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A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The Ukrainian Security Service yesterday launched a massive drone attack on four airfields deep inside Russia, Russian and Ukrainian officials confirmed. A Ukrainian official said that “more than 40 [Russian] aircraft have reportedly been hit” in the attack on Russia’s strategic bomber jets that was “personally supervised” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to Ukrainian and U.S. officials, Ukraine did not notify the Trump administration of the attack in advance. Christopher Miller, Fabrice Deprez, and Max Seddon report for the Financial Times; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations are set to meet today in Turkey for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks, amid low expectations for a breakthrough or any significant progress. Ukrainian negotiators will present Kyiv’s roadmap for reaching a lasting peace settlement during the talks, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters. Mehmet Guzel reports for AP News; Tom Balforth reports.
Russian shelling and air attacks yesterday killed five people near the southeastern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia, according to regional officials. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — AID SUPPLY
Gunfire yesterday killed more than 30 Palestinians trying to access a food distribution site in southern Gaza and wounded another 170, according to residents, medics, and Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Witnesses said the gunfire came from Israeli military positions; the IDF denied the allegations, with an Israeli military official later stating that troops “acted to prevent several suspects from approaching” and fired “warning shots.” The Israeli- and U.S.-backed aid distribution initiative that operated the site described all reports of gunfire as “completely false.” Miriam Berger, Abbie Cheeseman, Louisa Loveluck, and Hazem Balousha report for the Washington Post; Sebastian Usher and Rushdi Abualouf report for BBC News.
Desperate civilians on Saturday looted nearly 80 aid trucks traveling through southern and central Gaza, the U.N. World Programme said. In its statement, the WFP added that “after 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving” and the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “spiraling.” Ibrahim Dahman and Tim Lister report for CNN.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is “at its worst” since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, a U.N. spokesperson said on Friday, adding that the limited resumption of aid supply last week has had “very, very little impact” on the “catastrophic” situation. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff on Saturday said that Hamas’ response to the U.S. ceasefire and hostage deal proposal is “totally unacceptable” and takes the negotiations “backwards.” Hamas said that it wants the proposal to include an agreement for the group to release hostages over time to keep Israel at the bargaining table. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Joe Hernandez reports for NPR.
Western countries are risking “losing all credibility with the rest of the world” if Israel is allowed “a free pass” in Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, hours after threatening to “harden” the EU’s collective position against Israel over the Gaza humanitarian situation. Roger Cohen reports for the New York Times.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Right-wing nationalist Karol Nawrocki has been elected Poland’s new president, Poland’s state electoral commission announced today. Nawrocki won 50.9% of the votes, ahead of Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski’s 49.1%. Nawrocki’s election is a significant blow to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government, most of whose legislative efforts have been blocked by the incumbent right-wing President Andrzej Duda. Adam Easton reports for BBC News; Wojciech Kość reports for POLITICO.
Israel has said it will “not cooperate” with the Palestinian Authority’s “provocative” plans to host a high-level Saudi-led delegation of foreign ministers in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli official said on Friday. Kareem Khadder, Oren Liebermann, Mostafa Salem, Tamar Michaelis, and Abbas Al Lawati report for CNN.
Mexican voters yesterday went to the polls to elect thousands of judges in a far-reaching overhaul that will transform the judiciary away from an appointment-based system, a change that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition figures and legal experts. Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, Simon Romero, and James Wagner report for the New York Times.
Russia is supplying North Korea with materials and technologies to modernize its military after the two countries revived a Cold War-era treaty of mutual defense and cooperation, increasing Pyongyang’s ability to destabilize the East Asia region, South Korean officials and analysts say. Choe Sang-Hun and Ivan Nechepurenko report for the New York Times.
SYRIA
The self-styled Islamic State group on Thursday claimed responsibility for two bomb explosions in Syria, the first time the group has directly targeted Damascus’ new government, a war monitoring group said. The Syrian government did not report any attacks by the Islamic State but said it had conducted raids against its operatives last week. Carlotta Gall reports for the New York Times.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar will jointly provide financial support to state employees in Syria, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said on Saturday. Menna Alaaeldin and Muhammad Al Gebaly report for Reuters.
IRAN-U.S. NUCLEAR TALKS
The United States on Saturday presented its first formal proposal for elements of a nuclear deal to Tehran, hours after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report setting out “serious concerns” about Iran’s further intensification of its production of highly enriched uranium in recent months. David E. Sanger, Farnaz Fassihi, and Maggie Haberman report for the New York Times; Parham Ghobadi reports for BBC News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The flurry of punitive U.S. measures against China in recent days was prompted by a belief among U.S. officials that Beijing has failed to live up to commitments it made in trade talks earlier this month, according to administration officials. China’s Ministry of Commerce today rejected the allegations, stating that it is the United States that had “severely undermined” the trade truce. Kylie Atwood, Kevin Liptak, and Phil Mattingly report for CNN; Daisuke Wakabayashi reports for the New York Times.
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to discuss the ongoing Beijing-Washington trade negotiations this week, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said yesterday. Ben Berkowitz reports for Axios.
Trump on Friday said he planned to double tariffs on steel imports into the U.S. from 25% to 50% this week. The EU on Saturday said it “strongly” regrets the move, which “undermines ongoing efforts” to reach a U.S.-EU deal. Rachel Lerman reports for the Washington Post; Dearbail Jordan and Jaroslav Lukin report for BBC News.
Trump will at least for now maintain the traditional role of a U.S. general at the helm of NATO, according to U.S. officials and NATO sources. Phil Stewart, Andrew Gray, Idrees Ali, and Sabine Siebold report for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A man with a makeshift flamethrower yesterday exclaimed “Free Palestine” and hurled an incendiary device into a group that had assembled to raise attention for Israeli hostages in Gaza in Boulder, Colorado, law enforcement officials said. Eight people were injured in the attack, which FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called an “act of terror.” Coleen Slevin and Eric Tucker report for AP News.
The Mayor of Tulsa, Monroe Nichols, yesterday announced a $105 million Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 reparations package, the first large-scale plan committing funds to address the impact of the atrocity. Audra D. S. Burch and Breena Kerr report for the New York Times.
Some college and university leaders have been privately negotiating with a deputy to top Trump aide Stephen Miller to avoid having Trump target their institutions, sources say. The White House is looking to strike a deal with a high-profile school, one of the sources added. Betsy Klein reports for CNN.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Justice Department is using a resurrected federal registration requirement to charge unauthorized immigrants who have failed to register their presence in the country with a criminal offence under the Immigration and Nationality Act, with at least six such cases thrown out by judges or withdrawn by prosecutors since April 11, according to the Washington Post’s analysis of court records. Jeremy Roebuck and Marianne LeVine report.
The Department of Homeland Security yesterday removed a list of “sanctuary” states, cities, and counties from its website following criticism from the National Sheriffs’ Association, which said listing “non-compliant” sheriffs could damage the relationship between the Trump administration and law enforcement. Ted Hesson reports for Reuters.
The State Department on Friday ordered all U.S. embassies and consulates to “immediately begin additional vetting” for anyone seeking a visa to travel to Harvard University “for any purpose,” further escalating the clash between the government and the university. Jennifer Hansler reports for CNN.
The Trump administration last week admitted it had deported another immigrant in violation of a court order, blaming a “confluence of administrative errors” for the deportation. The incident is the fourth known case of the government unlawfully deporting an immigrant. Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
An impersonator “breached” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ “phone and tried to impersonate her,” Trump said on Friday. Sources say the unknown person appeared to have gained access to the contacts in Wiles’s personal cellphone. Trump added that he was not concerned because Wiles is “an amazing woman” who “can handle it.” Vivian Ho reports for the Washington Post.
Trump on Saturday announced he is withdrawing the nomination of tech billionaire and Elon Musk associate Jared Isaacman to lead NASA after a “thorough review” of Isaacman’s “prior associations” understood as a reference to donations Isaacman previously made to Democrats. However, Trump was briefed on Isaacman’s donations to Democrats during the presidential transition in late 2024 before he nominated Isaacman to the post, sources say. Darlene Superville and Seung Min Kim report for AP News; Maggie Haberman and Ryan Mac report for the New York Times.
The general counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget, Mark Paoletta, on Friday said that the administration would reduce its “costly” level of cooperation with the Government Accountability Office, asserting that the OMB’s actions on spending were “in full compliance” with budget laws. The GAO this month said that the administration broke federal law in canceling spending for an electric vehicle program without congressional approval. Jeff Stein reports for the Washington Post.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the gutting of the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation shortly after it was disclosed that the unit would be overseeing the testing of the Golden Dome missile defense system and associated programs, officials tell CNN. Natasha Bertrand reports.
FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino’s moves to reshape the bureau could have a chilling effect on agents seeking to open cases that could upset Trump or his supporters, former and current FBI officials warn. Under Patel and Bongino’s direction, “[i]n essence, former officials said, nobody is above the law except Mr. Trump.” Adam Goldman reports for the New York Times.
The White House is considering options like impoundment to formalize DOGE’s spending cuts without going through Congress, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said yesterday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Avery Lotz reports for Axios.
The Justice Department is reviewing its race and sex discrimination docket and has already dismissed or terminated “many” cases that were “legally unsupportable” and a product of “weaponization,” Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, told the Washington Post. Julian Mark and Laura Meckler report.
The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday issued new guidelines barring federal agencies from considering race or gender in the hiring process. The OPM’s guidelines aim to ensure that any new hires are “patriotic Americans,” with a hiring plan requiring new job applicants to write short essays describing how they plan to advance Trump’s priorities. Tami Luhby reports for CNN; Robin Bravender reports for POLITICO.
The Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General identified more than $16 billion in overpayments, fraudulent billings, and other possible health program cost savings in its semiannual summary published Friday. Maya Goldman reports for Axios.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to revoke a Biden-era humanitarian program that gave U.S. temporary residency to more than 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Made in response to the government’s emergency application, the court’s order did not provide reasons for why the application was granted. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor joining. Nina Totenberg reports for NPR; Abbie VanSickle and Adam Liptak report for the New York Times.
Trump’s orders directing mass firings at multiple agencies will remain on hold for now, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday in a 2-1 opinion. The majority concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their argument that the layoffs were unlawful, holding that the executive order in question “far exceeds the President’s supervisory powers under the Constitution.” Tierney Sneed reports for CNN.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem likely exceeded her authority when she invalidated the work permits and other documents granting lawful status to about 5,000 Venezuelans in February, a federal judge ruled on Friday. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.
PBS on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s effort to strip the television network of its funding, arguing that the “Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.” Cheyanne M. Daniels reports for POLITICO.
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