September 19, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• In the wake of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, Iran has withdrawn a resolution it had planned, along with China and Russia, to put before the International Atomic Energy Agency that would have called for prohibiting attacks on nuclear facilities. Reports note that the U.S. raised the possibility of reducing funding to the IAEA if the resolution was adopted. [more]
• In the latest in a series of similar actions, the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution yesterday that called for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all hostages. All 14 other members of the Council voted to approve the resolution, but U.S. officials said the effort did not go far enough in condemning Hamas or recognizing Israel's right to defend itself. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,303 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ahead of leaving his post at the end of September, Richard Moore, head of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence agency, said today that there is "absolutely no evidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to negotiate a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine. [more]
• In what he characterized as an "important success," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that his country's military has retaken 160 square kilometers of land from Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region during an ongoing "counteroffensive operation" [more]

U.S. FOREIGN HEALTH AID | The State Department announced a re-focusing of U.S. foreign health aid and assistance yesterday. The Department says the "America First Global Health Strategy" will require bilateral agreements with recipient countries that amount to co-investment in exchange for health aid with the aim of decreasing foreign dependency on assistance; and promoting American health innovation around the world. [State Department info] [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly yesterday blocked the Trump administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children who entered the U.S. alone back to their home country, rejecting administration claims that the deportations were taking place to reunify children with parents who wanted them returned home. [more]

U.S. FEDERAL FUNDING | An initial vote on extending existing federal funding levels through November 21 is scheduled for today in the House of Representatives ahead of a September 30 funding deadline and amidst Democratic opposition over what party leaders say are necessary extensions to health care subsidies. [more]

U.S. VACCINES | Members of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions vaccine advisory committee, recently installed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted yesterday to adopt new recommendations on the combination shot that includes vaccines against chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella. The panel advised that the vaccine – known as MMRV – not be given before age 4 and that children in this age group instead get separate vaccines — one against MMR and another for varicella, or chickenpox. [more]

GEORGIA | South Korean automaker Hyundai said yesterday that it will move forward with previously announced plans to expand its Georgia production complex despite the recent immigration raid that saw the detention of some 300 South Korean citizens and delayed the startup of an electric vehicle battery plant at the site. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone today, with topics of discussion reported to have included a potential deal to allow the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to keep operating in the U.S., trade negotiations, and the war in Ukraine. [more]

U.S. AND AFGHANISTAN | President Donald Trump suggested yesterday that the U.S. should regain control of the Bagram air base in Afghanistan for its strategic location close to Chinese nuclear facilities. Reports note that Trump administration officials have made multiple trips to Afghanistan in recent months but that it is not known if the air base has been a direct topic of discussion between the two countries. [more]

PAKISTAN AND SAUDI ARABIA | Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said yesterday that under a new mutual defense pact between the countries, Pakistan's nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed. [more]

RUSSIA AND VIETNAM | The Associated Press cites internal Vietnamese documents as indicating that Russia and Vietnam have developed a back-door method of concealing arms deal payments to avoid Western sanctions, using the profits from joint oil and gas ventures to pay off defense contracts without any open transfers of cash through the global banking system. [full AP report] [more]

IRAN | The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote today on a resolution that would re-impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program by the end of the month if no progress is made toward a diplomatic resolution that would see "full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and allowing inspections of all nuclear sites without delay." [more]

HUNGARY | Following recent related comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said today that his country will follow "the American model" and declare the Antifa, or anti-fascist, movement a "terrorist organization." [more]

RUSSIA | A Pacific tsunami warning was issued, but later lifted, following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia's eastern Kamchatka region overnight. Reports note that there have been no immediate reports of damage from the quake. [more]

BRAZIL | The Wolbito do Brasil plant – the world's largest biofactory for breeding mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria, a method researchers use to combat dengue – says it will produce about 100 million mosquito eggs per week and aims to protect some 140 million people from the disease in Brazil over the coming years. The plant, which is backed and used exclusively by Brazil's health ministry, opened in the middle of July. [more]

BASEBALL | Pitcher Clayton Kershaw – a three-time Cy Young Award winner – announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of the season after spending his entire 18-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1955, President Juan Perón of Argentina was overthrown and fled to Paraguay after a military revolt led by democratically inspired officers.  [more history]