September 15, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Ahead of what is expected to be contentious debate on the creation of a Palestinian state next week at the United Nations, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ends a two-day visit to Israel today during which he expressed U.S. support for Israel and said he would seek answers from Israeli officials about their view of a path forward in Gaza. [more]
• Qatar is hosting a summit of Arab and Islamic nations today to discuss last week's attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar. Ahead of the summit yesterday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said, "It is time for the international community to stop applying double standards and punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed." [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,299 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Following recent incursions of Russian drones into Polish and Romanian airspace, NATO has announced its new "Eastern Sentry" operation to reinforce air and ground defenses along the alliance's eastern flank. [more]
• Ukrainian drones struck a key Russian oil refinery over the weekend, sparking a fire that local officials say has been put out. Reports note that the Kirishi refinery in Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region is one of Russia's top three refineries by output. [more]
• In a letter to NATO alliance members on Saturday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. will issue major new sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine only when NATO countries agree to do the same and to stop purchasing oil from Russia. [more]

WASHINGTON, DC | In a social media post today, President Donald Trump threatened to declare a national emergency and federalize Washington, DC, after Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city's police would not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations and operations. [more]

U.S. POLLUTION | In a move Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said was aimed at ending burdensome regulations, the Trump administration proposed on Friday to end the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which has been in place since 2010 and requires some 8,000 coal-fired power plants, industrial factories, and oil refining facilities in the U.S.  to report their planet-warming pollution to the federal government. [more]

U.S. AUTISM RESEARCH | The Associated Press cites a government procurement notice as indicating that U.S. federal health officials intend to award a no-bid contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, to investigate whether there is a link between vaccinations and autism. The move follows Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's announcement earlier this year of a "massive testing and research effort" to determine the causes of autism, which he has repeatedly tried to link to vaccinations. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | Ahead of planned trade talks in Spain this week, the U.S. and China each announced new sanctions and investigations into the other country’s practices. The U.S. on Friday added 23 Chinese companies to a list of businesses that will face restrictions for allegedly acting against U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, while China launched anti-dumping and anti-discrimination investigations over the weekend regarding U.S. semiconductor trade practices. [more]

U.S., JAPAN, AND SOUTH KOREA | The "Freedom Edge" joint air and naval military exercises began today off the cost of South Korea’s southern Jeju Island in a show of U.S., Japanese, and South Korean combined operations capability. North Korea has condemned the exercises, which are scheduled to run through Friday, as a "reckless show of strength." [more]

MYANMAR | Amidst ongoing government operations aimed at retaking territory ahead of planned elections in December, the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, says in a statement that multiple children were killed in a military airstrike on a school last week in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Reports cite local officials as saying at least 19 students were killed in the attack. [more]

GLOBAL FISHING | With the requisite number of countries now having given their approval, the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies takes effect today more than three years after its initial adoption. The agreement, aimed at limiting the depletion of fish stocks, requires countries to reduce subsidies given to fishing fleets. [more]

RUSSIA | Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission, says electronic voting systems across Russia faced "unprecedented" cyberattacks over the weekend as 21 of the country's more than 80 regions were set to elect new governors and other local officials. No official comment was released on who was thought to be behind the attacks. [more]

SPAIN | Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the final stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race in Madrid yesterday. Authorities say at least 22 people were injured in clashes between police and protesters and that two people were arrested. [more]

U.K. | Authorities say more than 110,000 people are estimated to have taken part in an anti-immigrant march in central London on Saturday. At least 26 police officers were injured in clashes with protesters, and 25 arrests were made, according to London's Metropolitan Police. [more]

GERMANY | Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union party finished first in municipal polls yesterday in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, with 33.3%. Reports note, however, that the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party nearly tripled its support from the state's 2020 elections, taking 14.5% of the vote. [more]

SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN | In newly released letters to the United Nations, South Korea and Japan present differing views on Japan's history of wartime sexual slavery. South Korean officials say Japan must "face up to our painful history" and comply with court rulings ordering Japanese compensation to victims, while Japanese authorities say compensation matters with South Korea over sexual slavery victims were settled by past agreements and that newer similar rulings are violations of international law. [more]

COLOMBIA | Local authorities say members of the largely-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group attacked a police station in the southwestern Colombian town of Carmelo yesterday, killing one police officer and wounding four other people. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Following weekend games, Ohio State remains No. 1 in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll, followed by Penn State, LSU, Miami, and Georgia. Of note, Notre Dame remains in the Top 25 at No. 24 – the first team with an oh-and-two record to remain ranked since 1988. [full poll] [more]

ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS | Among the top winners at last night's 77th Primetime Emmy Awards were: "The Studio" for best comedy series, "The Pitt" for best drama series, "Adolescence" for best limited series, and Stephen Colbert and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" for best talk series. [complete list of winners] [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $70 million in receipts, followed by "The Conjuring: Last Rites" and "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1935, the Nürnberg Laws, among the first pieces of racist Nazi legislation that would culminate in the Holocaust, were passed in Germany. Designed by Adolf Hitler, the laws deprived Jews of German citizenship and forbade marriage or sexual relations between Jews and “citizens of German or kindred blood.” [more history]