Organ Agency Decertified, Mahmoud Khalil Deportation, & Best US Airports

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Adam Rogers
September 19, 2025

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HHS Secretary RFK Jr. decertified the Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency after investigators found 28 patients may have been alive when organ harvesting began. The action follows reports of donors waking up during procedures, which has driven Americans off donor registries.
A federal probe of 351 donation cases found 30% had 'concerning features,' including patients showing neurological signs incompatible with death. Kennedy called the practices 'horrifying' and promised accountability for organizations that oversee transplants.
Organ procurement organizations coordinate donations between hospitals, families, and transplant centers across designated regions while determining patient eligibility and managing harvesting. Over 100,000 Americans remain on transplant waiting lists, with 13 dying daily.

Immigration Judge Jamee Comans ordered Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil deported to Algeria or Syria for allegedly misrepresenting his background on green card paperwork. The ruling came after the Trump administration failed to deport the pro-Palestinian activist on foreign policy grounds earlier this year.
Khalil was detained in March but released in July when a federal judge blocked his deportation for protest activities. The government then alleged he omitted UN agency work and embassy employment from immigration forms. Khalil denies the misrepresentations, saying he was an unpaid Columbia intern, not a UN member."
Khalil is one of several foreign students detained over protest activities the administration claims are antisemitic. Khalil has 30 days to appeal.

NIH-funded research found brain damage in young athletes years before CTE - a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts - becomes detectable. Scientists studied brain tissue from athletes under 51 and found 56% loss of specific neurons in areas hit hardest during contact sports, even without typical CTE markers.
The neuronal damage correlated with years of playing contact sports and occurred even in athletes showing no tau protein buildup, the current marker for diagnosing CTE after death. This suggests brain damage begins much earlier than previously known, potentially affecting millions of young football players and other contact sport athletes.
The research shifts focus from studying advanced CTE in older former players to identifying damage in young athletes who may still be protected. The work could lead to interventions that prevent CTE before devastating symptoms develop.

Seventy-one protesters, including New York officials, were arrested at an anti-ICE demonstration outside a Manhattan detention facility on Thursday. The building was later placed on lockdown due to a bomb threat. (More)

Charlie Kirk's funeral received the highest federal security designation, with up to 100,000 people expected at Arizona's State Farm Stadium. (More) | Turning Point USA's board unanimously named Erika Kirk as CEO following her husband's September assassination. (More)

Trump announced plans to designate antifa as a "major terrorist organization" and investigate its funding sources. (More) | POTUS asked the Supreme Court to let him fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over alleged mortgage fraud. (More)

Italy passed the EU's first comprehensive AI law with prison terms for harmful deepfakes and parental consent required for children under 14. (More)

Brazil and Chile agreed to cooperate on defense technology and joint weapons manufacturing as Chile reduces dependence on Israeli suppliers. (More)

The Taliban cut fiber-optic access in six Afghan provinces to "prevent immorality," leaving homes and offices without internet. People can still use phones for cellular data, but have lost faster broadband connections. (More)

US stock markets closed higher on Thursday (S&P +0.48%, Nasdaq +0.94%, Dow +0.27%). Stocks hit record highs Thursday with smaller companies leading gains after the Federal Reserve signaled it would cut interest rates. (More)

Nvidia bought $5 billion of Intel stock and agreed to develop chips together. Intel shares surged 25% on news of the partnership. (More)

Spirit Airlines will cut flights by 25% in November and lay off staff during its second bankruptcy restructuring. The budget carrier already ended service in twelve cities, including San Diego and Portland. (More)

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced his retirement after this season, ending a career with three Cy Young awards and one World Series title. (More)

Madonna signed back with Warner Records and will release her first album in seven years, a dance project, in 2026. She'll reunite with Stuart Price, who produced her hit 2005 album "Confessions on a Dance Floor. (More)

Hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won her first flat 400m world title in 47.78 seconds, nearly breaking the 40-year-old world record. She came within 0.18 seconds of Marita Koch's 1985 mark of 47.60. (More)

Swedish researchers found daily aspirin cuts colorectal cancer recurrence in half for patients with PIK3 genetic mutations. It reduced risk by 55% after surgery in a trial of 3,500. (More)

Scientists found the oldest and most complete pachycephalosaur fossil in Mongolia, a 108-million-year-old dome-skulled dinosaur. It is 15 million years older than previous discoveries. (More)

Uber Eats will test drone deliveries with partner Flytrex by year-end in Texas and North Carolina. The move puts Uber in competition with DoorDash and Amazon, which already use delivery drones. (More)

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