Israel launches Gaza ground offensive, Charlie Kirk suspect set for court: Unbiased Updates, Sept. 16, 2025
Israel launches a major ground offensive in Gaza City, calling it a mission to crush Hamas. But with airstrikes intensifying and hostages still inside, critics say it’s a dangerous new escalation.
Plus, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk appears before a judge Tuesday. Prosecutors may pursue the death penalty.
Also, the Federal Reserve kicks off a high-stakes meeting. Will it finally cut interest rates after months of pressure from President Donald Trump?
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025.
Israel launches ground operation in Gaza City after night of strikes
After weeks of threats, Israel has launched a full-scale ground incursion into Gaza City, calling it a final push to crush Hamas.
Defense Minister Israel Katz says “Gaza is burning,” and the images prove it.
Intense airstrikes overnight leveled entire blocks, including the Al-Ghafri tower, which was Gaza’s tallest building.
The Israeli military said this is a targeted operation, urging residents to flee south. But many are still trapped.
At least 20 people were killed in one strike, and dozens more were injured.
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in court for his own corruption trial, families of hostages camped outside his home, pleading with him to call off the attack.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is now in Qatar, warned that time is running out for a negotiated ceasefire.
“Well, as you saw, the Israelis have begun to take operations there, so we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen,” Rubio said. “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks, so it’s a key moment, an important moment.”
Egypt, Israel’s longtime peace partner, escalated its rhetoric. It’s now calling Israel “the enemy” for the first time in decades.
Charlie Kirk killing suspect in court as FBI probes radicalization
The man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk is due in court on Tuesday.
However, prior to his hearing, he’ll likely be formally charged with aggravated murder. The charge opens the door to a possible death penalty case.
22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who is being held without bail, is accused of shooting Kirk at an event in Utah, sparking a two-day manhunt.
He’s expected to appear virtually in court after charges are filed.
Investigators say Robinson isn’t cooperating and may have been radicalized online. They’re looking into his “leftist ideology” and whether others knew he was planning an attack.
“There appear to have been multiple warning signs; you just laid out some of them. There were people in his network, friends and family, who had stated that he had become more political,” said FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. “Family members said he’d become more political, leading us to believe that this ideology had infected him and had taken over.”
FBI officials say Robinson left behind a written note stating his intent to kill Kirk.
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News, “The written note, we believe, did exist. And we have evidence to show what was in that note, which is — and I’m going to summarize — basically saying ‘I’ — the suspect wrote a note saying, ‘I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m gonna take it.’ that note was written before the shooting.”
Patel’s also facing criticism for a post he made right after the shooting, suggesting a suspect had already been caught.
“The job of the FBI is not just to manhunt the actual suspect who did the killing, or suspects, but it’s also to eliminate targets and eliminate subjects who are not involved in the process and that’s what we were doing,” Patel said. “Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure. But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not.”
Patel is set to testify before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on Tuesday and Wednesday. defending both the FBI’s response and his own leadership as the bureau faces escalating political pressure.
Trump targets Memphis in latest troop deployment, despite drop in city’s crime
President Trump has announced a new ‘Memphis Safe Task Force,” a federal crime crackdown that includes the deployment of the National Guard.
The move mirrors what his administration did in the nation’s capital, and Trump says Memphis is just the start.
He told reporters in the Oval Office that Chicago would be next.
Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, is backing the plan and praised the president for the partnership.
“When we come together, we can make significant change in our city,” Lee said. “And I wanna say thank you.”
Trump said, “This will be your proudest moment. When we see you in four or five weeks, maybe sooner, you’re gonna see numbers that will drop and plummet just like we did in DC. They plummeted; no one could even believe it.”
Memphis isn’t the first city in Trump’s sights, and it may not be the last.
Federal troops have already been deployed in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Now Memphis and Chicago are next in line.
The move to send troops into Memphis comes despite the fact that crime has actually dropped this year to a 25-year low. Trump says the city still needs help.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young said he was blindsided by the announcement and said he doesn’t want troops on the ground.
“I do not support the National Guard. However, they are coming. It’s not the mayor’s call. The mayor doesn’t have a say or the authority to stop them from coming, and so my goal is to make sure that as they come, that I have an opportunity to work with them, to strategize on how they engage in this community,” Young said.
Shelby County’s Democratic leaders call the move a “militarized occupation,” not a solution.
There’s been no final word on when the troops will arrive.
US launches second strike on Venezuelan vessel in Caribbean
President Donald Trump announced on social media Monday that the U.S. attacked and effectively destroyed a second alleged drug boat from Venezuela. The president presented the announcement with a video of the attack on social media.
The strike came just hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called the first U.S. attack on a Venezuelan fishing boat a “heinous crime.”
Trump confirmed the military killed three people in the strike, targeting what he called “narcoterrorists” headed from Venezuela to the U.S. with deadly drugs on board. The president defended the move, telling reporters it means fewer drugs coming into the U.S.
“We have noticed that there are no ships in the ocean anymore. The first when we went there were hundreds of boats, now there are no boats. I wonder why. Meaning no drugs are coming across, probably stopping some fishermen too,” Trump said.
Maduro called the first strike, which killed 11 people earlier this month, a violation of international law. He has accused the U.S. of trying to provoke a war under the guise of drug interdiction.
The White House responded, saying both strikes were legal, targeted and necessary to protect American lives from cartels and the poison they traffic. However, critics said the evidence is weak, and concerns have started to grow about whether these boats represented a real threat or if this is part of a broader effort toward conflict with Venezuela and the Maduro regime.
Senate confirms Trump adviser Miran to fed board in 48-47 vote
Over the next two days, all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve as governors kick off their policy meeting. The big question is whether the board will cut interest rates, which Trump has been pressuring them to do for months.
Behind the scenes, there was a major shakeup in the room where that decision will be made. The Senate confirmed Stephen Miran to the Fed’s Board of Governors by a slim 48-to-47 vote.
Miran is one of Trump’s closest economic advisers and now joins the Fed as one of 12 voting members. This is the first time in the Fed’s 111-year history that a board member is also technically an employee of the president.
Critics called it a power grab, arguing Trump is attempting to exert control over what has long been an independent body.
Meanwhile, Trump has faced a legal setback on the same issue. A federal appeals court rules that he cannot remove Federal Gov. Lisa Cook, whom he’s accused of mortgage fraud.
In a 2-1 decision, the court said Cook wasn’t provided with basic due process, including notice of the charges and an opportunity to respond. It resulted in Cook staying, and she will be present and able to vote at the next Fed meeting.
NASA rover finds strongest signs yet of life on Mars
There’s a Martian rock that’s got some people talking and even sparked some major questions. According to NASA, its Perseverance rover may have hit the jackpot on the red planet, uncovering the “clearest signs yet” of ancient life.
The find? A rock called Sapphire Canyon — dug up from a dried-up riverbed where water once flowed some 3 billion years ago.
The rock comes from the edge of a river valley near Mars’s Jezero Crater. It’s a region long considered a leading candidate for past life.
NASA says the sample could preserve traces of microbial life. And for scientists on the mission? This was “the one.” The kind of rock they hoped to find from the very start.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
