July 30, 2025

PACIFIC TSUNAMI | Portions of Russia, Japan, China, Canada, and the U.S. states of California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Alaska, as well as numerous smaller Pacific island nations, are under tsunami warnings after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia early today. Reports note that some 2 million people in Japan are under related evacuation orders and that authorities in Hawaii have said they are monitoring the situation in preparation for possible coastal evacuations. [more]

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Representatives from more than 125 countries participating in a U.N. conference on Palestine yesterday voted overwhelmingly to approve the "New York Declaration," which calls for a two-state solution to decades of Israel-Palestinian conflict and condemns both the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel’s retaliatory attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. [more]
• U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday that his country will formally recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza, allows increased levels of aid into the Palestinian enclave, and takes additional steps toward long-term peace in the region. [more]
• Amidst increasing reports of hunger and malnutrition in Gaza, President Donald Trump said yesterday that the U.S. will partner with Israel to run new food centers in the territory, but offered few details on how the plan would differ from existing aid distribution efforts. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,252 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Russian missiles hit an army training center in Ukraine's Chernihiv region overnight, killing at least three soldiers and wounding 18 others, according to Ukrainian officials. In its own assessment, the Russian Defense Ministry claims as many as 200 Ukrainian troops were killed or wounded in the attack. [more]

U.S. ENVIRONMENT | Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin announced a new Trump administration proposal yesterday to repeal a 2009 scientific finding that human-caused climate change endangers human health and safety, which has been used as the basis for many of the EPA's most significant regulations to protect human health and environment. [more]

U.S. COURTS | Overcoming strong Democratic opposition, the Senate yesterday confirmed former Trump personal attorney and current Department of Justice official Emile Bove for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to direct county counsel to draft an ordinance that bars law enforcement officers, including federal agents, from wearing masks, with limited exceptions such as for medical protection or during undercover operations. The move follows recent immigration raids in the county during which some federal agents refused to identify themselves or covered their faces. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it releases its latest policy statement this afternoon. Reports note, however, that one or two members of the policy board could register dissents if the Fed holds its benchmark interest rate steady for the fifth time since December. [more]

NEW YORK | Authorities say Shane Tamura, the gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan office tower on Monday, intended to target workers at a National Football League office in the building and that he blamed his mental health problems and suspected brain damage on the League, which he accused of hiding the dangers of brain injuries linked to contact sports. [more]

U.S. VOTING RIGHTS | A panel of the St. Louis-based 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that private individuals and organizations cannot pursue voting rights cases under a law that allows others to assist voters who are blind, have disabilities, or are unable to read, saying that only the government can bring lawsuits alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. [more]

MINNESOTA | Following what St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said was a "deliberate, coordinated, digital attack" carried out by sophisticated hackers against the city's infrastructure, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated cyber protection resources of the state National Guard to assist and support the city in mitigating the attack. [more]

CAMBODIA AND THAILAND | At a meeting with Chinese vice minister Sun Weidong in Shanghai today, representatives of both Thailand and Cambodia reaffirmed a cease-fire between their countries following several days of border clashes. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Reversing a previous exemption, the Australian government said today that video sharing platform YouTube will be among the social media platforms that must ensure Australian account holders are at least 16 years old. The age restrictions, which take effect in December, will also apply to social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X. [more]

EUROPEAN ECONOMY | E.U. statistics agency Eurostat reports that gross domestic product in the 20 nations that use the euro currency increased by 0.1% in the second quarter of 2025 – down from a 0.6% expansion in the first quarter but up 1.4% from the same period in 2024. [more]

APPAREL INDUSTRY | Sportswear maker Adidas says U.S. tariffs on Vietnam and Indonesia, which account for a combined 53% of the company's production for the U.S. market, are expected to cost the company up to 200 million euros in the second half of 2025 and that while it will likely increase prices for new products, it does not want to charge more for existing products for "as long as we can." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1945, some 900 U.S. sailors were killed when a Japanese submarine sank the USS Indianapolis, which had just delivered the internal components of the atomic bombs that were later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Tinian in the Mariana Islands. [more history]