Latest news for 11 September 2025

UNITED STATES

Manhunt.

Elected representatives from both sides of the aisle have denounced acts of political violence after an unknown assailant fatally shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk from afar during a college event in Utah. A major manhunt is still underway. (CBS)

UNITED KINGDOM

More to come.

The British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, is fighting to retain his post after a Congressional committee published his effusive 2003 birthday note to “my best pal”, Jeffrey Epstein. British tabloids have also revealed a 2008 email emphasising his support, even on the eve of Epstein’s sentencing. (Politico)Comment: You’ll recall we covered Mandelson as part of our look into the geopolitics of Epstein. It’s hard to think of something that’s aged worse than his February dismissal of any Epstein ties as nothing but a media “obsession”, or his exhortation for Financial Times reporters to “f**k off* when they asked about it.

SOUTH KOREA

Deadlock.

US-South Korea trade talks have reportedly reached a deadlock over DC’s push for a $350B investment fund, with Seoul warning that its smaller economy and currency implications prevent it from replicating Trump’s Japan’s deal. (Japan Times)

BRAZIL

Three votes down.

Three out of Brazil’s five supreme court justices have now cast their votes in the Jair Bolsonaro trial, with two finding the former president guilty of a 2022 coup plot, while a third has moved to annul the case. The final two are set to cast their votes in the coming days. (Mercopress)

Comment: A conviction seems likely at this point, setting Brazil up for even more tension with the Trump Administration, which already cited this case when slapping 50% tariffs on Brazil.

NORWAY

Ruling party holds on.

Norway’s ruling Labour Party has emerged the winner of Monday’s elections, leaving the centre-left coalition at the helm for another four years. The right-populist Progress Party ended up recording its best-ever result, more than doubling its parliamentary footprint. (Guardian)

ETHIOPIA

Dam it.

Addis Ababa has inaugurated Africa’s biggest hydroelectric dam along the Nile, shrugging off Egyptian and Sudanese complaints that the project is an unlawful threat to their water supply. As much as 90% of Egypt’s fresh water supply comes from the Nile. (AA)

CAMBODIA

So fly.

Cambodia has inaugurated its newest $2B airport outside the capital Phnom Penh, in hopes it’ll boost tourism (though it just fought a war with its top source of tourists, Thailand). (Independent)