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A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
President Trump is set to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine today that will potentially include offensive weapons, according to sources. Trump previously said that he would have a “major announcement” related to Russia today, and criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that “he talks nice, and then he bombs everybody in the evening.” Reuters on Friday reported that Trump is weighing using a power frequently used by former President Biden to send a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo report for Axios; Tarini Parti and Brett Forrest report for the Wall Street Journal; Mike Stone reports.
The United States will send Patriot air defense systems and other “sophisticated” equipment to Ukraine, Trump said yesterday, adding that European countries are “going to pay us 100%.” Tarini Parti and Brett Forrest report for the Wall Street Journal.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
In a rare public statement, Ukraine’s intelligence service (SBU) yesterday said that it had killed two Russian agents responsible for last week’s killing of a senior SBU official. Lizzie Johnson and Kostiantyn Khudov report for the Washington Post.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday said that he “unconditionally supports and encourages” all of Russia’s actions during its war in Ukraine as he welcomed Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in North Korea. Will Ripley, Lex Harvey, Chris Lau, Lucas Lilieholm, and Laura Sharman report for CNN.
ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE
Trump last week told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he favors a diplomatic settlement with Tehran, but does not otherwise object to further Israeli strikes on Iran if the country resumes moving toward a nuclear weapon, senior U.S. and Israeli officials say. Alexander Ward and Laurence Norman report for the Wall Street Journal.
Putin informed Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a “zero enrichment” nuclear deal, according to European and Israeli officials. Iranian officials said that they would not consider the option, an European official added. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Iran plans to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency despite restrictions on access to nuclear sites imposed by the Iranian parliament, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday. Reuters reports.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suffered leg injuries during one of Israel’s attacks on a secret underground facility in Tehran last month, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency has reported. Kasra Naji reports for BBC News.
A consensus that Iran must relaunch nuclear negotiations with the United States is emerging in Iran’s political circles, according to analysts and political observers inside and outside Iran. Yeganeh Torbati reports for the Washington Post.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
An Israeli airstrike yesterday killed ten people, including six children, as they queued to fill water containers in central Gaza, according to emergency service officials. The strike also injured 16 others, seven of whom were children, a doctor at the al-Awda Hospital said. The Israeli military said that a “technical error” led to the strike, targeting a “terrorist,” to fall dozens of metres from the target. Rushdi Abualouf and Maia Davies report for BBC News.
Israeli strikes killed a total of at least 32 people in Gaza yesterday, as the Palestinian death toll passed 58,000, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said. The ministry previously reported that 139 bodies had been brought to Gaza hospitals over Saturday into Sunday, the highest reported number since July 2. Tim Lister, Oren Liebermann, Eugenia Yosef, Ibrahim Dahman, and Eyad Kourdi report for CNN; Wafaa Shurafa and Imad Isseid report for AP News.
Israeli officials have signaled they want the U.N. to remain the key avenue for humanitarian deliveries in Gaza, Deputy Head of the World Food Programme Carl Skau said on Friday. Separately, a spokesperson of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the office had recorded 798 killings of Palestinians in the vicinity of Gaza aid points and aid convoys in the past six weeks. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters; Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters.
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks in Doha have “stalled,” a Hamas official told CNN on Saturday. According to an Israeli official, significant gaps remain on the issue of the Israeli military’s deployment in Gaza and Hamas’ presence in the territory once the ceasefire takes effect. Tim Lister, Oren Liebermann, Eugenia Yosef, Ibrahim Dahman, and Eyad Kourdi report; Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The European Union “deeply regrets” the United States’ decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, an EU spokesperson said on Friday. Reuters reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Armed clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias in southern Syria killed at least 30 people yesterday, Syria’s interior ministry said, adding that security forces were being deployed to try to restore calm. Victoria Bourne and David Gritten report for BBC News.
Israeli settlers beat and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man and fatally shot a second Palestinian man during a Friday confrontation in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian authorities and the families of both men. The Israeli military said the incident is being looked into. Aaron Boxerman and Fatima AbdulKarim report for the New York Times.
The Rapid Support Forces paramilitary on Friday stormed the city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region, capturing a cattle market, a prison, and a military base before being pushed out by Sudan’s army, according to witnesses. Mohamed Zakaria and Akisa Wandera report for BBC News.
Almost 5,000 people have been killed in Haiti since October 2024 amid escalating gang violence, according to a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights report published on Friday. Reuters reports.
Bodyguards using fitness trackers have inadvertently revealed the secret locations of the Swedish politicians and royals they were assigned to protect, the Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported. Sweden’s security police said it was investigating the effect of the publicized data. Lynsey Chutel reports for the New York Times.
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS
Malaysia today announced that permits will now be required for all high-performance AI chips from the United States entering or leaving the country, in a bid to close regulatory gaps and prevent potential illegal trade. Ying Xian Wong reports for the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The U.S. Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, has pushed Japanese and Australian defense officials to make clear what role their countries would play if the United States and China went to war over Taiwan, sources say. Demetri Sevastopulo reports for the Financial Times.
In letters posted on social media on Saturday, Trump announced he would impose 30% tariffs on goods from the European Union and Mexico from August 1 and threatened to increase the tariffs further should the EU retaliate. Both countries are engaged in active trade negotiations with the United States. Jeanna Smialek and Ana Swanson report for the New York Times.
The European Union has delayed its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports until early August, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced yesterday. Jennifer Meierhans reports for BBC News.
The State Department began laying off more than 1,300 workers on Friday, according to an internal memo. The layoffs mostly affected offices that managed foreign assistance programs and worked on issues of energy policy, global human rights, and refugees and migration issues. Eric Bazail-Eimil and Nahal Toosi report for POLITICO.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday announced U.S. sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other top officials for human rights violations and restricting access to visas. Andrea Rodríguez reports for AP News.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Federal immigration officers may deport immigrants to countries other than their own even if officials from those countries did not provide assurances the deportees would be safe from persecution or torture, ICE Acting Director Todd M. Lyons told the ICE workforce on Wednesday. According to Lyons’ memo, people being sent to countries that did not provide assurances could be given as little as 6 hours’ notice in “exigent circumstances,” and those deported to places that have offered assurances could be given no advance notice. Maria Sacchetti, Carol D. Leonnig, and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post.
The State Department’s top consular official, John Armstrong, on Friday denied that the Consular Affairs Bureau is pursuing an “ideological” policy of revoking foreign students’ visas, testifying in a court proceeding that no visas were revoked based on protected speech but he said that the revocations targeted “antisemitism” and support for “terrorism.” Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
The DHS will intensify its migration crackdown efforts thanks to a funding boost from Trump’s domestic policy megabill, Noem said on Saturday. Kaanita Iyer reports for CNN.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Secret Service “failed to implement security measures” that could have prevented the July 2024 Trump assassination attempt, the Government Accountability Office found in a report Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) office released on Saturday. Nicole Markus reports for POLITICO.
A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a plea deal that would resolve the Sept. 11, 2001, case with life sentences. The court’s decision could restart lengthy proceedings in a death penalty trial before the Guantanamo military commission. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Trump administration on Friday dismissed another group of nearly 10 DOJ employees who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of Trump, sources say. The firings appeared to ignore traditional civil service protections and some of those dismissed were involved with Smith’s office in relatively minor roles, the sources add. Alan Feuer and Devlin Barrett report for the New York Times.
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday dismissed her personal ethics adviser, Joseph Tirrell, sources say. Tirrell advised Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office on ethics matters during his criminal prosecutions of Trump. According to the sources, Bondi’s letter cited Article II of the Constitution, which concerns presidential powers, and did not specify a reason for Tirrell’s dismissal. Ben Penn reports for Bloomberg Law.
Trump’s ability to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is being “looked into,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said yesterday. Megan Lebowitz and Lindsey Pipia report for NBC News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge on Friday issued an order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from conducting indiscriminate immigration stops in the Los Angeles area and denying detainees access to lawyers. The White House appealed the order on Saturday. Kelsey Ables reports for the Washington Post; Lauren Floyd reports.
The federal judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego García’s case on Friday signaled she would issue an order that would temporarily keep the administration from deporting Abrego García throughout the duration of his criminal trial. During a hearing, the judge chided the DOJ for damaging the trust between court and the government lawyers, stating that the administration has “taken the presumption of regularity and […] destroyed it.” Alan Feuer and Minho Kim report for the New York Times.
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