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A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR
President Trump yesterday dropped plans to collect a 20% fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, citing requests from allies in the Persian Gulf. Trump told reporters that the region’s “kings and emirs” said “we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars.” Trump said he preferred that arrangement to charging tolls “because I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait.” Jon Gambrell reports for AP News; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The U.S. military reimposed its naval blockade on Iran and carried out a fourth round of overnight strikes that continued into this morning, hitting an Iranian army barracks and killing at least seven troops while wounding 260 people across the country, Iranian officials said. Trump told reporters yesterday that more U.S. strikes were coming in the next few days and that bridges and power plants could be targeted by next week unless negotiations resume. Three sources told Axios that Trump held a Situation Room meeting yesterday to discuss a massive offensive in Iran that will be wider in scope than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz. Barak Ravid reports; Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
Iran said it responded this morning with strikes in Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Missile alert warnings went out in Bahrain and Kuwait; authorities in Jordan said it shot down three incoming Iranian missiles; and the Kuwaiti army reported that its air defenses were repelling Iranian hostile drone assaults. Euronews reports.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to close “all other export corridors that benefit the U.S. and its allies,” Iranian state media reported today. “Regional energy exports are either shared by all or denied to all,” the IRGC said. Analysts have said Iran has been signalling it may use its Houthi allies in Yemen to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea. Enas Alashray, Tala Ramadan, Kanishka Singh, and Samia Nakhoul report for Reuters.
Iranian cyberattacks exploited vulnerabilities in outdated network technology to locate the phones of U.S. personnel in the Middle East, data released yesterday by the Mobile Surveillance Network showed. Zane Irwin reports for the New York Times.
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday denied that he was at the center of a secret Israeli operation to groom him as an intelligence asset, according to a statement on his social media page. The statement followed a New York Times investigation which reported that Israel had orchestrated a yearslong plan to install Ahmadinejad as Iran’s new leader. Lynsey Chutel and Sanam Mahoozi report for the New York Times.
The United States is backing efforts by Iraq and Syria to restore the Kirkuk-Baniyas crude oil pipeline, which could provide an alternative route for Middle Eastern oil exports and reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, a State Department official said yesterday. The pipeline, damaged during the 2003 Iraq invasion and largely inactive since, is expected to involve American companies in its reconstruction. Reuters reports.
IRAN WAR – LEBANON
Israeli and Lebanese officials met yesterday for a new round of U.S.-mediated talks in Rome. The two-day meetings follow a preliminary agreement reached last month aimed at ending the fighting in Lebanon. Abdi Latif Dahir reports for the New York Times.
Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call last week that Israel should start redeploying its forces out of Syria and urged him to do the same in Lebanon, according to U.S. and Israeli officials. The call between Trump and Netanyahu took place a day after a meeting the president had with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Lithuania has intelligence that Russia is planning attacks on infrastructure, Lithuanian President Gitana Nauseda said in an interview published today, adding that security around energy and transport sites will be tightened as a precaution. Nauseda said he had no information on when or where the attacks were planned. Reuters reports.
A Russian drone and missile attack overnight killed at least three people in Odesa, according to Ukrainian authorities. Russia’s defence ministry said today that Moscow’s forces continued overnight strikes on Ukrainian ports it said were handling cargoes for the Ukrainian military. Reuters reports.
Ukrainian drones hit 20 Russian vessels in the Black Sea overnight, Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said today, adding that 116 vessels have been struck in the Sea of Azov this month. Three industry sources told Reuters that shipping in the Sea of Azov, the route for a quarter of Russia’s grain exports, remained restricted yesterday for security reasons following the Ukrainian attacks. Russia has not formally announced the curbs, but yesterday it accused Ukraine of terrorism over its escalating attacks on shipping. Reuters reports; Mariano Zafra and Jon McClure report for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
An Israeli air strike today killed a man, his wife, and their six-year-old daughter in Gaza, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas militant. Another strike in Gaza City killed one person, medics said. The Israeli military did not comment on this incident. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
An Israeli air strike on a post belonging to Gaza’s police force yesterday killed at least seven people, health and police officials said. Witnesses told BBC News that an Israeli drone fired four missiles at the post near a busy market in northern Gaza. Gaza’s interior ministry said the head of the local police station was killed in what it condemned as a “massacre.” The Israeli military said the police chief was the head of military security for Hamas’s Central Jabalia Battalion, and that three other “terrorists” were killed alongside him. Another two people were also killed by Israeli fire in southern Gaza yesterday. David Gritten reports.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced yesterday that Israel’s security cabinet approved a budget of 1.3 billion shekels ($434 million) for establishing 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. Reuters reports.
SUDANESE CIVIL WAR
In a joint statement today, G7 foreign ministers and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas urged the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces paramilitary and allied armed groups to stop all actions that could lead to further atrocities or endanger civilians in El-Obeid. Reuters reports.
Sudan risks sliding backwards into deeper hunger as conflict, aid, funding cuts, and rising agricultural costs driven by disruption linked to the Iran war threaten to reverse gains made after famine took hold in parts of the country, a senior World Food Programme official said yesterday. Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters.
The EU banned the purchase, import, and transfer of gold from Sudan on Monday, saying the trade has become a key source of financing for the country’s civil war. Wycliffe Muia reports for BBC News.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The U.K’s Bar Standards Board announced yesterday that it has upheld the suspension of ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan over allegations of sexual misconduct, preventing him from practising law in the United Kingdom while disciplinary proceedings continue. The ICC’s oversight body will vote later this month on whether to remove Khan from office. ABC News reports.
At least 50 migrants, including women and children, are feared lost at sea, while 10 survived, after their wooden boat capsized yesterday in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Libya, two security sources told Reuters. Reuters reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Cuba’s national power grid collapsed again yesterday, according to Cuba’s energy ministry, marking the third major blackout in nine days as a result of the U.S.-imposed oil blockade. Ayose Naranjo reports for Reuters.
Mexico has begun filing criminal complaints with state prosecutors in the United States over the deaths of its citizens in U.S. immigration custody and during enforcement operations, the Mexican foreign ministry said yesterday. Mexico’s government has also sent cease-and-desist letters to U.S. detention centers where Mexican nationals have died. Reuters reports.
Over 100 flights were canceled yesterday and 300 delayed at Ronald Reagan National Airport due to security measures meant to protect the Iraqi prime minister during his visit to Washington, D.C., sources said. Jennifer Jacobs and Olivia Rinaldi report for CBS News.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Every ICE arrest team will have at least one law enforcement officer equipped with a body-worn camera going forward, the Department of Homeland Security said yesterday, following two fatal shootings by agents in Houston and Biddeford who did not have cameras. Nicole Sganga and Joe Walsh report for CBS News.
The Trump administration has ordered ICE officers to halt most vehicle stops while carrying out operations across the country, according to sources. White House Border Czar Tom Homan downplayed the order yesterday, saying it was a temporary action that would not impede ICE’s ability to conduct arrests. “It’s a short pause just to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” he said in an interview. Madeleine Ngo, Hamed Aleaziz, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report for the New York Times.
A 28-year-old man running from an encounter with ICE agents at a gas station in St Augustine, Florida, was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer yesterday morning, according to a state highway patrol spokesperson. The Department of Homeland Security provided limited information in a statement yesterday evening, saying only that agents had conducted an operation near St Johns County and that an incident had resulted in the death of a Mexican national. David Ovalle and Hamed Aleaziz report for the New York Times.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis yesterday called for the United States to establish a new AI watchdog with the power to screen the world’s most advanced models and coordinate an industry-wide slowdown if dangers mount, according to his personal manifesto published yesterday. Mike Allen, Zachary Basu, and Madison Mills report for Axios.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) yesterday signed an executive order barring the construction of new “hyperscaler” data centers using 50 megawatts or more of power for up to one year. It is the first statewide data center ban, though similar measures are being considered by other states. Paxton Honerkamp reports for CNBC.
The Trump administration yesterday launched a new AI cybersecurity clearinghouse, dubbed “Gold Eagle,” that officials say will help federal agencies, critical infrastructure owners and operators, and AI companies identify and patch software vulnerabilities discovered by advanced AI models. Dana Nickel reports for POLITICO.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Senate Democrats yesterday defeated a motion to proceed to the $1.15 trillion annual defense authorization bill. The bill failed by a vote of 50 to 46, with senators voting strictly along party lines. Democrats cited the resumption of the military conflict with Iran and Trump’s failure to ask Congress to authorize the war as significant reasons behind their opposition. Alexander Bolton reports for The Hill.
Justice Elena Kagan told the House Appropriations Committee yesterday that police expect threats against Supreme Court justices to rise nearly 40% this year. The Court is requesting $18.9 million to expand personal protection, build an off-site security command post, and hire cybersecurity experts. Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
Emails obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight and provided to the New York Times reveal that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche previously helped oversee a Justice Department task force investigating alleged government “weaponization,” while managing conflicts with more aggressive Trump allies. The documents, released ahead of Blanche’s Senate confirmation hearing for attorney general today, have sparked debate over whether he supported Trump’s efforts to target political opponents or acted as a check on those efforts. Glenn Thrush reports.
The Justice Department has subpoenaed several major law firms that reached agreements with the White House after facing pressure from Trump’s executive orders last year. The subpoenas are part of a legal fight over a lawsuit brought by the American Bar Association, which is challenging the administration’s actions and seeking records about how the agreements were negotiated, including the role of Trump’s personal lawyer Boris Epshteyn. Michael S. Schmidt and Devlin Barrett report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of seven senior Navy officers, five of whom are women or people of color, to two-star admiral rank, current and former defense officials said. Greg Jaffe reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
Trump has now paid E. Jean Carroll more than $5 million in damages three years after he was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming her in a civil case, Carroll’s lawyers confirmed yesterday. Max Matza reports for BBC News.
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