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
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent yesterday announced “Operation Economic Outcast,” which aims to isolate Iran by threatening other countries and companies that do business with Iran. Bessent declined to comment on what specific countries would be targeted, but further announced an expansion to the secondary sanction categories already in place: aviation, digital assets, gold, shipping, and technology. The Treasury has also sanctioned nearly 60 entities involved in illicit procurement of nuclear and missile technology as well as cyber operations and oil smuggling, and revoked several licenses that previously allowed certain payments to Iran and Iranian access to U.S. cultural and academic institutions. Brian Schwartz, Laurence Norman, and Alexander Ward report for the Wall Street Journal; David Lawder and Humeyra Pamuk report for Reuters; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Iran is “fully prepared for the U.S. sanctions,” according to Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizdeh, who spoke yesterday following Bessent’s announcement. Madanizdeh told state television that the United States intends to launch an “economic terrorist attack,” but Iran “know how to play the game,” and the “enemies should wait for an attack.” Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi vowed heavy blows to United States vital interests and energy chokepoints if Iran’s infrastructure is threatened. Yasmine Ghania and David Lawder report for Reuters.
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority on Sunday said it blacklisted 45 tankers that had broken rules for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and declared it would take action against any vessels transferring loads with them. Nidhi Verma and Florence Tan report for Reuters.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi today stated that Pakistan and Iran made “significant progress” in talks on a path to peace. Naqvi accompanied Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir on his visit to Tehran, and claimed that the “Iranian President candidly shared his government’s perspective and we had a very constructive exchange on the issues involved.” Reuters reports.
IRAN WAR – YEMEN
The Houthis’ military spokesperson Yahya Saree said yesterday that they attacked a vessel off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Yanbu in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company Bahri later confirmed an incident in the Red Sea had occurred, but that all crew members were safe and no injuries had been reported. Reuters reports.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov on Sunday told reporters that two U.S. military refueling aircraft left an air base in the southeast of the country on Friday. The U.S. Air Force confirmed that the planes departed to support “other operational requirements.” Iran has previously criticized the temporary deployment of refueling planes, stating that Bulgaria would be complicit in “aggression and war crimes.” Filip Timotja reports for The Hill.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Iran had tried to kill one of his sons in a telephone interview with Israel’s Channel 14. He did not give details about when the alleged plot took place, or which son had been targeted. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli strikes and tank fire in central Gaza yesterday killed at least four people, including two children, according to hospital officials from Awda Hospital. After evacuation warnings by Israel’s military, Israeli strikes hit four buildings across various refugee camps. The IDF says the strikes were targeting two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques. They also claim one of the deceased was a militant affiliated with Hamas’ special forces unit. One person was also killed by Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Wafaa Shurafa and Sally Abou AlJoud report for AP News.
Israeli non-governmental organization NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief announced today that it would open a new medical clinic at the Mega Academy of the Gaza Children’s Village. The clinic is set to open on Sept. 1 in the Al-Mawasi refugee camp. Sue Surkes and TOI Staff report for the Times of Israel.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE
Israeli Central Command Chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth warned yesterday that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory. The warning came in a closed-door security assessment with Netanyahu and other senior officials, where he is quoted as saying that although Palestinian terrorism has declined, “there is one match that could ignite everything in an instant-nationalist crime.” Stav Levaton reports for the Times of Israel.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The United Kingdom and France yesterday confirmed their plan to send classified technology to Ukraine, allowing Ukraine to build an Anglo-French cruise missile. Alistair MacDonald reports for the Wall Street Journal.
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday signed a partnership to jointly develop AI tools for defence and security. The deal provides British researchers access to a Ukrainian battlefield data platform used to train military AI systems. Burnham said the partnership would initially focus on defence and national security projects. Alastair MacDonald reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Krasnodar’s regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said today that the Afipsky oil refinery was on fire following a Ukrainian drone attack. The debris from the attack killed two people and injured two others after falling on the Afipsky railway station. Reuters reports.
A drone, guided by an experimental AI system, killed three Ukrainians last month, according to drone experts, Ukrainian military commanders, and the forensic team. Ukrainian Air Defense Commander Col. Serhiy Minaiev declared machines that can make decisions on where to strike “a risk for the whole world.” Andrew E. Kramer reports for the New York Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The U.N. yesterday said at least 47 people were killed and 22 more injured in an overnight gang raid on the Kenscoff neighborhood overlooking Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. Residents have demanded the local police chief step down, saying officers failed to protect people killed just minutes from the police station. The prime minister’s office declared that “Kenscoff will not be abandoned,” and that authority would be restored. Harold Isaac and Ives Surin report for Reuters.
The U.N. Mission in South Sudan announced yesterday that two U.N. peacekeepers had been killed in an ambush of a patrol by armed men. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Deng Machol reports for AP News.
A mission to observe the implementation of a ceasefire between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwandan-backed M-23 rebels began on Monday, the first deployment under a monitoring mechanism established by the Qatari-mediated peace deal. Reuters reports.
Zambian authorities closed the country’s top courts yesterday, blocking access to premises on the final day that opposition could file a challenge to the recent election. A memorandum from the Chief Administrator of the Judiciary, Nalishebo Imataa, said that “for security reasons, all members of staff are advised not to report for work today.” Chris Mfula and Moses Mwape report for Reuters.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban announced today that a report has been filed with prosecutors on suspected fraud and other crimes involving the 2020 purchase of ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic under the nation’s previous administration. The report claims the ministry bought thousands of surplus ventilators, that could not realistically be used, at inflated prices. Gergely Szakacs reports for Reuters.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Taiwan prosecutors yesterday said they had indicted nine people, including employees of Nvidia and Super Micro, over involvement in the illegal export of AI servers to China. The individuals were charged with breach of trust and document forgery in connection with the illegal export of high-end AI servers. Wen-Yee Lee and Ben Blanchard report for Reuters.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
President Trump yesterday announced the United States will impose a 50% tariff increase against Canada on vehicles, steel, and other items. The tariffs are set to go into effect at the beginning of 2027. Trump stated that “Canada will be treated like a State no longer!” Jalen Beckford reports for POLITICO.
The United States yesterday removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the removal was “taken in recognition of the positive actions taken and further commitments by the Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa to fully distance Syria from acts of international terrorism.” Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said that the government hoped the removal of the “last obstacle” would help reconnect Syria to the global financial and economic system. Feras Dalatey reports for Reuters.
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
U.S. Southern Command announced yesterday that the military killed two men in a strike against a boat in the eastern Pacific that it said was transporting narcotics. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Trump administration is planning to take away business and tourism visas from people who officials say came to the United States for a short-term visit and then filed for asylum, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said yesterday. The State Department and Department of Homeland Security are reviewing all B-1 business and B-2 tourism visas, Pigott added. The move could affect as many as 200,000 U.S. visa holders and asylum applicants, AP News reports. Alyssa Lukpat and Michelle Hackman report for the Wall Street Journal; Matthew Lee reports.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services yesterday proposed charging a $103,265 fee for H-1B visas granted to skilled foreign workers, expanding last year’s $100,000 fee to potentially cover workers already in the United States. DHS estimated that the new fee would generate about $8.8 billion annually. Madeleine Ngo reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge last week ordered the Trump administration to immediately bring back a Mexican man who was deported this month despite proving to an immigration court that he would likely face torture in Mexico. ICE had withdrawn his protections after the State Department received diplomatic assurances from the Mexican government that the man would not be harmed, according to the judge’s order. Madeleine Ngo reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Maj. Jason Watson, a U.S. airman, was officially criminally charged yesterday for his comments calling for Trump’s impeachment, according to charging documents shared with CNN. Watson is facing three violations of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for alleged “contemptuous” remarks about Trump, five violations of Article 92 for allegedly disobeying orders, and two violations of Article 133 for alleged conduct unbecoming an officer. Davis Winkie and Haley Britzky report.
The MS-13 case against alleged gang leaders Moises Rivera-Luna and Tokiro Rodas Ramirez has ended in two mistrials after separate juries failed to reach verdicts. Before the case was retried in April, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro’s office had secured convictions in only four of the eight federal cases tried before Washington juries since January. Several people in the legal community have called the trend with the DC juries in federal court “embarrassing” or described it as dire. Katelyn Polantz reports for CNN.
A private arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah with back pay, after she was fired in September over social media posts about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, according to a ruling made public by the Democracy Defenders Fund yesterday. Reuters reports.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) yesterday defended his recent meeting with Jared Kushner in a video posted on social media, saying Kushner asked for the meeting and Jeffries had taken it to “discuss the affordability crisis that exists, that is not a hoax.” Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
State Department officials removed a painting by Kehinde Wiley from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic last week, with the department’s director of the Art in Embassies program calling it “very woke” and “aesthetically terrifying.” U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic Leah Campos celebrated its removal on social media, saying that the painting was an example of “globalist and woke ideologies.” In a statement yesterday, a department spokesperson did not directly address the artwork but said it was looking into whether it can legally sell the painting. Zachary Small reports for the New York Times
The White House already has an existing underground bunker for the president and his staff in case of national security threats, three former officials told the Washington Post this weekend, undercutting the administration’s claim of an urgent need for East Wing renovations. Two officials said the bunker can withstand a nuclear blast and is capable of housing dozens of people for weeks on end. Ashleigh Fields reports for The Hill; Noah Robertson and Dan Diamond report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Supreme Court yesterday voted 6-to-3 to overturn an injunction placed on Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting mail-in-voting, allowing the Trump administration to proceed with implementing the order. The Court said that the 20 states that sued to block the order lacked standing in part because it is unclear how the administration will implement the order. The court also clarified that the “disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful. On that score, time will tell.” Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit brought by environmental groups challenging Trump’s move to allow offshore drilling along previously protected coastline. The judge found the lawsuit was premature because drilling was not imminent in the relevant waters. Reuters reports.
Nevada yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a plan requiring it and two other states to cut Colorado River water use, arguing the cuts could cause severe economic, environmental and public-health harm. The lawsuit reflects growing conflict over a river depleted by decades of overuse and climate-driven drought. Sarah Kaplan reports for the Washington Post.
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
Expert Backgrounder: Military Justice in the Israel Defense Forces
By
