☕ Has our passport lost its magic?

Good morning!

For the first time since the inaugural edition of the Henley Passport Index was released 20 years ago, the U.S. passport is out of the top ten most powerful passports on the planet.

It’s a fascinating indicator of global mobility and international relations. In today’s newsletter, we explain the index, why we’ve dropped, and what it all means.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• The Senate will vote today for a 10th time on the House Republicans' short-term funding bill, which needs 60 votes and is expected to fail again as the government shutdown continues. Senators will also vote on a procedural motion for the Defense Department appropriations bill, testing whether Democrats will block routine spending to pressure negotiations on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. If the defense bill passes in coming weeks, it would end the lapse in military pay during the shutdown. The Senate plans to leave for the weekend after the votes, likely extending the shutdown until Monday.

• Russia launched more than 300 drones and 37 missiles at Ukraine's energy grid overnight Wednesday, causing blackouts across eight regions, Ukrainian officials said overnight. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of using cluster munitions and repeatedly striking the same targets to hit repair crews, ahead of his White House meeting with President Trump to request more air defenses. Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK reported outages in Kyiv and halted natural gas extraction in the Poltava region due to damaged infrastructure. Naftogaz said natural gas facilities were hit for the sixth time this month.

• Oscar-winning actor Diane Keaton died of pneumonia on October 11 at age 79, her family confirmed. The Los Angeles native starred in dozens of films over five decades, winning an Academy Award for "Annie Hall" and earning fame for roles in "The Godfather" series and "Something's Gotta Give." Her family said Keaton was "steadfast in her support of the unhoused community" and requested donations to food banks or animal shelters in her memory. The family initially announced her death last week but provided no details at the time.

I’ve got 1 minute

The U.S. passport has fallen to 11th place in the Henley Passport Index, marking its third ranking drop in 2025. The index, which tracks visa-free travel access, attributes the decline to increasingly isolationist policies. Here's what you need to know.

The Henley Passport Index

Henley and Partners maintains a ranking of the world's most powerful passports based on visa-free travel access. The index uses data from the International Air Transport Association to measure how many of the world's 227 destinations each country's passport can access without a visa.

Singapore currently holds the number one spot with visa-free access to 193 countries. The U.S. passport provides access to 180 countries, 13 fewer than Singapore.

Henley and Partners say the degree of global mobility offered by a country’s passport is a key indicator of soft power.

Why the drop in rankings?

The U.S. passport first dropped to 9th place in January 2025, then to 10th in July, and now sits at 11th - behind 36 other nations and tied with Malaysia. This represents a sharp decline from 2014, when the U.S. held the top spot alongside the United Kingdom.

The most recent drop followed Brazil's decision to ban visa-free travel for U.S. citizens due to lack of reciprocity. Other countries have also recently gained visa-free access to China, but the U.S. was not included in those agreements.

Henley Index Chairman Christian H. Kaelin attributed the overall decline to "a fundamental shift in global mobility and soft power dynamics."

"Nations that embrace openness and cooperation are surging ahead," Kaelin said.

Where are other countries ranked?

Three Asian nations now hold the top three spots: Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. China and the UAE have made notable gains, with the UAE rising from 42nd place to 8th place over a 10-year period.

I’ve got 2 minutes

President Trump authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela on Thursday, marking a significant escalation in his administration's campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The move allows for direct, armed action on Venezuelan territory for the first time. Here's what you need to know.

The authorisation

The authorization is known in intelligence circles as a "presidential finding." While the CIA has historically had broad authorization to gather and share information in Latin America, this directive goes further by permitting direct, armed action on Venezuelan soil.

The CIA has not confirmed whether it will carry out operations in Venezuela.

"We are certainly looking at land now, because we've got the sea very well under control," Trump said at a press conference when asked about the authorization. He also confirmed the administration is contemplating U.S. military operations in Venezuela.

Why is the U.S. targeting Venezuela?

The Trump administration has accused Maduro of "emptying Venezuelan prisons into the United States of America" and running drug trafficking operations through Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Venezuelan gang Trump declared a terrorist organization.

The administration says TdA is carrying out "irregular warfare" in the U.S. and offers a $50 million bounty for information leading to Maduro's arrest. The U.S. is actively working to remove Maduro from power.

Venezuela is an oil-rich nation on the northern edge of South America. Maduro blocked the opposition party that won elections last year from taking power.

Military action in the Caribbean

The Trump administration has deployed 10,000 Marines to Puerto Rico, along with eight surface naval vessels and one submarine stationed in the Caribbean. U.S. forces have conducted drone strikes on boats near Venezuela's coast alleged to be trafficking drugs, resulting in the deaths of 27 people aboard five different vessels.

The administration sent a memo to Congress claiming cartels were "nonstate armed groups" whose actions "constitute an armed attack against the United States."

Questions from the intelligence community

Critics in the U.S. intelligence community question the administration's assertions about Venezuela's central role in South American drug trafficking operations and Maduro's direct involvement in running TdA.

A February intelligence report disputed Maduro's role in running TdA. After criticism from a Trump official, the report was redone and reached the same conclusion.

Venezuela reacts

"The purpose of U.S. actions is to create legitimacy for an operation to change the regime in Venezuela, with the ultimate goal of taking control of all the country's resources," Maduro's government said.

The Venezuelan military has been fortifying positions along the country's northern coast in preparation for a potential U.S. assault.

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