December 9, 2025

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,382 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In an online question and answer session with reporters today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that his country has neither the legal nor moral right to cede any land to Russia as part of any peace deal or cease-fire agreement. [more]
• Following talks with the leaders of the U.K., France, and Germany yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would share a revised peace plan to end the war with Russia with the U.S. today. [more]

U.S. WIND POWER | Ruling in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C. yesterday, a federal judge struck down President Donald Trump's executive order halting wind energy projects and leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters, calling the January order "arbitrary and capricious" and a violation of U.S. law. [more]

FLORIDA | Following similar moves by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis yesterday designated both the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood as "foreign terrorist organizations" – a move that CAIR and its Florida chapter condemned as "unconstitutional" and "defamatory." [more]

NEW YORK | The Catholic Archdiocese of New York announced yesterday that it will set up a $300 million fund to compensate some 1,300 victims of sexual abuse who have sued the church. The announcement came on the same day that a federal judge approved settlement plans under which the New Orleans Archdiocese will pay $230 million to hundreds of victims of clergy sexual abuse. [more]

TEXAS | The U.S. Supreme Court declined yesterday to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that allowed local officials in Texas to remove books deemed objectionable from public libraries. The Appeals Court ruling earlier this year stated that a decision to remove a book from the library shelf is not a book ban. [more]

NEW JERSEY | Following a federal court ruling that said she had been serving in the position unlawfully, Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, resigned yesterday as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a relaxation of limits on the sale of advanced AI-focused computer chips to China, saying he would allow the sale of Nvidia's H200 chip to "approved customers" in China and that similar plans are in the works for other chipmakers, including AMD and Intel, to sell their technologies overseas. Reports note that Nvidia's most advanced AI chips are not included in what Trump approved for sale to China. [more]

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT | In what has been called the most comprehensive global environment assessment ever undertaken, nearly 300 scientists from 83 countries say in the U.N. Environment Programme’s new quadrennial Global Environment Outlook report that countries around the world need to adopt policies to jointly tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and pollution. Among measures suggested by authors are: increased spending and financial incentives to transition away from fossil fuels, encouragement of sustainable agricultural practices, curbing pollution, and limiting waste. [press release] [full report] [more]

CAMBODIA AND THAILAND | Amidst growing border tensions and clashes, Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen said today that his country would fight fiercely against Thailand, while Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said no contacts have been made about possible de-escalatory negotiations and that fighting would continue. [more]

INDONESIA | Authorities in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta say at least 22 people were killed early today in an office building fire in the city's Kemayoran neighborhood. [more]

HONDURAS | The Honduran attorney general's office has reportedly asked Interpol to assist in the arrest of former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the U.S. on charges related to drug trafficking before being pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month. Hernández, who faces charges of fraud and money laundering charges in Honduras, has been at an undisclosed location since the Trump pardon. [more]

SUDAN | Following his conviction last month on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, former Sudanese Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd–Al-Rahman was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday by the International Criminal Court. [more]

MORE SUDAN | World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday that at least 114 people, including 63 children, were killed last Thursday in drone strikes on a kindergarten and other sites in Sudan's Kordofan state. The strikes, which Ghebreyesus characterized as "senseless attacks on civilians and health facilities," are believed to have been carried out amidst Sudan's ongoing civil war by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. [more]

JAPAN | Japanese authorities say at least 33 people were injured in a 7.5-magnitude earthquake that struck yesterday about 50 miles off the coast of Japan’s main Honshu island. The quake caused a minor tsunami in the region, with crests of about 2 feet, 4 inches. [more]

PAKISTAN | Citing the country's fiscal progress, larger foreign exchange reserves, and economic growth, the International Monetary Fund today approved the release of $1.2 billion in loan funds to Pakistan – $1 billion under the IMF's main loan program and $200 million under a separate climate-focused program. [more]

AUSTRALIA | A ban on social media accounts for children under the age of 16 goes into effect today in Australia. The ban includes 10 platforms – Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Kick, Reddit, Twitch, and X – with companies facing fines of up to $32 million if they fail to show they have taken "reasonable steps" to deactivate youth accounts and prevent new ones from being opened. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1979, some 12 years after the World Health Organization undertook an intensive global vaccination campaign against the disease, smallpox, which is estimated to have caused about 300 million deaths in the 20th century, was officially declared eradicated. [more history]