August 11, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that a previously announced expansion of ground operations targeting Hamas in Gaza would be expanded beyond Gaza City to include "central camps" and Musawi, which house more than half a million displaced residents of the Palestinian enclave. [more]
• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that his country will join France, the U.K., and Canada in formally recognizing a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Australia's recognition is conditioned on there being no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government, the demilitarization of Gaza, and the holding of elections, according to Albanese. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,264 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have announced plans to meet this coming Friday in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine. Ukraine has pushed for Europe to be involved in any talks on ending Russia's three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine, and European leaders issued a joint statement yesterday that said any diplomatic solution to the war must protect the security interests of both Ukraine and Europe. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | One police officer was killed Friday when Patrick Joseph White, 30, opened fire on the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Reports cite investigators as saying White, who died during the incident, blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal. [more]

U.S. FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING | An executive order issued by President Donald Trump late last week directs federal agency heads, such as those at FEMA, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health, to designate political appointees to review federal funding opportunities and grants, so that they “are consistent with agency priorities and the national interest.” The order includes provisions that grant awards "must, where applicable, demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities" and that make grants cancellable at any time. [full executive order] [more]

WASHINGTON, DC | President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a news conference at the White House today to discuss his plans to make the District of Columbia “safer and more beautiful than it ever was before." The move comes amidst concerns about the potential use of National Guard troops to patrol the streets and the increased use of federal law enforcement personnel in the city. [more]

U.S. EDUCATION | The University of California system says it is reviewing a $1 billion settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA after the government froze hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding at the school over pro-Palestinian protests. The administration contends that UCLA violated Jewish and Israeli students' civil rights by allowing antisemitism during protests, while protester groups maintain that the government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel's war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism. [more]

WISCONSIN | The final day of the Wisconsin State Fair was cancelled yesterday due to flooding and power outages amidst strong regional storms that saw some areas receive up to 14 inches of rain. [more]

COLORADO | More than 1,000 firefighters are involved in battling Colorado's Lee Fire, which is the sixth-largest single fire in the state’s history, having burned more than 167 square miles as of yesterday. [more]

PHILIPPINES | President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. warned today that the Philippines would likely be drawn into any war between Taiwan and China and that Philippine naval forces in the South China Sea would never back down from increased Chinese assertiveness in the contested waters. The comments drew criticism from Beijing, prompting Marcos to suggest that his statement was misinterpreted. [more]

PAKISTAN | Government authorities suspended all train service to and from Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province for four days today after regional separatists blew up a section of railway track yesterday. The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. [more]

IRAN | Iranian officials say an upcoming meeting with representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency will be "technical" in nature, but will not include any visits to Iranian nuclear facilities. Reports note that Iran cut ties with the IAEA last month. [more]

HAITI | Amidst ongoing widespread gang violence and the country's "agricultural and food crisis,” the government of Haiti declared a three-month state of emergency on Saturday. [more]

U.K. | London's Metropolitan Police Service says more than 500 people were arrested over the weekend for taking part in demonstrations in support of the banned Palestine Action group, which was recently declared a terrorist organization. Reports cite backers of the group as saying the demonstrations were staged to challenge what they see as the government illegally restricting freedom of expression by banning a direct-action organization that has challenged its policies. [more]

CHAD | Following convictions on charges including incitement to hatred and revolt and complicity to murder related to deadly clashes between herders and farmers in May, Chad's former prime minister and opposition leader Success Masra was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Saturday. [more]

JAPAN | Several people are missing, travel has been disrupted, and evacuations advisories have been issued on Japan's southern main islands of Kyushu amidst flooding and mudslides caused by storms that have dropped as much as 15.7 inches of rain on the region in the last 24 hours. [more]

TECH INDUSTRY | The Financial Times reported yesterday that chipmakers Nvidia and AMD have agreed to pay the U.S. government 15% of their revenues from semiconductor sales to China in exchange for export licenses from the Trump administration. [more]

GYMNASTICS | Hezly Rivera posted a two-day total of 112 points over the weekend to win the women's all-around U.S. gymnastics title. Asher Hong won the men's title on Saturday. [more]

GOLF | Justin Rose beat U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun in a playoff yesterday to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament – a victory that put Rose back into the top 10 world rankings. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Weapons" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $42.5 million in receipts, followed by "Freakier Friday" and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." [more]

R.I.P. | Astronaut James Lovell, commander of the failed 1970 NASA lunar mission memorialized in the 1995 movie “Apollo 13," died last Thursday at the age of 97. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1942, American actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a patent for an electronic device that minimized the jamming of radio signals – technology that later became a component of satellite and cellular phone technology. [more history]