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MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 207.

• Reuters cites an unnamed senior Iranian official as saying today that meetings at the United Nations General Assembly represent a "golden opportunity" to renew diplomatic engagement with the United States and that Iran could re-open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within days if the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iranian ships and ports. [more]
• Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. against escalating the Middle East war yesterday, saying that "the war is not over" and that it would introduce new weapons and new targeting into the conflict if necessary. [more]
• U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said yesterday that his country has agreed to provide air-to-air refueling of Saudi military planes taking part in action against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,669 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian officials say at least four people were killed in overnight Russian airstrikes on multiple Ukrainian regions. [more]
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the U.S. today for meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. Zelenskyy is also scheduled to address the General Assembly tomorrow and is expected to appeal for international help to end Russia's invasion of his country and ensure the safe flow of Ukrainian agricultural products to world markets. [more]

U.S. PRESS FREEDOM | After President Donald Trump banned media outlets CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House and the outlets filed a lawsuit in response, a wider range of news organizations, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News jointly agreed to boycott Trump's inauguration of a new helipad on the White House grounds yesterday. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | The Associated Press cites multiple unnamed current and former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as confirming that ICE has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding thousands of detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, thereby making it far more difficult for lawyers and relatives to locate and contact them. [more]

U.S. AIR TRAVEL | More than 600 flights into and out of major airports in the U.S. Northeast were cancelled yesterday following now-repaired damage to communications lines used for air traffic control at a facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Among the airports most heavily affected were: Newark Liberty International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, and New York's LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. [more]

MISSOURI | In apparent conflict with recent decisions by both the Missouri and U.S. Supreme Courts, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yesterday that Missouri must use new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump for this November's mid-term elections. Reports note that the state is currently set to use the same district maps it used in 2024 and 2022 for November's elections. [more]

GLOBAL PHILANTHROPY | According to the Gates Foundation, 26 of the world's 34 wealthiest nations decreased aid to poorer countries in 2025. The foundation's namesake, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, suggested ahead of the foundation's annual event that the "smart use" of artificial intelligence could accelerate the global fight against inequality. [more]

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT | Ahead of expected new U.S. sanctions on the International Criminal Court over what the Trump administration has characterized as its overreaches, reports say officials in the Netherlands, where the Court is hosted, are preparing steps to ensure the Court's continued operation, including by paying staff, protecting witnesses, and maintaining the detention facility. [more]

TURKEY | At least 11 people were wounded when a gunman opened fire with a shotgun near a technical high school in the Turgutlu district of Turkey's Manisa province today. Local media reports say the attacker was a student at the school and that he was arrested after fleeing the scene. [more]

KOREA | Ahead of his planned speech before the U.N. General Assembly, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung says his country and the U.S. are open to providing political and economic concessions to spur North Korea to undertake a phased dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program. [more]

CONGO | In a new report, rights group Amnesty International accuses M23 rebel forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo of committing possible war crimes through various abuses including the killing of miners while trafficking critical minerals to neighboring Rwanda. [full report] [more]

E.U. AND PHILIPPINES | The European Union and the Philippines announced a new free trade agreement today that will build on the current nearly €30 billion in annual trade between the two entities. The Philippines is the third nation from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc after Vietnam and Singapore to sign a bilateral trade deal with the European Union. [more]

MEXICO | Flood and landslide warnings have been issued for coastal regions of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Michoacán through Thursday as Hurricane Polo approaches the region as a Category 4 storm. The hurricane is currently expected to travel along Mexico's Pacific coast in the coming days without making landfall. [more]

E.U. DATA PRIVACY | Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, which leads E.U.-wide data privacy regulation, has fined Google €403 million for breaches of the bloc's privacy rules over the mishandling of users' location data. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY | In a move that resolves a major obstacle to its planned $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount agreed yesterday to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 states. Under the terms of the agreement, which must still be approved by a judge, Paramount will spend $1.5 billion over five years on top of what it spent in 2025 on filming in the U.S., create a $25 million fund for buying independent films, and establish a $47.5 million workforce fund for training and career development for laid-off workers. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1980, the Iran-Iraq War began when Iraqi armed forces invaded western Iran along the countries' joint border. Fighting continued until 1988, and a formal peace agreement was signed in 1990. [more history]