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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
President Trump yesterday suggested that the United States has “knocked off” three alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, telling reporters that “we knocked off actually three boats, not two, but you saw two.” He did not offer further details about the apparently undisclosed third incident. Andrew deGrandpre and Dan Lamothe report for the Washington Post.
Responding to the Trump administration’s decision to add Colombia to a list of countries failing to cooperate in counternarcotics efforts, Colombian President Gustavo Petro yesterday accused the United States of seeking to “participate” in Colombian politics and looking for a “puppet president.” Manuel Rueda reports for AP News.
A Wells Fargo executive whom the Chinese government had barred from leaving China for several months has now left the country, following negotiations between the Trump administration and Chinese officials, U.S. officials say. Ellen Nakashima reports for the Washington Post.
Delays to Mike Waltz’s nomination to be the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. are making it unlikely for him to be confirmed by Congress before the high-level General Assembly meeting starts next Monday, AP News reports. According to a Democratic congressional aide, the White House had shown “no urgency” in getting Waltz confirmed before the meeting. Farnoush Amiri reports.
The Treasury Department yesterday sanctioned a pair of Iranian financiers and more than a dozen people and firms across Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates over their alleged role in coordinating cryptocurrency transfers to the Iranian government from the sale of Tehran’s oil worth $100 million. Fatima Hussein reports for AP News.
U.S. trade representatives yesterday triggered the formal review process for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, inviting public comment on the USMCA before the three countries’ mandatory joint review of the agreement scheduled for next year. Ben Berkowitz reports for Axios.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas today announced a proposal for the bloc to downgrade its trade ties with Israel and sanction National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. EU member countries must still approve the proposed measures. Nicholas Vinocur reports for POLITICO.
Several European countries yesterday condemned Israel’s launch of a ground offensive on Gaza City. U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the offensive “utterly reckless and appalling,” while Germany’s Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, said that Israel was “on the wrong path.” Lynsey Chutel reports for the New York Times.
Japan will, for now, not recognize a Palestinian state, with the decision likely taken to preserve Tokyo’s ties with the United States, the Japanese newspaper Asahi reported today, citing unidentified government sources. Reuters reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The Israeli army today pushed deeper into Gaza City, on the second day of a ground offensive in the metropolitan area. According to hospital officials, Israel’s overnight strikes killed at least 16 people, with more than half of the deaths occurring in Gaza City. Separately, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said that multiple Israeli strikes hit the Rantisi Hospital for children in Gaza City late yesterday. Julia Frankel and Samy Magdy report for AP News.
Several aid groups operating in Gaza City have suspended or greatly curtailed what remains of their operations in the city in response to the start of Israel’s ground offensive, according to Sean Carroll, president and CEO of the American Near East Refugee Aid, and U.N. security announcements reviewed by the Washington Post. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that it plans to continue work despite the bombardment. Cate Brown reports.
The Israeli military yesterday claimed that 350,000 Gaza City residents have now evacuated from the city, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is “making efforts … to open additional routes to facilitate a quicker evacuation.” BBC News cites Gaza City residents as describing overnight Israeli airstrikes as “hell.” Separately, Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, said that it is “inhumane to expect nearly half a million children” to evacuate to coastal refugee camps that are unsafe, overcrowded, and ill-equipped to receive them. Aaron Boxerman, Lara Jakes, Isabel Kershner, Liam Stack, and Michael Levenson report for the New York Times; Rushdi Abualouf reports; Reuters reports.
Satellite imagery captured yesterday shows Israeli armored vehicles gathered on nearly all sides of Gaza City, according to analysis from Planet Labs, a commercial satellite company. Josh Holder and Samuel Granados report for the New York Times.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged European leaders yesterday to build an air defense umbrella over Europe, adding that Russian forces bombardment of the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday night wounded 20 people, including four children. Illia Novikov reports for AP News.
The Pentagon confirmed yesterday that U.S. military officials observed joint war games between Moscow and Minsk in Belarus on Monday. A spokesperson for the Pentagon said the U.S. Embassy in Minsk accepted the invitation to observe the drills “in light of recent productive bilateral agreements between our countries.” Phil Steward and Idrees Ali report for Reuters.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced yesterday that the Commission will propose to speed up the phase-out of Russian fossil fuel imports, following a call with Trump. The bloc previously intended to end purchases of Russian oil and gas by 1 January 2028. Ananya Palyekar, Lili Bayer and Julia Payne report for Reuters.
U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby has approved the first U.S weapons aid packages for Ukraine, and the supplies could be shipped soon, two sources told Reuters yesterday. This is the first use of a new mechanism for providing arms to Ukraine which uses U.S. weaponry stocks and funding from NATO countries. Jonathan Landay and Mike Stone report.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Israel’s military said yesterday that it had struck targets in the Hudayah port in Yemen which it claimed were linked to the Houthi rebels. Houthi-linked broadcaster al-Masirah TV reported at least 12 strikes had hit the port. Ismaeel Naar reports for the New York Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Under U.S. pressure, Syria is speeding up talks with Israel on a security pact that Damascus hopes would roll-back Israel’s recent land seizures, sources briefed on the talks told Reuters. The pact would fall short of a full peace treaty, the sources say. An Israeli security source said “the U.S. is pressuring Syria to accelerate a security deal – this is personal for Trump,” but that “Israel is not offering much.” Some sources said Trump is pushing for progress ahead of the U.N. General Assembly this month. Suleiman Al-Khalidi reports.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and U.S. envoy Tom Barrack plan to discuss Israel’s proposal for a new security agreement, presented to Damascus a few weeks ago, in London today. The Israeli proposal asks Syria to agree to a broad demilitarized zone and a no-fly zone on its territory with no changes to be made on the Israeli side of the border, two sources told Axios yesterday. Barak Ravid reports.
A Brazilian Federal Court yesterday ordered former Brazilian President Bolsonaro to pay 1 million reals ($188,865) in damages for collective moral harm stemming from racist comments made while in office. Ricardo Brito reports for Reuters.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Trump signed an executive order yesterday to extend the deadline to keep TikTok available in the United States until 16 December 2025, allowing time to complete the framework deal announced on Monday after U.S.-China trade talks in Madrid. This is the fourth time Trump has prolonged the deadline. Darlene Superville and Josh Boak report for AP News.
China’s internet regulator has banned the country’s biggest technology companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, from buying Nvidia’s AI chips, three sources told the Financial Times. Chinese regulators previously reported that the domestic chips had attained comparable standard to Nvidia’s models used in China. Zijing Wu, Cheng Leng, and Tim Bradshaw report.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
A whistle-blower complaint filed with Congress yesterday alleges that the Trump administration concealed data evidencing that dozens of the children it sought to deport faced serious harm in Guatemala. The report says at least 30 of the 327 children had “indicators of being a victim of child abuse” in Guatemala, based on the U.S. government’s own findings. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump administration officials, including Trump himself, are pressuring federal prosecutors in Virginia to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, sources say. According to several sources, there is at present no sufficient evidence to support such charges, as federal prosecutors have yet to uncover clear evidence that James knowingly made false statements to a financial institution to secure favorable terms on a mortgage. Officials pressuring the prosecutors to seek an indictment include Ed Martin, the head of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, and Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Peter Charalambous, Katherine Faulders, and Alexander Mallin report for ABC News.
“Anyone that was terminated at the FBI was done so for failing to meet the standards, uphold their constitutional oath and effectuate the mission” and morale at the agency “has never been higher,” FBI Director Kash Patel testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. In a recent lawsuit, three former FBI agents alleged that Patel summarily fired them after they were targeted by right-wing influencers. Ryan J. Reilly and Victoria Ebner report for NBC News; Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer report for the New York Times.
Attorney General Pam Bondi yesterday appeared to backtrack on her Monday comments that the Trump administration would “target” hate speech and that employers have an “obligation” to “get rid of people … who are saying horrible things.” In a social media post, Bondi said that her remarks referred to “hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence” that she claimed was being “normalized” by “the radical left.” Separately, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested there is “potential” to investigate “organized efforts to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States” of people noisily protesting against Trump. Dareh Gregorian reports for NBC News; Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
FEDERALIZATION OF DOMESTIC POLICING
Prosecutors have already dropped at least 11 of the 50 federal cases they brought in Washington, D.C., since the start of Trump’s crime crackdown in the city last month, AP News reports. A magistrate judge who dismissed two felony assault cases at the request of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office yesterday questioned whether prosecutors are rushing to make charging decisions before the cases can be properly investigated, stating that the issue “is becoming a real concern for the court just given the sheer numbers.” Michael Kunzelman reports.
The U.S. House yesterday passed a pair of bills that would allow stricter criminal penalties for younger offenders in the D.C., amid a push to pass a package of bills seeking to impose tighter federal control over Washington. Michael Gold reports for the New York Times.
U.S. POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Utah prosecutors yesterday indicated they would seek the death penalty for Taylor Robinson, accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The office of Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray charged Robinson with seven counts, including aggravated murder and obstruction of justice. Brad Brooks and Joseph Ax report for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A New York judge yesterday dismissed state terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, the defendant in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive. The judge said that the evidence behind the terrorism charges was “legally insufficient.” Mangione still faces other state and federal charges, including a charge of second-degree murder. Hurubie Meko and Jonah E. Bromwich report for the New York Times.
The Georgia Supreme Court yesterday declined to consider Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ appeal against her removal from the state election interference case against Trump and others. An appeals court removed Willis from the case in December, citing an “appearance of impropriety” created by her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom Willis picked to lead the case. Kate Brumback and Jeff Amy report for AP News.
A bipartisan agreement that would block Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from reversing a 2020 Congressional effort to change the names of Army bases that formerly honored Confederate leaders is progressing through Congress, the Washington Post reports. The measure, contained within the National Defense Authorization Act the House passed last week, will be voted on by the Senate in the coming months. Noah Robertson reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The White House yesterday indicated it is planning to file a challenge to an appeals court judgment that temporarily blocked Trump’s attempt to remove Gov. Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board. According to an administration official, the timing of when the challenge would be filed with the Supreme Court remains uncertain. Tony Romm reports for the New York Times.
A coalition of labor and advocacy groups yesterday filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s suspension of the University of California at Los Angeles’ federal funding and demand for the university to pay more than $1 billion and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to unlock the funding. The university said it was not party to the lawsuit. Susan Svrluga reports for the Washington Post; Kanishka Singh reports for Reuters.
The Justice Department yesterday announced it is suing Maine and Oregon over their refusal to turn over state voter rolls to the Trump administration. Fredreka Schouten reports for CNN.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
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