What happened

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday preserved access to mifepristone, a common mail-order abortion drug. The decision, which extends a pause on a lower court’s ruling while a Louisiana lawsuit on the issue plays out, means women can continue to order the pills through telehealth communications without seeing a doctor in person. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

Who said what

This decision is “remarkable” because easy access to abortion pills is a “scheme to undermine” the court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Alito wrote in his dissent. Mifepristone manufacturer Danco Laboratories said the ruling meant a “safe and effective drug Americans depend on will continue to be available.” The court “has thrown abortion providers and patients a lifeline — albeit a temporary one,” said Politico.

What next?

The Court of Appeals is not expected to rule on the Louisiana suit until after the November midterms, and the issue “could ultimately return to the justices on their normal docket,” said The Hill. In the meantime, the Federal Drug Administration is conducting a safety review of mifepristone.

What happened

The Trump administration plans to drop fraud and bribery charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, Bloomberg first reported Thursday. Adani, indicted in 2024 for an alleged $250 million solar energy scam, also faces a related civil case from the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as a Treasury Department investigation. Both agencies are now also reportedly preparing to settle.

Who said what

The reversal stems from Adani hiring a “new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr.,” one of President Donald Trump’s “personal lawyers,” said The New York Times. During an April meeting with federal prosecutors, Adani “offered to invest $10 billion” and “create 15,000 jobs if the charges were dropped,” said Forbes. The pitch “received favorable response from one senior Justice Department official,” said The Guardian, although department figures claimed it would “not sway the outcome of the case.”

What next?

Should the Department of Justice drop Adani’s case, the billionaire is “still expected to incur financial penalties,” the Times said. “Although the deal could still fall apart,” the DOJ may dismiss the charges “in the coming days.”

What happened

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted President Donald Trump for a lavish tea ceremony on Friday, the second and final day of their summit in Beijing. The two leaders exchanged niceties throughout the high-profile state visit, marking a “departure from turbulence of the relationship in recent years,” said CNN. But Xi also warned Trump not to “mishandle” the situation with Taiwan, the island China has long claimed as its own sovereign territory.

Who said what

China and Taiwan could “enter into conflict” if the U.S. handles the ongoing tensions poorly, pushing the “entire China-U.S. relationship into an extremely dangerous place,” Xi said, according to Chinese state media. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said America’s policy on Taiwan remains “unchanged.” Despite Xi’s “stark” warning, the “pomp-filled” meeting was mostly “friendly and relaxed,” said Reuters. Trump said the leaders had “made some fantastic trade deals,” but did not immediately elaborate.

What next?

On the back of the summit, China is expected to announce an agreement for “double-digit billion purchases” of American agricultural goods, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said. Trump returns to Washington later Friday.

What happened

A 59,000-year-old Neanderthal tooth discovered in a cave in Siberia shows clear signs of dental surgery with a small stone drill-shaped tool, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. The hollowed-out molar pushes back the “known history of human dentistry” by more than 40,000 years, The Washington Post said. Previously, the “oldest evidence of dental surgery was a Homo sapiens tooth found in Italy dating to about 14,000 years ago,” Reuters said.

Who said what

The operation to scrape out the molar’s pulp would have “required diagnosing the ​source of pain, understanding that removing decayed tissue could bring relief, deliberately selecting an appropriate stone tool and executing precise drilling with controlled finger movements,” study senior author Ksenia Kolobova, an archaeologist with Russia’s Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, told Reuters.

What next?

The “painful prehistoric dentistry saga” is the “latest in a string of evidence that explodes the myth of our unique cognitive and social abilities,” the Post said, and it “deepens the mystery of why we are the only species of human left on the planet.” Neanderthals “disappeared roughly ​40,000 years ago,” Reuters said, though “most people today carry a ​small amount of their DNA due to ancient ⁠interbreeding.”

What happened

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on Wednesday called a June 17 special legislative session to redraw the state’s congressional map for the 2028 elections. The redistricting push follows a rush of GOP-led Southern states moving to eliminate mostly Black Democratic districts this year after the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision neutered the Voting Rights Act.

Who said what

South Carolina’s GOP-led Senate voted Tuesday not to follow Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama in changing congressional maps for 2026. But Gov. Henry McMaster (R) told lawmakers that he will call a special session, “teeing up” a “Republican gerrymander that would almost certainly cost Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn his seat” in November, Politico said. Kemp “has ruled out changing the maps for this year’s races,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, but “Republicans are moving to act now while they are certain a GOP governor can sign the new districts into law.”

What next?

After their party’s “miserable two weeks in the redistricting wars,” Politico said, Maryland Democrats are pushing to eliminate the state’s sole Republican seat, “arguing there is still time to wade in for this year’s elections.” Republicans “have won the Great Redistricting War of 2026,” Reuters said, but their potential 12-seat gain “may not be enough” to keep the House.

What happened

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair in a 54-45 vote, with only one Democrat joining Republicans. President Donald Trump has aggressively pressured the central bank to slash interest rates and made that a condition for his chair pick. But “hot inflation readings are clouding the path for the rate cuts Warsh advocated as he essentially campaigned for the job,” The Wall Street Journal said.

Who said what

Warsh will start his four-year chairmanship amid “resurgent inflation, public discontent with the economy and unprecedented attacks on the Fed’s independence,” Axios said. No Fed chair has “been confirmed by such a narrow margin,” said the Journal, reflecting Democratic concerns that Warsh will be Trump’s “sock puppet.”

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that producer prices jumped 1.4% last month and were up 6% from a year earlier, the highest wholesale inflation numbers in at least three years. With the jump in consumer prices, it’s clear “America’s inflation problem is getting worse, not better,” Axios said. The producer price numbers were “so far above expectations,” said Carl Weinberg at High Frequency Economics, they “will set off alarm bells at the Fed” and “in the financial markets, too.”

What next?

Warsh takes the reins from Jerome Powell on Friday. Powell’s decision to stay on as a Fed governor amid lingering criminal threats from Trump’s prosecutors “could prove awkward” for Walsh, who “has vowed to embark on ‘regime change,’” The New York Times said.

What happened

Engaging in the arts, whether directly or by going to museums or concerts, helps people age more slowly, British researchers reported Monday in the journal Innovation in Aging. The benefits were found to be comparable to physical exercise and quitting smoking. They were most pronounced for people over 40 and those who engage in a wider range of artistic endeavors.

Who said what

The University College London researchers looked at how often 3,556 adults in the U.K. engaged in some artistic pursuit — singing, painting, dancing, crafting, photography — or visited an exhibition or heritage site. Those who did so weekly aged 4% slower in blood tests of their “epigenetic clock,” or biological aging. “People were around a year younger biologically if they’re regularly engaged in the arts,” researcher Daisy Fancourt, the study’s lead author, told NPR. Monthly arts engagement slowed aging by 3%.

Slower biological aging “does not necessarily mean someone will live longer,” The Guardian said, but “previous studies have suggested a link between arts engagement and longer lifespan.”

What next?

The research “builds on a growing body of evidence” that arts activities “reduce stress, lower inflammation and improve cardiovascular disease risk,” study senior author Feifei Bu told The Guardian. Regular creative engagement should be treated not “as a luxury” but “an essential,” Fancourt told The Art Newspaper, “just like we promote 10,000 steps a day or five-a-day of fruits and vegetables.”

What happened

Consumer prices last month shot up 3.8% from a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year uptick since May 2023, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday. The heated inflation was driven largely by a 28% year-over-year jump in gasoline prices tied to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.

Who said what

The latest consumer price index underscored how “daily life in America is getting more expensive,” The New York Times said. Airfares were up 21% from a year ago and food prices rose 3.2%, with coffee prices jumping 19% and tomatoes up 40%. Trump’s tariffs are “still slowly filtering through to some goods,” The Wall Street Journal said, but the war “has presented a much quicker and more obvious shock that could be hard to reverse.”

Asked Tuesday if cost-of-living concerns were motivating his dealmaking with Iran, Trump said “not even a little bit.” His only concern is Iran’s nuclear program, he said. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”

What next?

In a separate report Tuesday, the Labor Department said real average hourly wages fell 0.5% from March to April, meaning “most workers are effectively taking a pay cut even as the White House touts its economic record,” The Washington Post said.

What happened

Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Marty Makary resigned Tuesday after a tumultuous 13 months leading the agency charged with regulating drugs, medical devices, vaccines and much of the U.S. food supply. The White House and Health and Human Services Department “agreed in recent days on the need to replace” him, The Washington Post said. “Marty is a great guy,” President Donald Trump, who posted Makary’s resignation message on social media, told reporters. But “he was having some difficulty.”

Who said what

“In the end,” Makary “had just about run out of allies,” having upset “rare-disease patients, antiabortion groups and some drug-industry leaders,” The Wall Street Journal said. Makary also “drew criticism from public health leaders who viewed him as pandering to anti-vaccine activists,” The New York Times said. But according to his confidantes, he “ultimately left over concerns about the administration’s decision to authorize fruit-flavored e-cigarettes,” a move Trump insisted on but Makary opposed “over concerns that fruity and candy flavors would lure young people to addictive vapes.”

Makary had some “strong ideas” about streamlining the drug review process, Matthew Herper said at Stat News, but he was the FDA’s “worst commissioner” in at least 25 years. He “offended almost everyone involved in FDA issues, which is not easy to do,” National Center for Health Research president Diana Zuckerman told the Times. “But it would still be a disaster if he is replaced by someone who appeals primarily to tobacco companies, anti-abortion activists” and pharmaceutical lobbyists.

What next?

Trump appointed Kyle Diamantas, the FDA’s top food regulator, as acting commissioner.

What happened

European Union foreign ministers Monday agreed to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers over increasing violence against West Bank Palestinians. The sanctions will hit unidentified “Israeli extremist settlers and entities” and “leading Hamas figures,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

The proposal, which required unanimous support from the 27 EU nations, was finally adopted after Hungary’s new government lifted former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto.

Who said what

“It was high ​time we move from deadlock to delivery,” Kallas said on social media. “Extremisms and ​violence carry consequences.” Israel and Hamas both criticized the sanctions, which were drafted last year amid “rising violence and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank,” The Washington Post said.

The financial penalties “could have massive implications” for the targeted Israeli organizations — reportedly Regavim, HaShomer Yosh, Amana and Nachala — and their work expanding “settlements and illegal outposts,” The Times of Israel said. But the penalties are “focused more against individuals and groups pushing for the de facto Israeli annexation of the West Bank” than “those involved in violent assaults on Palestinians.”

What next?

The sanctions will take effect “once legal and technical work is complete,” the Post said.

What happened

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday presided over the “most ‌scaled-back Victory Day parade in years,” Reuters said. Afterward, he told reporters he thought the Ukraine war was “coming to an end.” President Donald Trump last week said Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed to exchange 1,000 war prisoners and pause the fighting through Monday to mark the annual celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Who said what

Russia’s “markedly pared down” Victory Day parade “went forward amid veiled threats from Ukraine,” Radio Free Europe said. Zelenskyy “issued a mocking statement” beforehand “saying he was authorizing the Kremlin parade to be held” free from attacks. If Putin’s parade was “subdued” because he “feared a long-range Ukrainian drone strike” in Red Square. This is “one more sign that the tide may be turning against Russia after four long years of death,” The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial.

What next?

Russia’s Ukraine offensive “has slowed to a crawl” and its “challenges on the battlefield complicate the narrative of imminent victory” Putin is “selling” Trump to convince him Kyiv needs to cede land in U.S. peace talks, The New York Times said. At its current rate, Moscow would need “more than three decades to seize full control of the Donbas.”

What happened

The Dutch cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak docked off Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday so passengers could be evacuated to their home countries. They included all 17 American passengers from the MV Hondius, one of whom tested positive for the virus Sunday while another developed mild symptoms, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department said. One of five French passengers also tested positive after showing symptoms on the flight home, the French government said. Three passengers have died since April 11 and at least five others have fallen ill with hantavirus symptoms.

Who said what

Hantavirus is a rare and deadly virus usually spread by inhaling rodent droppings, but the Andes strain found in the infected passengers can spread through close human contact, the World Health Organization said. “This is not another Covid,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “And the risk to the public is low.”

What next?

The U.S. passengers are arriving in Omaha on Monday morning, where most will be monitored at the specialized National Quarantine Unit while the one who tested positive will be transferred to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, HHS said.

What happened

Democrats scrambled over the weekend to respond to setbacks in the national redistricting fight, most recently the Virginia Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision last week to nullify the state’s voter-approved congressional map. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other House Democrats “vented anger at their defeat” in Virginia during a private discussion on Saturday, The New York Times said, with “some party leaders discussing an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea” to restore the map, designed to flip four Republican seats.

Who said what

“Just two weeks ago, Democrats had fought to a draw” in the mid-decade gerrymander race started by President Donald Trump and Texas Republicans, The Washington Post said. Now, between the Virginia decision and the expected loss of several additional seats in the South following the U.S. Supreme Court’s neutering of the Voting Rights Act, Democrats are “confronting the reality that Trump succeeded in tilting the playing field to the GOP’s advantage.”

What next?

If the Republicans maintain their current net gain of about a dozen seats, Democrats “could need to win the House combined national popular vote by around 4 percentage points,” Nate Cohn said at the Times. That “structural advantage wouldn’t be enough to make the Republicans favorites,” but it “gives them a real shot” at winning. And if the court rulings help Republicans keep the House despite “badly losing the national vote, it would be yet another blow to the credibility of American institutions during a time of bitter division.”

What happened

Ted Turner, the billionaire media tycoon who pioneered around-the-clock news coverage by founding CNN, died Wednesday at the age of 87. No cause of death was announced, but Turner revealed eight years ago that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disorder.

Who said what

Turner was a generous philanthropist, avid conservationist and accomplished yachtsman. He also previously owned three Atlanta sports teams: the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers. But it “was his audacious vision to deliver news from around the world in real time, at all hours, that really made him famous,” CNN said, “once his idea finally took off.”

Turner started CNN in 1980, but its “breakthrough came during the Gulf War with Iraq in 1991,” when it broadcast live from Baghdad after “most television journalists fled,” The Associated Press said. CNN “revolutionized television news,” The New York Times said. But Turner’s other cable channels — TNT, the Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies and Superstation WTBS — have also had “considerable” impact on American culture.

What next?

Turner’s “legacy as a businessman and outspoken environmentalist will continue” through his family, USA Today said. His “five talented, complex kids who I had the privilege of becoming stepmother to” are “all doing fine,” Jane Fonda, the most famous of Turner’s three ex-wives, said on Instagram.

What happened

A federal judge in New York on Wednesday released a jail suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein. The handwritten note had been sealed for years in an unrelated case involving Epstein’s one-time cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione.

Who said what

“They investigated me for month — Found nothing!!!” the note said. “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye. Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!! NO FUN — NOT WORTH IT!!” Tartaglione said he found the note in a graphic novel after Epstein was moved from their cell after a first suicide attempt. Epstein’s death weeks later was ruled a suicide but spawned murder conspiracy theories. Federal prosecutors approved the note’s release, citing “a strong public interest in the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death.”

What next?

Tartaglione’s lawyers “said they authenticated the note,” The Washington Post said, but “no court or investigative agency has vouched for” its authenticity. The note does use phrases Epstein “used in emails, as well as in a separate note found in his jail cell at the time of his death,” The New York Times said. That final note “appeared to be a list of grievances about conditions at the jail,” The Associated Press said.

What happened

Tehran is considering a U.S. proposal to formally end the Iran war and start a 30-day clock to negotiate a full agreement, Axios and other news organizations reported Wednesday. Iranian and Trump administration officials “offered contradictory and rapidly changing assessments of the state of the war and peace talks,” The New York Times said, all “while providing few details about those negotiations.”

Who said what

If Iran doesn’t agree to “give what has been agreed to,” President Donald Trump said on social media Wednesday morning, the “bombing starts,” and “at a much higher level and intensity.” Hours later, he told reporters the two sides “had very good talks over the last 24 hours” and a deal was “very possible.” An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tehran would relay its response through Pakistan, while another Iranian official dismissed the proposal as an “American wish-list.”

The one-page U.S. memorandum of understanding involved “Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the U.S. agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to Axios. But the proposal would “not initially require concessions from either ​side,” sources told Reuters, and it leaves “unresolved key U.S. demands” on Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait.

What next?

The “biggest obstacle to an Iran deal may be Trump’s ego,” Politico said, citing U.S. and Arab officials. Trump’s “history of nursing grudges, ridiculing opponents and insisting he wins everything doesn’t bode well” for striking a deal with Iran’s respect-conscious leaders.

What happened

Pope Leo XIV’s public opposition to the Iran war is “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt broadcast Tuesday. Trump’s renewed criticism of Leo could complicate Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “fence-mending visit” to the Vatican on Thursday, The Associated Press said.

Who said what

“The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in the interview. Leo has spoken out against the Iran war and “taken aim at invocations of God” to justify the violence, The Washington Post said, but “he has never suggested that it is acceptable for Iran to have a nuclear bomb.” In fact, the pope has “repeatedly called for a world free of all nuclear weapons,” The Wall Street Journal said.

“The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace,” Leo told reporters Tuesday. “If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth.”

What next?

After his audience with the pope, Rubio is expected to meet Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a “long-time Trump ally” who has split with the president over his criticism of Leo, the AP said.

What happened

The four-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran faltered Monday as President Donald Trump’s attempts to reopen traffic through the Strait of Hormuz prompted Iranian attacks on U.S. warships and commercial ships. The United Arab Emirates and Oman also reported the first strikes on their territories since the ceasefire began, and the UAE blamed Iran. U.S. Central Command said that two U.S.-flagged merchant ships passed through the strait and that U.S. military helicopters sank six Iranian military speedboats; Iran said none of its boats were destroyed.

Who said what

Tehran “did not outright confirm or deny” its attacks, The Associated Press said. CENTCOM said it had shot down all Iranian missiles and drones fired at U.S. Navy ships and the commercial vessels they were guiding through a passage it had “successfully opened” through the strait. Trump appeared “willing to look past” Iran’s attacks, The Wall Street Journal said. But Monday’s violence put his “desire to end the Iran war” to the test.

What next?

Shipping companies said that Trump’s “offer to provide them safe passage” through the strait “fell short of the sort of arrangements that would persuade them to make the trip,” The New York Times said.

What happened

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to put last week’s ruling overturning Louisiana’s congressional map into immediate effect, waiving its customary 32-day waiting period. The unsigned order removed a legal obstacle to Louisiana Republicans redrawing districts for the 2026 midterms to eliminate one or both of the state’s majority Black districts. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a pointed dissent, prompting pushback from conservative Justice Samuel Alito and exposing “tension” that was “more notable” than the “technical decision itself,” CNN said.

Who said what

Gov. Jeff Landry (R) moved to pause Louisiana’s May 16 U.S. House primaries right after the court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling at the end of April, but early voting began May 2 and thousands of voters have already cast ballots. Under the Supreme Court’s “Purcell principle,” federal courts aren’t supposed to interfere with voting rules too close to an election. But this court has shown an “inconsistency” in applying that rule that “has the remarkably coincidental effect of benefitting Republicans,” Georgetown Law Professor Steve Vladeck said on his Substack page One First.

By helping Louisiana “​​rush to pause the ongoing election” to pass a new map, the court’s conservative wing discarded “principles” for “power,” Jackson wrote. “Not content to have decided the law, it now takes steps to influence its implementation.” Jackson’s quibbles are “trivial at best,” Alito said in a concurrence joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, and her charge of “an unprincipled use of power” is “ground­less and utterly irresponsible.”

What next?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed a GOP-boosting gerrymander and Alabama’s GOP legislature began a special session to redraw its 2026 maps; Tennessee is following suit.

What happened

Pioneering no-frills budget carrier Spirit Airlines ceased operations on Saturday, citing sharply higher fuel prices and the collapse of a $500 million Trump administration bailout. “This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.” Spirit CEO Dave Davis said in a statement.

Who said what

The “proudly penny-pinching” airline had capped its “final, mad-dash scramble to save money” with tentative deals to emerge from bankruptcy, unveiled four days before the Iran war started, The Associated Press said. In the end, the “spike in jet fuel prices from the war was the last straw,” said Axios.

Spirit was “often skewered for its bare-bones service,” but its “corresponding dirt-cheap fares opened up air travel” to thousands and “helped shape how other airlines competed,” The Washington Post said. Even if “you never flew Spirit, you benefited” from its low prices, said The Wall Street Journal. “Competing airlines vigorously matched its fares,” and “one big reason major airlines” were “rooting against a government bailout” is that “one less pesky discounter gives them more pricing power.”

What next?

Spirit said customers who booked flights with credit or debit cards would automatically get refunded. Most other U.S. airlines offered discounted or “rescue fares” to Spirit passengers facing canceled flights.

What happened

Two drugmakers on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to pause a federal appellate court’s decision to ban mail-order access to the abortion medication mifepristone nationwide. A panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled the day before that women seeking mifepristone had to get the drug in person from a doctor.

Who said what

The Fifth Circuit agreed that Louisiana was “irreparably harmed without a stay,” because out-of-state mifepristone shipments circumvent the state’s near-total ban on abortions. Mifepristone makers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro asked the Supreme Court to step in, arguing that overriding an FDA decision on a drug long proved safe and effective was unprecedented and upended the established U.S. drug-approval framework.

The ruling “puts the Trump administration in a politically difficult spot, especially ahead of the midterms,” The New York Times said. The White House “does not want to take a high-profile anti-abortion action” that “might antagonize some voters who support abortion rights.” But antiabortion groups are already furious with President Donald Trump over the continued “ubiquity of abortion pills,” The Wall Street Journal said, and they plan to campaign heavily for national abortion bans.

What next?

Mifepristone and its less-regulated partner drug misoprostol are used in about two-thirds of all U.S. abortions. If the mifepristone ruling stands, the Times said, many “abortion providers are prepared to prescribe only misoprostol, which can be used on its own for abortions.”

What happened

President Donald Trump said the U.S. was launching a new effort Monday to “guide” blockaded commercial ships “safely” through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed to maritime traffic since Trump and Israel launched the Iran war Feb. 28. Trump offered few details in his social media announcement, but described “Project Freedom” as a “humanitarian gesture” on behalf of the U.S., Middle Eastern countries and “in particular” Iran. Iranian state-run media said the announcement was part of “Trump’s delirium.”

Who said what

U.S. Central Command said guided-missile destroyers, drones and more than 100 aircraft would support Trump’s new initiative. But the plan “doesn’t currently involve U.S. Navy warships escorting vessels through the strait,” The Wall Street Journal said, citing senior U.S. officials. Traders and shipowners “expressed skepticism” that the “arm’s-length effort to unblock the vital supply route” would be effective.

Trump’s announcement was “essentially a challenge to Iran, and a bet that it would not want to take the risk of firing the first shots — or laying mines” — to challenge the U.S., The New York Times said. Ebrahim Azizi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee, said on X that “any U.S. interference” in the strait “will be considered a violation of the ceasefire.”

What next?

Two months into the war, Trump’s “predictions of a relatively short-term conflict with minimal economic consequences appear to be crumbling around him,” the Times said. “Voter backlash is building” as average U.S. gas prices hit a “wartime high of $4.39,” The Washington Post said, and “inside the White House, the options to lower prices at the pump are dwindling.”

What happened

President Donald Trump on Thursday tapped radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier to be U.S. surgeon general, withdrawing the stalled nomination of nutrition influencer Dr. Casey Means, an ally of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement. Saphier is Trump’s third nominee, after Means and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat.

Who said what

The “MAHA movement had pushed hard for Means’ nomination,” The Washington Post said, and it blamed its failure on Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and two other Republican senators skeptical of her qualifications and stance on vaccines. Trump called Saphier, a former Fox News contributor, an “INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR” on “complicated health issues” in a social media post. Kennedy called her a “longtime warrior for the MAHA movement.” But unlike Means, Saphier “does not appear to be a heroine” of MAHA, The New York Times said. Its “leaders view her as too conventional” due to her tempered praise of vaccines and criticism of Kennedy, though she has “also embraced” some of his agenda.

What next?

Even as MAHA lost its “favored influencer for surgeon general,” it “notched a big win on pesticide regulation” in a House farm bill, Axios said. Thursday’s events highlighted how MAHA retains “clout on matters related to the food supply” but “can be a political liability” on “vaccines and other public health matters.”

What happened

The White House is arguing that the War Powers Act deadline to either wind down the Iran war or get congressional authorization is not Friday, as Congress assumed, because the 60-day clock stopped when President Donald Trump ordered a ceasefire on April 7. “For War Powers Resolution purposes,” an official told reporters, the hostilities “have terminated.”

Who said what

“We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Senate hearing Thursday. His assertion was “met with outrage from Democrats and skepticism from Republicans,” The Wall Street Journal said. The U.S. military “continues to enforce a military blockade,” which is “considered an act of war under international law.”

“Nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated,” Katherine Yon Ebright, a war powers expert at the Brennan Center, told The Associated Press, and Congress needs to push back against this “sizeable extension of previous legal gamesmanship” over the law.

What next?

In the hearing, ostensibly about the Pentagon’s $1.45 trillion budget request, Hegseth “did not say how long the war with Iran could continue,” The New York Times said.

What happened

The House on Thursday passed a Senate bill funding all of the Department of Homeland Security except for its immigration enforcement arms, and President Donald Trump signed it, ending the longest-ever partial government shutdown after 76 days. DHS agencies, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service, FEMA and TSA are now funded through September. ICE and Customs and Border Protection never lost funding thanks to the GOP’s 2025 megabill.

Who said what

After weeks of delay and GOP infighting, the House “unanimously” approved the DHS bill “through voice vote with little fanfare,” suggesting Republicans were “finally ready to put the impasse behind them,” CBS News said. After Democrats refused to fund ICE and CBP without new guardrails, GOP leaders agreed to finance the rest of DHS and separately give Trump $70 billion for deportation operations through a filibuster-proof GOP-only reconciliation bill.

If the House had “waited for the Senate to pass a reconciliation bill, as some GOP lawmakers insisted, it would have left DHS closed until mid-May,” Axios said. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had been facing a “growing revolt from centrists in his party,” CNN said, and his “major retreat” on holding out for ICE funding was a “major win for Democrats.”

What next?

After lawmakers “return in mid-May,” The New York Times said, Republicans will “try to meet the president’s June 1 deadline” to get their $70 billion ICE-CBP bill to his desk.

What happened

LIV Golf, the PGA Tour rival launched in 2021 with financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, will lose that funding at the end of this season, The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations reported Wednesday. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi PIF, is stepping down as LIV chair, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Who said what

LIV Golf “will announce details of its strategic path forward” on Thursday, including new leadership and “a push to secure new, long-term financial partners,” CNBC said. LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil told TNT two weeks ago that if PIF funding ended, he would “work like crazy to create a business plan to keep us going.” But most likely, the Saudi withdrawal “sounds the death knell for the upstart that sowed chaos in professional golf,” the Journal said. It will be “nearly impossible” for LIV to carry on in “any resemblance to its current form after the Saudis lost billions on the endeavor.”

What next?

Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and other pro golfers who “abandoned the PGA Tour for nine-figure guaranteed contracts are now facing an uncertain future,” USA Today said. The “mainstream golf world” has already made clear it “isn’t ready to simply welcome them back,” the Journal said.

What happened

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday he will remain on the Fed Board of Governors “for a period of time to be determined” after his term as chair expires May 15. His announcement came at the end of a two-day policy meeting in which the Fed voted to keep rates unchanged, and shortly after the Senate Banking Committee voted along party lines to advance Kevin Warsh’s nomination to succeed Powell.

Who said what

Powell’s “decision to stay, which he can do until January 2028, breaks with tradition” and denies President Donald Trump the chance to “appoint another governor” until he leaves, The New York Times said. Powell underscored that he was still concerned about the Fed’s independence and “made clear his decision hinged on the outcome of a criminal investigation” of him that the Justice Department has halted, with caveats.

His continuing presence could “make it a bit harder for Warsh to engineer the rate cuts that Trump has demanded,” The Associated Press said. But Powell downplayed concerns about a “‘two Popes’ scenario.” There’s “only ever one chair,” he told reporters. “I’m not looking to be a high-profile dissident.”

What next?

The Fed’s next policy meeting is June 16-17. “I won’t see you next time,” Powell deadpanned at his last post-meeting press conference.

What happened

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a Louisiana congressional map drawn to include a second majority-Black district. The decision in Louisiana v. Callais significantly weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, one of the remaining pillars of the landmark 1965 civil rights law. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by his five fellow conservative justices, ruled that the district was an “unconstitutional gerrymander” because it relied on race, not partisanship. Justice Elena Kagan said in her dissent that the decision “renders Section 2 all but a dead letter.”

Who said what

The court’s conservatives “hollowed out” a law that “increased minority representation in Congress,” state legislatures and local councils, The Associated Press said. Alito “left the landmark civil rights law on the books,” Politico said, but “gutting” it was a “long-held goal of the conservative legal movement,” and “they’re taking a victory lap.”

“This is a complete and total victory for American voters,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. It’s a “mind-boggling piece of judicial overreach,” The New York Times said in an editorial. The court’s six Republican appointees “acted more like partisan legislators” than judges, “substituting their own judgment for that of Congress.”

What next?

The ruling will likely “touch off a scramble by Republicans” in the South to redraw congressional maps, The Washington Post said, thereby “imperiling the reelection prospects of some Black Democrats, possibly as soon as November’s midterms.” Hours after the ruling, Florida lawmakers approved a new map giving Republicans up to four new seats.

What happened

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced it was withdrawing from OPEC and Russian-led OPEC+ on Friday, weakening the oil cartel’s leverage to set and stabilize oil prices. The UAE, which joined OPEC in 1967, is the cartel’s third-biggest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Who said what

The UAE’s exit “had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years” against production limits enforced by OPEC to influence oil prices, The Associated Press said. In the short term, the decision “doesn’t really matter,” Semafor said, because with the “Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf oil producers can’t hit their production targets anyway.” But “in the long term,” The New York Times said, the UAE’s move “could contribute to greater volatility” in the oil markets.

What next?

Free from the cartel’s “rigid quotas,” the UAE “gains the flexibility to aggressively increase its oil production on its own terms,” The Wall Street Journal said. Its departure could “spur more defections” from other members who have similarly “chafed at Saudi Arabia’s dominance.” This is the “beginning of the end of OPEC,” MST Financial energy analyst Saul Kavonic told the BBC.

What happened

The Justice Department on Tuesday indicted former FBI Director James Comey again, this time over a photo he posted last May showing seashells spelling out “86 47.” By posting 86 — a common term for ejecting unruly patrons from bars — and 47, the number of Donald Trump’s presidency, Comey “knowingly and willfully” threatened to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the president,” the two-count indictment alleged. The DOJ’s attempt to prosecute Comey last year for allegedly lying to Congress was thrown out by a judge.

Who said what

The charges are the “latest salvo” in the DOJ’s “tortured efforts to satisfy” Trump’s demands to “go after longtime targets of his wrath,” The New York Times said. Comey posted, then deleted, the beach photo “nearly a year ago,” The Associated Press said, but the indictment was secured as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche “aims to prove to the president that he is the right person to hold the job permanently.”

“Well, they’re back,” Comey said in a video statement Tuesday. “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid. … so let’s go.”

What next?

Prosecuting Comey for his seashell post “may be fruitless,” said CNN. “Especially given the country’s free speech protections.”

What happened

King Charles III on Tuesday spent the first full day of his state visit to the U.S. conversing privately with President Donald Trump, extolling America’s democracy and trans-Atlantic relations at a joint session of Congress and charming his host at a White House state dinner. The visit, ostensibly to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. breakup from Great Britain, is also a “crucial diplomatic play” by the U.K. to mend strained ties with the “royal-loving U.S. president,” The Wall Street Journal said.

Who said what

The king’s address to Congress, the second ever by a British monarch, included “among the most pointed comments any allied leader has given on American soil” during Trump’s second term, Politico said. Sprinkled among well-received jokes, Charles said it was crucial to protect the environment, acclaimed the importance of NATO and urged “unyielding” defense of Ukraine.

He also highlighted England’s foundational Magna Carta, which “declared that even a king isn’t above the law,” said Politico. In the U.S., the Magna Carta is “cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789,” Charles said, and “not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.” That drew a bipartisan standing ovation in Congress. Trump “didn’t seem to mind” the “low-key criticism,” The Associated Press said. The White House posted a photo of Charles and Trump, labeling it “TWO KINGS.”

What next?

Charles and Queen Camilla travel to New York and Virginia before departing the U.S. on Thursday.

What happened

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Monday separately demanded that ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a parody White House Correspondents’ Association dinner roast during last week’s show in which Kimmel joked that the first lady had a “glow like an expectant widow.” The outcry followed the shooting incident at the real gala two nights later. Federal prosecutors on Monday charged the alleged gunman with trying to assassinate Trump.

Who said what

Kimmel’s “rhetoric” was “completely deranged,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” It was “obviously” a “very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said on Monday night’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The joke “was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that.”

What next?

The controversy over a joke about a “dinner meant to honor the First Amendment is sure to revive” the censorship battle between Trump and Kimmel that “erupted” last fall, The New York Times said. After a brief suspension following a joke involving Charlie Kirk, Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension due to keep him on air until May 2027.

What happened

Iran has proposed a deal to open the State of Hormuz provided the U.S. and Israel cease their attacks and the U.S. ends its naval blockade of Iranian ships and ports. Tehran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium would be discussed at a later date. The proposal, passed to the U.S. through Pakistan on Sunday, followed an Iranian offer to suspend its uranium enrichment that President Donald Trump rejected.

Who said what

Trump is “unhappy with Iran's proposal as he wants nuclear issues dealt with from the outset,” Reuters said, citing a U.S. official. The proposal was “subject to a vigorous debate inside the administration” over which side “has more leverage,” The New York Times said, “and which country is better positioned to endure the economic hardship” from the strait’s closure.

Iranian officials are “serious about getting themselves out of the mess that they’re in,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News. The Americans “have achieved none of their goals, and this is why they are asking for negotiations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Russia. “We are now considering it.” Leaders of European nations also weighed in: the U.S. “quite obviously went into this war without any strategy” and has “no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday. “A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”

What next?

The “tense stalemate” has “entered a Cold War-like phase of financial sanctions, gunboat interdictions and talks about having talks,” with “no immediate end in sight,” Axios said. With the midterms six months away, a “frozen conflict is the worst thing for Trump politically and economically,” said a source close to the president.

What happened

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Sunday he was prepared to drop his blockade of President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve after the Justice Department assured him it had dropped its criminal investigation of outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Tillis’ decision cleared the last major obstacle for Kevin Warsh to replace Powell.

Who said what

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro last week said she had dropped her investigation of Powell tied to cost overruns on a Federal Reserve renovation, though she would “not hesitate to restart” it “should the facts warrant doing so.” With Democrats calling Warsh a “sock puppet” for Trump’s demanded interest rate cuts, Tillis’ opposition had “created an insurmountable deadlock” on the narrowly divided Banking Committee, The New York Times said.

What next?

The Banking Committee has scheduled a Wednesday vote on Warsh’s nomination, potentially advancing it to a full Senate vote before Powell’s chairmanship expires May 15. Powell can remain on the Fed Board of Governors through 2028, and Tillis said he suspected he would do so until the investigation is “fully settled,” which could be “a lengthy process.”

What happened

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Russia on Monday morning after a weekend of diplomatic trips to Pakistan and Oman, but no direct talks with the United States. President Donald Trump on Saturday called off an announced trip to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, saying it would be a waste of time given Iran’s lack of commitment to meet with them.

Who said what

“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. With U.S.-Iran talks “derailed, at least for now,” The New York Times said, “Tehran and Washington are sinking into an awkward limbo of neither peace, nor war,” with each projecting confidence they can “outlast the other in a standoff with drastic stakes for the global economy.” Pakistani officials said “indirect talks” were ongoing even as they “scrambled to reignite” direct negotiations, The Associated Press said.

What next?

Trump was “expected to hold a Situation Room meeting” on Monday after receiving an Iranian proposal to “reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war,” Axios said, “with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage.”

What happened

The gunman accused of trying to charge into the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night appears to have “set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said over the weekend. Law enforcement officials said they are trying to determine the assailant’s motive, but he was believed to have acted alone.

The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of California, was tackled after sprinting through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton carrying a handgun, a shotgun and knives, police said. A Secret Service agent was shot but protected by a bulletproof vest.

Who said what

After popping sounds were heard outside the ballroom during the salad course, Secret Service agents swarmed in, ushering President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and top Cabinet officials to safety as most guests ducked for cover. The gunman “barely breached the perimeter,” Blanche told CNN, calling it a “massive security success story.”

At a White House press conference after the shooting, Trump “was unusually conciliatory,” The Associated Press said. But he “flashed a familiar anger” during a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday, when Norah O’Donnell read from a manifesto Allen reportedly sent relatives before the attack, even though it did not mention Trump by name, Politico said. “I’m not a rapist,” and “I’m not a pedophile,” Trump said. “You shouldn’t be reading that on ‘60 Minutes,’ you’re a disgrace.”

What next?

Allen is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Monday on preliminary charges of assaulting a federal officer and weapons charges.

What happened

Meta said Thursday it will cut about 8,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, as it shifts resources to artificial intelligence. In a company memo, Chief People Officer Janelle Gale said the social media behemoth would also close 6,000 open positions “as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently” and “offset the other investments we’re making.”

Who said what

CEO Mark Zuckerberg is “reorganizing his company around AI products in a fierce race” against OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, The New York Times said. Zuckerberg has “made no secret of his AI ambitions,” including rolling out AI-powered social media he “hopes people will incorporate into their daily lives,” and he has pushed employees to “use AI in their daily work.”

Meta’s cuts are the “latest in a string of tech industry layoffs fueled” by AI’s efficiency promises, CNN said. Amazon said it would cut 16,000 workers in January, and financial-tech firm Block’s 40% workforce cut in February “came with a stark warning that more companies would follow suit.” Microsoft on Thursday said it was offering buyouts to 7% of its workforce to invest in AI.

What next?

Meta said it will notify employees being laid off on May 20.

What happened

The Justice Department on Thursday reclassified marijuana as a less-dangerous Schedule III drug for medicinal and research uses, effective immediately. The order aligns federal policy more closely with the 48 states that allow some form of medical marijuana use.

Who said what

The reclassification “will make it easier to study medicinal applications of marijuana and could shore up support from influencers who support the research,” Axios said. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reclassify cannabis in December and appeared impatient last weekend when signing a separate order to loosen restrictions on psychedelics. “Joe, they’re slow-walking me on rescheduling,” he told podcaster Joe Rogan.

This is “one of the biggest changes to U.S. drug policy in decades,” Reuters said. But after “shares of cannabis companies jumped between 6% and 13% following the decision,” they “reversed their gains” as investors in the $47 billion industry digested the “limited scope of the federal government’s immediate moves.”

What next?

Marijuana for recreational use, as allowed in 24 states and Washington, D.C., remains an illegal Schedule I controlled substance, alongside heroin and LSD. But the Justice Department said it scheduled a June 29 hearing to consider a broader Schedule III reclassification for all cannabis.

What happened

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Thursday charged a U.S. special forces soldier with insider trading for allegedly using classified information about the raid on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to net $409,000 on the prediction marketplace Polymarket. Army Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke placed 13 bets on the U.S. going after Maduro from Dec. 27 until hours before the Jan. 3 raid, which he helped plan and execute, the indictment alleges.

Who said what

The charges are “believed to be the first instance” of the Justice Department “prosecuting a case of insider trading on a prediction market,” ABC News said. The case, alongside other “presciently well-timed wagers around geopolitical events” like the Iran war, has “ignited broad concern” in Washington about using insider information to rig Polymarket and its chief rival, Kalshi, Politico said.

“The whole world unfortunately has become somewhat of a casino,” President Donald Trump said Thursday about government employees using prediction markets. “It is what it is. I’m not happy with any of that stuff.” But prediction markets “love the president’s unpredictability,” The Associated Press said. And Trump “seems to be a big fan, applying a light regulatory touch” and suing states “trying to ban prediction markets.” The Trump Organization is working to open its own prediction market, and Donald Trump Jr. is a Polymarket investor and a Kalshi adviser.

What next?

If convicted, Van Dyke faces many years in prison. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed a parallel civil lawsuit seeking full restitution and penalties.

What happened

The FBI started investigating a journalist with The New York Times last month after she reported in January that FBI Director Kash Patel had assigned an around-the-clock SWAT team to protect and escort his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, the Times said Wednesday, citing a person briefed on the matter. FBI agents “recommended moving forward” to determine whether the reporter “broke federal stalking laws,” the Times said, but Justice Department officials shut down the inquiry, viewing it as legally baseless “retaliation” for the article.

Who said what

FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson did not dispute the SWAT detail report. Investigators were “concerned” that the Times journalist’s “aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking,” he said in a statement Wednesday, but “no further action” was “ever pursued by the FBI.”

Patel “hasn’t been reluctant to fight back against reporting that displeases him,” The Associated Press said. A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday dismissed a defamation suit filed by Patel against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi for saying last year on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “reportedly, he’s been visible at nightclubs far more than” at FBI headquarters.

What next?

It’s “not clear whether the Times has any recourse other than asking a federal inspector general to review” the FBI’s actions, the AP said.

What happened

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) has died after nearly five decades in elected politics, his office announced Wednesday. The 80-year-old had recently filed to run for a 13th term and voted in the House as recently as Tuesday. Scott’s death widens the Republicans’ narrow majority in Congress ahead of November’s midterms. He was the fifth House member to die in office this Congress; four were Democrats.

Who said what

Scott, the first Black lawmaker to chair the House Agriculture Committee, was “once a leading voice for Democrats” on farm and food aid policy, The Associated Press said, but he “faced criticism and concerns in recent years because of declining health.” In his district, Scott sponsored “annual job and health fairs so popular they almost guaranteed his reelection every two years,” even as “age and physical ailments” limited his visibility, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.

What next?

Scott had been facing “strong challenges from well-funded Democrats” in his May primary, the Journal-Constitution said. Under Georgia law, the governor “has 10 days to call a special election to fill Scott’s seat,” with the election held “at least 30 days after that,” The Washington Post said.

What happened

The Pentagon on Wednesday said Navy Secretary John Phelan, a billionaire financier and donor close to President Donald Trump, was leaving “effective immediately,” in what was widely reported to be a firing engineered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after months of infighting. Phelan’s abrupt departure came amid an escalating naval standoff between the U.S. and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Who said what

After Trump unilaterally extended a tenuous ceasefire, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Wednesday attacked three cargo ships in the strait, seizing two. “These were not U.S. ships” or “Israeli ships,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News. The news media is “blowing this out of proportion.”

As the Navy’s top civilian leader, Phelan had “no role overseeing deployed forces,” The New York Times said, so his firing “is not likely to have significant implications” for the war. But it’s the latest in Hegseth’s “near-continuous purge of the military’s most senior ranks,” often “with little public explanation,” The Washington Post said.

Hegseth believed Phelan was “moving too slowly” on ramping up shipbuilding and “was also irked by Phelan’s direct communication with Trump,” CNN said. Hegeth was “particularly annoyed” when Phelan “pitched the idea” for a modern “Trump Class” battleship directly to the president, The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?

Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, a Navy veteran and former GOP congressional candidate in Virginia, is now acting secretary.

What happened

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday lifted the Pentagon’s longstanding policy requiring flu vaccinations for service members. The vaccines will still be available to military personnel who choose to immunize themselves against the seasonal flu. The new policy poses “no threat to our military readiness,” Hegseth suggested in a video posted on social media.

Who said what

U.S. military vaccination programs “date back to the American Revolution,” said The Associated Press, but they became a “contentious political issue during the coronavirus pandemic.” The Pentagon’s annual flu shot requirement, dating back to the 1950s, has been a “major factor in lower rates of hospitalizations among service members” than the U.S. average, said the Military Times. Hegseth’s announcement “seemed to catch some Republicans in Congress off guard,” The New York Times said. “The reason it was mandatory was to enhance readiness,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told reporters. “You do give up certain rights when you take the oath.”

What next?

U.S. military personnel are “still required to get vaccinations for diseases including measles, mumps and polio,” said the Times. Other immunizations “may be required depending on risk and military occupation.”

What happened

The Justice Department on Tuesday charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with financial crimes, accusing the civil rights organization of secretly paying informants in the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups without telling its donors. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the SPLC paid at least eight unidentified insiders a total of $3 million between 2014 and 2023.

Who said what

Nonprofits like the SPLC are legally required to “have certain transparency and honesty” with donors, Blanche said at a press conference, and by paying KKK, neo-Nazi and Unite the Right leaders for intelligence, the group was “not dismantling extremism, but funding it.” The indictment “offers little to support the notion” the SPLC’s payments were “meant to aid the extremist groups they had infiltrated,” The New York Times said.

The SPLC began working with informants in the 1980s and kept the since-disbanded program secret to ensure their safety, interim CEO Bryan Fair said in a video statement. The group “frequently” shared “what we learned from informants” with law enforcement, including the FBI, and “there is no question” the program “saved lives.”

What next?

Fair said he was “outraged by the false allegations” and his organization “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff and our work.” No individuals were charged in the indictment, but Blanche said the investigation was ongoing.

What happened

The satirical news outlet The Onion on Monday said it had reached an agreement to temporarily take over right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones’ Infowars platform and turn it into a parody site. Jones filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after a court ordered him to pay $1.4 billion in damages to the families of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Onion’s plan requires approval from Texas District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin.

Who said what

Under the proposed deal, The Onion would pay $81,000 a month to license Infowars’ site and intellectual property for six months or a year, covering rent and utilities “until an appeal filed by Jones is decided and the path is cleared for a sale,” NPR said. It’s a “Hail Mary bid” by The Onion, Politico said, after a federal judge “blocked its initial plan to acquire Infowars in 2024 during a bankruptcy auction,” calling the process flawed. “We are excited to lie constantly for cold, hard cash, but this time in a cool way,” Onion CEO Ben Collins said Monday, and “we’ll make sure some of it gets back” to the Sandy Hook families.

What next?

Jones “vowed to fight the licensing proposal in court” on his show Monday, but “acknowledged he and his crew could be kicked out” of their Austin studio by the end of the month, The Associated Press said.

What happened

FBI Director Kash Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit on Monday accusing The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick of publishing a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece” designed to destroy his “reputation and drive him from office.” Fitzpatrick, citing more than two dozen unidentified sources, reported last week that Patel was “deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy” and “has good reasons to think so,” as his “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” have alarmed FBI and Justice Department officials.

Who said what

“We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel” and “will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” the publication said in a statement. As a public figure, Patel will have to prove “actual malice,” a “higher standard than an ordinary citizen” claiming defamation, The New York Times said.

Patel said on social media that meeting that standard would be “a legal layup.” But his complaint doesn’t “even hit the backboard,” First Amendment lawyer Adam Steinbaugh said on X. But it “has all the markings” of the Trump administration “playbook” of filing lawsuits “meant to silence dissent by driving up the cost of speaking,” Steinbaugh said in a separate statement.

What next?

If Patel’s suit isn’t “tossed out” before trial, CNN said, he “could be required to answer questions under oath about the alleged behavior” in the discovery process.

What happened

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving the Trump administration “to take a position in the private sector,” the White House announced Monday. She had been under scrutiny for months over a series of workplace misconduct allegations. Unlike the recent ousters of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chavez-DeRemer’s exit “was announced by a White House aide,” not President Donald Trump, The Associated Press said.

Who said what

The Labor Department inspector general opened an investigation in January into allegations that Chavez-DeRemer was having an affair with a security staffer, often “drank on the job” and “concocted official events to facilitate her personal travel plans,” Politico said. The White House and Labor Department initially called the claims baseless, but the “official denials got less full-throated as more allegations emerged,” the AP said.

Among the “embarrassing details” likely to emerge in a pending inspector general’s report, The New York Times said, were text messages sent to “younger female staffers” with “inappropriate requests” from Chavez-DeRemer, her husband and her father. “The text messages were the final straw,” a Republican close to the White House told Politico. “I think the secretary demonstrated a lot of wisdom in resigning,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters.

What next?

Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling will take over as acting secretary. Sonderling, a “longtime ally of business leaders,” had “already been directing policy and personnel-related decision-making in Washington” as Chavez-Remer spent much of her tenure “on the road,” The Washington Post said.

What happened

A humanoid robot called Lightning won a half-marathon in Beijing on Sunday, beating his robotic competitors and the human runners in a parallel race by completing the 13-mile course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds — nearly seven minutes faster than the world record set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon last month.

Who said what

The victory of Lightning, built by Chinese smartphone brand Honor, marked a “significant step forward from last year’s inaugural race,” when the winning robot “finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds,” The Associated Press said. The “remarkable feat” was also a “big stride for China in its technological rivalry with the U.S.,” CNN said.

China already has “more robots at work” than “the rest of the world combined,” The New York Times said. Beijing also recently hosted the first Humanoid Robot Games, featuring “plenty of running, kicking and punching,” though the robots “also flailed around, crashed and fell over many times.”

What next?

The leap forward in China’s humanoid engineering “is genuinely impressive,” Oregon State University robotics professor Alan Fern told the Times. But it’s “much less obvious” how a robot winning a half-marathon “translates into productivity and ultimately, profitability.”

What happened

U.S. Marines boarded and took control of an Iranian cargo ship on Sunday after it breached President Donald Trump’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said. An Iranian military spokesperson warned that Iran “will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy.”

The seizure followed a weekend of mixed signals on the status of the strait and mutual accusations of violating the fragile ceasefire set to expire Wednesday. Trump said that his envoys would meet with Iranian negotiators in Pakistan on Tuesday, but Iran’s Foreign Ministry later said that Tehran had “no plans for the next round of negotiations” and has made “no decision” on further talks.

Who said what

Trump on Sunday said the U.S. was “offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL” to Iran, but if it did not accept, he would “knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” Iran’s state media said Tehran saw “no clear prospect for productive talks” given the Trump administration’s “excessive demands” and shifting, “unrealistic requests.”

Both sides have “triggered a swirl of confusion over the status of peace talks,” The Wall Street Journal said, though Iran “made similar threats ahead of participating in the previous round of negotiations.” Pakistan “appeared to be preparing for the talks,” Reuters said, and U.S. “security equipment and vehicles” landed at an airbase in Islamabad over the weekend.

What next?

All the uncertainty “sent oil prices rising again,” The Associated Press said, and Iran this morning “warned it could keep up the global economic pain” and keep “inflicting political pain on Trump.”

What happened

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight local time on Friday, though Hezbollah has not committed to the truce. President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on Thursday after a flurry of diplomatic wrangling. The pause in fighting, if it holds, would remove one of the sticking points in U.S. peace talks with Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer.

Who said what

The State Department said Israel, as a “gesture of goodwill,” had agreed to pause “offensive operations” against Lebanese targets while reserving the “right to take all necessary measures in self-defense.” Lebanon was expected to take “meaningful steps” to prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel.

Trump’s ceasefire pressure put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “in an awkward position,” The New York Times said. His “goal to gut Hezbollah is far from fulfilled, and he was swiftly assailed by his allies and critics” for agreeing to the truce. Israel’s security cabinet “heard about Trump’s announcement several minutes into” an “urgent conference call” Netanyahu had convened “to discuss the ceasefire and vote on it,” Axios said.

Netanyahu said in a subsequent statement that Israeli forces would remain in a 6-mile-deep “security zone” spanning southern Lebanon, “and we are not leaving.” Hezbollah said “Israeli occupation of our land” gave them “the right to resist it,” and it will act “based on how developments unfold.”

What next?

The temporary truce “will bring immediate relief” to war-ravaged Lebanon, The Wall Street Journal said. But “without Hezbollah at the negotiating table,” peace is “on shaky ground.”