Israel’s attack on Hamas negotiators in Doha brought together dozens of Arab and Muslim leaders for a show of unity in Qatar, agreeing to coordinate efforts to respond to Israel’s “cowardly” aggression.
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
President Donald Trump has announced that the US military has carried out a strike on what he said was a Venezuelan drug cartel vessel that had been on its way to the United States.
Three men were killed in the attack on Monday, according to Trump, who said the strikes occurred in international waters.
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“This morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to US National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests.”
The attack follows a similar strike that killed 11 people earlier this month.
The first bombardment deepened the animosity between Washington and Caracas. On Friday, the Venezuelan government accused the US military of intercepting “harmless” fishing boats from the country.
The strikes also raised concerns over violations of international law and the rights of the targeted individuals, who have been extrajudicially executed without a right to due process.
Some critics have questioned why the alleged drug dealers were not apprehended to face legal charges once they reached US territorial waters.
The US military has a history of misidentifying targets, leading to the killing of innocent civilians.
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Trump warned on Monday that he would continue to target people his department believes are trying to get drugs into the US.
“BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU! The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER,” he wrote.
On Sunday, Trump did not rule out US strikes inside Venezuela, amid growing tensions with the left-wing government of President Nicolas Maduro.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said when asked whether he is considering attacks against Venezuela. “Look, Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs. It’s not acceptable.”
For his part, Maduro accused the US of waging “an ongoing aggression of military character” against his country.
The United States and China have reached a framework agreement to transfer TikTok’s ownership to US control.
Officials from both countries made the announcement on Monday.
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The short-form video app was set to be banned in the US by Wednesday if its owner ByteDance did not agree to sell the company to a US-based operation or if the US did not extend a pause of the ban, which the White House has already done three times, most recently in June.
US President Donald Trump applauded the deal, which will be confirmed when he discusses it with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping on Friday.
“A deal was also reached on a “certain” company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday.
“The relationship remains a very strong one!!!”
The White House declined to outline the terms of the deal, which was negotiated during trade talks between the two countries in Madrid. The two-day meeting, which wrapped up on Monday, was the latest in a slew of negotiations that began in May.
“We’re not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal. It’s between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters.
Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who was also part of the trade delegation in Madrid, said China wanted concessions on trade and technology in exchange for agreeing to divest from the popular social media app.
“Our Chinese counterparts have come with a very aggressive ask,” Bessent said, adding, “We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app.”
“TikTok’s divestment agreement not only keeps the app running in the US, but is also expected to help de-escalate a tense trade standoff and lay groundwork for further trade talks between the US and China,” Maria Pechurina, director of international trade at Peacock Tariff Consulting, told Al Jazeera. “Both US and Chinese delegations explicitly linked the fate of TikTok to progress on tariff reductions and related trade concessions during their conversations in Madrid.”
The deal comes despite the US pushing other nations to impose tariffs on China over purchases of Russian oil, which Bessent said was discussed briefly with the US’s Chinese counterparts.
Experts warn to be wary of the deal being set until Xi and Trump speak on Friday.
“It’s important to note that the Chinese often see the signing of a deal as the beginning, and not the end, of any negotiations. The devil would lie in the details behind the optics. Also expect much haggling on important details that may take years,” Usha Hayley, a professor of international business at Wichita State University who specialises in Chinese industry, told Al Jazeera.
“The deal, when reached, would reflect the convergence of technology, national security, and geopolitics,” said Hayley. “TikTok sits at the centre of US concerns about data access, influence over public discourse, and Beijing’s reach into global tech. Washington is stating that the US views digital platforms as strategic assets, not private businesses.”
TikTok did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Trump proposed banning TikTok during his first term as US president, signing two executive orders in August 2020 that were aimed at restricting the app.
In April 2024, under then-President Joe Biden, the White House signed a law formally banning TikTok unless it sold its US operations. The ban was supposed to take effect on January 19, the last day of the Biden administration. Biden said he would not enforce the ban and said that he would leave that decision to the next administration.
Two days before the January deadline, on January 17, the Supreme Court stepped in to weigh in on TikTok’s challenge to the law and upheld the law. The app went dark briefly before the ban was paused during the early days of Trump’s subsequent presidency.
The pause was initially for 90 days and was later extended multiple times throughout the year.
TikTok’s cultural relevance has grown significantly in recent years, serving both as a tool for organising and activism, and as a platform to reach the public, particularly young voters. In April 2024, the pro-Trump videos on TikTok were nearly double those supporting Biden, who was then the Democratic nominee, the New York Times reported, citing TikTok’s internal data.
Trump’s broader use of newer media was widely cited as a factor in his 2024 election victory. His campaign regularly engaged with right-leaning podcasts and influencers — such as Joe Rogan and Theo Von — to reach conservative audiences. It also targeted disillusioned men, who were drawn to influencers promoting traditional notions of masculinity, often conflated with conservative viewpoints.
A Pew Research Center study from November found that news influencers — defined as those who discuss “current events and civic issues” and have at least 100,000 followers across any social media platform – are more likely to lean conservative. A separate report from Pew in February found that news influencers posted more content supporting Trump than former Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s 2024 election opponent: 28 percent for Trump versus 24 percent for Harris.
Why is the US President cracking down on crime, when crime rates are falling nationwide? We dive deep into the facts.
Donald Trump says crime in Democratic cities is “out of control”. And after deployments to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, he’s now planning to send in the National Guard to other Democratic cities, like Memphis, in the Republican-run state of Tennessee. But FBI stats show crime is falling nationwide. So why the crackdown? Jillian Wolf takes a look at the evidence in this Fact Check.
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Russia has showcased some of its advanced weapons while conducting a joint military drill with Belarusian troops amid heightened tensions with NATO countries following alleged violations of the airspaces of Poland and Romania by Moscow.
Approximately 7,000 troops, including 6,000 Belarusian soldiers, participated in exercises held at locations in Belarus and Russia.
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Russia conducted a test strike with a Kalibr missile from the nuclear submarine named Arkhangelsk in the Barents Sea during the joint Russia-Belarus “Zapad” military drills, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Monday. The strike on the designated target was carried out by the submarine from an underwater position, Interfax reported.
Moscow and Minsk insisted on Tuesday that the drills are defensive, meant to simulate a response to an invasion.
But NATO states along the alliance’s eastern flank see them as a threat, particularly after alleged Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace last week. Warsaw has since warned that “open conflict” is closer now than at any point since World War II. Romania on Sunday accused Russia of drone incursion during its attacks on Ukraine.
Britain’s Labour Party-led government on Monday announced its fighter jets will fly air defence missions over Poland to counter aerial threats.
Russia has been at war with Ukraine since it launched a ground invasion in 2022.
Belarus’s Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin dismissed the NATO concerns.
“We have heard a lot of things … that we are threatening NATO, that we are going to invade the Baltic states,” he told reporters at the Barysaw base, east of Minsk. “Simply put, all kinds of nonsense.”
Still, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have stepped up security, closing borders and carrying out counter-drills.
Belarus allowed rare media access, inviting foreign journalists, TV crews and even US army officers.
“Thank you for the invitation,” Bryan Shoupe, the US military attache, said as he shook hands with the Belarusian defence minister.
“Give the American guests the best places and show them everything that interests them,” the defence minister said. Cameras captured Khrenin shaking hands with two US Army officers, thanking them for attending.
The drills were a tightly choreographed show of force. Camouflaged armoured vehicles splashed across a river, helicopters swooped low over treetops, and young conscripts loaded shells into artillery systems. Others prepared drones for mock strikes.
Reporters were excluded from the naval manoeuvres in the Barents and Baltic seas, as well as the exercises near Grodna, close to the Polish and Lithuanian borders.
Minsk highlighted the limited scale of the drills, stressing that only 7,000 troops were involved. By comparison, the 2021 Zapad exercises included about 200,000 personnel, just months before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Khrenin said the reduced numbers reflected Minsk’s efforts to ease tensions. “We have nothing to hide,” he insisted. “We are only preparing to defend our country.”
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Last week, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty of attempting a coup and sentenced to just over 27 years in prison.
A panel of Supreme Court justices on Thursday found that the 70-year-old had sought to overthrow democracy and hang onto power despite his 2022 electoral defeat to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
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Four out of five justices voted in favour of convicting Bolsonaro and his fellow defendants. Justice Luiz Fux, in the sole dissenting vote, said there was not enough evidence to find Bolsonaro guilty of attempting a coup.
The other justices ruled that the attempted coup began in 2021 when Bolsonaro began casting unfounded doubts about the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system. After Bolsonaro lost to Lula, efforts to maintain himself in office illegally accelerated, they said.
Bolsonaro’s alleged multipronged plan included a draft decree to suspend the election result, a meeting with Brazil’s top military commanders to ask for their support in a coup and a plot to assassinate Lula, Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin and Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who spearheaded the case against Bolsonaro.
On January 8, 2023, when Bolsonaro supporters ransacked the Supreme Court, the presidential palace and Congress a week after Lula’s inauguration, it was a last-ditch effort to force an army takeover, the court said.
Relations between Brazil and the United States are likely to further deteriorate after the ruling. US President Donald Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods in July, citing what he called a “witch-hunt” against Bolsonaro. After Bolsonaro’s conviction, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump’s government “will respond accordingly”.
In response, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government will continue to defend the country’s sovereignty “from aggressions and attempts at interference, no matter where they come from”.
As Brazilians brace for economic repercussions, many are wondering about the political ones as well. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took to the streets this month before the high court deliberations, leading to concerns of possible violence after a guilty verdict.
But after the sentencing announcement, the streets were mostly filled with delighted Bolsonaro opponents celebrating the outcome.
Whether Bolsonaro will be granted amnesty, win some sort of appeal or be made to serve an unprecedented sentence remains to be seen. On the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Al Jazeera spoke to Brazilians about how they viewed the verdict.
“I feel very indignant and revolted because it was a set-up. The left, along with Alexandre de Moraes and the entire Supreme Court, created this whole scheme to get Bolsonaro out of politics because he was strong.
“Trump’s tariff didn’t change anything because the outcome was already planned. Trump is pressuring other countries as well, but here, the current president didn’t sit down to negotiate.
“Unfortunately, there’s no democracy. The fake democracy they’re talking about, that they claim they’re fighting for, it’s all a lie because if you say something, if you go against their actions, then you’re going against democracy. This is a dictatorship of the robe.
“The left wants to collapse Brazil and turn Brazil into the next Venezuela. Things are only going to get worse.”
![Lea Aparecida Gomes, a cleaner, once supported Bolsonaro but quickly became disillusioned. [Eléonore Hughes/Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/lea-1757947902.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
“Bolsonaro won’t be arrested. Here in Brazil, nothing works. If he really ends up in jail, then Brazil will start working.
“When Bolsonaro ran for the first time, I voted for him because I thought he was going to make the country better. I trusted him because he was part of the military, like my son is. But I was really disappointed. The pandemic was horrible. I think a lot of people died because of him. I lost a cousin to COVID. She was 44 years old. He kept delaying the vaccine.
“I think it’s just stupidity. A person over 70 years old could be living happily with the salary he already gets, but he wanted more. Well, I hope he’s happy in prison. He brought this on himself. He had so much and still wasn’t satisfied.”
![Caio Eduardo Alves de Aquino, who lives in Rocinha Favela, feels the case is a distraction from the real issues facing Brazilians. [Eléonore Hughes/Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/caio-1757947896.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
“I don’t care about the conviction. I don’t know whether there was an attempted coup. Whether Bolsonaro is free or in prison, for me, it doesn’t matter. They are all the same.
“The least politicians could do is think about the future of the children. They always say that children are the future, but education is terrible. My mum says school was better in her time. Everything just keeps getting worse.
“Lula talks about education, about other things, but nothing improves. Nothing changes.”
“When I found out Bolsonaro had been convicted, it was emotional. I felt a sense of justice finally being served after so many years enduring the Bolsonaro government and its absurdity. Pure irresponsibility during the pandemic – not buying vaccines, not wearing a mask as president. This led to over 500,000 deaths. And yes, he is guilty for that.
“There was an attempted coup on January 8. I believe Bolsonaro knew about it and supported it, and I think the 27-year sentence is justified.
“It’s a very important step. He is the first former president to be arrested for attempting a coup. But there’s still a lot that needs to be done. Many arrests are still missing, and there is still much justice to be served for various things that happened during, before and after Bolsonaro’s government.
“I think a lot about remarks in small interviews or comments by Bolsonaro himself, his sons, his friends. Racist remarks, homophobic remarks, things that are criminal. He hasn’t been judged or prosecuted for those because we’re in Brazil.
“There are many others who hold the same ideology and uphold the same values as he does. Bolsonarism is still very strong. So there’s still a lot left to do. This is just the beginning.”
![Altair Lima, a public servant, said he believed the prosecutor general failed to prove anything. [Eléonore Hughes/Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/altair-1757947913.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
“I don’t cheer for one side. I analyse technically and coldly because I’m not on one side or the other. I want what’s best for my country. I followed the trial every day. I agree with Justice Luiz Fux’s vote: The prosecutor general didn’t prove anything.
“Bolsonaro said a lot of things during the 2022 campaign, but when politicians are campaigning, they say whatever they want to win over voters. But never once did he fail to comply with what the law required.
“Trump’s tariff is an overreaching intervention. That’s not the way to influence things, and I don’t think that’s the way things will be resolved. No country should interfere so much in another’s affairs. What’s going to resolve this is Congress itself with our laws here inside the country. I believe an amnesty law will pass. If not now, then next year.
“We currently have a sitting president who has been convicted. So everything can change.
“My father is a bus driver. My mother has been a housewife her whole life. My whole life I leaned more to the left. But after so many corruption scandals, I was disappointed.
“Brazilians are hopeful by nature, and hope is always the last thing to die. So we always hang onto the hope that one day things will get better. We work every day towards that. But it’s a very long-term thing. It’s hard.”