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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
World markets are sinking as the higher tariffs President Trump imposed on imports from about 60 countries, including a 104% tariff on imports from China, have come into effect. Trump yesterday said that the United States has “a lot of countries coming in to make deals” and that he is negotiating “highly tailored deals” with South Korea and Japan. Peter Hoskins reports for BBC News; Michael Race reports for BBC News; Ana Swanson and Alan Rappeport report for the New York Times; the Wall Street Journal reports.
European pharmaceutical stocks are also falling ahead of the U.S. start of trading following Trump’s announcement he would “very shortly” impose a “major” tariff on all pharmaceutical imports yesterday. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO; Jennifer Meierhans reports for BBC News.
The Trump administration is considering launching drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico as part of its effort to combat cartel trafficking of drugs, including by taking action without Mexico’s consent, according to current and former U.S. military, law enforcement, and intelligence officials. In response to the reports, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico categorically rejects any unilateral U.S. military action on its territory. Dan De Luce, Ken Dilanian, and Courtney Kube report for NBC News; Reuters reports.
The United States yesterday restored its funding for the World Food Programme’s aid programs in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Ecuador, and Somalia after terminating them last weekend, sources say. Jonathan Landay, Daphne Psaledakis, and Humeyra Pamuk report for Reuters.
South Sudan has reversed its decision to deny entry to a man it says is a Congolese national deported by the United States “in the spirit of friendly relations” between Juba and Washington, the country’s foreign ministry said yesterday. The United States has imposed a blanket visa ban on South Sudanese citizens over the incident. Nimi Princewill reports for CNN.
Three U.S. citizens jailed by the Democratic Republic of Congo over playing a role in the failed coup attempt in the country were handed over to U.S. custody yesterday following high-level talks on security and minerals between Washington and Kinshasa, officials say. Ange Adihe Kasongo, Jessica Donati, and Sonia Rolley report for Reuters.
U.S. and Russian delegations will meet tomorrow in Istanbul to discuss “solely” stabilizing bilateral embassy operations, a State Department spokesperson said yesterday. Reuters reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Senior Defense Department officials are considering withdrawing as many as 10,000 troops from Romania and Poland deployed by the Biden administration to strengthen the defenses of countries bordering Ukraine, U.S. and European officials say. Separately, Gen. Christopher Donahue on Monday announced the U.S. Army would reposition its forces and equipment from a key Polish weapons shipping hub to other locations. Gordon Lubold, Dan De Luce, and Courtney Kube report for NBC News; Ellen Mitchell reports for the Hill.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever yesterday announced a new bilateral aid package of one billion euros ($1.10 billion) for Ukraine, with the ambition of providing at least that same amount every year during his term. Reuters reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine has captured two Chinese citizens fighting in the Russian army and is seeking to understand the significance of their presence on the battlefield for the extent of Beijing’s involvement in the war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced yesterday. Isabel Coles reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Russia is close to regaining full control of the Kursk region from the Ukrainian army, the regional governor and Russian state media claimed yesterday. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Andrew Osborn reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Gaza is a “killing field” with its civilians stuck “in an endless death loop,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said yesterday, calling Israel’s blockade of aid “totally intolerable in the eyes of international law” as the heads of six U.N. agencies appealed for urgent action to ensure food and supplies reach Palestinians. Gueterres also rejected a new Israeli proposal to control aid deliveries in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry accused Gueterres of “spreading slander” and insisted there was enough food in Gaza. Megan Fisher reports for BBC News; Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Suspected U.S. airstrikes killed at least six people and injured 16 others in the area of Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeida last night, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said. The U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately acknowledge the strikes. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
U.S. military commanders are concerned the Pentagon will soon need to move some of its Asia-Pacific stockpiles of long-range precision weapons to the Middle East due to the large amount of munitions used in the current U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen, congressional officials say. Edward Wong and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CEASEFIRE
Hezbollah is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about disarmament if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and stops its strikes, a senior Hezbollah official has told Reuters. According to sources, Lebanon’s U.S.-backed President Joseph Aoun intends to open talks over Hezbollah’s arsenal soon. Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, and Maya Gebeily report.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Germany’s conservatives and centre-left Social Democrats will today present their agreement to form a new government, led by Friedrich Merz as Chancellor. Andreas Rinke and Matthias Williams report for Reuters.
The EU will not tolerate threats to Bosnia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and constitutional order, Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas said yesterday, commenting on Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik’s recent separatist moves. Daria Sito-sucic reports for Reuters.
Israel’s High Court yesterday issued an interim order pausing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to fire the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, giving the Israeli government until April 20 to come up with a compromise to the dispute. Aaron Boxerman and Isabel Kershner report for the New York Times.
Pakistan expelled more than 8,000 Afghan nationals in the past week, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ office said yesterday. Reuters reports.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
At least a dozen House Republicans are considering signing onto a bill that would restrict the White House’s ability to unilaterally impose tariffs, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ron Bacon’s (R-NE), told Axios. Andrew Solender reports.
The Senate yesterday voted 54-45 to confirm Elbridge Colby as the Pentagon’s Under-Secretary for Policy. Alexander Bolton reports for the Hill.
Chinese intelligence agencies are targeting current and former U.S. government employees for recruitment “posing as consulting firms, corporate headhunters, think tanks, and other entities,” the National Counterintelligence and Security Center warned yesterday. Reuters reports.
A California man yesterday pleaded guilty to the charge of attempting to assassinate a United States Justice, two months before he was set to go on trial for a 2022 plot to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Devan Cole reports for CNN.
The federal immigration authorities will be allowed to open office space at the Rikers Island detention complex, according to an executive order issued yesterday by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. Hurubie Meko reports for the New York Times.
Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group plans to spend $10 million to help elect Democratic attorneys general in battleground states this year and in 2026, the organization’s president, John Feinblatt, announced yesterday. Reid J. Epstein reports for the New York Times.
The former director of global public policy at Facebook, Sarah Wynn-Williams, is set to testify before Congress today about her allegations that Meta executives undermined U.S. national security and briefed Chinese officials on emerging technologies like AI, according to a statement obtained by NBC News. A Meta spokesperson described the testimony as “divorced from reality.” Allan Smith and David Ingram report.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump administration officials have told some federal employees Elon Musk’s DOGE is using AI to surveil at least one agency’s communications for hostility to Trump and his agenda, sources say. The DOGE team is also using Signal to communicate internally, another source added, in a move that could potentially violate federal record-keeping rules. Alexandra Ulmer, Marisa Taylor, Jeffrey Dastin, and Alexandra Alper report for Reuters.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service yesterday finalized an agreement for the IRS to provide sensitive taxpayer data to federal immigration authorities to assist in the Trump administration’s deportation push, according to court documents filed yesterday. Sources also say that the Acting IRS Commissioner, Melanie Krause, is set to leave the agency after being excluded from discussions on the agreement and disagreements on the agency’s direction. Marshall Cohen and Rene Marsh report for CNN; Jacob Bogage and Shannon Najmabadi report for the Washington Post.
The United States is terminating legal status for nearly a million immigrants who entered the United States using the CBP One app during the Biden administration and asking them to leave, the DHS said in a statement. Rebecca Beitsch reports for the Hill.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard yesterday announced the creation of a new task force that will work on “eliminating the politicization” of intelligence agencies by declassifying documents and other information. Julian E. Barnes reports for the New York Times.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Monday directed prosecutors to limit their pursuit of certain cryptocurrency crimes and announced the disbandment of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, a group of cryptocurrency, cybercrime and money-laundering experts. Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein, Cat Zakrzewski, and Carol D. Leonnig report for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern, according to a source, amid investigations into their diversity, equality, and inclusion programmes and allegations of antisemitism at both schools. Michael C. Bender and Sheryl Gay Stolberg report for the New York Times.
Attorney General Pam Bondi yesterday said the DOJ has revoked “nonessential” funding for the Maine Department of Corrections over the state’s placement of a transgender woman in a women’s prison. Brooke Migdon reports for the Hill; Anthony Izaguirre reports for AP News.
Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by Trump should be entitled to a refund of restitution payments they made to cover the cost of repairing the damage the riot occasioned to the Capitol, the DOJ said yesterday in a court filing. Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.
Trump yesterday signed multiple executive orders aimed at boosting the U.S. coal industry. Jarrett Renshaw, Timothy Gardner, and Trevor Hunnicutt report for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Supreme Court yesterday blocked a federal judge’s order for the Trump administration to reinstate more than 16,000 fired probationary employees, ruling that the nonprofit groups that brought the lawsuit against the dismissal lacked standing. The consequences of the ruling may be limited, as another order requiring the reinstatement of many of the same workers remains in place with different plaintiffs having brought that suit. Adam Liptak reports for the New York Times.
A federal judge yesterday issued a preliminary injunction ordering the White House to restore the Associated Press’ access to presidential events, ruling that the First Amendment prohibits the government from punishing the news organization for the content of its speech. The judge gave the government a week to respond or appeal the order before it comes into force. David Bauder reports for AP News.
The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday filed a lawsuit in New York on behalf of two Venezuelan migrants allegedly expecting deportation under the Alien Enemies Act and asked for an emergency order temporarily restraining the government from moving the migrants out of the New York area. The move follows the Supreme Court’s ruling that lawsuits seeking to block the deportations should be filed as a habeas claim in the places where the detainees are held. Rebecca Beitsch reports for the Hill; Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
A Louisiana immigration judge yesterday said that she will terminate the case against Columbia university student activist Mahmoud Khalil if the government does not provide evidence this week that would justify its attempts to deport him. Sara Cline and Jake Offenhartz report for AP News.
The American Library Association and an union representing cultural workers yesterday sued the Trump administration over its cuts to the Institute for Museum and Library Services, arguing the move required congressional approval to be lawful. Jennifer Schuessler reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
