The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accepted the Gaza Health Ministry's estimate that around 71,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israel-Gaza war, two Biden-era envoys were accused of blocking USAID cables outlining the humanitarian situation in Gaza,and the IDF recovered the remains of the last Oct. 7 hostage.Meanwhile, Israel agreed to reopen the Rafah crossing on a limited basis, Trump reportedly weighed military strikes on Iran amid escalating tensions,and the EU designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, as it also approved new sanctions on Iran.Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a Russia-Ukraine peace deal,as Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed to halt strikes on several Ukrainian cities for a week, the U.S. returned a seized oil tanker to Venezuela, marking the first return since the beginning of naval operations against the country,and several Trinidadian citizens filed a lawsuit against the United States over the deaths of relatives killed in a U.S. Coast Guard strike on a migrant boat in the Caribbean.This comes as gunfire and explosions were reported near Niger's Diori Hamani International Airport, with two Togolese aircraft destroyed,and the Sudanese Army broke a two-year siege of Dilling, the second-largest city in South Kordofan state.In other news, the Pentagon and Anthropic reportedly paused a $200 million AI deal over disagreements on restrictions related to potential military and weapons applications of the technology,and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to the mark.

The U.K.'s Keir Starmer met with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing, marking the first such visit by a U.K. leader in eight years, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with Putin in Moscow — his second visit to Russia since taking office —and Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made a state visit to Turkey to boost bilateral ties.This comes as India and the EU finalized a free trade deal after nearly two decades of negotiations,and Trump hiked tariffs on South Korean imports to 25% due to delays in renegotiating a bilateral trade deal.Meanwhile, Trump ally Nasry Asfura was sworn in as president of Honduras, succeeding leftist Xiomara Castro, three Dutch political parties agreed to form a minority government, with D66 leader Rob Jetten set to become prime minister,and former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee was jailed for accepting luxury bribes.In other news, the U.S. revoked visas for several Haitian government officials for allegedly enabling local gangs, Ecuador lodged a formal protest after an American immigration agent attempted to enter its consulate in Minneapolis,and Rwanda filed a lawsuit against the U.K. for scrapping their asylum seeker deportation deal.Elsewhere, Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado met with Sen. Marco Rubio, expressing support for a genuine democratic transition, Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez signed oil sector reforms welcoming foreign investments,and Trump declared a national emergency over Cuba, alleging it poses a threat to national security.In separate developments, Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre secured 87.4% support in his mandatory leadership review vote, solidifying his position ahead of the next Canadian federal election, China lifted sanctions on six British MPs as Trump warned the U.K. against pursuing independent diplomacy with Beijing,and former U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman defected to Reform UK, resigning the Conservative whip and her party membership of 30 years.

A report revealed Sen. Ted Cruz privately criticized Trump's tariff policies during closed-door meetings with GOP donors, a new poll showed Trump's approval rating dropped amid criticism of his immigration efforts,and acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons was ordered to appear in court for failing to comply with court orders.Meanwhile, two Customs and Border Protection agents were placed on leave following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, Trump dispatched border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolisand removed Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino following escalating local tensions over immigration enforcement,and a federal judge blocked a planned operation targeting refugee communities in Minnesota.This comes as protesters clashed with law enforcement outside a major immigration detention center in Texas, a federal judge ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from ICE afterinitially granting an emergency stay,and Texas halted new H-1B visa petitions at all state agencies until 2027.In other news, the Senate reached a deal to fund most federal agencies, excluding the Department of Homeland Security, a federal judge blocked Virginia Democrats' proposed redistricting amendment, ruling they failed to follow proper procedures,and the FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operations Center, seeking records related to the 2020 election.Elsewhere, Chris Madel dropped out of the Minnesota governor race, clearing the field for other Republicanssuch as Amy Klobuchar, who quickly announced her candidacy to move from the Senate to the state’s top executive office, Alexander Vindman launched a Democratic bid for the U.S. Senate in Florida, entering the race to challenge Republican incumbency in a battleground state,and Florida Congressman Vern Buchanan announced his retirement after two decades in Congress.In unrelated developments, the Department of Justice announced the release of 3 million additional pages of Jeffrey Epstein-related files,and a man was charged after allegedly attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar at a Minneapolis town hall.