☕ Mass killings hits record low

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One story to watch today: Dr Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to illegally selling ketamine to Matthew Perry, will be sentenced in federal court in L.A. Prosecutors are seeking three years in prison for the 44-year-old, who admitted to providing large amounts of the drug (but not the lethal dose) to the Friends star in the weeks before his October 2023 death. Perry's family and others affected by his death will have the opportunity to make statements before the sentence is delivered.

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Some headlines from this morning:

• The Trump administration has paused immigration applications from 19 non-European countries on Tuesday, citing last week's shooting of two National Guard members allegedly committed by an immigrant. The affected countries include Afghanistan, Somalia, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. These nations were already subject to partial travel restrictions imposed earlier this year. The administration said the expanded controls are necessary to protect national security.

• Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faces bipartisan pressure after the White House confirmed naval forces conducted a second attack on a disabled Venezuelan drug boat, targeting survivors of an initial strike. The Washington Post reported Hegseth ordered the September 2 strike that killed two men who survived the first attack. The White House denied Tuesday that Hegseth gave the kill order but maintained the military acted within its rights to conduct the second strike. The incident has prompted calls from both parties for a review of rules of engagement.

• Republican Matt Van Epps won a special House election in Tennessee on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Aftyn Behn by nearly nine percentage points in an overwhelmingly Republican district. The victory preserves the GOP's narrow House majority, but the closer-than-expected margin has raised concerns about Republican vulnerabilities heading into the 2026 midterms. President Trump carried the same district by 22 percentage points just over a year ago, and the seat had been specifically drawn by state lawmakers to elect a Republican. National Republican groups, including Trump's super PAC, spent millions on late attack ads casting Behn as "radical" and out of step with voters.

• More than 70 declining shark and ray species will be protected from wildlife trade under a global treaty approved at the World Wildlife Conference in Uzbekistan. At least 100 countries voted for a full international commercial trade ban on oceanic whitetip sharks, manta and devil rays, and whale sharks, with protections to be enshrined in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. International research shows that overfishing has caused a 71% decline in oceanic sharks and rays since 1970.

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The U.S. has recorded 17 mass killings this year — the lowest number since 2006. It comes after a weekend shooting at a child's birthday party in Kentucky left four children dead. Here's what you need to know.

The database

A database managed by Northeastern University researcher James Alan Fox tracks mass killings across the country. The data shows mass killings have dropped by more than 50% from a peak in 2019.

Most mass killings in the U.S. involve guns. Of the 17 killings this year, 14 involved firearms. Since 2006, 79% of mass killings have involved a gun, according to the database.

The data also shows 67% of these killings happen in domestic settings, despite public mass killings receiving more media coverage.

Crime down overall

Researchers said the decline reflects a "regression to the mean" — a return to historical averages after unusually high levels during the pandemic era. The drop in mass killings mirrors a broader decline in crime since pandemic-era spikes.

However, Fox cautioned against reading too much into the statistics. "The issue of mass killings is not going away," he said. Fox warned the data can appear more significant than it is because the total number of mass killings each year is relatively small.

Fox and his team said the decline is not the result of successful policy changes, but rather a return to historic norms.

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President Trump released former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández from prison on Tuesday, pardoning him from a 45-year sentence for helping drug cartels traffic drugs into the U.S.

The move comes as Honduras faces a contested election with two candidates separated by just 515 votes.

Juan Orlando Hernadez

Hernández served as Honduras' president from 2014 to 2022. He was extradited to the U.S. and convicted in 2024 of cooperating with cartels to traffic hundreds of kilos of drugs into the U.S.

Prosecutors accused him of running Honduras like a narco state and accepting millions in bribes from violent drug cartels during his presidency. A Manhattan court sentenced him to 45 years in prison and ordered him to pay an $8 million fine.

The pardon

Trump called Hernández's prosecution a "Biden administration set up" and said he was "treated very harshly and unfairly." The President said he felt "pretty good about" the pardon, alleging Hernández was blamed for drug trafficking in his country simply because he was president.

Trump announced his intention to pardon Hernández last week. The order came into effect Tuesday when Hernández was released from prison. Hernández's wife thanked Trump for the pardon and confirmed her husband was now free.

Honduran election

The pardon comes as Honduras' presidential election remains undecided. Right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura and centrist candidate Salvador Nasralla were separated by just 515 votes in Monday's count.

Trump has been critical of Nasralla, calling him a "borderline communist." He praised Asfura for defending democracy and taking a hard line stance on Venezuela.

What’s next?

The move has drawn criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who say pardoning a convicted drug trafficker contradicts the administration's efforts to counter drug trafficking.

Republican Senator Rand Paul said the pardon demonstrates the "craziness of this policy," referring to military strikes on vessels leaving Venezuela that have killed over 80 people.

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