Recent News: 9/26/2025

Charlie Kirk was killed on Sept. 10 by a single gunshot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Mr. Kirk was best known as what?

• A conservative activist

• A musician

• A politician

Answer explanation

Mr. Kirk, 31, was the founder of Turning Point USA, which has become the nation’s pre-eminent conservative youth organization, with over 850 chapters at colleges and high schools across the country. He was a friend and ally of President Trump, and had a role in shaping the current administration.

The speaking event was held at an outdoor stage, where around 3,000 people had gathered to hear Mr. Kirk speak. Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, a Republican, described the shooting as a “political assassination.”

Many experts are worried that the assassination of Mr. Kirk shows that political violence is becoming normalized in the United States.

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A protest movement in Nepal forced out the country’s prime minister and left many buildings in the capital, Kathmandu, in ruins. The demonstrations began after the government banned what?

• Buddhism

• Elections

• Major social media platforms

Answer explanation

The protest movement began after the government banned more than two dozen social media platforms. The protests, led by teenagers and young adults, were the most widespread in Nepal since it became a democratic republic in 2008.

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Which television show won big at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, taking home 13 statuettes, including best comedy?

• “Abbott Elementary”

• “The Bear”

• “The Studio”

Answer explanation

“The Studio,” starring Seth Rogen, who also produced the show, set the record for most wins for a comedy in a single year, surpassing “The Bear.”

“The Pitt,” the low-budget HBO Max medical series that became a surprise sensation this year, took home television’s most coveted prize when it won best drama.

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What did new federal testing data reveal about American high school students?

• Their math scores are higher than ever.

• Their reading scores are the worst they have been in three decades.

• Their writing scores have remained the same since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Answer explanation

High school seniors had the worst reading scores since 1992 on a national test, a loss probably related to increases in screen time and the pandemic. In math, 12th graders had the lowest performance since 2005.

The results, from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, long regarded as the nation’s most reliable, gold-standard exam, showed that about a third of the 12th-graders who were tested last year did not have basic reading skills.

The test scores are the first of their kind to be released since the Covid-19 pandemic upended education. They are yet another sign that adolescents are struggling in the wake of the virus, when schools were closed for months or more. They also arrive at a time when Americans overall are abandoning printed text for screen time and video-dominated social media, which experts have linked to declining academics.

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Why are iPods and cassette players making a comeback with some teenagers this fall?

• More schools are requiring students to listen to music while they work.

• Students have been bringing them to school in what they see as a “loophole” in cellphone bans.

• These vintage devices provide better-quality sound than current technology.

Answer explanation

Young people’s appreciation for flip phones, digital cameras and other gadgets of the recent past is well documented, but it seems to have taken on new urgency in response to a wave of smartphone restrictions in schools that has reached more than a dozen states.

This fall, New York City became the largest school district in the country to introduce a bell-to-bell ban on phones and other internet-enabled devices. In response to new policies, enterprising students have shown up with MP3 players obtained online or from family members.

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NASA’s rover Perseverance has found a rock on Mars containing minerals that scientists describe as what?

• An entirely new type of mineral never before seen on Earth

• The clearest signs yet of life on Mars

• The key to time travel

Answer explanation

NASA’s scientists are still not saying they found fossils of Martian microbes, but analysis of the specimen collected by the Perseverance rover raises that possibility.

A viral TikTok trend, inspired by which Broadway musical, features users comically sneaking away while lip-syncing the line, “I have an early meeting out of town”?

• “Aladdin”

• “Hamilton”

• “Wicked”

Answer explanation

The latest “Hamilton” viral trend on TikTok features fans recreating a snippet of the song “Best of Wives and Best of Women.”

In these short, humorous videos, users lip-sync Alexander Hamilton’s line “I have an early meeting out of town” as a way to comically sneak away from various situations. The trend playfully parodies the original scene from the musical — where Hamilton is leaving for his fatal duel — by using creative and absurd methods of escape, such as crawling through a doggy door or a washing machine. This trend is a mix of tribute and critique, showing both a deep love for the show and a lighthearted mockery of its most dramatic moments.

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Which late-night talk show did ABC pull off the air last week over comments the host made after the assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk?

• “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

• “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”

• “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”

Answer explanation

ABC announced on the evening of Sept. 17 that it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show “indefinitely” after conservatives accused the longtime host of inaccurately describing the politics of the man accused of assassinating the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

The abrupt decision by the network, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, came hours after the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, assailed Mr. Kimmel and suggested that the agency might take action against ABC because of remarks the host made on the show.

The network did not explain the decision, but the sequence of events amounted to an extraordinary exertion of political pressure on a major broadcast network by the Trump administration.

Then, on Monday, ABC said that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return to the airwaves on Sept. 23.

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After nearly two years of war, Israel launched another ground offensive this week targeting what city?

• Beirut

• Gaza City

• Tehran

Answer explanation

Fleeing Palestinians clogged the roads south from Gaza City on Sept. 16, while many others remained, as the Israeli military said it had launched a ground offensive to take control of what it calls a Hamas stronghold.

The ground operation and intensifying Israeli bombardment are deepening the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, in a nearly two-year war that has already killed tens of thousands of people. Palestinians in Gaza City described scenes of panic, as Israel pounded the area with heavy airstrikes. Nearly 100 people were killed and nearly 400 wounded over 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The Federal Reserve lowered its key interest rate by a quarter of a point on Sept. 17, its first cut in nine months. What are interest rates?

• The cost of borrowing, or the gain from lending

• The ratio of imported versus exported goods and services

• The total amount of outstanding debt accumulated by a country

Answer explanation

The decision to cut interest rates marks a turning point for the central bank. Its officials have been locked in an intense debate about the right time to provide some relief to borrowers when the Fed's goals of low, stable inflation and a healthy labor market are in tension with one another.

Inflation picked back up over the summer and appears poised to continue accelerating this year as a result of Mr. Trump’s tariffs. The labor market, while still solid, has started to flash more ominous signs.