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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
EU leaders agreed this morning to provide a €90 billion ($105 billion) interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs over the next two years, though they were unable to agree on using frozen Russian assets as backing for the loan. EU leaders announced that instead they will borrow the money on capital markets, with the loan guaranteed by the EU budget. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic continue to oppose the plan for Ukraine, but a deal was reached in which they did not block the package and were promised protection from any financial fallout. Lorne Cook and Angela Charlton report for AP News; Jeanna Smialek reports for the New York Times.
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
The U.S. military killed five people yesterday in two more strikes against boats it said were smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific, U.S. Southern Command said on social media. AP News reports.
Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) said yesterday that there is no evidence that war crimes were committed when the U.S. military killed survivors of an initial attack on Sept. 2 in a follow-up strike. Wicker said that he is satisfied with the information his panel has received from the administration and that the military strikes “were conducted based on sound legal advice.” Wicker did not specifically address any other steps his panel might take, or whether the panel has concluded their investigation. Connor O’Brien reports for POLITICO.
The Justice Department yesterday issued a news release announcing a “Nationwide Crackdown on Tren de Aragua,” citing the indictment of the reputed leader of the gang, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton called Guerrero Flores the “mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization.” Benjamin Weiser and Alan Feuer report for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet today with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey in Miami to discuss the next phase of the agreement for ending the war in Gaza, according to a White House official and two other sources. The officials meeting with Witkoff will include Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the sources said. This is the highest level meeting between the mediators since the deal was signed in October. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced yesterday that the United States is sanctioning two more International Criminal Court Judges for their “politicized and illegitimate actions against Israel,” citing a recent ruling blocking Israel’s efforts to halt the Gaza war crimes investigation. Rubio said, “We will not tolerate ICC abuses of power that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and wrongly subject U.S. and Israeli persons to the ICC’s jurisdiction.” Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
At least 60 people have died, and more than half a million have been displaced, since hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand resumed this month. Thailand yesterday carried out more airstrikes in Cambodia, claiming its jet fighters had struck a warehouse where the Cambodian army had stored rockets. Cambodia reported that Thai F-16 jets had dropped three bombs on residential neighbourhoods in Poipet, a city in northwestern Cambodia. The Thai army acknowledged that it had bombed Poipet, but claimed the target was on the outskirts, not the city center. China and the United States are renewing separate efforts to reach a ceasefire between the two nations. Sopheng Cheang and Jintamas Saksornchai report for AP News; Reuters reports.
Israel and Germany yesterday signed a contract worth around $3.1 billion to expand Germany’s Arrow-3 air and missile defence system manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, according to Israel’s defense ministry. Germany first purchased the Arrow system in 2023; the combined purchases “represented the largest defence export deal in Israel’s history,” the ministry said. Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray report for Reuters.
Talks between Syrian, Kurdish, and U.S. officials have accelerated in recent days to progress a stalled deal to merge Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces with the Syrian state before the end of the year, according to multiple sources. Several sources said there is growing frustration over the delays, with some adding that a major breakthrough was unlikely. A Western official said that any announcement in coming days would be meant in part to “save face,” extend the deadline and maintain stability in a nation that remains fragile a year after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad. Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Timour Azhari, Maya Gebeily, and Jonathan Spicer report for Reuters.
The U.N. General Assembly yesterday elected Barham Salih, a former Iraqi president who fled persecution under Saddam Hussein, as the next U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Salih will begin a five-year term on Jan. 1, 2026. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said yesterday that he will veto a bill that would reduce former President Jair Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison sentence. “With all due respect to the National Congress, when it reaches my desk, I will veto it,” Lula told journalists in Brasilia, noting that those who committed crimes against Brazilian democracy “will have to pay for their acts.” Gabriela Sá Pessoa reports for AP News.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. entity to a joint venture controlled by U.S. investors, according to an internal memo seen by Axios. Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will collectively own 45% of the U.S. entity. Nearly one-third of the company will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, and nearly 20% will be retained by ByteDance. The agreement is set to close on Jan. 22, 2026. Sarah Fischer reports; Clare Duffy reports for CNN.
Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, announced yesterday that it is merging with TAE Technologies, a fusion power company that aims to power the next wave of AI. The combined company says it plans to find a site and begin construction next year on the “world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant,” which aims to provide the electricity needed for artificial intelligence. Matt O’Brien and Jennifer McDermott report for AP News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
China will step up military training and “take forceful measures” to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese defense ministry said today in response to a planned $11.1 billion U.S. arms sales package to Taiwan. The ministry said it had lodged “stern representations” with the United States, and urged the country to immediately cease arms sales to Taiwan and abide by its commitment not to support “Taiwan independence forces.” Reuters reports.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said yesterday that Belarus is nearing a major deal to restore relations with the United States, but will not give up its close ties to Russia. “Everything is moving, as they put it, towards a big deal…Everything is moving towards me and Trump having to meet and reaching an agreement,” Lukashenko said. U.S. officials told Reuters that Washington hopes to peel Lukashenko away from Russian President Vladimir Putin, his close ally. Mark Trevelyan reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced late last night that Trump ordered the suspension of a diversity green card lottery program, which was used eight years ago by the suspect in the Brown University shooting and killing of an MIT professor. “This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said on social media. “At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.” Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios; Joe Walsh reports for CBS News.
A Wisconsin state judge yesterday was convicted of obstructing federal agents after a federal jury found that she interfered with the agents’ attempt to arrest an undocumented immigrant in her courthouse. Prosecutors said the judge directed the individual and his attorney through a nonpublic exit while agents waited to detain him. The judge was acquitted on a separate misdemeanor charge of concealing a person from arrest. Julie Bosman reports for the New York Times.
Democratic lawmakers from seven states yesterday announced plans to coordinate legislation next year to push back against Trump’s deportation policies, aiming to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and restrict tactics such as masked or warrantless arrests. David W. Chen reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Today is the deadline for the Justice Department to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein. The DOJ has not said when during the day it intends to make the records public. Several sources told CNN that frustration has been mounting inside the DOJ as it races to apply the necessary redactions. Lawyers at the DOJ’s National Security Division believe they are not getting clear or comprehensive direction on how to make the most information available under the law, sources said. Michael R. Sisas, Eric Tucker, and Alanna Durkin Richer report for AP News; Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez report.
25 Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday asked Duane Townsend, the Commerce Department’s acting inspector general, to review whether Secretary Howard Lutnick improperly promoted AI data center projects that could enrich his family members. Michael Rothfield and Ana Swanson report for the New York Times.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced yesterday that its board of trustees had voted to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center. Despite calling it that for months already, Trump told reporters yesterday, “I was very honored by it,” adding “the board is a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country, and I was surprised by it. Shawn McCreesh reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump yesterday signed into law the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes $901 billion in annual military spending. The White House announced that Trump had signed it, but no Oval Office ceremony with reporters was held. Patricia Zengerle reports for Reuters.
The U.S. Coast Guard yesterday deleted language from its new workplace harassment policy that had downgraded the definition of swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to “potentially divisive.” In a message to all Coast Guard personnel, Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant, said those revisions had been “completely removed” from the policy manual. Lunday also said that a separate directive he issued last month prohibiting swastikas and nooses “remains in full effect.” Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jack Rosen (D-NV) said that they had lifted their holds on Lunday’s nomination to lead the Coast Guard following his announcement. Tara Copp and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration will repurpose $2.6 billion in military housing assistance to pay $1,776 “warrior dividend” bonuses to service members, according to a senior administration official. Roughly 1.45 million service members, including 174,000 reservists, will receive the bonuses. Trump said on Wednesday that the money for the bonuses came from tariffs, but this was incorrect as Trump does not have the authority to spend the money from tariffs without authorization from Congress. Jacob Bogage, Noah Robertson, and Riley Beggin report for the Washington Post.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction, blocking the Trump administration from carrying out reductions in force at the State Department, Department of Education, General Services Administration, and Small Business Administration through Jan. 30, 2026. The order also requires the Trump administration to reverse hundreds of layoffs that were implemented at these agencies during the government shutdown earlier this year. April Rubin reports for Axios.
The Justice Department said yesterday that it will appeal a ruling from Sept. 3 which ordered the Trump administration to restart federal research grant payments to Harvard University. Alan Blinder reports for the New York Times.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
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