Tuesday morning news: August 25, 2026

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SCOTUS Mail-in voting » The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to move ahead with part of the president's executive order aimed at tightening election rules.

The 6-to-3 ruling allows Homeland Security to compile state-by-state lists of U.S. citizens eligible to vote and provide those lists to states.

But the justices did not rule on whether the president's order is legal. Instead, they found that the states challenging it don't currently have legal standing to do so.

Trump signed the order in March and remarked:

TRUMP: The cheating on mail-in voting is, is legendary. It's horrible what's gone on. And, uh, it's very clearly covered, uh, very, very clearly. So I think this will, uh, help a lot with elections.

Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., sued, arguing the president overstepped his authority.

Another part of Trump's order would require states to provide the Postal Service with lists of voters receiving mail ballots. But that provision remains blocked nationwide under a separate court ruling.

And the Supreme Court cautioned that Monday's decision does not mean the administration's efforts to implement the order will necessarily be lawful … leaving the door open to more challenges.

With some states beginning to mail ballots within weeks, it's unclear how much practical effect the ruling will have before November.

Iran sanctions » The US government has a message for any global shipping or technology company still doing business with Iran: Cut ties, or be barred from using the U.S. dollar.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:

BESSENT: Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone.

The Treasury Department warned companies dealing in aviation, gold, and shipping about possible future sanctions.

The U.S. has placed restrictions on doing business with Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis, but is upping the pressure with secondary sanctions on those who deal with Iran.

The new sanctions target nearly 60 individuals and businesses.

When asked if Chinese banks are on the new target list, Bessent said no one should test American resolve.

BESSENT: Every country, every entity should know that they should be prepared to face U.S. sanctions, and the no, no one is is above this.

The United Arab Emirates last week said it would cut financial ties with Iran following a missile attack, and Bessent said he expects to see more nations follow suit.

Canada trade war » With a trade war between the United States and Canada ramping up, President Trump on Monday threatened 50 percent tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks and steel starting January 1st.

The U.S. put 50 percent duties on $20 billion in Canadian goods Saturday. Canada plans to answer two weeks from today, with higher tariffs on US goods.

Both sides say the blame belongs on the other side of the bargaining table after trade talks broke down last week.

Vice President JD Vance told a crowd in Maine:

VANCE: What we've said to Canada is, Stop it. Apply a basic principle of fairness to the trade that you're doing between North Dakota and Canada, between Maine and Canada. And what happened at the very end is they came in with a bunch of unreasonable last-minute demands.

The Trump administration says among those demands, lower tariffs on heavy trucks and changes to some steel and aluminum rules.

But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney insists that his team was reasonable and pragmatic throughout the talks.

CARNEY: We made progress, and we did make some progress in recent weeks. In the end, that momentum reversed, and we could not accept what the US had offered, nor could we give what they asked.

He says U.S. negotiators wanted limits on Canada's trade deals with other countries, among other things.

Carney says his focus is on manufacturing more at home and building stronger trade ties with other countries.

Nearly three-quarters of all Canadian exports go to the United States.

Ukraine latest » In Ukraine:

SOUND: [Ukrainian Independence Day]

A somber ceremony in the capital Monday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the nation's Independence Day by remembering fallen troops, laying flowers at the Wall of Remembrance.

Many European leaders were on-hand including new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who told the crowd he saw before him an unbroken country:

BURNHAM: It is my first overseas visit and I chose to do this, and I hope it tells you something about the importance that I attach to your cause. [APPLAUSE]

At a news conference afterward…

Zelenskyy again made an urgent plea for more resources to step up military pressure on Moscow.

ZELENSKYY: We need to be competitive with the number of deep strikes...we have huge drones, we have capacities, as I said. We need more money, much more money.

Meanwhile, Russian officials claimed Monday that a Ukrainian drone damaged a private children’s center in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, killing three teenagers.

Congo Ebola » More than 300 people died of Ebola in a single week in eastern Congo. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports:

KRISTEN FLAVIN: It's one of the deadliest weeks yet, in the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record.

And since May more than 26-hundred have died. That’s nearly half of everyone known to be infected.

Health workers can't keep up. Most of the dead never reach a treatment center, and responders face rebel attacks and unpaid wages.

The virus has reached Uganda, and two Americans caught it in Congo and were flown to Germany.

16-thousand doses of an Ebola vaccine reached Congo Friday. But this outbreak comes from a rare strain the vaccine was never designed for, and no one knows if it will work.

Officials haven't said when it will go to frontline workers. More than 40 of those workers have died.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Reno fire » Flames have pushed to the edge of Reno, Nevada.

The Hawk Fire has burned more than 15-thousand acres and driven 40-thousand people from their homes. Some had minutes to pack.

AUDIO: I literally wanna cry and go back for all my stuff, but, you know, I just pretty much got what I thought I needed, and now I'm just trying to go.

The flames consumed homes over the weekend and was still uncontained Monday night. Crews are trying to keep it from jumping a highway into packed neighborhoods.

Investigators say people started it, the third human-caused fire near Reno this month.

I'm Kent Covington.

Coming up: the growing debate over license plate readers. Plus, ranchers work to protect their livestock from a parasite outbreak that has upset the U.S. beef supply.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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