“Donald Trump has repeated his threat to impose a 100% tariff on {American viewers of] all films not made in the US, claiming the American industry had been ‘stolen’ by other countries. He said on Monday that California had been heavily affected and the levy ‘would solve this long time, never ending problem.’ In May, the US president said he would talk to Hollywood executives about his plan and to begin the process of imposing the levy because America’s film industry was ‘dying a very fast death.’ Trump’s remarks come as he announced a new wave of tariffs last week, including a 100% levy on [American buyers of] branded or patented drug imports as well as 50% levies on [American buyers of] kitchen and bathroom cabinets.” (09/29/25)
“Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed the state’s new congressional map into law, setting the GOP up to gain one additional seat in the House in next year’s elections. … Kehoe signed it after the measure comfortably passed in both houses of the state Legislature, along mostly party-line votes, though some Republicans in the state House broke with their party to vote against it. The law redraws the lines of Missouri’s congressional map ahead of the midterms to likely increase the number of Republicans representing the state in the U.S. House to seven and reduce the number of Democrats to one.” (09/28/25)
“The Dutch government has agreed to return thousands of fossils to Indonesia from a world-renowned collection, after a commission ruled that they were removed in the colonial era ‘against the will of the people’, the education ministry announced Friday. The historically significant trove known as the Dubois Collection includes a piece of skull uncovered from the Solo River on the island of Java that is regarded as the first fossil evidence of Homo erectus, which is generally considered to be an ancestor of our species, Homo sapiens. The fossils are often referred to as ‘Java Man’. The decision to return more than 28,000 fossils to Indonesia is the latest act of restitution by the Dutch government of art and artifacts taken — often by force — from countries around the world in colonial times.” (09/28/25)
“Moldova’s ruling pro-EU party pulled comfortably ahead of its Russian-leaning rival in a crucial parliamentary election as final results trickled in on Monday, a relief for the government as it seeks to keep the country out of Moscow’s orbit. With around 93% of votes counted, the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) had 47% versus 27% for the Patriotic Bloc, which opposes closer ties with Brussels. While still short of a majority in the 101-seat chamber, the preliminary count gets PAS closer to the threshold than many political analysts had expected and could make coalition-building less fraught than feared. And with more ballots to come in from overseas voters, who tend to favour integration with Europe, it remains possible PAS will get over 50% in the final tally.” (09/28/25)
“The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, announced on Sunday that he is abandoning his faltering bid to win re-election, just over a month before election day, delivering the message in a social media video set to the strains of My Way. Adams, who was trailing in the polls, was elected as a Democrat but ran for re-election as an independent after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, which were then dropped by the Trump administration in exchange for his cooperation on immigration raids. … The withdrawal of Adams narrows the race to lead the country’s largest city to a three-way contest between the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani; the former governor, Andrew Cuomo; and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.” (09/28/25)
“On the eve of meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is working on a new ceasefire plan with the White House, but details are still being sorted out. Netanyahu has come under heavy international pressure to end the war, especially during the ongoing offensive in Gaza City. The death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has topped 66,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday. In Monday’s White House meeting, Trump is expected to share a new proposal for ending the conflict.” (09/28/25)
“Oregon and Portland are suing President Trump in an effort to block his move to deploy National Guard troops to the state’s largest city. The lawsuit that was filed on Sunday noted that following Trump’s directive, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had signed a memorandum ‘calling 200 members of the Oregon National Guard into federal service for a period of 60 days’ — which the suit called ‘patently unlawful.’ Trump authorized troops in Portland on Saturday in an effort to quash protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [gang lair] in the Democrat-led city that began in early June, saying they could use ‘Full Force’ if necessary.” (09/29/25)
“Russia targeted Ukraine in a massive drone and missile attack on Sunday, killing at least four people in Kyiv and wounding dozens more days after President Trump said Ukraine could win the war against Moscow. The overnight attack lasted more than 12 hours and primarily targeted Kyiv and the nearby region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X. Zelensky said other regions struck included Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Odesa.” (09/27/25)
“The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to uphold its executive order [pretending to end] birthright citizenship in the US. US President Donald Trump signed the order, which [pretends the president can veto the citizenship of] children of migrants who are either in the US illegally [sic] or on temporary visas, on his first day back in office in January. The order has been blocked from taking effect by lower court judges after a series of lawsuits which [noted] it was unconstitutional.” (09/28/25)
“Bitcoin just ended what is historically the largest cryptocurrency’s third-worst week of the year with a greater-than-average drop of 5%. Week 38 effectively closes out the third quarter, which is up about 1%, as well as September, which has managed to hold flat. … On Friday, more than $17 billion in options expired, with the max pain price — the strike price at which option holders lose the most money and options writers profit the most — sitting at $110,000, which acted as a gravitational center for the spot price. … The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries bounced off the 4% support, and is now trading near 4.2%. The dollar index (DXY) continues to hover around long-term support at 98. Meanwhile, metals are leading the action, with silver at around $45 approaching an all-time high at levels last seen in 1980 and 2011. U.S. equities, in the meantime, are just shy of their records.” (09/27/25)
