Early Edition: May 23, 2025

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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

Several Gaza bakeries began producing bread yesterday after more than 90 lorries’ worth of supplies had been collected by U.N. aid teams inside Gaza, according to the U.N. The Israeli military said that a total of 107 aid trucks entered the territory yesterday. The amount of aid is still “nowhere near enough,” the U.N. said, as Palestine Red Crescent Society President Younis Al-Khatib warned that only a third of PRCS ambulances in Gaza are operational due to fuel shortages. David Gritten reports for BBC News; Reuters reports.

Israeli strikes and ground operations killed at least 107 people in the last twenty-four hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported yesterday. The Israeli military also issued evacuation orders for Jabalia and 13 other northern Gazan neighbourhoods. David Gritten reports for BBC News.

Emergency center for malnourished children at Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital is at full capacity and supplies are running out, a medic at the hospital told AP News. Children in Gaza are “already dying from malnutrition,” a UNICEF spokesperson added. Mohammed Jahjouh, Wafaa Shurafa, Sarah El Deeb, and Sam Mednick report.

The Israeli airstrike that the Israeli military said killed the leader of Hamas, Mohammed Sinwar, struck a meeting of the group’s highest-ranking militants and killed several important operatives, leaving a void in Hamas’ top leadership, according to Arab and Hamas officials. Hamas operatives found Sinwar’s body after the strike and buried it in a temporary grave in a tunnel, the officials added, confirming Israeli claims that he was likely dead. Summer Said reports for the Wall Street Journal.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Russian armed forces are creating a “buffer zone” along the Russia-Ukraine border, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday. A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson said the plan was “aggressive” and demonstrated that “Russia is the obstacle to peace efforts.” Svitlana Vlasova, Anna Chernova, and Billy Stockwell report for CNN.

There are no direct peace talks scheduled between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin said yesterday. Following his Monday call with Putin, Trump said that Russia and Ukraine would start ceasefire negotiations “immediately.” AP News reports.

Hackers working for the Russian military targeted technology and logistics companies involved in supplying aid to Ukraine in several Western countries, according to a U.S. National Security Agency report released on Wednesday. David Klepper reports for AP News.

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT

In a letter to IAEA and the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, Iran yesterday threatened to move its nuclear material to undeclared sites to protect it from a potential Israeli military strike. Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also said that Iran would consider the United States to bear legal responsibility if Israel attacks Iranian nuclear facilities. A U.S. official told Axios that the Trump administration is worried Israel might conduct a strike on Iran even without U.S. approval. Barak Ravid reports; Reuters reports.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The United States will impose new sanctions on Sudan’s military-led government after determining that it used chemical weapons in 2024, the State Department announced yesterday. The statement did not provide the details of where or how the weapons were used. Senior U.S. officials previously told the New York Times that the Sudanese military had used chlorine gas against Rapid Support Forces troops. Declan Walsh reports.

The Trump administration is considering a withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops from South Korea, defense officials say. The proposed plan would entail moving roughly 4,500 soldiers from South Korea to other locations in the Indo-Pacific region, the sources added. The South Korean defense ministry today said Seoul and Washington had not yet discussed the possible withdrawal. Nancy A. Youssef, Alexander Ward, and Timothy W. Martin report for the Wall Street Journal; Reuters reports.

Iran increasingly does not believe the nuclear talks with the United States will lead to an agreement due to the U.S. demand that Tehran stop all uranium enrichment activity, according to Iranian sources. Frederik Pleitgen reports for CNN.

Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors yesterday pledged to tackle “excessive imbalances” in the global economy and condemned Russia’s “continued brutal war” against Ukraine. The group will explore all possible options, including further sanctions if ceasefire efforts fail, the joint G7 statement added. David Lawder, Promit Mukherjee, and Julia Payne report for Reuters.

GLOBAL AFFAIRS

Syrian Kurdish parties will soon send a delegation to Damascus for talks on their region’s political future, a leading Kurdish politician said. The Kurdish parties’ vision aims for a federal Syria and regional autonomy and is opposed by Syria’s  interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Turkey. Orhan Qereman reports for Reuters.

The United Kingdom yesterday handed over the control of the strategically significant Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after a judge briefly blocked the transfer early yesterday. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that under the deal, the U.K. will maintain control of the U.S.-U.K. Diego Garcia military base. Rob Picheta reports for CNN.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to punish those responsible for a partial capsize of Pyongyang’s newest warship during a launch ceremony, an incident that Kim called a “catastrophic failure” and a “criminal act,” North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. Michelle Ye Hee Lee reports for the Washington Post.

A Georgian court yesterday placed one of the leaders of Georgia’s largest opposition party, Zurab Japaridze, in pre-trial detention over alleged contempt of parliament. Japaridze and other opposition figures said the parliamentary proceeding Japaridze refused to attend was a “propaganda exercise” by the ruling Georgian Dream party. Felix Light reports for Reuters.

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

Former defense contractor Douglas Edelman on Wednesday pleaded guilty to tax crimes and defrauding the government on the income he made from $7 billion in military contracts. Margot Patrick reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Federal prosecutors yesterday charged the suspect in the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington D.C. with first-degree murder and other crimes, according to a court filing. The FBI affidavit supporting the charges says that the suspect told police officers that he “did it for Palestine … did it for Gaza.” Mitch Smith, Glenn Thrush, and Zach Montague report for the New York Times.

The Justice Department yesterday unsealed a federal indictment accusing a Russian man, Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov, of leading a global cybercrime ring that victimized people throughout the United States. Sean Lyngaas reports for CNN.

Senate Democrats will push to add protections against corruption by public officials to Republicans’ cryptocurrency legislation, sources tell Axios. Stephen Neukam reports.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

The Trump administration wants to end the Flores Settlement Agreement, an immigration policy that offers protections for child migrants in federal custody, according to a court filing made yesterday by government attorneys. Valerie Gonzalez reports for AP News.

Eight migrant detainees who were on a U.S. deportation flight destined for South Sudan are currently held at a U.S. military base in Djibouti, two U.S. officials told CNN. The situation had angered the Djiboutian government and the U.S. military has expressed “significant concerns” over keeping the detainees at the base, the sources added. Haley Britzky, Priscilla Alvarez, and Natasha Bertrand report for CNN.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday ordered the Homeland Security Department to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, the DHS said. Noem cited the university’s refusal to turn over the conduct records of foreign students as the reason for her decision. According to the statement, “existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status.” Elizabeth Wolfe, Samantha Waldenberg, Karina Tsui, and Helen Regan report for CNN.

The Trump administration has violated the Impoundment Control Act by suspending new obligations under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, the Government Accountability Office ruled yesterday. The GAO is conducting at least 39 investigations into whether the Trump administration violated the Act by withholding Congress-approved funding. James Bikales and Jennifer Scholtes report for POLITICO.

Columbia University violated federal civil-rights law by acting with “deliberate indifference towards student-on-student harassment of Jewish students,” the Health and Human Services Department’s Civil Rights Office said yesterday. Liz Essley Whyte and Douglas Belkin report for the Wall Street Journal.

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday opened an investigation into whether Media Matters, a liberal advocacy organization, has illegally colluded with advertisers, sources say. Elon Musk, who owns X, previously filed a lawsuit against Media Matters claiming that it tried to damage the social media platform’s relationship with advertisers by publishing research on hateful and antisemitic content on X. Kate Conger, Kenneth P. Vogel, and Theodore Schleifer report for the New York Times.

The DHS is inserting several of its officials into key front office roles at the Federal Emergency Management Agency ahead of the official start of hurricane season, sources say. Gabe Cohen reports for CNN.

Trump yesterday dined with the top purchasers of his meme coin at a black-tie gala. The White House said the President attended the dinner “in his personal time” and that the event posed no conflict of interest. Cat Zakrzewski and Drew Harwell report for the Washington Post.

DOGE used Meta’s AI models to review and classify federal workers’ responses to the January “Fork in the Road,” according to records reviewed by WIRED. The model appears to have run locally, the materials show. Makena Kelly reports.

The White House has removed official transcripts of Trump’s speeches from its website, replacing them with selected videos of his public appearances due to an “internal policy change,” according to a White House official. Peter Nicholas, Megan Shannon, and Megan Lebowitz report for NBC News.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION

The Supreme Court yesterday overturned a lower court’s order that had temporarily reinstated two board members of independent federal agencies who had been fired by Trump. The majority wrote that “the government is likely to show that both the [National Labor Relations Board] and [Merit Systems Protection Board] exercise considerable executive power.” The court sought to exclude the members of the Federal Reserve from the scope of its judgment, commenting that the Reserve is a “uniquely structured, quasi-private entity.” Lawrence Hurley and Steve Kopack report for NBC News.

A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order aimed at dismantling the Education Department and ordered the reinstatement of thousands of fired employees. The judge found that the record “abundantly reveals” that the administration’s “true intention is to effectively dismantle the department without an authorizing statute.” Michael C. Bender reports for the New York Times.

The Trump administration is temporarily blocked from terminating the legal statuses of international students and from arresting or detaining any foreign-born students on the basis of their immigration status after a federal judge found that the Trump administration has “wreaked havoc” on the lives of the students by removing them from F-1 student visa database. Kimmy Yam and Chloe Atkins report for NBC News.

A federal judge yesterday extended her order prohibiting the Trump administration from carrying out vast layoffs of federal workers, ordering the government to pause the firings until the proceedings in a case challenging them conclude. Eileen Sullivan reports for the New York Times.

The former head of the U.S. Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, yesterday filed a suit challenging her dismissal. In the suit, Perlmutter argues her abrupt ouster from the position violates the Constitution’s separation of powers. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.

Five organisations that had grants terminated by the Justice Department in April filed a lawsuit challenging the cancellations late on Wednesday. Claudia Lauer reports for AP News.

Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions

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