Hard Numbers: Trump liable for fraud, Kenya signs a big defense pact, Thailand jails king’s critic, Mexican exports get stranded, Nigeria rescues students

September 26, 2023

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a 2024 presidential election campaign event at Sportsman Boats in Summerville, South Carolina, U.S. September 25, 2023.

REUTERS/Sam Wolfe

2.2 billion: Donald Trump was found liable for fraud Tuesday by a New York judge for lying about his wealth on financial statements to banks and insurers, inflating his net worth by approximately $2.2 billion dollars. Justice Arthur Engoron stripped the former president of control over some of his properties and sanctioned his lawyers for their behavior. Despite extensive legal troubles, Trump remains the frontrunner – and by a wide margin – for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.

5: The US and Kenya have signed a 5-year defense agreement under which Washington will support the East African country’s security operations. Kenya has been battling al-Shabab jihadists in neighboring Somalia for years and is now poised — with $100 million in new US support — to lead an anti-gang mission to Haiti. Read more about why Kenya wants the Haiti assignment here.

4: A prominent Thai lawyer and activist who has called for reform of the country’s monarchy was sentenced to 4 years in prison under Thailand’s strict lese-majeste laws. Arnon Nampa was one of the leaders of the mass youth-led protests against the junta-dominated government in 2020. Thai politics were recently upended by the return of exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Read more here.

125: At least 125 people were killed in an unexplained explosion at a crowded fuel depot in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on Tuesday. The victims were among thousands of ethnic Armenians fleeing Karabakh after Azerbaijan retook control over the Armenian-majority region last week for the first time in more than 30 years. Read more background here.

4: Nigerian security forces rescued 14 university students who had been abducted by gunmen in northwestern Nigeria. Half a dozen students remain unaccounted for. Kidnappings for ransom have grown common in the region in recent years, as part of a broader clash between nomadic and pastoral ethnic groups. It is the first major kidnapping of its kind since President Bola Tinubu took office earlier this year with promises to improve security.

Hard Numbers: M23 expands territory in DRC, Brazil charges Bolsonaro with coup plot, US housing authority layoffs loom,Turkey arrests hundreds, judge clears DOGE access to student loan info

Police officers stand guard as Congolese youngsters jostle to receive relief food, after fleeing from renewed clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. February 18, 2025.

REUTERS/Evrard Ngendakumana

100: M23 rebels – a Rwanda-backed militia – took control of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s second-largest city, Bukavu, on Monday.

"Walmart has helped us lead the trend of non-alcoholic beer"

Walmart

Walmart is fueling American jobs and strengthening communities by investing in local businesses. Athletic Brewing landed a deal with Walmart in 2021. Since then, co-founders Bill Shufelt and John Walker have hired more than 200 employees and built a150,000-square-foot brewery in Milford, CT. Athletic Brewing is one of many US-based suppliers working with Walmart. By 2030, the retailer is estimated to support the creation of over 750,000 US jobs by investing an additional $350 billion in products made, grown, or assembled in America. Learn more about Walmart’s commitment to US manufacturing.

Tools and Weapons – In Conversation with Jeffrey Ding

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Hard Numbers: Trump liable for fraud, Kenya signs a big defense pact, Thailand jails king’s critic, Mexican exports get stranded, Nigeria rescues students

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100: M23 rebels – a Rwanda-backed militia – took control of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s second-largest city, Bukavu, on Monday.

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The latest salvo at Musk from Steve Bannon reflects the sharpening of already rough-edged rivalries within Trump’s circle between hard-core populists and hyper-libertarians.

Argentina’s flamboyant libertarian President Javier Milei is at the center of a cryptocurrency scandal that’s already having legal consequences. Whether there will be political consequences remains to be seen.

"Ransomware attacks surged 252% last year—hospitals, schools, and local governments are paying the price," said Brad Smith, Microsoft vice chair and president, during a Global Stage discussion at the 2025 Munich Security Conference.