News Wrap: Trump slashes number of refugees allowed into U.S.

Amna Nawaz:

Also today, the Trump administration is slashing the number of refugees it allows into the country each year to just 7,500, and most of those will be white South Africans. That is far less than last year's ceiling of 125,000 set by the Biden administration.

A notice posted on the Federal Register says the limit is — quote — "justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest." President Trump suspended all refugee admissions in January and started admitting white South Africans a month later because of claims that they face discrimination at home. South Africa's government strongly denies that.

The U.N. Security Council today condemned reports out of Sudan that the paramilitary force known as the RSF killed more than 460 people inside the Saudi hospital in El Fasher. That's the provincial capital of North Darfur that the RSF seized this week. The group denies carrying out the killings.

At an emergency session at the U.N. today, officials called for an end to the atrocities.

Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: El Fasher, already the scene of catastrophic levels of human suffering, has descended into an even darker hell. We cannot hear the screams, but, as we sit here today, the horror is continuing.

Amna Nawaz:

In the meantime, RSF troops have been celebrating the takeover of the city. Two years of civil war in Sudan have created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with over 14 million people displaced.

In the Middle East, Red Cross vehicles escorted the remains of two Israeli hostages out of Gaza today. It's the latest sign of progress and the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that began earlier this month. And it comes just hours after Israeli strikes in Eastern and Southern Gaza injured at least 40 people overnight. That's according to Gaza's health officials.

Israel's military said it was targeting what it called terrorist infrastructure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the latest attacks.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister (through interpreter):

If Hamas continues to blatantly violate the cease-fire, it will experience powerful strikes, as it did the day before yesterday and yesterday. We decide and we act. At the end of the day, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized.

Amna Nawaz:

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, tens of thousands of ultraorthodox men protested a plan today to draft them into the military. Lawmakers are set to discuss the current enlistment law next week, which exempts the ultraorthodox community from participating in military service. The issue is highly political, as Netanyahu relies on ultraorthodox parties in the Israeli Parliament.

King Charles today stripped his brother Andrew of the title prince and evicted him from his royal residence. Buckingham Palace said those measures were deemed necessary amid growing pressure over Andrew's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The publication of a posthumous memoir by Epstein accuser Virginia also put renewed focus on Andrew. She claims the two had sex when she was just 17 years old. He denies that.

French authorities have arrested five more people in connection with the jewelry heist at the Louvre, including one person who's believed to be among the thieves at the scene. Seven people are now in custody for the brazen theft from the world's most visited museum earlier this month, but none of the stolen jewels have been recovered. Two suspects have already been charged.

Prosecutors say they have partially admitted to being involved. The heist has captured the world's attention and raises serious concerns about how France protects its national treasures.

In the Netherlands, the results of this week's election are coming down to the wire with two major parties tied and nearly all the votes counted. Centrist leader Rob Jetten celebrated what he called his party's historic election results as they claimed 26 seats in Parliament.

The far right Party for Freedom led by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders also won 26 seats, but that's down sharply from two years ago. The nail-biter finish is expected to lead to delays in forming a coalition government.

Back in the U.S., today's confirmation hearing for President Trump's surgeon general pick, Dr. Casey Means, had to be postponed after she went into labor. The news came just hours before the 38-year-old influencer and author was set to appear virtually before the Senate Health Committee.

Means is a Stanford-educated physician whose approach to public health largely aligns with that of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but critics have questioned her lack of government experience and credentials. Her license to practice medicine is inactive and she did not finish her residency program after medical school.

On Wall Street today, stocks eased back from recent highs. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped around 100 points on the day. The Nasdaq dropped nearly 400 points. The S&P 500 also ended firmly in negative territory.

And authorities in Mississippi are still searching for three escaped rhesus monkeys after the truck carrying them crashed earlier this week. Eyewitness video at the scene showed several of the monkeys in the grass by the road. A total of 21 monkeys were on the truck at the time of the crash. Local officials say some of the escaped monkeys were killed when officers mistakenly thought they had COVID and other diseases.

They were being housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center, but it remains unclear who was responsible for transporting them and why they were being moved.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Democratic Senator Mark Warner discusses the government shutdown and U.S. strikes on alleged drug traffickers; a look at the contentious Virginia governor's race that's become a microcosm of national issues; and singer-songwriter Ben Folds explains why he's taking a stand for artistic freedom.