“Drug lord Ernesto ‘Don Neto’ Fonseca Carrillo, who was convicted in the 1985 killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was freed from prison after completing his 40-year sentence, a federal agent confirmed late Wednesday. Fonseca, 94, had been serving the remainder of his sentence under home confinement outside Mexico City since being moved from prison in 2016. The federal agent, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said he was released last weekend. The co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel along with Rafael Caro Quintero, Fonseca was convicted in the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena.” (04/09/25)
“President Trump announced Wednesday that his heightened ‘reciprocal’ tariff scheme was being paused for 90 days in response to overtures from dozens of countries — but duties on Chinese imports would be ratcheted up to 125% due to a ‘lack of respect’ from Beijing. ‘Based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the [US Trade Representative], to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social, sending Wall Street soaring.” (04/09/25)
“At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a multi-storey residential building in the east of Gaza City, a local hospital says. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said warplanes targeted the area near al-Hawashi mosque in the Shejaiya neighbourhood on Tuesday morning. It said eight children were among the dead, more than 60 people were injured, and that rescuers were still searching for two dozen others under the rubble. The Israeli military said it had struck a ‘senior Hamas terrorist’ who was responsible for planning and executing attacks in the area. Numerous steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of ‘precision weapons,’ it added.” (04/09/24)
“Rep. Andy Ogles personally warned Speaker Mike Johnson not to go ahead Wednesday with a contentious House vote essential to advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda that had drawn scorn from the right. After hours of scrambling to convince the Tennessee Republican and a dozen other defectors, Johnson finally obliged. The speaker punted Wednesday night on that key vote on the Senate Republicans’ budget blueprint after failing to appease a group of House GOP conservatives demanding steep spending cuts. Now, GOP leaders will spend the coming hours in thorny talks about how to come up with more spending cuts — despite the Senate GOP’s firm resistance to any changes to their plan. Trump had spent recent days, even amid his own political calamity on his escalating trade war, trying to rescue the plan.” (04/09/25)
“Germany’s centrist parties on Wednesday finalized a coalition agreement, paving the way for the Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party to form the country’s new government. Party members must now sign off on the deal before the new government can assume its post. … Negotiations between the parties began soon after the German election in February, but ran into hurdles in recent weeks after initial strong progress with the talks prompting a major fiscal reform package. Policies around taxes, the federal budget and migration were widely seen as contentious points among the parties.” (04/09/25)
“A sharp sell-off in U.S. government bond markets has sparked fears about the growing fallout from President Trump’s sweeping tariffs and retaliation by China, the European Union and others …. Yields on 10-year Treasuries — the benchmark for a wide variety of debt — shot 0.2 percentage points higher on Wednesday, to 4.45 percent …. Yields on the 30-year bond rose significantly as well, at one point on Wednesday topping 5 percent. …. Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, sought to tamp down concerns on Wednesday, brushing off the sell-off as nothing more than investors who bought assets with borrowed money having to cover their losses. …. former U.S. Treasury secretary Lawrence H. Summers said the broader sell-off suggested a ‘generalized aversion to US assets in global financial markets’ and warned about the possibility of a ‘serious financial crisis wholly induced by US government tariff policy.'” (04/09/25)
“Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced the expulsion of two military diplomats from the Romanian Embassy in a tit-for-tat move a month after Romania expelled two Russian diplomats. Mutual expulsions of diplomats by Russia and Western countries have become increasingly common in recent years amid heightened tensions over the fighting in Ukraine. The ministry said in a statement that it summoned the embassy’s deputy head of mission, Liliana Burda, and handed her a notice declaring the embassy’s defense attaché and his deputy ‘persona non grata.'” (04/09/25)
“Preparations for popular, often daylong Lent and Holy Week processions are underway across Latin America — but not in Nicaragua. They’ve been largely banned for a second year, one of many concerns for the faithful in a country that human rights advocates, exiled priests and the U.S. government say is pursuing one of the world’s most flagrant persecutions of religion. … More than 200 religious figures are in exile, making it difficult to hold Mass or hear confessions in Nicaragua, especially in small villages. Many pastors still in Nicaragua are under near-constant surveillance, obliged to inform the police if they want to visit someone who’s ill and to submit drafts of their sermons for approval, according to those in exile and human rights activists.” (04/09/25)
“Ukraine’s military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview published on Wednesday that Russia had launched a new offensive on the northeast of the country, adding that a large increase in assaults was already being observed. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had warned earlier that Russia was preparing an offensive on the two regions of Kharkiv and Sumy. … The war, the first year of which was marked by rapid Russian territorial gains followed by Ukrainian counter-attacks, has since become far more of a battlefield stalemate, with Moscow grinding out relatively small gains by attacking with wave after wave of infantry squads.” (04/09/25)
“British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said Wednesday that a deal to save British Steel is within sight as talks with Chinese owner Jingye continue. Nandy told the BBC that an agreement to make sure British Steel continues ‘to be an important part of our economy for years to come’ is ‘achievable and within sight.’ Nationalization is possible after Jingye said in March that British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant is no longer financially sustainable and is in danger of running out of raw materials within weeks. The British government has offered $639 million to Jingye to convert the plant to greener electric arc furnaces that can use scrap metal rather than raw materials. The company has rejected that and is reportedly asking for approximately $1.2 billion.” (04/09/25)
