November 12, 2025

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,357 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• The U.K. and Germany have announced plans to provide about $63 million to Ukraine to help repair power, heating, and water supply infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks ahead of colder winter weather. [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN | Day 43. Ahead of an expected vote on government funding later today in the House of Representatives, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday extended a pause on ordering the full payment of SNAP food aid benefits through Thursday. [more]

MORE U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN | Reports say the funding legislation currently making its way through Congress to end the ongoing government shutdown includes a provision that would allow lawmakers whose phone records were subpoenaed as part of investigations into the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol to seek up to $500,000 in damages for alleged privacy violations. Eight U.S. senators whose records were obtained by investigators in the probes – Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, and Marsha Blackburn – all voted in favor of the legislation earlier this week. [more]

U.S. AIR TRAVEL | Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said yesterday that Federal Aviation Administration-mandated cuts in airline flights at major U.S. airports will remain in place – even after an end to the government shutdown – until safety metrics and staffing levels stabilize. Reports note that some 1,200 domestic flights were cancelled across the U.S. yesterday under a 6% cut and that the cuts are set to rise to 10% on Friday. [more]

U.S. DRUG WAR | Reports say both the U.K. and Colombia have suspended the sharing of drug trafficking-related intelligence with the United States amidst concerns over the perceived illegality of U.S. military strikes against small boats alleged to be carrying illegal drugs to the U.S. from South and Central America. [more on U.K.] [more on Colombia]

U.S. AND VENEZUELA | Following the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier group in the waters near Latin America yesterday, Venezuela announced that "the entire country’s military arsenal" has been placed on full alert due to the possibility of U.S. military action against what President Nicolás Maduro has characterized as U.S. plans to overthrow his government. U.S. officials say the Ford carrier group is in the region to "enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organizations." [more]

G7 | Top diplomats from the Group of 7 nations – the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan – are scheduled to begin a two-day summit in Ontario, Canada, today with trade relations, the war in Ukraine, defense spending, and the Gaza cease-fire expected to be among the main topics of discussion. The foreign ministers of Australia, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, and Ukraine were also invited to attend the summit. [more]

TAIWAN | School and businesses are closed, and some 8,300 people have been evacuated from at-risk areas, in regions of southern Taiwan today ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Fung-wong. The storm, which caused damage linked to at least 27 deaths in the Philippines while still at typhoon strength, is expected to continue losing wind speed and size as it approaches Taiwan later today. [more]

TURKEY AND GEORGIA | Turkey's defense ministry says a military cargo plane flying from Azerbaijan to Turkey crashed yesterday in Georgia’s Sighnaghi municipality, close to the Azerbaijani border, killing all 20 people aboard the aircraft. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. [more]

SUDAN | Amy Pope, director general of the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration, said yesterday that humanitarian efforts in Sudan’s war-torn North Darfur region could soon come to a complete halt due to a lack of funding and an inability to deliver relief supplies safely. [more]

ISRAEL AND WEST BANK | According to a BBC report, dozens of Israeli settlers carried out arson attacks on a Palestinian warehouse, a Bedouin village, and farmland yesterday in the northern regions of the occupied West Bank. Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the attacks, and the Israel Defense Forces said several Israeli civilians have been arrested in connection with the incidents. [more]

TANZANIA | U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called yesterday for an investigation into what reports say was the killing of hundreds of protesters by security forces following Tanzania's October 29 election in which presidential candidates from the African country's two main opposition parties were barred. [more]

INDONESIA AND AUSTRALIA | Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that their countries are close to signing a new bilateral defense treaty. [more]

INDIA | Reports say Indian security agencies have detained several people for questioning in the disputed Kashmir region in connection with Monday's car explosion in Delhi that killed eight people and is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism. [more]

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | An estimated 85% of customers in the Dominican Republic remained without power as of last night following a failure of the Caribbean island nation's electricity transmission system. The cause of the failure remains under investigation and government officials say transportation and health sectors are among those being prioritized for power restoration. [more]

COP30 | Dozens of Indigenous protesters demanding climate action and forest protections clashed with security guards at the U.N.'s COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, yesterday. Reports say two minor injuries to security staff and minor damage to the venue entrance resulted from the incident. [more]

R.I.P. | Oscar-nominated actress Sally Kirkland – best known for her title role in the 1987 film "Anna" – died yesterday at the age of 84. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1970, the Bhola cyclone, considered the deadliest tropical cyclone in recorded history and one of the greatest natural disasters ever, struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal, killing an estimated 300,000-500,000 people in the densely populated Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. [more history]