Early Edition: May 27, 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 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said yesterday that it would launch a “decisive reciprocal response” to any attack that violated the ceasefire. Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei also suggested that Iran would renew strikes on U.S. military installations in his statement commemorating the start of hajj. The Iranian warnings came after U.S. forces struck missile launch sites in southern Iran and destroyed two Revolutionary Guard speedboats on Monday. The U.S. said it acted with “restraint” in light of the weekslong ceasefire, while Iran decried the action as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability.”  Max Bearak, Erik Solomon, Euan Ward, and Michael Levenson report for the New York Times; Aamer Madhani reports for AP News.  

Officials from Gulf countries, who spoke with Trump on Saturday, responded to his push for their nations to join the Abraham Accords with “stunned silence,” according to a source. Another source disputed that characterization, saying that some regional allies responded positively to Trump’s call. Some Middle Eastern officials said they viewed the request merely as Trump’s attempt to appease hawkish Republicans who worry he will give away too much in talks with Iran. “He will keep bringing it up again and again. But it will not be part of the deal,” an official said. Aamer Madhani reports for AP News; Nahal Toosi reports for POLITICO.  

IRAN WAR – LEBANON OPERATIONS 

Israel attacked Lebanon yesterday with more than 120 air strikes, killing at least 31 people and wounding 40, according to state media reports and the Lebanese security services. An Israeli military official said the military was “operating in a targeted manner beyond the Forward Defense Line in order to remove direct threats to the citizens ​of the State of Israel” and Israeli ​soldiers, “in accordance with the directives ⁠of the political echelon.” Jana Choukeir reports for Reuters. 

IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 

Iran began restoring internet access for tens of millions of Iranians yesterday, a senior official said. NetBlocks said that its data showed a “partial restoration to internet connectivity” in Iran after 88 days of blackout. Yeganeh Torbati and Sanam Mahoozi report for the New York Times.  

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

Israel said today that it killed Hamas’s newly appointed armed wing chief, Mohammad Odeh, in Gaza yesterday, days after killing his predecessor. Gaza health ​officials said six people were killed and more than 20 others were wounded in the same ​Israeli strike that destroyed an upper floor of an apartment building in Gaza City. Rami Ayyub, Nidal Al-Mughrabi, and Jana Choukeir report for Reuters.  

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Ukraine has a six-month window in which to seize the battlefield initiative from Russia and strengthen its hand for peace talks, a senior Ukrainian commander told Reuters. Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky said he believes Russia’s army is exhausted and incapable of making major breakthroughs. If Ukraine’s military can build and maintain momentum over several months, it can gain the initiative along the frontline and push Russia to abandon its designs on the last part of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine that it ​does not yet occupy, he said. Dan Peleschuk reports.

Latvia is increasing anti-drone defences on its borders with Russia and Belarus in response to drones flying across its borders, an army official said. “We plan to deploy (drone) interceptor teams over the next two weeks,” Modris Kairiss, head of the Latvian Army Autonomous Systems Competence Centre, told Reuters. The ​teams will consist of up to four soldiers operating killer drones, ​which can destroy incoming military drones in a 10-km (6-mile) radius, he said. Andrius Sytas reports.

NATO will strengthen the defense of its eastern flank by assigning the German-Netherlands corps to help defend Latvia and Estonia in the event of a war with Russia, two sources said. Assigning a second corps for the region will allow NATO to bring in “mass at speed,” according to one military official. Sabine Siebold and Polina Nikolskaya report for Reuters.  

As Russia fails to gain ground in the war in Ukraine, it is “scaling up its daily hybrid activity against the U.K. and Europe,” Director of GCHQ Anne Keast-Butler, the British electronic surveillance agency, is set to say today in her annual speech. Hybrid tactics, countered by GCHQ, have included cyberattacks, sabotage, assassination, and disinformation campaigns intended to destabilize countries’ economies and institutions, according to her remarks. Adam Goldman reports for the New York Times.  

The United Kingdom will sign a new defense and security treaty with Poland today. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said both nations saw “Russia as a strategic threat” and the two leaders are expected to discuss an increase in hybrid attacks. Reuters reports. 

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS 

A former International Criminal Court judge today launched a commission in the Philippines to investigate former President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” aiming to document alleged extrajudicial killings and compile evidence for potential legal cases. The civilian-led Philippine Truth and Reconciliation Commission will operate independently of government control and said it seeks to ​pursue accountability and create a “credible public record of extrajudicial killings and related abuses.” Nestor Corrales reports for Reuters. 

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

The Trump administration plans to send U.S. citizens exposed to the Ebola virus to Kenya, rather than bringing them home for observation and treatment, according to three sources. A few dozen Public Health Service officers will be deployed to Kenya to staff a potential quarantine facility, the sources said. Apoorva Mandavilli and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report for the New York Times; Sabrina Siddiqui and Liz Essley Whyte report for the Wall Street Journal. 

The Pentagon is substantially scaling back U.S. forces planned for Europe in a crisis, reducing military capabilities by one-third to one-half, according to current and former defense officials. The officials said that NATO allies were notified of the planned cutbacks in a closed-door meeting last week in Brussels. Michael R. Gordon and Robbie Gramer report for the Wall Street Journal. 

U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS 

A U.S. military strike yesterday on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean killed one man and left two survivors. AP News reports.  

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

Thousands of Cubans deported by the Trump administration to Mexico are stranded in poor conditions, often without legal status, money, housing, or access to work and healthcare, according to a Human Rights Watch report published today. Many cannot return to Cuba and are stuck in “indefinite legal limbo,” with some living in shelters, parks, or on the streets in southern Mexico. Patricia Mazzei reports for the New York Times. 

An AP News investigation found that at least 10 individuals in ICE custody, all men, have died by suicide since Trump took office, according to a review of ICE data, autopsy reports, coroner’s rulings, and police records. Since October, seven deaths have been classified as suicides, a number that is already the most for any fiscal year in the agency’s history. ICE has usually recorded one or no such deaths annually. Ryan J. Foley, Michael Biesecker, and Morgan Lee report.  

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton yesterday defeated longtime Senator John Cornyn by 28 points in the Republican primary runoff, reinforcing Trump’s influence over the GOP. Alex Isenstadt reports for Axios.  

The South Carolina Senate adjourned yesterday without voting on a new congressional map that would have eliminated the state’s only majority Black district. Eduardo Medina, Emily Cochrane, and Nick Corasaniti report for the New York Times.  

A panel of federal judges yesterday rejected Alabama’s effort to use a new voting map for the November midterm elections, saying that the districts discriminated against Black people and could not be used so shortly before a vote. Alabama’s attorney general, Steve Marshall, said that he would immediately appeal to the Supreme Court. Emily Cochrane and Abbie VanSickle report for the New York Times. 

A Florida judge yesterday refused to block a recently adopted congressional map that could give Republicans four extra seats in the House of Representatives, making it likely the map will remain in place for the 2026 midterm elections as lawsuits continue. Gary Fineout reports for POLITICO.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

The Trump administration is planning a government-wide nondisclosure agreement that would bar federal workers from sharing a wide array of “confidential government information,” according to a draft notice posted to the Federal Register yesterday. The notice cited several high-profile leaks, including “unauthorized disclosures” that it said were made to the New York Times and the Washington Post about the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan President  Nicolás Maduro. Scott Nover and Meryl Kornfield report for the Washington Post.  

Trump has appointed former Attorney General Pam Bondi to an advisory committee focused on AI policy, Axios has learned. Alex Isenstadt reports.

Mike Needham, an adviser to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is being promoted to assistant to Trump and deputy national security adviser, according to a senior U.S. official. Adam Taylor, John Hudson, and Ellen Nakashima report for the Washington Post.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION 

Lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center asked a federal judge yesterday to dismiss charges accusing it of defrauding its donors, saying that the case was part of a “retributive campaign” by Trump to use the Justice Department to go after groups “deemed to be his political enemies.” Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.  

The Trump administration yesterday filed its second antisemitism lawsuit against the University of California, Los Angeles. The lawsuit accused the school of taking “no serious action whatsoever” to prevent the harassment of Jewish and Israeli students during pro-Palestinian protests in 2024. Mark Arsenault reports for the New York Times.  

Former President Joe Biden yesterday filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the Justice Department from releasing the audio recordings and transcripts of his private conversations with his biographer. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios. 

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

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