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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
TRUMP APPARENT ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
The man suspected of attempting to assassinate Trump was charged yesterday with two gun counts at his initial appearance in Florida federal court. Avery Lotz and Sareen Habeshian report for Axios; Patrick Svitek and Mariana Alfaro report for the Washington Post.
Elon Musk yesterday wrote and swiftly deleted a post on X suggesting it was odd that nobody had tried to assassinate Biden or Harris. The remark immediately drew outrage, with the White House calling it “irresponsible.” Matthew Mpoke Bigg reports for the New York Times.
The acting director of the U.S. Secret Service said the agency needs a “paradigm shift” in how it protects presidents, following the second apparent attempt on Trump’s life within two months. Julia Ainsley, Jake Traylor, Elizabeth Chuck and Rich Schapiro report for NBC News.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CONFLICT
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet yesterday made the safe return of Israeli citizens to northern Israel an official war goal. It comes amid ongoing cross-border fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has led to the evacuation of about 60,000 people from northern Israel. Jaroslav Lukiv reports for BBC News; Josef Federman and Julia Frankel report for AP News.
Senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein cautioned Netanyahu yesterday against starting a wider war against Lebanon, three sources told Axios. In the same meeting, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Hochstein that “military action” was “the only way” to end the cross-border violence and return its citizens to the north. Barak Ravid reports; Liam Stack reports for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Egypt tomorrow “to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza,” but his visit to the region will exclude a stop in Israel, the State Department said. It marks the first time since Oct. 7 that Blinken has visited the Middle East without visiting Israel. Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Haslan report for CNN.
Israel’s initial findings on the killing of U.S. activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi do not exonerate Israeli security forces, the State Department said yesterday, warning that Washington would weigh other measures if the results of a full Israeli probe are unsatisfactory. Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis report for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is avoiding death or capture by Israel because of a low-tech coded communications system, involving handwritten notes and codes and a courier system, Arab ceasefire mediators say. Summer Said and Rory Jones report for the Wall Street Journal.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Western allies bought approximately $2 billion in fuel made from Russian oil in the first half of 2024 using a sanctions loophole, an upcoming report seen by POLITICO has found. Gabriel Gavin reports.
Russian President Vladmir Putin yesterday ordered the country’s military to boost its number of troops by 180,000, bringing the total to 1.5 million. AP News reports.
U.S. military aid packages to Ukraine have shrunk in recent months as the stockpiles of weapons and equipment the Pentagon is willing to send Kyiv has diminished. The shift comes amid concerns about U.S. military readiness being affected as U.S. arms manufacturers try to recover from the demand created by the war against Russia. Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann report for CNN.
In the latest estimate, one million Russians and Ukrainians have been killed or wounded in the two-and-a-half-year war. Bojan Pancevski reports for the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A Republican Ohio sheriff urged residents in his county to “write down all the addresses of the people” who display Harris signs, suggesting that there would be an influx of undocumented immigrants if she wins the election. Bruce Zuchowski referred to immigrants as “locusts,” and likened Harris to a “laughing hyena.” The Portage County Commissioner has resigned from the GOP Central Committee, calling Zuchowski’s post “bullying.” Praveena Somasundaram reports for the Washington Post; Raquel Coronell Uribe reports for NBC News; Diane Smith reports for the Akron Beacon Journal.
A judge has denied a request from Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, to move the election-subversion related prosecution against him from state to federal court. The ruling is another setback for Meadows, who unsuccessfully tried the same legal maneuver in a separate case in Georgia. Rachel Pannett and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez report for the Washington Post.
Packages with powder-like substances were sent to secretaries of states and election offices in Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Iowa, the Associated Press reported. The FBI and the U.S. Postal Service confirmed they are investigating the incident. Sarah Fortinsky reports for The Hill.
TikTok’s fate is hanging in the balance after the company yesterday tried to persuade a Washington appeals court to suspend a fast-approaching ban across the United States. Drew Harwell and Eva Dou report for the Washington Post.
U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS
The U.S. military completed its withdrawal from Niger on Sunday “following the mutual establishment of withdrawal conditions,” U.S. Africa Command announced. Haley Britzky reports for CNN.
The Biden administration is sanctioning two Georgian government officials and over 60 individuals in the state for “serious human rights abuse,” the State Department said yesterday. Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.
The United States offered to recognize the Houthi government in Sanaa in an effort to stop the militant group’s attacks, a senior Houthi official said yesterday. A U.S. official said the remarks were false. Reuters reports.
A Pakistani man with suspected ties to Iran pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges stemming from an alleged plot to assassinate a U.S. politician in retaliation for the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. Luc Cohen reports for Reuters.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Starvation in war-stricken Sudan “is almost everywhere,” the head of the World Health Organization told the BBC after visiting the country. Mishal Husain and Wahibi Ahmed report.
Iran’s new president has said that morality police will no longer “bother” women over the mandatory wearing of the hijab headscarf, days after the U.N. warned that Afghan women were still being violently punished for breaking the dress code. Frances Mao reports for BBC News.
France’s commissioner to the E.U. resigned yesterday, criticizing European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for what he called “questionable governance.” Jenny Gross reports for the New York Times.
Meta yesterday announced it is banning Russian media outlet RT, days after the Biden administration accused RT of acting as an arm of Moscow’s spy agencies. Kevin Collier and Phil Helsel report for NBC News.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko yesterday pardoned 37 people serving prison sentences for “extremist” crimes. It marks the fourth time since July that Lukashenko has pardoned political prisoners in what some say is an attempt to soften his image. Yuras Karmanau reports for AP News.