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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
In a historic first, conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure the votes necessary to become Germany’s next chancellor in the first round of parliamentary voting today. Widely expected to smoothly win the ballot, Merz received only 310 votes, short of the 316 votes necessary to win and 327 seats held by his coalition. The Bundestag now has 14 days to elect Merz or another chancellor. Kirsti Knolle and Madeline Chambers report for Reuters.
The International Court of Justice yesterday removed from its docket Sudan’s case accusing the United Arab Emirates of fueling genocide by supporting paramilitary forces in Sudan’s civil war, ruling that it “manifestly lacks jurisdiction” to address the complaint in light of the UAE’s reservations to the Genocide Convention. In its order, the court added that it was “deeply concerned about the unfolding human tragedy in Sudan.” Ismaeel Naar and Abdi Latif Dahir report for the New York Times.
Multiple explosions were heard in Sudan’s capital, Port Sudan, early today, witnesses said, with dark plumes of smoke seen emerging from the vicinity of the country’s main maritime port. Sudanese military officials said that the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary attacked the city with drones. There were no immediate reports on any casualties or the extent of the damage. Reuters reports; Samy Magdy reports for AP News.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu yesterday announced he and his Social Democratic party would resign from the Romanian government after George Simion, a right-wing nationalist candidate, won the first round of the presidential election runoffs. Paul Kirby and Mircea Barbu report for BBC News.
North Korea has dispatched around 15,000 labourers to Russia’s Far East, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers last Wednesday. The move likely violates the U.N. Security Council’s bar on the use of overseas North Korean migrant workers. Matthew Luxmoore, Dasl Yoon, and Kate Vtoryagina report for the Wall Street Journal.
Israeli bulldozers yesterday demolished most of a Palestinian Bedouin village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to Basel Adra, a filmmaker, journalist and activist from the area. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing administrative affairs in the territory, said it demolished the buildings because they were built illegally. Julia Frankel reports for AP News.
INDIA-PAKISTAN DEVELOPMENTS
The U.N. Security Council has urged India and Pakistan to ease tension and avoid military conflict, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said today, adding that the council members were told of intelligence indicating an “imminent threat” of action by India. Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Shivam Patel report for Reuters.
India’s government has ordered officials across much of the country to carry out civil defense drills tomorrow to assess the public’s readiness for conflict after a late April incident in which gunmen killed 26 people in the India-controlled part of the Kashmir region sent India-Pakistan tensions soaring. Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar report for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel is “on the eve of a forceful entry to Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared yesterday after Israel’s security cabinet approved new plans for the expansion of Israel’s military campaign in the territory. Netanyahu’s opponents criticized the expanded military campaign, saying it would endanger the remaining hostages’ lives. Michael D. ShearAaron Boxerman, and Adam Rasgon report for the New York Times.
There is “no point” in further talks on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal in light of Israel’s expanded offensive plans, a senior Hamas official told BBC News today. The official’s comments seemed to counter the sentiments expressed by an Israeli official yesterday, who said that there was a “window of opportunity” for a hostage deal during President Trump’s visit to the region next week. David Gritten reports; Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The United States will “help the people of Gaza get some food,” Trump said during a White House news conference yesterday. Trump blamed the conditions in Gaza on Hamas, claiming that “[Hamas] are taking everything that’s brought in.” Amanda Friedman reports for POLITICO.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is “alarmed” by reports of Israel’s plan to expand the military operation in Gaza, which would “inevitably lead to countless more civilians killed and the further destruction of Gaza,” Guterres’ spokesperson said yesterday. UN News reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Maduro regime “probably does not have a policy of cooperating with [Tren de Aragua gang] and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” a declassified memo from U.S. intelligence agencies released yesterday confirms. The alleged direction of TDA by the Maduro government was a key justification offered by the Trump administration for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport Venezuelans to El Salvador. Charlie Savage and Julian E. Barnes report for the New York Times.
Rwanda’s foreign minister yesterday confirmed that discussions with the United States regarding a potential agreement for Rwanda to host deported migrants were “underway.” Ignatius Ssuuna reports for AP News.
Undocumented immigrants who “self-deport” from the U.S. will receive a $1,000 stipend, the Homeland Security Department announced yesterday. Amanda Friedman reports for POLITICO.
The Guantánamo Bay migrant operation has held fewer than 500 detainees, and none of them in tents, falling well below Trump’s plan to house up to 30,000 migrants at the base, according to a Defense Department official. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The U.S. Army yesterday announced it has suspended helicopter flights into the Pentagon after an incident involving a military helicopter last week prompted the redirection of two commercial flights mid-landing. A helicopter from the battalion whose operations were suspended collided with an airliner near Reagan National earlier this year, killing all 67 people on board both aircraft. Oriana Pawlyk reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday ordered North Carolina election officials to certify and confirm the victory of a Democratic justice in the state’s November Supreme Court election, the latest development in the legal proceedings over the last open 2024 election race. The Republican candidate who lost the case has seven days to appeal the decision. Patrick Marley and Niha Masih report for the Washington Post.
The TeleMessage messaging app, seemingly used by Trump’s former National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, in a Cabinet meeting last week, has suspended all its services “out of the abundance of caution” after hackers claimed to have stolen files from its servers, a spokesperson for TeleMessage’s mother company said yesterday. Kevin Collier and Ben Goggin report for NBC News.
A military judge yesterday postponed the trial in Al Qaeda’s 2000 bombing of the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole until June 1, 2026, to give defense lawyers more time to prepare for the death penalty case. The Cole case is the longest-running death penalty case at Guantánamo Bay. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Israel yesterday bombarded western Yemen’s port city of Hudayah after the Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile that landed near Tel Aviv’s main airport over the weekend. According to the Houthi-run health ministry, the strikes killed at least one person and injured more than 30. Aaron Boxerman and Shuaib Almosawa report for the New York Times.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
All four of Moscow’s major airports closed for several hours due to an overnight Ukrainian drone attack, Moscow’s mayor said today. According to the mayor, there were no immediate reports of casualties. Separately, the mayor of Ukraine’s Kharkiv said that Russia had also carried out drone strikes in the city and in the Kyiv area overnight. Victoria Bourne and Hafsa Khalil report for BBC News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Congo and Rwanda have submitted a draft peace proposal in the U.S.-led peace process, Trump’s Senior Adviser for Africa and the Middle East, Massad Boulos, said yesterday. Bolous did not comment on the proposal’s details. Justin Kabumba and Monika Pronczuk report for AP News.
The United States is seeking to weaken a global agreement aimed at helping developing countries tackle the impacts of climate change and other issues, opposing draft reforms of the world development finance institution’s strategy plans and mentions of “climate,” “sustainability,” and “gender equality,” an internal U.N. document reviewed by Reuters shows. Kate Abnett and Simon Jessop report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used at least a dozen separate Signal chats for official Pentagon business, sources say. In at least one case, Hegseth used a Signal channel to tell aides to inform foreign governments about an unfolding military operation, the sources add. Alexander Ward and Nancy A. Youssef report for the Wall Street Journal.
Defense Secretary Hegseth yesterday ordered a major restructuring of the U.S. Army that would entail a 20% cut to the ranks of four-star generals and admirals, a 10% cut to the ranks of generals and admirals, and a 20% reduction in the number of generals in the National Guard. Paul McLeary reports for POLITICO.
The Trump administration last week canceled the first bargaining session with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s largest workers’ union scheduled after a federal court restored the union’s ability to represent government staff, according to one of the union’s leaders. The government did not provide an explanation for the cancellation and no attempt was made to reschedule the meeting, the leader added. Patrick Wingrove reports for Reuters.
Trump has been calling Republican senators on behalf of Ed Martin, the current interim U.S. Attorney for the D.C. and Trump’s nominee to serve in the position permanently, sources say. Multiple Republican senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee have expressed concerns about supporting Martin’s nomination, the sources add. Annie Grayer and Paula Reid report for CNN.
Harvard University is ineligible to receive new federal research grants, Education Secretary Linda McMahon told the school in a letter yesterday, due to what she alleged was the institution “engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law.” Bianca Quilantan reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal appeals court yesterday rejected the Trump administration’s request to stay a lower court’s order prohibiting the government from revoking the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans living in the United States. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.
A federal judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to admit some 12,000 refugees into the United States, ruling on the interpretation of an earlier federal appeals court ruling on the government’s efforts to suspend the U.S. refugee admissions program. Gene Johnson reports for AP News.
Attorneys general from nineteen states and Washington, D.C., yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s restructuring and downsizing of the U.S. Health and Human Services, arguing the government’s cuts have destroyed life-saving programs and left states to fund the responses to mounting health crises. Rebecca Boone and Amanda Seitz report for AP News.
Attorneys general from eighteen states yesterday sued the Trump administration over its halt of permits for wind energy projects, arguing that complying with the pause would put investments the states have already made at risk. Karen Zraick reports for the New York Times.
New York City and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday asked a judge to block the Trump administration’s efforts to undo Manhattan’s congestion pricing program and threats to withhold federal government funding and approvals for other projects. David Shepardson reports for Reuters.
Mark Zaid, a prominent Washington attorney, yesterday filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order depriving Zaid of his security clearance, arguing that the move constituted an act of “improper political retribution” that jeopardizes his ability to represent some of his clients. Eric Tucker reports for AP News.
Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official whom Trump accused of potentially “treasonous” conduct in a memorandum last month, has told NBC News he plans to challenge what he called Trump’s attempt to “turn the government into a revenge machine” in court and that he fears he is under federal investigation. Dan De Luce, Laura Jarrett, and Fallon Gallagher report.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
