 for a touchdown celebration the NFL said imitated chugging a beer. He's appealing, saying the gesture is a nod to his nickname, "Juice," and that he doesn't even drink beer. (More)

➤ Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong became the seventh player in MLB history with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season. He joins Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. as the only active players to have done so. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s results: NCAAF | MLB | NHL | Soccer | Golf

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➤ Why Do Bruises Suddenly Show Up After 50? You don't remember bumping into anything—yet another bruise appears. While many people chalk it up to aging or medication, easy bruising may be a clue worth paying attention to. It's one of 7 commonly overlooked warning signs that can become more noticeable with age. See all 7 warning signs—and what they could be telling you.

Daily Market Report 09/25/2026

▲	NASDAQ National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations	27,068.72	0.48%
▲	SPX S&P 500	7,743.41	0.51%
▲	DJI Dow Jones Industrial Average	51,828.62	0.93%
▼	BTC Bitcoin	$84,062.42	-0.38%
▲	GOLD Per Ounce	$4,323.80	0.60%
▲	SILVER Per Ounce	$64.72	1.99%
▼	OIL West Texas Intermediate Crude	$92.78	-1.93%

Bitcoin, gold, silver, and oil are traded 24 hours a day.

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This Simple Shift Makes Standing Up Feel Effortless

If getting out of a chair takes a deep breath, a grip on the armrest, and sheer willpower, there may be more going on than wear and tear. Your joints could be drying out from the inside. Harvard research uncovered a hidden cause most doctors overlook entirely. A Boston doctor developed a way to fix it, no injections, no surgery, no glucosamine. Over 300,000 people have already used it to move freely again.

Today's Rotator section is brought to you by:

➤ Pope Leo XIV began a four-day visit to France, meeting President Macron and warning that a "paradise of machines" risks undermining human dignity. (More)

➤ A suspected gas explosion in Athens' historic Plaka district near the Acropolis collapsed a building, injured several people and left at least five others unaccounted for. (More)

➤ Final results from Russia's first wartime parliamentary election gave Putin's United Russia party a record 349 of 450 State Duma seats. No critics of Putin were allowed on the ballot. (More)

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➤ If You Can't Lose Weight, Your Body Might Be Stuck In "Fat-Lock" If it feels like your body fights you every time you try to lose weight... You're not imagining it. According to one of Beverly Hills' leading cosmetic surgeons, it may be due to a biological phenomenon known as the "Fat-Lock Effect." Studies show that under certain conditions, your body can store extra calories as fat without eating a single extra bite. That means if you're eating 3 meals a day... Your body is reacting as if you ate a 4th meal — and hoarding the excess calories. But here's the good news: Dr. John Lakey has recently discovered a simple 2-minute daily ritual that helps counteract the "fat-lock effect." The results have been nothing short of extraordinary for his patients. Click here to discover the 2-minute ritual that could help reduce the "fat-lock" effect >>

➤ Chinese President Xi Jinping says two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, will soon arrive at Zoo Atlanta under a 10-year conservation agreement, the latest round of Chinese "panda diplomacy." (More)

➤ Two fraternity leaders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were arrested after police found roughly 30 pledges, several of them injured, covered in condiments in a sweltering basement during an alleged hazing ritual. (See Photo)

➤ Meta's new AI agent Muse now responds through an animated avatar named Jolly that's designed to be cute and cuddly, and the company unveiled a Tamagotchi-like keychain gadget to carry it everywhere. (See Jolly)

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➤ With holiday travel coming up, we think we’ve found the carry-on worth upgrading to before your next trip. It’s premium luggage, made with quality materials and the thoughtful features frequent travelers want—without the traditional luxury markup. If your current suitcase has barely survived its last few trips, this is the one we’d look at before the holiday rush. See our favorite carry-on for holiday travel.

Have you ever had an arch-rival?

Yesterday's Results:

Do you have twins in your family?

No twins here: 62%
Yes, in the family: 34%
Yes, I'm a twin: 4%

Daily Quote

"Our martyred, esteemed supreme leader had announced several times that, from a religious decree, (a nuclear bomb) is unholy. It is illegal."

— Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, when asked if Iran wants a nuclear bomb