Early Edition: November 26, 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  

President Trump said yesterday that “the original 28-Point Peace Plan…has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement,” adding that he will “ONLY” meet Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin “when the deal to end the War is FINAL or, in its final stages.” Trump announced that United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff will meet with Putin next week and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold another meeting with the Ukrainians, following his talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Aamer Madhani, Isobel Koshiw, and Konstantin Toropin report for AP News.

Zelenskyy wants to meet with Trump “as soon as possible,” to finalize a joint U.S.-Ukrainian agreement on the terms for ending the war, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak told Axios. While U.S. and Ukrainian officials have agreed in principle on most aspects of the now 19-point plan, Zelenskyy wants to negotiate on the matter of territorial concessions himself with Trump, Yermak said. Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler report.

Bloomberg News yesterday reported that Steve Witkoff had a phone call last month with a senior Russian official, Yuri Ushakov, to suggest they work together on a peace plan for Ukraine and said Putin should raise the idea with Trump, giving advice on how Putin should pitch it. The White House yesterday did not dispute the veracity of the reported call transcript and praised Witkoff for his discussions with Russian officials. “It’s a standard thing,” Trump said, adding, “that’s what a dealmaker does.” Alexander Ward reports for the Wall Street Journal. 

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE 

Hamas yesterday handed over the body of a deceased Israeli hostage to Israel. After forensic testing, the Israeli government identified the body as Dror Or. The bodies of two hostages are still in Gaza. Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times. 

Heavy rain yesterday caused further flooding in Gaza, swamping the tents of thousands of Palestinians. The Palestinian Civil Defence Service said that some tents have completely washed away as floodwaters rose 40 to 50 centimetres above ground level over the past week. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said yesterday that “lifesaving humanitarian aid must enter Gaza without obstruction and at scale,” following reports from the U.N. on Monday that Israel continues to limit aid deliveries into Gaza. Reuters reports; Wafaa Shurafa and Megan Janetsky report for AP News. 

SUDANESE CIVIL WAR 

“We have presented a strong text for a truce, but neither the [Sudanese Army] nor the [Rapid Support Forces] paramilitary have formally accepted the text we put forward,” U.S. envoy Massad Boulos said yesterday. Boulos said he welcomed the RSF’s declaration on Monday that its forces would enter a unilateral ceasefire immediately and hoped it would be upheld. A spokesperson for the Sudanese government said the RSF’s announcement was a “clear political manoeuvre” meant to distract from atrocities carried out by RSF fighters. The Sudanese Army said yesterday that it had repelled an attack in the West Kordofan state. Federico Maccioni reports for Reuters. 

Médecins Sans Frontières said yesterday that it has withdrawn its staff from Zalingei Hospital in Darfur after a stretcher bearer, working for Sudan’s health ministry, was shot dead. “Our teams cannot resume humanitarian activities until the Rapid Support Forces guarantee safe conditions to protect staff and patients,” MSF Emergency Coordinator Myrian Laaroussi said. Emma Farge reports for Reuters.

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Brazil’s Supreme Court yesterday ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to start serving his 27-year sentence at a federal police facility in Brasília for overseeing a failed plot to overturn the results of the 2022 election. Ana Ionova reports for the New York Times. 

A group of 24 Nigerian girls who were abducted from their boarding school over a week ago have been released, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said yesterday. More than 250 children abducted from St Mary’s Catholic School last week are still missing. James Chater and Mayeni Jones report for BBC News. 

“We will crush all foreign interference” in Taiwan, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office told reporters today, adding “Japan’s deployment of offensive weapons in areas adjacent to China’s Taiwan region is extremely dangerous, deliberately creating regional tensions and provoking military confrontation.” Reuters reports. 

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te today announced that his government will introduce a $40 billion special budget for military spending, focussed on acquiring more weapons from the United States. “History demonstrates that compromising with aggressors ultimately brings only endless aftermaths of war and subjugation,” Lai said in his announcement. Chris Buckley and Amy Chang Chien report for the New York Times.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) meeting last week grew tense when the two began discussing whether Saudi Arabia might join the Abraham Accords, according to two U.S. officials. The sources said that MBS explained to Trump that he wanted to move forward with normalization with Israel, but he cannot do so now because Saudi public opinion is highly anti-Israel, adding that Saudi society is not ready for such a move. One source said that the conversation between the two leaders was civil but tough. Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo report for Axios. 

Zipline yesterday announced that it will receive $150 million from the State Department to expand commercial drone deliveries of blood, vaccines, and other medical supplies to Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire. The agreement, under a new pay-for-performance model, will tie the release of taxpayer funds to Zipline’s ability to negotiate expansion contracts with the governments of these five African countries. Joann Muller reports for Axios. 

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

The Justice Department yesterday acknowledged in a court filing that it was Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem who decided to proceed with the deportation of 100 Venezuelan men to a prison in El Salvador despite a judge’s order to keep them in U.S. custody. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.

Special agents at the Homeland Security Department have made fewer arrests for drug crimes and seized fewer weapons than in the previous fiscal year, with the number of arrests for civil immigration offences soaring from around 5,000 to over 94,500, according to an internal Homeland Security Investigations report reviewed by the New York Times. Hamed Aleaziz, Nicholas Nehamas, Michael H. Keller, and Alexandra Berzon report. 

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

The six Democratic lawmakers who recorded a video informing troops that they could refuse illegal orders said yesterday that they are being investigated by the FBI. The group said that the FBI had contacted the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, requesting interviews with each of them. “President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress,” the four House members who took part in the video said in a joint statement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday requested a briefing on the status of the inquiry into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) from the Department of the Navy by Dec. 10. Greg Jaffe reports for the New York Times.

Republican and Democratic attorneys general from 35 states and the District of Columbia yesterday urged congressional leaders not to block state AI laws, warning of “disastrous consequences” if the technology is left unregulated. “Every state should be able to enact and enforce its own AI regulations to protect its residents,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the effort with attorneys general in North Carolina, Utah and New Hampshire. Jody Godoy reports for Reuters.

35 former employees of the General Services Administration, who were laid off during the government shutdown, have appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board, arguing that they should have been reinstated under the spending law that ended the shutdown. The law includes a provision that reverses any layoff that occurred during the lapse in federal spending that began on Oct. 1. The Trump administration argues that the provision does not cover those whose terminations had been set in motion before the shutdown began. Eileen Sullivan reports for the New York Times. 

Former Justice Department lawyer Erez Reuveni, who was fired from the DOJ earlier this year, has joined Democracy Forward, one of the legal advocacy firms challenging the Trump administration’s approaches to immigration, benefits, and civil rights. Reuveni told the New York Times, “This is really a make-or-break moment for the rule of law, for democracy, for the rights of all people who live in this country.” Devlin Barrett reports.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

The Education Department is reviewing safety standards and “ongoing compliance issues” at the University of California, Berkeley, in response to a Nov. 10 Turning Point USA event, the department announced yesterday. The department’s Office of Federal Student Aid will investigate whether UC Berkeley violated the Clery Act, which requires higher education institutions that receive federal funding to disseminate crime data to the public, support victims of violence, and publicly outline their policies and systems for improving campus safety. Helen Coster reports for Reuters.

The U.S. Space Force has awarded about six small Golden Dome contracts to build up competing missile defense prototypes, according to two sources. The sources said that the awards went to several companies, including Northrop Grumman, True Anomaly, Lockheed Martin, and Anduril. Mike Stone reports for Reuters. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION 

A federal judge yesterday ruled that a nationwide class of individuals who were living in the United States when they were detained by immigration authorities are legally entitled to a hearing to determine whether they can be released on bond while their deportation cases proceed. The judge ruled last week that the Trump administration’s policy adopted in July of denying bond hearings to migrants during domestic enforcement operations was illegal for specific individuals. Yesterday’s decision extended her ruling nationwide. Daniel Wiessner reports for Reuters. 

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) yesterday filed a lawsuit against Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte, claiming that Pulte breached federal privacy laws by repeatedly disclosing documents intended to accuse prominent Democrats of mortgage fraud. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times. 

A coalition of 20 states, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development, seeking a court order blocking the “administration’s cuts and illegal new conditions” on the HUD’s Continuum of Care program funding. “These funds help keep tens of thousands of people from sleeping on the streets every night. I will not allow this administration to cut off these funds and put vital housing and support services at risk,” James said yesterday. Katherine Hapgood reports for POLITICO.

An education coalition yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the government’s latest attempt to dismantle the Education Department was unlawful. The lawsuit challenges the changes announced by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, which offload the management of some of the department’s functions to other federal agencies. Michael C. Bender reports for the New York Times.