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U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | Day 31.

• Pakistani officials said yesterday that their country will host U.S.-Iran talks but did not specify if the talks would be direct or indirect. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf suggested news of the talks could be a cover for possible military ground operations in Iran as U.S. troops continue to build up in the region. [more]
• Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen fired missiles at Israel over the weekend – the first such actions by the group since the U.S-Israel-Iran war began – signaling an expansion of the war and potential new shipping concerns in the Red Sea. [more]
• Following recent Israeli targeting of Iranian universities that were alleged to contain infrastructure and research facilities linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran said it would target U.S.- and Israel-linked universities in the Gulf region if the U.S. did not condemn the Israeli strikes. [more]
• Israeli media reports that efforts to control a fire near an oil refinery in northern Israel are ongoing after the site was targeted by an Iranian missile. It remains unclear if the refinery, located near the city of Haifa, was struck directly or by debris from a destroyed missile. [more]
• Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said today that Spain has closed its airspace to U.S. planes taking part in the war in Iran. [more]
• U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that Iran has agreed to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz starting today. Trump's statement came as U.S. troops continue to arrive in the region and followed his suggestion that the U.S. may or may not attack Iran's key Kharg Island oil terminal. [more]
• The price of international benchmark Brent crude oil rose $3.41 today to $115.98 per barrel – up about 60% from the $70 per barrel price before the war in the Middle East began. [more]
• Citing government sources, reports say the death toll in the Middle East war has risen to more than 1,900 people in Iran, more than 1,200 in Lebanon, 19 in Israel, and 13 U.S. military service members, though various organizations suggest the number of people killed across the region could be much higher. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,493 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Speaking Friday following a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in France, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied an assertion by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.S. is demanding Ukraine hand over its eastern Donbas region to Russia to receive American security guarantees in any ceasefire plan. [more]
• Finnish police said today that a Ukrainian drone that veered off-target and crashed in Finland yesterday carried an unexploded warhead. Reports say no injuries were associated with the incident and that Ukraine, which has apologized to Finland, said the drone likely went astray due to electronic interference from Russia. [more]

U.S. PROTESTS | Organizers say an estimated 8 million people took part in more than 3,100 "No Kings" demonstrations across the U.S. on Saturday to protest the actions and policies of President Donald Trump. Reports note that while almost all of the protests were peaceful, demonstrators at some locations, including Los Angeles and Denver, refused to disperse following marches, prompting some arrests and declarations of unlawful assemblies. [more]

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY | The House, just before beginning a two-week recess on Friday, rejected a Senate-approved bill to fund the majority of the Department of Homeland Security, excluding some operations of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division. Also Friday, President Donald Trump signed an order to pay Transportation Security Agency officers amidst the ongoing DHS shutdown. [more]

CUBA | Amidst the U.S. oil blockade on Cuba, Russia's Transport Ministry said today that a Russian oil tanker currently under sanctions by the U.S. and other nations arrived at the Cuban port of Matanzas today carrying “humanitarian supplies” of about 730,000 barrels of oil. U.S. President Donald Trump suggested last night that  he had "no problem" with the oil delivery being made, saying the people of Cuba need it. [more]

ARAB LEAGUE | Amidst the ongoing Middle East war, veteran Egyptian diplomat Nabil Fahmy was named the new head of the 22-member Arab League yesterday. [more]

U.K. | At least seven people were injured Saturday night when a car struck a number of pedestrians in the English city of Derby. Police say a suspect in the incident has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and that while counterterrorism officers were assisting local police in related investigations, it "does not mean the incident is currently being treated as terrorism." [more]

AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN | Afghan government officials have blamed Pakistani forces for shelling on the outskirts of the eastern Afghan city of Asadabad yesterday in which at least one person was killed and 16 others were injured. [more]

CHINA AND JAPAN | China’s Foreign Ministry announced today that it is imposing sanctions on Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya, accusing him of “colluding with” separatists in Taiwan. [more]

CHINA AND NORTH KOREA | Ending a six-year suspension of such service sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, China's flagship carrier Air China resumed direct flights between Beijing and the North Korean capital of Pyongyang today. [more]

FRANCE | Reports say French police have arrested three suspects and are investigating a possible link to Iran after foiling a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris on Saturday. [more]

SUDAN | Amidst the country's ongoing civil war, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allies in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North are reported to have launched a major offensive Saturday on the city of Dilling in Sudan's South Kordofan province. [more]

AUSTRIA | Joining a number of countries around the world making similar moves, Austria's three-party government announced plans Friday to introduce a ban on social media use by children under the age of 14. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said yesterday that South Korea may extend its recently imposed public sector restrictions on passenger car use to the general public if the price of oil continues to rise amidst the ongoing Middle East war. [more]

COLLEGE BASKETBALL | Following weekend games, the men's NCAA basketball tournament Final Four is set, with Arizona, Michigan, UConn, and Illinois participating in the tournament's semifinals in Indianapolis next weekend. In women's play, UConn and UCLA have advanced to the Final Four, with the other two participants to be determined by games tonight between South Carolina and TCU and Texas and Michigan. [full men's bracket] [full women's bracket]

GOLF | Gary Woodland shot a final round 3-under-par 67 yesterday to win the PGA's Houston Open tournament. The win came just 30 months after Woodland underwent brain surgery to remove a problematic lesion. [more]

TENNIS | Jannik Sinner beat Jiri Lehecka and Aryna Sabalenka beat Coco Gauff over the weekend to claim the men's and women's titles, respectively, at the Miami Open tennis tournament. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Project Hail Mary" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $54.5 million in receipts, followed by "Hoppers" and "They Will Kill You." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1867, William H. Seward, secretary of state under U.S. President Andrew Johnson, signed the Alaska Purchase, a treaty ceding Russian North America to the United States for a price — $7.2 million — that amounted to about two cents per acre. [more history]