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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russian strikes killed 34 people and wounded 117 others in Ukraine’s city of Sumy yesterday, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Many of the casualties of the attack, the deadliest in the conflict this year, were residents attending Palm Sunday church services in Sumy’s center. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the strikes were carried out using ballistic missiles and cluster missiles. Svitlana Vlasova and Rosa Rahimi report for CNN.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
France’s Emmanuel Macron, Poland’s Donald Tusk, Britain’s Keir Starmer, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz condemned the attack on Sumy, with Merz accusing Moscow of committing a war crime. Asked about the attack, President Trump said it was “terrible” and that he had been “told [Russia] made a mistake.” The U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, condemned Russia’s Palm Sunday attack on Sumy, saying the strike “crosses any line of decency.” Eliza Gkritsi reports for POLITICO; Patrick Jackson reports for BBC News.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials on Friday discussed the latest U.S. proposal for a critical minerals deal, with little progress amid an “antagonistic” atmosphere, according to a source. A Treasury spokesperson said the discussions were “technical in nature.” Andrea Shalal reports for Reuters.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The Rapid Support Forces and other Sudanese paramilitaries killed the entire staff of the last medical clinic in west Darfur’s famine-stricken Zamzam camp in an assault that killed at least 100 people this weekend, the Relief International aid group and the U.N. said on Saturday. The paramilitaries also destroyed the central market in Zamzam along with hundreds of makeshift homes in the refugee camp, the aid group added. Declan Walsh reports for the New York Times; Samy Magdy reports for AP News.
At least 52 people were killed in fighting in east Congo between Friday and Saturday, the country’s Ministry of Interior said on Saturday. The Congolese government and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels traded blame for the killings. Justin Kabumba and Jean-Yves Kamale report for AP News.
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa won re-election in yesterday’s national vote, according to figures released by the country’s National Electoral Council. Noboa’s opponent, Luisa González, said her campaign “does not recognize the results” and vowed to seek a recount. Gonzalo Solano and Regina Garcia Cano report for AP News.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will reduce its global workforce by 20% and scale back operations in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, and Zimbabwe amid a severe funding crisis, agency head Tom Fletcher announced on Friday. Mohammed Tawfeeq reports for CNN.
Member states of the U.N. International Maritime Organization on Friday agreed to a global deal to tax carbon emissions from ships. The Trump administration withdrew from the talks on the draft agreement, set to be formally adopted in October, and said it could reciprocate against any fees imposed on U.S. ships. Mikhail Klimentov reports for the Washington Post.
The last remaining opposition party in Hong Kong took a key step towards disbanding itself yesterday in face of pressure from China and a national security crackdown, senior party officials said. James Pomfret and Jessie Pang report for Reuters.
Tanzania’s main opposition has been disqualified from elections due later this year over failing to sign a code of conduct, a senior election commission official said on Saturday. The party’s leader was charged with treason last Thursday for allegedly seeking to disrupt the vote. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
An Israeli air strike yesterday has incapacitated the last fully functioning hospital in Gaza City by extensively damaging its emergency room and reception area. Although no casualties were reported, at least one child died in the rushed evacuation of patients, according to a Jerusalem church that runs the facility. The IDF said they had struck a Hamas “command and control center,” an allegation that the militant group denied. Abeer Salman, Dana Karni, Ibrahim Dahman, and Tim Lister report for CNN.
Israel will soon “vigorously” expand its offensive throughout most of Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday, adding that the IDF had completed the takeover of a “security zone” cutting off the city of Rafah from Khan Younis in the territory’s south. Separately, a U.N. Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights spokesperson on Friday said that the U.N. is increasingly concerned that the cumulative impact of Israel’s actions on Palestinians in Gaza “appears to be inflicting … conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group.” Alys Davies reports for BBC News; Reuters reports.
A missing Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic who went missing during Israel’s attack on 15 humanitarian workers in late March is detained by Israeli authorities, the rescue service and the Red Cross said yesterday. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
Explosions at a U.N. guesthouse in Gaza that killed a European aid worker and severely wounded five others last month were very likely caused by two Israeli tank shells, according to expert analysis of images of the scene obtained by the Washington Post. Louisa Loveluck, Meg Kelly, Imogen Piper, and Abbie Cheeseman report.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Preliminary diplomatic talks between U.S. and Iranian officials over Tehran’s nuclear program on Saturday were “very positive and constructive,” the White House said in a statement. Iran sought sanctions relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear program during the negotiations, sources add. According to Iranian state television, U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff briefly spoke directly with Iranian leaders during the talks, set to continue on April 19. Chantal Da Silva reports for NBC News; Benoit Faucon, Michael R. Gordon, and Laurence Norman report for the Wall Street Journal; Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
Smartphones and other electronics are exempt from reciprocal tariffs but are included in “the semiconductor tariffs which are coming in probably a month or two,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said yesterday. Trump yesterday indicated he would announce the tariff rates on semiconductor imports next week and announced a national security trade probe into the sector. Jeff Mason, Doina Chiacu, and Nathan Layne report for Reuters; Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.
The State Department official who oversaw the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Pete Marocco, has left the agency, according to a senior Trump administration official. The departure was not Marocco’s choice, another official added, and it was not immediately clear if he would leave the administration or assume a different role. Brian Schwartz and Alexander Ward report for the Wall Street Journal.
The United States and Saudi Arabia are on a “pathway” to reaching an agreement on cooperating to develop a Saudi civil nuclear programme, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said yesterday. Pesha Magid reports for Reuters.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Suspected U.S. airstrikes around Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa killed at least six people and wounded 26 overnight into today, the Houthis said. The group also claimed it shot down another U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Pennsylvania state authorities yesterday arrested a suspect who allegedly set fire to the mansion of Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) early on Sunday, forcing Shapiro and his family to evacuate. The man was charged with attempted murder, arson and terrorism, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office said early today. Edgar Sandoval, Jeremy W. Peters, and Mike Ives report for the New York Times.
A military judge on Friday threw out the confession of a man accused of conspiring in the 9/11 attacks, ruling the statements were the product of a campaign of torture and isolation carried out by the CIA. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The United States has deported another 10 people to El Salvador amid the Trump administration’s crackdown, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday, ahead of President Nayib Bukele’s planned White House visit today. Tara Suter reports for the Hill.
The Trump administration will end Temporary Protected Status for more than 10,000 people from Afghanistan and Cameroon, the Homeland Security Department announced on Friday. Hamed Aleaziz reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration hopes to deport 1 million immigrants during Trump’s first year back in office, according to current and former federal officials. The administration is negotiating with as many as 30 countries to take deportees who are not their citizens, two officials added. Maria Sacchetti and Jacob Bogage report for the Washington Post.
The office of the U.S. attorney for New Jersey is investigating Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and state Attorney General Matt Platkin for not cooperating with federal immigration authorities, the office’s interim leader Alina Habba announced late on Thursday. Daniel Ham reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump on Friday issued a memorandum directing the military to assume temporary jurisdiction over a 60-foot wide strip of land along the border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The move would empower U.S. troops to detain people attempting to illegally enter the U.S. within the stretch of land. Myah Ward reports for POLITICO.
Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Latham & Watkins, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft law firms agreed to provide free legal work for causes favored by Trump, the White House said on Friday. The series of agreements brings a total of pro bono legal work for conservative causes the firms pledged to trump to almost $1 billion. Eric Tucker reports for AP News; Sam Baker reports for Axios.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has appointed William Ruger, a former Charles Koch Institute vice president and skeptic of military action against Iran, as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Mission Integration, congressional officials say. Ruger will be responsible for, amongst other matters, compiling the President’s Daily Brief intelligence update. Hans Nichols reports for Axios.
The Justice Department will continue its prosecution of two executives at the voting machine company Smartmatic who were charged last year in an alleged bribery scheme, government lawyers said. Trump’s allies claimed the voting machines made by the company, which has not been accused of wrongdoing in the case, were used for election fraud in the 2020 election. Jeremy Roebuck reports for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration has overridden the objections of a senior Social Security Administration executive, Greg Pearre, to purposely labelling 6,100 living immigrants as dead. According to sources, Pearre told Scott Coulter, the SSA’s new Musk-backed chief information officer, that the plan was illegal, cruel, and risked declaring the wrong people dead, before being walked out by security guards. Hannah Natanson, Lisa Rein, and Meryl Kornfield report for the Washington Post.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Trump administration yesterday insisted it has no legal obligation to facilitate the release of a Maryland man illegally deported to El Salvador, arguing in a court filing that last week’s Supreme Court ruling requires officials only to admit him into the United States if the man makes it back from the high-security prison where he is held. The administration also provided minimal responses to a Friday court order directing officials to provide “daily updates” on the efforts made to return the man. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
One DOGE member with appropriate training and disclosures can have access to sensitive Treasury Department payment and data systems, a federal judge ruled on Friday, partially relaxing an earlier order that wholly banned DOGE from accessing the systems.
A federal judge on Friday declined to block the Trump administration from carrying out detention and deportation operations in houses of worship, ruling that the coalition of religious organizations which filed the challenge failed to establish that their spaces and congregants have become common targets. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration can further shrink the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but cannot dismantle it entirely, an appeals court ruled on Friday. Tierney Sneed reports for CNN.
Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil is eligible for deportation, an immigration judge ruled on Friday. Khalil’s attorneys said they would appeal the decision. David Nakamura and Susan Svrluga report for the Washington Post.
Two groups representing Harvard professors on Friday sued the Trump administration over its review of about $9 billion in federal funding received by the school, arguing that the move violates free speech and other First Amendment rights. Edgar Sandoval reports for the New York Times.
The ACLU, on behalf of two U.S. human rights advocates, on Friday filed a challenge to Trump’s decision to impose sanctions on Karim Khan, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.
A group of progressive Jewish organizations and congregations on Thursday filed a brief in federal court objecting to the government’s treatment of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Muslim graduate student at Tufts detained by the immigration authorities over an essay critical of Israel. Anemona Hartocollis reports for the New York Times.
The State Department has not found any evidence showing the Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization prior to her detention by immigration enforcement agents, according to a March State Department memo described to the Washington Post. DHS has previously said Ozark engaged in activities “in support of Hamas.” John Hudson reports.
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