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MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• Amidst ongoing international tensions over his country's nuclear program and recent crackdown on protesters, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said yesterday that he has instructed Iran's foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the United States. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,438 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• A day ahead of the scheduled resumption of peace talks in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that Russia fired 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine overnight, striking at least five Ukrainian regions and targeting Ukraine's power infrastructure. [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN | Day 4. The House is scheduled to hold a procedural vote today to advance spending measures that would fund most of the federal government through September 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks as lawmakers negotiate potential changes for the agency that enforces immigration laws. Republican congressional leadership and President Donald Trump have urged House members to facilitate an end to the ongoing partial government shutdown by not pushing for additional changes to the spending measures. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | In an interview aired yesterday, President Donald Trump suggested that Republicans should "nationalize" and "take over" voting processes in at least 15 places around the United States. Trump's comments came ahead of this year's mid-term elections and amidst his administration's push to overhaul election rules and laws. [more]

MORE U.S. ELECTIONS | Amidst questions regarding her presence last week at the FBI seizure of materials related to the 2020 presidential election from the election headquarters in Fulton County, Georgia, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said yesterday that her presence at the site had been requested by President Donald Trump and that she was acting under her "broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security." [more]

MINNESOTA | Following the recent fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis and amidst ongoing related tensions over immigration enforcement policies, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said yesterday that all DHS officers in Minneapolis will immediately be issued body-worn cameras to record their operations. Reports note DHS has confirmed that at least four officers on the scene when Alex Pretti was shot and killed by immigration officers were wearing body cameras, but that footage from the cameras has not been made public. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | Prior to today's scheduled termination of Temporary Protected Status for some 350,000 Haitian immigrants in the United States, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes yesterday granted a request to pause the termination while related court challenges play out. In her ruling, Reyes said she found it “substantially likely” that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem preordained her termination decision because of “hostility to nonwhite immigrants.” [more]

EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION | Amidst ongoing probes into the millions of files released related to the investigations into late financier and convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein by the Justice Department, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have reportedly agreed to provide sworn testimony before the House Oversight Committee investigating Epstein. The agreement to testify follows threats of contempt of Congress charges against the Clintons for their having originally defied a congressional subpoena to testify. [more]

U.S. RARE EARTHS | President Donald Trump announced the launch yesterday of a nearly $12 billion program dubbed "Project Vault" to create a strategic reserve of rare earths intended to decrease reliance on China's dominant position in processing the heavy metals. [more]

U.S. AND INDIA | U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new trade deal with India yesterday under which U.S. tariffs on Indian goods will be reduced to 18% from 50% in exchange for India halting its purchases of Russian oil and lowering trade barriers for U.S. goods. [more]

U.S. AND COLOMBIA | Colombian President Gustavo Petro is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House today for talks expected to center on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts. Reports note that the in-person meeting comes just weeks after Trump threatened military action against Colombia and accused Petro of trafficking cocaine into the United States. [more]

FRANCE | Authorities in Paris say the French offices of Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, social media company have been raided by the Paris prosecutor's cyber-crime unit, as part of an investigation into suspected offenses including unlawful data extraction and complicity in the possession of child pornography. [more]

BOLIVIA | With the beginning of the South American nation's school year this week, Bolivia joins a number of countries, including Brazil, France, and South Korea, in banning cellphones in both private and public school classrooms. [more]

SPAIN | Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said today that Spain plans to ban social media for those under the age of 16, calling social media networks a "failed state in which laws are ignored." [more]

SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY | Elon Musk announced yesterday that his SpaceX rocket company has purchased his xAI artificial intelligence venture, saying the combined company will speed the development of AI data centers that operate in space. The merger comes ahead of an expected SpaceX initial public offering later this year. [more]

MORE SPACE | NASA announced today that it will delay its Artemis II mission to travel around the far side of the moon until March after detecting a fuel leak in the mission's rocket during tests yesterday. [NASA announcement] [more]

SOCCER | Gianni Infantino, the president of world soccer governing body FIFA, said yesterday that he wants to end the FIFA and UEFA bans on Russia competing in international soccer competitions, saying the bans have "achieved nothing." Reports note that Russian clubs and the national team have been suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions since the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022. [more]

BASEBALL | According to final figures released by Major League Baseball’s players’ association, the average salary for MLB players rose to a record $4,721,393 in 2025 – a 1.4% increase from 2024. [more]

R.I.P. | Chuck Negron, a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Three Dog Night – best known for their 1960s and 70s hits including “Joy to the World,” “One” and “An Old Fashioned Love Song” – died yesterday at the age of 83. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" and intending to ensure, along with the Fourteenth Amendment, the civil rights of former slaves. [more history]