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Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has given the administration until noon (1600 GMT) to either provide specifics on when the deportation flights took off and landed so he can determine whether they violated his order, or to invoke a legal doctrine involving state secrets to avoid sharing those details and explain their reasons for doing so. Boasberg gave the Justice Department the option of giving him the flight details under seal, meaning they would not be made public. But the judge expressed skepticism that the state secrets doctrine — which protects sensitive national security information from being disclosed in civil litigation — was applicable, given that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted details of the flights on social media.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The much-anticipated telephone call between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as chart out a path for a lasting peace formula, turned out to be sub-optimal and weighed down by variables antagonistic to a meaningful deal. The tentative deal reached after a marathon 150-minute call has placed energy infrastructure out of bounds, but allowed broader hostilities to continue.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve in a closely watched decision Wednesday held the line on benchmark interest rates though still indicated that reductions are likely later in the year.

A hair loss drug that first gained popularity in the 1990s is seeing a resurgence of interest

Canada’s economy may have ended 2024 on a high note, but that could all be undone as world trade is upended by Donald Trump’s tariff war, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

But his tariffs could have the opposite effect on the company's suppliers. Trump has imposed a few tariffs so far, but he says more are coming in just a few weeks. That threat has unnerved the aerospace industry, of which Boeing is one of the largest companies. Duties on aluminum and steel, two of the most important raw materials used in aircraft, are expected to raise manufacturing costs. But the industry is far more concerned by tariffs that take effect on goods from Canada and Mexico next month, which could disrupt the highly integrated North American supply chain. «These tariffs are particularly fraught for an industry like aerospace that has been duty-free for decades,» said Bruce Hirsh, a trade policy expert at Capitol Counsel, a lobbying firm in Washington, which has aerospace clients. «Parts are coming from everywhere.» Many companies have been able to avoid costly cross-border tariffs under a short-term reprieve for products covered by a North American trade agreement that Trump negotiated in his first term. But that deal expires in April.

Vladimir Putin scored a coup by discussing with Donald Trump in highly anticipated phone talks everything from improving bilateral ties to Iran and even hockey matches, but stopping well short of agreeing any peace path to end the war in Ukraine, analysts say. During the call on Tuesday, Putin refused a full ceasefire agreement proposed by Washington but focused instead on reviving Russian-American cooperation that has been frozen since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The very fact such talks took place was an achievement for the Kremlin, said Ekaterina Schulmann, a Russian political scientist based in Berlin. «The two superpowers are discussing the fate of the world and the future of humanity,» she told AFP, summing up Moscow's thinking. «It is a great achievement for Russia which reproduces a Soviet-era narrative without being the Soviet Union.»

income-driven repayment plans used by millions of student loan borrowers. The American Federation of Teachers in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington late Monday took aim at the Education Department's decision last month to halt borrowers' ability to enroll in the affordable repayment plans. The department made the change after a federal appeals court ruled that Democratic President Joe Biden's administration lacked authority to pursue a student debt relief program designed to lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers and speed up loan forgiveness for some. The court's decision, issued after Biden left office, had set back his administration's efforts to address what his White House described as a broken student debt system that can financially burden Americans seeking higher education. The Biden-era Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan provided more generous terms than past income-based repayment plans, with monthly payments dropping for some borrowers to as low as $0. It also provided debt forgiveness for some smaller loans in as few as 10 years.

Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing that Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg was improperly intruding on presidential discretion to handle sensitive diplomatic and national security matters. Boasberg has issued an order temporarily banning the administration from removing migrants from the United States under the 18th century law that Trump invoked in proceeding with the deportations. Trump invoked the law, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, to declare that the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua was conducting irregular warfare against the United States, subjecting its alleged members to deportation without a final order from an immigration judge, as generally required. «The pending questions are grave encroachments on core aspects of absolute and unreviewable Executive Branch authority,» the Justice Department lawyers wrote. The filing on Wednesday came a day after U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Trump for calling for the judge's impeachment.

Even as the economy undergoes what may be wrenching changes, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday is expected to signal it could cut its key interest rate twice this year — the same forecast it issued in December

anti-Tesla protests, while her ex-husband continues to support Elon Musk.

Washington has been pushing for a full, 30-day ceasefire as a first step towards a wider settlement of the grinding three-year-old war. But in a 90-minute call with Donald Trump on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused, insisting that any such deal would be contingent on the West halting all military aid for Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, Putin has already ordered his military to pause strikes against Ukrainian energy targets for 30 days. The highly anticipated Putin-Trump call also resulted in the announcement that Russia and Ukraine will exchange 175 prisoners each on Wednesday.

state and local governments, deepening his drive to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The order, first previewed by the White House on March 10, calls for a review of all infrastructure, continuity, and preparedness and response policies to update and simplify federal approaches. It said «common sense» investments by state and local governments to address risks ranging from wildfires to hurricanes and cyber attacks would enhance national security, but did not detail what they were or how they would be funded. «Preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the state, local, and even individual levels, supported by a competent, accessible, and efficient federal government,» the order said. «When states are empowered to make smart infrastructure choices, taxpayers benefit.» The order calls for revising critical infrastructure policy to better reflect assessed risks instead of an «all-hazards approach,» the White House said in a fact sheet on the order.

Ukraine has signalled support for a U.S.-proposed pause in attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. The agreement, backed by Washington and Moscow, follows a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, made it clear that Kyiv needed more details before making a final decision. «After we get the details from the U.S. president, from the U.S. side, we will give our answer,» Zelensky said in an online briefing. He added that Ukraine would honour the agreement as long as Moscow also adhered to it. «Our side will maintain it,» he stated, but stressed that the U.S. should act as «guarantors of control over the implementation.»

«This war would have never started if I were President!» Trump wrote on Truth Social after the call. «Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end. That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!» The conversation, which lasted for over 90 minutes, was seen as a crucial step toward peace, but Washington is pushing for more. The US wants a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire covering all military operations, a proposal that Russia has yet to fully endorse.

The driver carved out the words — alongside a silhouette of Musk's now infamous 'salute' he gave at an inaugural event in Washington, DC. ALSO READ: As Tesla tanks, Musk’s chosen board chair stands strong as a badass woman in business world

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said Washington could hold off reciprocal tariffs for countries that halt practices it deems unfair, adding that officials will produce a list of levies on April 2. This is the date on which President Donald Trump has promised reciprocal duties set to affect both US allies and competitors, with tariffs tailored to each trading partner. «What's going to happen on April 2 — each country will receive a number that we believe represents their tariffs,» Bessent told Fox Business in an interview, adding that the level could vary. «We are going to go to them and say, look, here's where we think the tariff levels are, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair funding, labor suppression,» he added. If they stop these practices, Bessent said, «we will not put up the tariff wall.»

Donald Trump said Tuesday that a federal judge who tried to stop his deportation plans should be impeached, escalating his conflict with a judiciary that's been one of the few restraints on his administration's aggressive plans. Trump has routinely criticized judges, especially as they limit his efforts to expand presidential power and impose his sweeping agenda on the federal government. But his call for impeachment — a rare step that is usually taken only in cases of grave ethical or criminal misconduct — represents an intensifying clash between the judicial and executive branches. The Republican president described U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington, as an unelected «troublemaker and agitator» in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform. Boasberg recently issued an order blocking deportation flights under wartime authorities from an 18th century law that Trump invoked to carry out his plans. «HE DIDN'T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY,» Trump wrote on Tuesday. «I'm just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges' I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!» ALSO READ: Trump's approval rating soars to new high, Americans say US is on right track than any time in 20 years: poll

Gates, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder turned global health philanthropist, met with the National Security Council as well as Republican and Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks to press that case, the sources said. Soon after his January 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, cutting more than 80% of contracts and freezing billions of dollars for everything from emergency food assistance to malaria prevention. The Trump administration, led by the State Department, is reviewing what kinds of foreign aid will remain under its «America First» policy, with a list of around 30 global health projects for consideration, one of the sources said. «Bill was recently in Washington D.C. meeting with decision makers to discuss the life-saving impact of U.S. international assistance and the need for a strategic plan to protect the world's most vulnerable while safeguarding America's health and security,» said a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation, his charitable organization.

«The Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight,» White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Fox News interview. Palestinian medics in Gaza reported dozens of people were killed in the aftermath of a series of the most violent air attacks by Israel on the Palestinian enclave since a ceasefire was reached on January 19 between Israel and Hamas militants. A senior Hamas official said Israel had unilaterally overturned the ceasefire agreement. «As President Trump has made it clear — Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,» the White House spokesperson said.