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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR
Iran launched retaliatory strikes against Israel this morning, killing at least two people. This followed the killing of two Iranian leaders in Israeli airstrikes around Tehran on Tuesday. Iranian state media confirmed the deaths of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, and the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ all-volunteer Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today that Israel killed Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib, in an overnight strike in Tehran. Iran has yet to confirm his death. Christina Goldbaum and Abdi Latif Dahir report for the New York Times; Tal Shalev reports for CNN.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said yesterday that 236 health care sites have been severely damaged and 498 schools have been struck in U.S.-Israeli attacks. Ephrat Livni reports for the New York Times.
An Iraqi military spokesperson said that Iran-backed militia groups had attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad again yesterday evening. A tanker anchored near a port in the United Arab Emirates was hit by a projectile early on Tuesday, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations. This was the first strike on a ship in and around the Strait of Hormuz in five days. Ephrat Livni reports for the New York Times.
A State Department cable reviewed by the Washington Post relayed an Israeli assessment that Iran’s regime is “not cracking” and is willing to “fight to the end.” Senior Israeli officials told U.S. diplomats that Iranian protestors will “get slaughtered” if they take to the streets against their government, according to the cable circulated last week. Despite this assessment, Israeli officials said they hoped for a popular revolt and urged the United States to prepare to support protestors if that happens. John Hudson reports.
The State Department has ordered all U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide to “immediately” undertake security evaluations, citing the “ongoing and developing situation in the Middle East and the potential for spillover effects,” according to a State Department cable sent yesterday. Though similar orders have been sent in recent weeks, this appears to be the first time that all posts globally have been ordered to review their security due to the Iran war. Adam Taylor reports for the Washington Post.
About 90 ships, including oil tankers, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the outset of the war, according to maritime and trade data platforms. Iran has managed to export well above 16 million barrels of oil since the beginning of March, trade data and analytics platform Kpler estimated. Chan Ho-Him and Sheikh Saaliq report for AP News.
IRAN WAR – POLITICAL RESPONSE
“WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE” to open the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said yesterday on social media. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump claimed he was unbothered by the reluctance of NATO countries to support the war against Iran, while reiterating that the alliance is “making a very foolish mistake” by declining to help. AP News reports; Karoun Demirjian and David E. Sanger report for the New York Times; Gregory Svirnovskiy and Jacob Wendler report for POLITICO.
Joe Kent, the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, resigned yesterday, saying that the United States joined the war in Iran because of pressure from Israel rather than an imminent threat. Julian E. Barnes, Robert Draper, and Luke Broadwater report for the New York Times.
The U.N.’s World Food Program said the U.S-Israeli war on Iran threatened to drive up the number of people suffering from acute hunger by tens of millions worldwide. Shipping costs have risen 18 percent and higher oil prices are driving up the agency’s costs, according to WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau. The agency estimates that if the Middle East war goes on through June it would push another 45 million people into acute hunger. “This would take global hunger levels to an all-time record, and it’s a terrible, terrible prospect,” Skau told reporters. Nick Cumming-Bruce reports for the New York Times.
LEBANON
Israel’s military carried out several strikes in central Beirut overnight and this morning, killing at least 10 people and injuring 27 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Israel also renewed evacuation warnings for several villages in southern Lebanon this morning. The ministry said yesterday that 912 people have been killed across Lebanon. Christina Goldbaum and Abdi Latif Dahir report for the New York Times.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said today that 1 million people in Lebanon have now been displaced by the fighting. That is about a sixth of the country’s population. Rawan Sheikh Ahmad reports for the New York Times.
Israeli airstrikes since the beginning of March on residential buildings, displaced people, and healthcare workers in Lebanon raise concerns under international law and may amount to war crimes, the U.N. human rights office said yesterday. Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters.
Israel’s military yesterday said that its tank fire hit a U.N. position in southern Lebanon on March 6, wounding Ghanaian peacekeepers. “A comprehensive investigation concluded in recent days determined that the fire that hit the UNIFIL personnel was mistakenly carried out by the IDF troops that misidentified the UNIFIL troops as the source of the anti-tank fire moments earlier,” the Israeli military said in a statement to Reuters. John Irish reports.
ISRAEL-GAZA WAR
An Israeli airstrike yesterday killed at least three people in Gaza, including a child, according to local health authorities. Gaza health officials said at least 40 people have been killed by Israeli fire since the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran at the end of February. Nidal al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE
Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian and wounded another in the occupied West Bank, health officials said yesterday. The Israeli military said forces fired at three people who hurled stones at Israeli vehicles near the town of Salfit, “neutralising” two of them. Nidal al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
More than 36,000 Palestinians in the West Bank were forcibly displaced over a year by Israeli settlement expansion and associated violence, the U.N. human rights office said yesterday in a report covering 12 months to October 31, 2025. The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva responded by saying that as far as Israel was concerned, the U.N. rights office “has lost all credibility.” Jamey Keaten reports for AP News.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Medical supplies to clinics dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Sudan could run out within two weeks unless shipments are rapidly rerouted after disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East, Save the Children said yesterday. Some $600,000 worth of essential medicines are stuck in ports in Dubai, the charity said. Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge report for Reuters.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed yesterday that Nvidia is in the process of restarting manufacturing of its H200 chips for shipments to China, adding “we’ve been licensed for many customers in China” and “we have received purchase orders from many.” Ina Fried reports for Axios.
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
Joseph Humire, a top Pentagon official, yesterday told lawmakers during a House Armed Services Committee hearing that existing military operations targeting Latin American drug cartels are “just the beginning.” Humire said officials have seen a 20 percent reduction in suspected drug vessels traveling the Caribbean and a 25 percent reduction in the Eastern Pacific traffic since the start of the military operations. Leo Shane III reports for POLITICO.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
In a letter sent to Senate Republicans yesterday, White House Border Czar Tom Homan and legislative aide James Braid proposed limited changes to immigration enforcement in an effort to end the Homeland Security Department shutdown. They said the administration was open to enforcing “the use of visible officer identification” and requiring immigration officials to identify themselves and state their law enforcement agency when asked. They also wrote that the White House would limit immigration enforcement activities at “certain sensitive locations” and expand the use of body cameras. Key Democratic priorities like banning masks, requiring warrants, and establishing stricter use-of-force rules were not addressed. Michael Gold reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) yesterday issued a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi, demanding she testify before lawmakers on April 14 over her handling of the Epstein files. Jacob Wendler reports for POLITICO.
“Personally directed hostility is dangerous and it’s got to stop,” Chief Justice John Roberts said yesterday as he defended the Supreme Court. Roberts did not mention Trump directly and made an effort to frame criticism of the judiciary as emerging “from all over” and “not just any one political perspective.” Asked for a response, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the public has “always valued President Trump’s ability to freely speak his mind.” Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
The chief federal judge for the District of Columbia has ordered that the judiciary be notified when a grand jury rejects the Trump administration’s attempts to indict defendants, according to the new policy dated March 4. Judge James Boasberg said the decision was “in furtherance of the interests of consistency and transparency.” Ryan J. Reilly reports for NBC News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The U.S. government said yesterday that it had deemed Anthropic an “unacceptable risk” to national security because the start-up could disable or alter its technology to suit its own interests, rather than the country’s priorities, in a time of war, according to a court filing. Sheera Frenkel reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday nullified nearly all actions that the Trump administration took to close down Voice of America, ordering more than 1,000 full-time journalists and support staff back to work by March 23 and to resume broadcasting operations. Minho Kim reports for the New York Times.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing the Trump administration of withholding $58.6 million in reimbursements for the Second Avenue Subway project and jeopardizing the Manhattan transit expansion. Gelila Negesse reports for POLITICO.
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