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A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
The U.S. Navy announced yesterday that the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier has arrived in the Caribbean with its accompanying warships and attack planes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that he would designate a Venezuelan group, Cartel de Los Soles, as a foreign terrorist organization, adding that the group is “headed” by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Also on Sunday, Trump told reporters, “We may be having some discussions with Maduro, we’ll see.” When Trump was asked if he would be interested in negotiations, Trump said “I’ll talk to anybody. I’ll talk to you.” He did not provide further details on potential talks. Yan Zhuang reports for the New York Times.
The U.S. military on Saturday killed another three people accused by the Trump administration of smuggling drugs by sea, the U.S. Southern Command said yesterday on social media. The post said that the strike had been carried out by a joint task force called Southern Spear at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Anushka Patil reports for the New York Times.
Trump’s aides are considering giving Maduro safe passage to another country if they succeed in ousting him, according to a U.S. official and two other sources. Others are suggesting placing Maduro under arrest and putting him on trial in the United States, a third source told POLITICO. Officials are also debating which sanctions to lift on Venezuela and when to do so once Maduro has left power, considering the role of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in rebuilding Venezuela’s economy. When asked about the extent of preparation, a U.S. official said, “We have the concepts of a plan.” Nahal Toosi reports.
SUDANESE CIVIL WAR
The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday mandated a U.N. fact-finding mission working in Sudan to identify those responsible for the atrocities that occurred when the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary took over El Fasher. The decision was part of a resolution that condemned the widespread, ethnically motivated killings, rape, and torture during the conflict. “Much of El Fasher is now a crime scene,” Mona Rishmaw, a member of the U.N. mission in Sudan, told the council, adding that the mission is also investigating similar tactics in Kordofan, “where civilians are encircled, aid is blocked, and starvation is beginning to emerge.” Nick Cummings-Bruce reports for the New York Times.
UNHCR said on Friday that tens of thousands of people who fled El Fasher are unaccounted for. The U.N. has recorded that nearly 100,000 people fled the city since the RSF took over at the end of October, but only around 10,000 have been counted at arrival hubs such as Tawilia, UNHCR’s Head of Sub Office from Port Sudan said. “A significant number of people on the move [are] stranded somewhere, not able to move further.” Emma Farge reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE
The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution on Gaza today, which now states that after reforms in Gaza the conditions “may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday pledged to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state. Hamas said yesterday that the U.S. proposal is biased towards Israel and deprives Palestinians of the right to manage their own affairs by imposing an international mandate on Gaza. Netanyahu said the proposal calls for Gaza to be demilitarised and noted that “either this will happen the easy way, or it will happen the hard way.” Melanie Lidman reports for AP News.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
China yesterday sent coast guard ships to patrol near islands claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo, escalating the current diplomatic feud with Japan. On Friday, the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo warned its citizens against travelling to Japan because of serious safety risks. China did not provide any evidence of such risks. Yan Zhuang reports for the New York Times.
“There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran. All of our facilities are under the safeguards and monitoring” of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told AP News yesterday, adding “there is no enrichment… because our facilities… have been attacked.” Araghchi said that Iran’s message on its nuclear program remains clear: “Iran’s right for enrichment, for peaceful use of nuclear technology, is undeniable.” Jon Gambrell reports.
A wall built by the Israeli military crosses the Blue Line, the de facto border separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to a survey conducted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon last month. A spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary General said that the wall erected by the IDF has made more than 4,000 square metres of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the local population. UNIFIL informed the Israeli military of its findings and requested that the wall be removed. The Israeli military denied that the wall crossed the Blue Line. Lebanon will file a complaint to the U.N. Security Council against Israel for constructing the wall, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Saturday. Jasper Ward reports for Reuters; Laila Bassam reports for Reuters.
The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal today sentenced ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on charges of crimes against humanity for her crackdown on a student uprising last year that killed hundreds of people. The Tribunal also sentenced her former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death for his involvement. Hasina said today, “We lost control of the situation, but to characterize what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts.” Julhas Alam reports for AP News.
South Africa is investigating a charter flight that unexpectedly landed in Johannesburg last Thursday with more than 150 Palestinians from Gaza. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, “These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here.” After NGO intervention, most passengers were allowed entry, amid concerns that the secret operation was part of a broader Israeli effort to push Palestinians out of Gaza. Gerald Imray, Alfonso Nqunjana, and Julia Frankel report for AP News.
Colombian human rights ombudswoman Iris Marin said on Saturday that seven children were killed in an airstrike by the Colombian military against the FARC-EMC rebel group last week. Marin said the minors had been forcibly recruited by FARC-EMC and were being used as “human shields,” adding that “the armed forces must adopt precautions to protect children who have been forced to take part in hostilities.” Manuel Rueda reports for AP News.
The Islamic State-backed Allied Democratic Forces on Friday killed at least 17 people in an attack on a hospital in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Saturday. Justin Kabumba reports for AP News.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Alibaba provides tech support for Chinese military operations against targets in the United States, according to a White House national security memo seen by the Financial Times. The memo says that Alibaba shared customer data with the Chinese government and PLA, which includes IP addresses, WIFI information and payment records. The memo did not specify what the PLA is alleged to be targeting in the United States. Alibaba rejected the claims, adding that the intelligence being relied upon is “complete nonsense” and “this is plainly an attempt to manipulate public opinion and malign Alibaba.” Demetri Sevastopulo reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
“We told the Trump administration that the supply of F-35s to Saudi Arabia needs to be subject to Saudi normalization with Israel,” an Israeli official said. Trump told reporters on Friday that he plans to discuss the possibility of normalization with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, adding “I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords fairly shortly.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
A panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court judges voted on Friday to accept charges of coercion against Eduardo Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro moved to the United States earlier this year and claimed credit for pushing the White House to raise tariffs on Brazilian goods to 50% in retaliation for the criminal case against his father. Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Homeland Security Department has diverted thousands of federal agents from their core missions like child exploitation investigations, counterterrorism, and human trafficking to focus on immigration enforcement, a New York Times investigation found. The investigation shows, for example, that Homeland Security investigators worked approximately 33% fewer hours on child exploitation cases from February to April compared to prior years, despite claims from officials that overall law enforcement and national security remain effective. The investigation is based on previously undisclosed DHS documents – including statistical reports about workloads, search warrants and arrests – and interviews with more than 65 officials. Nicholas Nehamas, Michael H. Keller, Alexandra Berzon, Hamed Aleaziz, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report.
Border Patrol agents deployed across Charlotte, N.C., arrested 81 people on Saturday, Senior Border Patrol official Grego Bovino said on social media, adding that the mission was a “success.” An immigrant rights group said it was the largest number of immigrant arrests in the state’s recent history. Eduardo Medina and Sonia A. Rao report for the New York Times.
At least four people died and four others were taken to hospital after a boat capsized off the coast of Imperial Beach near San Diego on Friday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard said it was unclear where the boat came from, but said some of the survivors said they were Mexican nationals. Mark Walker reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Former Federal Reserve Board Gov. Adriana Kugler resigned in August amid scrutiny of her financial holdings, which appeared to violate the central bank’s ethics rules, according to a document released by the Office of Government Ethics on Saturday. The document shows that either Kugler or her husband bought and sold multiple individual stocks in 2024, a category of asset that senior Fed officials are not allowed to purchase. Victoria Guida reports for POLITICO.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and acting U.S. attorney Lindsay Halligan submitted written statements on Friday pushing back against a federal judge’s suggestion that records of grand jury proceedings in former FBI Director James Comey’s case were missing. Halligan said that the gap of more than two hours in the transcript “consisted solely of the grand jury’s private deliberations,” adding “there are no missing minutes, contrary to the suggestions raised by the court.” Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
DOMESTIC DEPLOYMENT OF U.S. MILITARY
The Pentagon is withdrawing hundreds of out-of-state National Guard troops from Chicago and Portland, Ore., according to two U.S. officials. The Guard troops arrived in these cities in early October but were never deployed onto the streets as a result of ongoing legal challenges. The Pentagon has not formally announced the withdrawal but the Northern Command indicated on Friday that changes to the federalized troop mission in those cities were imminent. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump yesterday urged House Republicans to vote in support of a measure that would compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. Trump said on social media that Republicans should back the measure “because we have nothing to hide.” Ashley Ahn reports for the New York Times.
Trump on Friday directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI to investigate links between Jeffrey Epstein and notable democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, and former Harvard President Larry Summers, as well as the bank JPMorgan. “This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island,’ Trump wrote on social media. Bondi appointed Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to run the probe. Gregory Svirnovskiy and Erica Orden report for POLITICO.
Trump also on Friday pardoned Dan Wilson, a Jan 6. 2021 defendant, for the second time. Trump already erased Wilson’s felony conviction for his role in the Capitol riot, but he has now issued a “full and unconditional” pardon for Wilson’s other federal crimes, which include Wilson’s firearms case in which he pleaded guilty to two felony gun offences. Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.
Trump withdrew Donald Korb’s nomination to be chief counsel for the Internal Revenue Service at the end of last week. While Trump did not provide an explanation for the withdrawal, right-wing political activist Laura Loomer reposted Trump’s announcement on social media with the hashtag “LOOMERED.” Loomer had criticised Korb on Wednesday for praising Democrats and donating to them. Danny Nguyen reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from coercing the University of California by threatening to cut its research funding in violation of the First Amendment. The judge also said that the government was forbidden from seeking payments from the university system in connection with civil rights investigations. Alan Blinder reports for the New York Times.
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