February 17, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Today marks 500 days of the Israeli-Hamas conflict triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel in which around 1,200 people were killed. An estimated 48,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel’s military responses to the October 7 attacks. [more]
• The Israeli government reportedly plans to move forward with approval for the construction of nearly 1,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank. The move would expand the population of the Efrat settlement in the West Bank by about 40%. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1089 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• U.S. and Russian officials are scheduled to hold preliminary talks tomorrow in Saudi Arabia on negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. Both Ukrainian and European officials have condemned the fact that they have not been invited to participate in the talks, and reports note that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today ruled out territorial concessions to Ukraine as part of any peace plan. [more]
• The leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, NATO, and the European Union are scheduled to meet today in France for talks on European security and on how to react to U.S. plans to hold direct talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine without their participation. [more]
• Ukraine has reportedly declined to sign a proposed agreement to give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s rare earth mineral deposits as payment for past and potential future aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the proposal was too focused on U.S. interests and did not offer any specific security guarantees for Ukraine in return. [more]

U.S. NUCLEAR STAFFING | Reports say most of some 350 employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration who were fired late last week by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have been told their layoffs have been rescinded after it was realized that their positions dealt with maintaining U.S. nuclear weapons programs. [more]

U.S. WEATHER | At least 10 people are reported to have died in weekend flooding that affected multiple states in the eastern U.S. amidst heavy rains. Nine of the deaths occurred in Kentucky, according to Gov. Andy Beshear. [more]

U.S. EXECUTIVE POWER | The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that temporarily reinstated Hampton Dellinger, who was fired as the leader of the Office of Special Counsel last week. Dellinger has argued that the law says he can only be dismissed for problems with the performance of his job, none of which were cited in the email dismissing him. [more]

TEXAS | State health officials say an outbreak of measles in West Texas has doubled in size to 48 cases, making it the state’s largest outbreak of the disease in 30 years. Officials note those infected – 13 of whom have been hospitalized – are either unvaccinated against measles or have an unknown vaccination status. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | The International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, which represents federal workers, says that 13 immigration judges who had yet to be sworn in and five assistant chief immigration judges were dismissed without notice Friday. Reports note that the move comes amidst a backlog of some 3.7 million cases in U.S. immigration courts. [more]

U.S., CHINA, AND TAIWAN | China has condemned changes to an online U.S. State Department fact sheet on Taiwan, saying the Trump administration’s removal of a statement opposing independence for Taiwan from the fact sheet risked damaging China-U.S. relations and undermining stability in the Taiwan Strait region. [more]

CONGO | Government officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed that M23 and other allied rebel forces have occupied a second major city in eastern Congo. The occupation of Bukavu comes just weeks after the city of Goma was seized by rebel forces. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | The Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek has been removed from Apple and Google app stores in South Korea due to privacy concerns, according to South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission. [more]

AUTO RACING | William Byron won the NASCAR Daytona 500 yesterday, avoiding a series of wrecks that knocked out contenders for the checkered flag in the final laps of the race. The win was Byron’s second consecutive Daytona 500 victory. [more]

FILM AWARDS | “Conclave” and “The Brutalist” were among the top film awardees at last night’s 78th British Academy Film Awards. Adrien Brody received the best actor award for his role in “Conclave,” and Mikey Madison won best actress for her role in “Anora.” [full list of awardees] [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Captain America: Brave New World" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $88.5 million in receipts, followed by "Paddington in Peru" and "Heart Eyes." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1863, five appointees of the Public Welfare Society of Geneva announced the formation of an “International Committee for the Relief of Wounded Combatants,” which would later be renamed the International Committee of the Red Cross. [more history]