The Rest of the World Podcast

Weekday morning and evening editions. Saturdays once. Good news on Sundays. All sources labeled.I will never put the news behind a paywall. If you want to support keeping it free for everyone else, there’s a paid option. That’s all it is.THE OMAR SEARCHFederal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in the Washington area on Monday.Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out the search, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department said they executed a “judicially authorized search warrant” secured by the department. It said the search is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation and gave no other details. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson referred questions to the Justice Department.No charges have been announced. Federal officials have not said what the investigation concerns.Omar called the search “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” She said she will not be silenced.Vice President JD Vance has said, without offering evidence, that Omar committed immigration fraud. Omar has denied the allegations.The search came three weeks before Election Day, November 3. Omar won the Democratic primary for her Minnesota seat in August. A 2024 Justice Department memo on election-year sensitivities says law enforcement officers and prosecutors may never select the timing of investigative steps “for the purpose of affecting any election.”🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in the Washington area Monday under a warrant the Justice Department says it secured. No charges have been announced, and officials have not said what the investigation concerns. It came three weeks before Election Day.Sources: PBS NewsHour (US; AP copy; HSI agents, Justice Department warrant statement, DHS referral, Omar’s denial, Vance); Justice Department (US; primary document; Election Year Sensitivities memo, June 24, 2024); Ballotpedia (US; August 11 primary result); MPR News (US; AP copy; people familiar with the matter, warrant language); Forbes (US; Omar’s statement, no stated reason for the probe)SHIPS HIT OFF BULGARIADrones hit two ships in the Black Sea off Bulgaria early Tuesday. One sank, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.The Chelsea 3, a Maltese-flagged cargo ship, was hit by three drones about 18 nautical miles off the Bulgarian coast. It happened at about 1:30 a.m. local time. Radev said its 15-man crew, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, was rescued. He said one crew member from the ship that sank was also rescued. He gave no details on the others aboard.Radev called the attacks “absolutely unacceptable.” He said Bulgaria has no clear evidence of who carried them out. He said the outcome benefits Russia. Russia’s ambassador will be summoned, and he has asked NATO and the European Union for help. No one has been named as responsible.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Black Sea is now another front in Russia’s war in Ukraine.A week earlier, two other merchant ships were attacked in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. A Turkish grain ship carrying cargo from a Ukrainian port sank in the Black Sea last week. Two sailors were killed. Zelenskyy blamed Russia.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Drones hit two ships off Bulgaria’s coast Tuesday, and one sank. Bulgaria says it has no clear evidence of who launched them, but that the result benefits Russia.Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; October 13; Chelsea 3, crew, Radev, von der Leyen); Durango Herald (US; AP copy; one crew member rescued from the sunken ship, NATO and EU request); Splash247 (maritime trade publication; Chelsea 3 hit by three drones, location, attacks a week earlier); Euronews (France-based, pan-European; October 5; Turkish grain ship, Zelenskyy)LAVROV REJECTS THE ENERGY PAUSERussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected any pause in the fighting after President Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire.Lavrov said Moscow will press ahead with its military campaign. He said he does not think Zelenskyy “deserves a respite.”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said contacts on an energy truce are ongoing. Zelenskyy has asked for 60 days to prepare elections. Peskov said Putin could order a ceasefire only on the day of voting.Trump says Zelenskyy and Putin agreed to stop attacks on energy sites. Asked about Russian strikes, he said there have been violations on both sides. He claimed, without evidence, that at least 32,000 people have been killed in the war this month.Zelenskyy says Russia has attacked at least six Ukrainian energy facilities since the truce was announced. He says Kyiv did not strike Russian refineries overnight. He reported 33 people wounded across Ukraine on Monday.French President Emmanuel Macron said France has not noted any energy ceasefire from the Russian side. Poland’s Donald Tusk said Russia is not interested in a ceasefire, de-escalation or peace. He said he will go to Brussels to urge European partners to consider more sanctions.🌍 Translator’s Note: Outside the US, the energy ceasefire is read with doubt, and several analysts see Moscow gaining more than Kyiv. The Kremlin has not formally confirmed it. Reporting on Russia says Peskov said Putin does not want a temporary ceasefire and is ready to work toward long-term peace. Sources close to the Russian government say Moscow doubts Washington can deliver a binding deal on terms it likes. A former British ambassador and Russia specialist writes that Trump “always returns to his default setting of rewarding Russia and pressuring Ukraine.” AP reports that Trump’s remarks questioning Zelenskyy got heavy coverage on Russian state television. Carnegie analyst Tatiana Stanovaya calls the diesel deal a modest economic gain that could look like a triumph for Putin. German political scientist Hanna Notte sees a new wedge between Trump and Zelenskyy. An Austrian report offers the one dissent: Trump’s interference is more likely to strengthen Zelenskyy than weaken him. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says Russia has not been seen to abide by the ceasefire.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Trump says Russia and Ukraine agreed to stop hitting energy sites. Russia’s foreign minister rejects any pause, and Ukraine says six energy facilities were hit after the announcement.Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; October 13; Trump’s claims, Zelenskyy’s six facilities and 33 wounded, Lavrov); Al Jazeera (October 12; Macron, Tusk); PBS NewsHour (US; AP copy; Peskov, Stanovaya); Moscow Times (Russia-focused English-language outlet; October 12; Kremlin position, Peskov, government sources); Moscow Times (October 12; opinion by Nigel Gould-Davies, IISS); ZDFheute (Germany; October 12; Notte, Kallas); ORF (Austria; October 11; assessment of Trump’s interference)RIYADH STAYS CLOSEDSaudi authorities say Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport will stay closed until Saturday.The Houthis fired at the Saudi capital again on Monday. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted another ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh. The Houthis said their target was the airport. On Tuesday the coalition said it destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at the Khamis Mushait airbase.The UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, warned Friday that Yemen has returned to “full-scale war.”Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, offered Sunday to help facilitate talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. He made the offer in a call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. Saudi state media said the two discussed efforts to reduce tensions. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said Monday that Tehran does not want the war to continue between two Islamic countries.Trump said the Houthis are “misbehaving very badly.” A Houthi official warned of a swift and painful response against American interests if Washington gets involved.Delta has delayed the launch of its Atlanta-Riyadh route, which was set for October 23.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Riyadh’s airport is closed until Saturday after days of Houthi missile attacks. A Houthi official has warned of a response against US interests if Washington joins the war. Delta has delayed its October 23 Atlanta-Riyadh launch.Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; October 12; interception, airport closure, Trump, Houthi warning, Delta); Al Jazeera (October 13 live blog; Khamis Mushait interception); Al Jazeera (October 12; Araghchi call, Saudi state media, Iran’s spokesman, Grundberg)WHAT THE CEASEFIRE LEFTGaza’s Health Ministry says 1,493 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, and 5,299 wounded.The figures are as of Monday. A week earlier the ministry counted 1,460 killed. Islamic Relief says Israeli forces have killed or wounded a Palestinian in Gaza on average every 90 minutes.The Israeli military said two men killed this week near the Jordanian Field Hospital were Islamic Jihad operatives. It said a civil defense worker killed near Kamal Adwan Hospital was a Hamas sniper. Hamas rejects that, and it has not been independently verified.Palestinians held funerals Monday for three people killed Sunday when an Israeli airstrike hit a tent in Khan Younis.Aid trucks are entering Gaza at roughly a third of the agreed rate. Forty-four percent of essential medicines are out of stock. No patient was permitted to leave through the Rafah crossing in the past week. Israel controls nearly two thirds of the Strip, and no international stabilization force has deployed.The UN humanitarian office, in a snapshot dated September 30, says all functioning health facilities are only partially functional. The exceptions are four field hospitals, 22 primary care centers and 15 medical points. It says 3,385 patients have been evacuated for treatment since the ceasefire. More than 1.4 million people, 67 percent of the population,

Weekday morning and evening editions. Saturdays once. Good news on Sundays. All sources labeled.THE RIYADH AIRPORT STRIKESA Houthi missile killed 13 people at Riyadh’s main airport on Saturday.Saudi civil aviation authorities say 309 people were wounded. Some are in critical condition. Saudi authorities list 12 of the dead: four Saudis and two Bangladeshis, and one each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.It was the third attack in a week on King Khalid International Airport. Thursday’s strike killed three Saudis, including a pilot. Hours after Saturday’s attack, the Saudi-led coalition said a projectile fell near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.The Houthis say they struck the Riyadh airport in three phases, beginning Friday evening. The head of their media office said the group had shut the airport down. On Sunday, Saudi authorities said another strike on the airport killed a Pakistani resident, and wounded 11. They extended the suspension of operations on Monday.The Houthis have declared Saudi airspace a zone of military operations and have told airlines to avoid it. Any aircraft there, except over Mecca and Medina, is a target. They also claim attacks on two Aramco sites in eastern Saudi Arabia, the Shadqam gas facility and a refinery in Tanajib.The Saudi-led coalition called Saturday’s strike a “full-fledged war crime” and said it will respond decisively. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister called for a firm response at a conference in Riyadh on Monday. The attacks come as Yemen’s government presses an offensive against the Houthis with Saudi air support. The scale of the attacks on Riyadh is unprecedented since the Yemen war began in 2014.President Donald Trump called the attack terrible and said he is evaluating whether the United States should join the war against the Houthis.🌍 Translator’s Note: Outside the US, the Riyadh strikes are read as a threat to Gulf energy security, not only an attack on an airport. AFP’s account leads with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister. He warned that “Energy security cannot be taken for granted.” Iraq called for a comprehensive end to military operations. Russia said the region’s problems can only be resolved by diplomacy. Iran voiced concern without condemning the attacks and offered to facilitate dialogue. China condemned them. Eight nationalities are among the dead.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s airport this week have killed at least 13 people, one of them an American. Trump is weighing whether to join the war, and US citizens in Saudi Arabia are told to avoid the airport.Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; Reuters copy; Saturday toll, victims’ nationalities, Dammam projectile, Houthi statements and airspace declaration, coalition response, Trump, US Mission advisory); Arab News (Saudi Arabia, Saudi-owned; AFP copy; condemnations, Iraq and Russia statements, victims’ nationalities); Le Monde (France; AFP copy; 13 dead, three phases, Sunday strike and extended suspension, Aramco claims, energy minister, Iran and China reactions, scale since 2014)TRUTH SOCIAL DIPLOMACYMoscow has not confirmed the energy ceasefire President Donald Trump announced Sunday via Truth Social.Trump posted that the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was in effect immediately. He wrote that both parties had agreed and told them, “Do not break it!” He gave no details.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared surprised. He said Ukraine supports the ceasefire and that Russia must support it too. Later he said Russian strikes had hit multiple Ukrainian power plants on Sunday, including one in the capital and one in Kharkiv. Ukraine’s grid operator introduced emergency power cuts in several regions.The announcement came two days after the United States eased sanctions on Russian diesel. Zelenskyy condemned that deal. On Saturday, Trump said it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president.” Zelenskyy said in an interview that Ukrainians will choose their own leader. He said Ukraine would organize elections within a 60-day total ceasefire.The United Kingdom, France, Canada and the European Commission backed the ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron said France supports a real energy ceasefire and that Russia refuses one by intensifying its strikes. Germany’s foreign minister said Berlin continues to fully support Zelenskyy. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the diesel deal works against allied efforts to bring stability to Europe.The fighting continued. Russia struck two apartment buildings in Sloviansk on Sunday morning and injured four people, the mayor said. Warehouses burned outside Kyiv after an overnight attack.Ukrainian drones hit a Yandex data centre in Vladimir, east of Moscow, overnight. It was the third Yandex data centre attacked this month. The company says the Vladimir centre has halted operations. Taxi services failed in Russian cities, and similar problems were reported in Serbia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia. Russia’s Defence Ministry says it shot down 479 Ukrainian drones over 17 regions and Crimea.🌍 Translator’s Note: Outside the US, the diesel deal and the ceasefire announcement read as a fuel-price move aimed at the midterms, with costs for Kyiv and for Washington’s own sanctions strategy. Germany’s dpa calculates that 300,000 tons covers about 14 hours of US diesel use. Berlin says it keeps its sanctions and takes no Russian oil. London says it will keep strengthening its own. A German analysis says Trump is relying on Putin for domestic relief and risks undercutting his own sanctions policy.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Trump announced an energy ceasefire that Moscow has not confirmed, two days after easing sanctions on Russian diesel. At least six US senators call that deal illegal.Sources: Euronews (France-based, pan-European; announcement, Zelenskyy, allies’ reactions, Macron, Wadephul, Carney, senators, Iran war and midterms); Euronews (France-based, pan-European; Sloviansk, Kyiv warehouses, power cuts, Yandex, Defence Ministry claim); ITV News (UK; updated October 11; Trump’s Saturday remark, Downing Street on sanctions); inFranken (Germany; dpa copy; 14-hour calculation, Berlin’s position); :newstime (Germany; sourced to dpa and Reuters; political reading of the deal)THE SEVEN CONDITIONSIran says Washington’s answer to its seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not enough.Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said so Sunday. Hassan Qashqavi, a spokesman for the parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, said the conditions were set by the highest authorities and cannot be revised at lower levels.Qashqavi said Qatar conveyed Washington’s response. In his account, it asked Iran to reopen the strait first and to carry out the seven conditions gradually afterward. Iran’s position is that the conditions come first. Its parliament speaker said the same on October 4.Qashqavi said Iran’s seven-day proposal changes the timetable and not the terms. The framework discussed in Islamabad had periods of 30 and 60 days. He questioned why Washington wants to discuss Iran’s nuclear program when it says its strikes destroyed it. He said Iran wants to know what, precisely, the United States wants to discuss and said that the next move belongs to Washington.Trump told a campaign crowd, “Either they give us everything, or they don’t exist any longer.”Two ships were hit Sunday. A drone struck the tanker Petro Dolphin at anchor off Sohar, Oman. India’s shipping minister said nine of its 11 Indian crew were rescued and two are missing. An unidentified projectile struck the tanker Valthera in the Strait of Hormuz. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said all 11 of its crew are safe.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Iran says Washington’s answer on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not enough. Iranian officials are citing the November 3 midterms in their bargaining.Sources: Tehran Times (Iran, state-aligned; October 10; Qashqavi interview with Mehr: conditions, sequence, Qatar, timetable, nuclear question, midterms); Seoul Economic Daily (South Korea; October 4; parliament speaker’s position); Fox News (US, Tier 1 caution; live blog October 11; relays IRNA on Rezaei, Trump’s rally remark, India’s shipping minister and UKMTO on the ship attacks)WHAT THE POLICE DIDFrench police arrested 1,949 people on October 1, more than on the Yellow Vest movement’s record day.The Interior Ministry announced the figure. The Yellow Vest record was 1,723 arrests on December 8, 2018, many of them preventive. Law enforcement says it made 6,059 arrests between September 28 and October 5.Actions were reported at 180 high schools on September 28. By October 1 the number was more than 1,000. On October 1, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced riot police and gendarmes to respond to what he called urban violence. He told prefects on September 30 that proportionate force must never inhibit action to restore order. On October 2 he said police had been given “no instructions for restraint.”Footage has shown the results. In Alençon, in Normandy, an officer used a chokehold on a 14-year-old girl as she said she could not breathe. In Paris, a senior police commissioner detained two bystanders because they were filming a police operation. On several occasions, plainclothes officers who were not identified as police mocked students.A 16-year-old was blinded in one eye on September 30. The prosecutor, Catherine Sorita-Minard, said the injury was consistent with a shot from a rubber bullet launcher.Cédric Moreau de Bellaing is a sociologist at the École Normale Supérieure. He says French crowd control now treats an operation as successful when disturbances are minimized or prevented, which makes force more likely. Bertrand Cavallier is a retired gendarmerie general. He says the first officers on the scene often come from street units th

WILDLIFE COMEBACKSWildlife populations have fallen 73 percent on average since 1970.That is the headline figure in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Living Planet Report 2026, published October 7. The number is an average of change in monitored population sizes. It is not a count of animals lost. The index, produced by the Zoological Society of London, covers 35,803 population trends across 5,790 vertebrate species from 1970 to 2022.Inside that average, the report finds recoveries. About half of the monitored populations are stable or increasing. WWF puts the split at 7 percent stable and 43 percent increasing. The declines are larger than the gains, so the average still falls. WWF Chief Scientist Rebecca Shaw said species that were in freefall a generation ago are “fighting their way back.”The report names tigers, green sea turtles, southern African elephants, and Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna among the recoveries.Wild tiger numbers rose more than 70 percent between 2010 and 2025. WWF credits commitments from tiger range countries, including India, Bhutan, Nepal, Laos and China.In 2025, the green sea turtle became the first marine turtle moved from endangered to least concern. The listing is the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. The change reflected 50 years of research, protection of nesting females and eggs, fishing-gear measures and community involvement.By 2010, Atlantic bluefin tuna had fallen 80 percent and were listed as endangered. They are now returning in numbers not seen in generations. Tom Horton is a research fellow at the University of Exeter. He said fishers in British waters who had never seen a bluefin now meet them regularly.The mountain gorilla was on the fast track to extinction in the 1980s. More than 1,100 now live in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Professor Brendon Godley of the University of Exeter said populations can rebound when “science, policy, enforcement and public support align.” He cautioned against complacency.The report says conservation alone cannot reverse the declines. It names the food, energy and finance systems as the main drivers of nature loss.Sources: WWF (Living Planet Report press release: 73 percent figure, index scope, 7 and 43 percent split, Shaw quote, conservation-alone and systems drivers); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent: tiger, green sea turtle and bluefin figures, Horton, Godley, mountain gorilla count)JORDAN HOPE’S SHOESJordan Hope took off his own shoes and gave them to a stranger.Hope is 18 and a recent high school graduate in Maricopa, Arizona. He saw an older man outside a drugstore in shoes that were barely staying on his feet. The man used a walker. Hope stopped, took off his size 13 Nike slides and handed them over.He did not stop there. He bought the man candy. He called him a rideshare and followed it to his home. He stayed a while to talk. That is when he learned the man’s wife had died two weeks earlier. The man is 80.Yareli Madrid filmed the first moments from the parking lot and posted the video on Facebook. Hope did not know he had been filmed. He found out the next day, after the post drew hundreds of comments. Someone who recognized him as a former student helped trace it back to him.Hope credits his parents, his youth pastor and his faith. Of the man, he said, “I just think he needed a friend.”The man did not want to take part in the story. He told a reporter that he struggles to ask for help. He was grateful to have made a new friend during a hard time. Hope checks in with him by phone every day. The two plan to stay in touch and may attend church together.A crowdfunding page for the man had raised more than $2,000 within a couple of days, as of October 8. Hope said the money will go toward groceries and other expenses.“You never know what someone is going through,” Hope said.Sources: ABC15 Arizona (Phoenix: size 13 slides, walker, the man’s age, candy, rideshare, the man’s response, Hope quote); KPHO via Gray News (Madrid video, daily calls, crowdfunding total, Hope quote)HAWK-EAGLES OF MAHAGNAOEight rescued and rehabilitated wild animals were released at Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park in Burauen, Leyte, in the Philippines. Two were endangered bird species. An endangered South Philippine Hawk-Eagle led the release.The animals included a Philippine Hanging Parrot and a South Philippine Hawk-Eagle. The release took place on July 31.Separately, the Philippine Eagle Foundation reported a nest of the same hawk-eagle species in the same park. The foundation says it is the first documented active South Philippine Hawk-Eagle nest on Leyte Island and the first recorded in Eastern Visayas. The species is endangered. Logging and agricultural expansion have cost it habitat. Hunting, trapping and poaching for the pet trade add to the pressure.Foundation biologist Tristan Senarillos and his team documented the pair’s complete nesting cycle. They first documented the pair in November 2025. By January, the female was incubating a single egg. The egg hatched on March 2, after 41 days. On May 17, the young hawk-eagle made its first flight.The team monitored the nest for 76 days. The foundation says this is the first time researchers have documented the species’ full nesting cycle. It says the data could “guide stronger protection of breeding pairs and their forests.”The park’s Protected Area Management Board approved four resolutions to protect the nest site and the hawk-eagle family. The Burauen local government is preparing an ordinance that would name the South Philippine Hawk-Eagle a flagship species for conservation. The foundation is preparing scientific papers on its findings.Sources: Daily Tribune (Philippines: July 31 release report, eight animals, two endangered bird species, hawk-eagle and Philippine Hanging Parrot among them); Daily Tribune (Aug. 27 nest report: Senarillos, nesting timeline, first-on-Leyte claim, protections)THE SOFTBALL SISTERSLess than an hour earlier, Samantha Rensvold had found out that she had just played against her sister.It happened on a Friday in early August 2025, at the 12th Annual Veterans Memorial Softball Classic in Belgrade, Montana. Rensvold, then 18, played for the Army team. Kyann Dean, then 17, played for the Air Force.Both were born and adopted in Great Falls. Both knew they had a sister somewhere. Rensvold’s parents had always told her. She knew the sister was in Montana and little more.Hayley Hernandez played on Army with Rensvold and on the Huntley Project team with Dean. She saw the resemblance. In the dugout during the opening game, she asked Rensvold, “Are you adopted?”Rensvold told her mom. Her mom spoke with Dean’s mother. The details matched. After Air Force beat Army, Dean’s mother told her. Dean said she thought she was in trouble, because her mom’s tone was urgent.Rensvold misplayed a ball in right field because she was listening in on that conversation, she admitted. The tournament organizer, Jim Matter Jr., announced the news to the crowd during opening ceremonies.The sisters then found more in common. Each wore No. 1 at the tournament. Both play volleyball as outside hitters. They share the same laugh. They also share a younger brother, Case, whom Rensvold had already met.Rensvold now pitches and plays infield at Spokane Colleges. Dean and her family recently visited the campus to tour it. Rensvold had planned to go home to Montana the day before. She stayed to meet them. She said softball was “the perfect setting to meet her.”Sources: The Belgrade News (Montana, Aug. 3, 2025: tournament, teams, Hernandez, parents, ages, brother, similarities); The Spokesman-Review (Washington, May 13, 2026: Spokane Colleges, campus visit, Rensvold quote)PENNY AND GERTIEA kangaroo grooms a bison calf almost every day.At Six Flags Great Adventure’s Wild Safari in Jackson, New Jersey, the two have become friends. Penny is a hand-raised kangaroo just over a year old. Gertie is an American bison calf, two months old as of August. They spend time near the safari’s veterinary clinic. Most days, staff arrive to find Penny tending to her much larger companion.Dr. William Rives, director of safari at Six Flags Great Adventure, said it is unusual for two such different species to form this kind of connection. The animal care team did not expect it.Penny was preparing to join the safari’s kangaroo population. Six Flags said the pair were making the most of their time together until then.Sources: Six Flags Great Adventure (the park’s own blog post: ages, daily routine, vet clinic, Penny’s move); News 12 New Jersey (Aug. 13, 2026: friendship, Rives)“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789 Get full access to The Rest of the World Report at www.restoftheworldreport.com/subscribe

Weekday morning and evening editions. Saturdays once. Good news on Sundays. All sources labeled.PILLAY’S PEACE PRIZENavi Pillay won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award in Oslo. It cited her work to promote peace and international law. Committee Chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said international law is under heavy pressure and its institutions are under attack.Pillay is a South African jurist. She is 85. She was born in Durban. In 1967 she opened a law practice in Natal Province. She defended anti-apartheid activists, Nelson Mandela among them. She later sat on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The committee singled out her role there in establishing that rape and sexual violence can be crimes against humanity and genocide. She served as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. She now sits on the International Court of Justice, in the case in which Myanmar stands accused of genocide against the Rohingya.She also chaired the U.N. commission of inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It concluded last year that Israel is responsible for genocide in Gaza. Pillay said Friday that the Gaza report was the last thing she delivered. She asked why telling the truth should take courage.She learned of the prize in Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg, where Nazi leaders were tried after World War II. She was attending a conference there. As the room applauded, she joked that if it applauded louder she might share the prize with Trump. Amnesty International’s Agnes Callamard filmed it and posted it on X. The joke referred to last year’s winner, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who offered her medal to Trump in January. Pillay dedicated the award to survivors of international crimes.Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded in a post on X. It said the award was being used as a weapon to legitimize hatred of Israel. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the choice.Hours after the announcement, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the committee had demeaned the prize by giving it to Pillay. The White House also sanctioned the International Criminal Court that day. That story follows.William Schabas, an international law professor at Middlesex University in London, read the prize as recognition of the institutions Pillay worked in, the ICC among them. He also called it a mild endorsement of her U.N. report on Gaza.The prize is worth 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million. The ceremony is in Oslo on December 10.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Trump told reporters Wednesday that it would be a great discredit if he did not win the prize.Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; AFP and Reuters copy; award, committee statement, Pillay’s career and reaction, Israeli Foreign Ministry, Guterres, Ramaphosa, Trump post, prize amount); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; explainer; birth, career dates, ICJ role, Akane, Courtroom 600); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; Schabas); PBS News (U.S. public broadcaster; Trump’s Wednesday remark); Le Monde (France; AFP and Reuters copy; Pillay’s joke at Nuremberg, Machado medal)THE US SANCTIONS THE COURTThe United States has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court itself.Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced them Friday. Earlier U.S. sanctions hit the court’s prosecutors and judges. These target the court. They block its property in the United States and bar anyone from providing it funds, goods or services. They are due to take effect in 180 days unless an agreement is reached. Rubio said in a video, “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”Shortly after the announcement, the Treasury Department issued four general licences. They allow some transactions for the court’s telecommunications, software and pension payments, and for transactions linked to its detainees. The court has about 900 staff and 125 member states. It is based in the Netherlands.The administration points to a past investigation into the actions of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, which the court describes as deprioritised. It also points to the arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The court’s deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, said the sanctions are meant to undermine the rule of law and that the court’s work will continue. Netanyahu thanked the administration for its leadership.The same day, the Treasury Department suspended sanctions on Russian diesel exports until April 7, 2027. In 2023 the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the unlawful transfer of children from Ukraine.The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK issued a joint statement. They said they regret the sanctions and strongly disagree with them. They said they will prepare for the court’s Assembly of States Parties in December.🌍 Translator’s Note: Outside the US, the sanctions are read as a collision between Washington and its allies, and the pressure lands on Europe. Reuters says the move puts the United States on a diplomatic collision course with its European allies. Rubio said the United States expects those allies to rein in the court. The court’s registrar asked the European Union this week to be ready to use that blocking mechanism. The European Commission called the sanctions deeply regrettable and said it is ready to take necessary measures. Le Monde reports the Union did not say whether it will use its blocking mechanism, which shields European companies from the effects of foreign sanctions. The Dutch prime minister said the Netherlands is very disappointed and urged using the six months to negotiate. Switzerland and the U.N. backed the court. In that list, Netanyahu is the only one welcoming the sanctions.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: The ICC has not sought to prosecute any U.S. citizen. A 2002 U.S. law already bars extradition of Americans to the court. It also authorizes military force if a U.S. citizen is detained while the court prosecutes them.Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; Rubio, sanctions scope, Khan, Netanyahu, 2002 law); Le Monde (France; AFP copy; 180-day start, European Commission, Dutch, Swiss and U.N. reactions, Netanyahu’s welcome); Daily Maverick (South Africa; Reuters copy; general licences, 125 member states, collision course, Rubio’s expectation of allies, registrar’s request); Kyiv Independent (Ukraine; Putin warrant, earlier sanctions on judges, joint statement of eight ministers); The Hindu (India; PTI copy; April 7 end date)RUSSIAN DIESEL SANCTIONS SUSPENDEDThe United States has suspended sanctions on Russian diesel exports until April 7, 2027.President Donald Trump announced the move Friday after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said on Truth Social that Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately. Another 500,000 tons will come in November, he said, and 1,000,000 tons after that. He said diesel prices will come down in record numbers, and fast.The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a temporary general license to allow Russian diesel into the global market. The Kremlin said Russia confirmed its willingness to supply oil and petroleum products to U.S. and global markets. Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, welcomed the deal. It is not clear what Russia receives in return.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the decision fuels Putin and lets him wage more war. Ukraine’s negotiators are in Florida for two days of talks with U.S. officials. They are seeking a ceasefire that could begin with a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would stop striking Russian refineries if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s power system.Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says its drone strikes have knocked more than half of Russia’s refining capacity offline. The International Energy Agency estimates Russian diesel production has fallen by nearly 30 percent. Russia extended a ban on diesel exports by fuel producers through October 31. Putin said October 1 that Russia has enough diesel, but that sanctions keep it from supplying global markets.AAA puts the U.S. average for diesel at about $6.28 a gallon. That is down from a record $6.53 at the end of September.🌍 Translator’s Note: Outside the US, the deal is read as a concession to Moscow made while peace talks are under way. The BBC calls it a sharp reversal. Congress recently passed, and Trump signed, a law authorizing sanctions and tariffs on countries that import Russian oil and gas. The BBC says the deal exposes Trump to criticism from European allies. They could say he is helping fund Moscow’s war machine. In Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s negotiators were being used as a “smokescreen.” A European diplomat said the deal is unlikely to move prices, but that its symbolism will count.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Diesel fuels farming, home heating and trucking. Its price is up about 70 percent since the war with Iran began. Congressional elections are November 3.Sources: BBC (UK, public broadcaster; Trump’s post and tonnage, Treasury license, Putin statement, Dmitriev, Zelenskyy, IEA 30 percent, AAA price, Congress’s sanctions law); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; Reuters copy; Ukrainian Defense Ministry refining claim, diesel up 70 percent, November 3 elections); The Hindu (India; PTI copy; April 7 end date); Kyiv Independent (Ukraine; OFAC license, Kremlin statement, Zelenskyy, Florida talks, export ban, Putin October 1, European diplomat)THE LIVESTREAM BACKLASHThe United Nations human rights office said Friday that broadcasting Nidal Hasan’s execution would be a pub

Weekday morning and evening editions. Saturdays once. Good news on Sundays. All sources labeled.I will never put the news behind a paywall. If you want to support keeping it free for everyone else, there’s a paid option. That’s all it is.ICE SHOOTING IN MARBLE HILLU.S. immigration agents shot and wounded a man in his car on Thursday with a 5-year-old child present.The shooting happened at around 4 p.m. Eastern in the Marble Hill neighborhood of New York City. The Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the Bronx. Their alleged aim was to arrest a man from the Dominican Republic with a prior criminal conviction. The department said an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the man was injured. It said he is alive at a local hospital.Mayor Mamdani said early reports indicate agents surrounded the man and the child before firing multiple rounds. He said the child was believed to be physically unharmed. He called it an “unconscionable and incredibly serious situation.” He wants all ICE enforcement actions in the city to end.A witness said he heard shots and went outside. He saw three or four cars and several officers in ICE attire. He said the man appeared to be between 20 and 30 years old. He said police arrived about ten minutes later. He said the man was removed from the car only after an ambulance arrived.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Federal immigration agents have shot at least 21 people since President Donald Trump returned to office. Seven of them died.Sources: Spokesman-Review (U.S. regional newspaper; Reuters copy; location, DHS statement, Mamdani, witness, shooting count)81 AIRCRAFT LOST IN IRAN WARA Congressional Research Service report says 81 U.S. aircraft have been destroyed or damaged in the war with Iran.The report was released this week. It puts the total cost of the aircraft between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion. It cites figures from the Congressional Budget Office for the cost.The MQ-9 Reaper drone accounts for more than half of the losses. The list also includes an F-35A fighter jet and an E-3 Sentry, the radar-domed surveillance plane.Some of the aircraft in the count may have been returned to service.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: The Congressional Budget Office put the top of that range, $3.3 billion, at the cost of replacing all the lost equipment. That assumes the Pentagon sought emergency funding.Sources: NewsChannel 5 (U.S. local television; CNN Wire copy; aircraft count, cost range, MQ-9 share, return to service); Military Times (U.S. defense trade publication; CBO range and emergency-funding condition)FIRING SQUAD, LIVESTREAMEDThe Pentagon said Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed.Hasan is a former Army psychiatrist. He killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. A military jury sentenced him to death in 2013. The Army says the execution will take place at Fort Hood on December 3.It would be the first execution by firing squad in the U.S. military since 1945. The last U.S. military execution of any kind was in 1961, by hanging.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the firing squad. He told a conservative media outlet this week that he wants the public to be able to watch. Asked about any final requests from Hasan, he said, “We’ll see him on Dec. 3.”Eugene Fidell is a military law expert who lectures at Yale Law School. He said that as far as he knew, livestreaming an execution would be unprecedented. He said Hasan would need to sue in federal court to block it.Amnesty International knew of at least 17 public executions in 2025. Eleven were in Iran and six were in Afghanistan.🌍 Translator’s Note: RTÉ, Ireland’s public broadcaster, framed the story by what other countries do. It reported that experts know of no other internationally recognised state that televises or livestreams a legal execution. It named Iran and Taliban-run Afghanistan as countries known to have held public executions in recent years. It also set the plan against Ireland’s own record. Executions there were carried out on prison grounds, and the last was in 1954.🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Experts say the last legally sanctioned public execution in the United States was in 1936.Sources: MPR News (U.S. public radio; AP copy; livestream, date, Amnesty count, 1961 execution, Hegseth); RTÉ (Ireland, public broadcaster; Fidell, 1945 and 1936 dates, other countries, Irish record)BRIEFSSaudi Arabia says three died in Thursday’s Houthi attacks. Saudi authorities said Friday that three people were killed, one of them a Saudia Airlines employee. Many airlines canceled flights to Riyadh, and air traffic has since returned to normal. The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed three missile launch platforms used by the Houthis. Sources: Investing.com (U.S.-based financial site; Reuters copy; toll, Saudia employee, flights, coalition)Most of Kyiv lost power Thursday night. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Thursday’s Russian drone strikes killed four people and injured at least 19 in Kyiv, up from earlier reports. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said an energy facility important to the city was attacked. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian delegation will meet U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the United States on Friday. They will discuss an energy and Black Sea ceasefire. Sources: Kyiv Independent (Ukraine; outages, Shmyhal, Klitschko toll); Kyiv Independent (Ukraine; delegation, Witkoff and Kushner)Witnesses report Eritrean soldiers in Tigray. Two residents of Adigrat, in Tigray, said they saw trucks carrying dozens of Eritrean soldiers drive through the town on Wednesday morning. The accounts could not be independently verified. Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, denied Eritrean forces were there. He called the accounts “part of an Ethiopian plan to justify a war of aggression against its smaller neighbour.” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Monday that landlocked Ethiopia must have access to the Red Sea. Sources: The Star (Malaysia; Reuters copy; Adigrat witnesses, Eritrean denial); ABC News (U.S. television network; AP copy; Abiy on Red Sea)New York Fed: tariffs added 2.9 points to goods inflation. By February 2026, tariffs had added 2.9 percentage points to goods price inflation. Without them, goods prices would have fallen slightly, the authors wrote. Economists Mary Amiti, Sebastian Heise and David Weinstein published the analysis this week. Their sample is 67 non-oil goods categories. Sources: Liberty Street Economics (U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York research blog; Amiti, Heise, Weinstein)NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION🇮🇷 Iran: 3,684 killed 🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,386 killed, 12,413 wounded 🇮🇱 Israel: 1,200+ killed, ~5,400 wounded 🇺🇸 US military: 23 killed, 861 wounded 🇵🇸 Gaza: 74,412+ killed, 5,060+ wounded (since ceasefire) 🇵🇸 West Bank: 322 killed (incl. 74 children), 5,927 wounded (incl. 946 children) since January 2025 🛢️ Brent crude: $102.80/barrel ⛽ US gas: $4.37/gallonSources: Lebanon MOPH; gazacasualties.org (Gaza total); oilprice.com (Brent); AAA (US gas).“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789 Get full access to The Rest of the World Report at www.restoftheworldreport.com/subscribe