united states

Lawyers for two accused officials say Department of Justice seeking to revive scandal before midterm vote.

Two former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents have been charged in connection with a 2020 probe into a laptop belonging to former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

The former officials, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, were charged with lying to Congress. They made their first court appearance in Washington, DC, on Friday.

Lawyers for the officials accused the Department of Justice of filing the charges to revive the salacious saga just days before the November 3 midterm vote, in which Republicans face an uphill battle against Democrats to maintain control of Congress.

A lawyer for Floris said she “served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years”, while accusing the Justice Department of building its case on hearsay.

“Yet today, the DOJ [Justice Department] has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts,” the statement said.

“It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election.”

Floris and Benavides had overseen the Foreign Intelligence Task Force (FITF) at the FBI when Hunter Biden’s laptop was found. The pair testified to Congress that the unit, which focuses on foreign interference in US elections, was not involved in the laptop investigation.

In a criminal complaint, federal prosecutors alleged the statements contradicted messages sent during the same period.

While launched by Trump during his first term, the FITF was heavily targeted by Republicans under former US President Joe Biden. They charged the unit was politically biased and used to cover up information about Biden’s laptop.

The unit was disbanded when Trump took office for the second time in January 2025.

Scandalous saga

The existence of the laptop became known in October of 2020, just weeks before Biden and Trump faced off in a presidential election.

Its strange origins, having been dropped off at a Delaware computer repair shop and apparently abandoned by Hunter Biden, prompted suspicion. Its contents were first reported on by the New York Post, based on information provided to Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Several former intelligence officials warned that the laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign. However, the FBI later seized and verified that the laptop and its contents, including messages related to the younger Biden’s foreign business ties and explicit photos of his drug use, were authentic.

The laptop was later used to back federal gun and tax evasion charges against Hunter Biden, although no wrongdoing related to his business ties or connection with his father was found.

Trump FBI Director Kash Patel has pledged to investigate the agency’s conduct throughout Biden’s presidency. Critics have accused him of flagrant politicalisation.

“Lying to Congress by senior FBI officials strikes at the heart of our system. No one is above the law,” Patel said in a statement posted on X.

The Justice Department has historically sought to avoid public and overt investigative acts in the direct lead-up to an election that involve candidates or that risk influencing an outcome.

But officials in the last two weeks have made a series of bold moves in cases with political undertones, including a search of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar’s house in an immigration fraud investigation.

The department also unsealed a corruption indictment on Thursday against powerful Democratic Virginia state Senator L Louise Lucas.

No confirmation from Russia or Ukraine as White House says ‘localised’ ceasefire to take effect in Russian-occupied Oleshky.

The White House has said First Lady Melania Trump has “secured a ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine in the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine immediately confirmed the statement on Friday, which comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump has renewed diplomacy aimed at ending the war.

The approach has included upping pressure on Ukraine and handing several recent concessions to Russia.

“The situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster,” Melania Trump said in a statement released by the White House.

“The people of Oleshky have limited electricity, live amid mined roads, and endure regular military attacks. It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible,” she said.

The First Lady added that her representatives worked directly with “Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the localized ceasefire” and that civilian leaders from both countries will work together to grant humanitarian access to civilians in the city.

This is a developing story. 

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick is under growing pressure, but club legend Wayne Rooney takes aim at players.

Manchester United great Wayne Rooney has labelled the current squad “babies” and “selfish” after a humiliating Champions League capitulation and post-match criticism by Bruno Fernandes of manager Michael Carrick.

Carrick’s men are 13th in the Premier League before Sunday’s visit by Bournemouth and could drop into the bottom three if results go against them this weekend.

With the club beset by infighting and off to their worst domestic league start for decades, Carrick was left clinging to his job after the 4-1 defeat at Como on Wednesday.

Deepening the sense of crisis, the captain Fernandes afterwards took aim at his manager’s tactics, saying United had to be more “brave”.

Defender Lisandro Martinez criticised the club’s board last week for not investing enough in the transfer market.

Rooney, United’s all-time leading goalscorer, said he was in “shock” and “disbelief” at the Como display.

A friend and ex-teammate of Carrick, former striker Rooney pointed the finger at the players.

“When Martinez came out, I said this is an absolute nightmare because it will rip the dressing room apart,” Rooney told The United Stand podcast on Thursday.

“That was the start. We’ve seen it now with Bruno and you’re going to see it with more players because these players, they don’t want to take responsibility.

“You can say whether Bruno was right or wrong in what he said but you have to take responsibility on the pitch. You have to take responsibility as a group of players.”

He added: “These players, they’re selfish. They don’t care about their teammates, don’t care about the manager, the staff or the fans; they care about themselves.

“If they’re not getting what’s right for them, they’re like babies and just throw their toys out of the pram and go and deflect the blame on to anyone else but themselves.”

The head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) says the body is endorsing Gianni Infantino for another term as FIFA president.

The AFC has 47 member confederations. Even if all the members do not follow Friday’s direction from Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, those that do could be key to guaranteeing another mandate for Infantino, who leads the governing body of world football and is seeking a fourth term.

The FIFA election is in March. The deadline for candidates to file against Infantino is November 18, and so far, none has filed.

Sheikh Salman, speaking at the AFC’s extraordinary congress in Tokyo on Friday, embraced Infantino with a large hug in front of the membership as he delivered his endorsement.

“We affirm our full commitment to supporting you and your leadership as you seek a new mandate as the FIFA president.” Sheikh Salman said.

“You’ve visited a lot of countries in Asia. I’ve spoken to a lot of members within this continent. I know your feeling, and I think your commitment is clear as well.”

Addressing his remarks to Infantino, Sheikh Salman indicated not every AFC member would go along with the endorsement but most will.

“My feeling is, I’m sure, the feeling of most of my members,” the AFC president said. “And I’ve said that to you.”

A sudden about-face by AFC

This is an abrupt turnaround for Sheikh Salman. Just over two months ago, the AFC joined the football governing bodies of Europe and that of North and Central America in saying Infantino had committed a “fundamental breach of trust”.

Infantino apologised last week in Zurich to FIFA’s 37-member ruling council, which he chairs, for “mistakes” he made in assembling a now-scrapped $4.2bn plan to sell a stake in FIFA events, including the World Cup, to private investors.

Sheikh Salman referenced the differences with Infantino in his speech but glossed over any details.

“Gianni, I want to make it clear: Yes, we had some issues we spoke about in the past,” Sheikh Salman said. “But let’s not relate the two things together. I think the last few days we met in Zurich, you made it clear that there’s a true understanding between us.”

“The past I’m sure is part of our history,” he added, “We’ve all, I’m sure, learned important lessons from it. What matters now is how we move forward together. I think everyone has questions, and I’m sure the answers will be available, whether to us in Asia or the rest of the world. ”

Infantino’s electioneering around the globe

FIFA’s media office has been promoting Infantino’s travels around the world, seeking votes in exchange for millions of more dollars in financial support for small and large football countries.

“Thank you for being here,” Sheikh Salman said to Infantino. “I know you have been everywhere. I don’t know how you can do it. But I’m sure that you set a record for being in almost every country.”

Sheikh Salman then joked that, perhaps, Infantino had a “clone”.

That drew a laugh. But the largest applause came at the end of his brief address when he again repeated his support for Infantino.

“As one Asian family, we are ready to move forward, united in your support, Gianni,” Sheikh Salman added. “I want to make that clear today.”

Infantino accepts AFC’s support

Infantino took the podium after Sheikh Salman and kept his remarks light. But he did acknowledge some errors.

“When you do many things, you do – hopefully, as we did, many good things – you do some mistakes as well,” Infantino said. “The important, however, is, as you said, to learn, to learn always from the experience, from the mistakes, to apologise, to move ahead, to come together, to unite, to build for our future, for your future.”

The largest applause came as he mentioned how, under his leadership, millions more are flowing to FIFA’s patronage network.

“Before I started as FIFA president, each of you – some of you are still [here] and still remember that time – each of you was receiving $1m every four years” Infantino said. “As of the first of January of next year, it will be $25m.”

Thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets in several cities to demand free elections and other political changes, in the first nationwide opposition protest in nearly two years.

US President Donald Trump and acting President Delcy Rodriguez have said there would be elections, but no date has been set for a vote to decide on a successor for Nicolas Maduro, after the former Venezuelan president was captured by US forces in a military raid in January.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has been outside the country for nearly a year after living in hiding following a contested 2024 election, has said elections must take place by July 2027.

Her Vente Venezuela movement organised the protest, which took place in the capital Caracas and other cities, including Valencia, Maracay, San Cristobal and Maracaibo.

“Seeing this makes me happy because I know change is possible,” said 18-year-old cosmetology student Leosmary Hernandez, as she gathered with hundreds of others in northern Maracay. “I’ve been through so many hardships, so many problems because of the dollar, and difficulties studying. I have high hopes for my country and for our next leader and president, Maria Corina.”

“I went out to protest before, when things were much tougher, and I’m even less afraid today because I want my voice to be heard,” she added.

Since January 3, the country has been led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez of the long-governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

PSUV leaders have been accused of carrying out human rights abuses against political dissidents, including arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and torture.

After the United States launched a military operation to abduct and jail former President Nicolas Maduro, the PSUV remained in power with the support of the White House.

US President Trump has backed Rodriguez’s leadership, despite her having been Maduro’s vice president.

His administration has maintained an active role in Venezuela, exerting control over its oil resources and pressuring the Rodriguez government for reforms.

Minimal security presence

Venezuela’s socialist movement, in power since 1999 under late President Hugo Chavez and then Maduro, has in the past deployed security forces against protesters, but government forces had minimal presence at protest sites on Thursday, and in many smaller cities demonstrators dispersed before dark.

The ruling Socialist Party called for its supporters to march from Caracas’ Plaza Venezuela, the same place the opposition planned to gather two hours later, to a location near the presidential palace to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, known for his close ties to the security services, was pictured on state television attending the march, while the opposition supporters moved their protest to a nearby location.

US-backed talks continue

Talks between a faction of the opposition and the interim government, aimed at remaking the top court and the electoral council ahead of eventual elections, held their latest session this month, but changes could take significant time.

The negotiations, backed by the US, do not include Machado’s political movement, though she has said she will not stand in the way of their progress.

Machado’s proxy Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia claims to have won the 2024 election according to vote tallies by the opposition. But the government, which never released full counts, backed Maduro, as did the country’s legal and electoral institutions.

Machado has for years sought US support, aligning with hawks in the Trump team who argued that Maduro, through alleged links to drug gangs, represented a direct threat to US national security. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are facing drug and torture charges in the US. They have pleaded not guilty.

Tech-heavy Nasdaq falls 2.6 percent as debate rages over whether AI is a bubble.

US tech stocks have dropped sharply amid market jitters over the sustainability of companies’ enormous capital investments in AI.

The Nasdaq Composite, which is dominated by tech firms linked to the AI boom, fell 2.6 percent on Thursday, its steepest fall since the index tumbled 4.2 percent on June 5.

The broader S&P 500 slid 1.21 percent, the benchmark’s biggest drop since a 1.52 percent decline on July 29.

Apart from Apple, each of the “Magnificent 7”, which make up more than one-third of the overall market, saw substantial losses.

Meta dropped nearly 7 percent after it raised its projected capital spending for this year to $135bn to $145bn in its latest earnings report, even as the Facebook parent company’s net profit fell short of expectations.

Amazon fell 4.6 percent, while Nvidia dropped 4.4 percent.

Tesla and Alphabet both fell 3.1 percent, while Microsoft declined 2.2 percent.

Apple rose 1.2 percent.

The sell-off extended to other major tech players, including Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, both of which fell about 8 percent, and Broadcom, which slid 4.3 percent.

Rising oil prices since February, due to the fallout of the US-Israel war on Iran, added to the downbeat mood.

Brent crude futures rose 4 percent on Thursday and continued to climb on Friday morning, taking the international benchmark above $114.20 a barrel, its highest since May.

Stocks slip in Asian trading

Major stock markets in Asia opened lower on Friday, following the losses on Wall Street.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell more than 2 percent in morning trading before recovering some ground, while South Korea’s KOSPI dropped as much as 3.5 percent.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell about 0.5 percent.

Jay Goldberg, a senior analyst at Seaport Research Partners in San Francisco, said the swings in the market appeared to be driven more by sentiment than underlying fundamentals.

“In short, nothing has changed. Investors have just decided to be afraid this week. Everyone I speak to points to a different cause for the downfall … It’s just a giant wall of worry,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.

“There are legitimate concerns about the AI trade, but this level of shift in the markets is driven much more by investor sentiment than any tangible reason.”

US tech companies’ huge investments in AI have stoked intense debate about whether a market bubble is forming similar to the one that preceded the 2000 dot-com crash.

While some Wall Street analysts view current levels of investment in datacentres and graphics processing units as unsustainable, others argue that AI will revolutionise society to a degree that justifies the eye-watering sums involved.

Global AI investment is forecast to reach $2.7 trillion in 2026 and $3.6 trillion in 2027, according to technology insights company Gartner.

Trump advises the Republican gubernatorial candidate to keep running the controversial advertisement.

US President Donald Trump has backed Republican Vivek Ramaswamy amid controversy over an attack advertisement by the Ohio gubernatorial candidate against his Democratic rival.

Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that Ramaswamy should keep running the advertisement that features Democratic candidate Amy Acton’s estranged mother.

In the advertisement, Donna Arthur, Acton’s mother, disputes her daughter’s account of a childhood involving homelessness and ⁠⁠sexual abuse by her stepfather, urging Ohioans not to vote for her.

Acton says she has not seen her mother since 1978. Acton’s brother has supported her account of being sexually abused by her stepfather when she was a child. The stepfather, who died in 2004, was charged with rape.

“Anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving in office,” Trump said.

The US president also attacked Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who advised Ramaswamy to take down the advertisement, labelling him “disloyal” to the Republican party.

‘It’s wrong’

At a gathering with reporters at the Ohio Statehouse, DeWine recalled the painful experiences of rape victims he dealt with as a county prosecutor and state attorney general.

“It’s wrong to run this ad,” he said. “And, even at this late time – my wife, Fran, saw the advertisement just run this morning on TV – I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.”

Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, called the advertisement ⁠⁠a “desperate, disgusting attack”, while Acton campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock called Ramaswamy’s decision to promote it “both despicable and entirely predictable”.

Vice President JD Vance, campaigning on Wednesday with Ramaswamy ⁠⁠and US Senator Jon Husted, an Ohio Republican, had brushed aside ⁠⁠the blowback.

Vance, a former senator from Ohio, expressed disgust with Republicans “whining” about the advertisement as low and in poor taste.

Ramaswamy’s campaign said it was spending $4m to promote the advertisement.

Opinion polls suggest Acton is narrowly leading Ramaswamy in a tight race to replace the term-limited DeWine.

Homeland Security targets nine states in a push to identify voting fraud, a move critics denounce as tantamount to voter intimidation.

A United States federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to halt operations aimed at finding non-citizen voters in nine states ahead of the midterm elections.

The ruling by US District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin said the investigations likely violate a provision of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits voter intimidation. She further said the DHS may have relied on flawed data in its investigations.

That leads to “an objectively reasonable fear of law enforcement entanglements that intimidates citizens from urging or aiding others in exercising their right to vote”, she wrote.

The order applies to federal efforts targeting California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

The DHS has publicised what it has described as a push to identify individuals who have committed voter fraud, with some local offices posting photos of agents knocking on the doors of suspects.

The operations come as the administration of US President Donald Trump has sought to highlight instances of voter fraud ahead of the November 3 midterm vote.

While there are recorded instances of fraud in every election cycle, such isolated cases remain exceedingly rare.

There has been no evidence to indicate that non-citizen voters have influenced the outcome of any election at any level in the country.

In a statement following Thursday’s ruling, the DHS maintained that its investigations were aimed at “removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of US citizens”.

“We have no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be US citizens,” it said.

In their lawsuit challenging the DHS’s efforts, the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, along with the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara County, said that some US citizens felt they were wrongly identified and questioned as part of the investigations.

A lawyer representing the groups said it was “clear from the start that DHS built its lists on bad data, never checked how often it was wrong, and recklessly sent agents to people’s homes weeks before an election”.

Benjamin Farley, the supervisory counsel for democracy defense at the National Immigration Law Center, said the ruling sent a strong message about voter intimidation ahead of the midterm vote.

“Yesterday’s decision is a clear rebuke of the government’s efforts to scare voters away from the polls this November and a reminder that all US citizens – regardless of color, place of birth, or the nationality of their family members – have the right to participate in American elections free of intimidation,” he said.

“No armed federal agent is going to stop us from casting our vote.”

NBA superstar LeBron James criticised by US President ⁠Donald ⁠Trump for disrespectful behaviour during national anthem.

US President Donald ⁠Trump criticised ⁠National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar LeBron James on Thursday for what he called disrespectful behaviour during the singing of the ⁠US national anthem at a recent NBA game.

“While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country,” Trump ⁠said in a Truth Social post accompanied by a video showing James moving his body during the anthem.

“LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors ‌and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!”

The clip Trump shared showed James standing in line with the members of the Philadelphia 76ers, swinging his arms in a warm-up-type stretch and performing basketball shooting movements.

A representative for the 76ers ⁠did not immediately respond to a ⁠request from Al Jazeera for comment.

Trump has repeatedly criticised athletes for their behaviour during pre-game renditions of the US national anthem, notably beginning with NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s ⁠kneeling protest in support of racial justice.

Trump cancelled the planned White House visit of ⁠the Super Bowl champions Philadelphia Eagles ⁠in 2018 after the team disagreed with his call for players to stand during the anthem.

James became a leading voice in the Black Lives ‌Matter movement in 2020 and has frequently supported progressive issues as he ascended to the top of the NBA’s all-time ‌scoring ‌list.

Not too long ago, when it came to dealing with Maduro & Co., Ric Grenell was considered a key figure in Washington DC. As the US braced for Trump’s second coming, Grenell was even deemed a contender to lead the State Department. The president opted for Marco Rubio, but created a new diplomatic post exclusively for Grenell: the Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, which had a Special focus on Venezuela and North Korea.

Given the leeway some middlemen retain in the Trump White House, Grenell’s debut was the subject of widespread speculation about who would ultimately command the Venezuela portfolio. Days into the second Trump presidency, while Maduro secured his last inauguration with an iron fist, Grenell arrived in Miraflores to meet with the dictator and his political strategist, Jorge Rodríguez, who looked delighted. Grenell left Caracas with six US citizens Maduro had held hostage, which he framed as a resounding diplomatic victory, though many more American prisoners were still left behind. He soon reaped a reward: Trump appointed Grenell to manage the Kennedy Center, an ideal hub to sow political and financial connections through grandiose social events. The president even wanted to rename the venue after himself. Grenell—widely considered a “MAGA insider”—emerged as an ideal ally to seal Trump’s imprint on the institution. It didn’t last long.

Twenty months later, he lost the job at the Kennedy Center and currently has no place in the current arrangement between Trump and Delcy Rodríguez.

Since last week, Grenell has been embroiled in a scandal of a multimillion-dollar, international dimension, which goes back to his Kennedy Center tenure. It speaks of the network of friends and contacts he had access to when empowered vis-à-vis the chavista clique. The New York Times characterizes the unfolding saga as “bitter even for Trump-era standards.” As it stands, the episode is yet another example of the broad discretion and opacity that US officials have claimed for themselves to navigate relations between Washington and political elites in Caracas, Balkan capitals, and beyond.

The Mildons and a misplaced transaction

The saga gained attention when news broke about the wedding between Trump’s former personal lawyer Alina Habba, 42, and Turhan Mildon, an obscure Turkish investor in his 20s with ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mildon started to operate in Venezuela’s construction industry when Maduro was still in power, after a seemingly lucrative experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Love and business drew him to Caracas, the Middle East Eye reported in September: Mildon was then in a relationship with the daughter of Remigio Ceballos, a powerful chavista military commander, while he partnered with the Venezuelan State to revive as many as 10 unproductive cement plants.

His facilitator in Caracas was no other than Alex Saab, the disgraced moneyman of Maduro who is now in US custody.

According to New York Times reporters, Mildon not only lobbied Saab for the “Vencement” deal, but also took over a once-successful shrimp exporter Maduro seized in 2024. The company’s original owner is imprisoned in Venezuela.

Regarding Mildon’s new romance, he told the MEE that he met Habba some time ago through a mutual friend, “an ambassador in the US.”

The public fallout between Habba and Grenell surfaced last week, involving allegations over political favors in exchange for a multi-million-dollar contribution that was never registered. Axios first reported that Habba stormed into the Oval Office to tell Trump that Grenell persuaded Mildon, her new husband, to wire a $17.6 million donation to the Kennedy Center last year via a third-party’s bank account. Grenell denied the allegation on the spot, challenging the Mildons to submit proof.

Caracas Chronicles reached out to Grenell’s camp for comment on these developments and any reflections on his work in Venezuela, including whether he remains in contact with government officials under Delcy. We haven’t received a response. A Venezuelan opposition source who closely monitors Alex Saab’s legal case and business dealings declined to comment at this stage.

On Monday, Axios gave us an idea of the kind of evidence that Mildon’s lawyers are handing over. Grenell reportedly texted Mildon that the transaction would secure access to US officials, maybe even the president himself, through “VIP events” at the Kennedy Center. Grenell also offered to make him “the American face down in V,” which sounds like he saw Mildon as a potential poster child for US business interests in Maduro’s Venezuela.

Axios reports that a private defence company called TXAT allegedly received the payment. The transfer would not come from Mildon’s bank account, but from an account linked to the Congolese Ministry of Finance.

While revelations pile up and the Mildons build their case before President Trump, Grenell keeps witnessing his own change of luck, which began in the second half of last year, with the US military deployment in the Caribbean, and continued with Maduro’s ousting on January 3.

A bad streak

“I understand what he [Maduro] wants. I believe we can still have a deal. I believe in diplomacy, I believe in avoiding war,” Grenell claimed on September 17, 2025, during the CPAC international conference in Asunción, Paraguay.

Grenell already looked out of the loop. It was the early days of a US military campaign a few kilometers away from Venezuela, which had the stated purpose of dismantling narco-trafficking networks in the region. Grenell had become a champion of a supposedly mutually beneficial cooperation with the chavista elite in previous months. In contrast with the likes of Rubio and Mauricio Claver-Carone, Grenell pushed for the normalization of relations between the Trump administration and the Maduro regime. He portrayed his in-person meeting with Maduro and Jorge Rodríguez as a sign of what his approach could achieve. Soon, the US began deporting Venezuelan migrants and detainees in charter flights to Maiquetía, which Grenell could publicize as proof that his plan was working.

Analysts and reporters speculated over which idea would prevail: Grenell’s pitch that working with Maduro was the safe bet, or Rubio’s insistence on revoking the Chevron license and gutting the regime of financial resources. Soon enough, a tougher sanctions regime would isolate Venezuela. Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth grabbed the spotlight. Grenell found himself sidelined, but kept insisting his approach was the right one. 

“I continue to talk to Maduro’s team,” Grenell told CBS after returning from CPAC, which featured the likes of presidents Santiago Peña and Javier Milei, and right-wing commentator Javier Negre, a Spanish media figure whose visibility in “Twitterzuela” has grown for praising Delcy Rodríguez and criticizing María Corina Machado’s camp.

Donald Trump shut Grenell down via telephone two weeks later, according to The New York Times, in the middle of an Oval Office meeting with senior military leaders. Grenell reportedly received orders to cease all communications with Maduro’s camp.

The aftermath of January 3 would further push him out. Rubio took an active role in handing instructions and often dealing directly with Delcy Rodríguez. In March, Grenell was relieved of his duties as president and executive director of the Kennedy Center. He formally retains the “Special Missions” post, but has stayed off the radar while other names (Claver-Carone, Alejandro Betancourt, Chris Wright and Jarrod Agen, to name a few) gained prominence over the Caracas dossier.

The unlucky colleagues

A string of successive scandals has also affected other Trump administration officials, who had to resign from their posts last week. Evidence available from open sources indicate two of them are close to Grenell.

The latest example is Katie Zacharia, the shortest-serving Press Secretary in the history of the White House. Following a clumsy first (and last) press briefing, Zacharia faced scrutiny over the false claim that she was an attorney. Some quick fact-checking from US media and observers found that Zacharia was neither licensed to work as counsel in the US nor that she worked as a lawyer in China, as she alleged at some point. Her LinkedIn page says she served as “general counsel” for Fix California, a non-profit that Grenell launched in 2021. The organization is focused on voter registration and advancing conservative causes in the Golden State, the liberal stronghold run by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom—a constant target of Grenell’s attacks on social media.

Last year, Zacharia appeared twice in conservative media hailing Grenell’s work in Venezuela. On Fox News Night in February 2025, she recounted how Grenell supposedly forced Maduro to give in:

People didn’t know these hostages [American political prisoners in Venezuela] were in Venezuela. He asked Maduro: “I want these six hostages,” and he said, “Oh, I don’t have them.” And Ambassador Grenell said: “I need them, I’m gonna go back to the airplane and you’re gonna get them for me.” And the regime brought them to him…

The other disgraced ally of Grenell is Kimberly Guilfoyle, the ex-fiancée of Donald Trump Jr. (and Gavin Newsom’s ex-wife), who served as the US ambassador in Athens until last week. Guilfoye’s dismissal was actually the only news Katie Zacharia shared during her only presser.

Guilfoyle, whose fondness for parties and luxury was no secret, faced rising scrutiny in September. The Wall Street Journal reported that a Greek-American lobbyist had become a constant presence alongside her in official meetings across the Balkans, promoting energy deals with a Greek construction company. Then, the same journalists found that Guilfoyle asked a Trump donor to pay her $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing. Despite some initial denial, the episode went on to exhaust Rubio and Trump, who forced her to resign last week.

The president also fired Paolo Zampolli last week, who served as special envoy for global partnerships. A longtime modeling agent, Zampolli is credited with introducing Donald Trump to Melania in 1998.

Public records show that Grenell has also had interests in Southeastern Europe, where association with pro-Russian autocrats and involvement in controversial deals continue to dog MAGA and Trump’s own inner circle. Having served as special envoy for Kosovo-Serbia negotiations during Trump’s first term, Grenell maintains a close relationship with Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia’s increasingly authoritarian leader, who recently resigned the presidency to run for prime minister in a bid to further entrench his power. After leaving that post, Grenell advocated for a major luxury complex in central Belgrade backed by Jared Kushner’s investment firm.

In Romania, Grenell drew scrutiny for publicly opposing proceedings against internet personalities Andrew and Tristan Tate, who face severe criminal charges including human trafficking and rape across multiple jurisdictions.

Grenell, Machado and the Rodríguez siblings

A Venezuelan opposition insider suggests Grenell’s sidelining helped put an end to media noise about the Trump administration pursuing a diplomatic and commercial understanding with Maduro in 2025. 

Grenell  first came into contact with Maduro associates in 2021, when Florida politician David Rivera and Raúl Gorrín coordinated a backchannel meeting in Mexico City between Jorge Rodríguez, Grenell and Erik Prince. Delcy’s brother offered to swap six American prisoners for Alex Saab, then in US custody for the first time. Rivera, who couldn’t make it to the encounter, faces a decade in prison for secretly lobbying on behalf of Maduro during Trump’s first term—an operation orchestrated by Delcy Rodríguez, who finally achieved an understanding with Washington this year.

Grenell was perceived as a nuisance for regime-change ambitions among many opposition figures and observers. María Corina Machado had contact with Grenell in early 2025, but the relationship soured before long. Two senior members of Machado’s team were approached for a comment on Grenell’s role and relationship with their camp. Neither has replied so far.

Grenell reportedly sought to meet the opposition leader in person while she was hiding in Venezuela. The New York Times reported that she refused to provide a list of political prisoners who Grenell could prioritize during negotiations with chavista representatives. Grenell later voiced his displeasure when Machado won the Nobel Prize instead of his boss, claiming in a tweet that the award had “died years ago.”

Now, both Machado and Grenell appear to lack Trump’s confidence. But Machado is expected to find her way back to Venezuela, one way or another, while Grenell could face disgrace, deprived from the opportunity of providing access to the investment rush “down in V.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says renewed attacks by the United States could prompt Tehran to invade neighbouring countries and hit bases used in US military operations as part of its new “offensive” strategy.

The warning on Wednesday came amid escalating attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a global energy chokepoint, and uncertainty over diplomatic efforts to end the nearly eight-month war.

“Our defence doctrine was previously defensive; we used to say that if a country attacks us, we will respond. Now we say that if a country attacks us, we will both respond and launch an offensive,” IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said.

Washington ordered some diplomatic personnel to leave Saudi Arabia amid attacks from Yemen’s Houthis while US President Donald Trump has signalled that a decision on the conflict could come soon.

According to media reports, the US and Israel are planning potential attacks on Iran in the coming weeks.

As negotiations seem stalled and both sides exchange threats, could the region be heading towards another military escalation?

What is Iran’s new doctrine?

The IRGC on Wednesday announced a shift towards an “offensive and asymmetrical” defence doctrine, threatening to invade countries that launch attacks against it.

Mohebi said Tehran would no longer limit its military operations to retaliatory strikes.

Mohebi stressed that Iran’s missile stockpile has increased 1.5 times since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025. He did not provide specific figures.

“The quality of the missiles has improved significantly, and their range, destructive power and accuracy in hitting targets have increased,” the spokesman said.

Moreover, Mohebi said Iranian forces were in the “stage of preparing to unveil the ‘father of all bombs’. This is something new for the enemy.”

Meanwhile, attacks in the Strait of Hormuz continued unabated.

The IRGC’s navy said on Thursday that four vessels it accused of being involved in illegal oil transfers were struck and caught fire in the northern Gulf. Three other vessels hit mines west of the strait, it added.

Before the war, one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz. While shipments through the strait are still below those levels, oil shipments from the region returned to pre-war levels last month as exporters found alternative ways to ship out their oil and gas, including using pipelines.

However, a flurry of recent attacks in the key waterway and the fighting between Yemen’s Houthis and its Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, which has resulted in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, have once again sent oil prices surging. Brent crude climbed above $110 a barrel on Thursday amid fears of further disruptions to regional energy supplies.

Why the shift?

Iran’s shift towards an offensive military doctrine reflects Tehran’s determination to make future US-Israeli attacks significantly more costly, according to analysts.

Negar Mortazavi, senior fellow at the Centre for International Policy, told Al Jazeera that Tehran was drawing lessons from the wars of 2025 and 2026 after its previous strategy of retaliation failed to prevent repeated attacks.

“Tehran now wants to establish a new equation: Any future attack on Iran will come at a much higher cost for the aggressors,” she told Al Jazeera.

Unable to match conventional US military capabilities, Iran is increasingly relying on asymmetric warfare, including missiles, drones and its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, Mortazavi explained.

She said Tehran was pursuing a broader strategy aimed at imposing military, economic and political costs on Washington, including potentially influencing the November 3 US midterm elections.

“Iran wants to teach Washington a lesson: Attacking Iran comes with a high price, one that can even cost elections,” Mortazavi said, referring to US surveys that are predicting electoral losses for Trump’s Republican Party.

She added that Iranian officials were closely monitoring the elections, believing the economic fallout from the war could damage the Republican Party’s prospects of retaining control of Congress.

“The long-term objective is to establish deterrence so that future American administrations think twice before daring to attack Iran again,” she said.

Political analyst Rami Khouri said the doctrine was also intended to ensure that the consequences of attacks extend to the US, Israel and regional countries supporting their military operations.

“That’s one part of the strategy, that the suffering and the damage have to be equal and reciprocal,” Khouri, nonresident senior fellow at the Arab Center, told Al Jazeera.

Khouri argued that Tehran was also seeking to challenge what it views as longstanding Western domination of the region.

“The Iranians are actually working to try to end the colonial period,” he said.

He added that Iran’s strategy could extend the economic consequences of conflict far beyond the Middle East, affecting energy supplies, transportation, insurance costs and shipments of essential goods.

“The pain is going to go way beyond just the Middle East and Israel and the US and will hurt people in other parts of the world,” Khouri said.

What has the US said about resuming the war?

Trump has offered conflicting signals about Washington’s next steps.

On Wednesday, he said the US was no longer negotiating with Tehran and suggested developments were imminent. “We are going to have something one way or the other that’ll happen fairly soon,” he told reporters.

He also said Washington could end the war immediately but wanted a lasting outcome. “It’ll end very soon. We could leave now, but we want to make sure it lasts for a long time,” Trump said at a campaign rally in South Carolina.

Trump previously pledged not to attack Iran before the November 3 elections.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that reaching a peace agreement is extremely difficult and insisted that Iran must stop targeting commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

In recent weeks, Iran’s enrichment of uranium has re-emerged as a point of contention.

Rubio has maintained that Washington will reject any agreement allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons, which require highly enriched uranium. “The United States will not support any deal that creates a pathway for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” he said on Wednesday.

Tehran insisted its right to enrichment is guaranteed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iran has offered a seven-day plan to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for Washington ending its blockade of Iranian ports, easing sanctions and unfreezing Iranian assets.

Meanwhile, the US Department of State on Wednesday ordered nonemergency personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia after recent Houthi attacks.

The US embassy in Riyadh has warned of further attacks while American officials told the Reuters news agency that family members could be withdrawn from other Gulf missions.

State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said departure orders for mission personnel across the Gulf have not been ordered, saying the current orders were for “employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday his pledge to topple Iran’s government, saying it was key to preventing it from rebuilding its nuclear programme and the “axis of resistance”, further raising prospects of an escalation.

Netanyahu made the comments as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is locked in a tough battle to remain in power in Tuesday’s elections.

Is war imminent?

Analysts warned that renewed US-Israeli attacks on Iran are increasingly possible with both sides preparing for another confrontation despite the continued possibility of diplomacy.

“Another round of war seems to be approaching,” Mortazavi said.

“Both sides appear to be preparing for renewed confrontation while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz increase the risk of a wider conflict,” she said.

Mortazavi added that the elections in the next two weeks in the US and Israel could influence the timing of military action but warned that the current trajectory appeared to favour escalation over negotiations.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, on Wednesday said, “Everyone must know that any action against Iran comes at a cost.”

“If diplomacy can create this understanding, we prefer diplomacy, but if the war continues, Iran has the necessary means to sustain its response,” Rezaei said, according to the IRNA news agency.

Echoing Mortazavi, Khouri warned that another confrontation could be approaching although he said US threats might still be part of a negotiating strategy.

“I think imminent conflict is on the cards, but I don’t know if war is the right word to use,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.

He said renewed strikes could target Iran’s critical infrastructure, including electricity networks, transportation systems, bridges and essential services.

“We’re probably going to get some severe attacks on a few targets that will try to make life in Iran very difficult,” he said.

However, Khouri cautioned that Iran’s ability to withstand another major military offensive while inflicting comparable damage on its adversaries remained uncertain.

“It’s not clear if Iran has the ability to withstand major new assaults against it,” he said, while stressing that Tehran was unlikely to surrender to military pressure.

The United States ambassador to Turkiye and special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq says Washington’s relationship with the countries in the Middle East needs to change.

Tom Barrack says the US no longer seeks to dominate the region.

He won’t say whether the war in Iran was a mistake – but acknowledges the instability it caused has led to unintended consequences.

Barrack says President Donald Trump is against what he calls “forever wars”, and ending the US-Israel war on Iran will require a major compromise. According to him, each side will have to accept conditions it does not like.

However, he is worried that growing tensions could lead to miscalculation.

Barrack says trust is lacking between Washington and Tehran, and that is hampering talks to agree on a deal.

He tells Al Jazeera that countries in the region should not depend on the US to solve their problems and that they need to look out for themselves. He insists the Trump administration has not abandoned the region, but is rather re-examining its role.

Barrack admits that years of US involvement in the region demonstrate that intervention and regime change do not work. He says it is time to put down the guns and resolve disputes through negotiations and mutual respect.

Class action could be first in Australia to blame social media for harming its users.

Meta and its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram are facing a class action lawsuit in Australia over allegations that addictive design features are harming children and teenagers.

The lawsuit, filed by MinterEllison in the Australian Federal Court, seeks to recover compensation for current and former users of Facebook and Instagram who claim they were exposed to harmful content or developed an addiction to social media as a result of using those platforms, the law firm said in a statement released on Thursday.

“This proceeding raises important questions about the design and operation of social media platforms and their impact on children and teenagers in Australia. Those questions will now be considered through the Federal Court process,” MinterEllison Partner William Nolan said in the statement.

The class action suit was filed on behalf of eight plaintiffs who allege they were harmed by Meta while they were below the age of 18.

In a suppression order on Monday, the court prohibited the reporting of any information that could reveal their identities and the statement of claim.

“We are aware of this claim and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Litigation Lending Services said it was funding the class action for Australian families who “would have no practical means of pursuing these claims against a global technology giant”.

The lawsuit comes amid rising tensions between Australia and Big Tech after a world-first ban on social media for children below 16 in 2025, and newly proposed rules that could let users switch off algorithm-driven content on their feeds.

Meta agreed in August to pay $18bn to settle with nearly all US states to resolve claims that it designed social media to addict children.

China finished 0.233 points ahead of the Americans, denying them a chance to win an gold eighth consecutive team gold.

China have denied the United States an eighth consecutive women’s team title at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships as Qiu Qiyuan sealed a dramatic victory with the final routine.

Qiu needed to score more than 12.600 points in the closing floor routine to give her country gold and did just enough with 12.833 on Wednesday.

The USA last failed to win gold when they were beaten by Russia at the 2010 championships, but were left to count the cost of several errors on the balance beam in Rotterdam.

China, who also led the way in qualifying, finished with 165.764 points, edging out the Americans by 0.233 overall.

Japan were a further 1.468 points behind as they completed the podium ahead of fourth-placed France.

USA superstar Simone Biles, a 23-time world champion including five times in the team competition, is taking a break from the sport and has not competed since the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won three gold medals.

The reigning champions took a healthy lead at the halfway stage, helped by strong vault and uneven bars routines by Skye Blakely, the only gymnast on the team who was part of the quintet that won their seventh consecutive title in 2023.

But 18-year-old Caylor Dulcy stumbled on the beam, scoring just 12.333, as the Americans were outscored by more than four points on the apparatus by their rivals.

Zhang Qingying, who topped beam qualifying, in particular made them pay with a sparkling performance that earned her 15.066 points.

The Chinese were put under pressure on the floor, but Qiu held her nerve to secure their first women’s team world crown since 2006.

The championships continue in the Netherlands on Thursday as Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto defends his men’s all-around title, with a big challenge expected from his compatriot and Olympic champion Shinnosuke Oka.

Japan took the men’s team title on Tuesday, pipping Russia and China.

US federal judge blocked wall’s construction on Texas-Mexico border amid an ongoing legal battle.

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow it to resume plans to build a border wall through the Big Bend region of West Texas, as part of its anti-immigration policy to strengthen security on the border with Mexico.

The Justice Department filed an emergency request on Wednesday asking the court to lift a federal judge’s injunction in a lower court that has halted construction while a lawsuit against the project, brought by an environmental group and other challengers, plays out.

The Department of Homeland Security plans include vehicle barriers, patrol roads, lighting and detection technology in and around Big Bend National Park.

Big Bend has about 805km (500 miles) of border, and, according to opponents of the project who have sued the administration, accounts for about 1 percent of migrant arrests.

Landscape, historic church

The lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs including the Center for Biological Diversity and a Big Bend-area river guide, seeks to preserve the landscape, protect a historic church, and challenge the federal government’s waivers of environmental and historical laws to fast-track the $1.7bn project.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and current Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who issued the waivers between February and July, found the region to be an “area of high illegal entry”, requiring additional barriers to control the border.

US District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued an injunction in El Paso on October 2 halting work “until and unless Defendants comply with all applicable laws,” she wrote in her order.

In a later opinion, the judge found that the waivers exceeded the authority of Noem and Mullin.

The Justice Department in its request urged the Supreme Court to pause or overturn Cardone’s injunction.

The Supreme Court has not yet responded to this appeal.

“Even assuming that the secretary’s waiver authority implicates a question of ‘vast economic and political significance,’ Congress did clearly authorize the secretary both to build border barriers and to waive legal requirements in order to facilitate their expeditious construction,” the Justice Department wrote.

In August, the administration paused construction in Big Bend after the project drew bipartisan criticism over its potential impact on the park’s landscape and wildlife.