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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
INDIA-PAKISTAN CONFLICT
India said early today that its missiles struck nine sites in Pakistan and on Pakistan’s side of the disputed Kashmir region in what India said was retaliation for a “terrorist” attack that killed 26 civilians in Kashmir last month. According to a Pakistan military spokesperson, India’s attack killed at least 26 civilians and wounded 46 others. Pakistan accused its neighbour of “ignit[ing] an inferno” and said that it would respond to the strikes “at a time, place and manner of its choosing.” Mujib Mashal, Hari Kumar, and Salman Masood report for the New York Times; Asif Shahzad and Shivam Patel report for Reuters.
Pakistan’s heavy artillery shelling following India’s strikes killed 15 civilians and wounded 43 others in India-administered Kashmir, the Indian Army said this morning. Pakistan has also claimed it has downed five of India’s Rafale air jets. BBC News reports; Jessie Yeung and Brad Lendon report for CNN.
World powers are urging India and Pakistan to avoid escalating the conflict. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres yesterday called for “maximum military restraint,” President Trump called India’s operation against Pakistan “a shame,” and Russian and Chinese foreign ministries both expressed “concern” about the developments. Rhea Mogul reports for CNN; David Brunnstrom and Kanishka Singh report for Reuters.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
The United States has reached a truce with the Houthi rebels and suspended its airstrikes against Houthi targets “effective immediately,” Trump said yesterday, stating that the militants “capitulated” and would no longer target ships navigating the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Trump and Oman, which said it helped mediate the truce, did not specify whether the agreement covers all vessels or U.S. vessels only. U.S. and Houthi officials both suggested the ceasefire does not extend to the Houthis’ attacks against Israel. Alexander Ward and Michael R. Gordon report for the Wall Street Journal; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The Israeli military has “fully disabled” Yemen’s main airport in its Houthi-controlled Sanaa capital after targeting it with strikes yesterday, the IDF said. BBC News reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Five leading Venezuelan opposition officials who had been sheltering at the Argentine diplomatic residence in Caracas for 412 days have left Venezuela and are now in the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced yesterday. The main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, remains in hiding. Genevieve Glatsky and Julie Turkewitz report for the New York Times.
The United States is increasing its intelligence efforts in Greenland, sources say. Several high-ranking officials serving under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard directed intelligence agency heads to identify people in Greenland and Denmark who support U.S. objectives for the island in a classified message last week. Katherine Long and Alexander Ward report for the Wall Street Journal.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this weekend for the first known high-level talks between the two countries in months, the Trump administration announced yesterday. Zeke Miller, Fatima Hussein, and Didi Tang report for AP News.
Canada is “not for sale,” Prime Minister Mark Carney told Trump yesterday during an Oval Office meeting in which both leaders tried to downplay tensions after weeks of pointed back-and-forth. Eli Stokols reports for POLITICO.
Another $60 million F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier has been lost in the Red Sea, sources say. The causes of the accident are not clear yet, with the jet’s pilot and weapons systems officers rescued with minor injuries. The U.S. Navy lost another jet from the carrier last week. Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis, and Zachary Cohen report for CNN.
Trump plans to announce that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia during his trip to Saudi Arabia next week, U.S. officials say. Arab nations have previously pushed for a change to the body of water’s name, while Iran has emphasised its historic ties to the gulf. Matthew Lee reports for AP News.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The Bundestag yesterday elected Friedrich Merz to be Germany’s new chancellor in a second round of voting after a surprise defeat in the first round. Stefanie Dazio and Kirsten Grieshaber report for AP News.
Drones strikes on multiple targets, including a major power station, caused a “complete power outage” in the military-held Port Sudan city yesterday, Sudan’s electricity company said. The Sudanese army blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary for the attacks. Katharine Houreld and Hafiz Haroun report for the Washington Post; Wycliffe Muia reports for BBC News.
Sudan’s army-affiliated defense council yesterday announced Sudan will cut ties with the United Arab Emirates, which the council accused of supplying the RSF with advanced and strategic weapons that enabled the group to carry out strikes on Port Sudan. Reuters reports.
The European Commission yesterday published a “roadmap” plan to ban imports of all Russian gas and liquefied natural gas to EU member states by the end of 2027, forming part of the bloc’s push to end Europe’s reliance on Russian energy. Anna Lamche reports for BBC News.
Cardinal electors will today cast their first votes in the process of choosing the Catholic Church’s next pope. Laura Gozzi reports for BBC News.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The U.S. military may carry out a flight deporting migrants to Libya for the first time this week, U.S. officials said yesterday, stressing that the plans could still change. It is unclear what process might be underway ahead of the deportations, who may be deported, or if Libya has agreed to accept non-Libyan deportees. Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, and Humeyra Pamuk report for Reuters.
The Trump administration earlier this year urged Ukraine to accept an unspecified number of deportees from the United States who were not Ukrainian citizens, documents reviewed by the Washington Post show. Ukraine has not accepted any third-party nationals, and Ukrainian officials say the proposal never reached the government’s highest levels. Adam Taylor, Sarah Blaskey, and Siobhán O’Grady report.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Fifty five international organizations operating in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory yesterday signed a letter protesting against Israel’s new registration system for international NGOs, accusing the rules of appearing “designed to assert control over independent humanitarian, development and peacebuilding operations, silence advocacy” based on international law and “further entrench Israeli control” over Palestinian territories. Gerry Shih and Claire Parker report for the Washington Post.
An Israeli strike on a school compound sheltering thousands of displaced people in central Gaza yesterday killed at least 22 people, including seven children, and injured dozens more, hospital officials said. The IDF said it struck “terrorists who were operating within a Hamas command and control center.” Kareem Khadder, Abeer Salman, and Hira Humayun report for CNN.
An Israeli drone killed one person in southern Lebanon early today, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. Security officials at the scene said the victim was a Hamas member. AP News reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The United States will shut down a direct line between the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and Washington, effectively ending the special status of the Office of Palestinian Affairs at the embassy, sources say. A State Department spokesperson yesterday confirmed that State Secretary Marco Rubio had decided “to merge the responsibilities” of the Palestinian Affairs office “fully” into the embassy. Adam Rasgon, Natan Odenheimer, and Edward Wong report for the New York Times.
The former Biden administration’s 2024 attempt to construct an offshore pier and floating causeway for aid delivery in Gaza caused dozens of injuries to U.S. personnel and resulted in tens of millions of dollars in equipment damage, according to a newly-released Defense Department Inspector General report. Alex Horton reports for the Washington Post.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded eight others in a Kyiv apartment building this morning, Ukrainian officials said. An earlier missile attack on the city of Sumy also killed three people yesterday, regional officials said. Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov report for AP News; Reuters reports.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s January order to halt weapons supplies for Ukraine confused national security officials, was not expressly coordinated with Trump, and cost the United States $1.6 million, sources say. Erin Banco, Phil Stewart, Gram Slattery, and Mike Stone report for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The NYPD is investigating whether it violated policy by sharing a report that included sealed records of a Palestinian woman’s arrest with federal immigration authorities, the city’s police commissioner said yesterday. Jake Offenhartz reports for AP News.
A federal court yesterday ordered Israeli spyware company NSO Group to pay WhatsApp and its parent company Meta almost $170 million in damages after the group’s cyber tools were used in a 2019 hack of 1,400 WhatsApp accounts. Maggie Miller reports for POLITICO.
The number of times the FBI searched a foreign intelligence repository for information about Americans and others in the United States using Section 702 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act powers steeply declined last year, in large part due to the adoption of tighter access rules, according to a report published on Monday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. AP News reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Trump and the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board are expected to name FedEx board member and former Waste Management CEO David Steiner as the new U.S. Postmaster General, sources say. Jacob Bogage reports for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration has terminated the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), a federal advisory committee that issued guidance about preventing the spread of infections in health care facilities, according to a letter reviewed by NBC News. Aria Bendix reports.
The Senate yesterday voted 53-47 to confirm Wall Street veteran Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration. Fatima Hussein reports for AP News.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a key Senate Judiciary Committee Republican, yesterday said he would not support the nomination of Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, who Trump nominated to hold that post permanently, dealing a major blow to Martin’s nomination. Glenn Thrush reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
Two judges yesterday issued separate orders temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to facilitate deportations from the Southern District of New York and Colorado due to the administration’s use of the statute violating constitutional due process protections and failing to conform to the law’s purpose. Katelyn Polantz and Devan Cole report for CNN.
The Supreme Court yesterday lifted a lower court’s ruling pausing the administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military, with the one-page order allowing the administration to implement the policy as proceedings challenging it continue. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday issued a preliminary injunction barring the Education Department from rescinding more than $1 billion in aid earmarked to help students recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Ed Shanahan reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration is temporarily barred from unilaterally ending the funding and programs for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service after a federal judge ruled the government provided “vague” justifications for the sweeping cuts. Rebecca Boone reports for AP News.
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