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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
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday announced he will call a parliamentary vote of confidence in his coalition government after the loss of the government-backed presidential candidate, Rafal Trzaskowski, in the Sunday election. The Dutch government’s future is also hanging in the balance after far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders today announced he has pulled his party out of the ruling coalition over a migration dispute. Reuters reports; Mike Corder reports for AP News.
Conservative nationalist Karol Nawrocki’s win in Poland’s presidential election is the latest in a string of tightly fought contests that analysts say show the growing strength of far-right and populist parties in Europe. Far-right and populist parties in the past year performed historically well in elections in Austria, Germany, Portugal, Romania, and France. Leo Sands reports for the Washington Post.
South Koreans today are voting in a snap presidential election that aims to set the nation on a recovery course after the political crisis sparked by former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law last December. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party is the favorite to win, having consistently led public opinion polls. Jin Yu Young reports for the New York Times.
Around 13% of eligible voters turned up to vote in Mexico’s first-ever judicial election, the country’s electoral authority said yesterday. President Claudia Sheinbaum described the voting process as a “complete success,” while some analysts warned the low turnout could jeopardize the election’s legitimacy. Megan Janetsky and María Verza report for AP News.
Cambodia’s National Assembly yesterday approved a plan to seek a ruling from the International Court of Justice on the country’s border disputes with Thailand, following a clash that left one Cambodian soldier dead last week. Sopheng Cheang reports for AP News.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels executed at least 21 civilians over two days in February in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma, according to a report by Human Rights Watch published yesterday. Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley report for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli fire killed at least 27 Palestinians and wounded 176 others near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) food distribution site in Gaza’s Rafah today, the Hamas-run health ministry and Nasser hospital said. The Israeli military said that its troops had opened “warning fire” on a group of individuals who had “deviated from the designated access routes” to the distribution centre. The incident marks the third day in a row that people have been killed while trying to access the site. Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer report for Reuters; Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder, and Lucas Lilieholm report for CNN.
The U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres yesterday said he is “appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid” in Gaza and called for an “immediate and independent investigation” into the incidents. Separately, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the GHF’s manner of aid delivery is “dehumanising” and shows “utter disregard for civilians.” Israel’s foreign ministry described Guterres’ comments as a “disgrace.” David Gritten reports for BBC News.
Three Israeli soldiers have been killed while fighting Hamas militants in the northern Gaza strip, the Israeli military said today. Reuters reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange some prisoners and the bodies of 12,000 fallen soldiers during their brief talks in Istanbul yesterday that failed to yield a breakthrough. The expected talks on peace terms or a ceasefire failed to materialise after Moscow only presented its negotiation terms to Ukraine yesterday, officials from both countries said. The Ukrainian delegation added it would need a week to review Russia’s proposal. Constant MéheutIvan Nechepurenko, and Nataliya Vasilyeva report for the New York Times.
Peace terms proposed by the Moscow delegation call for Kyiv to give up swathes of its territory not presently controlled by Russia, accept limits on the size of its army, and rule out NATO membership, according to a memorandum reported by Russia’s Interfax news agency. Moscow has also demanded international recognition of its control over Crimea and four other Ukrainian regions. Kyiv has previously repeatedly rejected similar Russian conditions as tantamount to surrender. Vladimir Soldatkin, Tom Balmforth, and Huseyin Hayatsever report for Reuters.
Russian shelling killed at least five people in different frontline areas of eastern Ukraine yesterday, Ukrainian officials said. Reuters reports.
IRAN-U.S. NUCLEAR TALKS
Iran is poised to dismiss the U.S. nuclear proposal, a senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters yesterday, describing it as a “non-starter” and “completely one-sided.” Separately, a senior Iranian source told CNN the U.S. proposal is “incoherent and disjointed.” Parisa Hafezi reports; Kylie Atwood, Frederik Pleitgen, and Jennifer Hansler report.
Trump yesterday appeared to undercut Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s nuclear talks proposal by insisting that Tehran fully dismantle its nuclear enrichment program. According to Axios, Witkoff’s proposal would have allowed Iran to retain low levels of enrichment for civilian uses like nuclear medicine and commercial power. Zeke Miller and Matthew Lee report for AP News; Barak Ravid reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration wants countries to provide their “best offer” on trade negotiations by tomorrow, amid a scramble to accelerate talks ahead of a self-imposed deadline in five weeks, according to a draft letter to U.S. negotiating partners seen by Reuters. The letter also suggests that “regardless of ongoing litigation” challenging the tariffs’ legality, Trump “intends to continue this tariff program pursuant to other robust legal authorities if necessary.” Jarrett Renshaw reports.
The United States has reached an “understanding” with Damascus on a plan to “transparently” incorporate thousands of foreign jihadist fighters who fought alongside the Syrian rebels into Syria’s national army, according to Thomas Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria. Timour Azhari and Suleiman Al-Khalidi report for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Prosecutors this week charged the man accused of using a flamethrower to attack demonstrators who were expressing support for Israeli hostages with federal hate crime and state charges of attempted murder, court documents show. According to the court filings, the man told investigators that he had planned the assault for a year and wanted to “kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.” Carolyn Y. Johnson, Ben Brasch, Anumita Kaur, Roman Stubbs, and Michelle Boorstein report for the Washington Post.
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether advertising and advocacy groups violated antitrust law by coordinating boycotts among advertisers who did not want their brands to appear next to hateful online content, sources say. The FTC’s new Chairman, Andrew Ferguson, has previously vowed to crack down on what he says is censorship of conservatives on social media. Kate Conger and Tiffany Hsu report for the New York Times.
The fourth judge in the long-running Sept. 11 case at Guantánamo Bay, Col. Matthew N. McCall, has retired from the case and the chief judge for the military commissions, Col. Matthew S. Fitzgerald, has assigned himself to oversee the case, according to a notice released yesterday. It is not clear whether Fitzgerald will hold hearings in the death-penalty case or manage it on an interim basis. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
A Romanian man has pleaded guilty to participating in a years-long series of hoax phone calls and bomb threats targeting American legislators, law enforcement leaders, and government officials, the DOJ said yesterday. Raphael Satter reports for Reuters.
The Supreme Court yesterday left in place Maryland’s ban on semiautomatic military-style rifles and Rhode Island’s restrictions on large-capacity magazines, declining to take up a pair of Second Amendment cases. Ann E. Marimow and Justin Jouvenal report for the Washington Post.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Department of Homeland Security has instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to swiftly apprehend immigrants ordered to be removed by the courts or whose cases have been dismissed, and to target migrants who are still in immigration proceedings but not in detention, internal documents obtained by CNN suggest. Under the new procedures, agents can also coordinate directly with court staff to identify, locate and detain migrants in courthouses. Angélica Franganillo Díaz and Priscilla Alvarez report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
A Pentagon official urged other Trump administration officials not to terminate a $12 million biological threat research grant at Harvard University due to the national security risks of such a move, according to the school’s recent court filing. Katelyn Polantz and Devan Cole report for CNN.
The Customs and Border Protection agency in March issued an internal memo instructing its officials not to attend events hosted by organizations that support women or minority groups in law enforcement, according to Timothy Quinn, a former senior border official who retired as a result of the policy. Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz report for the New York Times.
Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers say they were left baffled yesterday after Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson said he had not been aware the United States has a hurricane season during a briefing. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said that Richardson’s comment was a joke. Leah Douglas, Ted Hesson, and Nathan Layne report for Reuters.
After losing nearly 600 staffers to retirements and the Trump administration’s cuts, the National Weather Service is planning to hire 126 additional staff members to “stabilize” the department, according to the NWS’ spokesperson and union director. Judson Jones reports for the New York Times.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum yesterday said that the Trump administration is planning to eliminate Biden-era restrictions on drilling and mining across millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness. Lisa Friedman reports for the New York Times.
The Department of Justice yesterday threatened to take legal action against California public schools if they continue to allow trans athletes to compete in high school sports, alleging the schools’ policies violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and discriminated against athletes based on sex. Juliet Macur reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday temporarily paused the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to end the collective bargaining agreement covering thousands of airport transportation security officials. The judge ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s justification for terminating the union contract with the American Federation of Government Employees was “threadbare” and “retaliatory.” Tami Luhby reports for CNN.
A federal judge yesterday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act in the Los Angeles area, ruling that the government did not promise the migrants adequate process. However, the judge also said the plaintiffs were unlikely to show the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act illegally, writing that under the law it is up to the President and not for courts to define what the terms of the Act mean. Joe Walsh reports for CBS News.
The Trump administration has been slow to spell out how it is using DNA technology to help find and arrest immigrants, three privacy and immigration rights groups allege in a lawsuit against the DHS filed yesterday. Suzanne Gamboa reports for NBC News.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
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