“International Criminal Court judges on Monday postponed hearings to determine the definitive charges against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to see if the octogenarian is fit enough to follow the pre-trial proceedings in his case. Duterte, 80, was arrested and taken to The Hague in March on murder charges linked to his ‘war on drugs,’ where thousands of alleged narcotics peddlers and users were killed. He has maintained his arrest was unlawful and tantamount to kidnapping. In August, his defence lawyers asked the court for an adjournment of all proceedings arguing that the former president was not fit to stand trial. Details of Duterte’s alleged health conditions were redacted in the public version of the request.” (09/08/25)
“Millions of commuters in Britain were unable to get to work or had their journeys disrupted Monday morning after the London Underground was shuttered by a strike by around 10,000 drivers, signals operators and maintenance crew. National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers walked off the job Sunday through Thursday in a dispute over pay and what they argue are excessive working hours due to staff cuts, closing the mass transit system’s eight busiest lines and impacting service on five others. The union is demanding a 32-hour work week, down from 35 hours.” (09/08/25)
“Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced a series of nine new measures — including a total arms embargo — aimed at pressuring the government of fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘to stop the genocide in Gaza.’ Sánchez, who leads the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), announced the steps during a speech in which he first acknowledged the historical suffering of the Jewish people, which includes the 1492 ethnic cleansing of Jews from Spain. ‘The Jewish people have suffered countless persecutions, deserve to have their own state, and to feel secure,’ Sánchez said. ‘That is why the Spanish government has condemned Hamas’ attacks from day one.’ However, ‘there is a difference between defending your country and bombing hospitals or starving innocent children,’ the prime minister continued. ‘This is an unjustifiable attack on the civilian population, which the [United Nations] rapporteur has described as genocide.'” (09/08/25)
“A federal appeals court on Monday refused to throw out an $83.3 million jury verdict against U.S. President Donald Trump for damaging the reputation of the writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019 when he denied her rape claim. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s argument that the January 2024 verdict should be overturned because he deserved presidential immunity from Carroll’s lawsuit. The same court on June 13 upheld Carroll’s separate $5 million jury verdict against Trump in May 2023 for a similar defamation and for sexual assault. … Trump argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 2024 decision providing him with substantial criminal immunity shielded him from liability in Carroll’s civil case. He also said he spoke about Carroll in 2019 in his capacity as president, and that failing to immunize him could undermine the independence of the Executive Branch.” (09/08/25)
“GoFundMe said that it removed multiple fundraising campaigns created on behalf of Decarlos Brown Jr., the ex-convict accused of stabbing and killing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska aboard a Charlotte, North Carolina, light-rail train. ‘GoFundMe’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of anyone formally charged with a violent crime. Consistent with this long-standing policy, all fundraisers for Decarlos Brown Jr.’s legal defense have been removed from the platform, and any donors have been fully refunded,’ a company spokesperson told Fox News Digital. According to information reviewed by Fox News Digital, the campaigns were taken down within hours of being flagged.” (09/08/25)
“Argentine President Javier Milei suffered a sweeping setback on Sunday in a Buenos Aires provincial election widely viewed as a political test for his libertarian [sic] party and a barometer for how it will perform in crucial congressional midterms next month. Milei’s recently formed La Libertad Avanza party captured just 34% of the vote in Argentina’s biggest province, losing by a landslide to the left-leaning [sic] Peronist opposition, which secured 47% with the majority of ballots counted late Sunday. Milei conceded that his right-wing party’s crushing 13-point loss to his populist rivals represented ‘a clear defeat.'” (09/08/25)
“People living in a Midwest city known for its natural beauty and outdoor recreation are sounding the alarm on a proposed data center with a price tag of $1.6 billion. More than 300 acres of farmland in Menomonie, Wisconsin, has already been annexed and rezoned by the city council, but some members say they need more information from developers about the project. The data center proposal was brought to the city by Delaware-based Balloonist, LLC, according to a press release on the city’s ‘Potential Data Center FAQ’ web page. The potential data center’s operating company has not yet been made public. ‘Currently, neither the council nor the public has been told who the company behind this project is,’ councilmember Sydney Brennan told FOX Business via email. ‘What we have been told is that it is an American-based company and one of the five major tech firms.'” (09/08/25)
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged Sunday that the U.S. may have to refund tens of billions of dollars in tariffs imposed since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term if the Supreme Court rules they are illegal. ‘We would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs, which would be terrible for the Treasury,’ Bessent said in an interview Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’ Asked by anchor Kristen Welker if the administration was prepared to provide those refunds, Bessent replied, ‘If the court says it, we’d have to do it.’ He added that he was confident Trump would win the case. Bessent’s remarks follow two court rulings that found Trump lacked the authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country under a 1970s era emergency law, known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.” (09/07/25)
“The U.S. Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump on Monday to keep a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission away from her post for now, temporarily pausing a judicial order that required the reinstatement of the commissioner who the Republican president has sought to oust. The court’s action, known as an administrative stay, gives the justices additional time to consider Trump’s formal request to let him fire Rebecca Slaughter from the consumer protection and antitrust agency prior to her term expiring.” (09/08/25)
“[Police] killed at least 19 people in Nepal on Monday, authorities said, as police in the capital fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament in anger at a social media shutdown and corruption. Some of the mainly youth protesters forced their way into the parliament complex in Kathmandu by breaking through a barricade, a local official said, setting fire to an ambulance and hurling objects at lines of riot police guarding the legislature. … Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the unrest, which erupted after thousands of young people, including many wearing their school or college uniforms, took to the streets earlier on Monday. Many carried flags and placards with slogans such as ‘Shut down corruption and not social media,’ ‘Unban social media,’ and ‘Youths against corruption,’ as they marched through Kathmandu.” (09/08/25)
