November 17, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Ahead of today's planned U.N. Security Council vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution on Gaza that leaves the door open to Palestinian independence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he will oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state. [more]
• Citing stabilization in the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, Germany announced today that it will lift its restrictions on the sale of military equipment to Israel effective November 24. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,360 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In a weekend interview, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that a cease-fire in Ukraine is unlikely before the spring and that European allies need to continue their support for Kyiv's fight against the Russian invasion. [more]
• Amidst ongoing Russian targeting of Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Ukraine and Greece signed an agreement yesterday under which Greece will supply Ukraine with U.S. liquefied natural gas via pipelines from Alexandroupolis to Odesa beginning in January. [more]
• Ukraine today signed a letter of intent to obtain 100 Rafale warplanes, along with air defense systems, bombs and drones, from France over the next 10 years. [more]

U.S. TARIFFS | In a move widely seen as responding to concerns over increased prices to consumers, President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was reversing import tariffs imposed earlier this year on a wide range of commodities, including coffee, beef, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, and certain fertilizers. [more]

U.S. EPSTEIN INVESTIGATIONS | Reversing his previously strict stance against such a move, President Donald Trump called yesterday for Republican lawmakers to approve a measure forcing the Justice Department to release all of its files related to investigations into late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Trump's move comes ahead of an expected vote in the House later this week and after he called on Friday for the Justice Department to investigate Epstein's possible connections to several prominent Democratic politicians. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say more than 80 arrests were made over the weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the latest high-profile federal immigration enforcement surge. [more]

U.S. AIR TRAVEL | The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday that it has lifted all restrictions and flight cuts imposed at 40 major U.S. airports during the recent government shutdown, effective today at 6 a.m. EST. [more]

U.S. BIRD FLU | State health officials in Washington reported the first human case of bird flu in the U.S. since February late last week. Researchers say the case involves a bird flu strain known as H5N5 that has not previously been seen in human infections but note that the strain is not thought to be associated with increased risk. [more]

U.S. AND VENEZUELA | Amidst the continued U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean Sea region, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested yesterday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wants to have discussions with the U.S., signaling a potential diplomatic effort to avoid armed conflict between the two nations. [more]

BANGLADESH | The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death today for their roles in the deaths of at least 800 protesters last year during student-led anti-government demonstrations. Hasina and Khan both fled to India last year and were sentenced in absentia. [more]

POLAND | Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today that a railway line was damaged yesterday in an explosion that was an "act of sabotage." Investigations into the incident are ongoing. [more]

IRAN | In what analysts say suggests Iran's openness to potential negotiations over its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that, "There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran. All of our facilities are under the safeguards and monitoring” of the International Atomic Energy Agency. [more]

JAPAN AND CHINA | Responding to a recent statement by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that Chinese action against Taiwan could be grounds for a Japanese military response, China on Friday issued a notification advising against travel to Japan. [more]

INDIA | Authorities say a man from India-controlled Kashmir has been arrested on suspicion of conspiring with a suicide bomber to carry out last week's car blast in Delhi in which 10 people were killed and 32 others were injured. [more]

ECUADOR | Rejecting calls by President Daniel Noboa to approve the measures, Ecuadorian voters struck down proposals yesterday that would have launched a process that could lead to a new constitution and allowed foreign countries to establish military bases in the South American country. [more]

NIGERIA | Preliminary reports say a school administrator was killed and 25 female students were abducted early today when yet-unidentified gunmen attacked a government-run girls’ boarding school in Nigeria’s Kebbi State. [more]

SAUDI ARABIA AND INDIA | As many as 45 Indian pilgrims are believed to have died early today in a bus collision near the Saudi Arabian holy city of Medina. [more]

U.K. | Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce before Parliament today that the British government plans to tighten its asylum system to reduce immigration and ease political tensions over migration. [more]

CHILE | Following yesterday's first round of voting, hard-right former lawmaker José Antonio Kast and left-wing former labor minister Jeannette Jara will face off in Chile's runoff presidential election scheduled for December 14. [more]

CONGO | Reports say at least 32 people died yesterday in the collapse of a bridge at a copper and cobalt mine in southeastern Congo. Authorities say gunfire by soldiers at the mine site prompted overcrowding on the bridge, leading to its collapse. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Following weekend games, Ohio State remains at No. 1 atop the AP Top 25 College Football Poll, followed by Indiana, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Ole Miss. [full rankings] [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Now You See Me: Now You Don’t" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $21.3 million in receipts, followed by "The Running Man" and "Predator: Badlands." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1869, after 10 years of construction, the 193.3 km (120.11 mi) Suez Canal opened in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, and significantly reducing maritime travel time and distance between the North Atlantic and the Indian oceans. [more history]