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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are planning a meeting this Friday in Alaska to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine. The news follows U.S. Vice President Vance meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Saturday in England, at the request of the United States, with the pair joined by Ukrainian officials and European national security advisers. Later Saturday, several European leaders issued a joint statement reaffirming support for Ukraine and insisting Kyiv must be involved in any peace negotiations. Jonathan Beale, Cachella Smith, and Amy Walker report for BBC News.
Ukraine and Europe have countered Russia’s ceasefire plan by offering their own blueprint for ending the war. Moscow’s proposal was put forward in a meeting with senior U.S. officials in England on Saturday, and included the trade of Ukrainian-held parts of the Donetsk region for a ceasefire. A European participant in the talks said Washington reacted positively to the European plan, which includes demands that a ceasefire take place before any other steps are taken and that any territorial concessions must be reciprocal. Bojan Pancevski and Yaroslav Trofimov report for the Wall Street Journal.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday defended his government’s plan to take control of Gaza City, despite widespread opposition and criticism from both longtime allies and domestic opponents. At a news conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu announced that the Israeli military would expand its campaign to include central Gaza in addition to Gaza City. Netanyahu told reporters, “Dismantling the two remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza City and the central camps — this is the best way to end the war.” Isabel Kershner and Aaron Boxerman report for the New York Times.
Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in a targeted Israeli strike near Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital yesterday. The IDF confirmed the strike had targeted prominent reporter Anas al-Sharif, who they said had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas.” The IDF also said he had “advanced rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops” and claimed to have Hamas documents that showed he had been a member of one of the group’s units in 2019. The Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel has not provided evidence to support its allegations and called the attack “a targeted assassination.” Amy Walker and Tiffany Wertheimer report for BBC News; CNN reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday, U.N. ambassadors criticized Israel’s plan to “take control” of Gaza City, with the UK, France, and others warning the plan risked “violating international humanitarian law.” China called it “collective punishment” of people in Gaza, while Russia warned against a “reckless intensification of hostilities.” In response, U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea accused fellow Security Council members of “actively prolonging the war by spreading lies about Israel” and “handing propaganda victories to terrorists.” Amy Walker reports for BBC News; Tal Shalev, Dana Karni, Abeer Salman, Catherine Nicholls, Mohammed Tawfeeq, and Helen Regan report for CNN.
Australia will recognize a Palestinian state at next month’s U.N. General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said today. Separately, New Zealand is considering recognizing a Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today, adding that the cabinet would make a formal decision by next month. Kirsty Needham, Lucy Craymer and Christine Chen report for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Trump spoke with Netanyahu yesterday, where both leaders discussed Israel’s plans for taking control of Gaza and efforts to secure a hostage release. Tyler Pager reports for the New York Times.
White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatar’s prime minister in Spain on Saturday. The meeting focused on a plan to end the war in Gaza and release all remaining hostages held by Hamas, sources told Axios. The meeting followed Israel’s minister for strategic affairs informing an Israeli Security Cabinet meeting on Thursday that Washington will present an “End Game” proposal for the war in Gaza in the coming weeks, according to a cabinet minister. Barak Ravid reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
A senior official from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will travel to Iran for talks today, although no visits to the nuclear site are planned, Iran’s foreign minister announced yesterday. Inspectors from the IAEA have been unable to access Iran’s nuclear facilities since Israel launched its first military strikes on the sites during a 12-day war in June. Iran has accused the agency of effectively facilitating the bombings by releasing a critical report in May, which led to the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations. Reuters reports.
British police arrested 466 people in Central London on Saturday for protesting against the government’s decision to ban the pro-Palestinian activist group, Palestine Action. The UK-based group was proscribed under anti-terrorism laws last month, making it illegal to be a member or support it. Caitlin Danaher reports for CNN.
The Taliban are investigating explicit death threats against dozens of Afghan women working for the U.N., according to a report released yesterday. The report, by the U.N. mission to the country, said the threats came from unidentified individuals and related to their work with the U.N. The Taliban told the U.N. mission that its personnel were not responsible for the threats, the report added. AP News reports.
North Korea has removed some of its loudspeakers from the inter-Korean border, South Korea’s military said Saturday, days after Seoul dismantled its own front-line speakers used for propaganda broadcasts in a bid to diffuse tensions with Pyongyang. Kim Yong-Hyung reports for AP News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
President Trump has signed a secret directive instructing the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has designated as terrorist organizations, sources say. In response to the report, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said, “The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military … We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out.” Helen Cooper, Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage, and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times; Nadine Yousif reports.
Jordan will host a meeting with U.S. and Syrian officials tomorrow to discuss support for rebuilding Damascus, following more than a decade of conflict and December’s removal of former leader Bashar al-Assad by an Islamist-led rebellion. Reuters reports.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The battle over Texas’s congressional map “could literally last years,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said yesterday, while defending his call to arrest the Texas Democrats who left the state in a bid to stall the Republican redistricting efforts. His comments follow the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton (R) asking the state’s high court Friday to expel 13 of the over 50 Democrats from office who left the state, arguing that they had made “incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return” to the Texas Capitol. Meanwhile, Rep. Gene Wu, the leader of the Texas Democratic caucus, argued in court papers filed on Friday that Abbott’s proposal to oust the legislators would violate the Texas constitution. Mariana Alfaro and Hannah Knowles report for the Washington Post; Patrick Marley; Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, and Molly Hennessy-Fiske report for the Washington Post; Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.
The $1 billion settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA is “political extortion,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said yesterday. The university says it is reviewing the offer after the government froze $584 million in funding over alleged antisemitism during campus pro-Palestinian protests. Kanishka Singh reports for Reuters.
Far-right political activist Laura Loomer has launched a striking new criticism of the Pentagon, targeting Army Secretary Dan Discroll for permitting the Army to honor Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg. Groberg, who suffered severe injuries while saving fellow soldiers from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, was undeserving of such recognition because he delivered private remarks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and was not “US born,” Loomer implied in her remarks on social media. Dan Lamothe and Tara Copp report for the Washington Post.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
CEO Lip-Bu Tan is slated to visit the White House today, days after Trump called for his removal over alleged ties to Chinese businesses, sources say. Tan is reportedly planning a wide-ranging discussion with Trump to outline his personal and professional background, including emphasizing his commitment to the United States, framing Intel’s manufacturing capabilities as a national security matter, and possibly proposing ways to collaborate with the U.S. government. Lauren Thomas reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are expected to pay the U.S. government 15% of their revenue from selling AI chips to China as part of an unusual financial agreement with the Trump administration. Tripp Mickle reports for the New York Times.
IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Federal immigration authorities detained a woman seeking treatment at the National Institutes of Health’s main research hospital, according to an internal document and an NIH official briefed on the incident. The patient, who previously received care at an NIH center in Maryland, was stopped at a security checkpoint when her state-issued driver’s license failed to comply with new federal security ID requirements. A subsequent warrant check revealed an active order for her removal, prompting NIH officials to notify ICE. Carolyn Y. Johnson, David Ovalle, and Sabrina Malhi report for the Washington Post.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The FBI has started sending agents on overnight shifts to assist local law enforcement in preventing carjackings and violent crime in Washington, as Trump continues his threats of a federal takeover of the city and weighs deploying the National Guard. A decision on the Guard deployment could come as soon as today, when Trump is scheduled to hold a White House news conference on D.C. crime, according to a U.S. official. Yesterday, Trump compared his planned crackdown on crime in D.C. to his aggressive immigration enforcement at the southern border, promising to “immediately clear out the city’s homeless population and take swift action against crime.” Perry Stein, Olivia George, Ellen Nakashima, and Dan Lamothe report for the Washington Post.
FBI Director Kash Patel removed another group of agents who had been involved in investigations against the president and his allies. Patel and his deputy have also recently required agents to undergo polygraph tests to determine whether they had leaked negative information about FBI leadership, sources say. Patel has also recently fired, demoted, or reassigned dozens of employees tied to work criticized by Republicans. Sadie Gurman reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Hours before IRS Commissioner Billy Long was forced out by Trump administration officials on Friday, the Internal Revenue Service clashed with the White House over using tax data to track and locate suspected undocumented migrants, sources say. Following Long’s departure, Treasury Security Scott Bessent will step in as the agency’s acting head. Jacob Bogage and Kadia Goba report for the Washington Post; Avery Lotz reports for Axios.
Less than two weeks after being removed at the White House’s direction, a senior Food and Drug Administration official is being reinstated, a health agency spokesperson said Saturday. Vinay Prasad will return as head of the senior regulator overseeing vaccines and complex treatments for disease, a role he lost following a right-wing pressure campaign. Lauren Weber and Rachel Rouebein report for the Washington Post.
Trump is preparing to tap David Rosner to be chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a decision that would put a Democrat at the head of an agency central to Trump’s agenda on pushing U.S. oil, gas, and coal, according to a White House official. Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Nuareen S. Malik report for Bloomberg Law.
Trump on Saturday said he was nominating Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the State Department and longtime political commentator at Fox News, as the next deputy representative of the United States to the U.N. Ashley Ahn reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration on Friday threatened to seize hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of patents from Harvard University, accusing the college of failing to comply with the law on federal research grants. Liam Knox and Hadriana Lowenkron report for Bloomberg Law.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
In a 2-1 decision Friday, a federal appeals court quashed Judge Boasberg’s effort to pursue criminal contempt proceedings for administration officials who he says defied his orders in March by deporting 130 Venezuelan men to an El Salvador prison. Referencing Trump-appointed Judges Gregory G. Katsas and Neomi Rao, Obama-appointed Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard wrote in dissent, “The majority does an exemplary judge a grave disservice by overstepping its bounds to upend his efforts to vindicate the judicial authority that is our shared trust.” Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO; Mark Berman reports for the Washington Post.
A federal appeals court on Saturday unanimously rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to conceal a public database of federal spending, a resource that researchers say is key to holding the administration accountable to Congress’s control over the budget. Two of the three appeals judges said the effort was an affront to Congress’s authority over spending, with the court granting a Friday deadline for the administration to put the data back online. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO.
The trial will begin today on whether the deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles violated federal law. California is asking Judge Charles Breyer to order the Trump administration to restore control of the remaining Guard troops to the state and to stop the federal government’s deployment of military forces in California. Janie Har and Olga R. Rodriguez report for AP News.
The Democracy Forward Foundation filed a lawsuit on Friday, asking a federal judge to expedite its Freedom of Information Act requests, which seek records the Justice Department and FBI have produced on Epstein in recent months. The group is also requesting documents prepared for Attorney General Pam Bondi, including briefing materials she used ahead of a May meeting with Trump, during which Bondi reportedly told the president his name appeared in the Epstein files. Zach Schonfeld reports for The Hill.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
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ICYMI: last week on Just Security
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