News

Judge orders White House to temporarily halt sweeping government layoffs

San Francisco district judge says Congress did not authorize large-scale staffing cuts and restructuring of agencies

Donald Trump’s administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, a federal judge in California said on Friday.

US district judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments in blocking large-scale mass layoffs known as “reductions in force” for 14 days.

Pakistan and India agree ‘immediate ceasefire’ – Kashmir crisis live

Both Pakistan and India have confirmed the news after it was announced on social media by Donald Trump

Who is Asim Munir, the army chief leading Pakistan’s military amid the crisis with India?

The general once fell foul of Imran Khan, but since taking the top spot has been quietly amassing power over the government and supreme court, as our profile here says.

Yet even now that the country is out of the clutches of martial law, it is still widely understood that the most powerful man in Pakistan is not the head of the government but instead the chief of the army.

Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy and European leaders call for unconditional 30-day ceasefire from 12 May

Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk are in Ukraine for talks with Zelenskyy

It is the first time the leaders of the four European nations (France, the UK, Germany and Poland) have made a joint visit to Ukraine, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“We are clear the bloodshed must end. Russia must stop its illegal invasion,” the leaders said in a joint statement, adding:

Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.

Soviet-era spacecraft plunges to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit

Kosmos 482 re-enters the atmosphere more than a half century since launch on failed mission to Venus

A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half century after its failed launch to Venus.

The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking agency confirmed its uncontrolled re-entry, based on analysis and the disappearance of the spacecraft from tracking on subsequent orbits. The European Space Agency’s space debris office also indicated it had re-entered the atmosphere after it failed to appear over a German radar station.