October 24, 2025

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,338 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with two dozen European leaders today in London to discuss countries' pledges to provide military assistance to protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression in the event of a cease-fire deal to end the more than three-year invasion. Other topics expected to be discussed at the summit include: protection of Ukraine's power grid and enhancement of Ukrainian air defenses. [more]
• European Union leaders meeting in Brussels yesterday failed to approve a 140-billion-euro loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets following opposition from Belgium, which demanded cast-iron guarantees it would not suffer financially should Russia retaliate against the plan. [more]

U.S. DRUG WAR | Asked yesterday if he would seek congressional approval for military strikes against drug cartels that traffic narcotics to the U.S., President Donald Trump said, "I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war... I think we are going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK?” Reports note that, according to Defense Department statements, as many as 37 people have been killed in recent strikes on small boats believed to have been carrying drugs to the United States. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Amidst similar actions by Republican- and Democratic-controlled legislatures in multiple states, Virginia Democrats said yesterday that they will seek to redraw their state's U.S. House districts to counter President Donald Trump’s push for more partisan districts in Republican-run states for next year's mid-term elections. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | A Labor Department report on consumer prices – its first in three weeks amidst the ongoing government shutdown – is expected to be released later today. Economists surveyed by data firm FactSet predict the report will show that inflation rose 3.1% in September – up from 2.9% in August and the highest year-over-year increase in 18 months. [more]

U.S. PARDONS | The White House confirmed yesterday that President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, who served four months in prison after reaching a deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty to charges of enabling money laundering. Asked about the action, Trump said the pardon was granted "at the request of a lot of very good people." [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | President Donald Trump says a planned surge of federal immigration and other officers in San Francisco, California, has been delayed after he "got a great call from some incredible people, some friends of mine, very successful people." Trump further stated that he would wait to see if local officials make progress on reducing crime before taking further action in the area. [more]

ALASKA | U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced final regulatory decisions yesterday to open the coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to potential oil and gas drilling and to restore oil and gas leases in the refuge that were canceled under the Biden administration. [more]

U.S. AND CANADA | Citing a television advertisement by Canada's Ontario province that featured late U.S. President Ronald Reagan making anti-tariff statements, President Donald Trump said last night that he is ending all trade negotiations with Canada. [more]

U.S. AND VENEZUELA | Amidst ongoing tensions over drug trafficking and other issues, reports say the U.S. military flew two B-1 Lancer bombers along the coast of Venezuela yesterday. President Donald Trump, who denied reports of the bomber flights when asked about them yesterday, suggested earlier this week that he has "legal authority" to carry out military strikes against drug traffickers and that such strikes could possibly be done on land. [more]

TROPICAL STORM MELISSA | Forecasters warn that Tropical Storm Melissa, which was largely stationary overnight in the central Caribbean, could soon strengthen into a powerful hurricane and bring potentially catastrophic flooding and landslides to regions of Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. [more]

INDIA | Authorities in India's Andhra Pradesh state say at least 25 people were killed, and several others were injured, today when a passenger bus was struck by a motorcycle and erupted into flames near the state's Kurnool district. [more]

ITALY | Italian church abuse victims' group Rete l'Abuso said today that victims' accounts, judicial sources, and cases reported by the media indicate that nearly 4,400 people have been abused by Catholic priests in Italy in cases reported since 2020. Related reports note that, according to data released by the Vatican's child protection commission earlier this month, only 81 of Italy's 226 Catholic dioceses responded to a recent questionnaire about anti-abuse safeguarding practices. [more]

U.K. | Resident doctors across England are planning to take part in a five-day strike over pay and job security issues in mid-November, according to Dr. Jack Fletcher, chair of the British Medical Association's resident doctors committee. [more]

TURKEY | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments released today that Turkey is in talks with Qatar and Oman to purchase used Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to bolster his country's air combat capabilities. [more]

E.U. TECH INDUSTRY | European Commission regulators said today that tech giants Meta and TikTok appear to be in breach of their obligations under the E.U.'s Digital Services Act to grant researchers adequate access to public data. The Commission also said that Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms may be breaching the Act by failing to provide a user-friendly and easily accessible mechanism for users to flag illegal content. [more]

BASEBALL | The 2025 World Series opens tonight, with the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT | Among the nominees announced for the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame class are: Taylor Swift, Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s, the Talking Heads’ David Byrne, Kenny Loggins, LL Cool J, Pink, and Sarah McLachlan. [full list of nominees] [more]

R.I.P. | Dave Ball, co-founder of the 1980's synth-pop duo Soft Cell – best known for their remake of the 60s soul hit "Tainted Love" – died Wednesday at the age of 66. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1945, the charter of the United Nations, established at the end of World War II through ratification by 29 countries with the aim of maintaining world peace and promoting friendly relations among nations, went into effect. The date is now observed as United Nations Day. [more history]