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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 yesterday sent a 10-point response to the proposals under discussion with the United States for ending the war, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA and U.S. officials. IRNA reported that the Iranian response was discussed internally for two weeks and sent to Pakistani mediators yesterday. It emphasizes the need for a permanent end to the war, not just a temporary ceasefire, calls for an end to Israeli strikes against Lebanon, and the lifting of all sanctions, according to two Iranian officials. A U.S. official who saw the Iranian response called it “maximalist.” President Trump told reporters that Iran’s response was “significant” but “not good enough,” keeping his Tuesday deadline in place. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Max Bearak, Farnaz Fassihi, Shirin Hakim, and Erika Solomon report for the New York Times; Reuters reports.
Trump said yesterday that “every bridge in Iran will be decimated” by midnight ET on Wednesday and “every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again.” An Iranian military spokesperson warned that Iranian operations would be “carried out much more crushingly and extensively” if attacks on “civilian targets are repeated.” Iranian officials today have called on “all young people, athletes, artists, students, and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Ephrat Livni reports for the New York Times; Bassem Mroue, Jon Gambrell, David Rising, and Samy Magdy report for AP News.
Trump yesterday threatened to force a news organization to turn over the name of an anonymous source who revealed details about the U.S. airman who went missing in Iran last week. “[Iran] didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information,” Trump said yesterday. “So whoever it was, we think we’ll be able to find it out because we’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, national security, give it up or go to jail.” Scott Nover reports for the Washington Post.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote today on a resolution led by Bahrain to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, diplomats said. The latest iteration of the resolution, seen by Reuters, drops any explicit authorization of the use of force, following opposition from China, Russia, and others. Instead, the current text “strongly encourages States interested in the use of commercial maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate efforts, defensive in nature, commensurate to the circumstances, to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of navigation across the Strait of Hormuz.” David Brunnstrom and John Irish report.
The Pentagon is expanding a list of Iranian energy sites it can target for attacks to include ones that provide fuel and power to both civilians and the military, two defense officials said, adding that this is likely a workaround if the Trump administration is accused of war crimes for striking basic infrastructure. The dual-use nature of the targets would make them legitimate, the officials said. A third source said Pentagon officials have debated where to draw the line between military and civilian targets, such as water desalination plants. Trump said yesterday that the Iranian people would welcome strikes on energy infrastructure. They “would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom,” he said. “They want us to keep bombing.” Paul McLeary and Leo Shane III report for POLITICO.
Russian satellites have made at least 24 surveys of areas in 11 Middle Eastern countries from March 21 to 31, covering 36 “objects”, including U.S. and other military bases and sites, according to an undated Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Reuters. Within days of being surveyed, military bases and headquarters were targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles, the assessment said. The conclusions also found that Russian and Iranian hackers are collaborating in the cyber domain. Tom Balmforth and John Irish report.
ISRAEL-GAZA WAR
An Israeli airstrike yesterday killed at least 10 people and wounded several others outside a school housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza, health officials said. Earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike killed one Palestinian and wounded a child as they traveled on a motorbike in Gaza City, medics said, adding that Israeli forces killed another Palestinian when they opened fire on a vehicle in central Gaza. Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa report for Reuters.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday that a contractor in Gaza was killed during a security incident, prompting the organization to suspend medical evacuations from Gaza via Rafah to Egypt until further notice. Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa report for Reuters.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Taiwanese opposition leader Cheng Li-wun is heading to China today at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, in what she has called a “journey for peace.” The visit is the first by a Taiwanese opposition leader in a decade. AP News reports.
Burkina Faso on Sunday rejected a Human Rights Watch report that said around 1,255 civilians have been killed by the military and allied militias in acts amounting to “crimes against humanity” in the three years since Ibrahim Traoré seized power. Basillioh Rukanga reports for the BBC News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Despite pledges to shift U.S. foreign aid toward smaller, local organizations, the Trump administration’s 2025 overhaul ended up sending significantly more funding to large U.S.-based contractors, according to an analysis from the Health Security Policy Academy. Stephanie Nolen reports for the New York Times.
Vice President JD Vance arrived in Hungary today for a two day trip, where he is scheduled to hold an official visit with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of Sunday’s election. Justin Spike reports for AP News.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Video footage obtained by the New York Times contradicts federal claims that two Venezuelan men, Julio C. Sosa-Celis and Alfredo A. Ajorna, assaulted an ICE agent with a snow shovel before an agent shot one of them during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. The federal government had access to the video within hours of the Jan. 14 shooting, the Minneapolis police said. Yet, prosecutors did not watch the footage until nearly three weeks after they filed charges against the two men, an official said. Those charges were later dropped as the footage and other evidence undermined the government’s account. Ernesto Londoño, Mitch Smith, Haley Willis, and Robin Stein.
Five Pennsylvania counties billed the federal government over $21 million in recent years to detain immigrants in their jails, through agreements that predate the Trump administration, according to a Spotlight PA review. Kate Hunagpu and Dnielle Ohl report for AP News.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Scammers posing as government officials cost people in the United States almost $800 million last year, according to a report from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The FBI received more than 32,000 reports of the government impersonation scheme in 2025 – a nearly 50 percent spike compared to 2024. Dana Nickel reports for POLITICO.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will sit for a transcribed interview on his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein with the House Oversight Committee on May 6, three sources told Axios. Andrew Solender reports.
The Supreme Court yesterday vacated a judgment by a federal appeals court upholding Steve Bannon’s conviction for defying a congressional subpoena related to Jan. 6, 2021. The Court has sent the case back for reconsideration in light of a motion to dismiss filed by the Justice Department two months ago. Julian Mark and Jeremy Roebuck report for the Washington Post.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Trump administration yesterday terminated multiple civil rights settlements aimed at ensuring transgender students’ rights to equal opportunity to an education. The terminations rescinded all or portions of six settlements negotiated under the Obama or Biden administrations. Education Department officials said there was no precedent for the federal government terminating previously negotiated civil rights settlements with schools. Michael C. Bender reports for the New York Times.
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ICYMI: Yesterday on Just Security
