July 9, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Amidst renewed pushes for a Gaza cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister met for a second-straight day yesterday with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, DC. [more]
• Palestinian health officials say at least 40 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza over the past 24 hours. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,231 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian air force officials say Russia launched its largest air attack of the more-than-three-year war overnight, firing a record 728 drones and 13 missiles at targets across Ukraine. [more]
• In a pair of rulings today, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg found that Russia has violated international human rights law in its invasion of Ukraine and that Russia was responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in which 298 people died. [more]

U.S. FEDERAL WORKFORCE | In an unsigned order yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned lower court orders that paused Trump administration plans to massively downsize the federal workforce by cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Court said it was not ruling on the legality of any specific job cuts, but only on the executive order from President Donald Trump that ordered federal agencies to undertake job reductions. [more]

TEXAS | Gov. Gregg Abbott's office said yesterday that the death toll from the July 4th flash flooding in central Texas has risen to at least 109 and that more than 180 people remain missing. [more]

NEW MEXICO | At least three people are dead following flash flooding yesterday in and around the southern New Mexico mountain village of Ruidoso, according to local authorities. Reports say more than 80 water rescues were carried out during the flooding, which has since receded. [more]

U.S. DEPORTATIONS | Authorities in South Sudan confirmed yesterday that eight men deported from the United States are now in the custody of the African country's government. [more]

U.S. REAL ESTATE | According to a report from real estate data firm BatchData, investors are buying an increasing percentage of U.S. homes on the market, with nearly 27% of homes sold in the first quarter of 2025 being purchased as investments – up about 1.2% from the same period last year. [more]

U.S. TARIFFS | President Donald Trump announced a new 50% tariff on imported copper yesterday and threatened a potential 200% tariff on drug imports. [more]

E.U. AND RUSSIA | Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose country currently holds the E.U. presidency, warned yesterday that Russia could pose a credible security threat to the European Union by the end of the decade and called for E.U. nations to expand defense production and deployment within five years. [more]

TAIWAN | Amidst ongoing tensions with China, which claims the island territory as its own, Taiwan launched its annual Han Guang military exercises today. The 10-day drills are Taiwan's longest to date. [more]

E.U. CLIMATE | Researchers at London's Imperial College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say data indicates that about 1,500 additional people died in last week's heat wave across Europe due to climate change caused by the burning of oil, coal, and gas over the last century. [more]

POLAND | State television reports that more than 1,000 scouts and counselors at 16 summer camps in central Poland were evacuated today ahead of anticipated heavy rainfall and possible flooding. [more]

RUSSIA AND NORTH KOREA | In what analysts say is a sign of deepening ties between the two countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to travel to North Korea for a three-day visit this week. The visit comes amidst North Korea's ongoing involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including its agreement last month to send thousands of military construction workers to Russia’s Kursk region to help rebuild the war-torn area. [more]

MEXICO | Ten men were each sentenced to 141 years in prison by a Mexican court yesterday for their involvement in a ranch in the western state of Jalisco used by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel for recruitment and training since 2021 and for roles in the disappearance and murder of three victims. [more]

INDONESIA | South-central Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano erupted for a second-straight day yesterday, sending out clouds of ash as much as 2.4 miles high and prompting evacuations, road and school closures, and health advisories. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting citizenship and “equal protection under the laws” to anyone “born or naturalized in the United States,” including formerly enslaved people.  [more history]