From the end of the U.S. mission in Iraq to a botched execution in Tennessee, here are stories that made headlines this past week. Or skip to the end to test your news savvy with a quiz.
Deportations to third countries can resume
The Supreme Court on Tuesday let President Donald Trump’s administration resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them the chance to show the harms they may face, at least for now.
The court granted the Justice Department’s emergency request to pause a lower judge’s ruling that the Department of Homeland Security’s policy to remove migrants to so-called third countries is unlawful. The justices also agreed to hear arguments in the dispute in December.
More than 25,000 migrants were deported to 29 countries under the policy implemented last year, according to a tally by human rights groups.
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Members of the Iraqi security forces stand guard Friday near the Victory Arch monument in Baghdad during preparations for Sovereignty Day celebrations marking the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces from Iraq.
US troops leave Iraq as Iran war continues
BAGHDAD — U.S. forces ended their mission in Iraq on Wednesday, raising fears they will leave behind a security vacuum, further embolden Iranian-backed militias and give the Islamic State group an opening to regroup.
More than 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in chaos unleashed after U.S. forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, and 4,500 American troops died in the biggest U.S. war of the century so far.
Tehran views the pullout as a victory for its allied armed groups and a step toward its aim of driving U.S. forces out of the region. As the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran entered its eighth month, Iran said it received a U.S. response to its latest proposal to resurrect the collapsed ceasefire.
Becca Good, wife of Renee Good, reacts Thursday during a news conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, announcing the filing of federal civil rights lawsuits related to Renee Good’s death at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross.
Renee Good’s family files federal lawsuits
The family of Renee Good, on Thursday announced the filing of federal civil rights lawsuits. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Good, 37, a U.S. citizen, on Jan. 7 during protests of deportation sweeps in Minneapolis. Her family sued the Trump administration, saying there had been “no accountability” for her killing.
In other news
Bills blocked: The Senate blocked legislation Wednesday requiring state utility regulators to consider whether large electricity users, including data centers, should bear the incremental costs of power infrastructure built to serve them, and a bill that would impose new controls on Congress members’ stock trades. Democrats said the bills didn’t go far enough.
Economy: U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.2% annualized rate, revised up from the previously estimated 1.5% pace, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said Wednesday in its third estimate of second-quarter GDP.
Reflecting Pool: A judge Thursday permanently dismissed the Trump administration’s criminal case against Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was charged with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Evidence suggests the damage was caused by flawed installation.
USPS: The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday it will take extraordinary measures to ensure the delivery of ballots for next month’s congressional elections, including extending hours at some retail branches, expedited handling, extra deliveries and special pickups of ballots.
Powell probe: The Federal Reserve’s Inspector General said Wednesday it found no grounds for a criminal referral or administrative misconduct tied to cost overruns in a central bank renovation project that drew scorn from President Donald Trump and an investigation of former Fed chief Jerome Powell.
Hijack attempt: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the co-pilot who tried to crash a passenger jet on its way to Israel the prior day had undergone Islamist radicalization.
Witness Damon Lawrence with the Roane County News on Wednesday recounts the attempted execution of Christa Pike at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Pike had not been declared dead when the witnesses were asked to leave the room they were witnessing in.
The water cooler — trending news
Botched execution: Christa Pike, 50, received medical care in a hospital Thursday after surviving Tennessee’s two attempts to execute her with lethal injections, her lawyers said, renewing scrutiny of capital punishment in the U.S. It was the second botched execution in the state this year. Pike was sentenced to death in the 1990s after a jury convicted her of a murder she carried out as a teenager.
Cornell controversy: Cornell University agreed to an independent investigation into a suspected gang rape at a fraternity house, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. Screenshots shared online of messages sent between suspected attackers and the school’s apparently lenient response to those involved sparked a firestorm of controversy.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during a Friday news conference in New York City regarding an investigation into an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University.
Artificial intelligence: President Donald Trump released a document Tuesday that his administration cast as an accord on AI, which he said he and tech executives signed at a White House meeting. It urged controls in companies, including monitoring AI models in areas such as cybersecurity, biosecurity and chemical threats to ensure models “do not hack or access technical systems in unintended ways.”
Fat Bear Week winner bear No. 89 earned his “Backpack” nickname by riding on his mother, and former champion, Holly's back while crossing Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Fat bear: A male nicknamed “Backpack” emerged as the Fat Bear Week victor Tuesday, beating No. 910, an adult female, by 5,091 votes in the 12th edition of the annual beloved online showdown that celebrates bears’ pre-hibernation glow-up in Katmai National Park and Preserve. “A record-breaking more than 2.5 million votes” were cast over the week, organizers said.
Big number
$20 million: Funds Democrats say the government transferred from the Department of Homeland Security to air TV ads of President Donald Trump, including one that resembles one of his 2024 campaign ads. The Federal Communications Commission chair said Wednesday the ads aren’t improper.
Former special counsel Jack Smith is sworn in Tuesday as he appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Quote of the week
“I will not be silenced by the continued threats of prosecution from the president or others,” former special counsel Jack Smith said Tuesday as he appeared voluntarily for his second public hearing before Congress on his investigations of President Donald Trump.
