April 1, 2026

U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | Day 33.

• U.S. President Donald Trump suggested yesterday that the military offensive in Iran could end within 2-3 weeks and that the U.S. would shift responsibility for ensuring passage through the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on oil and other products from the Gulf region. [more]
• U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced today that his country will host an international diplomatic conference this week to discuss re-opening and securing the Strait of Hormuz. [more]
• As U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran continue, Iranian airstrikes targeted Israel and multiple Gulf region countries today, including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Reports cite Iran's Revolutionary Guard as saying yesterday that U.S. companies such as Google, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Tesla in the Gulf region would also become targets beginning today even if the companies are not operating on military bases. [more]
• In broadcasts to their respective countries today, U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese each warned of fuel-related issues related to the Middle East war and announced steps to ease the related financial burden on citizens and industries. U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to give a nationwide address on the war tonight at 9 p.m. EDT. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,495 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• According to Russian media outlets, a Russian A-26 military transport plane carrying six crew members and 23 passengers crashed yesterday in southern Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, killing all people aboard the aircraft. Reports cite Russian Defense Ministry officials as saying a technical malfunction may have caused the crash and that there was no “damaging interference” to the aircraft. [more]

U.S. VOTING | President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday calling for the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to work together to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and for the U.S. Postal Service to be barred from sending mail-in ballots to people not on the approved voter list. Opponents of the moves have said they intend to challenge the order in court, mostly on the grounds that they violate the Constitution by attempting to seize states’ power to run elections. [full executive order] [more]

U.S. CITIZENSHIP | The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today in an appeal of a lower court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States for children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily. Trump said yesterday that he plans to attend today's Supreme Court hearing – an action reports say would be the first such attendance by a sitting president at the nation's highest court. [more]

U.S. ENVIRONMENT | Meeting for the first time in more than 30 years yesterday, the government's Endangered Species Committee voted to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from provisions of the Endangered Species Act. The move came after Defense Secretary claimed environmental obstructions to the drilling threatened domestic energy production in what he called a matter of "national security." [more]

U.S. JUDICIAL RULINGS | Multiple high-profile federal judicial rulings were made yesterday, including:

• A U.S. District Court judge ordered the suspension of work on the $400 million White House ballroom, saying that "The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner," and that congressional approval was needed to proceed with the project. [more]
• The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, struck down a Colorado law banning so-called "conversion therapy" for LGBTQ+ youths in the state, saying the law violates the First Amendment rights of counselors. [more]
• A federal judge ordered the University of Pennsylvania to comply with an administrative subpoena from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ordering the school to hand over records about Jewish employees for use in an investigation into antisemitic discrimination. [more]
• A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit put a hold on a lower court ruling that ordered the Trump administration to bring hundreds of Voice of America employees back to work from paid leave while related court proceedings play out. [more]
• A federal judge ruled that the Department of Housing and Urban Development violated a law governing how federal agencies develop and issue regulations when it changed the rules for receiving $75 million to build housing for homeless families and individuals, saying the department's "slapdash imposition of political whims" was unlawful. [more]
• A U.S. District Court judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit yesterday that accused Colorado and the city of Denver of interfering with the enforcement of immigration laws through state and local laws that limit the use of resources for immigration enforcement and protect the rights and personal information of immigrants. [more]
• Citing a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that said the government cannot use its power – including the power of the purse – to punish or suppress disfavored expression by others, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the portion of an executive order on "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media" from President Donald Trump that directed federal agencies to terminate “any direct or indirect funding of NPR and PBS” was unconstitutional. [more]

BANGLADESH AND MYANMAR | Under the U.N. World Food Program’s new tiered system, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar for Bangladesh will have their food assistance cut from $12 per person per month to as low as $7 per month. Reports note that WFP funding was cut by almost a third last year after foreign aid cuts by numerous countries, but agency officials said yesterday the Rohingya aid cuts were unrelated to the funding cuts. [more]

TURKEY | Eighteen migrants were killed, and 21 others were rescued, today when their boat capsized during a high-speed chase by the coast guard off the Turkish coast near the city of Bodrum. [more]

SOUTH KOREA AND INDONESIA | Following a summit in Seoul between their countries' presidents, South Korea and Indonesia issued a joint statement today pledging expanded cooperation in defense industries, technology, energy, and supply chains. [more]

SPACE | NASA officials say conditions are still favorable for tonight's planned launch of the Artemis II mission in humanity’s first flight to the moon since 1972 on which four astronauts – three U.S., one Canadian – will travel around the moon before returning to Earth. The current targeted launch time is 6:24 p.m. EDT.  [NASA live updates] [mission info] [more]

SOCCER | The 48-team field for this summer's FIFA men's World Cup is complete after yesterday's final qualifying match in which Iraq beat Bolivia. Also yesterday, Bosnia and Herzegovina beat four-time champion Italy, meaning the Italian team will miss its third-straight World Cup. [full list of qualified teams] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer Inc., starting what eventually became one of the world's leading tech companies. [more history]