“Israel has killed at least 20 people, including several journalists, in a double strike on Nasser Medical Complex, the largest health facility in southern Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave. The strikes are the latest in a series of attacks by Israeli forces that have killed Palestinian journalists during the war in Gaza, which has become one of the deadliest conflicts for reporters worldwide. The Gaza health ministry said the fourth floor of the hospital was targeted in the first strike. This was followed by a second hit as ambulance crews arrived to retrieve the dead and wounded. One doctor, Mahmoud al-Habibi, was killed, according to the ministry. … According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, as of August 18, 184 Palestinian journalists had been killed since the start of the war — most by Israeli air strikes or drone attacks.” (08/25/25)
“Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday instructing federal prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against individuals who burn American flags during protests. The order tells the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to look at cases where people burned flags and see if they can be charged with other crimes like disturbing the peace or breaking environmental laws. It’s an attempt by Trump to go around a supreme court decision from 1989, when the court ruled 5-4 in Texas v Johnson that destroying the flag is protected political expression under the first amendment. … Trump also claimed ‘you burn a flag, you get one year in jail’ as he signed the executive order, but the order itself doesn’t include details about a potential jail sentence.” (08/25/25)
“House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Monday issued a new subpoena to the estate of Jeffrey Epstein for ‘documents and communications in its possession, custody, or control in unredacted form,’ which includes a copy of the alleged ‘birthday book’ compiled for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday. … House Democrats previously requested a copy of the alleged ‘birthday book’ compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 that the Wall Street Journal reported contains a ‘bawdy’ letter from President Donald Trump. Trump has denied the existence of the letter and filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal. ABC News has not been able to confirm the existence of the letter. … Also in the subpoena are requests for documents tied to Epstein’s bank accounts, financial transactions, flight logs and calendars from Jan. 1, 1990 through Aug. 10, 2019.” (08/25/25)
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s aggressive effort to remove noncitizens from the U.S., was [abducted] by immigration authorities in Baltimore on Monday to face renewed efforts to deport him after a brief period of freedom. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys quickly filed a lawsuit to fight those removal efforts until a court has heard his claim for protection, stating that the U.S. could place him in a country where ‘his safety cannot be assured.’ The new lawsuit triggered a blanket court order that automatically pauses deportation efforts for two days. The order applies to immigrants in Maryland who are challenging their detention. Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old Maryland construction worker and Salvadoran national, spoke at a rally before he turned himself in.” (08/25/25)
“A grand jury declined for a third time to indict a D.C. woman accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an [abductee] swap with ICE – a rare loss for federal prosecutors that could foreshadow further trouble if the case goes to trial. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said in a filing Monday it would move ahead with charging Sidney Lori Reid with a misdemeanor for the alleged assault outside the D.C. Jail in July. A magistrate judge had given prosecutors until Monday afternoon to secure an indictment against Reid or see the felony version of the assault charge dismissed. … Reid was [abducted] in July for allegedly resisting attempts to restrain her after she refused to back away from ICE officers who were conducting [abductions] outside the D.C. Jail. In the process, they said, an FBI agent received scrapes to the back of her hand.” (08/25/25)
“All truck weigh stations in Florida are being turned into ICE checkpoints after last week’s deadly big-rig crash involving an illegal [sic] migrant, officials said Monday. State Attorney General James Uthmeier, referring to ‘the serious tragedy that happened down in southeast Florida,’ announced the new partnership between federal agencies and the state agricultural inspection stations at a press conference in Live Oak. ‘Someone that should never have been given a driver’s license, much less a CDL license to drive larger commercial vehicles, engaged in reckless behavior that took three lives,’ Uthmeier said, surrounded by law-enforcement officials. Harjinder Singh, 28, of India had been living under the radar in the US for six years when he allegedly pulled an illegal U-turn in an 18-wheeler on the Florida Turnpike on Aug. 12, killing three people. He fled to California but was nabbed by US marshals and flown back to Florida to stand trial.” (08/25/25)
“Intel on Monday warned of ‘adverse reactions’ from investors, employees and others to the Trump administration taking a 10% stake in the company, in a filing citing risks involved with the deal. A key concern area is international sales, with 76% of Intel’s revenue in its last fiscal year coming from outside the U.S., according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company had $53.1 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2024, down 2% from the year prior. For Intel’s international customers, the company is now directly tied to President Donald Trump’s ever-shifting tariff and trade policies.” (08/25/25)
“Japan’s top law enforcement officials apologized to the family of a businessman who was wrongfully arrested and died after a months-long detention. Shizuo Aishima, a former adviser to machinery firm Ohkawara Kakohki, was one of three company executives illegally held in pretrial detention for months on charges that were later dropped. Human rights campaigners have long demanded an end to Japan’s ‘hostage justice’ practice, where investigators use lengthy pretrial detentions to coerce confessions. Senior officials from the Tokyo police, the top public prosecutor’s department and the Tokyo prosecutor’s office visited Aishima’s family and grave on Monday. The officials knelt and prayed in front of the grave, the Japan Times reported.” (08/25/25)
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israeli forces could begin withdrawing from territory they hold in southern Lebanon after the Lebanese Cabinet’s ‘momentous decision’ earlier this month to work toward the disarmament of the militant group Hezbollah by the end of 2025. Netanyahu said if Lebanon takes the necessary steps to disarm Hezbollah, then Israel will respond with reciprocal measures, including a phased reduction of the Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon. Since the Israel-Hezbollah war ended in November 2024 with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdraws from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stops almost daily airstrikes. Those strikes have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them [supposedly] Hezbollah members.” (08/25/25)
“Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada is expected to plead guilty Monday to federal charges related to his role in the violent drug trade that for years flooded the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances. The longtime leader of the Sinaloa cartel is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Brooklyn for a change of plea hearing. The appearance comes after federal prosecutors said two weeks ago that they wouldn’t seek the death penalty against Zambada, who was arrested in Texas last year.” (08/25/25)
