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U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | Day 39.

• Amidst continuing reports of ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement in the Middle East war, U.S. President Donald Trump has set a deadline of 8 p.m. ET tonight for Iran to make a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic or risk its power plants and bridges being bombed. In a social media post this morning, Trump warned that, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," but left open the possibility of Iran making a deal to avoid the military escalation. Reports note that Trump has set and then extended similar deadlines multiple times during the ongoing conflict.  [more]
• Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's statements this morning by saying it would "deprive the U.S and its allies of the region’s oil and gas for years” if Trump's threats against Iranian infrastructure are carried out. [more]
• Iran continued airstrikes on Gulf region nations today, with reports noting a missile strike on a United Arab Emirates telecommunications facility and a container ship in the Persian Gulf being struck by a projectile. U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran also continue, with 18 people reported killed in coalition airstrikes on Iran’s Alborz province and a railway bridge in Kashan, a train station in Mashhad, and a highway bridge near Tabriz all reported to have been targeted. [more]
• Reports say U.S. forces struck Iran's key oil hub of Kharg Island this morning – the second such attack on the island since the war began. [more]
• Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed details of the weekend rescues of the two U.S. fighter jet crew members whose F-15 warplane was shot down over Iran on Friday, expressing his pride in both the airmen and those who took part in the rescue operations. [full video of Caine's commentary] [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT | Reuters cites a review of Department of Homeland Security data as indicating that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 800 people following tips ​shared by federal airport security officials from the start of President Donald Trump's second term in office through February of this year. The report further notes that the Transportation Security Administration supplied ICE with information on some 31,000 travelers for possible immigration enforcement over the same period. [more]

GEORGIA | Voters in Georgia will choose between Republican Clay Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris today to fill the seat in Congress left vacant by Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned in January amidst a fallout with President Donald Trump. [more]

IOWA | Overturning a lower court decision, a panel of the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that an Iowa state law that restricts teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics with students in kindergarten through the sixth grade and bans some books in libraries and classrooms can remain in force while related court challenges play out. [more]

FLORIDA | Governor Ron DeSantis signed a measure into law yesterday that gives him, along with other elected state officials, the ability to label groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations and to expel state university students who support such organizations. Opponents have argued that the law jeopardizes student speech, freedom of religion, and due process. [more]

U.S. AND HUNGARY | Ahead of this weekend's Hungarian national elections and in a show of Trump administration support for Prime Minister Victor Orban, who has been in power since 2010, U.S. Vice President JD Vance is in Budapest today for an official meeting and a later appearance at an Orban campaign rally. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | Disaster management officials in Afghanistan say the death toll from recent widespread flooding and landslides in the country has risen to 110. Authorities have issued additional warnings today for nearly the entire country as conditions suggest continued flood risks. [more]

VENEZUELA | Acting President Delcy Rodríguez remains in her role today, exceeding the 90-day limit specified in Venezuela's constitution for her temporary post and that specified by the country's high court following the arrest of former President Nicolas Maduro to face drug trafficking and other charges in the United States. [more]

GAZA | World Health Organization officials say medical evacuations from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt have been suspended after an agency contractor was killed yesterday in what WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus called a "security incident." [more]

U.K. | Resident doctors of the U.K.'s National Health Service began a six-day strike today after rejecting a new government contract offer that the British Medical Association union said did not satisfy demands for increased pay and better staffing. [more]

TURKEY | Authorities say a gunman was killed and two other attackers were injured in an exchange of gunfire with Turkish police today outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. [more]

VIETNAM | Lawmakers elected Communist Party General Secretary To Lam to be Vietnam's president today. Reports note that the offices of party head and president have traditionally been held by different people in Vietnam and that consolidation of the roles in one person mimics the power structure of China under Xi Jinping. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Police have reportedly arrested decorated Australian special operations veteran Ben Roberts-Smith on multiple charges of war crime murder. Roberts-Smith was previously alleged to have killed five unarmed Afghans while serving in Australia's Special Air Service Regiment in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012. [more]

NEWS INDUSTRY | The Associated Press has announced plans to offer buyouts to an unspecified number of the organization's U.S.-based journalists as it moves to decrease its focus on newspapers and their print journalism. [more]

COLLEGE BASKETBALL | Michigan beat UConn, 69-63, last night to win the school's first NCAA men's basketball national championship since 1989. Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau was named the tournament finals' most outstanding player. [more]

LITERATURE AWARDS | “Small Scale Sinners,” a story collection by Mahreen Sohail, has been selected as the winner of the 2026 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. [press release] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1948, the World Health Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, was formally established to promote health and safety, help the vulnerable worldwide, and coordinate responses to international public health issues and emergencies. [more history]