March 21, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• At least 592 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its military operations in the enclave earlier this week, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1121 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• At a European Union summit yesterday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that central to E.U. plans to continue providing military support to Ukraine is the idea that Ukraine should remain an independent democratic nation that can continue its journey toward E.U. membership and have a strong defense capability following any peace agreement. [more]
• Russia’s state-run news agency Tass reports that Russian Security Council secretary Sergey Shoigu is in North Korea today, where he will meet with top officials including leader Kim Jong Un. The meetings come amidst reports of additional North Korean troops being sent to support Russia in its war against Ukraine and the ongoing supply of North Korean weapons to Russia. [more]
• Local officials say Russia carried out one of its largest-ever drone attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, wounding at least three people, sparking multiple fires, and damaging several buildings. [more]

U.S. EDUCATION | An executive order signed by President Donald Trump yesterday calls for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” Administration officials say the department will retain its responsibilities for Title I funding for low-income schools, Pell grants, and funding for accommodating children with disabilities. [more]

U.S. DEPORTATIONS | U.S. District Judge Jeb Boasberg said yesterday that the Justice Department had, once again, failed to provide adequate information on the recent deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th century wartime law or to explain why the department’s actions did not violate his court order blocking the deportations. Boasberg has given Trump administration officials a deadline of Tuesday to tell the court whether the administration will invoke state secrets privileges in an effort to block the release of information on the deportations. [more]

U.S. HOME SALES | According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million units in February – up 4.2% from January, but down 1.2% compared to February of last year. Home prices rose for the 20th month in a row to an all-time high average of $398,400. [more]

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT | Amidst reports that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency plan to cut some 50,000-60,000 civilian jobs at the Defense Department, Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday denied reports that Musk’s visit to the department today will not, as had been reported, be to discuss “top secret China war plans.” [more]

U.S. DOGE | A federal judge yesterday blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Social Security systems that contain personal data on millions of Americans and ordered DOGE employees to delete any personally identifiable data already in their possession. U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander said in her ruling that “The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, 7-4, yesterday that California’s law banning gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition can remain in place, saying in the majority opinion that the law was permissible under the Second Amendment because large-capacity magazines are not considered “arms” or “protected accessories.” [more]

U.S. AND AFGHANISTAN | The U.S. State Department reports that George Glezmann, an American man who was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist, was released by the Taliban yesterday in a deal brokered by Qatari negotiators. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | UNESCO and the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization have declared today to be the innaugrual World Day for Glaciers to highlight the various impacts of glacier changes on downstream communities and ecosystems, and the urgent need for developing water-related adaptation strategies in areas affected by shrinking or disappearing glaciers. [more]

U.K. | London’s Heathrow Airport – one of the world’s busiest flight hubs – is closed to incoming and outgoing flights today due to a power outage following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Some 1,300 flights have been cancelled at the airport and reports estimate that more than 200,000 air passengers will be affected. The airport is expected to be closed through midnight tonight. [more]

SUDAN | The Sudanese military claimed today to have retaken the Republican Palace – Sudan’s seat of government – in Khartoum from the rival  paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Reports say fighting continues around the city, including in government buildings around the Palace. [more]

TAIWAN | President William Lai Ching-te said yesterday that Taiwan's defense budget will exceed 3% of its economic output going forward as part of efforts to strengthen its military in the face of the rising threats from China, and that the island territory, which China considers its own, plans to "advance our cooperation with the U.S. and other democracies in upholding regional stability and prosperity.” [more]

CANADA | Reports say Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will call this weekend for early national elections, with an expected polling date of April 28. [more]

AUTO RECALL | U.S. regulators have ordered a recall of all 2024 and 2025 model year Tesla Cybertrucks due to the risk of portions of the vehicles’ exterior panels detaching while being driven. The recall is the eighth for the Tesla model since deliveries to customers began just over a year ago. [more]

OLYMPICS | Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee yesterday, becoming the first woman and the first African to be elected to the position. [more]

BASKETBALL | The NBA’s Boston Celtics franchise will reportedly be sold to a group led by Symphony Technology Group managing partner William Chisholm for $6.1 billion – the highest-ever valuation for a U.S. professional sports franchise. [more]

SOCCER | Panama beat the U.S., 1-0, last night to advance to the CONCACAF Nations League final. [more]

LITERATURE | Among the winners at last night’s 50th annual National Book Critics Circle awards were: ”Patriot” by late  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the autobiography category, Hisham Matar’s novel “My Friends” in the fiction category, and Adam Higginbotham’s “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” in the non-fiction category. [full list of awardees] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1965, civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their third attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama—this time under the escort of U.S. Army and National Guard troops assigned by President Lyndon B. Johnson. [more history]