The briefing for Saturday, August 15.

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting in Manhattan federal court that he tracked Thompson to a December 2024 investor conference and shot him from behind. "On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died," Mangione told the court. He detailed how he emailed UnitedHealthcare posing as an investor to learn about the event and used a 3D-printed gun equipped with a silencer, according to the AP and BBC.

The plea resolves the federal case but leaves Mangione's separate New York state murder trial, previously scheduled to begin in September, in question. His attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, argued outside court that pursuing both cases would violate double jeopardy protections, since "New York law does not permit a person to be prosecuted and punished twice for the exact same crime." Prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 24 to 30 years, though Judge Margaret Garnett will make the final call at sentencing, set for Dec. 18; the maximum penalty is life in prison with no possibility of parole in the federal system.

Thompson's family, present in court, called the plea "an important step toward justice" while saying they will continue pursuing accountability in state court. The case became a flashpoint in the national debate over health insurance practices after investigators found the words "delay," "deny" and "depose" written on the shooter's ammunition, echoing criticism of how insurers handle claims. The plea closes a significant chapter in a case that drew worldwide attention, though the state proceedings and sentencing will keep it in the headlines through the fall.

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, damaging buildings and homes and prompting a tsunami warning across several provinces, the AP reports. The U.S. Geological Survey said the shallow quake, with a depth of 10 kilometers, hit near Indonesia's Flores region at 5:58 a.m. local time, with its epicenter about 42 miles north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Indonesia's meteorology agency issued tsunami warnings for parts of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi, urging residents to move away from beaches and rivers to higher ground. A resident of Sikka regency described collapsed buildings, including a port terminal waiting room, and said panicked residents fled uphill. There were no immediate reports of casualties, though officials had not yet released damage estimates.

Indonesia sits on the seismically active "Ring of Fire" and has a history of devastating quakes; a magnitude 7 earthquake in the same region in 1992 triggered a tsunami that killed about 2,500 people on Flores. Authorities are closely monitoring coastal tide gauges as aftershocks continue, with the scale of damage and casualties still being assessed.

The U.S. homicide rate dropped to its lowest level in roughly 75 years in 2025, according to FBI data released Friday, with murder and nonnegligent manslaughter falling 18.1% and overall violent crime down 9.3% from the previous year. The rate reached 4.1 homicides per 100,000 people, tying 1955 and 1956 for the lowest since tracking began in 1900, per ABC News. Property crime fell 12.4%, and motor vehicle theft dropped nearly 23% to its lowest level in over two decades.

Experts caution that the causes behind the decline are not fully understood. "The homicide drop is historic and crystal clear. But right now, what's driving it is about as clear as a glass of milk," said Adam Gelb of the Council on Criminal Justice, noting that rates are falling in cities with vastly different policing strategies and political leadership. President Trump touted the numbers during a visit to a New York police academy, crediting his administration's policies, including deploying the National Guard in Washington and other cities.

The FBI's report, compiled from more than 17,000 agencies covering nearly 329 million Americans, also noted that crime has continued falling through the first half of 2026—an unusual early disclosure ahead of the midterm elections. The data arrives as both parties look to shape the crime narrative before voters head to the polls, though researchers say the broad, geographically consistent decline makes it difficult to attribute credit to any single policy or leader.

Health workers in eastern Congo are struggling to keep pace with the country's fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history, according to the AP. Between 60% and 70% of new cases are being found among people who weren't already under monitoring, meaning infections are often discovered only after patients are already sick and have had chances to spread the virus further. The outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people out of over 4,700 cases—a death toll reached nearly three times faster than during the 2014-16 West Africa outbreak, the deadliest in history.

"We are chasing the virus; the virus is ahead of us," said Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, the WHO's regional director for Africa. The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, has no approved vaccine or treatment, and the response has been complicated by strikes from unpaid health workers, threats from rebel groups, and community mistrust. Workers in Ituri province, which accounts for about 90% of Congo's cases, report investigating 60 to 70 alerts daily, often without basic protective equipment like boots or disinfectant.

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher announced an additional $30.5 million in emergency funding Friday to bolster the response. Meanwhile, the head of Africa CDC has pressed Congo's government to resolve months of unpaid wages for health workers, some of whom have gone on strike, temporarily closing at least one treatment center. The combination of funding gaps, weak surveillance and logistical hurdles has raised concerns that the outbreak could continue outpacing containment efforts.

Afghanistan marked five years since the Taliban's return to power on Aug. 15, with residents in Kabul telling the AP they feel safer after decades of conflict but are pressing the government to create jobs and restore access to education. Girls above sixth grade remain banned from school, and women are barred from universities, gyms, parks and traveling long distances without a male guardian—restrictions the Taliban has kept in place despite early promises of women's access to education and public life.

The BBC's Afghan service reported that women across the country describe their lives as unrecognizable under Taliban rule. "Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world," U.N. Women said in a statement, noting only 7% of Afghan women are currently employed. Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi disputed characterizations of a blanket ban, telling the BBC that three million girls attend schools or madrassas and that female entrepreneurship has grown since 2021.

Separately, U.N. officials say international engagement with the Taliban remains halting five years on. "Engagement is slow, progress is incremental, and reversals are frequent," said Georgette Gagnon, acting head of the U.N. mission in Kabul, describing a new negotiating framework covering human rights, governance and counterterrorism on one side and Taliban demands for sanctions relief on the other. Aid groups say they rely on informal, fragile local arrangements—sometimes allowing women to work from separate rooms or buildings—to keep programs running amid continued isolation of the Taliban government internationally.

France's Constitutional Council struck down a law banning children under 15 from social media on Friday, ruling that it "disproportionately infringe[d]" on freedom of expression and communication and lacked adequate legal safeguards, according to the AP and BBC. The law, passed last month, would have made France the first EU country to impose a blanket ban on the platforms for young teens and also barred mobile phone use in high schools.

President Emmanuel Macron, who had hoped the ban would take effect this September, said he remains "fully determined" to see it implemented and has directed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to draft a revised, "legally robust" version that addresses the court's concerns within the European legal framework. The council also flagged issues with the law's age-verification requirements, saying they lacked necessary legal protections.

The ruling is a setback for a policy other countries have been watching closely amid growing concern over social media's effects on children's mental health. Australia introduced a similar ban for under-16s last December, and the UK has announced plans to bar under-16s from social media starting January 2027, while the European Commission has floated EU-wide restrictions. Macron's office said it aims to have a reworked French law in place by spring 2027.