June 23, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Damage to Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities is still being assessed following Saturday night's U.S. military action that saw Iranian sites at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan hit by advanced 'bunker-busting' bombs and cruise missiles. U.S. President Donald Trump says the strikes inflicted "monumental damage" on the sites. [more]
• U.S. military officials say the strikes on Iran Saturday involved 125 aircraft, including B-2 bombers, fighter jets, and refueling planes, and that 72 precision-guided weapons were used, including GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs and more than two-dozen submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles. [more]
• Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, warned today that the U.S. strikes on Iran have given Iranian forces a "free hand" to “act against U.S. interests and its army.” [more]
• Washington-based group Human Rights Activists, citing analyses of media reports and in-country sources, says at least 950 people have been killed, and more than 3,400 have been wounded, in Israeli airstrikes on Iran in the ongoing violence between the two countries. [more]
• Reports cite Palestinian health authorities as saying at least four people were killed, and 22 others were wounded, yesterday in an Israeli airstrike that took place near an aid distribution site in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1215 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Russia fired 352 drones, 11 ballistic missiles, and five cruise missiles at targets across Ukraine overnight, killing at least 10 civilians, according to Ukrainian military officials. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Police say a man who opened fire outside a Wayne, Michigan, church yesterday was struck by a vehicle and then fatally shot by a security guard. Authorities say action against the gunman averted a potential mass shooting. [more]

U.S. SECURITY ADVISORIES | While noting that there are no current specific threats, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned yesterday of a "heightened threat environment in the United States" following the U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. [more]

U.S. SCHOOLS | Texas Gov. Greg Abbot signed a measure into law Saturday mandating the display of the Ten Commandments from the Christian Bible in all public-school classrooms. A federal appeals court on Friday found a similar Louisiana law to be unconstitutional. [more on Texas] [more on Louisiana]

U.S. TARIFFS | The Supreme Court on Friday declined to take up a case filed by toy company Learning Resources Inc. that seeks to challenge the legality of import tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. An appeals court hearing on the case is scheduled for late July. [more]

U.S. PRESIDENCY | In a social media post on Friday, President Donald Trump reiterated his claims of "massive and overwhelming" fraud in the 2020 presidential election and called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate his loss to former President Joe Biden. Reports note that more than 60 lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign alleging voting irregularities and fraud in the election were dismissed over a lack of standing or evidence. [more]

NATO | A day ahead of the opening of a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Spain has reportedly reached a deal with NATO leaders under which it will be exempt from the pending proposal for all alliance members to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised address yesterday that Spain would satisfy its NATO commitments by spending 2.1% of GDP on defense. [more]

SYRIA | Syrian state broadcaster SANA cites government sources as saying at least 22 people were killed, and 63 others were wounded, yesterday when a suicide bomber opened fire and detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in the Damascus suburb of Dweil’a. [more]

TURKEY | Reports say Turkish authorities have arrested prominent journalist and YouTube content creator Fatih Altayli on charges of "threatening" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he commented on a poll about Erdogan by saying that "This is a nation which strangled its sultan when they didn’t like him or want him.” [more]

GREECE | Greek authorities have ordered the evacuation of 16 villages, settlements, and neighborhoods on the eastern Aegean island of Chios amidst the spread of a major wildfire that broke out over the weekend. [more]

BASKETBALL | The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-91, last night to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals and claim the franchise's first league championship since moving to Oklahoma in 2008. The Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the Finals MVP. [more]

COLLEGE BASEBALL | Louisiana State University beat Coastal Carolina, 5-3, yesterday to win the College World Series and claim LSU's second national title in three years. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "How to Train Your Dragon" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $37 million in receipts, followed by "28 Years Later" and "Elio." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 2016, in the first such move by an E.U. member country, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to withdraw from the European Union, with 51.9% supporting Britain's exit (“Brexit”) and 48.1% opposing the move. [more history]