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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION AND NEW CONGRESS
President-elect Trump yesterday said he will nominate his transition co-chairs Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick to lead the Education and Commerce Departments respectively. He also selected Dr. Mehmet Oz, the well-known TV physician, to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins, and John Towfighi report for CNN; Dan Diamond reports for the Washington Post.
An unidentified hacker gained access to a file containing damaging testimony against former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a source said. The material does not appear to have been made public. Robert Draper reports for the New York Times.
A nonpartisan watchdog group American Oversight yesterday filed a motion in federal court seeking to compel the Justice Department to release materials relating to its now-shuttered sex trafficking investigation into Gaetz. Robert Draper reports for the New York Times.
House Democrats yesterday proposed a bill codifying the FBI’s role in vetting White House appointees for security clearances, taking aim at recent reports that the Trump transition team is bypassing the bureau. Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP LEGAL MATTERS
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office yesterday agreed to a potentially years-long postponement of Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case, while arguing that the judge should not dismiss the conviction altogether. Paula Reid, Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb, and Lauren del Valle report for CNN.
A federal judge yesterday said it would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if Trump grants sweeping clemency to most Jan. 6 attack defendants. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
President Biden authorized the provision of antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, two U.S. officials said, marking another major policy shift. Some human rights groups criticized the move, citing the risk to civilians. Michael Birnbaum and Alex Horton report for the Washington Post.
The United States closed its embassy in Kyiv today, issuing a rare warning that Russia might launch “a significant air attack” and instructing its employees to shelter in place. Marc Santora reports for the New York Times.
Ukraine’s military used U.S.-made ATACMS yesterday for the first time to strike into Russia, senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials confirmed. Marc Santora and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Trump but has ruled out any major territorial concessions and insists that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO, sources say. Guy Faulconbridge reports for Reuters.
A crisis deflation hotline between the Kremlin and the White House is not currently being used, the Kremlin said today, amid the highest tensions between Russia and the West in decades. Lidia Kelly reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
During a visit to Gaza yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a $5 million reward and promise of safe passage out of the territory to anyone who returns a captive. It is unclear whether the prize would apply to returning the body of a hostage who had died in captivity. Ephrat Livni reports for the New York Times; Steven Scheer reports for Reuters.
Israeli forces killed at least 15 Palestinians in Gaza today, including an emergency responder, health officials said. The director of one of the last functioning hospitals in the north also said his facility came under fire yesterday and is losing patients “who could have survived if resources were available.” Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
Israel has issued 1,126 arrest warrants for ultra-Orthodox conscripts who have not responded to drafting orders. Tamar Michaelis reports for CNN.
Senior Hamas negotiators are no longer in Doha, Qatari officials said yesterday, stressing that the group’s office in the country is not permanently closed. David Gritten and Rushdi Abualouf report for BBC News.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR
An agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war is “within our grasp,” the Biden administration’s Israel and Lebanon envoy Amos Hochstein said yesterday, following talks in Lebanon. Kareem Chehayeb, Wafaa Shurafa, and Fatma Khaled report for AP News.
Four U.N. peacekeepers were injured in a rocket strike in one of three separate incidents of U.N. bases coming under fire yesterday, the U.N. peacekeeping force for Lebanon (UNFIL) said. The IDF blamed Hezbollah for the incidents. Jacqueline Howard reports for BBC News.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Brazilian police yesterday arrested five people, including a former adviser to ex-President Jair Bolsonaro and an army general, over an alleged 2022 plot to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, authorities said. Michael Rios and Julia Vargas Jones report for CNN.
At least 50 Boko Haram fighters were killed yesterday following an ambush on a convoy monitoring the country’s power grid, a Nigerian Civil Defence Corp spokesperson said. Camillus Eboh reports for Reuters.
An Ugandan opposition leader was kidnapped last Saturday and is now held in a military jail, his wife said in a X post yesterday. Jaroslav Lukiv reports for BBC News.
Iran raised the possibility it would stop expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade levels in exchange for avoiding formal condemnation for its years of blocking some U.N. nuclear inspections, according to a private report from the U.N.’s nuclear agency. William J. Broad reports for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The United States has formally recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as the country’s president-elect following the disputed July presidential election, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced yesterday. Stefano Pozzebon and Jennifer Hansler report for CNN.
China rejected a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a conference in southeast Asia this week, citing a recent Taiwan arms sale, according to a senior defense official. Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann report for CNN.
In an annual report released yesterday, an influential bipartisan Congressional commission advised revoking China’s normal trade status, shuttering duty-free loopholes on Chinese e-commerce, and launching a “Manhattan Project-style” project to outpace China on AI development. Cate Cadell reports for the Washington Post.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Attorney General Merrick Garland told career prosecutors Monday that they are the “backbone” of the Justice Department, urging them to “protect” the department’s ‘mission” and “uphold the rule of law,” in his first public remarks since the selection of Gaetz as his successor. Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez report for CNN.
The Pentagon misstated how Special Operations troops died in an incident off Cyprus last year, the Washington Post found. Kyle Rempfer reports.
Legal regulators yesterday filed a 10-count ethics complaint against a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who oversaw a problem-plagued review of the 2020 presidential election. Patrick Marley reports for the Washington Post.
A former member of the right-wing Oath Keepers group who participated in the Jan 6. Capitol riot was sentenced yesterday to probation and six months of home detention after pleading guilty to the historically rare count of seditious conspiracy. Spencer S. Hsu reports for the Washington Post.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is pushing to bar Sarah McBride, soon to be the first transgender member of Congress, from accessing the Capitol’s women’s bathrooms, sparking heated responses from some Democrats. Andrew Solender reports for Axios.