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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
President Biden is not being treated for Parkinson’s disease and has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physicals, the White House said yesterday. The announcement follows a report by the New York Times alleging that visitor logs showed a neurologist with expertise in the illness visited the White House at least eight times from July 2023 through March this year. Reuters reports; Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano report for The Hill.
Accusing conservative Supreme Court justices of placing “a crown on Donald Trump’s head,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said yesterday that he is eyeing a legislative response to the landmark Supreme Court immunity ruling. “The Constitution makes plain that Congress has the authority to check the judiciary through appropriate legislation,” Schumer said, adding that he will work with colleagues on a bill “classifying Trump’s election subversion acts as unofficial acts not subject to immunity.” Sahil Kapur and Frank Thorp V report for NBC News.
Three Columbia University deans were removed from their positions and placed on indefinite leave over text messages that evoked “ancient antisemitic tropes,” the school said yesterday. Details of the messages, which were sent during a panel about Jewish life on campus, have not been disclosed, although reports say they referenced tropes about Jewish wealth and said Jewish students came from a place of privilege. Alyssa Lukpat reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The Biden administration is seeking to expand its powers to block and scrutinize foreign real-estate transactions near U.S. military bases, the Treasury Department announced yesterday. The proposal would allow the Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews deals for national security issues, to assess real-estate purchases near more than 50 military sites that hadn’t previously been covered. Richard Vanderford reports for the Wall Street Journal.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
Biden condemned the Russian missile strikes yesterday that killed at least 38 people, saying the attacks serve as a “horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality.” At least 190 were injured across the country, including some at a children’s hospital in Kyiv. Biden’s comments come as Washington prepares to host a NATO summit in Washington today. Emily McGarvey reports for BBC News. Readers may be interested in Mercedes Sapuppo and Shelby Magid’s analysis of Russian war tactics in Ukraine for Just Security.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday criticized Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow as a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts.” Modi’s two-day trip marks his first visit to Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Helen Regan, Mariya Knight, and Victoria Butenko report for CNN.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, to remain in post “for the time being to ensure the country’s stability,” after the country’s snap election left no party with an outright majority. Paul Kirby reports for BBC News.
A Russian military court yesterday found a playwright and a theater director guilty of “justifying terrorism,” sentencing them to six years in prison each and banning them from “administering websites” for three years following their release. Valerie Hopkins reports for the New York Times.
Belarus and China yesterday began 11 days of joint military training exercises, Belarus’s defense ministry said, just miles from the Polish border. The bilateral anti-terrorist training exercises in Belarus would see military personnel from both countries “act together” as one unit in certain stages, a Belarusian military official said. Isaac Yee, Ivana Kottasová and Simone McCarthy report for CNN.
The Ecowas grouping of west African countries has warned the region faces “disintegration” after Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger announced their intention to leave the bloc. Eromo Egbejule reports for The Guardian.
The E.U. has “stopped” Georgia’s accession process “for now,” Brussels’ envoy Paweł Herczyński said today at an E.U. enlargement event in Tbilisi. The move, which will also freeze tens of millions of euros in financial assistance to Georgia, comes after widespread condemnation over the governing Georgian Dream party’s “foreign agents” law. Gabriel Gavin reports for POLITICO.
The Biden administration is assisting French authorities in defending against potential cyberattacks and disinformation threats to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Paris, as concerns grow that Russia is looking to interfere. The assistance includes intelligence sharing and direct U.S.-France cyber support through “many U.S. interagency partners,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said. Maggie Miller reports for POLITICO.
The U.N. human rights chief said today that his office is investigating reports of a mass grave discovered in the desert along the Libya-Tunisia border. “I urge the authorities to respond swiftly to our inquiries, and to investigate these crimes fully,” Volker Turk told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Reuters reports.
The leader of a Kenyan cult has gone on trial on charges of terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court in Mombasa along with 94 co-defendants. He and his co-accused have all pleaded not guilty. Agence France-Presse reports via The Guardian.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza were dashed yesterday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas both issued statements narrowing the chances of reaching a compromise. In a statement, Netanyahu said he would only agree to a deal that would “allow Israel to resume fighting until all of the objectives of the war have been achieved,” reiterating his longstanding position that the war must continue until Hamas is defeated. In a statement, Hamas said that Israel’s ongoing military operations across Gaza risked returning “the negotiating process to point zero.” Patrick Kingsley reports for the New York Times.
Israeli forces today killed at least 18 Palestinians on the second day of a stepped-up offensive in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry said. Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued a fresh evacuation order for several areas in Gaza City yesterday. Hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians are expected to flee. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters; Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder, and Tim Lister report for CNN.
The outgoing chief of Israel’s Central Command yesterday condemned the rising “nationalist crime” among Jewish settlers in the West Bank and criticized the Israeli government for trying to financially cripple the Palestinian Authority. The New York Times reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Top U.S. officials arrived in Cairo yesterday to discuss the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, four Israeli and U.S. officials said. CIA Director Bill Burns and Biden’s top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk attended the meeting, which reportedly also covered Egypt-Gaza border security arrangements and reopening the Rafah crossing — key issues to solve ahead of a possible deal between Israel and Hamas. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Canada has urged the Israeli government to reverse a decision to approve new settlement outposts in the West Bank. “Unilateral actions, such as financially weakening the Palestinian Authority and expanding settlements is in contravention of international law,” the Canadian foreign ministry said in a post on X.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH TENSIONS
A cross-border strike by Lebanon’s Hezbollah wounded a 31-year-old U.S. citizen in Israel on Sunday, according to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The condition of the unnamed man has since worsened, Israeli news media reported yesterday, citing hospital sources. The New York Times reports.