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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
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi yesterday said Iran’s mediators have offered the White House a new seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks to end the war. Araghchi said that the proposal was built on the memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States in June, and ensures that if “certain conditions are met… the strait will be open in seven days.” Abigail Hauslohner reports for the Financial Times.
The U.S. Senate yesterday narrowly rejected an effort to direct President Trump to end the Iran war unless he gains authorization for it from Congress. The measure was previously voted on by the House in July, but the House passed a separate resolution last week directing Trump to remove American forces from hostilities against Iran. The new resolution could still come before the Senate. Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.
IRAN WAR – YEMEN
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis yesterday said they had launched missile and drone attacks on what they described as a “sensitive target” in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh and on Saudi Aramco facilities in the Red Sea city of Yanbu. The statement came after Saudi Arabia said it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards the southern province of Taif and the Yanbu area. Enas Alashray and Yomna Ehab report for Reuters.
Saudi, Turkish, and Pakistani military chiefs are set to meet to discuss how to support Saudi Arabia under a joint defense pact, after Saudi’s Grand Mufti, the kingdom’s top religious authority, yesterday called on soldiers to be ready to lay down their lives to oust the Houthis from power in Yemen. Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus today said the defense pact between the three nations could turn into a broader pact “for the Muslim world” that includes Iran. Timour Azhari and Hatem Maher report for Reuters; Huseyin Hayatsever reports for Reuters.
French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday said France plans to send troops to Saudi Arabia to protect an oil pipeline in Yanbu. Macron stressed that despite the announcement, France was “not getting involved in any conflict.” Noemie Bisserbe and Matthew Dalton report for the Wall Street Journal.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
U.K. Foreign Minister Ed Miliband met with his Iranian counterpart Araghchi on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The pair discussed the Iran war and the importance of Strait of Hormuz, and Miliband warned Araghchi the United Kingdom would not “tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on U.K. soil” from groups linked to Iran. Gnaneshwar Rajan and William Jones report for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday labeled allegations of genocide in Gaza as the “biggest lie of the century” during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly. Netanyahu also asserted Israel’s right to wage war against Iran, and accused New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) of being an “antisemite” and of being “buddies” with Hamas. Netanyahu’s speech came after days of world leader speeches condemning Israel’s war in Gaza, and during his speech scores of delegates walked out the hall in protest, whom Netanyahu labeled “moral cowards.” Mamdani responded to the speech by accusing Netanyahu of repeating “baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.” Sam Metz reports for AP News; Chris Sommerfeldt reports for POLITICO; Isabel Kershner, Farnaz Fassihi, Max Bearak, and Michael Levenson report for the New York Times.
WEST BANK DEVELOPMENTS
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday reaffirmed plans to hold Palestinian parliament elections in November for the first time in 20 years during his pre-recorded video address to the U.N. General Assembly. Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta report for Reuters.
Former U.N. Relief and Works Agency for the Palestine Refugees in the Near East Chief Philippe Lazzarini told AP News that behind the scenes, members of the Board of Peace have been more open to working with the UNRWA. Another U.N. official shared minutes from meetings with AP News, where UNRWA and the Board of Peace discussed collaborating on plans for Gaza. The Board of Peace has previously said there is no place for a U.N. body that has provided support to displaced Palestinians for decades. Julia Frankel reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukrainian strikes overnight killed two people, and struck an oil refinery and a passenger train, according to Russian officials. Perm region Gov. Dmitry Makhonin said one man had been killed during a massive drone strike, while Belgorod local officials reported one civilian was killed and another wounded when a drone struck a truck. Anton Kolodyazhnyy reports for Reuters.
Russia’s Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery today temporarily suspended operations after overnight Ukrainian drone attacks, according to Rostov region Gov. Yuri Slyusar. Anton Kolodyazhnyy reports for Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today said the United States has proposed that the United Arab Emirates host a trilateral meeting with Ukraine and Russia to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he is waiting for suggestions about the date. Olena Harmash, Pavel Polityuk, and Daniel Flynn report for Reuters.
Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal today said it is not able to safely restart operations at its Ukrainian subsidiary after missile strikes over the past five weeks killed five people and injured 17 employees. Michael Hennessey reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb yesterday told Reuters he pleaded with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to expand Starlink satellite internet coverage for Ukraine so it can strike Russian ballistic missile launchers located inside Russian territory. Ukrainian officials believe turning on Starlink over Russian territory would help Ukraine target Russian launchers. Tom Balmforth reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Sweden and Finland today said fighter jets intercepted and identified Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland yesterday. Stine Jacobsen, Louise Rasmussen, and Elviira Luoma report for Reuters.
The EU is not rearming quickly or effectively enough to meet its goal of being ready to defend against Russia by 2030, according to the executive summary of the European Defense Agency’s first annual Defense Readiness Report seen by Reuters. Current plans of member states “do not seem to meet” the goal of filling gaps in areas such as air and missile defense, ground combat, and naval forces. Lili Bayer reports.
NATO Commander U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich yesterday told Reuters that NATO is stepping up intelligence-sharing in response to a wave of sabotage and other incidents allegedly linked to Russia. Grynkewich’s comments came after Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Service warned that Russia was likely to intensify a hybrid war against the West in the coming months, but he stressed that “we should be calm and confident” that NATO has the tools to manage “the risk here.” Sabine Siebold reports.
CLIMATE DEVELOPMENTS
Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah yesterday scolded fellow world leaders in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, saying Nepal’s recent floods serve as a reminder that climate change continues to hurt people who did not cause the crisis. Shah said Nepal contributed less than one-tenth of the 1% of heat-trapping gases behind climate change, and the country was “paying a colossal price for it” as climate change “does not recognize borders.” Shah called for grant-based international support to help Nepal’s recovery which is estimated at about 10% of the country’s GDP. Seth Borenstein and Anton L. Delgado report for AP News; Mrinmay Dey reports for Reuters.
A second U.S. federal judge on Wednesday ruled that New York’s new climate “superfund” law is unconstitutional. The law would require fossil fuel companies to pay billions of dollars to cover the costs of climate change. The ruling said the law was pre-empted by the federal Clean Air Act and that it interfered with foreign affairs. Karen Zraick reports for the New York Times.
U.S. AI DEVELOPMENTS
AI research group Transluce’s report released yesterday said OpenAI “agents” that hacked an Australian government website were part of a broader spate of AI bots targeting websites to gather data for training exercises. The report said the pattern of online traffic it identified continued as recently as last week “suggesting agents may still be exploiting these services to bypass restrictions.” Michael Acton reports for the Financial Times.
Trump’s allies are targeting Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as the face of AI “doomerism” and a founding father of the under-fire effective altruism movement, according to a memo obtained by Axios. The memo seeks to paint effective altruism as a fringe, cultish collective out of touch with mainstream America, and places Amodei at the foundation of the movement. The memo declares that effective altruism “built the AI-doom pipeline.” Maria Curi and Marc Caputo report.
The Office of the National Cyber Director has asked OpenAI and Anthropic not to share their new AI models with the U.K’s AI Security Institute until the models have gone through U.S. government testing, sources told POLITICO. The White House wants the United States to review the models and take steps to make sure U.S. systems are secure before the models are shared with U.S. partners. Sophia Cai and Joseph Bambridge report.
U.S. – CHINA DEVELOPMENTS
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday exchanged warm words at the White House state dinner. Xi stressed that the countries should ensure AI remain “under human control” and act “as responsible major countries,” while Trump toasted a future of “harmony, peace and success” for China and the United States. Bernd Debusmann, Max Matza, and Ione Wells report for BBC News.
Airlines for America Head Chris Sununu yesterday said that U.S. carriers oppose adding more direct flights from China to the United States after Xi raised the idea. Sununu said it is a “huge cost to the airlines to have to go around Russia.” David Shepardson reports for Reuters.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Department of Homeland Security yesterday said Guatemalan Mario David Coronado Juarez who died on Sunday in a car crash in Michigan after ICE agents attempted to question him was not the person the agents were looking for. Coronado Juarez was driving a car registered to the person being targeted by ICE. According to ICE, agents attempted to stop the car, and at that point Coronado Juarez fled at a high speed while officers “discontinued enforcement action.” Julie Bosman reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday slammed ICE for “inhumane and unconstitutional” conditions at a New York detention center and issued a permanent injunction. The judge found that ICE repeatedly ignored his previous orders and misled the court about its compliance. Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan yesterday said ICE is “not going anywhere” despite recent scrutiny surrounding its escalated enforcement operations. Homan attributed the hate against ICE to members of the media. Tara Suter reports for The Hill.
The Justice Department yesterday filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, asking the court to allow the Trump administration to continue deporting some undocumented immigrants to countries where they have no ties. The appeal requests that the justices immediately block an appeals court ruling that halted deportations. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Supreme Court Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson yesterday criticized the Supreme Court’s use of its emergency docket, saying the court’s willingness to fast-track high-profile cases posed a threat to its standing among the American public. Jackson said the court “cannot expect the public to have faith in our judicial system if, without clear explanation, we are consistently greenlighting harmful acts” without a full hearing. Abbie VanSickle reports for the New York Times.
An Appeals court on Wednesday reinstated an Ohio law requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote at motor vehicles offices. The 2-1 ruling said the advocacy groups that brought the suit failed to demonstrate that the law would likely prevent people from registering to vote. The dissenting judge said the plaintiffs had successfully identified people who were not able to register to vote without providing proof of citizenship. Ashley Ahn reports for POLITICO.
The California Supreme Court yesterday ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to return about 650,000 ballots he had seized from election officials as part of an investigation into voter fraud. The ruling determined Bianco had no authority to take ballots on congressional redistricting that were cast in Riverside County during California’s 2025 special election. Tim Arango and Soumya Karlamangla report for the New York Times.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency yesterday issued a plan to help States and localities secure the midterm elections against potential cyber threats. The 13-page plan dubbed “Securing the Next 250” outlines free resources for “election infrastructure stakeholders.” Dana Nickel and Maggie Miller report for POLITICO.
Journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO were allowed back into the White House yesterday after a chaotic morning in which the Trump administration barred their entry despite an overnight order from a federal judge which required immediate restoration of their access. However, as of yesterday evening, the TV pool remained suspended, and networks indicated they would not resume coverage until the White House had formally agreed to allow CNN to participate in the pool again. Michael M. Grynbaum reports for the New York Times.
The lawyers of former FBI employees involved in the criminal investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents yesterday revealed they asked a judge to clarify whether they can testify before a grand jury in a conspiracy probe without violating an order restricting the release of information. The filing was made on behalf of subpoenaed employees. Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer report for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTION
The U.S. government paid for an advertisement run on Fox News and Newsmax. The White House said in a statement that the ad is “educational and unapologetically patriotic,” but did not specify what agency paid for the spot. The ad does not say who voters should support in the midterms, but House Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said that the ad was a violation of the Hatch Act. Mike Catalini reports for AP News.
The Justice Department yesterday announced it has ended its watchdog role in more than 50 cases enforcing racial desegregation in schools. Justice Department records showed that 57 desegregation orders have been dismissed since the beginning of Trump’s second term, though it could not be verified that a judge ruled in each case. Nearly 80% of cases were in five southern states. Michael C. Bender reports for the New York Times.
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