Israel is continuing its assault on the Gaza Strip, with at least 46 Palestinians killed and 73 wounded over the past 24 hours. Among the dead are at least two people killed when Israel bombed the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. The strike killed photojournalist Hassan Islayeh while he was receiving treatment for injuries he sustained in an airstrike last month. He’s at least the 215th media worker killed in Gaza since October 2023.

It’s not the first time Israel has bombed Nasser Hospital. Israeli forces previously struck its emergency building, attacked tents for displaced people outside its gates, laid siege to the complex for over a week and arrested scores of patients and medical staff. Since October 2023, Israeli forces have bombed or set fire to at least 35 hospitals across the Gaza Strip — each act a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for an end to Israel’s total blockade of Gaza — in place since March 2 — after a leading global hunger monitor said Gaza’s entire population faces the risk of famine. This is U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Stéphane Dujarric: “Over 70 days into the blanket ban imposed by Israeli authorities on the entry of any supplies into Gaza, stocks have run out, bakeries have shut down, community kitchens are closing daily, and people are starving. This is not a natural disaster, but a human-made catastrophe that the world should not allow.”

Hamas has released 21-year-old Israeli American Edan Alexander from captivity, more than 580 days after the Israeli soldier was taken prisoner during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. Alexander reunited with his family in Israel Monday after the Trump administration secured his release in direct talks with Hamas. The deal was brokered by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, sidelining Israeli negotiators who’ve refused to engage directly with Hamas over the remaining 21 captives still believed to be alive in Gaza. A Hamas official called Alexander’s release a goodwill gesture aimed at securing a new ceasefire with Israel ahead of Trump’s trip to the Mideast.

President Trump was greeted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he landed in Riyadh today, the first stop on a tour of Gulf states that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Trump is expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, oil prices and Gaza. He’s also expected to focus on securing major investments with the three countries, which Trump claims could reach $1 trillion. This includes a reported arms deal with Saudi Arabia for more than $100 billion. Dozens of business leaders are in Riyadh for Trump’s visit. Among them are billionaire CEOs Elon Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Palantir’s Alex Karp.

Ahead of Trump’s first major overseas trip, over 800 U.S. health workers called on Trump to demand a new ceasefire in Gaza and immediately allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip. The medical workers highlighted the increased risks to children, pregnant women, sick and older Palestinians, who they say are “marching in an agonizing and cruel fashion toward death.”

The Department of Homeland Security said it’s terminating temporary protected status, TPS, for thousands of Afghans living in the U.S. in just two months. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem cited the “improved security situation” in Afghanistan, but advocacy groups hit back at the suggestion it would be safe for Afghans to return, many of whom were granted TPS because they assisted U.S. forces during the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.

The Episcopal Church is ending a longstanding partnership with the federal government and refusing to help resettle white South Africans who’ve been granted refugee status in the U.S. The Episcopal Church cited its “commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.” Some 60 white South Africans arrived in the U.S. Monday as refugees, even though that program has been suspended for all other groups.

President Trump said Monday he will likely speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming days, after the White House announced a deal to temporarily reduce Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%. The announcement set off a stock market rally on Monday, led by tech stocks including Amazon, Tesla and Apple.

Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday his nation will join the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s massive global infrastructure development project. Petro spoke from the Great Wall of China ahead of a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Beijing. In an opening address earlier today, President Xi pledged lines of credit worth 66 billion yuan — equivalent to more than $9 billion U.S.

President Xi Jinping: “There are no winners in tariff wars and trade wars. Bullying and tyranny will only isolate oneself. China and Latin America and Caribbean countries are important members of the Global South. Independence and self-reliance are our glorious traditions. Development and revitalization are our natural rights.” 

President Trump signed an executive order Monday directing U.S. drugmakers to cut their prices by up to 80%. But the order does not include any enforcement mechanisms, and pharmaceutical stocks rose following the news and amid relief within the industry. In a social media post, Trump invoked his “most favored nation” plan that he unsuccessfully tried to enact in his first term, which aims to bring U.S. drug prices in line with other wealthy countries. Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders responded, “If Trump is serious about making real change rather than just issuing a press release, he will support legislation I will soon be introducing to make sure we pay no more for prescription drugs than people in other major countries. If Republicans and Democrats come together on this legislation, we can get it passed in a few weeks.” 

President Trump has fired the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter. Perlmutter’s office had just released a report warning of the risks of using generative AI on copyrighted creative materials. Her firing comes just days after Trump fired the woman who hired her: Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. 

An outbreak of measles that began among unvaccinated people in Texas has grown to over 1,000 cases across 11 U.S. states. So far, three people have died of the vaccine-preventable disease — two children and an adult — with dozens more hospitalized. On Monday, Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks filed a “no confidence” resolution calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to resign, in part because of Kennedy’s repeated false claims about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Alsobrooks filed the resolution after leading a rally on Saturday of hundreds of protesters outside the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda — many of them recently fired employees.

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks: “Since Donald Trump has taken office, NIH has fired 1,300 employees and canceled more than $2 billion in federal research grants. How awful. How shameful. And he wants to cut the NIH by another 40%. Please know that these cuts would be carried out under the ridiculous leadership of RFK Jr., our asinine HHS secretary.”

Over the weekend, RFK Jr. revealed he took his grandchildren for a swim in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek, despite clear and longstanding public health warnings of high bacterial levels that make the waterway unsafe. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom is escalating his crackdown on the state’s unhoused, again calling on California cities and counties to sweep and ban encampments. Governor Newsom said he’s allocated $3.3 billion to help localities enact the ban.

Gov. Gavin Newsom: “It is time to take back the streets. It’s time to take back the sidewalks. It’s time to take these encampments and provide alternatives. And the state is giving you more resources than ever, and it’s time, I think, to just end the excuses.”

There are some 187,000 unhoused people in California, according to the latest data. Housing advocates warn criminalizing homelessness will only compound the issue, and slammed Governor Newsom for focusing on the failed model of forced drug and mental health treatment, while failing to address the core issues of housing shortages and skyrocketing housing costs.

In Mexico, a mayoral candidate and four of her supporters were killed Sunday when shots rang out at a campaign rally in the eastern state of Veracruz. Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez was running for mayor of Texistepec in Mexico’s June 1 election as a member of the Morena party. Witnesses reported hearing about 20 gunshots.

Rosalba: “A very cruel injustice, right? Texistepec used to be peaceful. Now look at the result. So much injustice, so many killings.”

Sunday’s assassination came just two days after masked gunmen shot and killed Cecilia Ruvalcaba, a municipal councilwoman in Jalisco. Last year, political violence in Mexico surged to an all-time high, with human rights groups reporting 661 attacks on people and facilities.