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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The United Kingdom, France, and Canada yesterday threatened to take “concrete actions” if Israel “does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid” entering Gaza, according to the countries’ joint statement. The three countries “strongly oppose” the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and find the amount of aid allowed into the territory “wholly inadequate,” the statement added. Victoria Bourne reports for BBC News.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance skipped a potential trip to Israel today due to the expansion of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, according to a senior U.S. source, who added that Vance did not want the trip to suggest that the Trump administration endorses Israel’s latest actions. Vance told reporters “logistics” were the reason why he did not travel to Tel Aviv. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The first five aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, but they have not reached any communities yet, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said today. The U.N. fears that 14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours in Gaza if the aid supplies do not reach them, Fletcher added, citing assessments by “teams on the ground.” BBC News reports; Tia Goldenberg, Samy Magdy, and Wafaa Shurafa report for AP News.
Israeli overnight strikes killed at least 60 people in Gaza and hit a family home and a school-turned-shelter, Palestinian health officials said today, adding that the strikes killed 38 people across Gaza in just half an hour. Israel has also issued evacuation orders for Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis. Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy, and Tia Goldenberg report for AP News; Rushdi Abualouf reports for BBC News.
Israel will “take over all the areas of” Gaza and has allowed “minimal” aid into the territory after Israel’s backers in the U.S. Senate said the extreme hunger in the territory could affect their continued support for Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday. Feliz Solomon and Anat Peled report for the Wall Street Journal.
Jordan has recently returned 17 Palestinian children and their caregivers to Gaza after the children received medical treatment in the kingdom, the children’s families say. While a Jordanian official said that Jordan “will not allow the displacement of Palestinians outside Gaza, human rights experts warned that returning children to a war zone may be a possible violation of international law. Omar Akour, Samy Magdy, and Sam Mednick report for AP News.
Recent Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha have not led anywhere due to “fundamental differences between the parties,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said today. Reuters reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday refused to agree to an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine during a two-hour call with President Trump, stating that “Russia will propose and is ready to work with [Ukraine] on a memorandum” that could include “a possible ceasefire for a certain period if the relevant agreements are reached.” While Trump said that Russia and Ukraine agreed to “immediately” resume direct talks on a truce agreement, the Russian RIA state news agency quoted a Kremlin spokesperson as saying that “there are no deadlines” on the peace talks and “there cannot be any.” Alexander Ward and Alan Cullison report for the Wall Street Journal; Steve Holland, Guy Faulconbridge, and Olena Harmash report for Reuters.
Ukraine and Russia both accused the other of launching drone attacks overnight, hours after Trump’s conversation with Putin. The status quo “has not changed” following the phone call, one of Zelenskyy’s aides said. Svitlana Vlasova and Ross Adkin report for CNN.
A Russian fighter jet flew past an unflagged tanker sanctioned by the United Kingdom as the Estonian military tried to contact the ship, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said last week. Russia’s apparent effort to protect the tanker would represent a major change in the Kremlin’s approach, which previously avoided displaying clear links to the secretive fleet of ships ferrying Russian oil around the world. Joseph Ataman reports for CNN.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The president of CBS News, Wendy McMahon, was forced out of her post yesterday, with executives at Paramount, CBS’s parent company, informing her they wish for her to step down over the weekend, sources say. Paramount is currently in talks to settle a $20 billion lawsuit brought by Trump over CBS News’ coverage of an interview with Kamala Harriss that many legal experts said is baseless. Michael M. Grynbaum, Benjamin Mullin, and Lauren Hirsch report for the New York Times.
A Washington jury yesterday convicted retired four-star Adm. Robert P. Burke on federal bribery charges for awarding a sole-source contract to a company in 2021 in exchange for a $500,000-a-year job and stock options. The conviction made Burke the senior-most member of the U.S. military ever convicted of committing a federal crime while on active duty. Spencer S. Hsu reports for the Washington Post.
The Senate yesterday voted 66-23 to progress a bill aiming to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency, in a victory for the cryptocurrency industry. Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The Russian Prosecutor General’s office yesterday outlawed Amnesty International, designating the international human rights group as an “undesirable organization.” The designation means Amnesty must stop its work in Russia, and makes those who cooperate with or support its activities liable to prosecution. AP News reports.
Members of the U.N. World Health Organization today adopted a legally binding accord intended to allow the world to better prepare for future pandemics following the disjointed global response to COVID-19. U.S. negotiators left negotiations on the pact after Trump began withdrawing the United States from the WHO. Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters.
Sudan’s Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan yesterday appointed the country’s first prime minister since the start of Sudan’s civil war two years ago, tasking Kamil al-Taib Idris, a former legal adviser to Sudan’s U.N. mission, with forming the country’s transitional government. Fatma Khaled reports for AP News.
Lithuania yesterday filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice alleging Belarus breached its obligations under the U.N. Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air by organizing the smuggling of migrants to Lithuania’s territory, Vilnius announced yesterday. AP News reports.
Tanzania’s most prominent opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, yesterday appeared in court on treason charges after calling for electoral reforms ahead of October’s general election. AP News reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about buying a luxury jet that could be used as Air Force One after Boeing told the Pentagon it would not be able to deliver custom new planes for another two years, sources say. The sources’ timeline contradicts Trump’s claim that Qatar reached out and offered the jet as a “gift.” Alex Marquardt, Kristen Holmes, and Natasha Bertrand report for CNN.
The Senate yesterday voted 51-45 to confirm real estate developer Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as the U.S. ambassador to France. Trump pardoned Kushner in 2020 after Kushner pleaded guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. Mary Clare Jalonick reports for AP News.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the U.S. demand that Tehran stops enriching uranium “excessive and outrageous” and doubted whether the nuclear talks will lead to results, according to Iran’s state media. Reuters reports.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Yemen’s Houthi rebels yesterday announced what they called a “maritime blockade” of Israel’s Haifa port in response to Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza. Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The United States yesterday sent 68 immigrants from Honduras and Colombia back to their countries on the first government-funded “voluntary deportation” flight. Claudio Escalón and Marlon González report for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Justice Department yesterday charged Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement” during a clash outside a Newark immigration center earlier this month, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, announced yesterday. The DOJ also said it has dropped a trespass charge against Mayor Ras Baraka related to the same episode. Rep. McIver described the charges against her as “purely political.” Luis Ferré-Sadurní reports for the New York Times.
Trump is considering nominating Emil Bove, Associate Deputy Attorney General and Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, sources say. Glenn Thrush and Charlie Savage report for the New York Times.
The DOJ plans to use the False Claims Act, a law intended to punish corrupt recipients of federal funding, to pressure institutions like Harvard to abandon their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced yesterday. DOJ’s use of the law is very likely to be met with legal challenges. Glenn Thrush and Alan Blinder report for the New York Times.
The Trump administration has agreed to pay just $5 million to settle a federal wrongful death lawsuit brought by Ashli Babbitt, a Jan. 6 rioter who was shot dead by a Capitol police officer, according to a source. Eric Tucker and Michael Kunzelman report for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Supreme Court yesterday granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal against a lower court judgment that had temporarily blocked the government from immediately ending immigration protections for 350,000 Venezuelans living in the United States. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s termination of Venezuelan migrants’ temporary protected status will now be effective as the litigation challenging her action continues. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday blocked Trump’s attempt to fire the U.S. Institute of Peace president and board members and transfer the institute’s assets, ruling that the President exceeded his authority, USIP leadership were fired unlawfully, and should be reinstated. Ryan Lucas reports for NPR.
The Trump administration must seek the return of a Venezuelan man deported in March from the United States to an El Salvador prison in violation of a legal settlement after a federal appeals court yesterday upheld a lower court order requiring the administration to facilitate the man’s return. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
A Houston judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to track down a Venezuelan man believed to have been deported to El Salvador. The 24-year old asylum seeker’s family filed a suit demanding his return after the man’s name appeared on CBS News’ list identifying the 238 men deported to a notorious Salvadoran prison. The government’s attorney said that while he had “no reason to doubt” the claim that the man was in El Salvador, he did not have information as to his whereabouts. Sam González Kelly reports for the Houston Chronicle.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
FEATURED IMAGE: WASHINGTON – JANUARY 23: Clouds move as the sun sets against the west front of the United States Capitol building January 23, 2007 in Washington, DC. U.S. President George W. Bush is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union speech before a joint meeting of Congress at 9:00 PM Eastern. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
