December 16, 2025

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,389 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Following a suggestion from U.S. officials yesterday that there is agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine on about 90% of a proposed peace plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the proposal could be presented to Russia within days. Zelenskyy noted, however, that some key issues in the negotiations, including the fate of Ukrainian territory occupied by invading Russian forces, remain unresolved. [more]
• More than 30 countries, along with Ukraine, are expected to formally approve plans today to create the International Claims Commission – a compensation body that will allow Ukrainians to file claims for damage, loss, or injury caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reports note that the Commission has been facilitated by the Council of Europe and that there have been suggestions about using frozen Russian assets held in Europe to fund the compensation. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Shutdown-delayed data released by the Labor Department today indicates that non-farm U.S. payrolls rose by 64,000 in November – up from a loss of 105,000 in October. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.6% in November, reaching the highest level in more than four years. [full jobs report] [more]

U.S. ANTI-DRUG STRIKES | The U.S. military said yesterday that forces struck three alleged drug-carrying boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of eight people. According to officials, at least 95 people have been killed in 25 known strikes on suspected drug boats since early September, including a follow-up attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike. [more]

WASHINGTON | Evacuation orders affecting about 7,000 people were issued yesterday in Seattle, Washington's King County suburbs of Kent, Renton, and Tukwila after an earthen levee failed following days of heavy rain. Another evacuation order was issued this morning following a second levee failure and flash flood warning near the city of Pacific. [more]

BROWN UNIVERSITY SHOOTING | As investigations continue into the weekend shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in which two students were killed and nine others were wounded, the FBI has released new videos of the man they believe carried out the attack and offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. [more]

ROB REINER DEATH | Nick Reiner, the son of famed actor and director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, was arrested in connection with the weekend killing of his parents. Charges against the son are still pending. In a social media post, President Donald Trump suggested the day after Reiner and his wife were killed that their deaths were related to their political opposition to Trump. [more]

WASHINGTON, DC | The Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a report yesterday claiming that Pamela Smith, chief of Washington, DC's Metropolitan Police Department, pressured subordinates to manipulate department data to artificially lower the city’s crime rates. Both Smith and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser have rejected the report's claims. [full committee report] [more]

U.S. DRUG WAR | President Donald Trump issued an executive order yesterday designating the street drug fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, clearing the way for increased federal efforts to combat manufacturing, distribution, and trafficking of the drug. Reports note that while Trump said that the drug kills 200,000 to 300,000 people in the U.S. every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the drug was linked to about 48,000 deaths in the U.S. last year – down 27% from 2023. [full executive order] [more]

TRUMP BROADCASTING LAWSUIT | U.S. President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit yesterday against the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation and deceptive practices in connection with the editing of a speech Trump made ahead of the January 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol. The lawsuit, which seeks $10 billion in damages, says the BBC edited the speech in a 2024 documentary to "intentionally misrepresent" Trump's message. Reports note that the BBC apologized for the edit last month but rejected claims of defamation. [more]

U.S. AND U.K. | British officials say negotiations are ongoing after the U.S. paused implementation of a $40 billion technology agreement reached in May over concerns about London's approach to digital regulation and food standards. [more]

U.K. AND RUSSIA | In her first public speech since becoming the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, Blaise Metreweli said yesterday that Russia poses an "aggressive, expansionist, and revisionist" threat that seeks to subjugate Ukraine and harass NATO members. [more]

TURKEY | Amidst ongoing concern over the Ukrainian targeting of Russian tankers off the Turkish coast, Turkey's Defense Ministry said yesterday that F-16 fighter jets were scrambled and an "out of control" drone was shot down as the aircraft approached Turkish airspace from the Black Sea. No additional details on the location or timing of the incident were provided. [more]

PAKISTAN | More than a year after he called for the killing of several judicial officials, Zaheerul Hassan Shah, a leader of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party, was sentenced to 35 years in prison today for inciting violence. [more]

SOUTH SUDAN | The South Sudanese government said yesterday that it has grounded four United Nations aircraft in the African country, alleging that they were used for illegal surveillance and smuggling. U.N. mission spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury denied the claims, saying all United Nations air assets were being used “solely in support of our mandate to help protect civilians and support lasting peace." [more]

GOLF | Scottie Scheffler was named the PGA Tour player of the year yesterday, joining Tiger Woods as the only other player to ever win the Jack Nicklaus Award four years in a row. [more]

R.I.P. | Actor Anthony Geary, best known for his role as Luke Spencer on the soap opera "General Hospital" in the 1970s and '80s, died Sunday at the age of 78, according to a statement released yesterday by television studio ABC. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1773, in what became known as the Boston Tea Party, American colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians threw more than 300 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company into Boston Harbor to protest a tax on tea. The incident helped accelerate and intensify colonial support for what became the American Revolution. [more history]