March 27, 2025

UKRAINE | Today is day 1127 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said today that North Korea deployed another 3,000 troops to Russia in January and February, along with additional missiles, artillery equipment, and ammunition, to support Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine. [more]
• Some 30 international leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris today in the third summit of what France and the U.K. have called the “coalition of the willing” aimed at strengthening Kyiv's position amidst concerns of waning U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. [more]

U.S. TARIFFS | President Donald Trump announced plans yesterday to impose a 25% tariff on automobiles and auto parts imported into the U.S. starting April 3. The White House says the move could raise up to $100 billion in revenue annually, while analysts say consumers could face higher prices. Canada, Germany, Brazil, and the European Union are among critics of the proposed tariffs, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney calling them a “very direct attack.” [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by plain-clothed Department of Homeland Security agents and taken away in and unmarked vehicle Tuesday. DHS officials have confirmed Ozturk’s detention and the termination of her visa based on alleged “activities in support of Hamas.” Reports say Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last year critical of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and calling on the university to disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel. [more]

MORE U.S. IMMIGRATION | A split three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit yesterday refused to block a lower court ruling that barred the Trump administration from deporting suspected Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. [more]

U.S. GUN REGULATION | The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday upheld a Biden administration regulation requiring so-called ‘ghost guns’ to be imprinted with serial numbers and requiring background checks and age verification for the online purchase of kits to self-assemble the weapons. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY | In a partial reversal of recently announced policies, the Social Security Administration said yesterday that people applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income who are not able to use the agency’s online portal, can complete their claim entirely over the phone instead of in person. [more]

U.S. MILITARY | U.S. and NATO officials say investigations continue today into the fate of four U.S. soldiers who went missing yesterday during a NATO training exercise in Lithuania. Reports say the soldiers’ armored vehicle was found submerged in a body of water and that recovery efforts are underway. [more]

TEXAS | A federal judge ruled yesterday that the extreme heat in Texas state prisons is “plainly unconstitutional,” but declined to order the immediate installation of air conditioning. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit claiming that heat in the state facilities amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and seeking to force the state to install air conditioning. [more]

TURKEY | Police used pepper spray, plastic pellets, and water cannons to disperse student protesters in Istanbul early today as unrest sparked by the recent arrest of opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu continues. Opposition Republican People’s Party officials said that if police provocation continues, they will call for 500,000 people to join in demonstrations. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | Thousands of emergency personnel continue to battle multiple wildfires in southeastern South Korea today. Officials say the fires have burned more than 88,000 acres of land, killed 27 people, and forced the evacuation of some 37,000 residents. [more]

SWEDEN | Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said yesterday that Sweden, amidst threats from Russia and uncertain U.S.-E.U. relations, will undertake its largest military buildup since the Cold War, increasing its defense spending to 3.5% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2030. [more]

CAMEROON | Government officials say 12 Cameroonian soldiers were killed along the border with Nigeria this week in an attack thought to have been carried out by Islamic militants linked to the Boko Haram group. [more]

SOUTH SUDAN | South Sudan’s main opposition party said its leader, Riek Machar, has been arrested amidst growing tensions in the East African nation that the U.N. said this week could be on the brink of renewed civil war. [more]

U.K. | British government estimates indicate that welfare cuts announced yesterday could drive some 250,000 people into relative poverty by 2030 and reduce benefits paid to some 3.2 million families by an average of about 1,720 pounds ($2,217) per year. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1915, American domestic Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary, was placed under a quarantine on North Brother Island, New York, that lasted until her death in 1938.  Mallon, a typhoid carrier, is thought to have been responsible for multiple outbreaks of typhoid fever. [more history]