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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Global stock markets continued to slump today in response to the sweeping tariffs announced by President Trump on Wednesday and China’s retaliatory imposition of additional 34% tariffs on all US goods from 10 April. Tom Espiner reports for BBC News.
South Korea’s highest court today upheld the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, ruling that Yoon’s actions constituted “a grave betrayal of the people’s trust.” The decision marks Yoon’s formal dismissal from the post, with a general election set to be held in the next 60 days. Yoonjung Seo, Gawon Bae, Mike Valerio, and Jessie Yeung report for CNN.
EU regulators are preparing a set of major penalties against Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, for breaking a law to combat illicit content and disinformation, sources say. The penalties, expected to be announced this summer, could include a fine of over $1 billion, a source added. Adam Satariano reports for the New York Times.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk yesterday condemned reports by local rights groups of the Sudanese army carrying out extrajudicial killings of civilians in the capital Khartoum city. AP News reports.
U.N. investigators looking into allegations of sexual misconduct by International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan are also investigating alleged retaliation for the accusations, sources say. Khan’s attorneys rejected all allegations of wrongdoing. Stephanie van den Berg and Anthony Deutsch report for Reuters.
France will complain to the International Court of Justice about Iran’s denial of consular services for two French citizens held in Iran since 2022, the French foreign ministry said yesterday. Reuters reports.
A report by the U.N. Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua yesterday named 54 Nicaraguan officials the group says are responsible for serious human rights violations and “systematic repression.” Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
An Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 27 people, including 19 women and children, and wounded 70 in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The Israeli military said it struck “prominent terrorists who were in a Hamas command and control centre.” Other Israeli attacks killed at least 97 people in the previous 24 hours, the health ministry said. David Gritten reports for BBC News; Wafaa Shurafa and Natalie Melzer report for AP News.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians yesterday fled south Gaza’s Rafah as Israeli forces advanced into the city in one of the largest mass displacements of the war. The Israeli military previously announced Rafah would form part of a “security zone” controlled by Israel. Separately, Israeli troops today moved into an area of northern Gaza to expand another “security zone.” Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa report for Reuters; Reuters reports.
The new Israeli military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, wants to decisively take out Hamas with a large-scale, monthslong ground offensive before a political solution for Gaza is decided, people familiar with his thinking say. Israel previously sought to remove Hamas from the territory by primarily political means, analysts add. Rory Jones and Dov Lieber report for the Wall Street Journal.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
A Russian overnight attack on a residential building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv killed at least four people and injured 35 others, regional officials said today. Vitalii Hnidyi reports for Reuters.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not expected to attend next week’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the first time since the group’s founding by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in 2022 that a senior Pentagon official would not be present, officials say. Separately, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office told reporters Ukraine has not yet discussed new military aid packages with the United States. Natasha Bertrand, Alex Marquardt, Haley Britzky, and Jennifer Hansler report for CNN; Reuters reports.
SYRIA
The Syrian foreign minister yesterday condemned Israel’s fresh wave of airstrikes on airbases and other military sites as an “unjustified escalation” aiming to “destabilise Syria.” The latest strikes come amid reports of Turkey moving its military equipment to Syrian airbases. David Gritten and Lucy Williamson report for BBC News.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CEASEFIRE
Israel today said it killed a Hamas commander in an airstrike in southern Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s office said the attack was a clear violation of the U.S.-backed ceasefire. Reuters reports.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
The United States has achieved only limited success in destroying Houthi targets in its recent strikes on Yemen, Pentagon officials have told Congress in closed briefings in recent days. Officials briefed on the assessments say the strikes are also more extensive and costly than publicly described, with the Pentagon using $200 million worth of munitions in three weeks and the total cost nearing $1 billion. A senior Pentagon official pushed back on the reports, saying that the operation is “on track.” Eric Schmitt, Edward Wong, and John Ismay report for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The U.S. government has banned American personnel in China from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens, AP News has learned. The ban extends to family members of U.S. personnel and contractors with security clearances, sources added. Such blanket “non-fraternization” policies have been last known to be implemented during the Cold War. Dake Kang, Matthew Lee, and Didi Tang report.
Threats of military strikes against Iran are “illegal and unacceptable,” a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday, days after Trump threatened Tehran with bombing and secondary tariffs if it does not strike a nuclear program deal with Washington. Reuters reports.
The Trump administration is in talks with Congo on developing the conflict-plagued nation’s mineral resources, Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, said yesterday. Jean-Yves Kamale and Mark Banchereau report for AP News.
The U.S. Senate yesterday voted 82-15 and 83-15 to reject two resolutions of disapproval over sales of massive bombs and other offensive military equipment to Israel. Patricia Zengerle reports for Reuters.
President Trump yesterday extended his support to France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen, calling her recent conviction over embezzling European Union funds the product of a “witch hunt.” Todd Symons reports for CNN.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump yesterday fired Gen. Timothy Haugh, the National Security Agency Director who also heads U.S. Cyber Command, officials say. Haugh’s civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble, and at least five National Security Council aides were also let go, the officials added. Far-right activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer said she advocated for the firings in a meeting with Trump on Wednesday. Ellen Nakashima, Warren P. Strobel, and Aaron Schaffer report for the Washington Post; Barak Ravid, Dave Lawler, and Alison Snyder report for Axios.
Trump has largely sidelined the Justice Department’s traditionally powerful Office of Legal Counsel, failing to submit a nominee to be the office’s Senate-confirmed leader or name an acting assistant Attorney General to manage it two months into his administration and limiting the extent to which the office is consulted on draft executive orders, analysts and sources involved in the review process say. Charlie Savage reports for the New York Times.
The Pentagon’s Inspector-General’s Office yesterday said it would investigate disclosures made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Signal to determine the extent to which Hegseth and other defense personnel complied with policies and procedures “for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business” and classification and records retention requirements. Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe report for the Washington Post.
Health and Human Services Department officials this week shut down several offices tasked with Freedom of Information Act requests amid plans to consolidate the handling of the requests into one HHS-wide office, according to sources. Ben Johansen reports for POLITICO.
Hastily-drafted termination notices sent to U.S. Agency for International Development staff by DOGE were so rife with errors that corrected versions are being re-issued to some workers to avoid affecting pensions and pay, sources say. Jonathan Landay and Patricia Zengerle report for Reuters.
Almost all the employees of the Wilson Center foreign policy think tank were placed on leave yesterday and blocked from their work email accounts as DOGE shut down most of the center, according to an email reviewed by the New York Times. Aishvarya Kavi and Edward Wong report.
Elon Musk will leave the White House “in a few months,” Trump said yesterday, his first comment that provided a loose end date for Musk’s departure. Sareen Habeshian reports for Axios.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT) yesterday criticized the Trump administration’s dismissal of Gen. Timothy Haugh from the National Security Agency. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.
More than 100 former assistant U.S. attorneys and other organizations this week signed a statement opposing the nomination of Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for D.C., to serve in the post permanently, as Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee called for a hearing on Martin’s nomination. Ryan J. Reilly reports for NBC News.
More than 80 organizations yesterday released an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s intimidation of judges and law firms. April Rubin reports for Axios.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
There is a “fair likelihood” the Trump administration violated a court order by failing to stop the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last month, a federal judge said yesterday, adding he will likely rule on whether officials were in contempt of court next week. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday said she plans to temporarily block the Trump administration from cutting at least $11bn in federal funding for COVID-19 initiatives and public health projects, stating that the plaintiff states made a “strong case” that they would succeed in their attempt to show the move was unlawful. Devna Bose reports for AP News.
The Attorneys General from 19 Democratic states yesterday filed a federal challenge to Trump’s executive order targeting election rules and administration across the country, arguing the President had “no authority” to make a number of directives contained in the order. Andrew Howard reports for POLITICO.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
