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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The United Kingdom yesterday paused trade negotiations with Israel, summoned the Israeli ambassador to the U.K., and imposed new sanctions on West Bank settlers, as the European Union announced it would review its relationship with Israel in response to Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “intolerable,” while European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas described it as “catastrophic.” The Israeli foreign ministry said Kallas was strengthening Hamas’ position by criticising Israel. Catherine Nicholls reports for CNN; Reuters reports.
President Trump has been frustrated by Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza and images of Palestinian children suffering, and has instructed his aides to tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wrap up the conflict, according to two White House officials. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The United Arab Emirates yesterday announced it had agreed with Israel to allow delivery of aid from the UAE to Gaza, the UAE’s state news agency WAM reported. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
No aid has been distributed in Gaza to date despite aid lorries starting to cross into the territory after Israel’s 11-week blockade, a U.N. spokesperson said yesterday, adding that Israel has not allowed the U.N. teams to access the supplies. Israeli officials said 93 trucks entered Gaza yesterday, while the U.N. said it confirmed the entry of only a few dozen trucks. Tom Bennett reports for BBC News; Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy, and Tia Goldenberg report for AP News.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 55 Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, and 15 people since midnight today, according to local medics and the territory’s Hamas-run civil defense service. Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Maytaal Angel report for Reuters; BBC News reports.
ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT
According to new intelligence obtained by the United States, Israel is preparing a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, multiple U.S. officials say. It is not clear whether Israeli leaders have come to a final decision on whether to carry out the attack, and there is deep disagreement in the U.S. government on the likelihood of Israel acting, the sources cautioned. Jim Sciutto, Katie Bo Lillis, and Natasha Bertrand report for CNN.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Ukraine will ask the EU to consider more aggressive steps to isolate Moscow, including by seizing Russian assets and imposing secondary sanctions on some buyers of Russian oil, according to a Ukrainian white paper that will be presented to the bloc. The EU yesterday approved a new package of sanctions on Russia taking aim at Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used to covertly transport and sell Russian oil. Tom Balmforth reports for Reuters; Jeanna Smialek reports for the New York Times.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday accused Russia of “trying to buy time” by stalling peace talks and called for “tough consequences” if Moscow “continues to put forward unrealistic conditions.” Rachel Hagan reports for BBC News.
The United States awaits Russia’s “write-up [of] terms for what they would require in order to reach a ceasefire,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing yesterday. Felicia Schwartz reports for POLITICO.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Radio communications intercepted by Ukraine and obtained by CNN appear to capture a Russian military leader’s order for Russian troops to execute surrendering Ukrainian troops in violation of international law. A forensic expert said that the footage, which seems to correspond in time with drone footage of a suspected execution of Ukrainian troops by Russian soldiers last November, does not appear to have been manipulated. Nick Paton Walsh, Victoria Butenko, Kosta Gak, Andrew Carey, Gianluca Mezzofiore, and Saskya Vandoorne report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed to have completely retaken the region from Ukrainian forces, Russian state news agency TASS reported today. Lex Harvey and Svitlana Vlasova report for CNN.
A Russian missile strike on a military training exercise in Ukraine’s Smy region killed six Ukrainian servicemen and wounded more than 10 others, Ukraine’s National Guard said early today. Russian state news agency TASS earlier claimed up to 70 people died in the attack. Paul Kirby reports for BBC News.
SYRIA
EU foreign ministers yesterday agreed to lift the remaining economic sanctions on Syria to “help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said yesterday. The bloc will maintain weapons-related sanctions “based on security grounds, including arms and technology that might be used for internal repression.” Jeanna Smialek reports for the New York Times.
The United States eased its Syria sanctions after U.S. officials concluded that Syria was in imminent danger of descending back into “potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday. Alexander Ward and Laurence Norman report for the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration has drawn up plans to spend up to $250 million earmarked for foreign assistance to fund the removal and return of migrants who fled active conflict zones, including 700,000 Ukrainian and Haitian migrants who fled to the United States amid extreme, ongoing violence, according to documents reviewed by the Washington Post. The proposal was devised before the Homeland Security Department announced it would grant a $1,000 stipend to migrants who “self-deport” from the United States. Adam Taylor and Martine Powers report.
Venezuela yesterday released an imprisoned U.S. Air Force veteran in a move that Caracas hopes could improve relations with the Trump administration and allow Western oil companies to continue operating in the country, sources say. One more U.S. detainee is expected to be designated for release soon, the sources added. Patricia Garip and Vera Bergengruen report for the Wall Street Journal.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will visit the White House today, aiming to persuade Trump to accept a broad trade deal offer and stop criticising South Africa’s racial equality policies. Nellie Peyton and Nandita Bose report for Reuters.
The EU yesterday agreed to provide Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty with emergency funds to keep the pro-democracy broadcaster afloat after the Trump administration stopped funding the outlet, accusing it of promoting a news agenda with a liberal bias. AP News reports.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The Sudanese military yesterday said it retook full control of the Greater Khartoum region, which includes the Sudanese capital, from Rapid Support Forces paramilitary fighters. The RSF did not comment on the military’s claim. AP News reports.
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday said that she would not allow activists from Kenya to “meddle” in Tanzania’s affairs after Tanzanian authorities deported prominent Kenyan lawyers and rights campaigners who hoped to attend the court case of a Tanzanian opposition leader charged with treason. Basillioh Rukanga and Munira Hussein report for BBC News.
German federal prosecutors today announced that German police have arrested five teenagers accused of involvement with a right-wing extremist group that allegedly planned to destabilize the country’s democratic system by carrying out attacks on migrants and political opponents. Geir Moulson reports for AP News.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-D) is facing a felony charge of assaulting a federal officer for allegedly pushing a pair of Homeland Security agents during a scuffle outside an immigration detention center last month, according to a criminal complaint filed yesterday. Josh Gerstein and Ry Rivard report for POLITICO.
Congressional Democrats are weighing how to block the Trump administration’s proposed deal to accept a luxury jet from Qatar, including by considering filing amendments into defense legislation to stymie the transfer. Joe Gould and Connor O’Brien report for POLITICO.
The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the Maine legislature must, for now, restore voting rights for a Republican lawmaker whom it previously censured over her online protests of transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ sports that involved naming a minor. Justin Jouvenal reports for the Washington Post.
Elon Musk yesterday said he plans to cut back on political spending, saying that he has “done enough” and “[does not] currently see a reason” to continue financial involvement in politics. Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump yesterday announced a $175 billion, three-year plan to build a new “Golden Dome” missile defense system “capable of intercepting missiles launched from the other side of the world” or from space, and named Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Space Force’s vice chief of space operations, to lead the project. The first $25 billion tranche of funding for the project would be embedded in Trump’s budgetary reconciliation megabill currently before Congress, a White House source added. Paul McLeary reports for POLITICO.
A top aide to Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard, Joe Kent, ordered analysts to “rethink” and “do some rewriting” of their assessment of the relationship between the Venezuelan government and the Tren de Aragua gang so that “the document is not used against [Gabbard] or [Trump],” according to emails reviewed by the New York Times. The assessment challenged by Kent, Trump’s pending nominee to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, contradicts a key claim linking the Maduro government and the gang used by the Trump administration to justify summary deportations. Charlie Savage, Julian E. Barnes, and Maggie Haberman report.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the New York City mayoral race whom Republicans accused of lying to Congress about decisions he made during the COVID-19 pandemic as governor. The DOJ previously closed its corruption case into Cuomo’s rival, the incumbent mayor Eric Adams. Devlin Barrett reports for the New York Times.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday announced he has ordered another review of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the suicide bombing that killed U.S. troops and Afghans at the Kabul airport in 2021. Hegseth did not specify what new information the new review would be seeking or what the time frame for the review’s report would be. Lolita C. Baldor reports for AP News.
FBI Director Kash Patel has closed the Bureau’s Office of Internal Auditing, an internal watchdog unit established in 2020 to uncover and reduce the risk of misuses of national security surveillance, in particular under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrantless wiretapping law, officials say. Charlie Savage and Adam Goldman report for the New York Times.
DOGE last week sought to gain access to the Government Publishing Office, a legislative branch agency that provides public access to federal documents, according to people on Capitol Hill with oversight responsibility for the agency. The GPO’s leadership declined DOGE’s request to place a cost-cutting team at the agency, the sources added. Katherine Tully-McManus reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to maintain custody of migrants on a deportation flight that the immigrants’ lawyers alleged was headed to South Sudan. The court ordered the government to ensure that any migrants in its custody do not leave U.S. control after the plane lands until a hearing is held to determine whether the deportation violated an April court injunction. The judge warned that based on the information he received during the hearing, the deportation “seems like it may be contempt.” Hamed Aleaziz, Alan Feuer, and Mattathias Schwartz report for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
