Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The Washington Post [8/10/2025 6:59 PM, Perry Stein, Olivia George and Ellen Nakashima, 32099K] reports the FBI has begun dispatching about 120 of its agents in overnight shifts to help local law enforcement prevent carjackings and violent crime in Washington, according to two people familiar with the matter, as President Donald Trump threatens a federal takeover of the nation’s capital. Trump, who plans a news conference at the White House on Monday on this topic, compared the forthcoming action against D.C. crime to his administration’s aggressive crackdown against illegal immigration at the southern border, saying on Sunday that he plans to “immediately clear out the city’s homeless population and take swift action against crime.” "Be prepared! There will be no "MR. NICE GUY." We want our Capital BACK," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social social media platform. The deployment of FBI agents to deal with local crime puts agents from the bureau’s counterintelligence, public corruption and other divisions with minimal training in traffic stops out on the streets in potentially dangerous encounters, diverting them from their typical jobs at the bureau. And it comes as Trump is publicly portraying the city as rampant with violent crime — even as the mayor refutes that characterization, pointing to police data showing a drop in violent crime. Last week, Trump ordered federal law enforcement agents from several agencies to be deployed on city streets and called for more juveniles to be charged in the adult justice system. Staffing assignments this weekend reveal for the first time how many new FBI resources the Trump administration could divert to local crime and the frustration it has caused within the bureau. In recent days, the administration has authorized up to 120 agents, largely from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, to work overnight shifts for at least one week alongside D.C. police and other federal law enforcement officers in the nation’s capital, according to the people familiar with those efforts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss specifics of a staffing plan that has not been made public. FBI agents generally do not have authority to make traffic stops, and the people said the agents’ roles could include supporting the other agencies during traffic stops. The AP [8/11/2025 12:02 AM, David Klepper, 3077K] reports "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY," Trump wrote Sunday. "We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.” Last week the Republican president directed federal law enforcement agencies to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option "to extend as needed.” On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service assigned more than 120 officers and agents to assist in Washington. Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was "ridiculous" and the city was "unsafe," after the recent assault of a high-profile member of the Department of Government Efficiency. The moves Trump said he was considering included bringing in the D.C. National Guard. Mayor Muriel Bowser questioned the effectiveness of using the Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years. Bowser cannot activate the National Guard herself, but she can submit a request to the Pentagon. "I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard," she said Sunday on MSNBC’s "The Weekend," acknowledging it is "the president’s call about how to deploy the Guard.” The Hill [8/10/2025 1:11 PM, Amalia Huot-Marchand, 18649K] reports that last week, the president ordered federal law enforcement officials to patrol the streets in Washington for a week. These efforts are led by the U.S. Park Police and include officers and agents from the FBI; Drug Enforcement Agency; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and other agencies, according to the White House. The DailySignal [8/10/2025 5:15 PM, Olivia Pero, 558K] reports that the White House put over a dozen federal law enforcement agencies on the streets of D.C., including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and U.S. Park Police. According to the White House, the operation is set to last for one week, but it could be extended. The agencies allegedly will be focusing their attention on places like Union Station. "At President Trump’s direction, the increase of federal law enforcement presence in D.C. last night was a great success," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement. "This is the first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, D.C. The residents and visitors of our Nation’s capital can be confident that President Trump is delivering on his promise to Make D.C. Safe Again.". The major push to drive down D.C. crime follows the assault on former Department of Government Efficiency staffer, Edward Coristine—also known as "Big Balls"—during an attempted carjacking last week in Logan Circle, a neighborhood in D.C. "Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. NewsMax [8/10/2025 9:15 PM, Staff, 4622K] reports that agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office — as well as some brought in from cities like Philadelphia — are being assigned to assist local and federal law enforcement on D.C. streets for at least a week, the Post reported. Many of the agents typically work in counterintelligence, public corruption, and other specialized divisions, and have limited experience in traffic stops or street patrols. The assignments have sparked frustration inside the bureau, sources told the Post, with some agents feeling they lack training for the work and are being diverted from their primary missions. NPR [8/11/2025 12:01 AM, Brian Mann, 37958K] reports that groups of uniformed agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies could be seen strolling streets in small groups. At least 120 FBI agents were reassigned from other duties to take part in Sunday’s patrols. At one intersection, a minor traffic accident between a car and a moped brought at least two dozen agents running, some wearing masks and one carrying a rifle. Local D.C. Metropolitan police were also on-scene. Locals and tourists enjoying summer ice cream and other street food looked on as agents gathered, with some residents voicing confusion about the presence of uniformed federal officers. But some homeless residents in a camp nearby said they are worried by what they described as Trump’s threat to displace them. "I’m definitely afraid that he could do whatever he wants to do, but I can’t live my life in fear," said Greg Evans, age 38, who has lived in a small homeless encampment near the Lincoln Memorial for several months. Evans said he has struggled for years with addiction and other health problems. He told NPR he thinks most Americans want the federal government to help poor people and others who are struggling. "I see plenty of compassion," he said. "There’s plenty of compassionate people out there."

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Reuters [8/10/2025 9:16 PM, Idrees Ali, 5801K]
NewsMax [8/10/2025 9:15 PM, Staff, 4622K]

Daily Caller [8/10/2025 6:47 PM, Harold Hutchison, 1010K] reports President Donald Trump said that homeless people will have places to stay "FAR from the Capital" and pledged that violent criminals in Washington, D.C., will be prosecuted aggressively in a pair of Sunday posts on Truth Social. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the moniker "Big Balls," was severely injured when he intervened to prevent a carjacking in the District of Columbia. Trump said a Monday press conference would focus on safety in the nation’s capital, and the president directed a massive increase in the federal law enforcement presence in Washington on Thursday. "We’re having a News Conference tomorrow in the White House. I’m going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before. The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY," Trump posted on Truth Social. "We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong. It’s all going to happen very fast, just like the Border. We went from millions pouring in, to ZERO in the last few months. This will be easier — Be prepared! There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY.’ We want our Capital BACK.” Crime in the District of Columbia became a hot-button issue after Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, was fatally shot June 30. Two employees of the Israeli Embassy were killed in a May shooting, while Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment in February 2023. Trump, who floated the idea of a federal takeover of the district after Coristine was injured, announced the press conference would not just be about crime in a Sunday afternoon post on Truth Social. "The Press Conference on Crime and ‘Beautification’ will be held tomorrow, at 10:00 A.M. EST, in the Press Briefing Room, and it will not only involve ending the Crime, Murder, and Death in our Nation’s Capital, but will also be about Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital," Trump posted. "We are not going to allow people to spend $3.1 Billion Dollars on fixing up a building, like the Federal Reserve, which could have been done in a far more elegant and time sensitive manner for $50 to $100 Million Dollars. The Renovation would have actually been better, and we would have saved $3 Billion Dollars, Traffic Jams, and never-ending Construction." "The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive," Trump continued. "The American Public is not going to put up with it any longer. Just like I took care of the Border, where you had ZERO Illegals coming across last month, from millions the year before, I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World. It will soon be that again.” According to Article I of the Constitution, Congress can exercise control over the nation’s capital. Congress granted the District of Columbia "home rule" in 1973, but Congress can disapprove legislation passed by the D.C. government.

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New York Post [8/10/2025 12:43 PM, Ryan King, 49956K]
Reuters [8/10/2025 3:13 PM, Bo Erickson and Nandita Bose, 24051K]
Axios [8/10/2025 2:53 PM, Avery Lotz, 13599K]
CBS News [8/10/2025 4:43 PM, Joe Walsh, 51860K]
News Max [8/10/2025 2:34 PM, Staff, 4622K]

FOX News [8/10/2025 1:04 PM, Amanda Macias, 46878K] reports President Donald Trump vowed on Sunday to make Washington, D.C., "safer and more beautiful" as his administration doubles down on efforts to address crime and a growing homeless population in the nation’s capital. "I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the world. It will soon be that again," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Trump also announced that a plan to address homelessness, public safety, and urban cleanliness will be detailed during a press conference at the White House scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday. "The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive. The American Public is not going to put up with it any longer," Trump added. Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social post that he wants the homeless to "immediately" move "far from" the nation’s capital. "The criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong," he wrote in the same post, adding that the new crackdowns on both issues are "going to happen very fast.". "There will be no "MR. NICE GUY." We want our Capital BACK," Trump wrote, adding that more details on these efforts will be laid out during a press conference on Monday. Trump has repeatedly characterized Washington, D.C., as "one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world." On Saturday, Trump said his administration will "essentially, stop violent crime" in the nation’s capital.

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Blaze [8/10/2025 2:50 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1805K]

NPR [8/10/2025 2:04 PM, Luke Garrett, 37958K] reports Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C. broke her silence Sunday in response to President Trump’s threats to take federal control of the nation’s capital. Bowser defended the District’s control of its police department, expressed concern over the deployment of the D.C. National Guard, and celebrated a two-year drop in violent crime countering White House claims of out-of-control violence. Last week, Trump directed federal law enforcement agencies — including the U.S. Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service, among others — to increase their presence in D.C. after a former White House staffer was assaulted in an attempted carjacking. A White House official, not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, confirmed nearly 450 federal officers were deployed in the District Saturday night. On Sunday, the president promised in a social media post to "make our Capital safer" by removing the homeless and jailing criminals, with a plan to be announced at 10 a.m. on Monday. "I suspect that his announcement is that he is surging federal law enforcement, which he’s talked about," Bowser said Sunday during an interview on MSNBC — her first since Trump’s federal take over threats. "He may talk about even larger numbers or longer periods of time.". Bowser said she will continue to work with the president on their "shared priorities" of making D.C. a beautiful and safe city. But the mayor said what the city really needs is more federal prosecutors, judges, and repairs to parks and buildings. She also took issue with recent statements from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who called the nation’s capital "more violent than Baghdad.". "Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false," Bowser said. They mayor did acknowledge a crime spike in 2023, but said there had been a steep, two-year drop in violence since then. District crime data show violent crime is down 26% when compared to last year.

Univision [8/10/2025 9:54 AM, Staff, 4992K] reports Donald Trump’s administration seeks to take control of the security of the capital, Washington DC, by pushing a false narrative of alleged criminal uncontrollability in the city. Since last week, Trump began announcing that he would seek to deploy federal agents to the city in his attempt to take control of tasks that belong to the local government, led by Democrat Muriel Bowser. The president has sought to push the wrong idea that there is a lack of control in the fight against crimes such as assaults and murders. Although cases such as these have been recorded, in the last year homicides, vehicle thefts and violent thefts have dropped. It is not as dangerous as it was in the 1990s, when abandoned houses served as crack fumadros in view of the U.S. Capitol, says an analysis by CNN broadcast this week after Trump’s announcement. Although Trump made his latest deployment threat on Wednesday, on Friday, for example, no major deployment of federal forces was observed in the capital. In the early hours of Friday morning, amid the noise of the capital’s businesses and clubs, a large but not unusual contingent of municipal police patrols were observed in the crowd. In other busy nightclubs, the same was seen. There was no large presence of federal agents from several agencies until the early hours of Friday. That’s what President Trump had also promised Thursday, starting at midnight, in the last step of his administration to impose his will on the nation’s capital. In short, the increase in law enforcement to take control of the streets of the District of Columbia did not seem to develop as planned. A two-hour tour of the city by the AP agency, which began around 1 a.m. on Friday, did not reveal any visible federal police presence, except for members of the Metropolitan Police Department, the city’s police force. That could shift forward, as Trump plans to launch his long-standing plans to "take control" of a capital he has repeatedly criticized for allegedly being under his insecure, dirty and mismanagement gaze. In an online post Saturday, the president said the city will soon be one of the safest in the country and announced a White House press conference Monday, though he offered no details. On Friday night, a White House official reported that Thursday night’s operations included arrests for possession of two stolen firearms, including fentanyl and marijuana. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. He added that more than 120 members of various federal agencies - the Secret Service, the FBI and the Sheriff’s Service - would be on duty on Friday night, thus increasing the number of federal agents involved. "This is the first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, D.C.," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Mayor Bowser, who publicly confronted Trump in 2020 when he called for a massive response from federal law enforcement to disperse the crowds of protesters, has not said a public word since Trump’s statement.

Washington Post [8/10/2025 11:42 PM, Olivia George, Jenny Gathright, and Emily Davies, 32099K] reports a Metro Transit Police officer participating in a “federal task force operation” early Sunday fired at someone in Northeast Washington, officials said. The highly unusual incident for the force that guards the city’s public transportation system arrives as President Donald Trump calls for a boosted law enforcement presence in the city to tackle crime. A “suspect produced a firearm. An MTPD officer discharged their weapon in response, but the suspect was not struck. No one was injured, including the officer,” Metro Transit Police said in a statement. “Two people were taken into custody and two firearms were recovered.” The incident occurred during an attempted stop off Metro property near 48th Street and Sheriff Road NE shortly after midnight Sunday, the statement said. D.C. police are investigating the shooting, as they do with every shooting in the city regardless of which agency is involved. Officers with Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the scene, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the incident. The D.C. police department, which is tasked with detaining and pursuing armed people throughout the streets of D.C., was not present, a police spokesperson said.

AP [8/11/2025 12:00 AM, Janie Har and Olga R. Rodriguez, 31733K] reports a federal judge in San Francisco will consider evidence and hear arguments on whether the Trump administration violated federal law when it deployed National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids this summer. The Trump administration federalized California National Guard members and sent them to the second largest U.S. city over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom and city leaders, after protests erupted June 7 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested people at multiple locations. California is asking Judge Charles Breyer to order the Trump administration to return control of the remaining troops to the state and to stop the federal government from using military troops in California "to execute or assist in the execution of federal law or any civilian law enforcement functions by any federal agent or officer.” The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act prevents the president from using the military as a domestic police force. The case could set precedent for how Trump can deploy the guard in the future in California or other states. The Department of Defense ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines. Most of the troops have since left but 250 National Guard members remain, according to the latest figures provided by the Pentagon. The remaining troops are at the Joint Forces Training Base, in Los Alamitos, according to Newsom. Newsom won an early victory from Breyer, who found the Trump administration had violated the Tenth Amendment, which defines power between federal and state governments, and exceeded its authority. The Trump administration immediately filed an appeal arguing that courts can’t second guess the president’s decisions and secured a temporary halt from the appeals court, allowing control of the California National Guard to stay in federal hands as the lawsuit continues to unfold. After their deployment, the soldiers accompanied federal immigration officers on immigration raids in Los Angeles and at two marijuana farm sites in Ventura County while Marines mostly stood guard around a federal building in downtown Los Angeles that includes a detention center at the core of protests. The Trump administration argued the troops were needed to protect federal buildings and personnel in Los Angeles, which has been a battleground in the federal government’s aggressive immigration strategy. Since June, federal agents have rounded up immigrants without legal status to be in the U.S. from Home Depots, car washes, bus stops, and farms. Some U.S. citizens have also been detained. Ernesto Santacruz Jr., the field office director for the Department of Homeland Security in Los Angeles, said in court documents that the troops were needed because local law enforcement had been slow to respond when a crowd gathered outside the federal building to protest the June 7 immigration arrests. "The presence of the National Guard and Marines has played an essential role in protecting federal property and personnel from the violent mobs," Santacruz said.

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CNN [8/10/2025 10:02 PM, Zoe Sottile, Julia Vargas Jones, Sarah Moon, 875K] r

NewsNation [8/10/2025 10:59 AM, Marcus Espinoza, 5801K] reports New York City announced it will shut down its last migrant hotel in the coming months. The Row NYC was converted into a migrant shelter in October 2022 to address the overwhelming influx of migrants arriving in the city and served as an emergency shelter for thousands of asylum seekers. The Row NYC’s contract, which cost the city more than $5 million a month, will expire in April. The multi-year contract has generated more than $170 million for the hotel since 2022. Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the closure, calling it a "major milestone." He said the city has helped more than 200,000 migrants move out of shelters and work toward self-sufficiency. The timing reflects a broader trend across the country. Arrivals have dropped sharply due to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. In New York City, the number of arrivals has gone from about 4,000 per week at the height of the crisis to around 100 per week. Earlier this summer, the city also closed its intake center at the Roosevelt Hotel. The city-run shelter network will absorb the remaining migrants, which, as of last week, was housing around 92,000 people, including more than 35,000 migrants.

Breitbart [8/10/2025 1:09 PM, Ildefonso Ortiz, 3077K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly defended Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, who has been formally accused by the U.S. government of being the leader of the narco-terrorist organization Cartel De Los Soles and has a $50 million reward offered for his capture. During her morning conference, Sheinbaum claimed that her government has no open investigations on Maduro, tying him to any cartels in Mexico, and that if the U.S. government has any, they must show the evidence for their accusations. "As we always have said, if they have any proof, then they must show it," she said. "We have no proof related to that.". The issue comes after Breitbart Texas reported that the U.S. government announced they were designating Cartel De Los Soles as a specially designated global terrorist and named Maduro as their leader. Cartel De Los Soles is allegedly run by top government and military officials from Venezuela. The U.S government also claimed that Maduro and his cartel were providing support to the Sinaloa Cartel. This Mexican criminal organization was named as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. The U.S. first announced a reward for Maduro in 2020 following the unsealing of a criminal indictment accusing him of drug trafficking. Following the new terrorist designation, the government has since increased the pressure and has sought to impose new financial sanctions on Maduro and his associates. This week, the U.S. government also announced that they were raising the $25 million reward for Maduro to $50 million, Breitbart News’ Christian Caruzo reported. When asked about the Venezuela-Sinaloa Cartel connection, Sheinbaum said her government has no information to back up those claims and that Maduro was not under investigation in her country.

San Diego Union Tribune [8/10/2025 8:00 AM, Michael Smolens, 1611K] reports law enforcement and commercial use of drones is expanding rapidly, and the pace is about to pick up. So is the fight over public access to the information they gather — on video and through other means — along with what safeguards should be in place to protect privacy rights. The Trump administration last week proposed new rules to make it easier for companies to use drones over longer distances — out of the operator’s sight — without having to go through a cumbersome waiver process. The Federal Aviation Administration already has streamlined approvals for public agencies. Carlsbad looks to become the next city in San Diego County to start using unmanned aerial vehicles as public safety first-responder eyes in the sky that can get to and check out an incident faster than a human-staffed police or fire vehicle. Chula Vista said their aerial vehicles can get to locations in about two minutes rather than the six it might take an officer to get there. Importantly, real-time drone videos can help determine what kind of further response, if any, is needed. That’s not only efficient, but it could provide relief for the many short-staffed police departments around the country. Chula Vista was on the ground floor of drone flights by public safety agencies in the nation and also has been forced to the forefront of the legal battle over transparency and other issues stemming from their use. The city recently appealed to the California Supreme Court to overturn a ruling granting access to drone videos to Arturo Castañares, publisher of La Prensa San Diego, in a lawsuit filed on his behalf by attorney Cory Briggs. It’s the second time Chula Vista is seeking a state high court review of a decision requiring the Chula Vista Police Department to give drone video access to Castañares. Various disputes over the use of drones are taking place across the country at various levels of government. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and other Democratic senators criticized the Department of Homeland Security last month for using video-equipped Predator drones to monitor protesters of immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles. They further said the department’s partial release of the videos — which they said focused on scattered violence and distorted what were largely peaceful protests — violated the department’s own rules about limiting such disclosures.

AP [8/11/2025 12:10 AM, Regina Garcia Cano, 31733K] reports the hands of Yosbelin Pérez have made tens of thousands of the aluminum round gridles that Venezuelan families heat every day to cook arepas. She takes deep pride in making the revered “budare,” the common denominator among rural tin-roofed homes and city apartments, but she owns nothing to her name despite the years selling cookware. Pérez, in fact, owes about $5,000 because she and her family never made it to the United States, where they had hoped to escape Venezuela’s entrenched political, social and economic crisis. Now, like thousands of Venezuelans who have voluntarily or otherwise returned to their country this year, they are starting over as the crisis worsens. “When I decided to leave in August, I sold everything: house, belongings, car, everything from my factory — molds, sand. I was left with nothing,” Pérez, 30, said at her in-laws’ home in western Venezuela. “We arrived in Mexico, stayed there for seven months, and when President (Donald Trump) came to power in January, I said, ‘Let’s go!’” She, her husband and five children returned to their South American country in March. More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have migrated since 2013, when their country’s oil-dependent economy unraveled. Most settled in Latin America and the Caribbean, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, migrants saw the U.S. as their best chance to improve their living conditions. Many Venezuelans entered the U.S. under programs that allowed them to obtain work permits and shielded them from deportation. But since January, the White House has ended immigrants’ protections and aggressively sought their deportations as U.S. President Donald Trump fulfills his campaign promise to limit immigration to the U.S.

San Francisco Chronicle [8/10/2025 8:01 PM, Kris Inman, 4120K] reports staff at the State Department’s Office of Countering Violent Extremism and Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, which led U.S. anti-violent extremism efforts, were laid off, the units shuttered, on July 11, 2025. This dismantling of the country’s terrorism and extremism prevention programs began in February 2025. That’s when staff of USAID’s Bureau of Conflict Prevention and Stabilization were put on leave. In March, the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security, which worked during the Biden administration to prevent terrorism with a staff of about 80 employees, laid off about 30% of its staff. Additional cuts to the center’s staff were made in June. And on July 11, the countering violent extremism team at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan organization established by Congress, was laid off. The fate of the institute is pending legal cases and congressional funding. These cuts have drastically limited the U.S. government’s terrorism prevention work. What remains of the U.S. capability to respond to terrorism rests in its military and law enforcement, which do not work on prevention. They react to terrorist events after they happen. As a political scientist who has worked on prevention programs for USAID, the U.S. Institute for Peace, and as an evaluator of the U.S. strategy that implemented the Global Fragility Act, I believe recent Trump administration cuts to terrorism prevention programs risk setting America’s counterterrorism work back into a reactive, military approach that has proven ineffective in reducing terrorism.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [8/10/2025 12:46 PM, Staff, 463K] reports just days away there will be a high-stakes Trump-Putin meeting. United States Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker is asked about a key player Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not be in Alaska where the meeting will be held. Is it possible Zelenskyy will attend? "Certainly, there can’t be a deal that everybody that’s involved in it doesn’t agree to. And, I mean, obviously, it’s a high priority to get this war to end. The carnage and the dying is terrible. I think this direct engagement by President Trump obviously is leading us closer to a peace. The two sides have been communicating. They have exchanged prisoners. They have exchanged bodies of the fallen. But this -- if we can get a deal done on terms that both sides agree, that will save thousands of lives. And, ultimately, I think that’s worth at least seeing if there’s a chance to get that done." Whitaker states. Whitaker says it is possible that President Zelenskyy joins President Putin and Trump in Alaska. Where do those discussions stand? "Well, obviously, the decision is going to be made by President Trump. He agreed to meet with President Putin in Alaska on Friday. And if he thinks that that is the best scenario to invite Zelenskyy, then he will do that. And, again, we have -- today’s Sunday. The meeting’s happening on Friday. There’s time to make that decision. No decision has been made to this point." Whitaker states.

CBS’ Face The Nation [8/10/2025 11:48 AM, Staff, 9K] reports President Trump invites Russia’s Vladimir Putin to America, his first visit to U.S. soil in a decade. After months of Russia’s skirting cease-fire offers, while continuing their brutal onslaught in Ukraine, President Trump skipped past his own sanctions deadline and instead invited Putin to Alaska. Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova joins to discuss what her country needs to agree to a cease-fire. President Zelenskyy has made clear he’s not just going to give away land to Russia. Kyiv has to be part of the negotiations. And he has said a cease-fire needs to happen first. Is a cease-fire expected this week? "Well, that’s something that all Ukraine prays for President Trump to be effective and to have great results. And, as you know, since the discussions here with President Trump, Ukraine agreed to full cease-fire, to partial cease-fires, to any type of cease- fires, because, again, let’s remind everyone, Ukraine did not start this war. Putin started this war in 2014. He continued with full-fledged invasion in 2022. And it’s Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian cities, Ukrainian defenders on the front lines, Ukrainian children who suffer every day. So, yes, we want Putin to stop. And we really are hopeful that this push from President Trump and the sanction packages which are on the table and secondary sanctions which are already implemented against those who help Russia will convince President Putin that this is time for him to finally stop his aggression." Markarova stated.

FOX News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo [8/4/2025 4:41 AM, Staff] reports Vice President JD Vance speaks on gerrymandering concerns, President Donald Trump’s calls for a new census, the latest on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russiagate, the Epstein case and the possibility of a Vance-Rubio ticket in 2028.

FOX News [8/10/2025 6:35 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports Acting I.C.E. director Todd Lyons discusses the recent arrest of a criminal illegal immigrant in Rhode Island, the work behind the ‘Speedway Slammer,’ the attempts to recruit new agents, and more on the ‘Big Weekend Show.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [8/10/2025 7:01 PM, Jorge Cancino, 4992K] reports President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, categorically denied that he has established a “quota” of daily arrests of 7,000 undocumented immigrants with criminal records during an exclusive interview with Univision News 24/7, which will be broadcast this Sunday, August 10, during the broadcast of the special “The New Rules,” where a panel of experts will answer live questions from immigrants targeted by Customs and Border Protection (ICE) agents who are fighting for their right to remain in the country. When asked by Carolina Sarassa, co-host of La Voz de la Mañana (VIX) and Noticiero Edición Digital (Univision), about the “goal of deporting about 7,000 undocumented immigrants a day,” Homan responded by stating, “I’ve never said I’ve set a goal of 7,000 a day. I’ve never said that.” He then refuted the quota of 3,000 daily arrests (and/or deportations) by agents of the government’s national deportation force operating under the command of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [8/10/2025 5:04 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began sharing last week with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confidential data from taxpayers using an ITIN issue in their tax returns, CNN reported citing two sources familiar with the matter. This comes, according to CNN’s report, following the controversial agreement reached in April by the Treasury Department and DHS for the IRS to hand over information to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) on undocumented immigrants who allegedly have a final deportation order and that agency has filed a federal criminal investigation. The pact has since generated internal tensions amid legal concerns from IRS officials, given that by law the tax agency has a responsibility to protect its taxpayers’ information. Several senior officials of the agency resigned or were called to leave office on this issue. The most recent departure was that of IRS Commissioner Billy Long, less than two months after his confirmation of the post. So far it was not clear whether the exchange of information between the two agencies had begun to apply. Univision News consulted the IRS and DHS on this in July. DHS responded vaguely by referring to an appeal under way to curb the deal. The IRS did not respond at the time. On the other hand, a report from The Washington Post gives a similar version. He said ICE had sent the IRS on Thursday a list of 40,000 people’s names to be located and that the tax agency had barely been able to confirm less than 3 percent of them, mostly thanks to its taxpayer or ITIN personal identification numbers. According to this report, the White House had requested additional information not covered by the agreement, as if some of those taxpayers had applied for the Tax Credit for Entrance to Work (EITC). The IRS declined to provide that information for privacy reasons, the Washington Post report added. This encounter between the two agencies could have been the trigger of former Congressman Billy Long’s surprising dismissal. The White House did not disclose the reasons for his departure. Long posted on his social media that Trump had nominated him for ambassador to Iceland and that it was "an honor to serve my friend, President Trump."

Washington Examiner [8/10/2025 12:56 PM, Asher Notheis, 1934K] reports Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) said it is wrong for people to be "demonizing" Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, suggesting "a balance" should be found in the deportation efforts. Gonzales, the Republican Congressional Hispanic Conference chairman, appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday after Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who said the Biden administration’s handling of border security was "not working." However, the senator said the nation’s response to illegal immigration has "swung drastically in another direction," claiming this new response is not what U.S. citizens want. Gonzales responded to Kelly’s statements by saying the number of stories of U.S. citizens "turned upside down" greatly outnumber the "sad" stories of deportations. "And to be demonizing ICE agents is not right. You know right now, ICE agents have had a 1,000% increase on attacks, yet they’re seeing a huge increase in the amount of people that want to serve. There’s currently 10,000 vacancies, and they have nearly 100,000 applications," Gonzales said on CBS’s Face the Nation. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Friday that Chicago’s refusal to let police work with ICE has led to virtually all illegal immigrants being released. She said the city’s police "only honored 8%" of the 1,664 detainers requested by ICE, and Illinois’s elected leaders are "ignoring the law.".

Breitbart [8/10/2025 7:00 AM, Lowell Cauffiel, 3077K] reports Actor Dean Cain took what could only be called the "super" high road after actor John Leguizamo trashed him over the weekend as a "loser" for the former Superman actor’s plan to become an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. Posting on X, Cain simply wrote about Leguizamo, "He’s a good actor – I like his stuff.". While Cain would eventually respond in the spirit of the old adage, "killing them with kindness," the "Moulin Rouge!" actor’s attack on Cain in a video on his Instagram account Friday was bitter and personally insulting. "What kind of loser volunteers to be an ICE officer?" Leguizamo said in the post. "What a moron. Dean Cain, your pronouns are has/been.". Cain’s plan to join ICE followed an announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it will be recruiting 10,000 new ICE agents. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also suspended the age requirement for the job and reportedly has nearly 80,000 applications already. During an interview Wednesday on Fox News’s "Jesse Watters Prime Time," the 59-year-old journeyman actor told Watters he’d already volunteered, had been accepted but wasn’t sure yet in what capacity he’d be serving. Cain is an unapologetic conservative who often appears on shows and podcasts to comment on Hollywood. He hit acting pay dirt in the 1990s with his four season, 87-episode performance as Superman and Clark Kent on the TV show "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.". Since, and according to his IMDB page, he has continued to work regularly, as well as write and produce, often family friendly productions. Cain told Fox News Digital his desire to join ICE is the same as when he decided to get involved in law enforcement ten years ago – to contribute to public safety. He has served as a reserve police officer with two different police departments and currently is a reserve deputy for the Frederick County Sheriff’s Department in Virginia.

DailySignal [8/10/2025 2:00 PM, Virginia Allen, 558K] reports a North Carolina congressman is calling attention to an anti-immigration enforcement organization that gets its donations through the Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue. "By teaching illegal aliens how to evade [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detention, organizations like Siembra NC are actively promoting an invasion of our country," Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told The Daily Signal. Siembra is Spanish for "sowing" or "seed time.". "Siembra and its financial backers should be held accountable for undermining the rule of law and making North Carolina communities less safe," Harris said. Siembra NC operates a hotline to report ICE activity in local communities. "Let’s protect ourselves and each other from abusive employers, landlords, discrimination, and La Migra," Siembra NC writes on its website. "La Migra" refers to ICE. "Once we’re able to verify the threat, we will alert our community," Siembra NC states. The group was founded in 2017 specifically "in response to [President Donald] Trump’s war on immigrants and the gap in support and resources for the broader Latine community in North Carolina.". Siembra NC touts itself as being "pro-black, pro-indigena, pro-worker, pro-[women], pro-lesbian gay, bi, trans and queer, pro-climate and pro-migrant.". Since Trump returned to the White House in January and commissioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan to rapidly arrest and deport illegal aliens, prioritizing the apprehension and removal of criminal illegal aliens, ICE officers have faced a 1,000% increase in assaults, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Houston Chronicle [8/10/2025 7:00 AM, Sarah Smith, 1982K] reports the thing about Trump Burger is that it was always irresistible, even for those who would rather eat just about anywhere else. The restaurant is what its name suggests: A burger joint devoted to President Donald J. Trump, which began in Bellville and has spawned several other locations that opened to great fanfare within an hour and a half or so of Houston. What Trump Burger really sells isn’t burgers or chicken fingers or fries. And it’s also not the "Trump revenge tour" baseball caps or the "fake news" T-shirts on the shelves. Trump Burger is a curated experience for like-minded people. It’s a place where Trump voters flock to enjoy life the way they think the country should be. Americana on the walls, politics on the menu, Woke left at the door. The more the libs rage, the better the burgers taste. Part of the allure, aside from the brash political persona that mirrors Trump’s own, has been the man behind the bun. Trump Burger, according to reports, was opened by a 28-year-old named Roland Beainy. Even as Beainy built a business in tribute to that vision of America, lawsuits filed earlier this month punched holes through the Trump Burger public image — particularly one allegation buried in an exhibit. Beainy, the filing claims, might not be in the country legally. "The lawyers are suggesting we shouldn’t comment," Beainy said by phone on Aug. 6. "A lot of the stuff is fake, though, but it is what it is.". His lawyer also declined to comment and did not respond to a list of written questions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security said Beainy was undergoing immigration proceedings and claimed he was born in Lebanon, not Boston. But the cracks in the tidy Trump Burger tale go deeper than allegations in a single lawsuit. The themes remain intact — but the details don’t. It’s an untold story with subplots involving a vaccine scam and a murder-for-hire scheme. It’s one of clever branding that meets a moment, of what we as a society require for legitimacy. And it’s a quintessentially American saga.

NewsNation [8/11/2025 3:43 AM, Angelique Brenes, 5801K] reports a Los Angeles nurse and community activist whose arrest drew protests and sharp criticism from local officials and advocacy groups was released from federal custody Saturday without criminal charges, according to National Nurses United. Amanda Trebach, a registered nurse and member of the community group Unión del Barrio, had been detained Friday morning while monitoring immigration enforcement operations in San Pedro. Her release came after more than a day of demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles and calls from elected leaders who described the arrest as illegal and politically motivated. Unión del Barrio said Trebach was taken into custody around 6 a.m. Aug. 8 while participating in a Harbor Area Peace Patrol outside the Terminal Island staging area, a Coast Guard base used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prepare for raids across Southern California. The patrol, run by community volunteers, documents and monitors immigration enforcement activity. Witnesses and video from the scene show masked individuals, identified by organizers as federal agents, pinning Trebach face down on the street, handcuffing her and placing her in an unmarked black van. The group said agents falsely claimed she assaulted a federal vehicle and alleged she was targeted for her political activism. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection offered a different account, saying that "as Border Patrol Agents departed Terminal Island to conduct immigration enforcement operations, Amanda Trebach jumped in front of moving vehicles, causing drivers to swerve out of the way. She continued to hit the car with her signs and fists while yelling obscenities at agents. After vehicles evaded her, she again physically blocked and impeded CBP from completing their duties. Agents arrested her for impeding and obstructing federal law enforcement.” "Secretary Noem has been clear: Anyone who seeks to harm law enforcement officers will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the spokesperson added. "They charged at her and she dropped the poster," said Cynthia Avina with Unión del Barrio. "The agents are claiming that she attacked them with that poster, and we know that that is not true. They are making false claims to try to intimidate us, to try to stop us from doing the work that we’re doing.”

New York Times [8/11/2025 3:19 AM, Jill Cowan, 153395K] reports Mayor Karen Bass had a choice to make. She had been in a senior staff meeting, preparing for a news conference with California’s governor, Gavin Newsom. They were planning to trumpet the progress of the recovery from the January wildfires that destroyed thousands of her constituents’ homes. But then she started getting messages that heavily armed agents and soldiers were descending on MacArthur Park, a hub in one of the densest immigrant neighborhoods in Los Angeles. She had been regularly texting with a top federal official leading the immigration raids to coordinate a meeting but said she had been given no warning on the show of force unfolding at the park on a Monday afternoon in July. Ms. Bass told her staff to skip the governor’s event and take her instead to the park. She was soon confronting federal agents, demanding to speak to whoever was in charge. “My comment is, they need to leave,” she told an agent, shouting over the thudding of helicopters overhead, visibly angry, as news crews jostled around her. “And they need to leave right now. Because this is unacceptable.” Ms. Bass has since framed the last-minute decision to challenge the agents at MacArthur Park as a natural response to an unfolding crisis. But the image of her facing down a literal Trump administration army has proved pivotal for a leader who only months ago was confronting a well-funded recall campaign.

Daily Caller [8/10/2025 12:12 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports the U.S. government has approved an alarming number of criminals, gangbangers and alleged murderers for a special classification originally intended for vulnerable migrant children. Earlier in June, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revealed shocking findings about the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program, a little-known classification that can provide a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship to young illegal migrants who’ve been abandoned or abused by their parents. Investigators discovered that, over the past decade, the SIJ program has experienced a wave of petitions from criminals and adults over 18. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow — who was sworn in as USCIS director in July — predicts these findings may just be the tip of the iceberg. "Unfortunately, I do expect to uncover more," Edlow said to the Daily Caller News Foundation. "The SIJ program has been something that I think USCIS has not been administering appropriately for many years.". Created by Congress under the Immigration Act of 1990, the SIJ program allows young illegal migrants who a juvenile court determined cannot be reunited with one or both parents because of abandonment, abuse or neglect to apply for SIJ classification, according to USCIS. This special status also allows approved petitioners to apply for lawful permanent status and creates a pathway to citizenship. Despite being intended for children, eligibility only requires applicants be under 21, unmarried and in the U.S. at the time of their petition, according to the agency. There are currently no criminal bars or good moral character prerequisites for SIJ petition approval.

Breitbart [8/10/2025 8:49 AM, Elizabeth Weibel, 3077K] reports former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) vowed the next time Democrats were in power they would "drive that car" like they stole it in order to "legalize every Dreamer" and every Dreamer’s parents. While speaking at a rally in Forth Worth, entitled, "The People vs. The Power Grab," O’Rourke spoke about how Democrats had promised American citizens comprehensive immigration reform once they got "in power." O’Rourke pointed out Democrats won power in 2008 and 2020, with the White House, House, and Senate, and added that Democrats "failed to live up to the expectation" they set. ```"You know, Democrats — present company excluded, have talked an awful good game on immigration for as long as I have been listening. ‘You know, if you just keep voting for us, once we get in power, comprehensive immigration reform.’ Well, we won power, in 2008 — the White House, the House, and the Senate. We won power in 2020 — the White House, the House, and the Senate," O’Rourke said. "The American people were watching, because we had promised them what we would do with that power, and we absolutely failed to live up to the expectation that we set.". "So, next time we win power, we’re going to drive that car like we stole it, we’re going to legalize every Dreamer, every Dreamer’s parents, every hard-working American doing back breaking work, that makes this country so Goddamn great in the first place — even greater as U.S. citizens," O’Rourke added.

Washington Examiner [8/10/2025 11:41 AM, Morgan Sweeney, 1934K] reports though the economy and immigration were issues that helped President Donald Trump secure the White House, some economists have said that too steep a decline in immigration will prove harmful to the economy. The Trump administration touted a statistic Monday reported by CNN the day before: The U.S. may see negative net migration in 2025, meaning more people will leave the country than move there. However, economists from both right- and left-leaning policy centers warn that too little immigration drags down GDP growth. The center-right American Enterprise Institute recently authored a report with the center-left Brookings Institution projecting net migration would land between -525,000 and 115,000 in 2025, but with "zero or net negative migration" being the more likely outcome. The report considered the president’s deportation efforts, as well as his broader immigration policy, predicting lower legal permanent resident entries than in his first term and factoring in greater vetting for temporary visas, a suspended refugee program, travel bans and terminated humanitarian parole programs. "All told, given changes at the border and the regular migration system, we expect 2.47 million to 2.76 million fewer people to come to the U.S in 2025 than in 2024," they wrote. And later, that they "expect around 675,000 to 1,020,000" more immigrants to leave the country than last year. They project these changes will reduce GDP growth by 0.3-0.4 percentage points. Chief Economist for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Gbenga Ajilore wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings. "While think tanks may have different ideologies, there are basic facts that a majority of economists believe in, and one is that immigration has a net positive impact on our economy and our communities," Ajilore said in an email to The Center Square.

New York Post [8/10/2025 2:46 PM, Brandon Cruz, 49956K] reports more than 1,600 illegal migrants on Long Island with past convictions — including MS-13 members, murderers and international fugitives — have been taken into custody by ICE since the start of the year, according to the feds. The hoards of criminals swept up as part of ramped-up enforcement under President Trump all have prior convictions, with some presumably already deported and others still in custody waiting to get the boot, said officials — aided in their efforts by both Nassau and Suffolk county authorities. "Since Jan. 20, ICE has significantly increased its immigration enforcement activities with additional support from other federal as well as local law enforcement agencies," the agency told The Post about its operations on Long Island. "We have especially welcomed our ongoing collaboration with law enforcement officials in Nassau County," it said. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman had struck a deal in February that set aside 50 county jail cells for immigration detainees, a move that has so far funneled more than 1,400 immigrants picked up from all over the New York City area through the facility in just months. Blakeman also signed an agreement with the feds to deputize 10 local detectives into ICE to help arrest and jail immigrants without legal status. "ICE law enforcement, along with our partners, are doing what "Sanctuary" politicians refuse to do — protect the American people," the agency said, denouncing the liberal policy of refusing to allow cops to coordinate with immigration agents. The agency cited a list of who it considers the worst of the worst that it has picked up in both counties since the start of the year, including the notorious gang members, killers and sought global suspects.

NBC News [8/10/2025 8:07 AM, Tim Stelloh, 44540K] reports news of Abdul Niazi’s death arrived in a chilling phone call. It was March 26, nearly the end of Ramadan, and his wife wanted to know when to expect her husband, a former U.S. military interpreter who lost both legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan and became one of Houston’s most well-known advocates for new Afghan migrants. It was almost time to break the day’s fast, recalled Niazi’s cousin, but he hadn’t returned home. So she called his cellphone. "I’m not your husband," the man on the other end of the line said, according to Rizwanullah Niazi, Niazi’s cousin. "I killed your husband.". The shock of that call intensified when his family learned what authorities later alleged in bail documents filed in Harris County District Court: An Afghan national who’d sought help from Niazi was accused of stabbing him more than a dozen times over frustration with the slow pace of the U.S. immigration system. The 34-year-old’s death left the Marines he served with reeling and a hole in Houston’s sizable Afghan community. "I still don’t believe that he is not with us anymore," said Nisar Momand, who met Niazi more than a decade ago and, like his friend, helps recently resettled Afghans obtain services and navigate the immigration bureaucracy. "Abdul was like the backbone of the community," Momand said. "Without a backbone, we are totally disabled.". "It’s an unspeakable tragedy," said Brandon Remington, a former U.S. Marine Corps platoon commander who worked with Niazi in Afghanistan and helped him flee to the United States amid death threats from the Taliban. "Given how much he escaped death and to die in that way — it’s insane. It feels like the universe is crazy.".

The Hill [8/10/2025 9:00 AM, Ahmad Shah Habibi, 18649K] reports for many people, August is a fun time to enjoy summer vacation. But for our family, each Aug. 10 reminds us that another year has passed and my brother, Mahmood Habibi, remains in Taliban custody. My brother is a U.S. citizen who obtained citizenship after working on civil aviation issues in support of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. After the U.S. left Afghanistan, he returned to work as a contractor for Asia Consultancy Group, which manages the air traffic control system at Kabul’s airport and the cell towers in downtown Kabul. Shortly after the July 2022 drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, my brother was arrested along with 30 other employees of his company. They were taken to the headquarters of the General Directorate of Intelligence, the Taliban’s feared secret police, and interrogated about the company’s involvement in the strike. It became apparent that the Taliban believed the CIA used cameras atop the company’s cell towers to target its strike against Zawahiri. Indeed, the missile they used had to be guided to its target by sight, as it used blades rather than a warhead. Eventually, almost all the 31 people were let go, but not my brother — the only U.S. citizen they have. We have been fighting for three years now to get the Taliban to admit they are holding Mahmood so that he can be traded for. Other Americans — Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann, Faye Hall, and William McKenty — were arrested and released in that time, but the Taliban denies they ever had my brother. This denial comes in the face of overwhelming witness testimonies and technical evidence affirming that they arrested him. The Taliban even claimed that they never heard of him — that they looked in their jails and did not find him. As a result, they asserted that he must be dead. In contrast, people held with my brother by the secret police testified that they saw him. One person detained with my brother later reported: "Even though we were kept in separate rooms next to each other, I could hear Mahmood’s voice when he talked. At one point I personally saw Mahmood and one more [Asia Consultancy Group] employee in this … facility.". Congress has been supportive of our efforts. Parallel House and Senate resolutions are being submitted by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sen. Corey Booker (D-N.J.). The State Department and FBI have been incredibly supportive of my family, and their efforts under the Trump administration are so much more effective than under the Biden Administration.

FOX News [8/10/2025 12:00 PM, Charles Creitz, 46878K] reports the global government-surplus auction house that listed unused components of President Donald Trump’s border wall under the Biden administration told Fox News Digital on Friday that it plans to coordinate with the Trump administration to return some of the materials to the federal government. In January 2021, President Joe Biden set in motion the chain of events that would eventually lead to the sale of unconstructed border wall components and implements. "Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats. But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution," Biden said in an executive order halting construction. Until Friday, the ultimate fate of the unused border wall materials – originally estimated to be worth between $260 million and $350 million – remained largely unclear. A contentious court battle in Texas last December resulted in a 30-day freeze on the auctions, but little has publicly transpired since. In a statement to Fox News Digital, GovPlanet – an auction clearinghouse for public-sector and government surplus – announced Friday they have reached a breakthrough deal with the Trump administration. "GovPlanet has reached an agreement, working with the Office of the Border Czar, to return border wall materials that were previously deemed surplus and sourced by the federal government to GovPlanet via existing contracts," said the company, a subsidiary of an Illinois-founded, British Columbia-based international operation called Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers-RB Global. "A third-party firm that has been contracted for construction of the border wall will take receipt of the materials over the next 90 days," GovPlanet added.

Breitbart [8/10/2025 12:23 PM, Randy Clark and Bob Price, 3077K] reports Texas Governor Greg Abbott traveled to Ingram, Texas, to deliver $25,000 checks from country-western legend George Strait to families devastated by the deadly Independence Day Hill Country flooding. The checks delivered by Abbott on Saturday were part of the more than $7 million raised during Strait’s benefit concert on July 27. Aid and other support for Hill Country communities is being delayed by Texas House Democrats who broke quorum to stop the state’s congressional redistricting plan. On Saturday, Abbott praised Strait and the non-profit Vaqueros del Mar group, which worked with Strait to organize the benefit concert in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter). In the post, Abbott acknowledged the efforts of the country singer, saying, "Thanks to the King @GeorgeStrait’s ‘Strait to the Heart’ concert, these Texans can begin rebuilding.". The country music legend was quick to act after the deadly floods by announcing the benefit concert to be held in Boerne, Texas, a mere 35 miles from Kerrville, within days of the disastrous floods. Strait and members of his Ace in the Hole Band were joined by William Beckman, Ray Benson, Wade Bowen, Dean Dillon, and a host of other artists for the intimate dinner and concert held on July 27. The concert proceeds and donations, more than $7 million, were collected by Vaqueros del Mar at the event. "We as a State are working tirelessly to make sure that the recovery process is as easy and effective as possible," Governor Abbott said in a written statement. "If you have a need in your area, let us know. There are a lot of people here to assist you with those needs. These checks will help you piece your lives back together, and there’s more help on the way.". As reported by Breitbart Texas, several campgrounds and recreational vehicle parks along the Guadalupe River basin area near Kerrville and other parts of the Texas Hill Country were totally destroyed during the busy July 4 weekend flooding event. A total of 137 deaths were attributed to the early morning surprise flash flood.

Washington Examiner [8/10/2025 9:50 AM, Shirleen Guerra, 1934K] reports President Donald Trump has announced a new $200 million expansion of the White House, with construction to be handled by Clark Construction, a national firm with offices across Virginia. The project will add a new State Ballroom to the White House grounds with approximately 90,000 square feet of event space. The White House said the expansion will allow for official gatherings and state functions to be held without setting up large outdoor tents. The ballroom will have seating for up to 650 people, more than triple the capacity of the East Room. Construction is scheduled to begin in September 2025 and be completed before the end of Trump’s current term. The White House said the project will be privately funded through donations from Trump and other supporters. The U.S. Secret Service and National Park Service will be involved in design planning and security requirements. Clark Construction will serve as the construction lead on the project. The Center Square contacted the company to confirm its role. Clark Construction confirmed its involvement in the project by phone, but had not provided a public comment at the time of publication. Clark is based in Bethesda, Md., and operates multiple offices across the country, including four in Virginia: McLean, Richmond, Lorton and Sterling.

NewsNation [8/10/2025 2:33 PM, Carl Sisson, 5801K] reports an investigation is underway after a body washed ashore off the coast of Jamestown, Rhode Island on Sunday morning. According to Police Chief James Campbell, just after 7:30 a.m., Jamestown police and fire departments were called for a report of a body that had washed ashore near Heads Beach off Seaside Drive. Police said a swimmer nearby noticed the body and asked someone on shore to contact authorities. The Rhode Island State Police, the Department of Environmental Management, and the United States Coast Guard were also notified of the incident. The Rhode Island State Medical Examiners Office later responded to the scene and took custody of the body. This is now a multi-agency investigation, led by the Rhode Island State Police. Right now, no additional information is available at this time.

NewsMax [8/10/2025 9:18 PM, Brian Freeman, 4622K] reports a hacking group named Infrastructure Destruction Squad says it has compromised the Federal Aviation Administration. The group claimed the FAA’s internal system credentials and classified database from U.S. Agents for Service were exfiltrated. Newsmax cannot independently verify the hackers’ claims posted on Telegram. The White House press office did not immediately respond to Newsmax’s request for a comment on the matter. "During this operation, we were able to gain access to a confidential belonging to the agency ‘US Agent For Service (USAS)’ containing extremely important personal and legal information," Infrastructure Destruction Squad claimed in its social media post. The group also claimed that "any country that opposes China will be destroyed without hesitations" and stated that the data hacked "includes email addresses, passwords, phone numbers, company information and unique system identifiers (FAA Tracking Number) used to track and manage aviation operations.” The group declared this was a "direct attack on U.S. aviation and national security, as this data is exposed to real threats that can expose air traffic safety and stability.”

FOX News [8/10/2025 10:00 AM, Kurt Knutsson, 46878K] reports Cybercriminals are always looking for new companies to attack, and the insurance industry seems to be a favorite. Insurance companies are lucrative targets because of the vast amounts of personal, financial and medical information they collect and store. Only recently, U.S. insurance giant American Family Life Assurance Company (Aflac) confirmed it was among the victims of a notorious cyber gang. Now, another insurance provider has fallen prey to a data breach. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has disclosed a breach that exposed personal information belonging to the "majority" of its 1.4 million customers. The Minneapolis-based insurer told CyberGuy hackers accessed a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform used by the company. The breach occurred on July 16 and involved the compromise of data belonging not just to customers, but also financial professionals and some employees. According to Allianz, the attacker used a social engineering technique to break in, though the company did not disclose further details. Social engineering attacks typically involve tricking employees into revealing passwords or installing malicious software that gives attackers access to internal systems. Allianz said it "took immediate action to contain and mitigate the issue" and has notified federal law enforcement, including the FBI. The company added that there is "no evidence that the Allianz Life network or other company systems were accessed, including our policy administration system.". Allianz did not specify what kind of customer data was taken, but life insurance providers often store highly sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth and financial details.

AP [8/10/2025 5:59 PM, Staff, 31733K] Video: HERE reports a yacht-sized passenger boat ran aground in the high surf off a Hawaii beach over the weekend, with the vessel precariously riding a set of powerful waves and appearing to nearly flip on its side before coming to rest. KHON-TV reported that the events occurred around 8 a.m. Saturday when the swells were peaking and the tide was bottoming out. Two crew members were on the 60-foot (18 meter) vessel, named Discovery, when it ran aground near Honolulu’s Kewalo Basin Harbor, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement. The reason Discovery had such trouble remains under investigation, and there were no apparent mechanical failures prior to the event, the Coast Guard said. The vessel’s operator reported that he took two large waves to the stern, disrupting his course. The boat lost propulsion after it went aground. The boat’s fuel, oil and batteries were removed, preventing the threat of pollution, the Coast Guard said. A company planned to tow the boat away at high tide Sunday afternoon. The grounding was captured on video from various vantage points as onlookers screamed and the Discovery careened down a swell on its side before temporarily righting itself in the surf. Ramon Brockington, 41, a surfing filmmaker, said he and others had been expecting the higher swells for three days after monitoring weather apps that use data from ocean buoys. He was filming body surfers in an area off the harbor known as Panic Point when the passenger boat barreled into his line of sight, riding a wave. "Basically they were coming in trying to beat this wave," Brockington told The Associated Press. "And the boat didn’t have enough power to get in front of this wave. So what happened was a wave ended up picking up the boat, and the captain basically lost all steering whatsoever.” The powerful surf pushed the vessel into water that’s about two-feet deep or less, Brockington said. He’d never seen anything like it. "Basically, the boat was surfing like a giant surfboard," he said. "I’ve never seen a boat of that size and caliber being picked up like a toy and basically launched across the beach.” The Discovery eventually drifted against a concrete wall that lines the shore. Atlantis Adventures, which owns the Discovery, said in a statement that the two experienced crew members aboard were not injured. "We are working closely with all government regulatory agencies to have the shuttle boat safely removed from where it was grounded, towed back to its pier location and thoroughly inspected before it is returned to service," Atlantis Adventures said. The boat is Coast Guard certified and regularly undergoes Coast Guard inspections, the company said. Its captains ferry people to and from the Waikiki submarine dive site and are trained and Coast Guard certified.

Breitbart [8/10/2025 2:57 PM, Amy Furr, 3077K] reports the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been hard at work in the first 200 days of President Donald Trump’s administration, and those efforts include rescuing children, stopping human traffickers, and drug seizures, FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted on Saturday. In a string of social media posts, Patel shared details into how the agency has been working to shield innocent people. "200 Days of Trump Admin: Fentanyl seizures by FBI From Jan 20 to Present: 1,500 Kilos — that’s enough lethal doses to kill 113,850,000 Americans. Seizures to date are a 25% increases from same time period last year, most ever. We look forward to working with our @SecDef and DoD partners to getting after it even more, thanks @realDonaldTrump for the new authorities," he wrote in a post just before 8:00 a.m.: In a follow up message, Patel said, "200 Days of Trump Admin, From Jan 20 to Present: FBI has arrested over 1,600 people for violent crimes against children, to include 270 arrests for human trafficking": Hours later Patel wrote, "200 Days of Trump Admin: FBI has identified and found 4,000 child victims. FBI investigations targeting Foreign Terrorist Organizations has resulted in 1,000 arrests of those wanting to harm our nation Seized 6,300 Kilos of methamphetamines = lives saved #SummerHeat": It is important to note that youth sex trafficking reportedly tripled under former President Joe Biden (D) and former Vice President Kamala Harris (D).

FOX News [8/10/2025 1:27 PM, Pilar Arias, 46878K] reports one of the six victims of a mass shooting in Baltimore, Maryland, has died, police confirmed. The victim, only identified as a 38-year-old man, succumbed to his injuries this morning, the Baltimore Police Department told Fox News Digital, adding that the case is now a homicide investigation. On Saturday at around 8:46 p.m., officers responded to a call regarding a shooting at Spaulding and Queensberry Avenues, finding six victims — four males and two females, including a 5-year-old girl, who was shot in the hand. Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the child’s injury does not appear to be serious. The remaining victims are a 23-year-old woman, a 32-year-old man, a 33-year-old man and a 52-year-old man. All the remaining victims "are believed to be suffering from non-life-threatening injuries," police told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Reported similarly:
NewsNation [8/10/2025 12:54 PM, Jenny Gable, 5801K]

New York Times [8/10/2025 5:01 PM, Alyce McFadden and Apoorva Mandavilli, 138952K] reports a shooting at the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention killed a police officer and rattled the community of public health workers, who said the attack was a manifestation of rampant misinformation surrounding vaccines. A 30-year-old man who believed the Covid-19 vaccine had made him ill opened fire at C.D.C. buildings on Friday, according to the police. A young DeKalb County police officer was killed in the attack, and the gunman also died. On Saturday, investigators from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies were working to piece together the details and the circumstances that precipitated the attack. The shooting came after years of conspiracy theories about vaccines and escalating political hostility toward the C.D.C., which some federal officials have sought to blame for lockdowns and vaccine mandates during the coronavirus pandemic. Shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, the police in Atlanta received a 911 call about an active shooter at a CVS drugstore across the street from the C.D.C. headquarters on Clifton Road, near the Emory University campus and Emory University Hospital. Dozens of bullets struck the exterior of at least four C.D.C. buildings, damaging windows and pitting the structures’ sleek glass facade. No C.D.C. employees or civilians were injured. Law enforcement officials said they found the gunman dead on the second floor of the drugstore. It was not clear whether he was killed by a shot fired by law enforcement or by a self-inflicted wound. At the scene, officers recovered five guns, including four long guns, according to a preliminary internal report from the Justice Department that was reviewed by The New York Times. Some, if not all, of the guns belonged to the suspect’s father, according to the report . Investigators identified the suspect as Patrick Joseph White, a 30-year-old from Kennesaw, Ga., about 30 miles from the C.D.C. campus. In a staff meeting Saturday, C.D.C. officials said that Mr. White was “very disturbed.” One law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said Mr. White’s father had reported his son as suicidal to law enforcement before the attack on Friday.

ABC News [8/10/2025 6:59 PM, Faith Abubey, Sasha Pezenik, and Josh Margolin, 31733K] reports the man suspected of opening fire on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s sprawling campus late Friday had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him sick and depressed, according to information gathered by law enforcement and sources close to the suspect. The investigation remains ongoing, and officials caution that the information is preliminary at this time. Patrick White is believed to have struggled with his mental health, according to that information. As he grappled with those issues, sources said, White had become increasingly fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine as a source of his grievances. Several Kennesaw residents who knew the 30-year-old suspected shooter told ABC News they had heard White express similar angry and conspiracy-minded sentiments. One neighbor, who asked not to be named, said White would sit on her porch for long stretches, often complaining that after he got the COVID-19 shot, he had lost a lot of weight, developed problems swallowing and gastrointestinal issues. And, the neighbor said he believed the media and government weren’t covering it. "He thought the vaccines were killing him and that people needed to know the truth," the neighbor said, adding that she didn’t agree with him, but would listen. White’s father declined to comment on his son when reached by ABC News. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the probe, declined to comment on a potential motive.

ABC News [8/10/2025 4:52 PM, Bill Hutchinson, 31733K] reports a woman was killed and five other people were hurt when gunfire erupted early Sunday at a large outdoor gathering on Chicago’s West Side – one of three separate shootings to occur in the same neighborhood in fewer than three hours, according to police. The shooting occurred just before 2:48 a.m. local time on North La Cross Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago, according to an incident report from the Chicago Police Department. "Officers responded to a call of a large gathering and found multiple people shot," police said in the report. When officers arrived at the scene they found six people suffering from gunshot wounds, officials said. A 22-year-old woman was discovered with a gunshot wound to the back and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The victim’s name was not immediately released. Five other people suffered gunshot wounds in the incident, including two 18-year-old boys and a 17-year-boy. One of the 18-year-old victims was shot in the chest and left arm. Police said he was in critical condition at Stroger Hospital in Chicago, while the 17-year-old sustained a gunshot wound to the left thigh and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition. The other 18-year-old was treated at the scene for a graze wound to his left hand, police said. A 29-year-old man shot in the right leg was also in critical condition at Loretto Hospital in Chicago, according to police. The shooting also left a 29-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her right elbow, according to police, who said she was taken to Rush Hospital in good condition. No arrests had been announced as of Sunday afternoon. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation, according to police.

FOX Business [8/11/2025 12:09 AM, Bradford Betz, 9940K] reports Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is reportedly expected to visit the White House on Monday following President Donald Trump’s call last week for his ouster over his alleged ties to China. Sources familiar with the plans told The Wall Street Journal that the two are expected to discuss Tan’s commitment to U.S. national security and propose ways Intel could work with the Trump administration. Trump called for Tan’s resignation on Thursday after Senate Republicans raised the alarm over his links to Chinese companies and a criminal case involving his former company, Cadence Design Systems. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said Tan was "highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately," adding: "There is no other solution to this problem.” In a letter to Intel’s board, U.S. Republican Senator Tom Cotton raised "concern about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations and its potential impact on U.S. national security.” Cotton questioned whether the board was aware of the subpoenas sent to Cadence Design Systems when Tan was CEO before Intel hired him and what measures were taken to address those concerns. Cotton also questioned whether Intel’s board had required Tan to divest from chip firms linked to the Chinese military or Communist Party, and whether Tan had disclosed other ties to Chinese companies due to Intel’s involvement in a program that boosts the domestic supply of advanced semiconductors for national security. A month after Tan was tapped to lead the company, Reuters reported that Tan had invested in hundreds of Chinese companies – some of which had links to the Chinese military. He also invested hundreds of millions in Chinese advanced manufacturing and chip firms between March 2012 and December 2024, Reuters reported. A source told Reuters earlier this year that Tan had divested from his positions, though the extent of his divestitures wasn’t clear. Intel declined to comment when reached by FOX Business on Sunday. FOX Business has reached out to the White House for comment. Last month, Cadence Design Systems agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $140 million to resolve U.S. charges for selling its chip design products to a Chinese military university believed to be involved in simulating nuclear explosions. The U.S. Justice Department has accused the firm of violating export controls by illegally selling chip design software and hardware to front companies representing a Chinese military university. Born in Malaysia and now a U.S. citizen, Tan was appointed by Intel’s board as CEO in March.

CNN [8/11/2025 5:00 AM, Kevin Liptak, 21433K] reports American officials are rushing to finalize details ahead of Friday’s summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska, with both logistical and geopolitical issues still unsettled four days ahead of the momentous sit-down. As of Monday, no venue for the summit had been announced. Administration officials were still making their way to Alaska — selected for its centrality to Washington and Moscow — to scope out where, exactly, the US and Russian presidents would meet. Officials were also working to clarify the contours of the two men’s expected discussion, which Trump hopes can yield significant progress toward ending the war in Ukraine. The uncertainty surrounding the summit as the week opened underscored the extraordinary moment Trump finds himself in seven months into his second term. After entering office hoping to leverage his relationship with Putin to end the Ukraine war, only to become disillusioned by the Russian leader’s duplicity, Trump is now embarking on the biggest test yet of his long-held faith in face-to-face diplomacy. "Next Friday will be important, because it will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who has forged a close partnership with Trump, said Sunday on ABC. Trump has told advisers in private that any attempt to end the war is worth the effort, even if it isn’t ultimately successful. He pressed his team to organize this week’s meeting with extraordinary speed; typically, high-profile summits, particularly with adversaries like Russia, take weeks or months to plan. A number of questions hang over the preparations. One is whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be invited. He wasn’t mentioned when Trump announced the meeting last week. The White House hasn’t ruled out including him in Alaska, but officials said their priority was organizing the Trump-Putin one-on-one. "If he thinks that that is the best scenario to invite Zelensky, then he will do that," the US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, told Dana Bash on CNN’s "State of the Union." "The meeting’s happening on Friday. There’s time to make that decision.” Another question was what, precisely, Putin put on the table during his meeting with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff last week to convince the US the time was right for a meeting between the leaders. While exact details of his proposal remained hazy, it was clear that major land concessions on the part of the Ukrainians would be central to his plan.

New York Times [8/10/2025 4:35 PM, Chris Hippensteel and Julia O’Malley, 138952K] reports President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may arrive to a somewhat chilly reception in Alaska next week, as the state that has long made efforts to deepen and even celebrate its ties to the country has soured on its neighbor across the Bering Sea. President Trump said on Friday that he would meet with Mr. Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska, in an attempt to secure a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Mr. Trump had earlier suggested that a peace deal between the two countries could include “some swapping of territories,” signaling that the United States may join Russia in trying to compel Ukraine to permanently cede some of its land. David Ramseur, who was an aide to the former Alaska governors Tony Knowles and Steve Cowper, said the setting for the summit is knotty given how the historical “affinity” between Alaskans and Russians has weakened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Alaska boosters have been pushing for Alaska as an international gateway for basically since statehood,” said Mr. Ramseur, who wrote the book “Melting the Ice Curtain: The Extraordinary Story of Citizen Diplomacy on the Russia-Alaska Frontier.” “So in that sense, it’s good for Alaska. Puts us on the map for a couple of hours.” Alaska has deep ties to Russian history and culture, dating back to when the Russian Empire first colonized the region in the 18th century. Since the United States purchased the land in 1867, Russian-speaking communities have stayed in the state, and Russian Orthodox Churches, with their distinct onion-shaped domes, can be found from the remote Aleutian Islands to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. “Russian culture and Russian history is sort of baked into Alaska,” said Brandon Boylan, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has researched Alaska’s role in U.S.-Russia relations. “There’s a lot of remnants of the Russian American legacy.” After the end of the Cold War — when Alaska served as a front line of missile defense against the Soviet Union — the state became the center of efforts to deepen ties between the United States and the new Russian Federation, Dr. Boylan said. But the outbreak of war in Ukraine reversed that thaw in relations, he said.

AP [8/10/2025 4:05 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports the deputy head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog will visit Iran in a bid to rekindle soured ties, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister said Sunday. There will be no inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities during the visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency scheduled for Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. The visit would be the first following Israel and Iran’s 12-day war in June, when some of its key nuclear facilities were struck. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 3 ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the IAEA, after American and Israeli airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities. The decision will likely further limit inspectors’ ability to track Tehran’s program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. "As long as we haven’t reached a new framework for cooperation, there will be no cooperation, and the new framework will definitely be based on the law passed by the Parliament," Araghchi said. State media last week quoted Aragchi as saying during a television program that Tehran would only allow for IAEA cooperation through the approval of the Supreme National Security Council, the country’s highest security body.

Wall Street Journal [8/10/2025 10:27 PM, Chun Han Wong and Lignling Wei, 646K] reports Liu Jianchao, a senior Chinese diplomat widely seen as a potential foreign minister, has been taken away by authorities for questioning, according to people familiar with the matter. A veteran of China’s foreign service who also fought corruption as a Communist Party graftbuster, Liu has most recently been serving as head of the party’s International Department, which oversees relations with foreign political parties and socialist states. Liu was taken away after returning to Beijing from a work trip overseas in late July, according to the people familiar with the matter. The reason for his detention couldn’t be determined. Liu, 61 years old, couldn’t be reached for comment. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Department and the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, its top internal watchdog, didn’t respond to questions sent directly or through the Chinese government’s information office. Liu’s most recent public engagements were visits to Singapore, South Africa and Algeria late last month in his capacity as head of the International Department, according to official disclosures. The department continued to list Liu as its minister on its website as of Monday in Beijing. His absence could erode diplomatic expertise in Beijing, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping has increasingly favored political loyalty in personnel appointments, according to people close to China’s foreign-policy establishment. The detention of Liu marks the highest-level known probe involving a Chinese diplomat since Beijing ousted Qin Gang as foreign minister in 2023 after giving him the job just seven months earlier. An internal party investigation found that Qin had engaged in an extramarital affair that lasted through his tenure as Beijing’s ambassador to Washington, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Reuters [8/11/2025 4:47 AM, Yimou Lee and Faith Hung, 51390K] reports Taiwan’s cabinet is still negotiating for more favourable tariff rates after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 20% levy on the island, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said on Monday. "Taiwan’s goal is to seek a better and more reasonable tariff rate from the U.S.", Cheng told a news briefing, adding that negotiations with the U.S. were continuing, and that officials were prepared to report to Taiwan’s parliament on their progress. Cheng said Taiwan was hoping to continue its tariff negotiations concurrent with a U.S. national security probe, which is being conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Taiwan has the sixth-largest trade deficit with the U.S., with 90% of that from semiconductors, as well as telecommunications and other tech products. Taiwan’s TSMC (2330.TW) is the world’s biggest contract chip maker and makes chips for tech giants such as Nvidia (NVDA.O). Rates for semiconductors, electronics as well as information and communication technology - which make up the bulk of Taiwan’s exports to the U.S. - will be subject to separate U.S. sectoral tariffs and are still to be worked out.

Reuters [8/10/2025 10:48 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports North Korea has denounced a major joint exercise planned by the South Korean and U.S. militaries as "direct military provocation" and warned of counteraction, despite signs of easing tension across the border under a new leader in Seoul. North Korea’s Defence Minister No Kwang Chol said its military has an "absolute mission" to defend national security against the large-scale 11-day drills by South Korea and the United States, which he said posed a real and dangerous threat. "The armed forces of the DPRK will cope with the war drills of the U.S. and the (South) with thoroughgoing and resolute counteraction posture and strictly exercise the sovereign right," No said in a statement issued via the KCNA state news agency on Monday. No said the drills staged under the pretext of defence against threats were additional proof of the confrontational intent by the two countries that raises hostility and further destabilises regional security. North Korea routinely denounces military drills by the South and the United States, having called some previous exercises "a rehearsal" for nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, even as Pyongyang conducted a range of missile tests and live fire artillery exercises. South Korea and the United States said last week the annual exercise would begin on August 18 to test command control and troop mobilisation under an upgraded security strategy against a heightened threat of nuclear warfare by North Korea.

Reuters [8/11/2025 1:39 AM, Liz Lee, 51390K] reports China’s coast guard said on Monday it took necessary measures to expel Philippine vessels from waters around Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The coast guard said in a statement it monitored and intercepted the Philippine vessels after they ignored warnings, and forced them away from the waters in an operation it said was "professional, standardised, legitimate and legal". The Philippine embassy in China did not immediately respond to an emailed query about the incident.

AP [8/11/2025 1:33 AM, Jim Gomez, 56000K] reports Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday his country would inevitably be drawn “kicking and screaming” into any war over Taiwan due to its proximity to the self-ruled island and the presence of large numbers of Filipino workers there, despite China’s strong protest over such remarks. Marcos also told a news conference that the Philippines’ coast guard, navy and other vessels defending its territorial interests in the South China Sea would never back down and would stand their ground in the contested waters after the Chinese coast guard on Monday staged dangerous blocking maneuvers and used a powerful water cannon to try to drive away Philippine vessels from the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal. It’s the latest flare-up of long-simmering territorial disputes in the busy waterway, a key global trade route, where overlapping claims between China and the Philippines have escalated in recent years. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claims to parts of the contested waters.

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