Early Edition: November 21, 2025

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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE  

U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll presented the Trump administration’s 28-point peace plan in writing to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday. Zelenskyy said yesterday that Ukraine would engage “constructively, honestly, and operationally” on the peace plan adding that U.S. and Ukrainian teams would begin work on the “points of the plan to end the war,” without elaborating on what those were. Andrew E. Kramer and Lara Jakes report for the New York Times;  Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler report for Axios.

The United States has threatened to cut intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine to pressure it into agreeing to the 28-point plan, two sources said, adding that Kyiv was under more pressure from Washington than during any other peace discussions. The source said that the United States wanted Ukraine to sign a framework deal by next Thursday. Tom Balmforth reports for Reuters.

Trump’s 28-point plan would force Kyiv to give up additional territory in the east, cap the size of its military, and agree that it will never join NATO, according to a draft obtained by Axios and verified by a Ukrainian official and a U.S. official. A White House official said, “We believe this plan is not easy but it is good for Ukraine.”  In addition to territorial concessions, the document said there would be a “decisive coordinated military response” in the event of further Russian incursions on Ukrainian territory. Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler report.

U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg is leaving his post in January, according to a White House official. Kellogg was first tapped by Trump to lead negotiations to end the war in Ukraine shortly after the November 2024 election. However, Kellogg was soon largely shut out of peace talks as he fell out of favour with White House officials who saw him as too sympathetic to Ukraine. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov yesterday told President Vladimir Putin that Russian forces had taken control of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk. A statement from the Ukrainian military later denied the claims, stating, “Kupiansk is under the control of Ukraine’s defense forces.” Dmitry Antonov and Ksenia Orlova report for Reuters.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE 

Israeli airstrikes yesterday killed five people and wounded 18 others in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, according to local health authorities. Medics said that one strike on a house east of Khan Younis killed three people, including a baby. A Hamas spokesperson yesterday accused the Israeli military of changing the markings in Gaza that define areas still occupied by Israel, in violation of the agreed-upon maps. Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Dawoud Abu Alkas report for Reuters. 

WEST BANK VIOLENCE

Israeli forces killed two Palestinian teenagers in an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency and residents. Israeli Police said in a statement that its forces opened fire at four people who, it said, had posed an immediate threat during an operation in the Kfar Aqab area. Reuters reports.

Israel plans to seize parts of Sebastia, a major archaeological site in the West Bank, according to an Israeli government order dated November 12 obtained by AP News. The order gives Palestinians 14 days to object to the declaration. Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the site is around 450 acres and would constitute Israel’s largest seizure of archaeologically important land. In 2023, Israel announced plans to develop the site into a tourist attraction. Julia Frankel reports.

U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS

Trump’s decision to designate the alleged drug cartel, Cartel de los Soles, as a foreign terrorist organization provides the Pentagon with a “whole bunch of new options,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview aired yesterday. The Trump administration has alleged that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro leads Cartel de los Soles, which Maduro denies. Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart report for Reuters.

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Myanmar army officers told members of the Karen National Army at a meeting on Sunday that the head of the military junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, had personally ordered an immediate crackdown on online scam centers because they were severely damaging Myanmar’s international reputation, according to two sources. One military official told the KNA that they could not risk U.S. teams crossing the border to start investigations, adding “we must solve the problem ourselves.” Naw Betty Han reports for Reuters.

The International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday passed a resolution 19-3, with 12 abstentions, saying Iran must inform it “without delay” of the status of its enriched uranium stock and bombed atomic sites, diplomats said. Francois Murphy reports for Reuters.

A group of armed men early this morning abducted an unknown number of students and staff members from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, where authorities had already ordered the temporary closure of all boarding schools due to rising security threats. “The exact number of abducted pupils is yet to be confirmed as security agencies continue to assess the situation,” Niger state authorities said in a statement. Residents fear that close to 100 students and staff may have been taken away in the raid. BBC News reports.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The United States is considering “State and Treasury engagement on sanctions” and Pentagon “engagement in counterterrorism” in Nigeria as part of a plan to compel the Nigerian government to better protect Christian communities, a senior State Department official said yesterday. Reuters.

U.S. officials will now be instructed to include “infringements on human rights in foreign countries,” including arrests over free speech, state subsidization of abortions or abortion drugs, and a country’s estimated number of annual abortions, in the State Department’s annual human rights report, a senior State Department official announced yesterday. “In recent years, new destructive ideologies have given safe harbor to human rights violations. The Trump administration will not allow these human rights violations…to go unchecked,” a State Department spokesperson said. Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis report for Reuters.

“The United States and Israel have a long-standing understanding, which is that Israel maintains the qualitative edge when it comes to its defense” in the region, a spokesperson for the Israeli government told reporters yesterday when asked about the U.S. sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. U.S. officials said that the Saudi jets will not have the superior features found in Israel’s F-35s. Alexander Cornwell reports for Reuters.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

Local officials in Charlotte, N.C., yesterday said that it appeared that the federal Border Patrol operation in the city had ended. A few hours later, Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that there was no such conclusion to the operation, adding it was neither over nor “ending anytime soon.” Eduardo Medina reports for the New York Times.

A court hearing yesterday indicated that Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s prospects of being released from custody soon may depend on an order from October 2019. In the order, the judge said it was too late for him to get asylum, while also granting Abrego protection from being sent back to El Salvador. However, the judge did not explicitly order Abrego’s deportation. A ruling that Abergo’s deportation was never formally ordered could allow him to make a new asylum claim. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.

The hearing also focussed on where Abrego could be sent if he is deported. A federal judge sharply criticized the Trump administration after a senior ICE official gave uninformative and inadequate testimony about plans to deport Abrego to Costa Rica or Liberia. The judge said “today was zero in my view,” regarding the substance of his testimony, adding “this witness knew nothing. He didn’t know the meaning of the words in his own affidavit,” she said. Jacob Rosen, Melissa Quinn, and Camilo Montoya-Galvez report for CBS News.

Trump has quietly expanded immigration enforcement through joint task forces co-led by the FBI and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Unit, carrying out 140 arrests in San Antonio, Texas, last weekend. The task forces will eventually have outposts in all 50 states, but currently they are only operating in South Texas, Alaska, and Indianapolis. Brittany Gibson reports for Axios.

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

The Justice Department is probing the conduct of Justice Department Official Ed Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte for allegedly interfering with and potentially jeopardizing ongoing criminal investigations into Trump’s political foes, sources told ABC News. Sources said the DOJ and FBI are scrutinizing whether Martin and Pulte enlisted individuals outside the DOJ to probe allegations of mortgage fraud amid investigations into Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Martin is also believed to have shared sensitive grand jury information about the James case with at least one unauthorized individual. Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, and Peter Charalambous report.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

The Coast Guard yesterday denied claims made in a report by the Washington Post that it will no longer classify swastikas and noose symbols as hate symbols. Acting Coast Guard commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday called the claims “categorically false,” adding that “these symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy.” The Post had reported that the symbols were being re-classified as “potentially divisive,” citing policy documents it obtained. Filip Timotija reports for the Hill.

Trump yesterday accused a group of six Democratic lawmakers of sedition in a post on social media, adding that their behavior was “punishable by death.” The group of six lawmakers earlier this week published a video in which they told military officials, “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.” The video did not focus on a specific scenario, but the Trump administration said the lawmakers were encouraging the military to rebel against its commander in chief. The lawmakers responded to Trump with a statement, saying “what’s most telling is that the president considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law.  Shawn McCreesh reports for the New York Times.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION 

A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from maintaining more than 2,000 members of the National Guard deployed on the streets of Washington, D.C.. The judge wrote that the deployment appears to be illegal for a variety of reasons, including limits on the president’s authority to assert total control over the D.C. National Guard. The decision also prohibits the use of out of state Guards without local authorities’ consent. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.

A federal appeals court yesterday issued an administrative stay, blocking the release on bond of several hundred immigrants detained in “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago, who were set to be released today. Shia Kapos reports for POLITICO.

The Justice Department yesterday filed a lawsuit against California, claiming that “federal law prohibits aliens illegally present in the United States from receiving in-state tuition benefits that are denied to out-of-state U.S. citizens.” Qasim Nauman reports for the New York Times.