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A curated guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT
The Israeli military said today it has killed Iran’s most senior military commander, Maj. Gen. Ali Shadmani, in an overnight strike, days after killing his predecessor. The IDF said Shadmani had commanded both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian army, and was the closest figure to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has not commented at the time of writing. Lawhez Jabari and Peter Guo report for NBC News.
Centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant were likely “severely damaged if not destroyed altogether” following Israeli strikes on Friday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, told the BBC News. Grossi said the damage was a result of power cuts caused by the attack, adding that an above-ground plant has been “completely destroyed.” David Gritten reports.
ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT — U.S. RESPONSE
President Trump yesterday abruptly left the G7 summit in Canada “because of what is going on in the Middle East,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, without elaborating. Trump later stated the reason for his departure was “much bigger” than trying to reach an Israel-Iran ceasefire. Patrick Kingsley, Farnaz Fassihi, Natan Odenheimer, David E. Sanger, and Jonathan Swan report for the Washington Post.
Trump has disputed the assessment of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, on how developed Iran’s nuclear capabilities were. Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community “continues to assess [that] Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.” However, Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having it.” Kaitlan Collins reports for CNN.
The Trump administration told multiple Middle Eastern allies on Sunday that it will not actively join the Israel-Iran conflict unless Iran targets Americans, sources told Axios. Separately, the White House is in talks with Iran over the possibility of facilitating a meeting this week between the U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister, sources say. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
In a post on X, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he has directed the “deployment of additional capabilities” to the Central Command Area of Responsibility, the section of the U.S. military whose area of responsibility includes the Middle East. Meanwhile, U.S. ships have been used to defend against Iranian missiles aimed at Israel, in addition to ground-based interceptors, two U.S. officials told NBC News. BBC News reports; Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains report.
ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
During their summit in Canada, the leaders of G7 nations urged a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” but stopped short of calling for an Israel-Iran ceasefire. In a joint statement, signed by Trump, said Israel had the right to defend itself and that “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror.” James Landale and Nadine Yousif report for BBC News.
European foreign ministers yesterday urged Iran to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States and refrain from escalating the conflict with Israel, according to a French diplomatic source. In response, Iran’s foreign minister was quoted by state media as saying that Tehran’s “focus at this stage is, of course, to effectively… confront aggression.” John Irish reports for Reuters.
A Czech government plane carrying 66 people who had been evacuated from Israel landed in Prague today, Czech’s defense minister has confirmed. Poland is also organizing flights for its citizens, and is planning to evacuate non-essential embassy staff in Tehran, its deputy foreign minister said. Meanwhile, Australia confirmed that around 650 people had registered with its government to leave Iran, and another 600 have registered to leave Israel. BBC News reports.
U.S. POLITICAL VIOLENCE
The man accused of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and shooting another lawmaker and his wife in a campaign to “inflict fear” appeared in federal court yesterday for the first time. “These were targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen in Minnesota. It was an attack on our state and on our democracy,” the acting attorney for the District of Minnesota said in a press release, adding that the assailant, Vance Boelter, attempted to kill two other state lawmakers that same night. Boelter, 57, could face the federal death penalty for the attacks, with prosecutors saying he had plans to carry out a widespread killing spree aimed at Democratic politicians. Ernesto Londoño, Jeff Ernst, Yan Zhuang, and David W. Chen report for the New York Times;; Ana Faguy reports for BBC News.
Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) yesterday canceled a town hall event after her name appeared on Boelter’s alleged list of targets. Andrew Solender reports for Axios.
A Georgia man was indicted yesterday on charges of threatening sexual violence against Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Deb Fischer (R-NE), federal prosecutors said. Zoë Richards reports for NBC News.
U.S. PROTESTS RESPONSE
The Los Angeles Press Club filed a lawsuit yesterday against the city of Los Angeles and its police chief, Jim McDonnell, over alleged police violence and use of “excessive force” toward journalists covering the ongoing protests of immigration raids. “Being a journalist in Los Angeles is now a dangerous profession,” the group wrote in its suit. The LAPD said it “does not comment on pending litigation.” Scott Nover reports for the Washington Post.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli tank fire today killed at least 51 Palestinians as they awaited aid trucks in Khan Younis, the Hamas-run health ministry said. Separately, local health officials said that Israeli gunfire killed at least 23 people yesterday as they approached the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution site in Rafah. Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Dawoud Abu Alkas report for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
A nighttime Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 others, officials said today, with the main barrage of the attack hitting Kyiv, where the attack killed 14 people. Samya Kullab and Vasilisa Sepanenko report for AP News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The United Kingdom, alongside other allies, is expected to unveil fresh sanctions against Russia today, aimed at “restrict[ing] Putin’s war machine.” In a statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he and other G7 partners were finalizing the new measures at the Alberta summit.Meanwhile, Trump signalled his opposition to further measures against Russia, telling the G7 summit yesterday that sanctions “cost [the United States] a lot of money.” Yang Tian reports for BBC News.
The Trump administration recently ended its working group which it had set up to formulate strategies for pressuring Russia into accelerating peace talks with Ukraine, U.S. officials say. “It lost steam toward the end because the president wasn’t there. Instead of doing more, maybe he wanted to do less,” one official said. Gram Slattery reports for Reuters.
More than one month since it signed a mineral deal agreement with the United States, Ukraine yesterday approved the first steps to permitting private investors to mine a major state-owned lithium deposit, officials say. Constant Méheut reports for the New York Times.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
A German court yesterday sentenced a Syrian doctor to life in prison for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the Assad regime. Utilizing a legal concept that allows countries to prosecute war crimes that occur outside their territory, German prosecutors said the doctor abused and killed prisoners suspected to be enemies of former President Bashar al-Assad while he was working in military hospitals and prisons in the early 2010s. Joshua Yang and Aaron Wiener report for the Washington Post.
Four gunmen stormed a Mexican village hall and opened fire on Sunday, killing both the mayor of the San Mateo Piñas municipality, Lilia Gema García Soto, , and a local official, Eli García Ramírez. Two municipal police officers were also wounded in the attack. Officials are still investigating both the assailants and motive for the attack, which marks the second mayor killed in Oaxaca state this year. Vanessa Buschschlüter reports for BBC News; Clea Skopeliti reports for Euro News.
A senior Russian security official traveled to Pyongyang for a second time this month for another meeting with Kim Jong Un, Russian state media reported today. AP News reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Trump and Starmer said yesterday they had finalized their trade agreement to reduce U.S. tariffs on British cars, steel, aluminum, and aerospace equipment. While the trade deal had been announced last month, it was short of details and left several topics to be continued. Announcing the deal, Trump praised Starmer, saying, “He’s done a very, very good job.” Ana Swanson and Michael D. Shear report for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Senate Republicans have proposed major revisions of the House tax and spending bill, including offering permanent business tax breaks, increased cuts to Medicaid, slower timelines for clean-energy credit, and a reduced cap on the state and local tax deduction. The Senate, which aims for passage next week and a final deal by July 4, must overcome challenges from various factions, including Republican intraparty divides. Richard Rubin, Liz Essley Whyte, and Siobhan Hughes report for the Wall Street Journal.
For the first time in its 116-year history, the civil rights organization NAACP will exclude the sitting president from its national convention this year. “[Trump] has signed unconstitutional executive orders to oppress voters and undo federal civil rights protections; he has illegally turned the military on our communities, and he continually undermines every pillar of our democracy to make himself more powerful and to personally benefit from the U.S. government,” the NAACP president wrote. Niha Masih reports for the Washington Post.
A civil trial began yesterday for a lawsuit alleging that a pardoned Capitol riot defendant was responsible for a police officer’s suicide. The defendant in the wrongful death trial pleaded guilty to riot-related misdemeanor in January 2023. Michael Kunzelman reports for AP News.
Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is due to report to federal prison today to begin his 11-year sentence for accepting bribes and acting as an agent of Egypt. Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister report for AP News.
The Government Accountability Office yesterday concluded that the Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding Congressionally appropriated funding to the agency responsible for supporting libraries, archives, and museums across the country. Jennifer Scholtes reports for POLITICO; Meryl Kornfield and Hannah Natanson report for the Washington Post.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Department of Homeland Security yesterday told staff it was revising its guidance, issued last week, that exempted farms, hotels, and restaurants from immigration raids. ICE agents have now been told to continue conducting enforcement operations at those businesses, despite concerns about negative impacts on the industries. Carol D. Leonnig, Natalie Allison, Marianne LeVine, and Lauren Kaori Gurley report for the Washington Post.
Trump has ordered ICE to “do all in their power” and “expand efforts to detain and deport” undocumented immigrants in Democratic-run cities, such as “Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Rebecca Falconer and Russel Contreras report for Axios.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump on Friday fired a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent federal agency that oversees U.S. nuclear reactors. Christopher Hanson, who led the agency during the entirety of the Biden administration, said Trump fired him without reason “contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.” Chris Cameron and Claire Brown report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The American Bar Association (ABA) yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging that its executive orders “coerce lawyers and law firms to abandon clients, causes, and policy positions the President does not like.” The lawsuit also claimed that Trump’s “law firm intimidation policy” violated the separation of powers as well as the First Amendment because it threatened retaliation for “engaging in speech the government disfavors.” A White House spokesperson called the lawsuit “clearly frivolous.” Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.
The Trump administration’s cuts to scientific research grants focusing on gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion are illegal and discriminatory, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled yesterday from the bench. “This represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community. That’s what this is,” Judge William G. Young said, adding, “I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out.” The order comes ahead of a written opinion to be issued later. Ian Lopez reports for Bloomberg; Daniel Wiessner and Nate Raymond report for Reuters.
The Trump administration secured a legal victory yesterday when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by faculty groups over federal funding cuts to Columbia University. “It is not the role of a district court judge to direct the policies of the Executive Branch first and ask questions later,” Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil wrote in the ruling, adding that the faculty unions had no “standing” to bring the suit and failed to clearly indicate how the administration broke the law. Alice Speri reports for The Guardian.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
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ICYMI: yesterday on Just Security
The “Unwilling or Unable” Test for Sending U.S. Military to Los Angeles
by Ryan Goodman
Hidden in the U.S. Army’s New Reform Initiative Is a Warning for Europe
by Jennifer Kavanagh
The Sarkozy-Gaddafi Trial Exposes Corruption’s Devastating Effect on Libyans
by Chiara-Lou Parriaud and Grace Spalding-Fecher
