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MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 174.

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's recent economic threats against Iran and its allies, saying such "failed policies" would increase anti-U.S. hostility. Araghchi also characterized Trump's threat of "crushing economic measures" as “economic terrorism that threatens the global economy and the national sovereignty of countries around the world.” [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,636 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Authorities in Ukraine say at least 14 people were killed, and 40 others were wounded, in large-scale Russian airstrikes overnight that targeted at least 28 locations across Ukraine. [more]
• U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher said yesterday that the increased use of drones against civilians and humanitarian workers is a growing concern for aid operations in Ukraine. Fletcher also noted that the U.N. needs more than $2 billion for its prioritized humanitarian response in Ukraine this year. [more]

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT | According to new U.S. Treasury data, the U.S.' national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion this week, just five months after hitting a then-record of $39 trillion in March and $38 trillion in October 2025. Analysts note that major contributors to the increasing national debt include defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare, and interest on existing debt. [Treasury Department debt tracker] [more]

U.S. CONSUMER PRICES | Under a policy proposal released yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission, companies that secretly vary prices based on how much they think an individual customer would pay could face federal charges. FTC officials say investigations have shown that some companies, including grocers, clothing companies, and others, use third-party companies to help them individualize online prices based on shoppers’ locations, browsing histories, and other factors, and that the new policy would require companies to “clearly and conspicuously disclose” if they are engaging in personalized pricing. [FTC policy proposal] [press release] [more]

U.S. MILITARY | Max D. Lederer Jr, the long-time publisher of the Stars and Stripes military newspaper, announced his retirement this week, saying it had "become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization.” Reports note that the announcement comes amidst moves by the Pentagon to exert editorial control over the newspaper and less than four months after the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, ombudsman for the newspaper, whose job was to safeguard editorial independence. [more]

U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION | President Donald Trump yesterday announced the nomination of White House aide Dr. Heidi Overton to head the Food and Drug Administration. Reports note that Overton is a medical doctor and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council who has worked on several of Trump’s second-term health initiatives. [more]

MISSOURI | Rejecting a petition to put Missouri's new Republican-backed congressional districting maps to a statewide vote, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green yesterday ruled that the GOP-friendly districting can be used for this November's mid-term elections. [more]

KENNEDY CENTER | In a court status report filed late Tuesday, members of the Kennedy Center's board say they will not attempt to return President Donald Trump's name to the building's facade before at least September 8. The filing follows U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper's May ruling that said the addition of Trump's name to the Center was done illegally and ordered it removed. [more]

U.S. AND CANADA | Officials from both Canada and the U.S. have characterized this week's trade talks aimed at averting a new round of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods as very positive. Reports note that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a briefing to provincial premiers, asked that U.S. alcohol products be returned to Canadian store shelves – a step aimed at addressing one of the Trump administration’s key trade complaints. [more]

U.S. AND PERU | U.S. Ambassador to Peru Bernie Navarro announced yesterday that the U.S. will send a military hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, to Peru's coast next year to help the South American country cope with the effects of the El Niño climate phenomenon. [more]

NORTH KOREA | South Korean and Japanese authorities say North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles today from the North's capital region into the waters off its eastern coast. The launches came amidst newly scaled-back joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises and following new estimates by South Korea that the North has between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads – a far higher number than U.S. President Donald Trump's recent assertion that Pyongyang has 57 nuclear weapons. [more on missile launches] [more on North's nuclear arsenal]

CANADA, ISRAEL, AND LEBANON | In an interview yesterday, Randeep Sarai, Canada’s secretary of state for international development, characterized Israel's control of portions of southern Lebanon as an "unlawful invasion" and announced new humanitarian aid to support vulnerable Lebanese families and women. [more]

SOUTH SUDAN | Amidst ongoing violence between government and opposition forces, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, says at least 36 humanitarian workers and contractors have been killed in the East African country since January, surpassing the 31 killed in all of 2025. [more]

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC | Officials in the Central African Republic's Nana-Mambere prefecture say the death toll from a gold mine collapse on Tuesday has risen to more than 100. Reports note that several people still remain missing in the incident and that investigations into the cause of the collapse are ongoing. [more]

CHINA | Hui Ka Yan, the founder of Evergrande – once the world’s biggest property firm by sales – was sentenced to life in prison today by a Chinese court for “multiple combined crimes” related to the company having inflated the value of its assets and concealed its liabilities before defaulting on $300 billion of debt in 2021. [more]

SOCIAL MEDIA | Testifying in the landmark federal trial of Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta yesterday, former Meta engineering director Arturo Béjar said the company consistently prioritized profits over safety in designing its products, focusing on how often and for how long people used them, even if it was detrimental to users' mental well-being. [more]

MEDICAL RESEARCH | Shares of Moderna more than doubled in price yesterday after the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company announced positive initial trial results of an experimental mRNA-based cancer vaccine called intismeran that is designed to be tailored to individual patients based on unique mutations within their tumors. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1968, the Soviet Union, along with several of its Warsaw Pact allies, invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization movement. [more history]