December 17, 2025

U.S. TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS | The Trump administration announced newly expanded travel restrictions yesterday, including full bans on travel to the U.S. for people from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria, and for those traveling on documents issued by the Palestinian Authority. Partial entry restrictions were also put in place for those traveling from 15 other countries. In announcing the restrictions, U.S. President Donald Trump said the countries affected by existing and new restrictions had “widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records” that make it difficult to vet their citizens for travel to the United States. [full executive order] [more]

TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS | The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a closed-door deposition with former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith today regarding Smith's investigations into President Donald Trump during the Biden administration. Reports note that Smith's request that his testimony be conducted publicly was denied by the Republican-led committee. [more]

MARYLAND | Overriding a veto by Gov. Wes Moore, the Maryland General Assembly voted yesterday to establish a commission to formally study potential reparations for slavery. [more]

WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM | U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is expected to issue a ruling as early today on a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that seeks to temporarily block construction of a massive ballroom on the White House grounds. Leon indicated yesterday that he is leaning toward denying the temporary injunction, saying the organization failed to show that the construction project would cause "irreparable harm." [more]

U.S. MILITARY ANTI-DRUG OPERATIONS | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday that there are no plans to publicly release the full, unedited video of a September military strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean Sea in which, according to reports, two survivors of an initial strike were killed. [more]

U.S. ELECTRIC VEHICLES | Sixteen U.S. states and the District of Colombia filed a federal lawsuit yesterday seeking the release of some $2 billion in funding for electric vehicle charging programs that they say has been improperly withheld by the Trump administration after being appropriated by Congress during the Biden administration. [more]

REINER MURDERS | Nick Reiner, the son of actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder yesterday in connection with the weekend stabbing deaths of his parents. [more]

U.S. AND VENEZUELA | Amidst the buildup of U.S. military forces in the region, U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going to or from Venezuela, saying the South American country is using money generated from oil trade to fund drug trafficking and other crimes. [more]

GLOBAL ENERGY | According to the International Energy Agency, global consumption of coal, the leading source of the world's electricity generation, will reach a record high of 8.85 billion metric tons this year. The Agency also said it anticipates a "gradual" decline in coal use by 2030 as countries expand clean-energy capacity. [full report] [more]

SLOVAKIA | Thousands of people took part in demonstrations in 10 Slovakian cities last night, calling for the resignation of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico's government over plans to dismantle an independent office that protects those who report corruption and ban the use of evidence gathered from suspects who cooperate with law enforcement authorities in exchange for lower sentences. [more]

E.U. ABORTION | Members of the European Parliament voted, 358-202, today to support a proposal that would enable women from E.U. member nations that restrict abortion to terminate pregnancies in another member state free of charge. The European Commission is expected to vote on whether or not to adopt the proposal in March. [more]

FRANCE | Workers at Paris' Louvre Museum voted today to extend a strike that started Monday at the famous cultural site, citing chronic understaffing, building deterioration, and recent management decisions. [more]

E.U. AUTO REGULATIONS | Responding to pressure from governments and industry leaders, European Union regulators proposed yesterday to ease a ban on sales of cars with internal combustion engines by 2035. The new proposal would require a 90% overall reduction from 2021 levels in emissions from new cars by 2035, leaving room for sales of some cars with internal combustion engines. [more]

COSTA RICA | The national legislature voted yesterday to block efforts by the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal to prosecute Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on accusations that he repeatedly violated a Costa Rican law that bars a sitting president from commenting on elections or expressing support for any political group. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY | The board of Warner Bros Discovery has voted to reject a $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, saying it found Paramount's offer "inferior" to a proposed merger agreement with Netflix. [more]

BASKETBALL | The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 124-113, last night to win the in-season NBA Cup tournament.  Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was named the tournament MVP. [more]

R.I.P. | Actor Gil Gerard, best known for his titular role in both the film and television versions of the science fiction franchise "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" in the 1970s and '80s, died yesterday at the age of 82. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer. The first flight lasted approximately 12 seconds and covered a distance of about 120 feet. [more history]