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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
L.A. PROTESTS RESPONSE
The Pentagon yesterday mobilized a battalion of 700 Marines and 2,000 additional California National Guard troops in what officials described as a limited mission to protect federal property and agents, escalating the federal response to the protests in Los Angeles. A Defense Department spokesperson said the decision to send the extra National Guard troops was made “at the order of the president.” David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt, and Laurel Rosenhall report for the New York Times.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to direct the military to detain or arrest “lawbreakers” in Los Angeles a day before the Trump administration deployed Marines to the area, according to a leaked letter obtained by the SF Chronicle. Matthias Gafni and Cynthia Dizikes report.
Trump has taken part in discussions surrounding the Insurrection Act, which permits the president to use military forces to end an insurrection or rebellion on US soil, but has not made a final decision on what to do, sources say. Evan Perez, Paula Reid, Kristen Holmes, and Priscilla Alvarez report for CNN.
President Trump yesterday said that it would be “great” if California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) were arrested, a statement that Newsom said was “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.” Trump did not specify any alleged criminal wrongdoing or charges for which Newsom could be arrested. Maeve Reston and Matt Viser report for the Washington Post; Sareen Habeshian reports for Axios.
New York City Police arrested about two dozen protesters at Trump Tower in Manhattan yesterday, as demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids spread to more U.S. cities. Rebecca Falconer report for Axios.
Senate Republican leadership is urging senators to condemn the protests in Los Angeles, according to an email from Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) office obtained by Axios.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — AID CRISIS
Israeli gunfire today killed at least 17 Palestinians and wounded dozens as crowds of displaced Palestinians approached the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) aid distribution site, local health authorities said. Separately, the authorities said that an Israeli strike on a house in central Gaza killed eight people. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen fired on Palestinians heading to GHF’s aid distribution site in Rafah yesterday, according to witnesses. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said six people were killed and 99 injured from areas designated for aid collection, while the GHF said the site did not open yesterday. David Gritten reports for BBC News.
Hamas yesterday denied the GHF’s Saturday accusation that the militant group threatened over the weekend to attack GHF’s workers and prevented aid from being distributed. In its statement, Hamas accused the GHF of lacking neutrality, stating that the group is “a propaganda front for the Israeli occupation army.” Erika Solomon and Abu Bakr Bashir report for the New York Times.
A U.N. spokesperson yesterday said that the minimal supply of flour the U.N. has been able to bring into Gaza in the last three weeks has mostly been looted by armed gangs or taken by starving Palestinians. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli security forces have committed the crime against humanity of extermination by killing civilians sheltering in schools and mosques, according to a report by the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released yesterday. The report also finds that Israeli security forces “committed the war crime of directing attacks against civilians and that the conduct of the Israeli security forces amounts to the war crime of wilful killing.” Francois Murphy reports for Reuters.
Israel killed three medical services staff and a journalist during strikes on a Gaza City neighbourhood yesterday, according to Palestinian media, including the Hamas-linked Shehab news agency. Reuters reports.
Swedish climate and human rights activist Greta Thunberg yesterday departed Israel alongside other activists, Israel’s foreign ministry wrote in a social media post today. At least five other activists detained by Israeli forces on an aid ship bound for Gaza have refused to agree to depart voluntarily and will be deported, France’s foreign ministry said. Eugenia Yosef and Lucas Lilieholm report for CNN.
A convoy of buses and private cars departed for Gaza from Tunisia yesterday as part of efforts by a group of activists, lawyers and medical professionals from North Africa to spotlight Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Mehdi El Arem and Sam Metz report for AP News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Trump and his top foreign policy officials discussed U.S. strategy on the Iran nuclear crisis and the war in Gaza in an hours-long Camp David “retreat” on Sunday, according to U.S. officials. In addition to Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other senior officials attended the meetings. Trump also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, a Netanyahu aide and a source said. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The U.S.-China trade negotiations are going well, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said today, with the two sides set to meet for the second day of talks in London. Kate Holton and Alistair Smout report for Reuters.
Trump yesterday said that Iran appeared to have rejected the U.S. demand for Tehran to stop enriching uranium on Iranian soil, stating that Iran is “just asking for things that you can’t do.” David E. Sanger reports for the New York Times;
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
A Russian drone and missile attack killed two people and wounded at least thirteen others early today in Ukraine’s Odesa and Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the overnight attack was “one of the largest on Kyiv,” and added that “Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace.” Vasilisa Stepanenko and Samya Kullab report for AP News; Svitlana Vlasova, Victoria Butenko, Kosta Gak, and Kathleen Magramo report for CNN.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
The Israeli navy today said it had struck Houthi targets in Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah, alleging that the rebel group used the port to transfer weapons. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said Israel targeted the port’s docks with two strikes. Jana Choukeir reports for Reuters.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The international High Seas Treaty, focusing on the conservation and sustainable use of maritime areas beyond national jurisdictions, has received sufficient support to take effect early in 2026, French President Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday. Macron said that 55 ratifications of the treaty have been completed, 15 are in progress with a definite date, and another 15 will be completed by the end of 2025. The treaty comes into force once 60 countries ratify it. Manuel Ausloos and Clotaire Achi report for Reuters.
The United Kingdom’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal will today hear two cases alleging that the UK’s intelligence agencies were complicit in the CIA’s post-9/11 detention and torture programme. Harry Davies reports for the Guardian.
Russia is skirting Western sanctions and expanding its military footprint in Africa, using cargo ships to send tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, and other high-value equipment to West Africa, according to AP News’ review of satellite imagery and radio signals. Monika Pronczuk, John Leicester, and Michael Biesecker report.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The State Department on Friday ordered U.S. diplomatic posts to “resume processing” of Harvard University student and exchange visitor visas after a judge halted Trump’s attempt to block international students from joining the school, according to a diplomatic cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Kylie Atwood reports for CNN.
Federal agents attempted to enter L.A. elementary schools this week to get in touch with five students who the agents alleged had entered the country without documentation, school officials said last week. One of the schools’ superintendent said that the agents said they wanted to check on the students’ well-being and lied when they told school officials that the students’ families had given permission for the contact. Melissa Gomez and Howard Blume report for the LA Times.
Some of the immigrants arrested in ICE’s recent L.A. raids have already been deported, according to their families, some of whom say the deportations occurred so quickly they did not have time to obtain an attorney. Arelis R. Hernández and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday announced he has “retired” all 17 members of the advisory committee on immunization to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stating the move is an effort to put “the restoration of public trust above any pro- or antivaccine agenda” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
The new head of the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, yesterday said that DOGE is central to his plans for the agency and that he intends to deploy DOGE staffers to help Social Security personnel revamp customer service. Anne Tergesen reports for the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) yesterday announced he would resign from Congress after it passes Trump’s massive policy bill to take up “an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up.” Melanie Zanona and Raquel Coronell Uribe report for NBC News.
Senior Democratic lawmakers yesterday wrote to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, accusing her of violating the law by installing a top adviser, reporting to her, in the Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office and firing the Office’s acting general counsel. Warren P. Strobel and Ellen Nakashima report for the Washington Post.
More than 60 National Institutes of Health employees signed a letter to NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya denouncing “policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.” Benjamin Mueller reports for the New York Times.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FBI authorities yesterday said they arrested a Chinese scientist over alleged smuggling of biological material, the second such case in days. Ed White reports for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing anti-diversity and anti-transgender executive orders in grant funding requirements, ruling that the government cannot force recipients to halt programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion or acknowledge the existence of transgender people in order to receive grant funds. Janie Har reports for AP News.
A court yesterday found that Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was illegal, declining to “stretch the AEA’s meaning so broadly that mass migration or criminal activities by some members of a particular nationality could qualify as an ‘invasion,’” The court’s ruling blocks deportations under the Act in the Western District of Texas. POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney reports.
A coalition of Democratic states yesterday filed a lawsuit contesting the Trump administration’s reversal of a Biden-era effort to stop distribution of “forced-reset trigger” devices, which turn semiautomatic rifles into makeshift machine guns. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday filed a lawsuit against Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles, arguing that the president could not lawfully federalize 4,000 members of the state National Guard in response to protests without a request from California Governor Gavin Newsom. Jacob Soboroff, Gary Grumbach, and Dareh Gregorian report for NBC News.
Bonta also yesterday asked a federal court to rule that it was unlawful for the DOJ to direct California’s public school system last week to undo its transgender athlete policy and to attempt to block the state’s federal funding. Malathi Nayak reports for Bloomberg
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