ECM World Watch: National and global news

September 19, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

Economy

• Fed cuts interest rates for first time this year amid weakening labor market (Fox Business)
• Inflation climbs in August as grocery and gas prices jump (NPR)
• Postal traffic to US drops more than 80% after trade exemption rule ends, UN agency says  (NPR)
• Noncompete ban abandoned by Trump's FTC  (NPE)

Congress and Courts

• Senate Republicans trigger 'nuclear option,' changing rules to speed up Trump nominees (NBC)
• Supreme Court denies South Carolina’s emergency request to enforce anti-transgender school bathroom policy (Politico)

Media

• Donald Trump says late night TV shows aren’t allowed to mock him (Newsweek)
• Disney Plus Subscribers Quit in Droves Over Jimmy Kimmel Axe (Newsweek)
• CBS shifts to appease the right under new owner (NPR)

Law enforcement

• Assassination of Charlie Kirk prompts flood of false and misleading claims online (AP)
• Epstein Asked Ghislaine Maxwell To ‘Remove Trump’ From List Of Associates, New Emails Reportedly Reveal (Forbes)
• 3 fired FBI officials sue Patel, saying he bowed to Trump administration's 'campaign of retribution' (AP)
• Charlie Kirk's allies warn Americans: Mourn him properly or else

Immigration

• Trump’s Citizenship and Visa Office Is Getting Its Own Police Force (NOTUS)
• Who has been swept up in the federal law enforcement surge in D.C. and what charges are they facing?  (NPR)
•  Hundreds of South Koreans are among 475 detained in a Georgia immigration raid  (NPR)
• ICE Detains Woman With Green Card Who Passed US Citizenship Exam (Newsweek)

WORLD

• Majority of Brazilian Supreme Court panel convicts Bolsonaro of attempting a coup (AP)
• NATO shoots down Russian drones in Polish airspace, accusing Moscow of being ‘absolutely reckless’ (CNN)
• Romania scrambles fighter jets after reporting drone incursion (CBS)
•  UN watchdog finds uranium traces at suspected Syrian former nuclear site (AP)
• Sudan appeals for aid after landslide kills more than 1,000 people in single village in Darfur (AP)
• Thousands in Slovakia gather in renewed protest against pro-Russian policies of Prime Minister Fico  (AP)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

U.S.

Economy

Fed cuts interest rates for first time this year amid weakening labor market (Fox Business)

Fed's rate cut comes amid weakening labor market data despite elevated inflation.

Inflation climbs in August as grocery and gas prices jump (NPR)

 Consumer prices in August were up 2.9% from a year ago, according to a report Thursday from the Labor Department. That's a sharper annual increase than the previous month, when inflation was clocked at 2.7%….Prices for groceries jumped 0.6% while gasoline prices rose 1.9%.  Consumers also saw higher prices for new and used cars, clothing and airfares in August. Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, "core" inflation was 3.1% for the last 12 months.

Postal traffic to US drops more than 80% after trade exemption rule ends, UN agency says  (NPR)

The U.N.'s Universal Postal Union (UPU) said the global postal network saw postal traffic enroute to the U.S. "come to a near halt" after Aug. 29, 2025, when the "de minimis" trade exemption that allowed small packages worth less than $800 to be exempt from tariffs ended. Data between postal operators shows that traffic dropped 81% on Aug. 29 compared to a week earlier, the union said.

Noncompete ban abandoned by Trump's FTC  (NPE)

The Federal Trade Commission is moving to vacate its rule banning noncompete agreements, reversing what was seen as a signature accomplishment of the commission under President Biden. Noncompetes are employment agreements that prevent workers from taking new jobs with a competing business or starting one of their own, usually within a certain geographic area and timeframe after leaving their job.

Congress and Courts

Senate Republicans trigger 'nuclear option,' changing rules to speed up Trump nominees (NBC)

The new rule, established by the GOP on party lines, will enable it to confirm Trump nominees in groups, rather than individually. It's the latest move to erode minority powers.

Supreme Court denies South Carolina’s emergency request to enforce anti-transgender school bathroom policy (Politico)

 The Supreme Court has declined South Carolina’s request for an emergency order allowing the state to enforce a law aimed at barring transgender students in state-funded schools from using bathrooms of their choice.  The justices rejected the state’s emergency appeal by an apparent 6-3 vote Wednesday.

Media

Donald Trump says late night TV shows aren’t allowed to mock him (Newsweek)

President Donald Trump has said TV networks that air overly-critical commentary of him aren't allowed to do so and should have their licenses taken away... Revoking broadcasting licenses over mocking or critical coverage raises serious concerns about freedom of speech and a free press.

Disney Plus Subscribers Quit in Droves Over Jimmy Kimmel Axe (Newsweek)

Disney streaming services users are cancelling their subscriptions over the suspension of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show.

CBS shifts to appease the right under new owner (NPR)

CBS' new corporate owner has taken a series of concrete steps to address the concerns of the news division's sharpest critics — particularly President Trump and his allies.

Law enforcement

Assassination of Charlie Kirk prompts flood of false and misleading claims online (AP)

A flood of false and misleading claims filled social media in the two days it took officials to arrest and publicly identify 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspect in Wednesday’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.

Epstein Asked Ghislaine Maxwell To ‘Remove Trump’ From List Of Associates, New Emails Reportedly Reveal (Forbes)

 Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell exchanged cryptic emails about removing President Donald Trump from a list of high-powered people Maxwell sent Epstein shortly after he was criminally charged in 2006, according to [a cache of 18,000] emails reviewed [and authenticated through metadata analysis by] Bloomberg…

3 fired FBI officials sue Patel, saying he bowed to Trump administration's 'campaign of retribution' (AP)

Three high-ranking FBI officials were fired last month in a “campaign of retribution” carried out by a director who knew better but caved to political pressure from the Trump administration…The complaint says Director Kash Patel told one of the ousted agents, Brian Driscoll, that he knew it was “likely illegal” to fire agents based on cases they worked…. [and] that “the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it.”   [The lawsuit] names as defendants Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, as well as the FBI, the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President.

Charlie Kirk's allies warn Americans: Mourn him properly or else

Reuters - After the fatal shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, U.S. Republicans have a warning for Americans: Mourn him respectfully or suffer the consequences….  At least 15 people have been fired or suspended from their jobs after discussing the killing online….Others have been subjected to torrents of online abuse or seen their offices flooded with calls demanding they be fired, part of a surge in right-wing rage that has followed the killing./ Some Republicans want to go further still and have proposed deporting Kirk's critics from the United States, suing them into penury or banning them from social media for life….

Immigration

Trump’s Citizenship and Visa Office Is Getting Its Own Police Force (NOTUS)

... Expected to take effect in 30 days, USCIS described the move as one that would allow the agency to investigate potential fraud “from start to finish,” according to a Thursday news release, rather than relaying information to Homeland Security Investigations or other federal agencies.…  Joseph Edlow, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] announced that the agency was also considering revising the naturalization test to increase its difficulty.  Among changes to the questions and the test format, Edlow also recommended adding an essay question outlining what becoming an American would represent to the candidate. While there is no timeline for the proposed changes, USCIS reported last week that it would resume interviewing applicants’ neighbors and coworkers, a practice not enforced since the George H.W. Bush administration

Who has been swept up in the federal law enforcement surge in D.C. and what charges are they facing?  (NPR)

 Of the more than 1,050 defendants whose cases have gone to Superior Court, prosecutors charged around 20% with felonies: more serious offenses that include drug and gun crimes. The remaining 80% of the cases were misdemeanors, warrants, traffic offenses or prosecutors dropping the case.

Hundreds of South Koreans are among 475 detained in a Georgia immigration raid  (NPR)

 Some 475 people were detained during an immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles, according to a Homeland Security official.  Steven Schrank, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, said at a news briefing Friday that the majority of the people detained were from South Korea.

ICE Detains Woman With Green Card Who Passed US Citizenship Exam (Newsweek)

Hooshang Aghdassi, a Studio City business owner from Los Angeles, says his wife, Sharareh Moghadam, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shortly after completing her U.S. citizenship exam and attending a scheduled immigration appointment.  Moghadam, an Iranian national and legal U.S. resident, was awaiting her naturalization ceremony when she was taken into custody and transferred to a detention facility in Phoenix.

WORLD

Majority of Brazilian Supreme Court panel convicts Bolsonaro of attempting a coup (AP)

The majority of a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices on Thursday voted to convict former president Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat…The far-right politician who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022 was found guilty on five counts by three members of a five-justice panel.

NATO shoots down Russian drones in Polish airspace, accusing Moscow of being ‘absolutely reckless’ (CNN)

 NATO fighter jets shot down multiple Russian drones that violated Polish airspace during an attack on neighboring Ukraine early on Wednesday, as the military alliance denounced Moscow for “absolutely dangerous” behavior that ratcheted up tensions to a new level.

Romania scrambles fighter jets after reporting drone incursion (CBS)

 Romania became the latest NATO member state to report a drone incursion into its airspace Saturday, while Poland scrambled aircraft in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine… Poland and its fellow NATO countries have been on their guard since Warsaw said nearly 20 Russian drones entered its airspace overnight Tuesday to Wednesday.

UN watchdog finds uranium traces at suspected Syrian former nuclear site (AP)

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that its inspectors found traces of uranium at a site in Syria believed to be part of a clandestine nuclear program by the former government. 

Sudan appeals for aid after landslide kills more than 1,000 people in single village in Darfur (AP)

 Sudan appealed for international aid on Tuesday after a landslide wiped out an entire village in western region of Darfur, killing an estimated 1,000 people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in the African country’s recent history. 

Thousands in Slovakia gather in renewed protest against pro-Russian policies of Prime Minister Fico  (AP)

Thousands gathered at the Slovak capital on Thursday to protest a meeting between populist Prime Minister Robert Fico and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an escalation of previous protests against Fico’s pro-Russia stance…Fico traveled to Beijing for a military parade hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.  Fico was the only head of a European Union country to attend the event, where he discussed bilateral relations with Putin in their third meeting since the Russian all-out invasion of Ukraine.