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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The U.S. refusal to endorse a joint G7 statement condemning Russia’s Palm Sunday attack on Ukraine has derailed its adoption, sources say. The U.S. delegation said it would not support the measure as it is “working to preserve the space to negotiate peace” with the Kremlin, sources add. Russian strikes killed 35 and injured 119 in the attack, the conflict’s deadliest this year. Donato Paolo Mancini and Alberto Nardelli report for Bloomberg News.
The United States appears to have tempered its demands for an aid payback from Ukraine in rare earths deal talks from $300 billion to about $100 billion, closer to Kyiv’s own estimate of $90 billion, sources say. Volodymyr Verbianyi and Alberto Nardelli report for Bloomberg News.
A Russian overnight drone attack on Ukraine’s port city of Odesa injured three people and damaged civilian infrastructure, local officials said early today. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Hamas has rejected an Israeli proposal for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza that called for the group to give up its weapons, according to a senior Palestinian official, who said the group did not agree to the plan as it contained no commitment to end the war. Yolande Knell and Rushdi Abualouf report for BBC News.
An Israeli strike killed a security guard and wounded 10 patients at a field hospital in southern Gaza yesterday, the medical facility’s director said. Israel’s military claimed the attack targeted a Hamas commander “adjacent to and outside” the hospital. Adam Rasgon reports for the New York Times.
An Israeli fighter jet late yesterday dropped a bomb near an Israeli community on the Gaza border in what the IDF has called a “technical malfunction.” The Israeli military said that no injuries resulted from the incident. Lauren Izso and Oren Liebermann report for CNN.
A Hamas spokesperson yesterday claimed the group has “lost contact” with the militant group holding Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier held hostage in Gaza, following an Israeli strike on their location. Jessica Rawnsley reports for BBC News.
Autopsies of the bodies of paramedics and rescue workers killed by Israeli fire last month show they died mainly from gunshots to the head or chest, according to reports obtained by the New York Times. Vivian Yee, Bilal Shbair, and Christoph Koettl report.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration plans to use tariffs negotiations to isolate China’s economy by pressuring U.S. trading partners to commit to reductions in dealings with Beijing, according to sources. Gavin Bade and Brian Schwartz report for the Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. military is set to consolidate its presence in Syria in a move that could cut the number of troops in the country by half in the coming months, according to U.S. officials. Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart report for Reuters.
Ecuador has discussed receiving military support in its battle with criminal gangs with the United States, President Daniel Noboa told CNN yesterday, adding that the U.S. forces would play a supportive role in Ecuador’s security operations. Michael Rios reports for CNN.
The State Department is considering plans to close 10 embassies and 17 consulates and reduce or consolidate the staff of several other foreign missions, according to an internal memo reviewed by the New York Times. Karoun Demirjian reports.
The Office of Management and Budget has proposed eliminating funding for United Nations peacekeeping missions, citing failures of operations in Mali, Lebanon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. Jonathan Landay and Humeyra Pamuk report.
President Trump yesterday held a meeting on the U.S. position in the ongoing nuclear deal negotiations with Iran in the White House situation room, sources say. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The Trump administration has appointed the DOGE adviser who helped dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, Jeremy Lewin, to be the new acting head of foreign assistance at the State Department, according to a U.S. official. Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee report for AP News.
The United States is removing sanctions on a close aide of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a State Department spokesperson confirmed yesterday, stating a continuation of the punitive measures was “inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy interests.” Daphne Psaledakis reports for Reuters.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Israeli troops will remain in “security zones” in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria indefinitely, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday. The Palestinians and both neighboring countries view the Israeli military presence as an occupation in violation of international law. Isaac Scharf and Wafaa Shurafa report for AP News.
Jordan yesterday said it had arrested 16 citizens with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood conspiring to manufacture and launch rockets within the kingdom. In a statement, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Jordanian branch disavowed any connection to the alleged plots. Gerry Shih reports for the Washington Post.
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary yesterday announced it was forming a rival government that will rule parts of the country controlled by the group and allied paramilitaries. Separately, G7 foreign ministers yesterday issued a statement calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Sudan and condemning RSF’s attacks. Samy Magdy reports for AP News; Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Justice Department has fired Erez Reuveni, the career DOJ attorney accused of sabotaging the government’s legal case over the mistaken deportation of a Maryland man to El Salvador by the Trump administration, a source says. Sadie Gurdman reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) asked House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY) to authorise an official congressional delegation to the El Salvador prison where the Trump administration is sending deportees, according to a letter seen by Axios. Andrew Solender and Stephen Neukam report.
The Salvadoran government is denying access to attorneys and contact with the outside world to more than 200 Venezuelans deported by the United States, lawyers challenging the men’s detention say. Nelson Renteria and Sarah Kinosian report for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Two troops deployed to the domestic U.S. border mission were killed yesterday in a vehicle rollover in New Mexico, according to U.S. defense officials, marking the first known military fatalities associated with the mission. A third U.S. service member was hospitalized in serious condition. Dan Lamothe reports for the Washington Post.
Police officers used stun guns on two protesters attending a town hall for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) outside Atlanta yesterday and forcibly removed several other protesters, according to a spokesperson for the Acworth Police Department. Maya C. Miller reports for the New York Times.
New York City lawmakers yesterday filed a lawsuit challenging Mayor Eric Adams’ consent to the opening of a federal immigration office at the city’s main jail facility, describing it as a “naked attempt by [Adams] to fulfil his end of the bargain for special treatment he received from the Trump administration.” Joe Anuta reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Pentagon security officers yesterday escorted one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leading advisers, Dan Caldwell, out of the Defense Department after he was identified during an investigation into leaks, according to a U.S. official. Caldwell was placed on administrative leave along with Darin Selnick, the Pentagon’s deputy Chief of Staff, who was also suspended in connection with the probe. The leaks under investigation include information about military plans for the Panama Canal, aircraft carrier presence in the Red Sea, U.S. pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon, another official has said. Phil Stewart reports for Reuters; Daniel Lippman and Jack Detsch report for POLITICO.
The Trump administration yesterday announced it would no longer reserve a regular slot in the presidential press pool for Reuters, the Associated Press, and Bloomberg News, wire services that have participated in the pool for decades. The slot will be filled by an additional journalist from a print media outlet, selected from a rotation of several dozen, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Michael M. Grynbaum and Katie Robertson report for the New York Times.
About 22,000 Internal Revenue Service employees have signed up for the Trump administration’s latest resignation offer, putting the agency on track to lose a third of its workforce this year, according to sources. Separately, sources say Trump is planning to name Gary Shapley, the former IRS criminal investigator who alleged that the Justice Department slow-walked the investigation of Hunter Biden, as acting IRS Commissioner. Andrew Duehren and Eileen Sullivan report for the New York Times; Evan Perez, Alayna Treene and Marshall Cohen report for CNN.
Nearly all staff of the Defense Digital Service, the Pentagon’s fast-track tech development arm, are set to resign over the coming month following pressure from DOGE, effectively shutting down the decade-old program, sources say. Mohar Chatterjee reports for POLITICO.
DOGE representatives yesterday told the leaders of the Vera Institute of Justice they want to assign members of DOGE to work at all institutes or agencies that receive federal funds, sources say. Perry Stein reports for the Washington Post.
The White House allowed an Associated Press reporter into an event yesterday for the first time since the Trump administration banned the service’s journalists, an AP spokesperson confirmed. Last week, a court ordered the administration to cease blocking to AP News’ access to events. April Rubin reports for Axios.
Trump threatened Harvard University’s tax-exempt status yesterday after the school rejected the administration’s demands for a series of policy changes. Tyler Pager, Andrew Duehren, Maggie Haberman, and Jonathan Swan report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Trump administration is to produce records and sworn answers about the U.S. government’s attempts to return a Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador, a federal judge ruled yesterday, finding that “nothing has been done” to comply with a Supreme Court order directing the government to “facilitate” the man’s release. The judge also left open the possibility of finding the administration in contempt of court. Steve Thompson and Katie Mettler report for the Washington Post.
The Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior and Energy Departments, and other agencies have to resume disbursing funds due under Biden-era climate and infrastructure spending laws after a federal judge ruled yesterday that the Trump administration does not have “unfettered power to hamstring in perpetuity” funding duly passed by Congress. Alex Guillén reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge late on Monday issued an order temporarily barring the Trump administration from deporting immigrants detained in Colorado under the Alien Enemies Act authority until the government puts in place a procedure for allowing the immigrants to appeal against removal decisions. Nicholas Riccardi reports for AP News.
A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked most of the sanctions Trump imposed on the Susman Godfrey law firm, criticizing the order punishing the firm as “based on a personal vendetta.” Mark Berman reports for the Washington Post.
The Justice Department can temporarily stop funding legal education programs for people facing deportation or immigration court proceedings while a lawsuit challenging the funding cuts proceeds, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Rebecca Boone and Cedar Attanasio report for AP News.
A federal judge yesterday issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Labor Department from requiring contractors and grant recipients to certify they do not operate any diversity, equity and inclusion programs that run afoul of anti-discrimination laws until further court directions are given. Claire Savage and Alexandra Olson report for AP News.
The Legal Defense Fund yesterday filed a lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP challenging the Education Department’s efforts to stop diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 public schools. Russell Contreras reports for Axios.
All of the messages from the group chat that included a journalist from the Atlantic have been deleted from the phone of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the agency said in a Monday court filing in a challenge brought by a watchdog group in a bid to preserve the chat log under federal records legislation. Julian E. Barnes reports for the New York Times.
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