April 30, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• The British and U.S. militaries carried out joint airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels overnight, targeting, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry, a group of buildings in the capital Sanaa used by the militant group to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. [more]
• Palestinian health officials say at least 12 people were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes that struck three houses in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1161 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• South Korea's National Intelligence Service says an estimated 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed, and 4,100 others have been wounded, while fighting alongside Russian forces in the war with Ukraine. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Commerce Department data released today indicates that the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, declined at an annual rate of -0.3% in the first quarter of 2025 – down from 2.4% growth in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the lowest level since 2022. Analysts say the first quarter measure is significantly lower than projected and that escalating trade tensions, tariff policies, and cutbacks in government spending were factors in the decline. [more]

MORE U.S. ECONOMY | According to Labor Department data released yesterday, job openings in the U.S. fell to 7.2 million in March - down from 7.5 million in February and 8.1 million in March 2024, and the lowest level since September of last year. [more]

U.S. ECONOMIC OUTLOOK | In its latest consumer confidence report, the Conference Board says Americans' confidence in the economy fell in April for a fifth straight month to the lowest level since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also says that the share of consumers that expected business conditions to be worse six months from now rose to the highest level since March 2009, during the Great Recession. [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT FUNDING | A federal judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to restore $12 million in Congressionally-appropriated funds for the pro-democracy media outlet Radio Free Europe. In his order, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said the Executive Branch cannot unilaterally revoke funding approved by Congress. [more]

WISCONSIN | The Wisconsin Supreme Court yesterday suspended Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan while court proceedings play out over her arrest on federal charges last week. Federal prosecutors have charged Dugan with concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest and obstructing or impeding a proceeding in connection with what immigration officials say were her actions to prevent an illegal immigrant from being arrested in her courtroom. [more]

FLORIDA | State legislators gave final approval to a bill yesterday that would ban the addition of fluoride to public drinking water in Florida. Utah passed a similar measure last month amidst a push by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop fluoridating water despite public health advocates saying the mineral is a safe way to help prevent development of dental cavities. [more]

U.S. AND HAITI | Reports say the Trump administration has notified Congress that it intends to designate Haitian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations – a move similar to those taken against eight Latin American crime organizations in February. [more]

INDIA AND PAKISTAN | In the wake of tensions over the recent militant attack on civilians in India-controlled Kashmir, Pakistani officials said today that they have "credible intelligence" that India intends to carry out military actions against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours. [more]

GERMANY | The center-left Social Democratic party of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholtz has reportedly agreed to join a new coalition government in Germany, paving the way for center-right Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz to be elected the country’s new chancellor by parliament. [more]

IRAN | Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said today that his country will hold talks on its nuclear program with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on Friday and with the U.S. on Saturday. The ongoing talks are aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. [more]

VIETNAM | A large-scale military and civilian parade took place in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, today to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war with the United States. [more]

FRANCE AND RUSSIA | A new report from France's national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, accuses a hacking group linked to the Russian military of a series of cyberattacks over a period of three years that targeted, among other things, the Paris Olympics, French government agencies, and businesses. [more]

EUROPEAN ECONOMY | E.U. statistics agency Eurostat says that gross domestic product in the 20 countries that use the euro grew 0.4% in the first quarter of 2025, up from 0.2% in the last quarter of 2024. Reports note that new U.S. tariffs announced since the end of the first quarter have led to downgrades of expected E.U. economic growth for the rest of the year. [more]

PHILIPPINES AND NEW ZEALAND | Amidst ongoing concern over Chinese aggressiveness in the disputed South China Sea, the militaries of New Zealand and the Philippines signed an agreement today allowing their forces to hold joint exercises in each other's territory. [more]

IRAN AND ISRAEL | Iran's official IRNA news agency reports that Mohsen Langarneshin, a man accused of working for Israel's foreign intelligence agency and of killing a Revolutionary Guard colonel in 2020, was executed today by order of Iran’s Revolutionary Court. [more]

SWEDEN | Swedish police say they detained a 16-year-old today in connection with the shooting deaths of three people in a hair salon yesterday in the city of Uppsala. Reports say the possibility that the shooting was gang related is among the theories being pursued in the ongoing investigation of the incident. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1803, the United States completed its purchase of the 828,000-square-mile Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million. The acquisition roughly doubled the size of the United States. [more history]