Just Security has launched a redesigned website, enhancing your experience with a modern design, improved search and navigation, and seamless access to our in-depth content.
Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here.
A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
A planned fourth round of Iran-U.S. negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program has been delayed, with a new date being scheduled “depending on the U.S. approach,” an Iranian official told Reuters yesterday. “U.S. sanctions on Iran during the nuclear talks are not helping the sides to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomacy,” the official added, referencing Trump’s recent threat of sanctions on countries purchasing oil from Iran. However, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said this weekend’s Rome meeting had never been officially scheduled and that Washington hadn’t confirmed participation. Kasra Naji and Maia Davies report for BBC News; Lauren Irwin reports.
China is “currently assessing” U.S. proposals to begin trade talks, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry said today. President Trump has repeatedly stated that his administration was in discussions with Chinese officials to reach a trade deal, claims which Beijing had denied until today. John Liu reports for CNN.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to leaders in India and Pakistan in an effort to ease rising tensions between the two nations following last week’s deadly attack in Kashmir. Yesterday, Rubio spoke with Pakistan’s prime minister and India’s external affairs minister, urging both sides to collaborate to “de-escalate tensions” in order to “maintain peace and security in South Asia,” according to readouts from the State Department. Sarah Fortinsky reports for The Hill.
The CIA has released two new videos designed to entice Chinese officials to spy for the United States. The professionally produced videos, filmed in Mandarin with Chinese subtitles, are part of the CIA’s broader effort to enhance intelligence gathering on China, which has been considered Washington’s primary strategic rival and military threat by successive administrations. Nectar Gan reports for CNN.
The EU is making “certain progress” toward a trade deal with the United States, which would involve the $50 billion purchase of more U.S. products, the EU’s trade commissioner said yesterday. Ramishah Maruf reports for CNN.
The United States is pushing Congo and Rwanda to sign a peace deal at the White House in roughly two months, along with bilateral mineral agreements that could attract billions of dollars in Western investment to the region, Trump’s senior advisor for Africa told Reuters yesterday. Andrew Mills reports.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The International Court of Justice concludes a week of hearings today on Israel’s responsibilities to ensure vital humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The U.N. General Assembly requested the court’s advisory opinion last year regarding Israel’s legal obligations, following the country’s move to block the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating. The court is expected to take months to deliver its opinion. Molly Quell reports for the Associated Press.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency today designated the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist group that poses a threat to democracy, a classification that allows for enhanced monitoring of the party, including via informants and intercepting communications. Reuters reports.
North Korea described the construction of a new road bridge connecting it to Russia as a “significant” development in bilateral relations, state media reported yesterday. The construction across the Tumen River began on Wednesday, having been finalized during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea in 2024. Reuters reports.
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are pushing to revoke former President Joseph Kabila’s immunity from prosecution, accusing him of supporting M23 rebels. Justice Minister Constant Mutamba stated on Wednesday that there is a “substantial body of documents, testimony, and material evidence” connecting Kabila to the M23 rebel group. Kabila has not commented on the recent accusations but has previously denied any connection with the group. Damian Zane reports for BBC News.
The South African armed forces yesterday announced that they had begun withdrawing their peacekeeping troops from rebel-held eastern Congo. The announcement follows the departure of peacekeeping forces from Malawi and Tanzania, and follows all three nations being left stranded in eastern Congo after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launched an offensive in January and seized control of the strategic city of Goma. The Associated Press reports.
The Brazilian Supreme Court has granted former President Fernando Collor de Mello permission to serve house arrest, following his sentencing to nearly nine years in prison on corruption and money laundering charges, according to a court order obtained yesterday by Reuters.
Singaporeans will head to the polls tomorrow in a general election expected to reaffirm the power of the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), offering a key test of public confidence in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s leadership. The PAP, which has held power since Singapore’s independence in 1965, is seeking a renewed and stronger mandate for Wong, who became prime minister last year. Eileen Ng reports for the Associated Press.
SYRIA DEVELOPMENTS
Israeli fighter jets bombed an area close to the presidential palace in Damascus as a “clear message to the Syrian regime” that Israel would “not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The Syrian government has not commented on the attack at the time of writing, but said yesterday it rejected “foreign intervention” when Israel carried out strikes south of Damascus yesterday during clashes between Druze militia, security forces, and allied Sunni Islamist fighters. David Gritten reports for BBC News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
A Gaza-bound aid ship caught fire and issued an SOS after it reportedly came under a drone attack off the coast of Malta, in international waters, just after midnight local time Friday. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is advocating to end Israel’s aid blockade into Gaza, told CNN that activists were onboard the ship carrying humanitarian aid when the alleged attack occurred. Israel has not commented on the alleged attack at the time of writing. Kathleen Magramo, Abeer Salman, Todd Symons, and Martin Goillandeau report.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
New intelligence reviewed by U.S. and Western officials indicates that Putin may have shifted his near-term focus in the war in Ukraine to consolidating control over occupied territories and strengthening Russia’s weakened economy, sources told CNN. Alex Marquardt and Zachary Cohen report.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The U.S. government knew the specific location of journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, for over a decade, his mother said yesterday — implying that more could have been done to secure the former Marine’s release across three successive administrations. Debra Tice stated that her belief — that U.S. officials knew the location of her son up until former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster late last year — is based on extensive intelligence documents she was recently allowed to review by the Trump administration. Missy Ryan and Ellen Nakashima report for the Washington Post.
Recently-fired Justice Department lawyer Liz Oyer claimed this week that Trump’s pardon of people convicted of white-collar crimes has cost the United States $1 billion. Oyer reached the conclusion by adding the restitution amounts allegedly owed by those who had been pardoned, based on how much they were convicted of stealing. Perry Stein and Beth Reinhard report for the Washington Post.
Former national security adviser Mike Waltz was seen at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, appearing to use a modified version of Signal to conduct official business with Cabinet members and other senior Trump administration officials. The app, named “TSM SGNL,” retains and archives messages to meet presidential records preservation requirements. Michael Birnbaum and Amy B. Wang report for the Washington Post.
The National Science Foundation is facing a financial crisis and has had to cancel over a thousand active research grants, with funding for new research nearly stalled. The 75-year government agency has awarded only half as many grants since Trump’s inauguration compared to the same timeframe in 2024, according to a Washington Post analysis of the NSF grants database. Carolyn Y. Johnson and Joel Achenbach report.
Army leaders have reached an unconventional agreement with Elon Musk and DOGE to cut costs, including proposals to remove Humvees, with the goal of giving generals — not DOGE — the authority to determine where and how to reduce spending, sources told NBC News. Courtney Kube and Gordon Lubold report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IMMIGRATION ACTIONS
The Pentagon is creating a second expanded 63-mile long military zone at the southern border of Texas, the military’s Northern Command announced yesterday. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
State and federal officials arrested 1,120 immigrants without permanent legal status during a coordinated weeklong operation across Florida, authorities announced. The effort, named “Operation Tidal Wave,” was conducted from April 21 to 26, as hundreds of those detained were nationals of Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras, ICE said. Ashleigh Fields reports for The Hill.
The Trump administration has been assessing whether it can label some suspected cartel and gang members inside the United States as “enemy combatants,” a move aimed at facilitating their detention and restricting their legal avenues to challenge imprisonment, sources say. The designation could also be applied to suspected narco-terrorists outside the United States, the sources added, potentially providing Washington with a legal basis for carrying out lethal strikes against them. Natasha Bertrand, Josh Campbell, Zachary Cohen, Haley Britzky, and Priscilla Alvarez report for CNN.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump signed two executive orders yesterday, with the first aiming to slash funding for NPR and PBS after accusing the broadcasters of using public funds to produce biased media coverage and “left-wing propaganda.” Trump directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding to public U.S. broadcasters, to end federal support for NPR and PBS, within the limits of the law. The immediate effects of the order were uncertain, as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — a taxpayer-funded private entity established by Congress — is funded two years in advance to shield it from political influence. The second order establishes a new presidential commission on religious liberty, part of Trump’s wider policy campaign to combat “anti-Christian bias.” Of the new 13 member commission, 12 are Christian, and one is Jewish, leaving no representation for other religions. Qasim Nauman reports for the New York Times; Chris Cameron reports for the New York Times.
Trump yesterday confirmed he was removing Waltz as national security adviser, roughly a month after Waltz added a journalist to a Signal group chat which contained sensitive military operation details. Waltz will instead be nominated for the vacant position of U.N. ambassador, with his dismissal marking a significant upheaval within the White House which is expected to trigger further departures within the National Security Council. Until a new national security adviser is appointed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold the position, Trump said, making Rubio the first person to hold both official positions since Henry Kissinger in 1975. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Josh Dawsey, Alexander Ward, and Meridith McGraw report for the Wall Street Journal.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has instructed the Pentagon to conduct a comprehensive review of the Army’s acquisition program. In a memo dated April 30 to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Hegseth called for sweeping reforms within the division. “To ensure the Army [is] prepared for the complex and evolving battlefield of the future, the Secretary of Defense directed the Secretary of the Army to rebuild our Army, restore the warrior ethos, and reestablish deterrence,” the Defense Department said in a statement released yesterday. Lauren Irwin reports for The Hill.
A senior Trump appointee at the Justice Department, Emil Bove, reportedly ordered a highly aggressive investigation into student protesters at Columbia University in recent months, sparking anger and concern among career prosecutors and investigators who viewed the move as politically motivated and lacking legal foundation, sources say. The request for the inquiry faced resistance from a federal magistrate judge who believed some of the actions proposed were unwarranted and could potentially violate the First Amendment, the sources added. Devlin Barrett reports for the New York Times.
Trump is today expected to propose significant cuts to federal environmental, renewable energy, education, and foreign aid programs in a budget plan that reduces non defense discretionary spending by over $160 billion, officials say. Merdiith McGraw reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The Education Department began cutting approximately $1 billion in mental health grants this week, which were created in response to mass school shootings. The department argues that schools are misusing the funds by focusing on diversifying their pool of psychologists. The cuts, which began Tuesday, align with Trump’s executive order aiming to eliminate DEI programs in schools. Ben Brasch reports for the Washington Post.
Chris Krebs, the former head of the federal cybersecurity agency who publicly refuted Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, is under federal investigation, the Trump administration said yesterday, without providing further details. Eileen Sullivan, Glenn Thrush, and Maggie Haberman report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A Trump-appointed federal judge ruled yesterday that the president overstepped his authority and “exceed[ed] the scope” of the Alien Enemies Act in trying to swiftly deport Venezuelan migrants, dealing a setback to the administration’s deportation efforts and permanently halting such removals in South Texas until an expected appeal by the administration to the Fifth Circuit. In a 36-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. wrote, “The President cannot summarily declare that a foreign nation or government has threatened or perpetrated an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States, followed by the identification of the alien enemies subject to detention or removal.” Maria Saacchetti and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post; Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.
A federal appeals court in Washington yesterday ruled that, for the time being, the Trump administration could continue withholding funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, all of which are federally funded organizations that provide news coverage to regions with restricted press freedoms. The order was an administrative stay, temporarily halting a lower-court ruling until the appeals court judges decide whether to overturn it. However, the appeals court also upheld parts of a lower court ruling, which mandated that Trump administration officials reinstate journalists at Voice of America, another federally funded news organization, and resume the media oulet’s news programming. Minho Kim reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration yesterday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to revoke protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants who had been permitted to stay in the United States without the threat of deportation, under a program known as the Temporary Protected Status (TPS). In February, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem ended an 18-month extension of TPS, granted to Venezuelans by the Biden administration. Those affected by the decision filed a lawsuit, arguing that the move violated administrative procedures and was influenced by racial bias, and the district court ruled in their favor on those grounds. Adam Liptak reports for the New York Times.
A new lawsuit has been filed against DOGE, alleging that the group is now targeting the National Endowment for the Humanities for elimination. The legal challenge seeks judicial intervention to prevent Musk’s team from advancing plans to strip away Congressional funding allocated to support the endowment’s cultural and educational initiatives. The complaint specifically names Nate Cavanaugh, a prominent member of the DOGE team, who has spearheaded efforts to defund and dismantle several independent, Congressionally established institutions. Most recently, Cavanaugh is said to have played a key role in the takeovers of both the U.S. Institute of Peace and the U.S. African Development Foundation, aiming to gain control over their operations. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
