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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
South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-Myung today pledged to “unite the people” and “never again” allow democratic institutions to be threatened in his inauguration speech, delivered a day after the Democratic Party candidate’s win in the country’s snap election. Yvette Tan and Koh Ewe report for BBC News.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof resigned yesterday, triggering a new election less than a year into his government. Schoof’s resignation followed the announcement by the far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders that his party would quit the country’s fragile ruling coalition over an immigration policy dispute. Hanne Cokelaere, Ali Walker, and Pieter Haeck report for POLITICO.
An overnight attack on a U.N. food convoy in Sudan killed five people and prevented deliveries of aid to the hunger-gripped al-Fashir in North Darfur, UNICEF and World Food Programme said yesterday while calling for an investigation into the attack. The agencies did not name the attackers, as the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary and the Sudanese army traded blame for the incident. Emma Farge and Nafisa Eltahir report for Reuters.
Appeals judges of the International Criminal Court yesterday greenlit the court’s first in absentia hearing, allowing the next step in war crimes and crimes against humanity proceedings against fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony to take place in September. Molly Quell reports for AP News.
Mexico’s ruling Morena party is likely to control the country’s Supreme Court following Mexico’s first-ever judicial election, vote tallies indicated yesterday. Megan Janetsky and María Verza report for AP News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The number of troop casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war is nearing 1.4 million, according to a study published yesterday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. According to the study, which relies on casualty figures from U.S. and British government estimates, nearly one million Russian troops have been killed or wounded, alongside 400,000 Ukrainian troops. Helene Cooper reports for the New York Times.
The Ukrainian Security Service yesterday said that it had hit the bridge connecting Russia’s mainland and the occupied Crimean peninsula with underwater explosives, in its third attack on the structure since the beginning of the war. The scale of the damage was not immediately clear, with Kyiv claiming that the explosives “severely damaged” the pillars supporting the bridge. Christian Edwards, Svitlana Vlasova, and Anna Chernova report for CNN; Laura Gozzi reports for BBC News.
Russian forces are advancing in the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy and are trying to advance on Sumy city, Ukrainian officials and analysts say. Tim Lister, Svitlana Vlasova, and Christian Edwards report for CNN.
At least 13 Russian military planes were damaged in Ukraine’s Sunday attack on Moscow’s military bases deep inside Russia, according to the Washington Post’s review of verified video and satellite imagery. Sarah Cahlan and Jonathan Baran report.
Russia seeks “victory” and not “compromise” in talks with Ukraine, senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday. Reuters reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will today skip a meeting of the U.S.-created international group seeking to coordinate military aid for Ukraine, the first time the head of Pentagon will not be in attendance since the group’s creation three years ago, U.S. officials confirm. Lolita C. Baldor reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — AID SUPPLY
The U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced it would not give out any aid today and close its sites for “update, organization and efficiency improvements works.” The GHF also said it has asked the Israeli military to “guide foot traffic in a way that minimizes confusion or escalation risks” and is working on clearer guidance for civilians, and training to support civilian safety. Separately, the IDF said that people would be “prohibited” from moving in areas leading to aid distribution sites, deeming them “combat zones.” Sean Seddon reports for BBC News; Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Crispian Balmer, and Michelle Nichols report for Reuters.
The GHF yesterday named Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore, a former evangelical adviser to the White House during Trump’s first term, as its new executive chairman. Moore has publicly backed Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over Gaza. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
Management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group last Friday terminated its contract with the GHF, withdrew its team operating in Tel Aviv, and placed a senior partner on leave pending an internal review, the firm’s spokesperson said. The BCG was hired last fall to help design the aid distribution program and run its business operations. Sources say it would be difficult for the GHF to continue to function without BCG’s support. Karen DeYoung and Cate Brown report for the Washington Post.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
An Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter killed 12 people in Khan Younis today, with another five dead brought to the Nasser hospital since midnight, and Israeli strikes killing four people in north Gaza, according to a spokesperson for the Hamas-run civil defense agency and an official at Nasser Hospital. Rushdi Abualouf reports for BBC News; Reuters reports.
The U.N. Security Council will likely vote today on a draft resolution that demands “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties,” according to diplomats and a draft resolution seen by Reuters.
IRAN-U.S. NUCLEAR TALKS
The Trump administration this weekend proposed a diplomatic bridge arrangement that would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels while the United States and other countries work out a more detailed agreement, Iranian and European officials say. Tehran on Monday indicated they would respond in several days. Farnaz Fassihi, David E. Sanger, and Jonathan Swan report for the New York Times.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today criticized nuclear proposals that would entail Tehran completely giving up uranium enrichment. Notably, however, Khamenei did not reject the possibility of a U.S.-Iran deal. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
SYRIA
Israel has launched its first airstrikes in Syria in nearly a month, stating it had targeted weapons belonging to the Syrian government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel from Syria yesterday. The Syrian foreign ministry said the reports of shelling towards Israel have not yet been verified. Jaidaa Taha, Menna Alaaeldin, and Suleiman Al-Khalidi report for Reuters.
The U.S. army will scale down its military presence in Syria to one base from the current eight and the United States will shift its policies in the country “because none of them worked over the last century,” U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack said yesterday. Reuters reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” could make it more expensive for migrants in the United States to send money to their families abroad, with the U.S. government taking a cut of all remittances sent to foreign nations. Saikou Jammeh and Ruth Maclean report for the New York Times.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva yesterday vowed to defend Brazil’s Supreme Court from pressure by the United States, rebuking Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s suggestions that the United States could sanction the judge overseeing the trial of Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. Manuela Andreoni reports for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Senate yesterday voted 51-45 to confirm Michael Duffey as the DOD Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment. While serving as a senior White House official during the first Trump administration, Duffey directed the Pentagon to withhold security aid for Ukraine that had been approved by Congress. Patricia Zengerle reports for Reuters.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained the family of the man accused of attacking a group of demonstrators who were expressing support for Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Kriti Noem said. According to the White House social media post, the family had been placed in expedited removal proceedings. Marianne LeVine, María Luisa Paúl, and Maria Sacchetti report for the Washington Post.
Justice Department prosecutors yesterday said they have accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen that had the potential to be used as an agricultural terrorism weapon into the United States. Jasper Ward reports for Reuters.
Elon Musk yesterday called the far-reaching GOP bill intended to enact Trump’s domestic policy agenda a “disgusting abomination” in a series of critical social media posts. Sources say that Musk’s criticism blindsided Trump’s team. Kate Conger, Michael Gold, and Jonathan Swan report for the New York Times; Marc Caputo reports for Axios.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename vessels honoring prominent civil rights leaders, including Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran who was one of the United States’ first openly gay elected officials and Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice. According to a defense official, the timing of the announcement that USNS Harvey Milk would be renamed during Pride Month was intentional. Konstantin Toropin reports for Military.com; Eleanor Watson, James LaPorta, Mary Walsh, and Nikole Killion report for CBS News.
The White House is asking Congress to increase the annual spending on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapon activities by approximately $11 billion, a rise of 58%, according to the Trump administration’s recent budget justification. The proposed budget would also slash the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s funding by almost $500 million and reduce the number of employees in CISA’s election-security programs. William J. Broad reports for the New York Times; James Rundle reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The Agriculture Department is pausing its plans to create a database of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit recipients while a lawsuit challenging the measure is pending, an official said in a sworn statement filed in a D.C. court over the weekend. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is scrapping its draft hurricane response plans and reverting to last year’s guidance, according to FEMA staffers. Some staffers say they are uncertain whether the agency has the capacity to follow the 2024 guidance in light of the Trump administration’s cuts to FEMA programs and workforce. Scott Patterson and Tarini Parti report for the Wall Street Journal.
Pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos yesterday resigned from her post as a co-leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s working group of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and is leaving the agency, sources say. Julie Steenhuysen, Michael Erman, and Dan Levine report for Reuters.
The White House yesterday formally asked Congress to rescind already-approved funding from programs targeted by DOGE’s cuts. Josh Boak reports for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Bureau of Prisons must provide transgender inmates with hormone therapy and gender-affirming social accommodations while a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy denying prisoners gender-replacement treatment proceeds, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Amy Harmon reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday extended an injunction banning the Trump administration from canceling unspent COVID-19 funding for schools. Jonathan Stempel reports for Reuters.
A federal judge yesterday dismissed the Democratic Party’s lawsuit alleging that Trump’s executive order that sought to assert greater control over executive branch agencies was intruding on the independence of the Federal Election Commission, ruling that the case was too speculative to justify the court’s emergency intervention. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
A federal appeals court yesterday reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging policies that would restrict immigration judges from speaking publicly on legal and policy issues, directing the lower court to assess whether the Civil Service Reform Act’s enforcement bodies are currently functioning well enough to require that the case be handled through that system.
Department of Health and Human Services records that DOGE used to determine which employees to fire were “hopelessly error-ridden” and contained “systemic inaccuracies,” a group of terminated employees allege in a new class-action lawsuit seeking damages over their dismissals. Daniel Barnes and Lauren Gardner report for POLITICO.
New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka yesterday filed a lawsuit against Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and a DHS official, alleging his arrest by immigration agents at a detention center last month was a politically motivated move by the Trump administration. Andrew Goudsward reports for Reuters.
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