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Bite-sized podcast episodes with your top news stories from The Chimes and Biola.
By Biola University students, for Biola University students. Previously known as Chimes Rundown and KBR Daily News Updates by KBR The Torch.
From The Torch Podcast Network, This is The Chimes Weekly. I’m Jae Koo, here to start off your week with major headlines and what’s coming up. It’s Monday, October 27th.
Biola swim and dive went face to face with the sea at the 2025 MPSF Open Water Championships on October 18 in Long Beach. The men’s team secured a sixth place finish with freshman Anthony Ramirez finishing 11th followed by junior Josh Peace finishing 15th in the 5000-meter championship. Coco Friedley, Chloe Colvard, Rachel Munch, and
She-may van Sta- den finished within three minutes of each other, pushing the women’s team to a solid 10th place finish.
Also in the world of collegiate athletics, Biola volleyball (13-5 overall and 4-1 in the PacWest) extended their winning streak to four after defeating Dominican University with a straight-set win. Outside hitter Kendall Vandertuig led the offense with seven kills. The Eagles faced off Menlo on the road on Friday, and results were unavailable at recording time.
California Community Colleges are partnering with AI company Nectir to introduce AI-powered learning assistants across all 116 campuses, providing 24/7 conversational tutoring for approximately 2.1 million students. The initiative, announced in October 2025, aims to enhance academic support, increase student engagement, and help students develop AI literacy. While Biola University is not part of this system, the rollout highlights evolving approaches to tutoring and may influence how academic support is offered at other institutions.
The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has started a $1.5 million housing initiative to support students at risk of homelessness, recognizing that housing instability can significantly affect academic performance. The program, which began on April 13, aims to promote equity and provide a stable environment for students to succeed. While Biola University operates in a different context, the effort highlights broader regional housing challenges that may also affect students at private institutions.
The United States carried out a military strike on a vessel reportedly connected to Venezuela’s cartel, resulting in the deaths of 11 people, according to CNN. President Donald Trump described the operation as part of a broader effort to target drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Latin America. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the strike took place in international waters of the southern Caribbean. The administration has designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro criticized the action, calling it a criminal act, while U.S. officials said the operation was intended to reduce the flow of drugs into the country.
Last Thursday, two American B-1 bombers flew near Venezuela, while remaining in international airspace. This show of force is one of several in the past few weeks, as America has been ramping up a new military campaign against alleged drug traffickers from Venezuela and Columbia. Since early September, at least seven strikes have been conducted against alleged drug boats and a submersible. The Trump administration has received pushback against the governments of Venezuela and Columbia, and has also received bipartisan scrutiny concerning the legality of the strikes.
Also last Thursday, the United States and the European Union hit Russia with more sanctions targeting Russia's two biggest oil companies. The companies, Rohnert and Lukoil, make up about half of Russia’s oil exports, with their biggest customers being China and India. However, the new sanctions may disrupt trade, as refineries in India and China may face sanctions themselves if they interact with the sanctioned Russian companies.
The sanctions come after President Donald Trump expr essed dissatisfaction with President Vladimir Putin over the lack of progress on ending the Russo-Ukraine War. Trump canceled an upcoming meeting with Putin that was supposed to take place in Hungary, and also lifted restriction on Ukraine’s use of European long-range missiles. While the sanctions are likely to affect Russia’s unsteady war economy, which highly depends on oil exports, Putin has so far shown no intention to accept a ceasefire.
That’s all for last week’s headlines. Now, let’s dive into what’s happening this week at Biola.
Grad School Fair is happening this Wednesday, October 29th, 10 am to 3 p.m. at Meztger Lawn, hosted by the Career Center. Come meet recruiters from graduate schools looking to connect with Biola students and alumni, as well as to learn more about programs and admissions. The full school list will be available on Handshake, and for any questions, you can contact career.devlopment@biola.edu.
This Thursday, October 30th, University Events will be hosting Midnight Madness inside Chase Gymnasium. Come decked out in red and cheer on your team in a three-point competition. With a special performance from the Biola Spirit Team. Admission is free and open to alumni, staff, parents, and students. Doors open at 8:45 pm, starting at 9 pm. Make sure to arrive on time; the first 500 attendees will receive a special giveaway.
The Conservatory of Music, School of Fine Arts and Communication, will be hosting the Pop Ensemble Concert at the Fireplace Pavilion, happening at 7 pm. Join the Conservatory of Music for this free event!
Come show your Eagle pride on Wednesday, Men’s soccer vs. Concordia is playing here at Barbour Soccer Field in the PAC West conference. Admission will be free, with the event starting at 7 pm. https://www.biola.edu/events/2025/men-s-soccer-vs-concordia-2025
And that’s all for this week.
Thanks for listening! As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review and share it with a friend or a roommate.
To read stories from The Chimes, see our show notes, or head over to our website at ChimesNewspaper.com.
The Chimes Weekly is a production of The Chimes Media Group and The Torch Podcast Network.
This episode was produced by Jae Koo with headlines written by Marc Aguilera, Matthew Garcia, Reagan Glidewell, and Jason Lee. This episode was engineered by Marc Aguilera. Our theme music is from Warner Chappell Productions. Thomas Rakhola is our Editor-in-chief and Reagan Glidewell is our managing editor.
I’m Jae Koo, and we’ll see you all next week.