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MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Yemen's Houthi rebel group says at least 38 people were killed, and more than 100 others were injured, in an overnight U.S. airstrike on the Ras Isa oil port in Yemen’s Hodeida governorate along the Red Sea. [more]
• Reports cite U.S. government officials as saying some 600 U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Syria, leaving only about 1,000 military servicemembers in the country to work with Kurdish allies to counter Islamic State forces. [more]
• Officials with the U.N.'s World Food Program say the organization has suspended food aid shipments to Houthi-held areas of Yemen after the rebel group looted an aid distribution warehouse in the Saada region. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1149 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Officials in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, say an early morning Russian missile attack killed one person and wounded 82 others in the city today. Mayor Ihor Terekhov says 15 apartment buildings, an educational institution, and a business were damaged in the attack. [more]
• Following a series of Ukraine-related meetings in Paris yesterday, U.S., French, British, and other officials say a similar summit aimed at assessing Ukrainian security and discussing the potential for a ceasefire in its war with Russia will be held in the coming days in London. Reports say the Paris talks included an outline of U.S. proposed peace terms in Ukraine that would include Russia keeping control of Ukrainian territories it now occupies and easing U.S. war-related sanctions on Russia. [more]
• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested today that the U.S. could end its efforts to achieve a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war within days if there are no clear signs of progress toward a deal. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Two people were killed, and six others were wounded, yesterday when a gunman opened fire on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. Police have the shooting suspect in custody and have identified him as Phoenix Ikner – a 20-year-old FSU student and son of a local sheriff's deputy. [more]

U.S. BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP | The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear oral arguments on May 15 in a Trump administration appeal of lower court rulings that blocked administration efforts to end birthright citizenship for the children of people who are in the U.S. illegally. Reports note that the exact issue before the Supreme Court is not the validity of President Trump's order regarding birthright citizenship, but rather the allowable scope of judicial rulings regarding the order. [more]

U.S. DEPORTATIONS | Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met yesterday with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland immigrant who government officials say was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador as part of mass deportations of suspected gang members. Van Hollen said he plans to release a full update on Abrego Garcia's status after returning to the United States. In related news, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday unanimously rejected a Trump administration bid to block a judge’s decision to order sworn testimony by administration officials to determine if they complied with her instruction to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, saying , in part, that the government is "asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order." [more on Van Hollen meeting] [more on 4th Circuit ruling] [PDF of 4th Circuit ruling]

U.S. INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT | The Associated Press cites unnamed U.S. officials as saying a new National Intelligence Council assessment has found no coordination between the Tren de Aragua gang and the Venezuelan government, an alleged relationship that has been used by Trump administration officials to justify invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants suspected of gang membership. [more]

U.S. CONSUMER PROTECTION | Employees of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began receiving termination notices yesterday amidst reports that the Trump administration plans to cut the Bureau's staff by about 90%. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY | A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction yesterday imposing new restrictions on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency's access to Social Security data. The injunction allows DOGE staff to access data that has been redacted or stripped of personally identifiable information, but requires the group to delete non-anonymized Social Security data that they have already received and bars them from making any changes to the computer code or software used by the Social Security Administration. [more]

U.S. AND GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS | Reports cite internal U.S. State Department communications as indicating that the department intends to "streamline" its annual "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" in countries around the world to align the reports with current U.S. policy and recently issued executive orders from President Donald Trump. Among the topics reported to be removed from the reports are critiques of abuses such as harsh prison conditions, government corruption, and restrictions on participation in the political process, as well as serious restrictions to internet freedom, extensive gender-based violence, and unlawful interference with privacy. [more]

RUSSIAN ECONOMY | A new Reuters report says that the Russian ruble has risen 40% against the U.S. dollar since January, rising to 81 to the dollar today to its highest level since June 2024. [more]

COLOMBIA | A deadline to extend a cease-fire agreement between Colombia's government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrilla group has expired, according to Colombian government officials, who also noted that expiration of the agreement does not imply the end of peace talks with the group. [more]

UGANDA | Despite a Supreme Court ruling banning the practice, government officials in Uganda say they intend to introduce a bill in parliament that would allow military tribunals to try civilians for certain offenses. [more]

PAKISTAN | Authorities say at least 178 people were arrested this week across Pakistan in connection with mob attacks on outlets of the U.S. fast-food chain KFC sparked by what officials say is anti-U.S. sentiment and opposition to Israel's war in Gaza. [more]

TECH INDUSTRY | A U.S. federal judge yesterday found tech giant Google's digital ad network to be an illegal monopoly, saying the company has abused its power to stifle competition to the detriment of online publishers forced to rely on its ad network for revenue. Google says it intends to appeal the decision ahead of the case's penalty phase, which is expected to begin late this year or early next year. [more]

BASKETBALL | The play-in round of the 2025 NBA playoffs finishes tonight, and actual playoff games get underway tomorrow. The Oklahoma Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers are the No. 1-seeded teams in the West and East brackets, respectively. [full playoff bracket] [more]

GOLF | Justin Thomas shot a 10-under-par 61 yesterday to tie the course record at Harbour Town and take the lead following the first round of the RBC Heritage tournament. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | In the evening on this date in 1775, Paul Revere, a renowned silversmith and folk hero of the American Revolution, made a dramatic ride on horseback to warn Boston-area residents of an imminent attack by British troops. [more history]