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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S.-CHINA SUMMIT
President Trump returned from two days of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing with limited economic deliverables but no major breakthrough on the broader U.S.-China strategic standoff. Reuters reports that the summit produced modest commercial and trade commitments but no public Chinese commitment to help end the Iran war, leaving disputes over Beijing’s trade practices, military posture, and technology access largely unresolved. Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, David Lawder, and Mei Mei Chu report for Reuters.
The White House released additional details Sunday on trade understandings reached after Trump’s Beijing summit with Xi, saying China agreed to buy at least $17 billion per year in U.S. agricultural products in 2026, 2027, and 2028, with this year’s amount prorated. A White House fact sheet also said China approved an initial purchase of 200 Boeing aircraft and moved to expand market access for U.S. beef and poultry, though the New York Times reports that key details remain unclear, including what Washington offered Beijing in return. Tony Romm reports for the New York Times.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday that China’s agreement to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft is “locked in,” while saying further details on aircraft, engine, and agricultural purchases would be released in the coming days. Greer’s comments came after China described the summit trade understandings as preliminary and amid continued questions over the concrete deliverables from Trump’s meetings with Xi. Tony Romm reports for the New York Times.
China’s Commerce Ministry said Saturday that tariff, agriculture, and aircraft agreements reached during Trump’s Beijing summit with Xi remain “preliminary,” with key details on timelines, volumes, and values still unresolved. The ministry confirmed talks on reciprocal product-specific tariff reductions, agricultural market access, Chinese purchases of U.S. aircraft, and U.S. assurances on aircraft-engine and parts supplies to China. Eduardo Baptista reports for Reuters.
Trump said Friday that Xi had agreed Iran should reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though Beijing gave no indication it would publicly press Tehran to do so. Trevor Hunnicutt and Jana Choukeir report for Reuters.
Trump said Friday he was considering lifting U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies that buy Iranian oil, a potentially significant step given China’s role as Iran’s largest oil customer. Trevor Hunnicutt reports for Reuters.
IRAN WAR – LEBANON OPERATIONS
Israel and Lebanon agreed Friday to extend for 45 days the April 16 cessation of hostilities that has reduced fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, after two days of U.S.-facilitated talks in Washington. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the extension was intended to allow further progress and that additional meetings would be held in coming weeks, but Israeli strikes and Hezbollah attacks continued through the weekend. Simon Lewis reports for Reuters.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon killed 2,969 people and wounded 9,112 between March 2 and May 16, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Saturday in its latest cumulative toll. Lebanese Economy Minister Amer Bisat said the hostilities have cost the country up to $2 billion, roughly 7 per cent of GDP. Bisat said the economic damage includes job losses, disrupted farm production, manufacturing closures, and lost tourism. Al Jazeera reports.
Hezbollah claimed Saturday that it targeted Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, including a drone strike on soldiers in Khiam and a strike on an Israeli military vehicle in Taybeh town square. The group said the attacks were in response to Israeli ceasefire violations and attacks on Lebanese villages, but did not provide confirmed casualty details. Al Jazeera reports.
Hezbollah claimed Sunday that its fighters detonated explosive booby traps against two Israeli military bulldozers attempting to advance from Rashaf toward Hadatha, and separately targeted Israeli vehicles and soldiers near Hadatha with rockets. The Israeli military said a suspected aerial target fell near troops in southern Lebanon after sirens sounded in northern Israel’s Misgav Am area, and reported no casualties. Al Jazeera reports.
IRAN WAR – STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council announced a new Persian Gulf Strait Authority to manage Strait of Hormuz operations, as Tehran prepares to release a traffic-management plan that may include tolls. The council shared a post saying the authority would provide “real-time updates on the Hormuz Strait operations and latest developments.” The Guardian reports; Times of Israel reporting.
Iran will no longer allow “enemy” military equipment to transit the Strait of Hormuz, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Sunday, invoking what he described as Tehran’s sovereign rights over the waterway. Aref said Iran had previously allowed weapons “intended to be used against us” to pass through the strait but “will not permit that again.” Al Jazeera reports.
Iraq exported 10 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in April, down from about 93 million barrels a month before the Iran war, Iraq’s new oil minister, Basim Mohammed, said Saturday. Mohammed said shipments remain constrained because tankers are avoiding the strait over insurance concerns. Muayad Hameed reports for Reuters.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday that reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on a “permanent and comprehensive ceasefire” between Washington and Tehran. Russia endorsed Beijing’s position, with Moscow’s Vienna-based envoy Mikhail Ulyanov saying Russia “fully shares” China’s view that a lasting ceasefire is the route to reopening the waterway. Al Jazeera reports.
IRAN WAR – THE GULF
Pakistan has deployed about 8,000 troops, a fighter-jet squadron, drones, and a Chinese HQ-9 air-defense system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual-defense pact, Reuters reports, citing three security officials and two government sources. The sources said the Saudi-financed deployment is operated by Pakistani personnel and intended to support the kingdom if it comes under further attack, even as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war. Asif Shahzad, Saad Sayeed, and Mubasher Bukhari report.
A drone hit an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region on Sunday, sparking a fire but causing no reported injuries, abnormal radiation levels, or radioactive release, Emirati authorities said. The UAE Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted two other drones and that the third struck near the plant after being launched from the “western border,” while officials said they were investigating the source of the attack and did not publicly blame any country. The International Atomic Energy Agency said emergency diesel generators temporarily powered one reactor, and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi expressed “grave concern” and urged “maximum military restraint” near nuclear facilities. Tala Ramadan reports for Reuters; Al Jazeera reports.
Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed three drones that entered its airspace from Iraq on Sunday. The Saudi Defense Ministry said the kingdom would take necessary operational measures against any attempt to violate its sovereignty or security. Tala Ramadan reports for Reuters. Tala Ramadan reports for Reuters.
IRAN WAR – U.S. DEVELOPMENTS
President Trump threatened Iran on Sunday with consequences if its leaders do not move quickly toward a deal, writing on Truth Social that “the Clock is Ticking” and “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.” Trump said Iran should “get moving, FAST” or “there won’t be anything left of them.” Katharine Jackson reports for Reuters.
Trump separately posted an apparently AI-generated image on Truth Social reading “It Was The Calm Before The Storm,” showing him pointing at the camera amid warships and vessels flying Iranian flags. Times of Israel reports.
Seventy-eight commercial ships have been redirected and four vessels disabled “to ensure compliance” during U.S. enforcement of the maritime blockade against Iran, U.S. Central Command said Saturday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday he would urge G7 finance ministers to follow a sanctions regime aimed at cutting off financing to what he described as Iran’s “war machine.” Bessent made the comments as G7 finance chiefs met in Paris amid economic pressure from the Iran war and higher energy prices. Reuters reports.
IRAN WAR – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Pakistan has shared with the United States a revised Iranian proposal to end the Middle East conflict, a Pakistani source told Reuters on Monday, as negotiations remained stalled. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed Tehran’s views had been conveyed to Washington through Pakistan, while Reuters reported that unresolved issues include Iran’s nuclear program, its control of the Strait of Hormuz, demands for an end to the war on all fronts, compensation for war damage, an end to the U.S. naval blockade, guarantees against further attacks, and resumed Iranian oil sales. Saad Sayeed reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks Saturday with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed on the Iran conflict, with the Kremlin saying both leaders emphasized continued diplomacy toward “compromise-based peace agreements.” Putin also thanked the UAE for its support on humanitarian issues related to the war in Ukraine. Times of Israel reports; Al Jazeera reports.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Israel operated at least two covert military outposts in Iraq’s western desert to support operations against Iran, including a site near al-Nukhaib that was being prepared as early as late 2024 and used during the June 2025 war against Iran, the New York Times reports. The Times, expanding on earlier reporting about a secret Israeli base in Iraq, reports the now-inoperative al-Nukhaib site supported air operations, refueling, and medical treatment by shortening Israeli flight distances to Iran, and that Washington knew about the al-Nukhaib site by June 2025 or earlier. Iraqi officials said the United States had compelled Iraq to shut down radars during both the 2025 war and the current conflict, increasing Baghdad’s reliance on U.S. detection systems. The precise location and current status of the second western-desert outpost remain unclear. Erika Solomon and Falih Hassan report.
The Iran war has cost global companies at least $25 billion so far, according to a Reuters analysis of disclosures from 279 listed companies in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Companies have cited higher energy and shipping costs, supply-chain disruptions, price increases, production cuts, dividend or buyback suspensions, furloughs, fuel surcharges, and emergency government-assistance requests. Reuters reports that airlines, chemicals, consumer goods, oil and gas, and auto companies are among the hardest hit, with Europe and Asia especially exposed to higher oil prices and disrupted Middle East trade routes. Medha Singh, Deborah Mary Sophia, and Bernadette Hogg report.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck what it described as U.S.- and Israeli-backed “counter-revolutionary terrorist groups” in Iran’s Kurdistan province, alleging they were trying to smuggle sealed American weapons and ammunition from northern Iraq into Iran. The IRGC’s Hamzeh Sayyed al-Shuhada Command said a large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency. Al Jazeera reports.
Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, has processed at least $2.3 billion since 2023 through Tron and BNB Chain, blockchain networks established by crypto figures who later became prominent backers of the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial venture, Reuters reports. Reuters says Nobitex has been used by sanctioned Iranian institutions, including Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while noting there is no suggestion the Trump family knew of Nobitex’s use of the networks and that World Liberty said it has no relationship with Nobitex and follows U.S. law. Tom Wilson and Gavin Finch report.
INSIDE IRAN: REPRESSION AND EXECUTIONS
Iran executed at least 2,159 people in 2025, more than double its 2024 total and the highest figure Amnesty International has recorded for the country since 1981, Amnesty said Monday in its annual death penalty report. The report said Iranian authorities intensified use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression and control, including after the June 2025 war with Israel, with at least 11 men executed on spying-for-Israel charges after the conflict began. The group said drug-related offences accounted for 998 of Iran’s recorded executions, while Kurdish, Baluchi, and Afghan communities were disproportionately affected.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Izz al-Din al-Haddad, Hamas’s military chief in Gaza, was killed Friday in an Israeli airstrike, making him the most senior Hamas official killed by Israel since the October U.S.-backed ceasefire. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed at least 72,769 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, including six people over the previous 24 hours and 877 since the October 2025 ceasefire began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. At least 40 others were injured in the latest reporting period, the ministry said. The Guardian reports; Al Jazeera reports.
Israeli attacks in Gaza killed at least 10 Palestinians across Friday and Saturday, according to local medics and health officials. Medics said seven people, including three women and a child, were killed in at least two attacks Friday, while separate Israeli strikes Saturday killed two men near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and one person in Jabalia refugee camp. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters; Al Jazeera reports.
Israeli forces launched attacks across Gaza on Sunday, with WAFA reporting artillery fire in eastern and southern Khan Younis, heavy shelling east of Al-Bureij refugee camp, and Israeli naval fire toward Gaza City’s coast. Al Jazeera reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine launched its biggest overnight drone attack on Moscow in more than a year late Saturday into Sunday, killing at least four people in Russia, including three in the Moscow region and one in Belgorod, Russian local officials said. Russia’s defense ministry said more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones were downed nationwide over 24 hours, while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses destroyed 81 drones headed for the capital since midnight Sunday. Sobyanin said 12 people were wounded near Moscow’s oil refinery and three houses were damaged, while the Moscow region governor reported deaths in Khimki and Pogorelki and damage to residential high-rises and infrastructure. Reuters reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made adult residents of Moldova’s Moscow-backed separatist Transnistria region eligible for simplified Russian citizenship under a decree published Sunday. Moldovan President Maia Sandu criticized the move, suggesting Moscow may be seeking more recruits for its war in Ukraine. Jakob Wiezman reports for POLITICO; AP reports.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged bodies of soldiers killed during the war on Friday, with Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War saying Saturday that Ukraine had received 528 bodies through repatriation measures. Reuters put the Ukrainian figure at 526 and said Moscow received 41 bodies in return, while Ukrainian authorities said investigators and forensic experts would work to identify the remains. Thomas Peter and Olena Harmash report.
Russia and Ukraine each swapped 205 prisoners of war on Friday, in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as the first step toward a larger exchange of 1,000 POWs each under an agreement linked to a recent three-day ceasefire brokered by Washington. Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency said many of the returned Ukrainian servicemembers had been captured during the months-long defense of Mariupol in 2022, and that Kyiv had brought home several dozen officers as well as soldiers and sergeants. Thomas Peter and Olena Harmash report for Reuters.
Russia claimed Saturday that its forces had captured the villages of Borova and Kutkivka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Reuters reports.
SUDANESE CIVIL WAR
Sudan’s army said Friday it recaptured the town of Khor Hassan in southeastern Blue Nile state from the Rapid Support Forces, as fighting intensified in a border region that has become a key flashpoint in the civil war. The army said it inflicted heavy RSF losses, while Sudan Tribune reported that the seizure forms part of a push toward Kurmuk, a strategic garrison town near Ethiopia that provides access to cross-border routes and key infrastructure. Al Jazeera reports.
UNITED KINGDOM
Tens of thousands marched through central London on Saturday in rival anti-immigration and pro-Palestinian protests, prompting a £4.5 million police operation involving more than 4,000 officers and a “sterile zone” to keep the groups apart. The Metropolitan Police said 43 people were arrested, including 11 on alleged hate-crime offences, and reported no serious clashes between the marches. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused organizers of the “Unite the Kingdom” anti-immigration march of “peddling hate and division.” Daniel Sandford reports for BBC News; Yann Tessier and Marissa Davison report for Reuters.
The United Kingdom has deployed a new low-cost anti-drone weapon system on RAF Typhoon fighter jets operating in the Middle East, the British government said. The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System is intended to allow the jets to destroy drone targets more precisely and at a fraction of the cost of missiles currently used for such operations. Claire Keenan reports for BBC News.
Yvette Cooper, who as UK home secretary was responsible for proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, published an Observer column defending the decision despite Crown Prosecution Service warnings that it could prejudice criminal proceedings against six activists charged over a 2024 break-in at an Elbit Systems UK site, the Guardian reports. Defense lawyers later sought to halt the case for abuse of process, arguing the column interfered with the trial; Mr Justice Johnson found Cooper had acted despite knowing there was a risk to ongoing proceedings but ruled the article did not prevent a fair trial. Four defendants were convicted last week after a retrial, with sentencing set for June 12. Haroon Siddique reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has requested sealed arrest warrants for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister Orit Strock, and two unnamed IDF officials, sources told Haaretz. The requested warrants would add to the ICC’s existing warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Liza Rozovsky reports for Haaretz.
Recorded executions worldwide rose to at least 2,707 across 17 countries in 2025, the highest figure Amnesty International has recorded since 1981 and a 78 per cent increase from 2024, the group said in its annual death penalty report. The total excludes the thousands of executions Amnesty believes China carried out under state secrecy, while Saudi Arabia recorded at least 356 executions, the United States recorded 47, and executions nearly doubled or almost tripled in Egypt, Singapore, Kuwait, and Yemen. Amnesty said close to half of all known executions were for drug-related offences, despite international human rights law restricting the death penalty to the “most serious crimes.”
Israeli military vehicles entered Syria’s southern Quneitra area on Saturday, with Syria’s state news agency SANA reporting that four vehicles searched homes in Saida al-Hanout, near the occupied Golan Heights, without making arrests. SANA also reported that three Israeli tanks advanced toward Tell al-Dreiyat near al-Muallaqa village before withdrawing. Al Jazeera reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Beijing tomorrow and Wednesday for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Kremlin said Saturday, less than 24 hours after President Trump concluded his own state visit to China. The trip will focus on bilateral relations, economic cooperation, and “key international and regional issues,” while Russia and China continue to deepen ties amid Moscow’s isolation over Ukraine, the Kremlin said. AP reports.
All 46 Council of Europe member states adopted the non-binding Chişinău Declaration on Friday, urging the European Court of Human Rights and domestic courts to give fuller effect to subsidiarity and the “margin of appreciation” in migration cases. The declaration says states have the “undeniable sovereign right” to control entry and residence, calls for more context-specific application of Articles 3 and 8 in expulsion and extradition cases, and recognizes third-country processing, “return hubs,” and transit-country cooperation as possible Convention-compliant approaches. Layli Foroudi reports for Reuters; Dominic Casciani reports for BBC News; Diane Taylor reports for the Guardian.
About 10 suspected victims previously unknown to French investigators have come forward in France’s human-trafficking probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s network, Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Sunday. Beccuau said French authorities are interviewing the suspected victims, some of whom are abroad, and are reviewing Epstein’s computers, phone records, and address books while preparing international assistance requests. France 24 reports.
Two campaign workers for Colombian right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo De La Espriella were killed Friday night in rural Cubarral, Meta province, two weeks before Colombia’s first-round presidential vote. De La Espriella’s party said four hooded men on motorcycles intercepted the workers and opened fire; authorities have not blamed an armed group, while De La Espriella accused a dissident FARC faction without providing evidence. Luis Jaime Acosta reports for Reuters.
An Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was declared a public health emergency of international concern Sunday by the World Health Organization, though the agency said it does not meet pandemic-emergency criteria. WHO reported 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases, and 246 suspected cases in DRC’s Ituri province as of Saturday, plus confirmed cases in Kampala and Kinshasa, and warned that high initial test positivity and rising suspected cases point to a potentially larger outbreak and regional spread risk. Disha Mishra and Akanksha Khushi report for Reuters; Yan Zhuang, Matthew Mpoke Bigg, and Apoorva Mandavilli report for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently discussed using them to attack the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, U.S. military vessels, and possibly Key West, according to classified intelligence described to Axios. A senior U.S. official told Axios the assessment has intensified Trump administration concern about Cuba’s drone capabilities and Iranian military advisers in Havana; Reuters said it could not independently verify the report. Marc Caputo reports for Axios; Reuters reports.
The Trump administration allowed a sanctions waiver for Russian seaborne oil to lapse Saturday, ending a month-long extension that had allowed countries including India to buy Russian oil stored on tankers amid supply shortages and high prices linked to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said he would not renew the general license, while Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren urged the administration not to extend it, arguing it aided Russia’s war revenue without evidence of lowering U.S. fuel prices. Reuters reports.
U.S.-NIGERIA ISIS OPERATION
U.S. and Nigerian forces killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom officials described as ISIS’s global second-in-command, and several other ISIS figures in a joint operation in Metele, Borno State, on Saturday, U.S. and Nigerian officials said. Nigeria’s army said the air-land operation was closely coordinated with U.S. Africa Command and ended without casualties or loss of assets, while AFRICOM commander Gen. Dagvin Anderson said initial assessments showed “multiple other ISIS leaders” were killed. Reuters reports; Victoria Craw, Rachel Chason, and Dan Lamothe report for the Washington Post.
The operation used helicopters and warplanes, and a ground assault force including U.S. troops coordinated with Nigerian officials in case there was an opportunity to capture al-Minuki, a U.S. official familiar with the strike said. The official said U.S. forces ultimately launched airstrikes and no capture occurred, while video released by AFRICOM showed an aircraft firing at targets followed by an apparent missile or rocket strike. Victoria Craw, Rachel Chason, and Dan Lamothe report for the Washington Post.
U.S. LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENTS
Venezuelan official Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman and ally of former President Nicolás Maduro, was deported to the United States, Venezuela’s migration agency said Saturday. Saab was arrested in Caracas in February in a joint U.S.-Venezuelan operation, a month after Maduro’s own capture by U.S. special forces, and sources told Reuters he could provide information to strengthen the U.S. criminal case against Maduro. Reuters reports.
Federal prosecutors expect to unseal an indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in Miami on Wednesday over the 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes, a Justice Department official and other sources familiar with the investigation said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida is scheduled to host an event that day honoring victims of the incident, where the federal grand jury indictment is expected to be announced. Jana Winter and Andrew Goudsward report for Reuters; Nora Gámez Torres and Jay Weaver report for the Miami Herald; Abby Dodge reports for CBS News.
U.S.-TAIWAN
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said Sunday that China, not Taiwan, was the “root cause of regional instability,” responding to President Trump’s suggestion after his Beijing summit with Xi Jinping that Taipei bore some blame for tensions with Beijing. Lai said Taiwan would not provoke or escalate conflict but would not relinquish its “national sovereignty and dignity” or democratic system under pressure, and asserted that U.S. support for Taiwan remained unchanged. Christopher Buckley reports for the New York Times.
Taiwan pressed Washington on Saturday to continue arms supplies after President Trump said, following a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, that he had not decided whether to approve future weapons sales. Reuters has reported that a second Taiwan arms package worth around $14 billion is awaiting Trump’s approval, while Taiwan’s presidential spokesperson said U.S. sales reflect Washington’s security commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act and deter regional threats. Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee report for Reuters.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Homeland Security plans to begin using its newly purchased deportation-aircraft fleet in the coming weeks, after Secretary Markwayne Mullin reviewed a plan revived under former Secretary Kristi Noem to reduce DHS’s reliance on charter airlines, CNN reports. The ten-aircraft fleet has largely sat idle, and none has yet been used for deportations, while current and former DHS officials and aviation sources questioned the plan’s viability and savings claims, citing regulatory approvals, staffing, maintenance, and valuation concerns. René Marsh and Audrey Ash report.
Immigration detention facilities in California are failing to meet ICE’s own standards for medical care, food and water, safety, use of force, and other basic conditions amid a 162 per cent surge in detainees since the state’s 2023 site visits, according to a report released Friday by the California Attorney General’s Office. The report says six detained people died in California ICE custody between September 2025 and March 2026 — the highest number since the state began its reviews — and that overcrowding, understaffing, delayed medical care, and substandard conditions raise serious concerns about the facilities’ ability to safely detain a growing population. Andrea Castillo reports for the Los Angeles Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged an Iraqi man alleged to be a senior commander in the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hezbollah with terrorism offenses, accusing him of helping coordinate attacks and attempted attacks against U.S., Israeli, and Jewish targets in Europe and the United States. The Justice Department announced a six-count complaint charging Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi with material-support, bombing, explosives, and arson-related offenses tied to alleged activity on behalf of Kata’ib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mark Morales reports for CNN; Benjamin Weiser, Olivia Bensimon, and Maia Coleman report for the New York Times.
Fuel-monitoring systems serving gas stations in multiple states were breached through internet-exposed automatic tank gauges that were not protected by passwords, with U.S. officials suspecting Iranian hackers were behind the intrusions. The breaches are not known to have caused physical damage or disrupted fuel levels, but officials and private experts warned that access to such systems could create safety risks by manipulating readings or, in theory, allowing a gas leak to go undetected. Investigators view Iran as a leading suspect because of its past targeting of similar systems, though sources cautioned that limited forensic evidence may prevent definitive attribution. Sean Lyngaas reports for CNN.
Former Mesa County clerk and 2020 election denier Tina Peters’ nearly nine-year prison sentence will be cut short and she will be released on parole June 1 after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) granted her clemency Friday following her conviction over a voting-machine security breach. Polis reduced the sentence after a state appeals court upheld Peters’ conviction but ordered resentencing, finding the trial judge had improperly considered her protected speech rather than only her criminal conduct. The decision follows pressure from Trump and his administration to free Peters, including a presidential pardon that had no practical effect because she was convicted on state charges. Patrick Marley, Karin Brulliard, and Maegan Vazquez report for the Washington Post; Steve Gorman and Keith Coffman report for Reuters; Bente Birkeland reports for NPR.
Civil rights leaders, clergy, and elected officials gathered Saturday at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge and retraced the 1965 march route to Montgomery after the Supreme Court’s recent Voting Rights Act ruling cleared the way for Southern states to redraw congressional maps and eliminate majority-Black districts once protected by the Act. Organizers framed the gathering as a civil-rights and moral response rather than a conventional protest, as Republican lawmakers in several states moved to revise maps ahead of the November midterms. Rick Rojas reports for the New York Times.
The U.S.S Gerald R. Ford returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday after a 326-day deployment, the longest operational deployment by a U.S. aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War. The carrier’s 11 months at sea included operations tied to the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the Iran war, as well as a shipboard fire and repeated plumbing problems. The Ford initially deployed last June to Europe before being redirected to the Caribbean and then the Middle East. Sean Lyngaas reports for CNN.
The American Bar Association council overseeing law-school accreditation voted Friday to eliminate a longstanding diversity and inclusion standard requiring law schools to show commitment to diversity in recruitment, admissions, and student programming. The change follows pressure from the Trump administration and Republican-led states over DEI requirements, but will not become final until the ABA House of Delegates considers it as early as August and could be delayed until 2027. Karen Sloan reports for Reuters.
Thousands gathered on the National Mall on Sunday for Rededicate 250, a White House-backed daylong prayer rally tied to the administration’s 250th-anniversary plans and billed by organizers as a “rededication” of the country as “One Nation to God.” President Trump appeared by prerecorded video reading from II Chronicles, while House Speaker Mike Johnson and senior administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio by video, framed U.S. history in explicitly Christian terms. Critics and some religious leaders said the event blurred church-state lines and promoted a narrow Christian-nationalist account of the country’s founding. Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias report for the New York Times; David Hood-Nuño and Julio-Cesar Chavez report for Reuters.
Tracy Beth Hoeg, the acting head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, was fired Friday and replaced by deputy Michael Davis, according to Hoeg’s social media post and the agency’s website. The move came days after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary was replaced by Kyle Diamantas following clashes with top White House and health advisers over drug approvals and other decisions. Michael Erman reports for Reuters.
Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled Saturday that a $1 billion Secret Service funding provision, including about $220 million for President Trump’s planned White House ballroom project, cannot be included in a GOP immigration enforcement package as drafted. The ruling means Republicans must revise the proposal or face a 60-vote threshold that would likely block the funding, while GOP aides said they are working to redraft and resubmit the language. Nolan McCaskill and David Morgan report for Reuters; Jordain Carney reports for POLITICO; Carl Hulse reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Justice Department is finalizing a proposed $1.776 billion compensation fund for Trump allies who claim they were targeted by government “weaponization,” as part of a deal under which President Trump would drop his $10 billion IRS lawsuit, sources told ABC News. The proposed “President Donald J. Trump Truth and Justice Commission” would reportedly have five commissioners, four appointed by the attorney general and removable by Trump without cause, and would not have to disclose how it awards funds. Katherine Faulders, Peter Charalambous, and Alexander Mallin report.
Hundreds of senior Health and Human Services employees will be reclassified into positions without ordinary civil-service job protections, allowing them to be fired at will, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters. The affected GS-15 employees include senior technical experts, managers, high-level policy staff, and supervisors across several HHS agencies. The memo said the “initial tranche” would affect “hundreds not thousands,” with more conversions to follow. Ahmed Aboulenein reports.
President Trump urged lawmakers Saturday to attach the SAVE America Act to pending bipartisan housing and FISA legislation, a move that Politico reports would likely imperil both bills. The SAVE America Act would impose new voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements for federal elections, among other provisions, while lawmakers are separately working against a June 12 deadline to extend Section 702 surveillance authorities. Trump made the push after citing a Maryland mail-ballot vendor error and calling for voter ID, proof of citizenship, and an end to mail-in voting. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission notified the White House Thursday that it wants to end or scale back long-running demographic data collection from major employers, including race, sex, and national-origin reporting under the federal EEO-1 program. The proposal would unwind a civil-rights-era system conducted for roughly 60 years under Title VII and would also eliminate data-reporting requirements for apprenticeship programs, unions, state and local governments, schools, and other worker-protection laws. The proposal will be published after White House review, and it remains unclear whether it will affect this year’s data collection. Meryl Kornfield reports for the Washington Post.
FBI Director Kash Patel faced renewed ethics scrutiny over official travel last summer that included a military-coordinated “V.I.P. Snorkel” near the U.S.S. Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor, where more than 900 Navy sailors and Marines remain entombed, AP and the New York Times report. The FBI said the Pearl Harbor visit was part of Patel’s official national-security engagements, and the Navy said such VIP tours were “not an anomaly,” but critics said the outing was inappropriate at a war grave. The Times separately reported broader concerns over Patel’s use of government aircraft and FBI personnel for leisure travel and support involving his girlfriend. Jim Mustian, Eric Tucker, and Michael Biesecker report for AP; Elizabeth Williamson and Adam Goldman report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team filed a motion Thursday asking the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen and terminate his removal proceedings, citing new evidence they say shows DOJ and immigration-court officials secretly engineered and fast-tracked the outcome of his case. The motion alleges that the BIA improperly influenced the immigration judge, treated Khalil’s non-detained case as detained, routed the appeal to Chief Appellate Immigration Judge Garry Malphrus, and issued a decision in nine days; Khalil separately appealed the removal order to the Fifth Circuit. Agence France Press reports.
The Justice Department sued Connecticut and state officials on Friday over a new state law that restricts federal law-enforcement officers’ use of face coverings, requires visible badge and name-tag identification, and applies state use-of-force standards to federal officers. DOJ is seeking to block those provisions of SB 397 as applied to federal officers, arguing they directly regulate federal operations in violation of the Supremacy Clause and intergovernmental-immunity principles. The complaint says some violations could expose federal officers to state criminal penalties.
The First Circuit on Saturday left in place a district court order requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to reinstate a collective-bargaining agreement with the AFGE National Veterans Affairs Council, which also covers employees represented by AFGE Local 2305, rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to stay the injunction pending appeal. The panel said the government had not made the required strong showing that it was likely to overturn the order, which rested in part on the district court’s finding that the agreement’s termination appeared substantially motivated by First Amendment retaliation. The court separately stayed the judge’s more specific enforcement directives requiring VA to comply with the agreement “in both form and substance” and process pending grievances and arbitrations.
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