Current Events in September 2025

• White House says US companies will oversee TikTok’s algorithm and Americans will hold six of seven board seats for US operations.

• Oracle, chaired by Trump ally Larry Ellison, will lead data and privacy protections.

• Trump and Xi discussed TikTok’s future, but Beijing has not confirmed approval of the deal.

White House signals breakthrough in talks

The White House announced over the weekend that US companies will take control of TikTok’s algorithm and that six of seven board seats in the app’s US operations will be held by Americans. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said a deal could be signed “in the coming days,” though Chinese officials have yet to comment publicly.

Speaking on the Fox News program “Saturday in America,” Ms. Leavitt said that “we are 100 percent confident that a deal is done,” but added in the same breath that the deal had not yet been signed, the New York Times reported. She said that could happen in the coming days.

The move follows years of negotiations over whether TikTok could continue to operate in the United States amid concerns over its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The app had previously faced the threat of a ban unless its US business was sold.

Oracle to oversee data and privacy

Leavitt said that US tech giant Oracle will lead TikTok’s US data and privacy safeguards. Oracle’s founder and chair, Larry Ellison—long a political ally of President Trump—will play a central role.

“The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” Leavitt told Fox News. She added that “all of those details have already been agreed upon,” with only a final signature needed to seal the deal.

The Ellison family has gained growing influence in US media, with Larry Ellison’s son, David, recently acquiring Paramount, owner of CBS News.

Mixed signals from China

President Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed TikTok in a phone call and both approved the deal. He described the exchange as “productive” in a Truth Social post.

But Beijing’s response has been less clear. China’s Commerce Ministry said it welcomed negotiations “in accordance with market rules” and emphasized that any solution must comply with Chinese law. State news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as welcoming talks, without confirming a final agreement, according to a BBC report.

Dispute over the algorithm

A major sticking point in negotiations has been who controls TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm, which shapes content for its 170 million American users. While Trump sidestepped questions about whether a new algorithm would be needed, the White House has now insisted that control will rest firmly in US hands.

Legal and political backdrop

In January, the US Supreme Court upheld a 2024 law banning TikTok unless ByteDance divested from its US operations. The app briefly went offline before the deadline was pushed back. Trump, who initially called for TikTok to be banned during his first term, shifted course in 2024 and embraced the platform to reach younger voters in his presidential campaign.

The Justice Department has previously warned that TikTok posed a national security threat of “immense depth and scale,” citing concerns about user data access.

• Updated crash tests show back seat passengers face higher risks than those up front

• Stricter standards cut the number of Top Safety Pick award winners to 48, down from 71 last year

• Only two large pickups — the Rivian R1T and Toyota Tundra — made the 2025 list

Back seat protection falls behind

Minivans and pickups are falling short when it comes to protecting rear seat passengers, according to new safety testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

The group’s 2025 Top Safety Pick awards reveal that belted adults riding in the back seat of newer vehicles face a higher risk of fatal injury compared with those in the front. The shortfall reflects how much faster automakers have improved front-seat safety features, leaving the back seat lagging behind.

IIHS now requires that second-row occupants have protection equal to what’s offered in the front. As a result, only 48 vehicles earned safety awards this year — down from 71 at this point in 2024.

SUVs dominate, minivans and pickups falter

Small and midsize SUVs claimed the majority of honors, with 12 vehicles earning the “Top Safety Pick” rating and the rest achieving the higher “Top Safety Pick Plus.”

But the picture was bleak for other categories. Not a single minivan, large car, small pickup, or minicar made the list. Only two large pickups — the Rivian R1T and Toyota Tundra — qualified under the tougher rules.

Detroit automakers struggled as well. Ford landed two models — the Mustang Mach-E and Lincoln Nautilus — in the Top Safety Pick Plus category, while Chevrolet’s Traverse managed a Top Safety Pick. Stellantis failed to place any vehicles.

IIHS President David Harkey said he was disappointed with the lack of strong performers from U.S. brands, particularly in family-oriented vehicles such as minivans.

“Some of the automakers behind vehicles advertised as family-friendly need to step up and make improvements quickly,” he said.

Harkey pointed to two key safety technologies that are now common in the front seat but rare in the back: pre-tensioner belts, which tighten before a collision to position passengers properly, and load limiters, which loosen slightly during impact to reduce chest injuries.

How the tests worked

IIHS researchers simulated head-on collisions at 40 mph with 40% overlap, measuring how well seat belts protected rear passengers. A new, smaller crash-test dummy — representing either a petite woman or a 12-year-old child — was placed behind the driver to highlight risks to smaller occupants.

The tests tracked chest injuries, abdominal trauma from “submarining” under the lap belt, and how far forward a passenger’s head traveled on impact.

“It wasn’t that the back seat has become less safe — it’s just that we’ve continued to make all these advancements in the front seat, and we’ve left the back seat behind,” Harkey said.

Bottom line for families

Despite the weaker scores, IIHS continues to recommend the back seat as the safest place for children under 13. Still, the findings highlight how far automakers must go to bring rear passenger protection in line with the front.

• In an 18-month randomized trial, people who followed a “green-Mediterranean” diet saw less of a protein signature associated with aging in the brain than those on a standard healthy diet.

• The green-Mediterranean diet in this study included green tea and the aquatic plant Mankai, in addition to typical Mediterranean diet components.

• The study tracked changes in blood proteins tied to brain aging, suggesting diet-linked biological changes may happen before cognitive symptoms appear.

As we get older, our brains don’t always feel as sharp as they used to, and researchers are exploring ways diet might slow or even reverse aspects of that process. 

A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Ben-Gurion University, and colleagues suggest that a version of the Mediterranean diet with extra “green” additions — specifically green tea and Mankai (an aquatic plant) — might help slow brain aging.

The study

The study is part of something called the DIRECT-PLUS trial. Roughly 300 participants were followed for 18 months and randomly assigned to one of three diet groups:

1. A standard healthy diet

2. A traditional calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet (lots of vegetables, less red meat, more fish and poultry, low in simple carbs)

3. The “green-Mediterranean” diet, which is like the Mediterranean diet but with added green tea and Mankai.
   

The researchers collected blood samples and measured levels of certain proteins that are believed to correlate with brain aging — that is, how “old” your brain seems compared to your actual age. 

Higher levels of some of these proteins are associated with accelerated brain aging. The idea was to see whether dietary changes could shift those protein levels.

What did they find?

Over the 18 months, people in the green-Mediterranean group showed reductions in certain proteins in their blood that are thought to reflect faster brain aging. In contrast, those reductions were not as pronounced in the other diet groups. 

In short, adding green tea and Mankai appeared to help slow down markers of brain aging more than a standard healthy or even traditional Mediterranean diet.

The key point: these changes were biological — they happened in protein markers in the blood — before any obvious cognitive decline. This suggests that the green-Mediterranean diet could influence early, underlying processes of brain aging rather than just reacting to symptoms once they appear.

“Studying the circulating proteins in blood allows us to observe, in a real-life setting, how the brain’s aging processes are influenced by lifestyle and dietary changes,” researcher Anat Meir, said in a news release. 

“This approach gives us a dynamic window into brain health, helping to reveal biological changes long before symptoms may appear. By mapping these protein signatures, we gain powerful new insight into how interventions, such as diet, may help preserve cognitive function as we age.”

How to try a green-Mediterranean approach

You don’t need to overhaul your life overnight to start adopting elements of this eating pattern. Here are a few approachable ways to begin:

• Build a Mediterranean base. Focus on vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and lean proteins like fish or chicken. Use olive oil as your main fat.

• Go greener. Add a couple of cups of unsweetened green tea each day. It’s calorie-free and rich in plant compounds studied for their antioxidant benefits.

• Experiment with greens like Mankai. While Mankai (also known as duckweed) isn’t widely available everywhere, some markets and supplements carry it. If you can’t find it, think about incorporating other nutrient-dense greens like spinach, kale, or watercress as a practical stand-in.

• Keep it sustainable. The study participants followed their diets for 18 months — so small, steady changes are more realistic than quick fixes.

• FDA approves Keytruda Qlex, a subcutaneous injection version of the widely used cancer therapy Keytruda

• Patients can now receive treatment in as little as one to two minutes, compared to a 30-minute IV infusion

• New option offers greater convenience and flexibility in treatment settings, from hospitals to local clinics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Keytruda Qlex (pembrolizumab and berahyaluronidase alfa-pmph), a new subcutaneous form of Merck’s flagship cancer immunotherapy Keytruda. This marks the first time patients across most of Keytruda’s 38 cancer indications will have access to the drug in an injection form rather than an intravenous (IV) infusion.

Keytruda Qlex can be administered by a healthcare provider in just one minute every three weeks or two minutes every six weeks. That’s a major time savings compared to the 30-minute IV infusion required for traditional Keytruda.

“This approval is significant for patients and health care providers like me who have been using immunotherapies for years to treat certain cancers,” said Dr. J. Thaddeus Beck, oncologist and medical director of the Highlands’ Clinical Trials Office. “Subcutaneous pembrolizumab provides faster administration, two dosing options, and more choices for where patients can receive care.”

Comparable effectiveness and safety

In pivotal clinical trials, Keytruda Qlex showed similar effectiveness and safety compared to IV Keytruda. Patients with advanced lung cancer who received the injection saw response rates and survival outcomes nearly identical to those receiving the infusion.

The new formulation was developed with the help of biotechnology company Alteogen Inc., whose enzyme allows pembrolizumab to be delivered under the skin instead of through a vein.

For patients who struggle with vein access or who don’t have a port in place, the subcutaneous injection may simplify treatment. It also gives patients and providers more flexibility in choosing where treatment takes place, whether in a hospital infusion center, a doctor’s office, or a community clinic.

“This is about giving patients options and helping them manage treatment in a way that best fits their needs,” said Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology at Merck Research Laboratories.

Safety considerations

As with IV Keytruda, Keytruda Qlex carries risks of serious immune-related side effects, which may affect organs such as the lungs, liver, or kidneys, and in rare cases can be life-threatening. 

It is not recommended for certain patients, including those with hypersensitivity to its components or pregnant women due to potential risks to the fetus. Patients are encouraged to discuss the benefits and risks with their healthcare team.

Merck expects Keytruda Qlex to be available in the United States in late September. Patients and caregivers can ask their oncologists if the new injection option is right for them.

• A landmark trial begins, as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission moves forward with allegations that Amazon systematically misled consumers into signing up for its Prime membership.

• The FTC claims Amazon used deceptive interface designs — so-called “dark patterns” — to enroll users in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions without meaningful consent, and made cancellation needlessly difficult.

• In recent pretrial rulings, a judge found Amazon violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) by collecting billing information before disclosing key membership terms, and also held that Amazon executives could be held personally liable if the FTC’s allegations are proven.
  

Millions of people are members of Amazon’s Prime but the Federal Trade Commission claims some are members against their will and find it hard to cancel. 

After years of investigation, legal wrangling, and preliminary rulings, the trial in FTC v. Amazon.com Inc. begins this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle. The FTC is seeking remedies for what it describes as “years-long” deceptive practices tied to Amazon’s Prime program. 

The allegations include:

• Deceptive signup flows: The complaint says that Amazon routinely presents consumers with options that make Prime subscription a default or overwhelming choice. Buttons enrolling customers tend to be large, prominently displayed, and worded to emphasize benefits (“free shipping,” “trial,” etc.), while the option to decline is obscured by size, position, or weaker language.

• Billing before full disclosure: According to the FTC, in many cases, Amazon collected payment information from prospective Prime members before clearly disclosing all the terms of the subscription — including its automatic renewal, cancellation requirements, or full cost.

• “Iliad” cancellation scheme: The FTC alleges Amazon made the cancellation process overly long, labyrinthine, and discouraging. Internally, this complex cancellation path has been referred to as “Iliad” — involving multiple pages, numerous clicks, and many choices or “offers” intended to persuade customers to stay.

What’s at stake

• The FTC is seeking civil penalties, injunctive relief (changes to how the Prime subscription and cancellation flows are structured), and possibly consumer refunds for people harmed by these alleged practices. 

• Amazon strongly denies the claims, arguing that its disclosures are clear, that customers have the requisite information to make informed decisions, and that it has taken steps to simplify cancellation flows in response to feedback and regulatory pressure.

U.S. District Court Judge John Chun has already granted the FTC significant pretrial victories,  ruling that Amazon violated ROSCA (Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a U.S. federal law passed in 2010), rejecting motions to dismiss major parts of the FTC’s case, and allowing claims of executive liability to move forward.

The case builds on evolving legal scrutiny over “dark patterns” and subscription models with auto-renewal features. Regulators in the U.S. and abroad have increasingly focused on such practices as potentially deceptive under consumer protection laws.

The outcome of the jury trial may hinge on whether the FTC can prove that users were “tricked” in a legally meaningful way — showing that Amazon’s interfaces and disclosures failed to give consumers a clear, informed choice.

• Grocery prices have climbed steadily over the past 12 months, outpacing wage growth in many areas.

• Main drivers include higher transportation costs, extreme weather disrupting harvests, and lingering supply chain pressures.

• Consumers are shifting shopping habits, with more turning to store brands and discount retailers.
  

The Federal Reserve felt inflation was tame enough that it cut its discount interest rate at its meeting this week. But one place inflation is alive and well is at the grocery store, according to government and industry data.

Over the past year, grocery bills across the United States have surged, putting pressure on households already stretched by broader inflation. According to government data, the average price of a grocery basket is up more than 5% compared with this time last year, marking one of the steepest year-over-year increases in over a decade.

Several factors are converging to push prices higher:

1. Transportation and Energy Costs
   Fuel prices spiked earlier in the year, raising the cost of moving goods from farms to shelves. With trucking and shipping companies passing those increases along, grocery distributors have had little choice but to raise retail prices.

2. Climate and Weather Disruptions
   Extreme weather has disrupted harvests around the globe. Droughts in the Midwest reduced grain yields, while flooding in parts of California affected fruit and vegetable production. Global food markets are interlinked, so poor harvests abroad, from rice shortages in Asia to olive oil production declines in Europe, have rippled into U.S. markets.

3. Lingering Supply Chain Strains
   While pandemic-era shortages have eased, certain supply chains remain fragile. Fertilizer prices remain elevated, poultry producers continue battling avian flu outbreaks, and labor shortages in agriculture and food processing have added further pressure.

Datasembly’s Grocery Price Index, which tracks thousands of grocery prices in real-time, shows prices have accelerated over the last 12 months.

According to the chart above, the price of candy and gum has risen the most, gaining 10.1% over the last 12 months. On the other end of the spectrum, the price of cereal has remained mostly the same during that period.

Consumer impact

Households are adjusting their buying habits in response. Many are purchasing fewer name-brand products, opting instead for private labels or discount grocers. Shoppers are also increasingly using digital coupons and loyalty programs to offset rising costs.

For lower-income families, these changes mean making difficult trade-offs—cutting back on fresh produce, meat, or other staples in favor of cheaper, shelf-stable alternatives.

Economists suggest that while price growth may slow in the coming months, groceries are unlikely to return to pre-inflation levels. Instead, consumers should expect “sticky prices,” where elevated costs become the new normal. Relief may come only gradually as global energy markets stabilize and weather patterns shift.