Peru’s Congress impeached President Dina Boluarte with 124 votes in favor and none against, citing her government’s failure to curb a severe crime wave that saw 6,041 murders from January to mid-August 2025, the highest since 2017. This marks Peru’s seventh president in less than a decade, with the president of Congress next in line amid ongoing political instability. While the fact that there was clearly no faith in Boluarte’s ability to restore law and order is reason in and of itself to remove her from the presidency, I wonder what the president would need to do to effectively restore the rule of law.

The United Nations is reducing its peacekeeping forces, including both troops and police, across nine missions due to severe funding shortages. U.S. policy under President Trump, including canceling $800 million in funding, has exacerbated the crisis, potentially weakening operations in areas like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.N., at least as we know it, is increasingly looking like an unsustainable institution if we are to transition to a multipolar world.

The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) launches this week, and will require non-EU travelers to register biometrics like fingerprints and photos for digital tracking across 29 countries. This automated system replaces manual passport stamps to boost security but may cause initial queues during its six-month phased rollout. We increasingly will need to be aware of and willing to cooperate with digital surveillance practices in order to operate in the modern world. Cynicism encourages fears of the abuse this level of tracking could facilitate, but perhaps with appropriate guardrails the implementation of this technology will not undermine our ability to enjoy liberty.

The Senate approved the $925 billion defense authorization bill in a bipartisan 77-20 vote, authorizing a 3.8% pay raise for troops and funding for weapons like F-35 jets and submarines. Provisions also overhaul procurement, extend Ukraine aid to $500 million through 2028, and restrict diversity initiatives in the military. The numbers used to describe our world will only get increasingly more absurd, but what is undoubtedly of note is the fact that in a hyper-polarized political climate, a defense spending bill is able to move through the government with little to no resistance.

The Trump administration began mass firings of federal workers via reduction-in-force plans during the government shutdown that started on October 1st, targeting unfunded or non-priority programs. This permanent measure, unlike typical furloughs, aims to pressure Democratic lawmakers into negotiations. As it does not appear to us that the government will reopen anytime soon, it appears that the president will be using this opportunity to dramatically begin to reduce the size of the federal government by dismantling its agencies and firing its workers.

A federal judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago, ruling there was no evidence of rebellion to justify overriding the Democratic governor’s objections. The order applies to both out-of-state troops and federalized Illinois Guard members, prompting an immediate appeal from the federal government. As we must live in a country which entrenches the rule of law, it is good to see this issue being taken up by the courts, and hopefully there the courts produce a sensible shared understanding quickly. From our reading of the issue, in the end, we believe the courts will side with the federal government.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office misused $162.72 million out of $226 million allocated for compliance with a 2013 court order on racial profiling, with 72% of funds wrongly attributed or prorated. Inappropriate spending included $2.8 million on excess body cameras, $1.5 million on renovations, over $1.3 million on vehicles, and $11,000 on a golf cart, revealing ongoing oversight failures. This is a good example of why the culture wars matter in terms of real world outcomes. The sheriff here decides to totally ignore his obligations because he disagrees with the aims of the policies.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 79, permitting mid-rise apartments up to nine stories near major transit stops in eight urban counties to override local zoning amid a housing shortage. The law mandates affordable units, delays rollout in lower-income areas, and promotes transit-oriented development to reduce costs and commutes. The coming world will be anchored in density and transit hubs, making it easier to ensure people have access to services and housing. However, it is troubling and telling to see that creating these types of communities requires eroding the decision-making capacities of local communities as they may reject the implementation of the plan.

Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell resigns after 18 months, amid challenges like bureaucracy, federal oversight requiring 50 reforms, and tensions with the civilian police commission. Mayor Barbara Lee praised his role in reducing crime, with plans to appoint an interim chief during the search for a permanent replacement. We will have to figure out a way to make positions like Police Chief allow for stable and long-term leadership if we want to see police departments run well. This is not the first time Oakland has had a police chief leave after a short tenure, and if we are not careful, these sorts of brief stints will come to be seen as normal.

Nevada regulators cited The Boring Company for nearly 800 violations in its Vegas Loop tunnel project, including unauthorized digging, untreated water releases, and 689 missed inspections. Fines were set at $242,800 after reductions, with the company disputing the claims while state monitoring continues. If true, this reveals some lackluster construction tactics by Elon Musk’s Boring Company, and if false, this reveals just how problematic our current bureaucratically laden process is for getting serious construction projects done.