May 19, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Following a nearly three-month blockade, Israel announced yesterday that it will allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza. [more]
• After weeks of related warnings, Israel said yesterday that its forces have launched a major new offensive in Gaza aimed at securing the territory. Reports cite Palestinian health officials as saying Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 103 people since the announcement was made. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1180 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Amidst ongoing U.S. and international pressure to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak separately via phone today with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and NATO leaders. [more]
• Russia carried out its largest drone attack of its war on Ukraine yesterday, launching a reported 273 drones at targets across Ukraine. Ukrainian officials also said that Russia appears to be planning the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile as part of an attempt to intimidate Ukraine and its Western allies. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The U.S. government lost its last major top credit rating Friday as ratings company Moody's downgraded the United States’ debt from AAA to Aa1 – the company's first downgrade of U.S. debt since 1917. In a statement, Moody's said, “While we recognize the U.S.' significant economic and financial strengths, we believe these no longer fully counterbalance the decline in fiscal metrics.” [more]

U.S. PRESIDENCY | Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an "aggressive" form of prostate cancer that has spread to the bone, according to a release by his office yesterday. [more]

LOUISIANA | The search continues today for seven of 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail on Friday and remain at large. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The FBI has identified Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of Twentynine Palms, California, as the suspect in the apparent car bombing of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs on Saturday in which Bartkus was killed and four other people were injured. Authorities say the incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism and that the suspect left behind writings supporting a view that people should not continue to procreate. [more]

NEW YORK | Two crew members were killed, and at least 17 others were injured, Saturday evening when a Mexican navy sailing ship on a goodwill tour struck the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams says the 142-year-old bridge did not suffer any major damage in the incident, which remains under investigation. [more]

NEW JERSEY | Following three days of strikes that have left hundreds of thousands of commuters without transportation, New Jersey Transit’s train engineers have reached a tentative agreement to return to work. Regular train service is scheduled to resume after midnight tonight. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Friday that it has requested 20,000 National Guard members to help with immigration enforcement across the United States. The request is currently under review by the Pentagon. [more]

U.S. DEPORTATIONS | The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out deportations of immigrants held in northern Texas under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, sending the case at issue back to an appeals court for hearings on the underlying questions. [more]

GLOBAL HEALTH | The World Health Organization opened its annual meeting of top government envoys today in Geneva amidst concern over impacts on global health and WHO initiatives related to cuts in U.S. funding and Trump administration plans to withdraw from the organization. [more]

U.K. AND E.U. | Five years after the United Kingdom left the European Union, the U.K. and E.U. are expected to announce new security, defense, and fishing cooperation agreements following meetings between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which began today in London. [more]

FRANCE | About 40% of flights at Paris-Orly airport were cancelled yesterday due to issues with the airport's air traffic control systems, according to France’s civil aviation authority, which notes that while the situation is improving airlines have been asked to reduce flights by 15% today. [more]

EUROPEAN ECONOMY | European Commission officials predicted today that euro zone gross domestic product will grow 0.9% this year – down from the Commission's earlier forecast of 1.3% growth – and cited uncertainty over the trade war started by the United States as the reason for the lower projection. [more]

BIRD FLU | China, Mexico, Chile, Japan, Uruguay, and the European Union are among the countries that have halted poultry imports from Brazil following Friday's announcement that avian influenza, or bird flu, had been detected for the first time at a Brazilian commercial farm. [more]

INDONESIA AND THAILAND | Following meetings today in Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said their nations have agreed to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership and to continue pushes for greater defense, trade, and investment cooperation. [more]

FRANCE | Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin says France plans to open a new 400-million-euro high-security prison in its South American overseas territory of French Guiana to house drug traffickers and radical Islamists. The prison, to be located deep in the Amazon jungle, could open as early as 2028, according to reports. [more]

PAKISTAN | At least four people were killed, and 20 others were wounded, last night in a car bomb explosion in the city of Qillah Abdullah in Pakistan's Balochistan province. No claims of responsibility have yet been made, but reports say suspicion is likely to fall on ethnic Baloch separatists who have carried out similar attacks in the region. [more]

ROMANIA | Centrist Nicusor Dan won yesterday's presidential election in Romania, defeating far-right candidate George Simion. [more]

SPAIN | Amidst the country's ongoing housing crisis, Spain has ordered short-term rental platform Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 Spanish property listings due to what the Consumer Ministry said were violations of listing rules. [more]

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued its first approval of a blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s and identify patients who may benefit from drugs that can modestly slow the memory-destroying disease. The new test, from Fujirebio Diagnostics, detects beta-amyloid – a key marker for Alzheimer’s. [more]

GOLF | Scottie Scheffler shot a final-round even-par 71 yesterday to win the PGA Championship tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina. The win was Scheffler's third major tournament title. [more]

EUROVISION | Austria's Johannes Pietsch, known as JJ, won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with his song "Wasted Love." Israeli singer Yuval Raphael came in second with the song "New Day Will Rise." [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Final Destination: Bloodlines" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $51 million in receipts, followed by "Thunderbolts" and "Sinners." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1884, the Ringling brothers opened a small circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin, eventually transforming it by the early 20th century into the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth." [more history]