Early Edition: May 7, 2026

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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 – CEASEFIRE 

Iranian officials and the Trump administration yesterday offered contradictory and rapidly changing assessments about the state of the war and peace talks. Hours after threatening more attacks, President Trump said the United States had “won” the war in Iran. Trump also said that Washington had had “very good talks” with Iran in the last 24 hours, adding “if they don’t agree [with the U.S. plan], the bombing starts.” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said his government was reviewing the U.S. plan and would “convey its views to the Pakistani side.” Another Iranian official dismissed a reported proposal to end the war as a “list of American wishes.” Leo Sands, Erica L. Green, and Caroline Houck report for the New York Times; Adam Schreck and Elena Becatoros report for AP News. 

Trump’s reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after Saudi Arabia suspended the U.S. military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials. A call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue, the officials said, forcing the president to pause “Project Freedom” to restore U.S. military access to the critical airspace. Mosheh Gains, Courtney Kube, Andrea Mitchell, Natasha Lebedeva, and Daniel Arkin report for NBC News.  

IRAN WAR – LEBANON OPERATIONS 

Israel yesterday struck Beirut for the first time since agreeing to a ceasefire last month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the action in a joint statement, saying the Israeli military targeted a commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force in the city’s southern suburbs. Reuters reports.  

IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 

French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that he had held further talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Macron added that he had encouraged Iran’s president to consider the plans by France and Britain to establish an international mission to ensure safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reports.  

France yesterday deployed its carrier strike group to the Red Sea as part of planning for its potential mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz. The deployment aims to assess the regional operational environment, expand crisis-management options to strengthen security, enable the integration of partner countries’ assets within a defensive framework consistent with international law, and help reassure maritime trade stakeholders, the French Army said. John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau report for Reuters; Thomas Adamson reports for AP News.  

Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began, hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft, and key radar, communications, and air defense equipment, according to a Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery. The amount of destruction is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government. Evan Hill, Jarrett Ley, Alex Horton, Tara Copp, and Dan Lamothe report.

The Department of Homeland Security identified the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran as a potential motive for the man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump and senior members of his administration at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, according to an intelligence assessment. The report assessed that Cole Allen had “multiple social and political grievances,” citing social media posts from Allen criticizing U.S. actions in the war. Ted Hesson, Jana Winter, and Andrew Goudsward report for Reuters.  

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR 

An Israeli air strike has killed the son of Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ chief negotiator in U.S.-mediated talks over plans for Gaza, a senior Hamas official said yesterday. The attack comes ‌as leaders ⁠of Hamas and other Palestinian factions held talks with regional mediators and the Board of Peace’s lead envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, this week in Cairo, officials said. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.  

SUDANESE CIVIL WAR 

The United Arab Emirates denied allegations by Sudan that an Emirati drone had been used in an attack on Khartoum airport on Monday, launched from Ethiopia, according to a statement by a UAE official late on Tuesday. Reuters reports. 

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR  

Three Western intelligence officials told AP News that Russia’s campaign of targeted killings has increased since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The official said Russia’s security services are now going after Russian activists and foreign supporters of Ukraine, in addition to the usual suspects like military defectors. “This campaign is not by accident or chance,” said one of them, a senior European intelligence official. “There is political authorization.” Emma Burrows and John Leicester report. 

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Pro-Kremlin lawyer Ilya Remeslo turned against Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, posting publicly that Putin should resign and be brought to justice as “a war criminal and a thief.” Following his post, Russian authorities took Remeslo to a psychiatric hospital against his will. Remeslo has now been released and is vowing to remain in Russia and continue a public anti-Putin fight. “I said from the beginning that I’m not going to stop,” Remeslo told the Washington Post. “I decided that this is the work of my life.” Catherine Belton reports.

A shipment of Ukrainian cash and gold worth around $82 million that Hungary seized earlier this year has been returned to Ukraine’s state Oschadbank, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday. Justin Spike reports for AP News.  

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Pope Leo XIV today. Asked by reporters if the breach between the United States and the Vatican is at its widest point, a senior Vatican official said: “Vatican diplomacy wouldn’t say that, but in formal terms, I think it’s fairly obvious.” The official added that “there is a rhetorical tension that could discourage conversation – a theatrical conflict that we can still move past very quickly.” Anthony Faiola and Stefano Pitrelli report for the Washington Post. 

TECH DEVELOPMENTS

Washington and Beijing are considering official discussions on AI ahead of the upcoming summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading the U.S side for the proposed discussions, while Beijing has not yet designated its counterpart. Lingling Wei reports.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS

The Trump administration is abandoning the accelerated training program it used to quickly deploy thousands of new ICE agents hired in recent months, according to two administration officials and another source. The Department of Homeland Security denied it had reduced training for deportation officers at all, regardless of when they were hired. The DHS also plans to certify and dispatch veteran officers to the field to give those hired under the fast-track program additional instruction, the officials added. Myah Ward, Jordain Carney, and Daniel Lipman report for POLITICO.  

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

The FBI is reportedly investigating a leak connected to an April article by The Atlantic journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick that detailed concerns about FBI Director Kash Patel, including alleged intoxication and unexplained absences. The FBI denies that any such investigation exists. Matt Viser reports for The Atlantic.  

The FBI yesterday raided the Portsmouth offices and a cannabis retail business co-owned by Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D), as part of an ongoing corruption investigation, according to two federal law enforcement officials. The specifics of the probe remain unclear, though the officials said it involved allegations of bribery related to the cannabis dispensary. One official said the investigation began during the Biden administration. In a statement yesterday evening, Lucas suggested the investigation was politically motivated and cited her recent push to have Virginia redraw its congressional districts. Gregory S. Schneider, Perry Stein, and Jeremy Roebuck report for the Washington Post.  

Tennessee Republicans yesterday unveiled a proposed congressional map that slices into the state’s majority-Black district and will likely secure them an all-GOP federal delegation. The plan is supported by Republican leadership in both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly and is expected to pass today. Samuel Benson reports for POLITICO.  

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick yesterday testified in front of the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), a House Oversight Committee member, said Lutnick could not remember why he went to Epstein’s home on an island in the Caribbean in 2012, which Subramanyam called “mind-boggling.” Mariana Alfaro and Maegan Vazquez report for the Washington Post. 

A judge yesterday unsealed a suicide note purportedly written by Epstein in July 2019 from the New York jail where he was held while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. “They investigated me for month – FOUND NOTHING!!!” the note reads. “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye,” the note continues. “Watcha want me to do – Bust out cryin!! NO FUN – NOT WORTH IT!!” Erica Orden reports for POLITICO.  

The Justice Department announced yesterday that an investigation found that the medical school at the University of California violated federal anti-discrimination laws with admissions policies that favored Black and Hispanic applicants with lower qualifications than White and Asian students. The review stems from a 2023 Supreme Court decision that overturned race-conscious admissions, which the Trump administration has narrowly interpreted. Michael C. Bender and Alan Blinder report for the New York Times.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

Trump yesterday signed a new counterterrorism strategy that places drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere and loosely defined “left-wing” domestic extremist movements at the center of U.S. national security priorities. The strategy expands the traditional definition of terrorism to include transnational criminal organizations and “violence-secular political groups” like Antifa. Nick Popli reports for Time. 

The Ben Franklin Fellowship, an invite-only, Washington-based, conservative group, is helping the State Department identify and recruit diplomats aligned with Trump’s ideology, while also dismantling diversity-focused hiring practices, critics say. Supporters argue the fellowship is restoring merit-based advancement and supporting an “America First” agenda. Michael Crowley and Edward Wong report for the New York Times.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION 

A federal appeals court yesterday ruled that ICE cannot broadly detain undocumented immigrants without bond hearings. “Simply put, the language that Congress has chosen to use does not grant to the Executive unfettered authority to detain, without the possibility of bond, every unadmitted alien present in the country,” Judge Stanley Marcus wrote. Judge Barbara Lagoa, a Trump appointee, dissented from the panel’s decision. Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.  

A federal judge yesterday ruled that the federal government does not have to return the 2020 election ballots from Georgia’s Fulton County that were seized by the FBI from a warehouse near Atlanta. Kate Brumback reports for AP News.  

The Justice Department yesterday filed a lawsuit against Colorado over a state law banning high-capacity ammunition magazines. It was the second lawsuit in two days that the Trump administration has filed against gun-control policies in the Democratic-led state. In the suits filed this week, the DOJ argued that the gun-control laws violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Jack Healy reports for the New York Times. 

Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.

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ICYMI: Yesterday on Just Security