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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. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
The U.S. military yesterday killed four people in a strike on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific, U.S. Southern Command said on social media. The attack brought the total number of known boat strikes to 26, with at least 99 people killed, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration. AP News reports.
“We’re not going to be letting anybody going through who shouldn’t be going through,” President Trump told reporters yesterday when asked about his blockade against oil tankers travelling to or from Venezuela. “You remember they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back. They took it — they illegally took it.” David Klepper and Aamer Madhani report for AP News.
Several ships sailed from Venezuela towards Asia with a Venezuelan naval escort between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, three sources said. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has ordered his navy to escort ships carrying petroleum products from port, risking a confrontation with the United States at sea. A U.S. official said Washington was aware of the naval escorts and was considering various courses of action. Edward Wong, Anatoly Kurmanaev, and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday voted 216-210 against a resolution that would remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with “any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere” unless authorized by Congress. It also voted 213 to 211 against a resolution directing the president to ask Congress for authorization to use military force before engaging in hostilities within or against Venezuela. Both votes were almost exclusively along party lines. Patricia Zengerle reports for Reuters; Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) said yesterday that the House Armed Services Committee has finished examining a U.S. military strike on Sept. 2, where two survivors were killed in a follow-up attack, after viewing the full video of the strike in a classified briefing led by Adm. Frank M. Bradley. Rogers said that the Pentagon had fully met his expectations for congressional oversight and that he was satisfied that the lawful process was followed. Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
EU member states are set to decide today on 2026-2027 funding for Ukraine, with discussions centered on plans to use tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to underwrite a loan. Hungary and Slovakia have voiced opposition to using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta have expressed reservations and remain undecided. “We just can’t afford to fail. We have to show that we are strong,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said, adding that leaders would stay as long as needed at the Brussels summit to find a solution. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now planning to participate in the summit in person, having previously said he would attend by video call. Lorne Cook, Sam McNeil, and Angela Charlton report for AP News; Jan Strupczewski and Andrew Gray report for Reuters.
Belgium today reiterated that its EU partners must provide ironclad guarantees that it will be protected from Russian retaliation before it would support the use of frozen Russian assets to back a loan for Ukraine. “I have not yet seen a text that could satisfactorily address Belgium’s concerns,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said, “I hope to see one today.” Lorne Cook, Sam McNeil, and Angela Charlton report for AP News.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev is expected to visit Miami this weekend for talks with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the current U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine, a White House official and another source said. A Ukrainian delegation is also expected to arrive in Miami later this week for talks with Witkoff and Kushner. There is no plan for a trilateral meeting, the sources said. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE
Israeli troops fired a mortar shell over the ceasefire line into a residential area in Gaza, wounding at least 10 people, health officials at Al-Ahli hospital said yesterday. The Israeli military said the mortar was fired during an operation on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line. The military did not say what the troops were doing or whether they had crossed the line, but said that the mortar had veered from its target. Julia Frankel reports for AP News.
The U.N. and more than 200 other aid groups yesterday warned in a joint statement that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, are at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift restrictions that include a “vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized” registration process. Dozens of aid groups face de-registration by Dec. 31, which would mean they have to close operations entirely within 60 days, the statement said. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters; UN News reports.
SUDANESE CIVIL WAR
Sudanese Rapid Support Forces paramilitary killed over 1,000 civilians in April during the takeover of the Zamzam camp, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office published today. The findings are based on interviews conducted in July 2025 with 155 survivors and witnesses who fled to Chad. Emma Farge reports for Reuters.
More than 1,600 people have been killed in attacks on medical and health care centers in Sudan so far this year, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday. Ghebreyesus said the agency has documented 65 attacks on health facilities since January. Samy Magdy report for AP News.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH – CEASEFIRE
French, Saudi Arabian, and U.S. officials will hold talks with the head of the Lebanese Army in Paris today aimed at finalising a roadmap to enable the disarmament of Hezbollah, diplomats said. The talks plan to create more robust conditions to support the disarmament process and dissuade Israel from escalation, four diplomats told Reuters. The idea would be to reinforce the existing ceasefire mechanism with French, U.S. and possibly other military experts along with U.N. peacekeeping forces, the diplomats and officials said. John Irish and Jana Choukeir report.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels yesterday claimed to have begun withdrawal from the city of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Betrand Bisimwa, leader of the M23, told AP News, adding that the withdrawal would be complete by this morning. When asked who would take control of the city following his forces withdrawal, Bisimwa said the responsibility fell to the mediators and that M23 had “requested a neutral force, and we believe that those who asked us to withdraw will be able to deploy them very quickly.”A spokesperson for the governor of South Kivu said he was unable to confirm the withdrawal late Wednesday night. Ruth Alonga and Wilson McMakin report for AP News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday announced that he had approved an unprecedented $35 billion deal to sell natural gas to Egypt. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Brazil’s Senate yesterday voted 48-25 to approve a bill to shorten former President Jair Bolsonaro’s sentence from 27 years to just over two years. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has not said whether he will sign it into law or veto it. Maria Carolina Marcello reports for Reuters.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The United States yesterday approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. The proposed arms sales cover eight items, including HIMARS rocket systems, howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Altius loitering munition drones and parts for other equipment, Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a statement. Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina report for Reuters.
The U.S. State Department yesterday demanded that Honduras’ National Electoral Council (CNE) immediately begin counting a manual count of ballots from last month’s presidential election. The NEC has blamed protests for preventing it from starting the manual count of hundreds of thousands of ballots that it said showed inconsistencies and were therefore excluded from the initial tally. “Any call to disrupt public order or the [CNE’s] work will be met with consequences,” the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on social media. Laura Garcia reports for Reuters.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Trump administration has asked U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices to “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month,” according to internal guidance issued on Tuesday and obtained by the New York Times. By comparison, between 2017 and this year, there have been just over 120 cases filed, according to the Justice Department. Hamed Aleaziz reports.
Guan Heng, a Chinese man who secretly filmed Uyghur detention camps in Western China and later applied for asylum in the United States in 2021, was detained by ICE in August. On Monday, the Trump administration moved to continue deportation proceedings, arguing that Guan should be sent to Uganda under third-country asylum rules. Emily Feng reports for NPR; Amy Qin and Chris Buckley report for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Senate yesterday voted 77-20 in support of the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act. Connor O’Brien reports for POLITICO.
Former special counsel Jack Smith yesterday told lawmakers in a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond reasonable doubt” that Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to documents obtained by AP News. Smith also said investigators had accrued “powerful evidence” that Trump broke the law by hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Eric Tucker and Lisa Mascaro report.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) this week put holds on the nomination of Adm. Kevin Lunday to lead the U.S. Coast Guard, citing concerns with a new workplace harassment policy that downgrades the definition of swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to “potentially divisive.” In a statement, Duckworth questioned why Lunday would not update the policy manual “to delete the absurd characterization that clearly states a noose and swastika are merely potentially divisive symbols,” adding that the admiral had previously affirmed that both “are symbols of hate.” Rosen said the hold will remain in place “until the Coast Guard provides answers.” Tara Copp, Marianne LeVine, and Michelle Boorstein report for the Washington Post.
The Navy disciplined 18 Navy SEALS earlier this year after military investigators found a group chat that contained racist memes targeting a Black SEAL who was also in the chat, according to documents and a Naval Special Warfare spokesperson. The punishments ranged from reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay to administrative measures, according to the Navy spokesperson. CBS News learned that Rear Adm. Milton Sands, then the head of Naval Special Warfare Command, acted swiftly once the allegations surfaced in March. Sands has since been removed from his position by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The reason for his removal is unknown. Eleanor Watson and James LaPorta report.
Ghislaine Maxwell yesterday asked a federal judge to set aside her December 2021 conviction, alleging that a series of constitutional violations had denied her a fair trial. Benjamin Weiser reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said yesterday that he plans to step down from the bureau in January. After Bongino’s announcement, FBI Director Kash Patel called him “the best partner I could’ve asked for in helping restore this FBI.” Ryan Lucas reports for NPR; Dareh Gregorian reports for NBC News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal appeals court yesterday ruled that National Guard troops stationed in Washington, D.C., since August could remain while the court considered the legality of the deployment. The three-judge panel wrote, “Because the District of Columbia is a federal district created by Congress, rather than a constitutionally sovereign entity like the 50 states, the defendants appear on this early record likely to prevail on the merits of their argument.” Zack Montague reports for the New York Times
A federal judge yesterday ruled that ICE cannot enforce newly adopted policies that require lawmakers to provide seven days notice before visiting detention facilities and entirely barring congressional visits to field offices being used to detain immigrants. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
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