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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 — U.S. RESPONSE
If peace in Ukraine is “not doable,” the United States needs to abandon its effort to broker a deal within “days” and move on, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today, asserting that the conflict is “not our war.” Alex Stambaugh, Max Saltman, Victoria Butenko, and Ross Adkin report for CNN.
Ukraine and the United States yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding as a “step toward a joint economic partnership agreement,” according to Kyiv’s economy minister. The memorandum states Kyiv and Washington aim to complete technical discussions on the terms of the deal by April 26, after the Ukrainian prime minister visits the United States next week. Andrew E. Kramer reports for the New York Times; Reuters reports.
The United States, Ukraine, and European officials held an “excellent exchange” in Paris yesterday, according to a source at France’s Elysée Palace. A State Department readout says a U.S.-penned outline of a peace deal had received an “encouraging reception” at the talks and that Secretary Rubio later conveyed the plan to the Russian foreign ministry. Christian Edwards, Daria Tarasova-Markina, Pierre Meilhan, and Caitlin Danaher report for CNN.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russia has reduced the number of strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities but started targeting other civilian infrastructure instead, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday, adding that the total missile and drone attack numbers remained unchanged. Separately, Ukraine’s military said that the Russian army is trying out a new tactic of larger-scale assaults involving several hundred troops. Yuliia Dysa and Max Hunder report for Reuters; Reuters reports.
A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv this morning killed one person and wounded 82 others, including six children, emergency services said. Reuters reports.
China’s foreign ministry today dismissed as “groundless” Zelenskyy’s allegation that Beijing had been supplying weapons to Russia and producing weapons on Russian territory. Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) yesterday met in El Salvador with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration wrongly deported to a maximum security prison in the country. In a social media post about the meeting, Van Hollen said he “look[s] forward to providing a full update” on his return. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said that “now that [Abrego Garcia] has been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” Mary Clare Jalonick and Yolanda Magaña report for AP News.
The Venezuelan government is not coordinating with the Tren de Aragua gang according to a new comprehensive U.S. intelligence assessment, U.S. officials say. The assessment contradicts Trump administration officials’ justifications for using the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations. Michelle L. Price and Mary Clare Jalonick report for AP News.
House Homeland Security Committee chair Mark Green (R-TN) has not authorized Rep. Delia Ramirez’s (D-IL) request to lead an official congressional delegation to El Salvador, and Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY) has not responded to a similar request from Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Andrew Solender reports for Axios.
The Trump administration has revoked the visas of more than 1,000 international students and recent graduates at more than 130 schools this year, according to university statements and spokespeople. Caroll Alvarado, Javon Huynh, and Amanda Musa report for CNN.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Suspected U.S. airstrikes on an oil port in western Yemen have killed at least 58 people and injured 126 others, Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported today. The reported death toll would make the attack one of the deadliest since the escalation of the U.S. campaign against the Iranian-backed group. The U.S. Central Command said the strikes were aimed at cutting off revenue to the Houthis. Reuters reports; Kareem El Damanhoury and Mohammed Tawfeeq report for CNN.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
A senior Hamas official yesterday formally rejected Israel’s latest ceasefire offer, saying the group is prepared to negotiate a “comprehensive” deal to end the war in Gaza and swap all Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel. Hamas will no longer agree to interim deals, the official added. The rejection prompted far-right Israeli lawmakers to issue calls for an immediate escalation in Gaza. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters; Abeer Salman, Tamar Michaelis, and Mohammed Tawfeeq report for CNN.
At least 37 people have been killed in a series of Israeli strikes yesterday, with most of the casualties located in a tented area designated for Palestinians displaced from other parts of Gaza, the Hamas-run civil defence said. According to a witness, a “large number” of children were killed. Jessica Rawnsley reports for BBC News.
Thousands of children in Gaza have become malnourished, and most people are barely eating one meal a day, the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) warned yesterday, as the heads of 12 independent aid organizations warned the Gaza aid system is “facing total collapse.” Wafaa Shurafa, Fatma Khaled, and Lee Keath report for AP News.
SYRIA
The United States has started drawing down troops from northeastern Syria, reducing troop levels to about 1,400 from 2,000, and will assess whether to make further cuts in 60 days, senior U.S. officials say. According to one of the officials, U.S. commanders have recommended keeping at least 500 troops in Syria. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
The White House in recent weeks issued policy guidance calling on Syria’s interim government to crack down on extremists, secure the country’s chemical-weapons stockpile, and expel Palestinian militants in return for a limited easing of sanctions, according to U.S. officials. Jared Malsin, Michael R. Gordon, and Nancy A. Youssef report for the Wall Street Journal.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Erik Prince, a prominent Trump supporter, has agreed to help the Democratic Republic of Congo secure and tax its vast mineral wealth, sources close to the private security executive say. The agreement was reached before the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launched a major offensive in January, with discussions now focused on implementing the deal, sources add. Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley report for Reuters.
Half a million weapons obtained by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been lost, sold, or smuggled to militant groups, sources tell BBC News. Many of the weapons and military equipment items have been funded by the United States or left behind by U.S. forces, according to a former Afghan official. Yasin Rasouli and Zia Shahreyar report.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud yesterday arrived in Tehran to meet the chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, in the first visit by a senior Saudi royal to the country in decades. Nadeen Ebrahim reports for CNN.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The life-saving wheat aboard a carrier ship sailing toward southern Yemen will not go to waste, the State Department said yesterday in response to reports that the Trump administration’s recent aid cuts could result in the wheat rotting or being pillaged. MJ Lee and Jennifer Hansler report for CNN.
Two joint Somali-U.S. airstrikes killed 12 al-Shabaab militants in central Somalia and destroyed a ship carrying weapons for the group, the Somali government said yesterday. Reuters reports.
The FBI yesterday said it had arrested a man who is wanted in India in connection with terrorist activities and evaded arrest by illegally entering the United States. John Yoon and Alex Travelli report for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
“We are all afraid” in the current political climate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said on Monday, adding she is “oftentimes very anxious … about using [her] voice” due to fear of retaliation. Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing reports for POLITICO.
A New York grand jury yesterday indicted Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, on four charges, including two counts of stalking, firearms offense and murder through the use of a firearm. Filip Timotija reports for the Hill.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
A Trump administration official last month asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Mike Lindell’s concerns that he has been inappropriately targeted for a tax audit, according to sources and a letter viewed by the New York Times. Lindell, who the Treasury official described as a “high-profile friend of the President,” is a leading denier of the 2020 presidential election results. IRS officials referred the letter to the agency’s inspector general, the sources add. Andrew Duehren reports.
The Trump administration terminated 1,400 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau workers yesterday out of a total of 1,700, sources say. In a Wednesday staff memo, the CFPB chief legal officer indicated the agency will also deprioritise medical debt, student loans, consumer data, and digital payments supervision and focus on “tangible harm to consumers.” Makena Kelly reports for WIRED.
AmeriCorps, the independent federal agency that organizes community service work, has placed almost all of its staff on administrative leave at the direction of DOGE, sources say. Aishvarya Kavi reports for the New York Times.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its partners Palantir and Anduril are the frontrunners to win a crucial part of Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense shield, sources say. The decision process for the project is in its early stages, other sources cautioned. Mike Stone and Marisa Taylor report for Reuters.
Trump yesterday ramped up his threats to scrutinize the tax-exempt status of groups and colleges he disagrees with, telling reporters the administration is “looking at” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit that has investigated Trump and challenged his executive actions in court. Benjamin Guggenheim reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal appeals court yesterday unanimously rejected the Trump administration’s request to pause the steps a lower judge is seeking to take in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case, opining that the DOJ’s assertions in the case “should be shocking” and “would reduce the rule of law to lawlessness.” Tierney Sneed and Devan Cole report for CNN; Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.
The Supreme Court yesterday announced it would hear arguments over the Trump administration’s request to lift a nationwide pause on Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship on May 15. The hearing will focus on the administration’s argument that lower courts had erred in imposing a nationwide pause on the policy. Abbie VanSickle reports for the New York Times.
An appeals court late on Wednesday temporarily halted a lower court’s order that directed the Biden-era green climate funds to be released to the grant recipients, substituting it with a ruling maintaining the status quo. Rachel Frazin reports for the Hill.
A federal judge yesterday granted a preliminary injunction extending a ban on DOGE’s access to U.S. citizens’ private information held in the Social Security Administration’s systems, ruling that the government had failed to show the need for the “unprecedented, unfettered” access sought by DOGE. Nathan Layne reports for Reuters.
Costa Rica has violated the rights of dozens of minors deported from the United States by detaining them for two months and holding them in conditions that “could cause irreparable harm,” a group of lawyers argues in a complaint filed before the U.N. committee that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child yesterday. Emiliano Rodríguez Mega and James Wagner report for the New York Times.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) yesterday announced he would sue the Trump administration over the reported dismantling of the AmeriCorps service program by DOGE. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
