United Nations leaders condemned mass killings in El Fasher, Sudan, at an emergency Security Council session yesterday. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces reportedly killed nearly 500 people at a hospital on Tuesday after taking the city last weekend. The group has fought Sudan鈥檚 military for more than two years and recently declared a parallel government. The war is considered the world鈥檚 worst humanitarian crisis. The UN鈥檚 top humanitarian official urged member states to stop arming the RSF.
Russia warned it will respond 鈥渁ccordingly鈥� if the United States abandons the 30-year moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. President Donald Trump said in a social media post yesterday that he had instructed the Pentagon to 鈥渋mmediately鈥� begin the process of testing U.S. nuclear weapons. Other countries 鈥渟eem to all be nuclear testing,鈥� he told reporters later. Neither China nor Russia have conducted nuclear explosive tests. A top U.S. military official said the president could be referring to the testing of missiles that deliver warheads, rather than the nuclear weapons themselves.
The U.S. set the lowest-ever refugee cap for fiscal year 2026. The Trump administration announced yesterday it would allocate 7,500 refugee spots this year 鈥� down from a ceiling of 125,000 at the end of the Biden presidency. On his first day back in office, President Trump suspended the refugee admissions program that Congress created in 1980. Now he鈥檚 prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa for limited arrivals this year. Refugee advocates say humanitarian needs far surpass the cap.
Colorado sued the Trump administration for trying to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama. Choosing its permanent home has become a political tug-of-war: Alabama is a conservative stronghold, and Mr. Trump cited Colorado鈥檚 mail-in voting system as a reason for the move. A federal lawsuit says the order to reverse a decision by President Joe Biden 鈥� who previously reversed Mr. Trump鈥檚 first-term decision 鈥� to make Colorado Springs the base is unconstitutional because it was based on political retribution.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston agreed to return two larger-than-life stoneware vessels to the descendants of David Drake, an enslaved potter and poet from Edgefield, South Carolina. The landmark decision represents the first time the museum has resolved an ownership claim with ties to 19th-century U.S. slavery. It also highlights the ingenuity and artistry of men such as Mr. Drake, who learned to read and write during a time when literacy among enslaved people was criminalized. The descendants sold one of the pieces to the museum, and one is on extended loan.
Moldova reduced its orphanage population by 96% in just over two decades. Before 2000, around 17,000 children lived in orphanages, reports Reasons to be Cheerful. Today, only 700 remain, with a goal of reaching zero by 2027. Many children, including non-orphans, were placed in 鈥渞esidential institutions鈥� for economic or social reasons. The Moldovan government, nonprofits, and UNICEF have worked to dismantle the Soviet-era system and keep children with their birth families whenever possible.
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