“U.S. consumer confidence declined again in September as Americans’ pessimism over inflation and the weakening job market continued to grow. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell by 3.6 points to 94.2 in September, down from August’s 97.8. That’s a bigger drop than analysts were expecting and the lowest reading since April, when President Donald Trump rolled out his sweeping tariff policy. A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell to 73.4, remaining well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. Consumers’ assessments of their current economic situation dipped by 7 points to 125.4.” (09/30/25)
“South Africa’s ambassador to France, formerly a long-serving cabinet minister, was found dead on Tuesday outside a Paris hotel after the window of his room in the high rise building was forced open, prosecutors said. Nkosinathi Emmanuel Nathi Mthethwa, 58, usually known as Nathi Mthethwa, had ‘reserved a room on the 22nd floor whose secured window had been forced open,’ the office of the Paris prosecutor told AFP. … A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, said the ambassador suffered from depression and his death could have been suicide. An investigation has been opened.” (09/30/25)
“Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a sharp warning over the issue of Taiwan in his annual National Day address on Tuesday, saying Beijing must firmly oppose ‘external interference’ and safeguard its territorial integrity. … He said Beijing must deepen cross-strait exchanges with Taiwan, ‘firmly oppose separatist activities seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and external interference, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ according to his speech released by state news agency Xinhua.” [editor’s note: Taiwan is not now and never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, and hasn’t been ruled by any mainland Chinese regime since 1895 – TLK] (09/30/25)
“Local California women’s rights activist Beth Bourne protested the policy allowing transgender students access to girls’ locker rooms by stripping down to a bikini at a local school board meeting. Bourne, who chairs the Moms for Liberty in Yolo County, took part in the Davis Joint Unified School Board meeting on Sept. 18 where she highlighted school policies on locker room access. ‘I’m a parent in the Davis Unified School District, and I’m here today to talk about the policies you have for the locker rooms in the junior high schools. So Emerson, Holmes, Harper Junior High. Right now, we require our students to undress for PE class. So I’m just going to give you an idea what that looks like when I undress,’ Bourne said before taking off her clothes to reveal a bikini.” (09/30/25)
“Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) has requested federal assistance to deploy National Guard troops to combat crime in urban centers throughout the state, weeks after President Donald Trump floated the possibility of sending troops to New Orleans. In a letter dated Monday, Landry asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for as many as 1,000 troops to be mobilized in Louisiana until September 2026, citing ‘elevated violent crime rates’ in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport …. In New Orleans … crime rates have decreased significantly this year. After a pandemic-era spike in killings, the city’s murder rate has fallen to lows not seen since the 1970s. In Baton Rouge, the city’s crime data on Tuesday showed slightly fewer homicides this year than the previous year, while the number of felony arrests so far this year was 13.5 percent lower than it was this time last year.” (09/30/25)
“Iran says 120 of its nationals are being deported from the US, as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. ‘These individuals will return to the country within the next one or two days,’ Iranian foreign ministry official Hossein Noushabadi told Iran’s Tasnim state news agency. He said most of those being flown to Iran, via Qatar, had entered the US illegally [sic] — mainly through Mexico. There has been an increased number of Iranians entering the US in recent years, including many who fear persecution at home. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the BBC: ‘The Trump administration is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to carry out the largest mass deportation operation of illegal [sic] aliens in history, using all the tools at our disposal.'” (09/30/25)
“YoungHoon Kim, who holds the world record for the highest IQ at 276, has made waves in the crypto community by announcing he has converted all his personal assets into Bitcoin. … Last week, he predicted that Bitcoin will grow at least 100 times in value over the next decade. If his forecast proves accurate, Bitcoin’s price would exceed $10 million per coin within that timeframe.” (09/30/25)
“More than 150,000 federal employees will leave the U.S. government payroll this week after accepting buyouts — the largest single-year exodus of civil servants in nearly 80 years, triggering what unions and governance experts warn is a damaging loss of institutional expertise. The official resignations begin on Tuesday for workers who opted into a deferred exit program that kept them on the payroll through September. The buyouts are a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s push to shrink the federal workforce, combining financial incentives with threats of dismissal for those who declined the offer. Many left their agencies months ago, according to the federal government’s HR office, and have effectively been on paid leave.” (09/30/25)
“The Trump administration on Monday rescinded a Biden-era firearms export rule that prohibited the transfer of civilian weaponry to individuals in 36 countries deemed high-risk of falling into the hands of criminals or terrorists. The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security rescinded the interim final rule, arguing it imposed ‘onerous’ export controls on weapons, throttling U.S. gunmakers from competing in overseas markets at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars a year in exports.” (09/29/25)
“A Chinese national has been convicted following an international fraud investigation which resulted in what’s believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world. The Metropolitan Police says it recovered 61,000 bitcoin worth more than £5bn ($6.7bn) in current prices. Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty on Monday at Southwark Crown Court of illegally acquiring and possessing the cryptocurrency. Between 2014 and 2017 she led a large-scale scam in China which involved cheating more than 128,000 victims and storing the stolen funds in bitcoin assets, the Met said in a statement. It said the 47-year-old’s guilty plea followed a seven-year probe into a global money laundering web which began when it got a tipoff about the transfer of criminal assets.” (09/30/25)
