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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Large-scale U.S. air and naval strikes against Yemen’s Houthis killed 53 people over the weekend, the rebel group said, while vowing revenge. U.S. Central Command launched what it called a “decisive and powerful” wave of airstrikes on Houthi targets on Saturday as part of efforts to open up international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said the airstrikes “took out” multiple Houthi leaders, with new strikes also continuing today. George Wright reports for BBC News; Sarah Fortinsky reports for The Hill.
A joint Iraq-U.S. operation killed a leader of the self-styled Islamic State militant group and one of its operatives in Iraq and Syria, U.S. Central Command said on Friday. Hanne Cokelaere reports for POLITICO.
Waltz said yesterday that “all options are always on the table” when asked whether a military response against Iran would be considered, either in relation to its support for the Houthis or its potential development of nuclear weaponry. In response, Iran’s foreign ministry said yesterday, “The United States government has no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy. That era ended in 1979.” Megan Lebowitz and Sarah Dean report for NBC News; David Cohen reports for POLITICO.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that South Africa’s ambassador to the United States is a “race-baiting politician” who is no longer welcome in the country, after the diplomat accused President Trump of promoting global white supremacy. The move is the latest sign of tension since Trump halted aid to the African nation last month. Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing reports for POLITICO.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday his intention to dismiss Ronen Bar as head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency and will seek cabinet approval for the major move this week. No Israeli government has ever removed the head of the Shin Bet, with the decision coming as the agency investigates two of Netanyahu’s advisers over allegations that they received payments from Qatar during the war. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; The Times of Israel reports.
Eight charity workers were killed in Israeli strikes in northern Gaza on Saturday, the UK-registered Al Khair Foundation said. The Israeli military said it struck “two terrorists” who “posed a threat to Israeli troops,” adding that it then targeted “additional terrorists” who arrived at the scene. The charity has rejected the allegation that members of its team were terrorists. Emir Nader and Malu Cursino report for BBC News.
Responding to a proposal to extend the Gaza ceasefire, Hamas said on Friday it is prepared to release a U.S.-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual nationals. The release would be conditioned on Israel abiding by the terms outlined in a multi-phased ceasefire previously agreed in January, the group said. Ibrahim Dahman, Dana Karni, Ivana Kottasová, and Eyad Kourdi report for CNN.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The Trump administration and Israel approached the governments of Sudan and Somalia and has also been interested in Syria as potential locations to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, sources told CBS News. A senior Syrian official said they were unaware of any outreach about the plans by the U.S. government or Israel, while Somalia’s ambassador to the U.S. also denied receiving such contact. Camilla Schick and Margaret Brennan report.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
At Ukraine peace talks tomorrow, Trump says he will discuss “land,” “power plants,” and “dividing up certain assets” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has confirmed the scheduled call between both leaders, but has not detailed the discussion topics. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said military planning to protect a potential ceasefire is moving into an “operational phase” after Saturday’s virtual meeting with 29 other world leaders. Mallory Moench reports for BBC News.
The Justice Department has privately notified European officials that the United States is withdrawing from a multinational group established to investigate those responsible for the invasion of Ukraine, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, sources say. Glenn Thrush reports for the New York Times.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russia and Ukraine continued aerial attacks on each other, causing injuries and damage, officials said yesterday, as the fate of a proposed ceasefire to the war remains uncertain. Separately, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Moscow will demand assurances that NATO will bar Ukraine from membership and that Ukraine will maintain neutrality as part of any peace agreement. Reuters reports; George Wright reports for BBC News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump on Friday issued an executive order calling for the dismantling of the federal agency that oversees broadcaster Voice of America (VOA). With most of the workforce locked out, some of its radio frequencies in Asia, Middle East, and elsewhere went dark or began airing music, VOA employees said. In other cases, outlets that used VOA programming will remain online without U.S. contributions. David Enrich reports for the New York Times.
Trump signed a congressional stopgap measure to continue government funding on Saturday, averting the threat of a government shutdown. The signing followed the Senate passing the bill 54-46 earlier Friday, with many Democratic lawmakers criticizing Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for helping pass the legislation. Kaia Hubbard reports for CBS News; Minho Kim reports for the New York Times.
Trump on Friday widened his assault on some of the nation’s most prominent law firms by restricting the business of Paul Weiss, just days after a federal judge ruled such measures likely violate the Constitution. Devlin Barrett and Tyler Pager report for the New York Times.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that the Trump administration is “aggressively pursuing” people in U.S. spy agencies who leak information to the public, citing recent stories and “politically motivated leaks” on national security topics in news outlets. Warren P. Strobel reports for the Washington Post.
The Pentagon on Saturday deployed a Navy destroyer to strengthen security at the southern U.S. border, defense officials say, in the latest example of the Trump administration using the military to defend what the president has claimed is an “invasion” at the border. Dan Lamothe reports for the Washington Post.
SYRIA
Explosive remnants from Syria’s 13-year conflict detonated in the coastal city of Latakia, causing a building to collapse and killing more than a dozen people, the Syrian Civil Defense said yesterday. Meanwhile, late yesterday, Syria’s Defense Ministry accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah of crossing the Lebanon-Syria border and killing three Syrian soldiers. Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack. The Associated Press reports.
The U.S. military has brokered a deal to bring Kurdish-fighters and the new Damascus government together, U.S. officers say, with the aim of stabilizing the country and heading off a return to civil conflict that could complicate efforts to curb the self-styled Islamic state militant group. Jared Malsin, Stephen Kalin, and Nancy A. Youssef report for the Wall Street Journal.
A group of Syrian men entered the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights through a U.N.-monitored buffer zone on Friday. The visit, by religious leaders from Syria’s Druze minority, reflects a significant shift in Israel’s strategy along the frontier and its increasing military control over Syrian territory, posing a challenge to the new government in Damascus. Lucy Williamson reports for BBC News.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Arlington National Cemetery has removed information about Black and female service members from its website, including veterans who had reportedly received the nation’s highest military recognition. The content removal is part of a broader Trump administration effort to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the military and federal government. Brandon Drenon reports for BBC News.
Kash Patel, the FBI director, is moving forward with a plan to restructure the agency’s command by decentralizing its leadership and dividing it into three regions, according to an internal email obtained by The New York Times. Under this shift, top agents in the FBI’s 52 field offices will no longer report to the deputy director, a major departure from the bureau’s traditional chain of command. Adam Goldman reports.
U.S. officials have underestimated the threat posed by drones in U.S. airspace, despite several recent cases of elusive drones flying over sensitive military sites, the former joint commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command has warned. Bill Whitaker, Aliza Chasan, Graham Messick, and Jack Weingart report for CBS News.
Trump’s new Secret Service boss, Sean Curran, is facing calls for an agency overhaul, including security planning reform for large events, and a potential restructure of the 8,000-person agency. Derek Hawkins reports for the Washington Post.
A former mayor from Haiti is set to go to trial today after authorities alleged he lied on his visa application about committing “extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.” NBC News reports.
Immigration authorities have announced the arrest of a second activist who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations last spring at Columbia University. The Department of Homeland Security claims Leqaa Jodia, who is a Palestinian and from the West Bank, had overstayed her student visa. Max Metza reports for BBC News.
Under new social studies standards approved by the Oklahoma state education board last month, teachers would be required to have high school students “identify discrepancies in the 2020 election results” and review baseless claims related to Trump’s election loss. The standards must be approved by the Oklahoma legislature. Frances Vinall reports for the Washington Post.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to Paris and London today to strengthen alliances, amid Trump’s challenges to Canada’s sovereignty and economy. At his swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Carney noted that Canada is starkly different to America, and will “never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States.” Rob Gillies reports for the Associated Press.
Iran is employing aerial drones, facial recognition systems, and a citizen-reporting app to enforce mandatory hijab laws and punish women who defy the dress code, according to a U.N. report released Friday. Mohammed Tawfeeq reports for CNN.
Some 325,000 people attended Serbia’s largest ever rally on Saturday to protest the deaths of 15 people in the Novi Sad railway station roof collapse. The collapse galvanized anger toward the government, with demonstrators blaming corruption for the loss of life. Serbian officials have denied claims that security forces used a military-grade sonic weapon to disperse the crowds. Guy De Launey reports for BBC News; the Associated Press reports.
Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro gathered on Copacabana Beach yesterday to show their backing for the far-right politician, who is facing charges for allegedly plotting a coup. Elénore Hughes reports for the Associated Press.
A former South Korean defense minister charged with insurrection for his attempt to enforce martial law defended his actions at the beginning of his trial today, attributing the political crisis to the “wicked behavior” of the opposition. Ju-min Park reports for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Trump administration said it did not abide by a Saturday court order to turn around two planes carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members because the flights were “already outside of U.S. airspace,” and therefore the ruling did not apply, two senior officials told Axios. The ruling temporarily blocked the administration’s ability to use wartime legislation, the Alien Enemies Act, and the judge verbally ordered any planes in the air carrying migrants to turn back to the United States. Trump yesterday defended his use of the Act, telling reporters, “I can tell you this, these were bad people.” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted on X, “Oopsie, too late,” referring to the judge’s decision. Mark Caputo reports; Alison Main, Michael Rios, Kevin Liptak, and Jessie Yeung report for CNN; Marianne LeVine, Maria Sacchetti, Joyce Sohyun Lee, and Natalie Allison report for the Washington Post.
[Editor’s Note: read Ryan Goodman’s timeline of events]
A professor at Brown’s University medical school has been deported from the United States following a visit to her home country of Lebanon last month, even though she had a valid visa and a court order temporarily halting her deportation, according to her lawyer and court papers. A federal judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to respond to allegations that immigration enforcement “wilfully disobeyed” the order. Dana Goldstein reports for the New York Times; Avery Lotz reports for Axios.
A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the federal government by temporarily halting a lower-court ruling in Maryland that had blocked enforcement of several Trump’s executive orders. Chris Cameron reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
