“US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering launching military strikes on Venezuela, according to new reporting from independent journalist Ken Klippenstein. Military sources on Tuesday told Klippenstein that the Trump administration is mulling an attack against Venezuela unless it cracks down on drug cartels that it claims are shipping fentanyl into the United States. Contrary to the administration’s claims, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies, Venezuela plays virtually no role in fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking. Klippenstein’s sources said the attack was likely to involve ‘shooting down Venezuelan military aircraft or by bombing Venezuelan military airfield,’ and that the US Air Force has been rehearsing for such a mission in recent weeks. Such an attack would mark a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s hostilities toward Venezuela, which escalated last week when the administration bombed a boat off the Venezuelan coast that it alleged was carrying drug traffickers.” (09/10/25)
“President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum launching a crackdown on misinformation in drug advertisements. The president signed the memorandum Tuesday. ‘My administration will ensure that the current regulatory framework for drug advertising results in fair, balanced and complete information for American consumers,’ Trump said in the document. It directs Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ‘take appropriate action’ to ensure transparency and accuracy in prescription drug advertisements. It also calls on the head of the Food and Drug Administration to enforce the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act’s prescription drug advertising provisions.” (09/10/25)
“A jury was selected Wednesday in the trial of a man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump while he played golf last year in South Florida. The panel of 12 jurors and four alternates was sworn in on the third day of jury selection at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida. The jury has four white men, one Black man, six white women, and one Black woman. The alternates are two white men and two white women. Ryan Routh’s trial begins nearly a year after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted Routh’s attempt to shoot the Republican presidential nominee. Routh, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. Routh is representing himself after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon agreed to let him dismiss his court-appointed attorneys.” (09/10/25)
“French President Emmanuel Macron named loyalist Sebastien Lecornu, a one-time conservative protege who rallied behind his 2017 presidential run, as prime minister on Tuesday, defying expectations he might tack towards the left. The choice of Lecornu, 39, indicates Macron’s determination to press on with a minority government that stands firmly behind his pro-business economic reform agenda, under which taxes on business and the wealthy have been cut and the retirement age raised.” (09/09/25)
“Armed soldiers have been patrolling the streets of Kathmandu, ordering people to remain in their homes, following a wave of deadly protests in Nepal’s capital. The Nepali army checked vehicles and people on Wednesday amid an indefinite curfew, imposed in a bid to ‘normalise’ the capital after mass unrest saw demonstrators set fire to several government buildings and force Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign. The protests, triggered by a social media ban, have escalated since Monday, when security forces killed 19 demonstrators and injured hundreds.” (09/10/25)
“A judge on Tuesday night blocked President Donald Trump from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as a lawsuit challenging her removal continues. ‘The public interest in Federal Reserve independence weighs in favor of Cook’s reinstatement,’ U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb wrote in granting Cook a preliminary injunction barring her termination. Cobb said that ‘Cook has made a strong showing that her purported removal was done in violation of the Federal Reserve Act’s ‘for cause’ provision.’ … Trump said on Aug. 25 that he was removing Cook because of suggestions by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that she committed mortgage fraud in signing documents for two properties she owns. Cook signed those documents before she joined the Fed.” (09/09/25)
“Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani vowed on Tuesday to retaliate against Israel for its strike against Hamas’s political leadership based in Doha. … Al-Thani called the strike on Doha ‘state terrorism’ by Israel and took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who al-Thani said threatened regional security and violated the sovereignty of nearby nations. … Israel escalated its war against Hamas on Tuesday by launching an assassination strike on Hamas’s political leadership based in Qatar. The move appeared to end any efforts to release hostages through negotiation, which have been taking place in Qatar and with the help of its leaders.” (09/09/25)
“Democrat James Walkinshaw decisively won a special election Tuesday to replace former U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, narrowing Republicans’ majority in the House of Representatives to six seats. The Associated Press called the race in Walkinshaw’s favor at 7:36 p.m., with the Democrat taking roughly 75% of the vote compared to Republican contender Stewart Whitson’s 25%. … Walkinshaw’s election puts a coalition of Democrats and a handful of Republicans one vote closer to forcing a full House vote on the release of records related to disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein.” (09/09/25)
“A Russian bomb exploded on Tuesday in a crowd of older people as they picked up pension payments in a village near the front line in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 20 people, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The local authorities in the Donetsk region later reported a death toll of 21 and said that an additional 21 people had been injured. A video shared by Mr. Zelensky showed dead bodies scattered around a burned minibus. The veracity of the video could not immediately be independently confirmed.” (09/09/25)
“President Nicolas Maduro said Monday that Christmas will come early again this year, decreeing that the annual holiday — which is typically celebrated in late December in most of the world — will begin on Oct. 1 in Venezuela. The move, which he said was aimed at bringing ‘joy’ to the Venezuelan people, came on the heels of Maduro significantly increasing his planned troop deployment to the country’s borders amid an escalating military standoff with the Trump administration, which accuses him of colluding with drug gangs to smuggle narcotics into the U.S. In 2024, Maduro brought Christmas celebrations forward during a crisis following a disputed presidential election, which opponents and the U.S. government accused Maduro of stealing.” (09/09/25)
