Listen to this issue.

0:00

/6:01

1×

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• In a resolution passed yesterday, the International Association of Genocide Scholars – considered the world's leading group for the academic study of genocide – said that Israel's policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide under the U.N. Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined in international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. [full resolution] [more]
• Iran-backed Houthi rebels raided the offices of the United Nations' aid agencies in the Yemeni capital of Sana yesterday, detaining at least 11 U.N. staff members. The Houthi action follows an Israeli airstrike late last week in which at least five Houthi officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, were killed. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,285 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian officials say Russian involvement is suspected in Saturday's murder of Ukraine's former parliamentary speaker, Andriy Parubiy. Authorities say a suspect in the killing has been arrested and that information suggests possible involvement of the Russian Federation's security services in organizing the attack. [more]
• Asked whether a cease-fire in Ukraine might still be possible this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said yesterday that he hasn't lost hope, but "harbors no illusions," and that ending the war through Ukraine's capitulation to Russia is "not an option." [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Police in Houston, Texas, say a yet-unidentified 11-year-old boy was shot and killed Saturday evening following a prank in which he rang the doorbell of a home and ran away. Reports note that the incident remains under investigation and that no arrests in the case have yet been made. [more]

U.S. FOREIGN AID | President Donald Trump notified Congress on Friday that he plans to cancel some $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid using a “pocket rescission" – a controversial maneuver under the Impoundment Control Act that many legal analysts, and the Government Accountability Office, have said is illegal. [more]

ILLINOIS | In an interview yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the Trump administration plans to expand immigration operations in Chicago, Illinois, in the near future. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, in anticipation of the federal operations, signed an order this weekend barring the Chicago Police Department from helping federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement or any related patrols, traffic stops, and checkpoints during such operations. [more]

U.S. TARIFFS | The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Friday that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority under an emergency powers law in imposing sweeping trade tariffs on goods from countries around the world. The court said it "seems unlikely that Congress intended to … grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs," but left the tariffs in place for no in anticipation of a probable Trump administration appeal to the Supreme Court. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | A Pew Research Center review of preliminary Census Bureau data indicates that, as of June 2025, the U.S.' foreign-born population had shrunk by more than a million people, and the number of immigrants in the U.S. labor force had decreased by more than 750,000, since the beginning of the year. [full report] [more]

GLOBAL INFLUENCE | Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization nations – Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – began their annual summit today in the Chinese port city of Tianjin in a sign of what analysts suggest is a show of challenge to U.S. global leadership. [more]

EUROPEAN UNION | E.U. Commission officials say a plane carrying Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was targeted by GPS navigation jamming while trying to land in Bulgaria yesterday and that investigators suspect the "blatant interference was carried out by Russia." Reports note that von der Leyen's plane landed safely using alternative navigation methods. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last night, causing extensive damage in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar. Taliban government officials say some 800 people died in the quake and that more than 2,500 others were injured. [more]

INDONESIA | Following several days of nationwide protests over lawmakers' perks and privileges, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced yesterday that parliament members would have their housing allowances cut and overseas work trips suspended. Reports note that at least six people died in the protests that started last week. [more]

JAPAN | Amidst increasing regional tensions sparked by Chinese assertiveness, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Friday that it plans to deploy its new domestically developed long-range missiles by March 2026 – a year earlier than planned. [more]

PERU | In the second such attack in the past several days, a branch of the Mexican-owned Compartamos bank was damaged in an explosion in the Peruvian capital of Lima yesterday. Police say the incidents are under investigation and reports cite officials as saying they could be part of a recent wave of extortion-related attacks targeting businesses. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Weapons" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $10.2 million in receipts, followed by "Jaws (1975)" and "Caught Stealing." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1972, Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union and became the first native-born American to hold the title of world chess champion. [more history]