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Episode Date: September 29, 2026

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Live from NPR News, I'm Jail Snyder. The Protect College Sports Act has crossed the finish line in the Senate. Senators passed the bill late Monday night by a 77 to 22 vote. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was the top negotiator. This bill puts an end to the chaos plaguing college athletics. It protects NIL opportunities because student athletes deserve the opportunity to benefit from their talent without being taken. an advantage of by unscrupulous agents and backdoor deals.

The bill establishes a federal framework for college athletics to create one set system on how athletes can earn money on their name, image, and likeness. It also caps the amount of money schools can share with their athletes and limits transfers between schools. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will not participate in an important climate change case set for argument next week. Empires Kerry Johnson reports a court clerk, provided no explanation. Environmental organizations and watchdog groups had been pressing Justice Alito to recuse himself from the case, in which Boulder, Colorado suing the energy companies Suncor and Exxon over local harms due to climate change. Alito does not own stock in those energy giants, but his

financial disclosure says he has investments in Phillips 66 and Conoco Phillips. Consumer Watchdog says the decision to step aside is the right move. Federal judges, are required to step aside in cases where their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. But at the Supreme Court, that decision is up to individual justices. Carrie Johnson, NPR News. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says life-threatening winds and flash flooding are ongoing along the southern half of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Hurricane Polo has made landfall, and the forecasters say they expect the storm to remain a hurricane

when it makes a second lamp all over the Mexican mainland. An airstrike by Myanmar's military and resistance-held territory has killed at least 35 people and injured dozens more. And Michael Sullivan reports from neighboring Thailand. The attack occurred around noon in Chowda in the west of the country, according to the Arakhan Army, the ethnic armed group that controls the area. It said a military fighter jet dropped two bombs near a busy market,

killing vendors, shoppers, and other civilians. A rescue official confirmed that account to the Associated Press and said the market was one of the region's main wholesale centers, drawing vendors and customers from all over the state. The military has stepped up airstrikes against resistance groups in the last year. More than 100,000 people have died with millions more displaced in the civil war that's followed the military's 2021 coup. For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chang Rai. And you're listening to NPR News. The U.S. Navy says two Navy aviators are being evaluated by medical personnel after they were forced to eject from their aircraft. The Navy says the incident happened off the coast of Virginia during aircraft recovery operations aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and that four Navy personnel on board were injured.

British police say that five men arrested under, rather near a U.S.-run base and England will be released on bail. The UK's head of counterterrorism policing says the men face stringent conditions and remain under investigation. Investigators are looking into a possible link to Iran, Russia, or non-state-backed military groups. A towering figure of Caribbean music who performed as Mighty Sparrow as died in New York at age 91. NPR's Felix Contreras reports on Slinger Francisco. Slinger Francisco earned his stage name Mighty Sparrow for his energetic dance move. during his earliest performances in the dual island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. And it was during the island's legendary Calypso carnival competitions

when his legend began to take shape by way of lyrics that were socially conscious about everyday life on the islands. Mighty Sparrow was considered the Calypso king of the world by his fans and recognized by the island's cultural institutions for spreading the sound of the West African-based Calypso from the Caribbean to the world. Felix Contreras, NPR News. This is NPR.