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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russia and Ukraine are to hold their first direct peace talks in three years today in Istanbul, with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov due to meet with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the effort is intended to show President Trump Ukraine is determined to press ahead with peace efforts despite Russia’s foot-dragging. Hanna Arhirova and Andrew Wilks report for AP News.
A high-level meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin can be skipped if a ceasefire agreement is reached during the technical talks in Istanbul, Zelenskyy suggested yesterday. Separately, however, Trump suggested that significant progress in peace talks was “unlikely” until he and Putin meet in person, denting the hopes for a breakthrough. Trump added he wants to meet Putin “as soon as we can set it up.” Reuters reports; BBC News reports
Russia has struck 25 hotels near Ukraine’s front lines since the beginning of the war in 2022 in what appears to be a campaign intended to discourage journalists from staying in the area, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders and Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds released yesterday. Isobel Koshiw and Anastacia Galouchka report for the Washington Post.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The Israeli military early today launched ground, air, and sea attacks on the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia, Palestinians in the territory report. The territory’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said that overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 50 people in Gaza, after killing more than 120 people yesterday. Rushdi Abualouf reports for BBC News; BBC News reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The U.N. will not take part in the U.S.-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza as the effort is not impartial, neutral, or independent, a deputy U.N. spokesperson said yesterday. State Secretary Marco Rubio yesterday seemingly acknowledged the criticisms of the plan, saying that Washington is open to any alternative plan to get aid to civilians “without Hamas being able to steal it.” Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
The Trump administration is “troubled” by the humanitarian situation in Gaza, State Secretary Rubio told BBC News yesterday. Rubio added that he and Trump had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week. Tom Bateman reports.
The United States will make Gaza “a freedom zone,” Trump said yesterday, reiterating his desire to take over the territory during a business roundtable in Qatar. Palestinians, Arab nations, and the U.N. previously condemned the plan as amounting to ethnic cleansing. Gram Slattery reports for Reuters.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration gave Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal during last Sunday’s fourth round of negotiations, a U.S. official and other sources tell Axios. No U.S.-backed written proposals have been discussed previously, sources add. Barak Ravid reports.
Trump announced yesterday that the United States and the United Arab Emirates will partner to build a major data center complex in Abu Dhabi to advance AI capabilities. The agreement would amount to the largest data center deployment outside of the United States and would be supported by Nvidia’s advanced chips, sources say. Clare Duffy reports for CNN; Tripp Mickle and Ana Swanson report for the New York Times.
All NATO members “will have agreed on a goal” of reaching 5% in defense spending over the next decade by the military alliance’s summit next month, State Secretary Marco Rubio said yesterday. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.
The United States yesterday imposed sanctions on two senior Hezbollah officials and two financial facilitators over their role in coordinating financial transfers to the group, the Treasury Department announced. Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Homeland Security Department has asked the Pentagon to provide roughly 20,000 National Guardsmen to secure the U.S. border, according to U.S. defense officials. If approved by the Pentagon, the move would be a major escalation of the Trump administration’s use of the military in its immigration crackdown. Nancy A. Youssef reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The Senate yesterday voted 45-50 to reject a Democrat-sponsored resolution that would have required the Trump administration to brief Congress on steps it has taken to comply with court orders involving U.S. deportees imprisoned in El Salvador and the country’s human rights record. Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.
County Judge Hannah Dugan yesterday pleaded not guilty to charges that she interfered with an immigration arrest, and argued that federal officials have no power to prosecute her on account of her judicial immunity. Patrick Marley reports for the Washington Post.
The DHS is considering participating in a reality show in which immigrants would compete for potential U.S. citizenship, a DHS spokesperson has said. Michelle Hackman, Elizabeth Findell, and Joe Flint report for the Wall Street Journal.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
India is considering plans to dramatically increase its water intake from the Indus river, the major waterway that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of its retaliatory action for a deadly April attack New Delhi blames on Islamabad, sources say. India suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which governs usage of the Indus river system, shortly after the attack. Sarita Chaganti Singh, Krishna N. Das, Aftab Ahmed, Charlotte Greenfield, and Ariba Shahid report for Reuters.
Romania and Poland are both preparing for high-stakes presidential run-offs this Sunday, with Romanians set to decide between hard-right nationalist frontrunner George Simion and pro-Western reformist and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, and Poles casting ballots in a first-round vote to replace conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda. Stephen McGrath reports for AP News; Vanessa Gera reports for AP News.
France will today file a case against Iran for violating the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations at the International Court of Justice in relation to Tehran’s detention of two French citizens, France’s foreign ministry said yesterday. John Irish reports for Reuters.
The Rapid Support Forces paramilitary’s drone attacks on power stations have cut power across Khartoum and the surrounding state, the Sudanese Electrical Company said in a statement yesterday. Reuters reports.
The Israeli military yesterday killed five Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank, hours after a shooting that killed a heavily pregnant Israeli settler. The Israeli military did not expressly specify whether yesterday’s operation was linked to the death. Reuters reports.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Law firms WilmerHale and Jenner & Block this week notified the courts that the DOJ had recently revoked security clearances held by their lawyers despite court orders temporarily prohibiting the Trump administration from implementing Trump’s executive orders targeting the firms. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The FBI’s Washington Field Office is disbanding its federal public corruption squad, sources say. The unit previously aided former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump that resulted in one of the two federal criminal cases against Trump. Ryan J. Reilly reports for NBC News.
The Trump administration yesterday fired nearly 600 employees at Voice of America, laying off contractors, journalists, and some administrative employees working at the federally-funded network that provides independent reporting to countries with limited press freedoms. The administration is currently bound by a court order directing it to maintain VOA as a reliable source of news. Minho Kim and Tim Balk report for the New York Times.
The Homeland Security Department and the Secret Service are investigating a social media post by former FBI Director James Comey against Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced yesterday. Comey yesterday took down a post containing a picture of seashells spelling out the numbers “86 47,” which Republicans claimed was a violent threat. Holmes Lybrand reports for CNN.
The Justice Department this week notified Harvard it is investigating whether the university’s admissions policies comply with a Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action. The inquiry was opened under the False Claims Act, a procedure used to investigate those suspected of defrauding the government. Michael C. Bender and Michael S. Schmidt report for the New York Times.
The Trump administration is offering a “dedicated VIP experience” and special access for donors at several events that Trump is planning with the U.S. military this summer, sources say. Josh Dawsey and Meridith McGraw report for the Wall Street Journal.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency does not yet have a fully formed disaster-response plan for the hurricane season, due to start in two weeks, the newly-appointed head of the agency, David Richardson, acknowledged in private meetings with FEMA staff this week. Scott Patterson, Tartini Parti, and Josh Dawsey report for the Wall Street Journal.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked the Energy Department from introducing a proposed cap of 15% for any research grant on funds that universities receive to cover overhead expenses. The court wrote that it is “beyond dispute that the advancements these universities make can and often do benefit the public in critically important ways.” Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge this week dismissed charges against nearly 100 individuals federal authorities detained under a Trump administration effort to arrest undocumented migrants for trespassing on a newly declared “defense area” along the southern U.S. border. The court stated that the government provided “no facts from which one could reasonably conclude that the Defendant knew he was entering” the military installation. Jack Healy, Leo Dominguez, and Seamus Hughes report for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
