Early Edition: February 25, 2026

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

IRAN

The United States sent a group of F-22 Raptor jets from their station in the United Kingdom to Israel yesterday, according to a U.S. official and another source. Videos and photos captured by plane spotters show a dozen F-22s taking off yesterday. The move contributes to the U.S. military buildup in the Middle East amid discussion of potential strikes against Iran. Christoph Koettl, Aaron Boxerman, Sanjana Varghese, and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times. 

The U.S. military has moved more than 150 aircraft to bases in Europe and the Middle East since the second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran ended on Feb. 17, according to flight tracking data and satellite imagery reviewed by the Washington Post. Experts said it has surpassed the military buildup that was seen before the U.S. strikes against the Iranian nuclear program last year. Meg Kelly and Imogen Piper report.

The CIA yesterday offered help to potential informants in Iran, providing Farsi-language instructions on ways to safely contact the agency through posts on X, Instagram, and YouTube. David Klepper reports for AP News.  

ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR- CEASEFIRE 

Lebanon has “received signs” that Israel could attack civilian infrastructure in Beirut, including its airport, if Hezbollah launches fresh attacks, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told reporters. Rajji added that his government has urged Hezbollah not to intervene if the United States attacks Iran. Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper reports for the Financial Times.   

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

The U.S. State Department told the Ukrainian government to refrain from hitting U.S. interests following a Ukrainian attack on the Russian port of Novorossiysk, Kyiv’s ambassador to Washington Olha Stefanishyna said yesterday. She described the message as a formal, official message, but declined to elaborate on how it was received. “This reach-out was not related to encouraging Ukraine from refraining to attack Russian military and energy infrastructure. It was related to the very fact that American economic interest was affected there.” Andrea Shalal reports for Reuters. 

South Africa said yesterday that 11 of 17 men who were lured into fighting for Russia in the war in Ukraine were set to return home soon, adding that four landed back in South Africa last week. A further two remain in Russia, with one in hospital in Moscow, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement. The 17 men sent distress calls to the South African government in November after getting trapped in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Reuters reports. 

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR 

Seventeen international aid groups said yesterday that they have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to allow them to keep working in Gaza, where Israel is set to ban them from March 1 for refusing to comply with new rules. The groups have applied for an urgent interim order that would halt the process until a final ruling, according to a joint statement. The statement said that stopping the groups’ activities will lead to a “humanitarian collapse and irreparable harm” for hundreds of thousands of people in need. Sam Mednick reports for AP News.  

WEST BANK VIOLENCE

The United States will provide on-site passport services this week to U.S. citizens in Efrat, a settlement in the occupied West Bank, U.S. officials said yesterday. This is the first time that U.S. consular officials have offered such services to settlers in the West Bank. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said it would plan similar on-site services in Ramallah, the settlement of Beitar Illit, and other cities within Israel such as Haifa. Rami Ayyub reports for Reuters.  

MEXICO 

After Mexican forces killed cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes on Sunday, false accounts of spectacular violence swept across social media. While unrest did break out across many parts of Mexico, false online reports showed that Guadalajara airport had been taken over by assassins and smoke billowed from a church and multiple buildings in the city of Puerto Vallarta. Researchers said this was part of a coordinated propaganda campaign by organized crime groups to undermine the Mexican government. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said authorities were working quickly to refute misinformation and that there were “many, many fake news stories” circulating in the wake of the El Mencho killing. Laura Gottesdiener and Stefanie Eschenbacher report for Reuters.  

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Chinese President Xi Jinping has removed around 100 of his top generals since 2022, hollowing out nearly half the senior leadership of the People’s Liberation Army, according to a new study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies released yesterday. “In the near term, given the significant vacancies, it would be incredibly difficult for China to launch large military campaigns against Taiwan,” Bonny Lin, the director of the China Power Project at CSIS said. Chris Buckley reports for the New York Times. 

China yesterday restricted exports to 40 Japanese entities it says are contributing to Japan’s “remilitarization.” 20 companies placed on the export control list will not be able to import dual-use goods, which can be used for civilian and military purposes. 20 other companies have been placed on a separate watchlist, requiring Chinese exporters to submit individual export license applications, a risk assessment, and a written pledge that the dual-use items will not be used in Japan’s military. Simina Mistreanu reports for AP News. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to arrive in Israel today for a two-day visit focused on strengthening security, economic and technological cooperation between the two countries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to himself and Modi as “personal friends” when he announced the visit earlier this week. AP News reports. 

About 6.5 million people in Somalia face acute hunger due to drought, the Somali government and the U.N. announced yesterday. “The drought… has deepened alarmingly, with soaring water prices, limited food supplies, dying livestock, and very little humanitarian funding,” George Conway, the U.N.’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement. Reuters reports. 

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS  

The U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner yesterday called French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to ease tensions after skipping a summons on Monday over social media posts about the killing of far-right activist Quentin Deranque. Barrot had said early on Tuesday that Kushner’s no-show would limit the ambassador’s ability to serve in France. Following this, Kushner called the minister and they agreed to meet in the coming days, Kushner’s office said. NPR reports.  

The United States yesterday issued cyber-related sanctions against four people and three entities, including some based in Russia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Treasury Department website. The entities and people were targeted “for their acquisition and distribution of cyber tools harmful to U.S. national security,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. Reuters reports.

Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty yesterday said there has been a 13 percent increase in new recruits to the Canadian Armed Forces in the past eight months. “They’re very engaged in the project called ‘Canada’ right now. I think they want to make sure that Canada remains a secure and sovereign country,” McGuinty said. Mike Blanchfield reports for POLITICO.  

U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS

U.S. military forces seized a third sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from Caribbean waters, the Pentagon said yesterday. Reuters reports.  

Venezuela’s National Assembly announced yesterday that over 3,200 people have been fully released since the amnesty law took effect last week. This includes former detainees, those previously under house arrest, and those with other restrictive measures. Venezuelan lawmaker Jorge Arreaza said of the 3,200 people, 179 were released from prison.  Venezuela-based rights group Foro Penal said yesterday it has verified only 91 political releases from prison since the law took effect. AP News reports. 

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

18 Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops from U.S. border states yesterday issued a statement urging Congress and the Trump administration to make specific policy changes on the treatment of migrants. Their list of demands includes honoring the right to apply for asylum at the border, halting intimidating enforcement tactics, and protecting access to schools and houses of worship. Elizabeth Dias reports for the New York Times.  

The Trump administration has abandoned plans to build an ICE facility in New Hampshire, Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) announced yesterday. This comes amid complaints from several Republicans opposing efforts to open immigration detention centers in their home states. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO. 

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

Trump yesterday delivered the longest State of the Union address in U.S. history. Trump emphasised his administration’s success on crime, immigration, and the economy, while introducing few new policies. Trump also repeatedly attacked the Democrats, calling them anti-American and unelectable. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) delivered the Democrats formal response to Trump’s speech, accusing him of dividing the country. Tyler Pager and Luke Broadwater report for the New York Times

A full transcript of Trump’s State of the Union address is provided by AP News. NPR has prepared an annotated fact-check of Trump’s speech. 

Roughly half of congressional Democrats boycotted the event and instead many gathered at a protest rally outside the Capitol. Others, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), loudly protested throughout Trump’s speech, shouting out attacks such as “you have killed Americans” in reference to the nationwide immigration crackdown. Axios counted 20 Senate Democrats and just under 110 House Democrats in the chamber at the start of Trump’s speech. Megan Mineiro reports for the New York Times; Jacob Wendler reports for POLITICO; Andrew Solender reports. 

Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S Courts Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr yesterday urged lawmakers to give courts the power to build and operate their courthouses, explaining that “federal courthouses are in crisis.” The urgent letter sent to Congress notes that the General Services Administration, the body that currently handles such tasks, eliminated almost half of its staff in recent months, creating security and safety risks by leaving no one on site at many courthouses to address hazards and urgent repairs. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.  

A federal judge in Minnesota on Monday dismissed with prejudice a federal gun charge against Tavon T. Timberlake, ruling that prosecutors violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial amid missed deadlines. A court filing by the federal prosecutors said that factors such as staff shortages had prevented their office from meeting a deadline in the gun case. The Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office has been strained by resignations and a surge of immigration-related cases.  The defendant’s attorney called the dismissal “very unusual.” Ernesto Londono and Mitch Smith report for the New York Times. 

Senate Democrats yesterday blocked a spending bill to reopen the Homeland Security Department, insisting that any such measure must include new curbs on immigration enforcement. The Senate voted 50-45, failing to draw the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. Catie Edmondson reports for the New York Times.  

The House of Representatives yesterday voted 264-133, narrowly rejecting the bipartisan ROTOR Act, an aviation safety bill requiring expanded use of ADS-B tracking technology, after the Pentagon withdrew support citing national security and budget concerns. Joel Rose reports for NPR. 

An NPR investigation found that the Justice Department withheld certain Epstein files tied to allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor, including more than 50 pages of FBI interview records with the accuser. Declining to answer questions about these specific files, the DOJ has said unpublished materials are privileged, duplicative, or under review. Stephen Fowler reports.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei until Friday evening to open the company’s AI technology for unrestricted use or risk losing its government contract, a source said. Defense officials warned they could designate Anthropic a supply chain risk or use the Defense Production Act to give the military more authority to use Anthropic’s products without approval, a senior Pentagon official and another source said. The source said that Amodei did not budge on two key issues during the meeting – fully autonomous military targeting operations and domestic surveillance of U.S. citizens. Matt O’Brien, Konstantin Toropin, and David Klepper report for AP News; Dave Lawler and Maria Curi report for Axios.

Hegseth is appealing a judge’s order that blocks him from punishing Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) for participating in a video that called on members of the U.S. military and intelligence communities to resist unlawful orders, according to a court filing yesterday. Micheal Kunzelman reports for AP News.  

The Trump administration is weighing a possible executive order or other action that would require banks to collect citizenship information from customers, according to several sources. Discussions about the potential order have alarmed banks, which have lobbied the Treasury Department and questioned the legal basis for the proposal, some sources said. Dylan Tokar and Natalie Andrews report for the Wall Street Journal. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION

A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s request to search through a Washington Post reporter’s electronic devices as part of a national security leak investigation, ruling instead that the court would conduct a search. “Given the documented reporting on government leak investigations and the government’s well chronicled efforts to stop them, allowing the government’s filter team to search a reporter’s work product — most of which consists of unrelated information from confidential sources — is the equivalent of leaving the government’s fox in charge of the Washington Post’s henhouse,” the judge wrote. Perry Stein reports for the Washington Post. 

The Justice Department yesterday filed a lawsuit against the University of California alleging that it allowed antisemitism to go unchecked at UCLA during protests over the war in Gaza. Eric He reports for POLITICO. 

The Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit to overturn Gov. Mikie Sherill’s (D-NJ) executive order limiting ICE agents’ presence on state-owned property, arguing it violates the Constitution’s supremacy clause. Matt Friedman reports for POLITICO.