The U.S. attacked southern Iran on Sunday in what the Pentagon called “self-defense” strikes. The U.S. sank two Iranian ships, claiming they were attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it shot down a U.S. Reaper drone that entered Iranian airspace. It comes as Iranian negotiators traveled to Qatar to discuss a potential ceasefire deal to end the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. This is Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson speaking Monday.

Esmail Baghaei: “It is true that we have reached a conclusion regarding a large part of the topics under discussion, but to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent, no one can make such a claim, for the same reasons you mentioned yourself, because policymaking and decision-making in America have become caught in a kind of institutionalized instability.”

This comes as President Trump warned Iran to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, posting on social media Monday night, “The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission.” Over the weekend, President Trump also urged countries in the region — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan — to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords, as part of U.S. negotiations to reach a deal with Iran. On Friday, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, announced that she’s resigning from the Trump administration. In a statement, Gabbard said she’s stepping down after her husband was diagnosed with bone cancer.

An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley killed 12 people Monday, according to Lebanese state media. The strike came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized intensive military operations against Hezbollah, and as Israel called up additional troops to deploy to Lebanon. Despite last month’s ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire on a near-daily basis. Since March 2, over a million Lebanese have been forced to flee their homes, as Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,100 people.

In Spain, activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla were beaten by police officers at Bilbao Airport on Saturday, after they returned home from being intercepted at sea, abducted and abused by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. At least four people were arrested, after members of the autonomous police force for Spain’s Basque Country known as the Ertzaintza used batons to attack activists, family members and supporters who had gathered to pose for pictures.

The police violence drew attention to more than 1.66 million Euros’ (about 1.9 million dollars’) worth of security contracts between Basque police forces and an Israeli firm run by a former Mossad agent to provide body armor, surveillance technology and tactical training courses. Meanwhile, 15 American Sumud flotilla activists held a press conference at JFK on Sunday morning. We’ll speak to Alex Colston, a U.S. citizen and flotilla participant who just returned home. This comes as Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been barred from entering France. France’s Foreign Ministry cited Ben-Gvir’s “incitement of hatred and violence against Palestinians,” as well as video he shared last week showing him taunting dozens of activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla who’d been abducted by Israeli forces and pushed to the ground, face-first, with their hands bound behind their backs.

In New Jersey, police arrested 10 activists at a port in the city of Elizabeth on Friday morning as they attempted to stop a shipment of weapons components and ammunition bound for Israel. Officers used power tools to separate protesters, who chained themselves together to halt truck traffic along a main road for several hours. In a statement, one of the activists said, “We blockaded the terminal to stop the U.S. government from violating its own laws by sending weapons to Israel to commit war crimes and genocide.”

In Newark, New Jersey, about 300 detainees at the ICE jail known as Delaney Hall have been on a hunger strike since Friday to protest inhumane conditions and due process violations. Delaney Hall is operated by the private prison company GEO Group. Tensions escalated on Sunday when ICE removed a hunger strike organizer, Martín Soto, prompting protesters outside the ICE jail to block a van being used to transport him. Masked ICE agents responded by firing tear gas and pushing people to the ground. New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill joined federal lawmakers outside Delaney Hall on Monday but was denied entry. Democratic Senator Andy Kim and Congressmember Rob Menendez, who toured the facility, described filthy bathrooms, abusive guards and inadequate medical care, and said detainees were being threatened with deportation to Ebola-stricken countries. We’ll have more on this story later in the broadcast.

A federal judge in Tennessee has dismissed all criminal charges against Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland father of three who was wrongfully sent by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison last year. After Ábrego García won his deportation case, the Justice Department attempted to bring human smuggling charges against him, stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. But on Friday, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled that actions taken by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had “tainted” the investigation with a “vindictive motive.” Judge Crenshaw added, “The evidence before this Court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power.” Click here to see our coverage of Kilmar Ábrego García’s case.

The Trump administration announced Friday that most immigrants seeking green cards must return to their home countries to apply. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would only grant green cards to people already inside the United States only in “extraordinary circumstances.” Green card applicants will now have to go through consular processing abroad rather than adjusting their status from within the U.S.

At the White House, a gunman was killed after opening fire on a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint Saturday evening. An NBC News team reported hearing between 20 and 30 shots, as Secret Service agents directed reporters to take cover inside the press briefing room. Secret Service officers returned fire, hitting the suspect, who later died at a hospital. A bystander was also wounded. According to police, the suspect was identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best of Maryland. President Trump was at the White House during the incident but wasn’t impacted, according to the Secret Service.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned foreigners to leave Ukraine’s capital “as soon as possible” as the Kremlin threatens a new wave of attacks, following weekend strikes on Kyiv that killed at least four people and injured more than 90 others. Russia used a powerful hypersonic ballistic missile in the attacks, which struck high-rise apartment buildings, schools, a marketplace and a water supply facility. Among those warned by Russia to leave were diplomatic staff from foreign embassies, including the United States. The head of the European Union mission in Kyiv said diplomats from all 27 EU nations would remain, adding, “Russia wants fear, panic, isolation of Ukraine. It will not work.”

The World Health Organization warns cases of Ebola are spreading faster in the Democratic Republic of the Congo than public health workers can respond. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on neighboring countries to take immediate action, warning the number of suspected deaths from the outbreak has reached 220. On Sunday, police in the eastern Congolese town of Mongbwalu fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd that attempted to reclaim the bodies of loved ones at an Ebola treatment center. It’s the same city where, last week, people set fire to an isolation tent run by Doctors Without Borders. This man survived after his brother died of an Ebola infection.

Kundu Ngenda: “Apart from God, it is the doctors, because they are the ones who understand the human body. So, if you argue with a doctor, well, you will see for yourself. I am very grateful to the doctors, because they have helped me a lot. When I arrived, I was even wondering whether I would be buried today or tomorrow.”

Pope Leo issued a sweeping declaration Monday on the risks of artificial intelligence in the form of a papal encyclical that runs more than 42,000 words. Leo presented it alongside Christopher Olah, a co-founder of the AI company Anthropic. The encyclical calls for government regulation, retraining for workers, better education for students, protections for children and safeguards to ensure that humans — and not AI models — will make decisions on the use of weapons. This is Pope Leo.

Pope Leo XIV: “Artificial intelligence already touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human coexistence. It is also dramatically changing how war is waged.”