Rubio: Americans will be able to apply for a first passport fully online through America.gov starting next year
Also in this update: Senate grills Jack Smith; CENTCOM says Iran has no navy in Hormuz. Grassley calls special counsel probe a 'corrupt operation.' Oil up as Tehran still awaits a Hormuz reply. Court quiet ahead of Oct. 5.
2 PM CT video brief · 1:45Presenter voice and image generated with AI tools.Read transcript
I'm Nora Vale with your Afternoon World Brief for Tuesday, September 29. Senate grills Jack Smith; Grassley calls probes a 'corrupt operation.' Rubio: America.gov passport applications online next year; Medicare within a year. CENTCOM: Iran has no navy in Hormuz; oil up as Tehran awaits reply. Zelenskyy: Black Sea vessels hit; Kyiv and 10 regions attacked overnight. No new Court order; BOP response due Oct. 8; Suncor arguments Oct. 5. In national weather, from the National Weather Service: Hurricane Nolo, with top winds near 105 mph, may bring impacts to parts of Hawaii. Hurricane Polo, with top winds near 75 mph, may bring impacts to parts of New Mexico and Texas. The Nor'easter over Cape Cod will begin to weaken and move northeast over the Atlantic by Wednesday. Our opinion. No weaponized prosecutors; America.gov that works; nuclear limits before Hormuz relief; Ukraine needs an endgame. That's your Afternoon World Brief. I'm Nora Vale. See you at five.
U.S. Central Command on Monday rejected Iranian claims of full control over the Strait of Hormuz, writing that "Iran has no navy because American forces sank it" and that thousands of ships and "more than 1 billion barrels of oil" have passed through freely in recent months, Fox News reported. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that reports he offered Iran sanctions relief and frozen funds were "untrue" and that he "offered them NOTHING," Reuters reported; Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is still waiting for mediators to convey Washington's "definitive views." Brent crude was about $106.77 a barrel early Tuesday, up roughly 1.4%, and WTI about $93.94, up about 1.5%, Reuters said, even as Middle East crude export volumes have been recovering.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia hit two foreign-flagged vessels in Ukraine's Black Sea region of Odesa and that Kyiv and 10 other regions came under overnight attack, with damage to energy facilities, substations, civilian businesses and residential buildings, France 24 reported citing Reuters. Russia's defense ministry said it struck two military cargo vessels in the Black Sea and two data centers in Kyiv overnight. The wave continues a multi-day pressure campaign on the capital and critical infrastructure as Ukraine also reports strikes on Russian energy and defense sites.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday at the America.gov launch event in Washington that “starting next year, Americans will be able to apply for their first passport entirely online,” according to the State Department’s transcript. He demonstrated a sign-in through Login.gov, a passport photo taken on a phone or uploaded from a device, and online payment. America.gov is live now as a question-and-answer site, but it has no sign-in yet and cannot take passport applications; its own pages say forms, applications and renewals are coming in early 2027.
President Trump hosted leaders of the biggest U.S. technology and AI companies at the White House on Tuesday for what the White House billed as a “Meeting and Luncheon on Super Intelligence.” Speaking afterward in the East Room, he praised the executives as “the most brilliant people in the world,” said the United States has “a very big lead” in the technology and said a document would be signed “at about five o’clock” Tuesday “officially renaming” artificial intelligence as superintelligence. As of 3:19 p.m. CT, no such document had been posted on whitehouse.gov.
Former special counsel Jack Smith testified Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing titled oversight of his "Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans," the New York Post and Washington Examiner reported. Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Smith's operation was a "partisan weapon that broke the rules, lied to the court, and engaged in bad faith," while Smith told senators he stands by charging President Donald Trump and would do so again "regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat." Smith acknowledged his team obtained National Archives records that "happened to have contacts with members of Congress in it"; Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), pressed him over prior House testimony about seeking lawmakers' text messages. The Mar-a-Lago classified-documents case was dismissed after a Florida judge ruled Smith's appointment unlawful, and the 2020 election case ended after Trump returned to office.
At Tuesday's America.gov launch, President Donald Trump said the goal is that "anything you might need from the United States government will be accessible at your fingertips," the New York Post reported from the event. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the site will, starting next year, let people fully apply for a passport online, including using a phone to take and upload the required photo, and that Americans will be able to enroll in Medicare on America.gov within the next year without being sent to other websites. Trump earlier Tuesday signed the executive order establishing America.gov as the single online point of entry for covered federal services and integrating Login.gov, according to the White House text; covered services exclude IRS tax filing and War and Intelligence Community services.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Supreme Court had not posted a new order resolving the Trump administration's emergency application in Trump v. Kingdom, No. 26A416, seeking to pause a D.C. district court order that blocks the Bureau of Prisons from enforcing its February 2026 ban on gender-transition surgeries, hormone therapy and related social accommodations for transgender inmates; challengers' response remains due by 4 p.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 8, SCOTUSblog reported. Separately, Justice Samuel Alito will not participate in Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, No. 25-170, with oral argument still set for Monday, Oct. 5 — the first day of the new term — according to a letter from Clerk Scott Harris that gave no reason. A check of supremecourt.gov Tuesday afternoon showed no fresh merits opinions or orders list entry changing those timelines.
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