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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
President Trump said yesterday that there were “no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled” with Tehran. Trump also said that the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports remains in “full force and effect,” but asserted that all water mines have been removed and that other marine traffic was free to pass. Samy Magdy reports for AP News.
Trump threatened to bomb Oman yesterday because he is unhappy the country is so close to a deal with Iran to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to two regional officials. The officials added that the Trump administration has told Oman it opposes parts of the Iranian-Omani deal, including joint management of the passage’s exit route and the collection of voluntary fees from vessels, even if the money is used for security and maritime environmental protection. Samy Magdy reports for AP News.
Iran fired two ballistic missiles toward the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, triggering air defenses in the United Arab Emirates, according to a statement from the UAE’s ministry of defense. Both missiles fell into the sea, it said. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei rejected the statement this morning, describing it as “baseless.” Summer Said, Rebecca Feng, and Shelby Holliday report for the Wall Street Journal; Reuters reports.
More than 80 percent of vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two weeks have taken the Omani route, a U.N. authorized shipping channel that Iran opposes, according to Kpler. “It increasingly looks like Iran has at least partially lost control of the strait,” said Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler. David Goldman reports for CNN.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
The Defense Department is assessing whether to pull back troops from the Persian Gulf and whether to rebuild its bases as they were before the damage caused by Iranian strikes, two sources told the Washington Post. A senior Pentagon official said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not yet ordered a formal review of U.S. posture in the region, but instead referred to “prudent planning” in relation to the future of U.S. bases. Noah Robertson, John Hudson, and Susannah George report.
Iranian forces have assessed striking U.S. assets in south-eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Cyprus in the event of any renewed U.S. offensive, two Iranian sources told the Financial Times. “Should the U.S. go too far, Iran will defend itself at any price, go beyond the region and hit Europe too,” one of the sources said. The sources added that Iranian forces have separately examined attacking subsea fibre-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz in the event of an escalation. Najmeh Bozorgmehr and Andrew England report.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
An Israeli airstrike on a seaside cafe in Gaza City yesterday killed at least seven people, including a child, and wounded fourteen others, according to Dr Mohammad Abu Salmiya, head of Al-Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military said that it had struck Hamas commanders planning to attack Israeli troops in northern Gaza. Ephrat Livni and Abu Bakr Bashir report for the New York Times.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine’s ousted Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov yesterday called for wartime elections in a video address, arguing that the nation is facing a crisis of governance. Fedorov did not say he would compete in any election, but said “the old system lives by its own rules too often. It protects itself. It is scared of change.” Fedorov’s call is the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since the war began in 2022. Ukrainian law prohibits holding elections during wartime. Max Hunder reports for Reuters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that Russia had the right to regard the direct involvement of Britain in strikes on Russian territory as participation in the war in Ukraine. His comments came after the Times newspaper reported on Saturday that British-made drones had been used for long-range strikes against Russia for the first time. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed that the U.K was providing support to Ukraine, adding that Britain would support Ukraine “100%” in its fight against Russia and stand by Kyiv in “its hour of need.” Reuters reports; Paul Kirby and Tabby Wilson report for BBC News.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Syria yesterday allowed Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and his team to verify uranium metal stored at a site disclosed by Damascus last month. They also visited a location “where large quantities of graphite are stored,” material that is also related to past nuclear activities at the Al-Kibar nuclear reactor site. “We agreed with the Syrian government that the undeclared material will be verified and subject to routine Agency safeguards,” Grossi said. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Laurence Norman and Jared Malsin report for the Wall Street Journal.
Some 907 aid workers were killed, injured, or kidnapped in 2025, compared with 833 the year before, according to the Aid Worker Security Database. The U.N. said today that this record number of attacks was driven partly by an increased use of armed drones, calling the trend “appalling.” Emma Farge reports for Reuters.
An explosion at an education centre in Kabul injured at least 42 children on Monday, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said yesterday, calling for an “investigation to establish the circumstances of this incident.” Mohammad Yunus Yawar reports for Reuters.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Meta yesterday rejected accusations by 29 U.S. states that it intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms in pursuit of profit on this first day of the trial. Diana Novak Jones and Jonathan Stempel report for Reuters.
OpenAI said yesterday that it paused its model testing for two weeks and is adding other AI systems to monitor the activities of AI agents in testing. The company has paused training on its next generation of models, called Astra, and its largest planned training run remains on hold. Deepa Seetharaman reports for Reuters.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack yesterday expressed deep concern over Israel’s airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur airbase in Syria, calling it an “unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.” The Syrian foreign ministry also condemned the attack as an “unjustified act of aggression.” However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office justified the attack by accusing Syria of breaching the “status quo” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the air base near Aleppo. Turkey today rejected what it called “untenable allegations” by Israel regarding its military position in Syria. Barrack told Reuters after the strikes that Washington was working to establish a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Turkey and Syria. Gregory Svirnosvkiy reports for POLITICO; Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Reuters reports.
Trump yesterday announced a three-day pause on a 50 percent tariff on Canadian goods hours before it was scheduled to begin. Trump said the pause was based on the two countries reaching a preliminary deal. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also issued a statement confirming the pause, adding “substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done.” Daniel Desrochers and Ari Hawkins report for POLITICO.
The Pentagon said late last night that it was ending a major training exercise with South Korea one week earlier than scheduled. The South Korean military said today that despite the cutback, the allies had agreed to “discuss and implement various measures to achieve the objective of Ulchi Freedom Shield and establish a combined defense posture.” South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said that neither South Korea nor U.S. officials had been given advance warning about Trump’s order to scale back joint military drills. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
Trump is pushing aides for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as soon as this fall to revive nuclear diplomacy, according to U.S. officials. The officials said that Trump has privately discussed setting up in-person discussions with Kim during his next trip to Asia, which could be in November. Alexander Ward and Robbie Gramer report for the Wall Street Journal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday announced sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane, and trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye. “These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction,” Rubio said in a statement. Japan’s foreign ministry today described Washington’s decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court’s Japanese president and a senior trial lawyer as “very unfortunate.” Laura Kelly reports for The Hill; Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the U.S. in the next twelve months, the U.S. government said yesterday. Liberia said that deportees would be received as “guests” who could leave when they wanted or apply for asylum in Liberia, and clarified that the deal did not involve quid pro quo. Reuters reports.
Federal agents have begun detaining Haitians in Springfield, Ohio. At least fifteen Haitians have been detained by federal agents over the last week, whilst more than 100 have been summoned to ICE offices and fitted with ankle monitors to track movement in recent weeks. Miriam Jordan reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge on Monday ordered new oversight of immigrant children’s detention, having found that officials at detention centers in Texas and California had likely housed children and other detainees at unsafe temperatures, alongside denying them soap and adequate sleeping conditions. Jazmine Ulloa reports for the New York Times.
ICE has banned employees from wearing Meta glasses. In a memo about the policy yesterday, ICE said it considered the glasses to be a form of body-worn camera. As a result, “the use of Meta Glasses or similar devices could unintentionally capture, record or transmit sensitive information, potentially compromising privacy and legal protections.” Eli Tan and Hamed Aleasziz report for the New York Times.
Minnesota’s attorney general yesterday sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) over his refusal to extradite a jailed ICE agent. Christian Castro faces assault charges in connection with a shooting during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state. The lawsuit contends that governors have an obligation to turn over a person wanted on a criminal warrant from another state once the person’s identity is confirmed. Ernesto Londono reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday lifted the last judicial block faced by the Department of Homeland Security, allowing the Trump administration to end legal protections granted to over 5,000 Ethiopians. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Department of Justice yesterday unsealed new and updated charges against 17 individuals working with the Mabna Institute, an Iranian company, that it alleges carried out hacks and data theft against U.S. government agencies, companies, and universities since 2013. A.J. Vicens reports for Reuters.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) signed an executive order yesterday placing strict guardrails on new data centers. Prospective builders will need to agree on an energy plan that does not shift costs to households and must secure local buy-in. Victoria Albert reports for the Wall Street Journal.
House Oversight Chair James Comer yesterday threatened to hold Leon Black, founder of Apollo Global Management, in contempt of Congress. In July, Black refused to answer the panel’s questions about possible NDAs he signed with women tied to Epstein. In a letter to Black’s lawyers, Comer argued the singular NDA produced by Black following an Oversight Committee subpoena was insufficient and demanded more documents. Chris Marquette reports for POLITICO.
ABC yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission in an attempt to block a review that could lead to the revocation of the company’s eight largest broadcast licenses. The lawsuit claims that FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s early review of the company’s licenses is a “blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech.” Owen Dahlkamp reports for POLITICO.
Max D. Leder Jr. yesterday announced his retirement as publisher of Stars and Stripes. Lederer said he decided to step down because it had become clear that his philosophy of leadership and “understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes” differed in “fundamental ways” from the new direction of the Pentagon. Svetlana Shkolnikova reports for Stars and Stripes.
A former advisor to Anthony Fauci yesterday pleaded guilty to conspiring to conceal COVID-19 records. Prosecutors said that Moren’s plea related to the National Institutes of Health’s decision to cancel a research grant related to bat coronavirus. He used his personal email account in anticipation of Freedom of Information requests, which would be sought from his government account. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.
A federal judge in Texas on Monday declared that the Biden administration’s regulation on ‘ghost guns’ is unconstitutional. The ruling states that the 2022 rule violates the Second Amendment and was too vague to satisfy the Fifth Amendment’s due process guarantees. The Supreme Court had previously ruled the ban lawful, but on separate grounds relating to whether the BAFE had exceeded its authority in adopting it. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
A whistleblower yesterday claimed antisemitism investigations against Ivy League universities were designed to pressure the schools into deals for political purposes. The complaint was filed by Haley Van Erem, who alleged that outcomes of investigations were “predetermined, without regard to the evidence”, and that the work of the administration task force was “marked by extraordinary procedural irregularities” and a disregard for the law and Constitution. Erick Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer report for AP News; the Washington Post reports.
Despite a lack of Supreme Court approval, Trump has sped up construction of the ballroom, with work carried out twenty hours a day, seven days a week. Luke Broadwater and Ann E. Marimow report for the New York Times.
The Pentagon on Monday ordered 30 U.S. universities to audit their partnerships with mostly Chinese universities and military training institutions. The Pentagon’s chief technology officer Emil Michael stated in a news release that the Pentagon has “zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security.” Heather Hollingsworth reports for AP News.
The U.S. Forest Service aims to open over 44 million acres of national-forest land to logging and road construction. In a statement yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the move would reverse a 2001 rule that blocked most development and timber harvesting. Alyssa Lukpat reports for the Wall Street Journal.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
An appeals court yesterday upheld an order limiting federal immigration enforcement at eight houses of worship. The decision states that operations on the sites could hinder religious activities and thus likely violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.
A federal judge ruled yesterday that the Trump administration could move ahead with a partial paint job of the Eisenhower Executive Building. The ruling permits white painting of the gray granite exterior. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
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