July 2, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian today ordered his government to "immediately suspend all cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its related Safeguards Agreement... until certain conditions are met, including the guaranteed security of nuclear facilities and scientists." Reports note that despite the suspension of cooperation with the IAEA, Iran has signaled that it plans to move forward with nuclear-related negotiations with the United States. [more]
• U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that Israel has agreed to terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas has yet to officially respond to the ceasefire proposal, but has indicated that it will continue to insist that an end to the war in Gaza be a part of any agreement. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1224 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Reports cite Pentagon sources as saying the U.S. has suspended the shipment of some pledged weapons, including air defense missiles and other precision munitions, to Ukraine following a Defense Department review that found U.S. stockpiles of the weapons to be too low. [more]
• Reports cite military analysts as saying Russia has strengthened its military offensives in Ukraine's Donetsk and Sumy regions as part of efforts to gain new advantage ahead of an anticipated fall waning of fighting. [more]

U.S. TAX AND SPENDING BILL | The Senate voted 51-50 yesterday, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote, to pass the Trump administration-backed tax and spending bill that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says will increase the federal deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over 10 years and result in some 11.8 million more Americans losing their medical insurance over the same period. The bill now returns to the House, where a vote on the measure is expected to be held later today. [more]

U.S. EDUCATION FUNDING | The Department of Education said yesterday that it is withholding, pending review, distribution of some $6.8 billion in funding approved by Congress for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, and adult literacy that was scheduled to be distributed by July 1. A department memo notes that review of the grants is to ensure that they align with President Donald Trump’s priorities. [more]

U.S. TRANSGENDER SPORTS | The U.S. Education Department and the University of Pennsylvania announced an agreement yesterday under which the school will restore all individual Division I records and titles to female athletes who lost to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and apologize to each of those athletes. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan yesterday blocked the Trump administration's plan for early termination of protected immigration status for more than 500,000 Haitians already in the United States. In his ruling, Cogan said the early termination violates federal statute and that a certain amount of notice is required before reconsidering such a program. [more]

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION | More than 250 current and former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as supporters including 20 Nobel laureates, have signed a declaration of dissent from Trump administration policies that they say "undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment." [declaration website] [more]

U.S. FOREIGN AID | Washington, D.C.-based U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled yesterday that President Donald Trump violated federal law when he appointed Pete Marocco the new head of the U.S. African Development Foundation because Marocco was never confirmed by Congress. The ruling also stated that Marocco’s actions — terminating most of the agency’s employees and effectively ending the agency’s grants — are void and must be undone. [more]

U.S. HEALTH DATA | A coalition of 20 U.S. states sued the Trump administration yesterday over the release of Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to immigration and deportation officials. The states say the release, which administration officials say will be used to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them, violates federal health privacy protection laws and that the data could be used to help the Department of Homeland Security locate migrants in its mass deportation campaign. [more]

INDO-PACIFIC SECURITY | Member nations of the "Quad" group – the U.S., Australia, India, and Japan – agreed yesterday to expand cooperation on Indo-Pacific maritime security and, further, to collaborate on "securing and diversifying critical mineral supply chains." [more]

RWANDA AND CONGO | Reuters cites a yet-unreleased report by a group of U.N. experts as saying that Rwanda has exercised command and control over M23 rebels during their advance into the Congo's mineral-rich eastern regions. [more]

VENEZUELA | The National Assembly declared U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk persona non grata in Venezuela yesterday, saying Türk has failed to protect the rights of Venezuelan migrants deported by the U.S. to a prison in El Salvador. Reports note that the move comes just days after Türk documented alleged human rights violations by the ruling Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro. [more]

AZERBAIJAN | Amidst ongoing tensions between Azerbaijan and Russia, reports cite the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry as saying seven people linked to a Kremlin-funded media outlet in the capital Baku have been detained as part of investigations into alleged fraud and "illegal financing." [more]

TENNIS | Second-seed Coco Gauff lost to unseeded Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine yesterday in the first round of the Wimbledon tournament. [more]

BASKETBALL | The Indiana Fever beat the Minnesota Lynx, 74-59, last night to win the in-season WNBA Commissioner’s Cup title. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, prohibiting discrimination and segregation based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. The Act is considered among the most important U.S. law on civil rights since Reconstruction and a hallmark of the American civil rights movement. [more history]