September 16, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• The Israeli military said today that it has begun its intensified ground offensive targeting Gaza City, where it believes some 2,000 to 3,000 Hamas militants remain. Reports note that residents of the city – Gaza's largest – have been warned by Israel to leave but that hundreds of thousands of people are thought to still be in the area. [more]
• In a report issued today, the independent U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel concludes that "Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza," with a clear "intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention." [press release] [full report] [more]
• In a speech at a Gaza-related summit in Qatar today, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi described Israel as “an enemy” – the first such characterization by an Egyptian leader since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979, according to Egypt’s State Information Service. [more]
• After pro-Palestinian activists disrupted the end of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race in Madrid on Sunday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Israel to be banned from international sporting events over the war in Gaza, similarly to how Russia was banned over its invasion of Ukraine. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,300 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Noting the recent incursion of Russian drones into the airspace of NATO members Poland and Romania, as well as the launching of some 3,500 drones, more than 2,500 glide bombs, and almost 200 missiles at targets inside Ukraine over the past two weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged European leaders today to strengthen the continent's joint defenses through implementation of a multilayered air defense system. [more]

U.S. MILITARIZATION | President Donald Trump signed an order yesterday authorizing the deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, to assist in combating crime. The deployment has been supported by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, but not by Memphis Mayor Paul Young. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | A two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve begins today during which members are expected to hold a key vote on interest rates. Both newly confirmed Fed board member Stephen Miran and Fed governor Lisa Cook, whose firing by President Donald Trump was rejected by a federal appeals court yesterday, are expected to be in attendance at the meeting. [more]

U.S. PRESS | President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times and four of its journalists yesterday, accusing them of being "part of a decades-long pattern ... of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump." [more]

U.S. POETRY | The Library of Congress announced yesterday that Arthur Sze will be the next U.S. poet laureate, succeeding Ada Limón, who will have served in the role for three years. Sze, 74, is the author of 12 poetry collections and received a lifetime achievement award from the library last year. [press release] [more]

U.S. AND U.K. | President Donald Trump begins a state visit to the U.K. today that officials from both countries say will emphasize the strength of the U.S.-U.K. relationship. Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer are expected to sign cooperation agreements on multiple topics, including AI, defense technology, nuclear energy, and financial ties, during the visit. [more]

U.S. AND COLOMBIA | U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday added Colombia, for the first time in nearly 30 years, to the list of countries that the United States considers to be non-cooperative in the fight against drug trafficking and failing to comply with international counternarcotics obligations. [more]

U.S. AND VENEZUELA | The U.S. military yesterday targeted a boat alleged to have been carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three people aboard the vessel – the second such strike on a Venezuelan boat in about two weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump said that drug trafficking cartels pose a threat to U.S. national security and suggested that counternarcotics operations could be expanded to land areas as well. [more]

CONGO | Initial stages of a new vaccination campaign against the Ebola virus began this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo's southern Kauai province. The campaign comes amidst the African country's latest Ebola outbreak – its 16th since 1976 – which has seen at least 68 cases of the disease reported. [more]

CHINA AND PHILIPPINES | China today accused a Philippine ship of deliberately ramming one of its coast guard vessels near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Ahead of a December deadline for implementation of a national ban on children under age 16 having social media accounts, Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said today that social media platforms should not demand age verification for all account holders, but use their targeting technology to identify youth accounts. [more]

SOUTH SUDAN | After its leader, Riek Machar, was indicted and suspended from his position as First Vice President, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition party called yesterday for its supporters to “report for national service” and to use “all means available to regain their country and sovereignty," sparking concerns of a possible outbreak of violence in the East African nation. [more]

R.I.P. | Actor Robert Redford, one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1960s and 70s for films such as "The Candidate," "All the President's Men," The Way We Were," "The Sting," "Ordinary People," and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," died today at his home in Utah at the age of 89. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1620, English colonists aboard the Mayflower set sail for America, where they founded Plymouth, Massachusetts, after 41 men, including William Bradford and Myles Standish, signed the Mayflower Compact. [more history]