5 Big News Stories Overnight - Thursday, June 25, 2026

Venezuela rocked by two powerful earthquakes

The Telegraph reports:

One of the strongest earthquakes in Venezuela’s history has struck near the country’s coast, triggering tsunami warnings for parts of the Caribbean.  

The 7.5-magnitude quake has caused buildings to crumble in Caracas, the capital city, where there are also reports of widespread outages to power and mobile phone services. 

It was followed almost immediately across the world by a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in northern Japan which rattled buildings in Tokyo.

Residents in Venezuela rushed from buildings when the shaking began, with people in Caracas seen fleeing into the streets as cracks appeared in the walls of homes and offices. Concrete and glass scattered across the streets as they evacuated.

Trump’s Meeting With Senators Turns Fiery Over Iran War

WSJ reports:

President Trump on Wednesday engaged in a fiery clash over the Iran war with one of his top Republican critics, just hours after the president blindsided lawmakers by insisting they pass legislation to tighten voter-eligibility rules before he would sign a bill focused on lowering housing costs.

The lunch meeting with GOP senators was called to bring attention to the SAVE America Act, which Trump has deemed critical to winning the midterm elections but lacks enough support to pass. Inside the room, Trump quickly turned the conversation to Iran. Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) shouted at each other about the war and the senator’s recent vote to rein in the president’s war powers.

Trump, who engineered Cassidy’s defeat in his primary last month, called the senator a “loser” and told him to sit down, according to people familiar with the exchange. Cassidy replied that no one tells him to sit down. 

The president also ripped into Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) and chided Rand Paul (R. Ky.), people familiar with the matter said. The two senators voted with Cassidy, Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) and most Democrats to pass a nonbinding resolution Tuesday that would direct Trump to remove U.S. troops from hostilities against Iran.

A historic Philly mansion up for sale comes with an unusual easement

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

A historic Philly mansion up for sale comes with an unusual easement

The Upsala mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and this week it was listed somewhere else: Zillow. The early Federal-style estate nestled on the border of Germantown and Mount Airy is listed at $995,000 and comes with nine bedrooms, 10 fireplaces, 15 parking spaces, and a 70-page easement agreement with a very peculiar caveat — once a year, the owner must permit “a re-enactment of portions of the Battle of Germantown” on their front lawn.

Denmark to Supply Ukraine With 15,000 Long-Range Artillery Rounds

Kyiv Post reports:

Ukraine is improving the quality of its international military support package, as Denmark has agreed to supply 15,000 long-range artillery rounds.

Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced on Telegram that Kyiv has been working with partners to increase the volume of aid and redirect it toward capabilities that have the biggest battlefield impact – air defense systems, long-range artillery and Ukrainian-made drones.

“We have three unchanged priorities: air defense, long-range artillery and Ukrainian drones,” Fedorov said, adding that Ukraine is “fighting for every dollar of international support” while seeking to ensure partners’ funds are used as efficiently as possible.

PHOTO: Manhhai Flickr CC 2.0

‘Surfside changed everything’: 5 years later, Miami condo market hasn’t recovered

Miami Herald reports:

Five years ago, Florida’s millions of condo dwellers awoke to a new reality. The Champlain Towers South building in Surfside had collapsed in the pre-dawn hours of June 24, 2021 — a generational tragedy that claimed 98 lives and forced anyone living in a large condo building to confront an existential question: What if mine’s next?

Such disasters needed to be prevented, and the Florida Legislature’s answer was to require condo associations to complete inspections, calculate what they’d need to save for future repairs, actually save that money rather than defer building up their financial reserves — as many associations had long done — and complete necessary maintenance. 

The legislation marked a massive shift in how condos are regulated, making the Surfside collapse “this generation’s Hurricane Andrew,” said local condo market analyst Peter Zalewski, referring to the deadly 1992 hurricane that occasioned an overhaul of Florida’s building codes.

Shamblen Studios, Unsplash