July 28, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Amidst growing concern over surging hunger and the lack of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, Israel began 10-hour daily military operation pauses in three populated areas of Gaza yesterday to allow a scaling up of aid operations, including airdrops of food and other supplies. [more]
• The foreign ministers of about 40 nations are expected to attend a two-day U.N. summit that starts today at the United Nations to discuss the possibility of a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. The summit is co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia, and reports note that it is being boycotted by both the U.S. and Israel. [more]
• Citing Israel's ongoing military operations in Gaza, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebel group said yesterday that it will escalate its targeting of merchant ships in the Red Sea that belong to any company that does business with Israeli ports, regardless of nationality. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,250 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Russian national airline Aeroflot has reportedly cancelled at least 40 flights today following a cyberattack claimed by the pro-Ukrainian hacking group Silent Crow. Kremlin officials confirmed the disruption and say they have opened a criminal investigation into the matter. [more]

U.S. HUMANITIES | New York-based U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon on Friday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration's mass cancellation of National Endowment for the Humanities grants. In her ruling, McMahon said the grants were terminated "based on the recipients’ perceived viewpoint, in an effort to drive such views out of the marketplace of ideas" in violation of recipients' First Amendment rights. [more]

MICHIGAN | Authorities say Bradford Gille, 42, has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing 11 shoppers at a Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan, on Saturday and that he is expected to be charged with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder. [more]

U.S. and E.U. | U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new U.S.-E.U. trade framework yesterday under which most European goods imported into the U.S. would face a 15% tariff, the E.U. would purchase $750 billion worth of U.S. natural gas, oil, and nuclear fuel to replace Russian energy supplies, and Europeans would invest an additional $600 billion in U.S. business operations. Reports note that the deal removes Trump’s threat of a 30% tariff but is much higher than the 1% average tariff on European goods before Trump came into office. The European Commission must now present the framework to E.U. member nations and lawmakers for final approval. Reports note that the framework spares U.S. goods from any reciprocal tariffs, prompting criticism from some E.U. leaders, including French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who said the E.U. caved in to Trump's demands and called the deal a "dark day" for Europe. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are scheduled to meet in Stockholm, Sweden, today as part of ongoing trade talks between the world's two largest economies. Reports note that the meeting is seen by many as a preparatory step for a potential fall summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. [more]

CAMBODIA AND THAILAND | Following five days of border clashes in which at least 35 people were killed and more than 250,000 were evacuated from affected regions, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai agreed today to an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire" between their countries, effective at midnight local time tonight. [more]

CONGO | Officials in Congo's northeastern Ituri province say at least 34 people were killed yesterday when members of the Islamic State-backed Allied Democratic Force militia group attacked a Catholic church in the city of Komanda. [more]

KOREA | Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has rejected overtures by the new South Korean government of President Lee Jae Myung, saying the North sees no need to resume diplomacy amidst the South's "blind trust" in its alliance with the United States. [more]

TURKEY | Turkish officials say more than 1,900 firefighters are involved in battling a wildfire threatening the outskirts of Bursa – Turkey's fourth-largest city. More than 3,500 people are reported to have been evacuated due to the fire, which has burned some 7,400 acres. [more]

CHINA | State broadcaster CCTV reports that four people in China's Beijing-region Hebei province were killed, and eight others remain missing, following a landslide brought on by heavy rains over the weekend. Some 4,000 people have been evacuated in the area amidst ongoing flood warnings. [more]

GERMANY | Investigators say it appears a landslide brought on by heavy rainfall was responsible for a passenger train derailment yesterday near Riedlingen, Germany, in which three people were killed and 41 others were injured. [more]

NIGERIA | National Emergency Management Agency officials say at least 25 people died Saturday when a boat transporting passengers to a market capsized near Gumu village in the Shiroro area of Nigeria's Niger state. [more]

SYRIA | State-run media outlet SANA cites government officials as saying Syria will hold parliamentary elections in September – the country's first elections since the ouster of former President Bashar Assad. [more]

SOCCER | Following a 1-1 tie after extra time, England beat Spain on penalty kicks yesterday to win the 2025 Women’s European Championship. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $118 million in receipts, followed by "Superman" and "Jurassic World Rebirth." [more]

R.I.P. | Popular song satirist and mathematician Tom Lehrer, best known for his decades of musical commentaries on a broad range of social issues, died Saturday at the age of 97. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1914, using the assassination of Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand as a pretext, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, sparking World War I. [more history]