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MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• In an escalation of its 22-month war with Hamas, Israel announced plans today to take complete control of Gaza City, one of the few areas in Gaza that hasn’t been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders. The plan has drawn criticism from multiple countries, including Germany, which announced it would suspend military exports to Israel after the Gaza City plan was announced. [more]
• Reports say the Lebanese army has asked the military to prepare a plan to disarm the Hezbollah militant group. The move follows a vote by the country's cabinet to approve a U.S.-backed plan to disarm the group and implement a cease-fire with Israel. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,261 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin plan to meet as early as next week to discuss the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that European leaders must also be involved in efforts to end the war. [more]

U.S. CITIZENSHIP | Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman ruled yesterday that the Trump administration cannot withhold citizenship from children born to people in the country illegally or temporarily – the fourth such nationwide injunction against an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in January. [more]

WASHINGTON, DC | The White House said last night that President Donald Trump has ordered an increase in the presence of federal law enforcement in Washington, DC, due to what he says is the prevalence of violent crime in the city. The federal presence will reportedly be led initially by the U.S. Park Police. [more]

U.S. MILITARY | The U.S. Air Force said yesterday that it plans to deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits. Reports note that the service gives the affected transgender members the option to either take a lump-sum separation payment or be involuntarily separated. [more]

U.S. EDUCATION | In a memorandum signed last night, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the increased collection of data from U.S. colleges and universities as part of efforts to determine whether the schools consider race in admissions. Trump also indicated that schools' federal funding under Title IV could be cut if they fail to comply with the data collection directive. [full Trump memorandum] [more]

U.S. SOLAR POWER | Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced yesterday that the EPA is terminating a $7 billion Biden-era grant program aimed at helping to pay for residential solar power projects for more than 900,000 lower-income U.S. households. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Authorities in Ventura County, California, say a brush fire in the mountains north of Los Angeles ignited and spread quickly yesterday. The Canyon Fire, considered 0% contained as of yesterday afternoon, has prompted officials to issue evacuation orders and warnings for more than 16,000 area residents. [more]

U.S. AND INDIA | Following U.S. plans to increase tariffs on Indian goods due to New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil, India has reportedly paused plans to procure new U.S. weapons and aircraft. [more]

CHINA | Chinese state media reports that at least 10 people have died, and 33 remain missing, in China's northwestern Gansu province following two days of heavy rain and related flooding in the region. [more]

ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN | As part of efforts to end decades of conflict, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are expected to sign a U.S.-brokered peace deal today at the White House. Reports note that the agreement includes a breakthrough in reopening key transportation corridors across the South Caucasus that have been shut since the early 1990s due to the countries' conflict. [more]

HAITI | As armed gangs continue to threaten government control of the Caribbean island nation, businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr was appointed head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council yesterday. Noting that his country is "going through one of the greatest crises in all its history," Saint-Cyr said, "It’s not the time for beautiful speeches. It’s time to act." [more]

KENYA | A plane belonging to an air ambulance service provider crashed in a residential area on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi yesterday, killing at least six people. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. [more]

FRANCE | Officials in France's southern Aude region say more than 2,000 firefighters and 500 firefighting vehicles continue to battle the region's ongoing wildfire that has burned more than 43,000 acres and is the country's largest wildfire in 75 years. [more]

TECH INDUSTRY | Reuters, citing a review of Chinese and U.S. corporate filings, reports that newly appointed Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has invested in hundreds of Chinese tech firms, including at least eight with links to the People's Liberation Army. The reporting prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to call for Tan's resignation, which sparked a sell-off in shares of Intel. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1974, faced with the prospect of impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation. He was succeeded by Gerald Ford the following day. [more history]