December 30, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Mukalla today in an operation that Saudi authorities say targeted a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, one of multiple Yemeni separatist groups. Analysts say the move is likely to increase tensions between Saudi Arabia and the neighboring UAE over influence in the Red Sea region. [more]
• Following a meeting yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. could carry out additional military strikes on Iran if Tehran attempts to restart its nuclear program. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,403 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia will toughen its negotiating stance in talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war following a Ukrainian drone attack alleged to have targeted a Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod region. Ukrainian officials have denied that any such attack took place. [more]

U.S. ANTI-DRUG STRIKES | On the same day U.S. authorities said that two people were killed in the latest military strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, President Donald Trump suggested that U.S. forces struck a dock facility in Venezuela where drug boats were loaded. Trump did not, however, provide any details on the timing or location of the strike. Citing unnamed sources, CNN reports this morning that the dock facility strike was carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. [more]

MINNESOTA | Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said yesterday that, in addition to a related FBI investigative surge, the Department of Homeland Security is "conducting a massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud" in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Reports note that much of the alleged fraud involves businesses and programs run by Somali Americans in the city. [more]

U.S. HEALTHCARE FUNDNG | The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced yesterday that U.S. states will share $10 billion in Rural Health Transformation Program federal funding in 2026 to help offset funding cuts to rural hospitals. Reports note that half of the funding will be distributed equally to states, with the remaining funding allocated based on specific state needs and on whether states implement health policies prioritized by the Trump administration. [more]

FLORIDA | Officials in Orlando, Florida, say the recent deaths of at least 12 of the city's iconic swans that lived at Lake Eola park are being investigated as possibly being linked to an outbreak of bird flu. [more]

KENNEDY CENTER | Veteran jazz ensemble the Cookers has canceled its scheduled New Year's Eve performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, citing the recent addition of President Donald Trump's name to the performing arts center as the reason for the move. Center president Richard Grenell said yesterday that such cancellations and boycotts are a "form of derangement syndrome," and has previously characterized other cancellations as political stunts. [more]

RUSSIA | Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced today that its new Oreshnik missile system, which is reported to have a range allowing it to reach all of Europe and can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads, has entered active service. The announcement was made at a ceremony in neighboring Belarus where an undisclosed number of the missiles have been deployed. [more]

IRAN | Iranian state media reports that large protests were held yesterday in major cities, including Tehran, Shiraz, and Mashad, amidst growing economic concerns sparked by the country's currency falling to a record low against the U.S. dollar and the annual inflation rate rising to about 42.2% this month. The official IRNA news agency also reports that Mohammad Reza Farzin, the head of Iran's Central Bank, has resigned amidst the economic turmoil. [more]

CHINA AND TAIWAN | In a second straight day of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, the Chinese military carried out drills today aimed at demonstrating its ability to impose a blockade of the island territory using air, naval, and ground forces. [more]

TURKEY AND ARMENIA | As part of continuing efforts to normalize relations, Turkey and Armenia agreed yesterday to simplify their respective visa procedures to make it easier for citizens to travel between the two countries. [more]

TURKEY | Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said today that Turkish police, in a second straight day of coordinated operations, carried out simultaneous raids in 21 of Turkeys provinces today, arresting 357 people suspected of ties to the Islamic State militant group. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Australian authorities say investigations into the two men who carried out the December 14 ISIS-inspired mass shooting at Sydney's Bondi beach indicate that the suspects do not appear to be linked to a broader terrorist cell, either in Australia or in the Philippines, where they travelled in the weeks prior to the shooting. [more]

SOCCER | Speaking at the World Sports Summit in Dubai yesterday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said there have been 150 million ticket requests in the 15 days that tickets have been on sale for next year's World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1853, with the signing of the Gadsden Purchase, the United States acquired nearly 30,000 square miles (78,000 square kilometers) of northern Mexican territory. The $10 million purchase – equivalent to about $270 million in 2023 – included lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande in present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.  [more history]