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MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 203.

• Reports say hundreds of thousands of Iranians took part in government-organized rallies and demonstrations today in a show of support for the Iranian government and in defiance of U.S. and Israeli military action the Middle East region. [more]
• Iranian state media cites military officials as saying Iran struck a Togo-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz overnight for what authorities deemed an "illegal attempt" to pass through the strategic waterway. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,665 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Speaking to lawmakers yesterday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia is planning to carry out drone or rocket strikes on European countries supporting Ukraine. Tusk suggested Russia would pretend the attacks are "accidental" in order to weaken the motivation of NATO countries to rush to the defense of alliance members coming under attack. [more]

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION | In a major policy interpretation shift, the Trump administration's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a directive sent to employees this week that animals or plants must be intentionally targeted for their killing to be considered illegal under the Endangered Species Act. [more]

U.S. EDUCATION | A federal judge yesterday struck down a 2025 Trump administration order that cut some $600 million in teacher-training grants that the administration said were supporting "divisive ideologies." Reports note that the ruling, by Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, does not automatically restore the funding but opens a path for its recovery through the Court of Federal Claims. [more]

KENNEDY CENTER | After the board of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, voted to close the center for years of repairs this week, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the venue to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it as President Donald Trump has threatened. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | Early in-person voting for November's mid-term elections begins today in Virginia, kicking off balloting that will determine control of the House and Senate, as well as state legislatures. [more]

MORE U.S. ELECTIONS | Citing a whistleblower report, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security may have violated several state laws by using an electronic lookup tool to access voters' information without first obtaining permission or a court order. [more]

U.S. AND SAUDI ARABIA | The U.S. State Department said yesterday that it has granted preliminary approval to a $24.3 billion military equipment sale to Saudi Arabia that includes 48 F-35 fighter jets, 49 engines, and related support equipment. Reports note that the sale, if approved by Congress and completed, would represent a significant shift in the longstanding U.S. policy to ensure that Israel maintains a "qualitative military edge" in the Middle East region. [more]

U.S. AND SYRIA | A U.S. judge sentenced former Syrian military official Samir Ousman Alsheikh to 60 years in prison yesterday, citing Alsheikh's "unimaginably cruel" treatment of prisoners during the rule of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Alsheikh was found guilty by a U.S. jury in March of charges including torture and conspiracy to commit torture for his actions while overseeing Syria’s infamous Adra Prison from roughly 2005 to 2008. [more]

CANADA AND EUROPEAN UNION | Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday embraced the prospect of his country becoming an associate member of the European Union – a status suggested a day earlier by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Speaking before the European Parliament, Carney, without mentioning ongoing trade tensions with the U.S. specifically, said such membership would ensure no country could control Canada’s markets, threaten its territorial integrity, or undermine its sovereignty and freedoms. [more]

PAKISTAN | Authorities in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province say at least 16 people, including five police officers, were killed, and dozens of others were wounded, today in a car bombing at a mosque in the city of Peshawar. The incident remains under investigation, and reports cite local officials as saying a gun battle between security forces and attackers near the mosque are continuing following the bombing. [more]

TAIWAN | Ahead of next week's summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at which the island territory's future will be discussed, Taiwan conducted military drills featuring missiles and drones today in what Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te characterized as a showcasing of the Taiwanese army’s modernization. [more]

RUSSIA | Three days of voting began today in Russia's parliamentary elections – the country's first since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The country's main Kremlin-supporting party, United Russia, is overwhelmingly expected to retain control of the State Duma. [more]

BRAZIL | Ahead of next month's presidential elections, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree yesterday increasing benefits under his flagship welfare program by 15%. [more]

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO | The Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago ended its nearly two-year state of emergency over internal security concerns yesterday. Reports note that more than 5,800 people were arrested under the state of emergency, which was initially approved in December 2024. [more]

VIETNAM | Officials in northern and central Vietnam say at least four people have been killed, and more than 16,000 homes were inundated, in flooding and landslides brought on by days of heavy rains this week. [more]

NIGERIA | Authorities in southern Nigeria's Ondo state say at least 48 people have died, and about 100 others were sickened, after consuming locally produced alcoholic beverages believed to contain methanol. Local police say 15 people have been arrested in connection with the incidents, which began about two weeks ago. [more]

PHILIPPINES | Three people, including two students and a teenage gunman, were killed today in a shooting at a high school in the southern Philippines town of Banga. Police say at least 10 other people were wounded in the incident and that the shooting remains under investigation. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1931, in the so-called Mukden Incident, the Japanese army in Manchuria used the pretext of an explosion along its railway to occupy Mukden (now Shenyang) and to justify its invasion, and eventual control, of all of Manchuria, which lasted until 1945. [more history]