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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Pakistan bombed Taliban government forces in Afghanistan’s major cities overnight, including its capital Kabul and the city of Kandahar. “Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and [Afghanistan],” Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said this morning. This is the first time that Islamabad has attacked the Taliban directly rather than militants allegedly backed by them. The strikes came hours after Afghan troops had attacked Pakistani border positions late on Thursday to retaliate for Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas on Sunday. Both sides reported heavy losses, issuing sharply differing figures that Reuters could not independently verify. Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Asif Shahzad report; Abdul Qahar Afghan and Munir Ahmed report for the Washington Post; Elian Peltier and Saifullah Padshah report for the New York Times.
7,667 people died or went missing last year on migration routes, such as crossing the Mediterranean Sea and Horn of Africa, the International Organization for Migration said yesterday. IOM added that the real death toll is likely far higher as cuts in funding have hit humanitarian access and tracking of deaths. Amina Ismail reports for Reuters.
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have found two mass graves with at least 171 dead bodies in part of eastern DRC that the M-23 rebel group has recently withdrawn from, according to the Governor of South-Kivu, Jean-Jacques Purusi. Jean-Yves Kamale and Mark Banchereau report for AP News.
World Economic Forum CEO Borge Brende said yesterday that he would resign following an independent investigation by the WEF into his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Amelia Nierenberg reports for the New York Times.
IRAN
Iran and the United States concluded a six-hour round of negotiations in Geneva yesterday without a diplomatic breakthrough. Iranian officials and Omani mediators said the two sides had agreed to continue talking next week in an effort to avert war. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al Busaidi said on social media that significant progress had taken place, without offering further details. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “more than ever there is seriousness on both sides to reach a deal.” One source said that the U.S. side was “disappointed” by the Iranian position during the morning session. A senior U.S. official said the talks were “positive.” Farnaz Fassihi and David. E. Sanger report for the New York Times; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
With a potential U.S. strike on Iran looming, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee emailed the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem this morning urging staff to leave Israel immediately if they wish, citing an “authorized departure” for nonessential personnel due to safety concerns. Natan Odenheimer and David M. Halbfinger report for the New York Times.
China has advised its citizens to avoid travelling to Iran and urged those in the country to evacuate as soon as possible, citing the security situation, state news agency Xinhua reported today. Reuters reports.
President Trump’s claim in his State of the Union address that Iran was “working on missiles that will soon reach” the United States is not backed by U.S. intelligence reports, according to three sources. Two of the sources said there have been no changes to an unclassified 2025 U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that Iran could take until 2035 to develop a “militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile” from its existing satellite-lofting space-launch vehicles. Jonathan Landay, Humeyra Pamuk, and Gram Slattery report for Reuters.
Vice President JD Vance told the Washington Post yesterday that there is “no chance” that the United States would be drawn into a prolonged war in the Middle East if Trump authorizes strikes on Iran. While acknowledging that military action in Iran remains possible, Vance said that Trump is being careful to avoid repeating past mistakes like the Iraq War. Natalie Allison reports.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced yesterday that they will force a vote in the coming days on their War Powers Resolution to ensure any military action against Iran is explicitly authorized by Congress. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and his leadership also announced they will compel a vote next week. Connor O’Brien and Meredith Lee Hill report for POLITICO.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli airstrikes yesterday killed eight people in Gaza, according to health officials and the Israeli military. Reuters reports.
SUDANESE CIVIL WAR
Attacks carried out by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces paramilitary on the town of Misteriha in recent days have killed at least 28 people, wounded 39, and displaced more than 3,000 residents, the Sudan Doctors Network said today. Fatma Khaled reports for AP News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
State Department officials on Tuesday warned Syrian Communications Minister Abdulsalam Haykal against relying on Chinese technology in Syria’s telecommunication sector, arguing that it conflicts with U.S. interests and threatens U.S. national security, three sources said. A U.S diplomat said that the State Department “clearly urged Syrians to use American technology or technology from allied countries in the telecoms sector.” Syrian officials said infrastructure development projects were time-critical and that Damascus was seeking greater vendor diversity, according to one of the sources. Feras Dalatey reports for Reuters.
First lady Melania Trump will preside over a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday, the U.N. said yesterday. Her office said that the meeting will “emphasize education’s role in advancing tolerance and world peace.” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
The Cuban authorities yesterday identified those aboard the Florida-registered speedboat, which they say was meant to “carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.” Cuban officials initially mistakenly identified Miami-based activist Robert Azcorra Consuegra as a participant. At least two of the men, including one who died, were U.S. citizens, one was on a fiancé visa, and the others were believed to be legal permanent residents in the United States, according to a U.S. official. Frances Robles and Patricia Mazzei report for the New York Times.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The United States aims to process 4,500 refugee applications per month for white South Africans, according to a U.S. contracting document. The document states that trailers are being installed on U.S. embassy property in Pretoria to support the effort, explaining that due to the urgency of the situation there was no competitive bidding process for the contract. Ted Hesson and Nellie Peyton report for Reuters.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acknowledged in a letter to Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) that DHS detained 261 recipients of Deferred Action for Child Arrivals and deported 86 of them. Eric Bazail-Eimil reports for POLITICO.
The chief federal judge in Minnesota yesterday identified 210 orders issued in 143 cases in which he said ICE officials had not complied with court orders. The order states that “one way or another, ICE will comply with this court’s orders,” threatening to hold government officials in criminal contempt if the pattern continues. “The court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt – again and again and again – to force the United States government to comply with court orders,” the judge said. Mitch Smith, Ernesto Londono, and Mattathias Schwartz report for the New York Times.
Federal prosecutor Robert E. McGuire yesterday testified that he alone decided to indict Kilmar Abrego Garcia after his wrongful deportation to El Salvador, denying that the Trump administration forced his hand, even as internal emails showed senior Justice Department officials closely monitoring and pressing the case. The hearing was examining whether the charges were filed vindictively amid political attacks on Abrego Garcia. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) yesterday announced that federal immigration agents are banned from city property, while also mandating Denver law enforcement to protect protestors. Johnston issued the ban via an executive order. Ryan Mancini reports for The Hill.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Federal Reserve, in sealed proceedings, is asking a judge to quash a pair of subpoenas issued as part of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s criminal investigation into Chair Jerome Powell, according to sources. C. Ryan Barber, Sadie Gurman, and Nick Timiraos report for the Wall Street Journal.
Hillary Clinton yesterday denied ever meeting Epstein or knowing anything about his crimes in her closed-door deposition in front of the House Oversight Committee. Annie Karni reports for the New York Times.
A Miami-based U.S. attorney, Jason A. Reding Quiñones, has expanded a criminal inquiry into former law enforcement and intelligence officials who investigated Trump, issuing new subpoenas related to the FBI’s probe into ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia and the 2020 election interference case. Charlie Savage reports for the New York Times.
The Kansas state government yesterday invalidated the driver’s licenses and birth certificates of transgender residents who changed the gender on those documents, in accordance with a new law. The law also requires transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in buildings owned or leased by government entities that match their sex assigned at birth. Helen Coster reports for Reuters.
Brady Tkachuk, captain of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and member of the U.S. Olympic ice hockey team, denounced an AI-generated White House video that falsely showed him insulting Canada, emphasizing that it was not his voice or words. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The U.S. military yesterday used a laser to shoot down a “seemingly threatening” drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border which turned out to belong to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said.The incident prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to close additional airspace around Fort Hancock. It was the second time in two weeks that a laser was fired in the area and resulted in a shut down of air traffic. This time the closure was smaller and commercial flights were not affected. Josh Funk and Konstantin Toropin report for AP News.
“We cannot in good conscience accede to [the Pentagon’s] request,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said yesterday, ahead of today’s 5pm deadline. “The contract language we received overnight from the Department of War made virtually no progress on preventing Claude’s use for mass surveillance of Americans nor fully autonomous weapons,” Amodei added. Maria Curi and Dave Lawler report for Axios.
Madhu Gottumukkala, the former acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has been reassigned as DHS’s director of strategic implementation. Nick Anderson, CISA’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, will serve as acting director while the agency awaits a Senate-confirmed leader. Dana Nickel, Maggie Miller, and John Sakellariadis report for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge has again refused to block Trump’s White House ballroom construction plans. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
The Trump administration yesterday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to end Temporary Protected Status for thousands of migrants from Syria. Ann E. Marimow reports for the New York Times.
The Justice Department yesterday filed a lawsuit against five additional states, demanding they share election data with the Trump administration. Jacob Wendler reports for POLITICO.
The family of U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the Trump administration, challenging the sanctions that the U.S. government imposed against her over her support for the prosecution of Israeli leaders and international companies involved in the war in Gaza. John Yoon reports for the New York Times.
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