August 14, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Palestinian health officials say at least 25 people seeking aid were killed by Israeli gunfire in Gaza yesterday. [more]
• In a joint letter issued yesterday, more than 100 non-profit groups, including Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders and CARE, accused Israel of "weaponizing aid" in Gaza and called for Israel to revise its policies to facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian enclave. [more]
• Reuters cites Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as saying work would begin this week on the long-delayed E1 settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut if off from East Jerusalem, a move his office declared would "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,267 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Tomorrow's meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place at the U.S. military's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, according to White House officials. Trump has warned of "severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to a cease-fire in Ukraine, but has also suggested that tomorrow's meeting will likely be used to set the stage for additional talks. [more]
• Local authorities say at least 16 people were wounded in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian cities of Rostov-on-Don and Belgorod. [more]

U.S. FOREIGN AID | A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled yesterday that the Trump administration can continue its suspension or termination of billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funding for foreign aid. The panel did not rule on the merits of whether the government unconstitutionally infringed on Congress’ spending powers, but found, rather, that the grant recipients challenging the freeze did not meet the requirements for a preliminary injunction restoring the flow of money. [more]

U.S. ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION | Results of a survey by analytics firm Gallup released yesterday indicate that about 54% of adults in the U.S. report drinking alcohol – down from 58% in 2024 and 62% in 2023 and the lowest level in nearly nine decades of tracking – and that lower consumption levels are linked to more adults viewing even moderate drinking as harmful. [more]

TENNESSEE | Authorities say three people were killed when a tree fell on their vehicle yesterday during heavy rains and flooding in southeastern Tennessee that saw some areas receive more than 6 inches of rain from Tuesday into Wednesday. [more]

NEW MEXICO | Governor Michelle Grisham declared a state of emergency yesterday in northern New Mexico's Rio Arriba County amidst ongoing high rates of violent crime and drug use and trafficking in the area. The declaration makes some $750,000 available for local and tribal officials to help address the issues. [more]

NORWAY | The Norwegian Police Security Service said yesterday that Russian hackers were likely behind an April cyberattack on a dam in Norway that affected water flows and warned that such attacks are increasingly being carried out against Western nations to stoke fear and unrest. [more]

CANADA | Air Canada says it has begun a gradual suspension of the airline's flights ahead of a potential strike by flight attendants on Saturday. [more]

PAKISTAN | At least five officers were killed, and eight others were wounded, yesterday in a series of attacks on police in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. [more]

RUSSIA | In what analysts say is a continuation of efforts to tighten control over the internet, Russian authorities announced yesterday that they are implementing restrictions on voice calls in the encrypted messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp. [more]

SUDAN | Sudanese health officials began a 10-day cholera vaccination campaign in the capital Khartoum yesterday amidst a spreading outbreak of the disease fueled by civil war, displacement, and heavy rainfall. [more]

SPAIN | Spanish officials activated a European Union disaster assistance mechanism for fires for the first time ever today to request E.U. help in fighting numerous wildfires burning across the country amidst an ongoing heatwave. [more]

CHINA | Reports say some 15,000 people were evacuated from southern China's coastal provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi yesterday ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Podul. Authorities say the storm weakened significantly as it passed over Taiwan as a typhoon but that the risk of flooding from heavy rainfall is a concern. [more]

PERU | President Dina Boluarte signed an amnesty bill into law yesterday that prevents military personnel and police officers from being prosecuted over alleged human rights abuses during Peru's Shining Path communist insurgency from 1980 to 2000 in which an estimated 70,000 people were killed. [more]

EASTER ISLAND | A new study in the Journal of Cultural Heritage says that waves strengthened by rising sea levels could threaten Easter Island's iconic moai statues as early as 2080 and suggests that urgent sea-level-rise assessments and mitigations are increasingly needed for the Chilean territory and other coastal cultural sites around the world. [more]

SOCCER | Following a 2-2 tie in regulation time, Paris Saint-Germain beat the Tottenham Hotspur on penalty kicks yesterday to win the UEFA Super Cup, the annual early-season match between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League. [more]

KENNEDY CENTER HONORS | Actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, rock band Kiss, country artist George Strait, and actor-singer Michael Crawford have been announced as this year's recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. [honoree info] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1880, construction of the Cologne Cathedral – northern Europe's largest cathedral and Cologne, Germany's major landmark – was completed after more than 600 years of work. [more history]