Sign up to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here.
A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that “one of the issues being discussed via mediators is the U.S. returning to the interim agreement [with Iran] and defining a time frame for implementing the commitments. The source added that “there has been absolutely no progress on this issue.” The source further dismissed a Turkish news report quoting Pakistani government sources saying they had agreed to extend the interim deal’s 60-day period. Parisa Hafezi and Elwely Elwelly report.
IRAN WAR – LEBANON
The Washington Post reports that the announcement in June of a preliminary peace deal between Israel and Lebanon has had little impact on daily life in southern Lebanon. According to residents, Israeli forces continue to restrict their movement, leaving many feeling trapped. “We are trapped in a prison,” Ayoub Khreish, mayor of Ain Ebel, said. “Even ambulances need permission to enter and leave.” Mohamad El Chamma reports.
Israel and Lebanon have agreed on Britain, Italy, Switzerland, and Indonesia as potential contributors to a proposed mechanism that could see foreign troops deployed to Lebanon to verify Hezbollah’s disarmament, sources said. Alexander Cornwell and Maya Gebeily report for Reuters.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
U.S. intelligence officials were skeptical of an Iranian assassination threat against President Trump that was relayed by Israel last month, and prompted Trump’s secret Air Force One swap, current and former U.S. officials told the Washington Post. CIA analysts did not view the Israeli intelligence as compelling and conveyed this to Trump administration officials, one source said. Another called the threats “Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence.” The Secret Service, however, deemed a threat that Trump could be targeted by a shoulder-fired missile to be credible and imminent. A source declined to tell Reuters where the intelligence came from but said officials had little time to prepare and devised the plane swap plan at the last minute. Warren P. Strobel, John Hudson, and Dan Lamothe report; Steve Holland reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
A Ukrainian attack yesterday hit warships at a naval base and forced two major grain terminals in Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk to halt operations, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials. The Ukrainian attacks killed at least two people, including an 8-year-old child, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. As Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter, the strikes on the grain terminals raised fears of a disruption to global supplies. Chicago wheat futures rose around 3% yesterday after the attack on Novorossiysk. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The Trump administration was initially “disappointed” that Israel responded to the 15-point peace plan by escalating attacks in Gaza earlier this month, but is pleased that it has since eased its assault, a U.S. official said. The official added that the administration is willing to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some leeway on domestic messaging around the peace plan ahead of elections in Israel. But in turn, “they need to give us a little bit of space in terms of no targeted killings in order to allow us to try to get to the next phase,” the official said. Myah Ward and Megan Messerly report for POLITICO.
An Israeli drone strike yesterday hit a Hamas commander in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said, though it remains unclear if he was killed. It was the first targeted strike Israel has announced since Aug. 3. The Gaza Health Ministry has reported 45 people killed since Aug. 1. AP News reports.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE
Two Palestinian families have been trapped since Sunday inside their homes in the village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank by a group of Israeli settlers. Residents report that about 10 to 15 settlers have been attacking them consistently for days, throwing stones and an axe. Although Israeli soldiers arrived early Wednesday and used tear gas to disperse the attackers, they left within hours, and the settlers resumed their attacks, residents and army officials said. The Israeli army said last night that it was assigning an extra battalion to the West Bank to “strengthen order and operational control in the area.” David M. Halbfinger, Fatima AbdulKarim, and Natan Odenheimer report for the New York Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Taliban’s General Director of Intelligence detained two Afghan members of the U.N. political mission in Herat, Afghanistan on Sunday, a U.N. spokesman said yesterday. The spokesman added that the U.N. mission has not been informed of the charges against the two men or been able to visit them. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Taiwan detected AI-assisted cyberattacks on government agencies last month, but the affected bodies successfully handled the incident, the Taiwanese Ministry of Digital Affairs said today. The investigation results showed the attacks displayed clear characteristics of an “overseas source,” with hackers employing a hybrid approach that combined manual operations with AI agent-assisted attacks, such as Open Claw, it said. Ben Blanchard and Raphael Satter report for Reuters.
Before stepping down as Google DeepMind CEO, Demis Hassabis held discussions with government officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and leaders of other AI labs about forming a new independent AI safety entity, sources said. Hassabis has likened the proposed entity to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog. Robbie Whelan, Amrith Ramkumar, and Keach Hagey report for the Wall Street Journal.
Anthropic’s new models will add machine-readable “watermarks” to Claude-generated text and files to comply with new EU transparency regulations. Simon Hernandez-Arthur reports for Axios.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Ukrainian drone units easily spotted and defeated U.S. troops and armored vehicles during a military exercise in Germany earlier this year, sources told the Wall Street Journal. The exercise, held in April and May, tested visiting troops’ ability to operate and defend against the proliferation of smaller, front-line drones that have dominated the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Alistair MacDonald, Lara Seligman, and Daniel Michaels report.
“We do bad things to bad people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told civilian defense leaders and generals at a meeting of a U.S.-led counter-cartel coalition in Panama yesterday, adding that the collective goal is “to degrade, dismantle, and destroy narco-terrorist networks.” Hegseth also raised the possibility of joint strikes on Colombian armed groups, as he welcomed Colombia into the coalition. Eric Schmitt and Annie Correal report for the New York Times; Phil Stewart reports for Reuters.
U.S. foreign-aid cuts have disrupted maternal and child-health programs in Nepal, already leading to increased pregnancy complications and deaths, according to government officials, aid workers, and families interviewed by AP News. Kristen Gelineau reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The State Department announced this week that it has created a task force to crack down on “birth tourism,” reviewing visa holders worldwide and revoking visas of people involved. The department said more than 600 visas have already been revoked. Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.
ICE agent Adam Saracco pleaded guilty yesterday to misdemeanor battery after throwing immigration activist Robert Held to the ground and taking his phone during an altercation near Chicago in December. Madaleine Rubin reports for the New York Times.
A masked ICE agent in Virginia pointed a gun at Carolina Molina on Monday after accusing her of trying to run over agents with her car, but videos from the encounter appear to show her vehicle stationary and provide no evidence of an attempted attack. Madaleine Rubin reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Former Southern Property Law Center official Heidi Beirich was charged yesterday with fraud and conspiracy as part of a revised indictment accusing the group of cheating its donors by using their money to pay informants inside right-wing extremist organizations. “I believe she was part of the effort to open bank accounts in completely fictitious companies’ names and make payments to individuals for reasons that were not accurate as described,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Karoline Leavitt will be stepping down from her role as White House press secretary at the end of this month, Trump announced yesterday on social media, adding that Leavitt is leaving to spend more time with her family. Herb Scribner and Avery Lotz report for Axios.
The Trump administration plans to spend at least $900 million for construction projects on the White House grounds, according to records reviewed by the Washington Post, with more funding coming from taxpayers and money redirected from federal agencies, rather than through direct congressional appropriations. The Post reports that the administration has routed much of the funding through the relatively obscure White House maintenance account. Jonathan O’Connell and Sarah Blaskey report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Trump administration again asked the Supreme Court yesterday to intervene to fully implement Trump’s executive order restricting the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections. Andrew Chung reports for Reuters.
The Intercept, a news organization, and the Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a lawsuit yesterday against Trump over his social media platform’s program that offers paid early access to his posts, after the scheme went live earlier this month. The plaintiffs argue that the $100,000-a-month program violates their First Amendment rights to access presidential statements “on equal terms with other members of the press and public.” Emilio Perez Ibarguen reports for POLITICO.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.
If you enjoy listening, Just Security’s analytic articles are also available in audio form on the justsecurity.org website.
ICYMI: Yesterday on Just Security
