Week In Review
- Elissa D. Hecker - Editor
- Aug 31
- 17 min read
By Christine Coleman
Edited by Elissa D. Hecker
Entertainment
Texas Law Targeting Drag Shows Is Struck Down Again by Judge
A federal judge struck down for the second time a Texas law that aimed to ban drag performances in front of children, calling it overly broad and an unconstitutional restriction on protected speech.
Tupac Shakur Murder Trial: Takeaways From Week 2
The murder case against Duane Keith Davis, who is accused of orchestrating the shooting of the rapper Tupac Shakur, will be in the hands of the jury in Las Vegas. During week two of the trial, the jury heard recordings of Duane Keith Davis discussing the shooting and the defense said there was no physical evidence tying him to Las Vegas the night of the crime.
How Residencies Took Over the Music Industry
Harry Styles’s Madison Square Garden takeover will be the latest and perhaps most ambitious example of the concert industry’s favorite trend of putting on more shows in fewer places. For artists and their promoters, these concentrated runs have come about through a combination of budget-crunching math and a desire to freshen their shows and stand out in a crowded market.
Arts
Trump Officials Propose Sale of ‘Woke’ Painting by Kehinde Wiley
The State Department wants to sell a painting by the celebrated artist Kehinde Wiley that the director of its Art in Embassies program called “very woke” and “aesthetically terrifying.” It was removed from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic last week. The painting by Wiley, who rose to fame after being selected to create President Barack Obama’s official portrait, features four Dominican models against a floral backdrop.
Trump Lawyers Warn That Kennedy Center Might Need Demolition if Not Fixed\
Lawyers for the Trump administration told a federal judge that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts desperately needs the major renovation ordered by President Trump and raised the specter that it would need to be “taken down” if those plans are blocked. The Kennedy Center said in a statement that “this language describes a hypothetical scenario of what could happen if the center’s desperately needed renovation is blocked by partisan interests.”
Roy Cohn, Robert Mapplethorpe and a Trump-Era Dilemma Over Free Speech
When a respected biographer tried to use a Mapplethorpe photograph of Roy Cohn for a book cover, worries about the wrath of Cohn’s protégé, Trump, intervened.
More Columns Lacked Support in Troubled N.Y.C. Building, Documents Show
The Midtown Manhattan high rise, formerly the Pfizer building that became dangerously unstable last month, had more columns that were missing reinforcements than was previously known, according to documents obtained by The New York Times, and reviewed by independent engineers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08 /28/nyregion/nyc-manhattan-building-collapse-pfizer-columns-steel.html
Administration Lawyer Chosen to Lead Panel Considering Trump Construction Projects
Trump has named Mark Paoletta, a lawyer in his administration and a close associate of Justice Clarence Thomas’s, to lead the panel that will oversee the construction of several of his prized construction projects, including the planned Triumphal Arch.
Sports
49ers owner Jed York arrested in Ohio, pleads no contest to 2 misdemeanors
San Francisco 49ers owner and CEO John “Jed” York was arrested in Ohio, on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools. York appeared in Columbiana County Municipal Court, where he pleaded no contest to both charges. The fourth-degree disorderly conduct charge was originally listed as engaging in prostitution before it was changed.
Los Angeles Dodgers Owner’s Troubles Roil Insurance World
Federal investigations of L.A. Dodger’s owner Mark Walter’s business empire have put a spotlight on private-equity-owned insurers that invest premiums in risky assets.
In FIFA Corruption Case, Father and Son Will Admit They Paid Bribes
Father and son Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis from Argentina, two high-profile targets of a sprawling federal investigation into corruption in global soccer, have reached a deal with the Justice Department to resolve bribery charges brought more than a decade ago. As part of the deal, they have agreed to admit that they paid “tens of millions of dollars in commercial bribes” to officials from South American soccer organizations in exchange for television and sponsorship rights to lucrative soccer tournaments. The payments started in the 1990s and lasted until 2015, when the two men were indicted as part of the Justice Department’s probe of corruption in FIFA.
Study’s Alarming Finding: At Least 1 in 4 N.F.L. Players Gets Brain Disease
New data provides a sobering indication that at least one in four of all the people who have played in the N.F.L. might expect to end up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to a study of hundreds of cases over a recent six-year period. Experts say that the rate of brain disease in N.F.L. players represent an occupational safety hazard with little comparison in the American workplace.
‘You’re Ruining My Dreams’: C.T.E. Study Adds to Family Tension Over Football
Many families are engaged in tense debates after a new study found a high percentage of N.F.L. players had developed C.T.E., a degenerative brain disease. The new information has added yet another layer of fear, uncertainty, and guilt to parents who have, sometimes reluctantly, let their children play tackle football.
LIV Golf plans mass layoffs as league seeks investors to survive
LIV Golf informed most of its staff that it will be laid off. After the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia made clear its intention to end its funding at the end of this season, the league has been looking for investment and solutions to remain afloat.
MLB players reveal a modern toll of legal gambling: Threats, DMs and encounters
With the proliferation of legal gambling and the convenient access social media platforms can provide, athletes are hearing more than ever from those who tie their checking accounts to their performance. It’s developed into an almost universal experience for players as prop bets and parlays have become part of the fabric of any broadcast or ballpark experience.
Judge rules Deion Sanders must be available to testify — but after Georgia Tech opener
A judge in Colorado bankruptcy court ruled that Colorado head coach Deion Sanders must be available to potentially testify in the upcoming bankruptcy trial of his son, Shilo.
Good Good Golf and Callaway are mired in scandal. Can they recover?
A 15-second advertisement released recently by Good Good Golf, one of the sport’s most influential online platforms, had grasped for engagement with its brand partner Callaway and instead found only trouble. The backlash has been intense, with Good Good accused of normalizing aggression against women in its ill-conceived promotional video. Callaway, which has subsequently accepted it approved the ad prior to its release and has now cut all ties with Good Good, has also come under fire.
Texas, Louisiana judges rule against SEC, NCAA, opening return for players on NFL rosters
A Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, the SEC, and commissioner Greg Sankey, granting more than 40 plaintiffs a fifth year of eligibility to play college sports in the first major court ruling against an individual conference. Afterwards, a judge in Louisiana made a similar, expected move, adding the SEC and Sankey to an existing TRO in the first eligibility case involving players on NFL training camp rosters seeking a path back to college football.
Guardians pitchers denied separate trials in alleged pitch-rigging case
The trial for two Cleveland Guardians pitchers facing charges related to an alleged pitch-rigging scheme will proceed as planned in November, as a federal judge in Brooklyn denied Emmanuel Clase’s and Luis Ortiz’s requests for separate trials. In a series of rulings filed in the U.S. Eastern District of New York, Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto rejected the pitchers’ motions for severance and also denied the government’s bid to disqualify Clase’s counsel from the proceedings.
Jerry Sandusky accuser to recant testimony, cites ‘psychological manipulation’ by prosecution
One of the 10 victims who accused former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse is preparing to recant his testimony. Sandusky is due to appear in court in Bellefonte, Pa., on Sept. 8 for an evidentiary hearing after a judge granted his request to review evidence that the accuser has recanted or substantially disavowed his trial testimony. In a signed affidavit from June 30, 2025, the victim said he felt pushed to change his story. His testimony “evolved,” he said, after “leading questions, intense investigative pressure and psychological manipulation.
Technology/Media
Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims
Meta reached a landmark settlement with 47 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, agreeing to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties and make major changes to its products over claims that it endangered children with addictive social media platforms. In a dramatic capitulation, the owner of Facebook and Instagram agreed to the financial penalties for violating federal child privacy and states’ consumer protection laws, the states announced. Meta also agreed to limit how long teenagers can spend on its platforms and to bans on features that stoke mental health issues, striking at the heart of the company’s business of engagement for advertising.
Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Make Sure His Competitors Share His Pain
In its $17.1 billion settlement, in which Meta agreed to implement limitations on children’s access to Instagram and Facebook, the social media giant built a financial incentive into its deal with the state attorneys general, designed to rope in companies like YouTube and TikTok.
How Meta’s $17.1 Billion Social Media Settlement Came Together
This is an account of how it came together based on a dozen interviews with state leaders, former and current Meta executives, court documents, and trial testimony.
A.I. Is Becoming So Powerful, It’s Stumping Those Trying to Contain It
Irregular, an Israeli start-up that works with the Silicon Valley giants to assess their A.I. models before the technology is publicly released, is now at the center of a debate over how to secure A.I. models when the technology is advancing so rapidly that it has outpaced even the best human hackers. Recent breaches occurred by A.I. models breaking into other systems when Irregular made an error during the tests with the models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Meta.
Bill Gates Warns A.I. Is More Dangerous Than Big Tech Will Admit
Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, is loudly warning that A.I. poses a grave threat to jobs and human life, and that urgently addressing the risks should be “the world’s top priority.” Gates said that the tech industry was knowingly downplaying those threats because there was too much money on the line.
Trump Administration’s Blacklisting of Anthropic Was Illegal, Judge RulesA federal judge ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it labeled the A.I. start-up Anthropic a security risk and barred the company from working with the U.S. government. Judge Rita Lin of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California wrote in her 59-page ruling that the government had unlawfully retaliated against Anthropic “for constitutionally protected expressive activities” after the company spoke out about how its technology should be used.
Forensic Scientists Use ‘Breakthrough’ Method to Identify 9/11 Victim
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City medical examiner’s office announced that they had identified a victim of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center using a new tool that combines DNA analysis with detective work from the Police Department, whose officers conducted research into the victim’s family tree.
S.E.C. Investigating Near-Implosion of A.I. Hedge Fund
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently sent subpoenas to banks that handled the A.I.-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness’ calamitous trading and that fed it borrowed money to supersize its bets. The subpoenas asked for details on the timing of Situational Awareness’s trades and for its communications with lenders about the money it was borrowing, also known as “leverage.
Influencers Have a Lot to Say About Politics. Many Are Quietly Paid for It.
There is a growing number of influencers who, at a moment when campaigns are increasingly willing to pay for online attention, appear willing to put their mouth where the money is. As more people spend time scrolling on their phones, campaigns view these shows of support from influencers as a vital way to reach voters. They are also significantly less expensive than traditional advertising. Yet unlike campaign mailers, billboards and television spots, these messages fall into a legal gray area.
Dethroned Beauty Queen Fights Accusations of Bigotry
Brittany Boltinhouse’s title as Miss North Carolina USA was rescinded after her past social media posts including a racial slur surfaced. Now she is suing pageant organizers and Miss USA for defamation.
These Conservatives Want to Be Working Moms. The Manosphere Disapproves.
At a conservative center for women leaders, interns told stories about their lives, describing how their male colleagues relaying the idea that women are intellectually inferior that is being promoted by manosphere podcasts, influencers who promote traditional gender roles and ultraconservative pulpits.
By Opening a Model, a Chinese A.I. Lab May Test the World’s Cybersecurity
In July, an unreleased OpenAI model went rogue and demonstrated remarkable hacking abilities. Last week, a Chinese lab called Z.ai will release a similarly powerful system to everyone. The planned release of the new system will cut to the heart of a debate that has roiled A.I. researchers for years. Although many experts believe that the latest A.I. technologies are too dangerous to openly share with the public, others argue that open sharing is the safest path forward.
General News
As Supreme Court’s Trump ‘Emergencies’ Return, Debate Simmers Over How Much to Say
The justices of the Supreme Court are still struggling with whether and when to explain themselves to the public when the court issues temporary, but consequential, orders in response to Trump’s emergency requests.
Secrecy in Lawsuits Has ‘Run Amok,’ Scholars Say
Countless appeals courts have agreed, insisting that judicial records are presumptively open and that sealing them requires a very good reason. However, two recent studies say judges are not doing enough to protect the public interest in openness.
The Trump administration sends its Saudi nuclear deal to Congress for review.
The Trump administration has submitted to Congress a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that could allow the kingdom to enrich its own fuel for nuclear reactors. The accord would deepen ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia at a moment when the war with Iran has strained the relationship between the two countries. The 30-year agreement would give U.S. companies a central role in developing Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear infrastructure while largely shutting out foreign competitors.
Trump Quietly Asserts Control Over Postal Service Amid Plans to Overhaul Voting
Trump’s quiet attempt to restructure the leadership of the Postal Service comes as he and his allies are trying to transform the 251-year-old agency into a central player in their quest to overhaul the nation’s elections. Control of the Postal Service grew even more critical last week, after the Supreme Court ruled to allow the administration to move forward with plans to restrict mail-in voting before the midterm elections.
Trump Officials Propose Charging More Than $100,000 for Skilled Worker Visas
The Trump administration proposed charging a new steep fee for visas granted to skilled foreign workers, in the latest attempt to fundamentally overhaul the H-1B visa program. Under the proposal, the Department of Homeland Security would attach a $103,265 fee to the visa.
Canada Retaliates With Up to 50% Tariffs on Hundreds of U.S. Products
Canada announced retaliatory tariffs as high as 50% on hundreds of American products, just days after the collapse of trade talks triggered punishing tariffs from the Trump administration. As a trade war between the countries intensifies, Canada will start collecting tariffs of 50, 25 and 15% on about 700 products beginning on September 8.
Trump’s New Tariffs on Canada Raise Familiar Legal Risks
To impose punishing tariffs around the world, Trump has repeatedly turned to a series of decades-old, never-before-used trade powers, only to be slapped down by federal courts for overstepping the law. However, those past defeats have not deterred the president, who reprised that exact strategy this week to commence his new trade war against Canada, risking yet another round of costly legal wrangling for the White House.
Six Months In, Iran’s Regime Stands, U.S. Goals Remain Unmet
The Trump administration has replaced its military war with an economic one, but the result is likely to be no different, analysts said, with a lack of American clarity about goals, a decline in American credibility and a strategic defeat. One thing remains constant, however. The ordinary people of Iran are bearing the brunt of the war, victims of both the United States and their own leaders.
Trump Says U.S. Has Deal for Control of Large Share of Venezuela’s Oil
Trump said that the United States had struck a deal to take majority control of a huge portion of Venezuela’s oil reserves, pointing to a sweeping effort to assert U.S. dominance over energy in the Western Hemisphere. The agreement amounts to a highly unusual foray into another country’s oil fields through a partnership with a private company, the State Department said through a U.S. official.
Trump Administration Wants Billion-Dollar Businesses to Qualify as ‘Small’
The Small Business Administration is seeking to vastly expand the definition of small businesses, aiming to give much larger companies access to government contracts, loans, and other assistance. The proposal, which the Trump administration says would allow businesses to continue to benefit from the agency’s programs as they grow, amounts to a sweeping overhaul of standards that have changed little in decades.
Wyoming Governor Objects to ‘Very Odd’ D.O.J. Election Monitoring
Two election monitors from the Justice Department tried to interview voters and examine voting machines at polling places during Wyoming’s primaries last week, local officials said, drawing pushback from the state’s Republican governor. Governor Mark Gordon said he was concerned by the behavior of election observers who visited the polling station in Cheyenne at a meeting with state election officials.
Nevada Sues Trump Administration Over Colorado River Cuts
Nevada sued the federal government to block officials from cutting its share of the Colorado River, launching the first major legal fight over the Southwest’s dwindling water supply. The state asked the U.S. District Court in Nevada to order the Bureau of Reclamation to rescind plans that would cut water allocations significantly for Nevada, California and Arizona over the next decade if the river basin continues to dry up.
Fringe Views in Primary Campaigns Rattle Florida Jews
It has been an uneasy primary season for Jewish voters, with debates over Israel animating many races. Yet what happened in Florida went beyond that, and it wasn’t just one contest; Republican primary campaigns in the state exposed the continued mainstreaming of antisemitic ideas and unsettled one of the largest Jewish populations in the country.
The Trump administration looks to give a piece of Yosemite National Park to a developer.
The Trump administration has proposed trading away a small parcel of land in Yosemite National Park in California so a private developer can gain access to the park. The potential deal has alarmed conservationists and former National Park Service officials, who say that Yosemite, the crown jewel of the nation’s park system, should be off limits to development.
Two Unvaccinated People Died From Measles in Pennsylvania, Officials Say
Two unvaccinated people in Pennsylvania have died from measles, as a large outbreak there continues to spread, according to the state’s Health Department. They were the first measles deaths this year in the United States. The deaths come during a record-setting year for measles in the United States where more cases have been reported in 2026 than in any year since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000.
ICE Arrests Soar as People With No Criminal Record Are Increasingly Targeted
A surge in immigration arrests this summer has swept up thousands of people who had not previously been the focus of Trump’s mass deportation campaign. They included people married to U.S. citizens, people who had entered legally and were pursuing an asylum claim, and others with a temporary legal status that the administration pushed to revoke. A majority of the immigrants arrested in July were people who were accused of violating civil immigration laws but who had not been charged with or convicted of a crime, an analysis of newly released federal data shows.
Judge Orders U.S. to Return Deported Man at Risk of Torture
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to immediately bring back a Mexican man who was deported this month despite proving to an immigration court that he would likely face torture in Mexico. The man helped U.S. authorities by testifying against Mexican drug cartels. The court found that the administration’s revocation of protections barring his removal “likely violated his procedural due process rights,” exceeding the government’s lawful authority.
Farmers Struggle to Get Basic Services From Depleted Agriculture Dept.
Across the country, farmers and rural residents describe struggling to obtain the basic services the Agriculture Department is meant to offer, including loans and grants, technical assistance, and financing for housing and utilities. The ripple effects of the Agriculture Department’s depleted work force illustrate how the Trump administration’s mission of shrinking the federal bureaucracy has undercut a competing priority of delivering for farmers, a core political constituency.
Hegseth’s Purge of Top Generals Leaves the Army Rudderless
A series of firings and feuds initiated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has left the Army essentially rudderless as it struggles to deal with the threat posed by cheap, deadly drones and missiles that have pounded U.S. bases in the Middle East.
Secret Service Officials Are Said to Be on Leave Amid Inquiry
The main spokesman for the Secret Service and two other officials have been placed on leave amid an internal investigation. The Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny in recent years and more recently faced questions over the security of the president’s travel on Air Force One
Judge Throws Out Key 9/11 Confession as Tainted by Torture
In a major blow to the U.S. case against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, a military judge ruled that the prisoner’s confessions to F.B.I. agents were not voluntary and cannot be used against him at trial. Prosecutors have described Mohammed’s interrogations in 2007 at the U.S. Navy base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as the government’s most crucial evidence in the long-running death-penalty case. However, his confessions have always been challenged because the government used torture to question him in secret C.I.A. prisons years before he was charged.
Judge Handling 9/11 Case Sets June 2028 Trial Date
The trial for four men accused of conspiring in the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, could begin in June 2028. Prosecutors had asked for an earlier start, but the judge has not yet ruled on several issues related to the defendants’ torture in C.I.A. prisons.
Judges Reject Plea to Toss Federal Charges Against Democratic Lawmaker
A federal appeals panel ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not bar the Trump administration from bringing an assault charge against a Democratic member of Congress, reaffirming the limits of a protection that shields federal lawmakers from certain prosecutions. Representative LaMonica McIver of New Jersey was accused last May by a Trump ally of using her forearms to push immigration agents during a frenetic clash that month outside a troubled migrant detention center in Newark.
A Republican Attack Ad Used a Family’s Tragedy. Now They’re Furious.
Relatives of a family killed by a semi-truck in Ohio say they were not consulted about a Republican attack ad showing the family, connecting the crash to illegal immigration.
F.D.A. Approves New Covid Vaccines, and They Should Be Available Soon
The Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid vaccines, clearing the way for manufacturers to ship doses to pharmacies and doctors’ offices. The shots have been approved for people 65 and older, and for younger people with underlying conditions. Others may be able to get them off label.
Companies Can Tell Investors Less Under Proposed S.E.C. Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) this summer proposed two big changes to how publicly traded companies report their finances. The first, and most eye-catching, one would let companies file earnings reports only twice a year instead of quarterly, slashing a rule that has existed for more than half a century. The second one, which has flown under the radar, would exempt most companies the S.E.C. regulates from having to bring in outside auditors to verify a company’s internal books and processes for avoiding errors and fraud.
Judge Again Denies Trump Request to Move Criminal Case to Federal Court
A federal judge denied Trump’s request to move his 2024 felony conviction in Manhattan to federal court, blocking the president’s quickest path to overturning it. In a 35-page ruling, the judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York, said that Trump’s arguments were “neither new nor legally sufficient.” It was the third time that Judge Hellerstein had rejected efforts by Trump’s lawyers to move his criminal case to federal court.
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Foreign Students Who Criticized Israel
A federal judge in California ruled that the Trump administration violated the constitutional rights of international students when it sought to deport them for criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza. In a 90-page ruling, Judge Noël Wise found that the key legal foundations that the Trump administration had relied on to arrest and deport foreign students were unconstitutional, because Trump officials had wielded them to target students who used their freedom of speech to express opinions that the government did not like.
Inside Afghanistan’s Secret Schools for Girls
The Taliban have banned education for millions of Afghan girls. New York Times journalists examined classrooms where students, teachers and parents continue to resist by defying the rules. In interviews with more than 50 students, educators, therapists and parents, many said they feared the ban would do permanent damage to girls and to Afghanistan’s social fabric.
Scale of Flood Disaster Grows as Authorities Say 2,400 Are Missing
After three days of searching for survivors of a massive flash flood that swept through Nepal and Tibet, killing more than 600 people, the disaster’s full extent and human toll were still being revealed in recovered bodies, battered survivors and growing lists of the missing. The tally of missing people in Nepal rose above 2,400 on Saturday and China said more than 500 people were missing in Tibet on its side of the border and at least five had died.
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