“The Justice Department is resisting a federal judge’s demand for more information about flights that took deportees to to El Salvador, arguing on Wednesday that the court should end its ‘continued intrusions’ into the authority of the executive branch. It’s the latest development in a showdown between the Trump administration and the judge who temporarily blocked deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration. President Donald Trump has called for the judge’s impeachment as the Republican escalates his conflict with a judiciary after a series of court setbacks over his executive actions. U.S. District Judge Jeb Boasberg, who was nominated to the federal bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, had ordered the Trump administration to answer several questions under seal, where the information would not be publicly exposed. There were questions about the planes’ takeoff and landing times, and the number of people deported under Trump’s proclamation.” (03/19/25)
“The presidents of Rwanda and DR Congo have expressed their support for a ceasefire after holding surprise talks in Qatar, hours after peace talks in Angola failed. Rwandan leader Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi met Tuesday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, a statement from the three countries said. The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launched an offensive in the mineral-rich east of the DRC earlier this year, taking two major cities.” (03/19/25)
“A leading teachers union announced Wednesday that it is suing the Trump administration for cutting off public service workers with federal student loans from affordable repayment and debt relief programs. ‘By effectively freezing the nation’s student loan system, the new administration seems intent on making life harder for working people, including for millions of borrowers who have taken on student debt so they can go to college,’ said American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten in a statement. ‘The former president tried to fix the system for 45 million Americans, but the new president is breaking it again. … we’re suing to restore access to the statutory programs that are an anchor for so many, and that cannot be simply stripped away by executive fiat.'” (03/19/25)
“Louisiana has carried out its first nitrogen hypoxia [prisoner killing] and its first [pre-planned prisoner killing] in 15 years, killing Jessie Hoffman Jr. on Tuesday night for the 1996 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 28-year-old woman. Hoffman was [killed] at the West Feliciana Parish Coroner’s Office and was pronounced dead at about 6:50 p.m. CDT, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections told UPI in an emailed statement. He was convicted in 1997 for killing Mary Margaret ‘Molly’ Elliot in St. Tammany Parish, La., in November of the previous year. LDPSC Secretary Gary Westcott told reporters in a press conference that followed the execution that Hoffman declined a final meal and a last statement.” (03/19/25)
“The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research office and could fire more than 1,000 scientists and other employees who help provide the scientific foundation for rules safeguarding human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants. As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists (75% of the research program’s staff) could be laid off, according to documents reviewed by Democratic staff on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The planned layoffs, cast by the Trump administration as part of a broader push to shrink the size of the federal government and make it more efficient, were assailed by critics as a massive dismantling of the EPA’s longstanding mission to protect public health and the environment. The plans were first reported by The New York Times.” (03/18/25)
“Malaysia has agreed to terms and conditions of an agreement with exploration firm Ocean Infinity to resume the search for the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, its transport minister said on Wednesday. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777, was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014 in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. … The decision will enable commencement of seabed search operations in a new location estimated to cover 15,000 sq km (5,790 sq miles) in the southern Indian Ocean, based on a ‘no find, no fee’ principle, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said. Ocean Infinity will receive US$70 million if the wreckage is successfully located, he said.” (03/19/25)
“Heavily armed police swarmed CIA headquarters in Virginia on Wednesday after a man with a gun reportedly started making threats outside. The suspect allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the building in McLean on Wednesday morning, ABC7 reported, citing a law enforcement official. No shots were fired and no injuries have been reported so far, according to the official. Fairfax County Police confirmed they were assisting with a ‘barricade incident’ at the agency’s headquarters but didn’t release further details.” (03/19/25)
“A federal judge blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service on Tuesday, the latest in a string of legal setbacks for his sweeping agenda. US District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. She was the second judge of the day to rule against the administration, and both rulings came within hours of an extraordinary conflict as Trump called for impeaching a third judge who temporarily blocked deportation flights, drawing a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.” (03/19/25)
“Close to 70,000 South Africans have expressed interest in moving to the US following Washington’s offer to resettle people from the country’s Afrikaner community, a business group has said. The South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (Saccusa) said its website received tens of thousands of registrations from those seeking more information. In a February executive order, President Donald Trump said Afrikaners — descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who arrived in the 17th Century — could be admitted as refugees as they were ‘victims of unjust racial discrimination.’ Relations between the US and South Africa have become increasingly strained since Trump became president in January. Saccusa said that in a ‘pivotal step,’ it has handed the list of interested individuals to the US embassy in Pretoria. An embassy official confirmed to the BBC that it had received the list.” (03/19/25)
“Turkish authorities detained President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival on Wednesday on charges including corruption and aiding a terrorist group in what the main opposition party called ‘a coup against our next president.’ The move against Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular mayor of Istanbul, caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures across the country which has been criticised as a politicised attempt to hurt their electoral prospects. Turkey’s lira currency crashed 12% to an all-time low of 42 to the dollar in response, underscoring worries over the eroding rule of law in the major emerging market and NATO member country that Erdogan has run for 22 years.” (03/19/25)
