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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
Russia was responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, the U.N. Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) ruled yesterday, voting that Russia failed to uphold its international air law obligation to “refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.” The Kremlin has always denied responsibility for the air disaster, in which a Russian-made missile struck a passenger airplane, killing all 298 people on board. The ruling is the first time ICAO made a determination on the merits of a dispute between its member states. Victoria Bourne reports for BBC News.
The U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) yesterday expressed “alarm” about “intense fighting with heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas” of Libyan capital Tripoli and called for de-escalation. According to Reuters, gunfire was heard in the city after reports emerged that a prominent commander of one of Tripoli’s most powerful armed groups was killed. Lex Harvey reports for CNN.
The Palestinian Authority yesterday announced it would lift its ban on the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera news outlet in the occupied West Bank, after accusing the outlet of “inciting sedition” and “interfering in internal Palestinian affairs” earlier this year. The Authority’s Attorney General did not detail what, if anything, motivated the ban’s rescission. Fatima AbdulKarim and Ephrat Livni report for the New York Times.
The British police today announced it arrested a man suspected of arson attacks on two properties linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, including Starmer’s former private home. Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation and are treating the fires as suspicious, the police said. Mallory Moench and Thomas Mackintosh report for BBC News.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, currently detained at the International Criminal Court on charges of murder as a crime against humanity, yesterday won the mayoral contest of his Davao home city. Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores report for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
President Trump yesterday suggested that he might take part in a proposed meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Separately, European leaders threatened to impose a new round of sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not agree to an unconditional 30-day truce. Zelenskyy said Trump’s presence at the meeting is “the right idea,” while the Kremlin declined to confirm whether Putin would attend the meeting and said that the European leaders’ “language of ultimatums is unacceptable.” Marc Santora reports for the New York Times.
Trump’s proposal to join the prospective Ukraine-Russia talks triggered a flurry of diplomacy, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussing the “way forward for a ceasefire” with his European counterparts and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holding talks with the Turkish foreign minister. Anton Kolodyazhnyy, Steve Holland, and Lidia Kelly report for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
One in five Gazans are facing starvation, with the territory’s entire population “facing high levels of acute food insecurity” projected to worsen in the coming months, according to a report released by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative yesterday. The report also estimates the Israeli authorities’ plan for delivering aid to Gaza is “highly insufficient to meet the population’s essential needs.” Abbie Cheeseman, Miriam Berger, and Claire Parker report for the Washington Post.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Hamas yesterday released Edan Alexander, the last living U.S. citizen held hostage in Gaza. According to U.S., Palestinian, and Israeli sources, the release was facilitated by backchannel talks in which a Hamas official approached a pro-Trump activist, Bishara Bahbah, who served as an intermediary between U.S. and Hamas officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Alexander’s release showed the benefits of placing Hamas under greater military pressure. Patrick Kingsley, Johnatan Reiss, and Adam Rasgon report for the New York Times; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
An Israeli airstrike on the emergency department of a hospital in southern Gaza has killed Hasan Aslih, a well-known Palestinian photojournalist, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses. Aslih was being treated for injuries from another strike, a hospital source confirmed. The Israeli military had previously accused Aslih of involvement in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, a claim denied by Hamas. Rushdi Abualouf reports for BBC News.
INDIA-PAKISTAN CONFLICT
Indian and Pakistani military leaders yesterday held talks aimed at extending the tenuous ceasefire between the two countries following days of clashes. Although the truce largely appeared to hold, brief drone sightings and explosions were reported in parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir yesterday. Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar report for the New York Times.
Military clashes with India killed more than 50 people last week, of whom 40 were civilians, Pakistan’s military alleged today. Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Amid a general pause on refugee admissions, the Trump administration yesterday welcomed a group of 59 white Afrikaners into the United States as refugees. Trump told reporters he is admitting the group because of the “genocide that’s taking place” in South Africa, a characterization that was strongly disputed by South Africa’s government, experts, and some Afrikaner activist groups. Matthew Lee, Rebecca Santana, and Mogomotsi Magome report for AP News.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday announced that the DHS would terminate the temporary protected status for Afghans in the United States on July 12, citing “notable improvements” in the country resulting in Afghanistan no longer meeting the statutory requirements for grants of the status. Brianna Tucker reports for the Washington Post.
The Justice Department yesterday said it wants to reward people who tip authorities about companies involved in immigration crimes or tariff evasion, as well as procurement fraud and violations that result in support for terrorist or criminal groups. The move would leverage the DOJ’s whistleblower program, created by the Biden administration in an effort to target crimes that were not addressed by other whistleblowing programs, for the Trump administration’s policy priorities. Dave Michaels reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Avelo Airlines, a Houston-based budget airline that serves mostly small U.S. cities, yesterday started making deportation flights on behalf of the federal government out of Arizona. Jacques Billeaud reports for AP News.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The White House Correspondents’ Association yesterday said it was “disturbed” by the Trump administration’s exclusion of wire service news reporters from travelling with Trump to the Middle East, stating that the wire reports allow millions of readers to have “equal access to coverage of the presidency.” AP News reports.
Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Josh Hawley (MO), and John Kennedy (LA) yesterday all expressed misgivings about Trump’s plan to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, with Capito noting the potential security and legal risks of the move. Morgan Rimmer, Manu Raju, Ted Barrett, and Alison Main report for CNN.
A growing number of U.S. tech companies are discovering that the remote information technology workers they hired are North Korean cyber operatives seeking to funnel their salaries to Pyongyang’s weapons program, cybersecurity experts and tech leaders say. Maggie Miller and Dana Nickel report for POLITICO.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company is in talks with the Federal Railroad Administration regarding a potential multibillion-dollar Amtrak project, sources say. A Transportation Department spokesperson said that no decision has yet been made on bids for the project. Ryan Mac and Mark Walker report for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia today, kicking off his tour of Middle Eastern countries by meeting with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller, and Jon Gambrell report for AP News.
“Bullying” and “hegemonism” will only backfire, with “no winners in tariff wars or trade wars,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told a summit of Latin American and Caribbean officials today, a day after Beijing and Washington agreed to a temporary pause in their trade war. Nectar Gan reports for CNN.
Trump yesterday signed an executive order intended to ensure the United States is “paying the same price as other countries” for prescription drugs. Tami Luhby reports for CNN.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump yesterday named his former attorney and current Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, as acting Librarian of Congress, the Justice Department said. Two other senior DOJ officials appointed to positions at the Library of Congress, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, were yesterday denied access to the U.S. Copyright Office as they did not have the appropriate badges, a source added. Hillel Italie and Seung Min Kim report for AP News; Paula Reid, Casey Gannon, and Michael Williams report for CNN.
The Trump administration is considering a large-scale deal that could send hundreds of thousands of U.S.-designed AI chips to an Emirati AI firm that the U.S. government has scrutinized in the past for its ties to China, sources say. Ana Swanson and Tripp Mickle report for the New York Times.
The Defense Department has spent $21 million transporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay on military aircraft between January 20 and April 8, according to U.S. military figures provided to Congress. The detention facility at the base currently holds 32 migrants, a defense official said. Courtney Kube reports for NBC News.
Trump will likely have to waive existing security specifications to be able to use the free luxury jet offered by Qatar, according to current and former U.S. military, defense, and Secret Service officials, who say retrofitting the aircraft to current Air Force One requirements would take years of work and billions of dollars. Natalie Allison, Ellen Nakashima, Dan Lamothe, Derek Hawkins, and Warren P. Strobel report for the Washington Post.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday refused to issue a preliminary injunction that would block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the United States, ruling that the IRS-DHS information-sharing agreement did not violate the Internal Revenue Code. AP News reports.
The Trump administration yesterday asked the Supreme Court for permission to deport a group of nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants detained in Texas who the government accuses of being “gang members,” arguing that “serious difficulties have arisen” from the migrants’ detention. The Venezuelans are at present shielded from deportation by an earlier emergency court ruling. Abbie VanSickle reports for the New York Times.
The Agriculture Department will restore information about climate change that was removed when Trump took office, the department’s attorneys said yesterday in a filing in a suit brought by farmers challenging the deletions. Karen Zraick reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
