Axios

The White House is awaiting Hamas' response to the new Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal proposal President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff presented on Wednesday night, but U.S. officials are sounding less optimistic about an imminent breakthrough than 24 hours earlier.

Why it matters: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Israel signed off on the proposal before Witkoff submitted it to Hamas. But some in the militant group believe that rather than meeting in the middle, Witkoff's offer included new concessions to Israel.

China is becoming a top donor country to WHO after promising this month that it'll make a $500 million gift over five years to the group.

Why it matters: President Trump announced in January that he's pulling the United States out of WHO, leaving a power vacuum within the global health consortium that Beijing is trying to fill.

China is now setting the pace in life sciences R&D, conducting more clinical trials than the U.S. and licensing new discoveries to American companies.

The big picture: China has become a linchpin in global drug development, the result of a decade-long national strategy to develop a biopharmaceutical industry.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all argued against a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities during President Trump's recent visit and encouraged him to continue pushing for a new nuclear deal, three sources with knowledge of the talks tell Axios.

Why it matters: Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf states opposed a nuclear deal in 2015. Now they're among the most enthusiastic supporters of diplomacy.

An obscure federal court blew up the cornerstone of President Trump's economic agenda last night, unleashing more chaos on the global economy and all but wiping out his negotiating leverage with trading partners.

Why it matters: At least for now, it turns out the legal system — not the bond market, nor weak economic indicators — is the biggest restraint on Trump's trade agenda.

The Trump administration is signaling it wants to ditch federal desegregation efforts in public school systems, a move that would end much-debated, decades-old programs mainly aimed at improving education opportunities for nonwhite students.

Why it matters: Lifting desegregation policies set by federal rules and court orders — some of them a half-century old — could lead to a wide range of changes in more than 80 school systems Axios has identified as still being under such requirements.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Wednesday from suspending Biden-era temporary migrant protections and ordered officials to resume applications.

Why it matters: The ruling that comes as the Trump administration is moving to escalate its hardline immigration crackdown affects thousands of people who came to the country legally via temporary programs from Afghanistan, Latin America and Ukraine.

The Trump administration is working to fly a deported immigrant from Guatemala back to the U.S. in compliance with a judge's order, per a Department of Justice court filing on Wednesday evening.

Why it matters: The action contrasts with the administration's defiance of other immigration-related court orders — including ones made by the same federal judge overseeing the Guatemalan man's case and the erroneous deportation of Maryland man Kilmar Armando Ábrego García.

The White House is optimistic a new proposal from Trump envoy Steve Witkoff could help bridge the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas and produce a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza soon, three sources involved in the negotiations tell Axios.

• "If each side moves just a bit, we could have a deal within days," one U.S. source said.

The big picture: President Trump has made clear he wants to end a war that has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and more than 1,600 Israelis, according to the relevant authorities. But talks had been stalled for weeks, and Israel is undertaking a massive operation to flatten and occupy Gaza.

Pope Leo XIV will deliver a video "to the young people of the world" during his mass in Chicago next month, the city's archdiocese announced Tuesday.

The big picture: The White Sox fan will deliver his video message at the baseball team's Rate Field stadium on June 14, according to the archdiocese's statement.

President Trump confirmed Wednesday that he cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call last Thursday against ordering a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, as Axios first reported.

Why it matters: Trump's comments exposed the widening gap between the U.S. and Israel when it comes to Iran's nuclear program.

Russia proposed to Ukraine that the countries hold a second round of peace talks on Monday in Istanbul in order to exchange written proposals for a ceasefire and ending the war, Ukrainian and Russian officials said Thursday.

Why it matters: Ukrainian officials see the Russian proposal as a way to placate President Trump, who has been growing increasingly frustrated with President Vladimir Putin and even said Tuesday that the Russian president was "playing with fire."

The State Department on Tuesday warned citizens against any travel to Venezuela, where it says more U.S. nationals are currently wrongfully detained than in any other country.

The big picture: The department has ramped up its warnings to Americans not to travel to the South American country, urging citizens earlier this month to prepare a will if they plan to travel there.

A man suspected of driving a car that plowed into a crowd attending the Liverpool soccer team's victory parade this week was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and driving offenses, British police said Tuesday.

The big picture: Monday's incident in Liverpool, northwest England, which injured 65 people gathered to watch players parade their English Premier League trophy, is not being treated as terrorism, according to police.

President Trump claimed Tuesday Canadian officials were considering his proposal for Canada to contribute $61 billion toward his proposed "Golden Dome" missile defense shield versus paying nothing if it became the 51st U.S. state.

The big picture: Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Canadian sovereignty, made the comments soon after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined plans for closer defense ties with the European Union.