March 21, 2025 -- As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
U.S.
Constitutional showdown
Economy
Social Security
Public safety
Immigration and deportations
Education
US foreign relations and human rights
Diversity, equity and inclusion
Resistance
Project 2025
Pardons
WORLD
Mexico
Ukraine-Russia war
Israel-Gaza War
Europe
Travel ban
For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.
U.S.
Constitutional showdown
Chief Justice Roberts rebukes Trump and GOP rhetoric about impeaching judges (CNN)
Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric against the federal judiciary on Tuesday in a highly unusual statement that appeared to be aimed at the president’s call to impeach judges who rule against him. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a statement released by the Supreme Court. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Judge demands to know why Trump administration ignored order about redirecting deportation flights (CBS)
A federal judge admonished the Justice Department Monday for disobeying his order to turn around two planes en route to El Salvador that were carrying alleged Tren de Aragua gang members. He also demanded explanations about removal flights ordered since President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act Saturday.
Judge orders urgent release of DOGE records, citing ‘unprecedented’ power and ‘unusual secrecy’ (Politico)
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said the vast and “unprecedented” authority of DOGE, formally known as the U.S. Digital Service, combined with its “unusual secrecy” warrant the urgent release of its internal documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
Judge rails against DOGE for ‘terrorizing’ U.S. Institute of Peace after using ‘guns and threats’ to shut it down (Independent)
A federal judge was alarmed by allegations that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency provoked a dramatic standoff this week with the U.S. Institute of Peace, culminating in what attorneys for the agency called a hostile “takeover” fueled by threats and harassment... The institute is not a federal agency but an independent nonprofit established by Congress under President Ronald Reagan.
Economy
US stock market loses $4 trillion in value as Trump plows ahead on tariffs (Reuters)
A barrage of new Trump policies has increased uncertainty for businesses, consumers and investors, notably back-and-forth tariff moves against major trading partners.
Trump threatens mega 200 percent tariff on EU wines and spirits (Politico)
The threat comes after the White House put global tariffs on steel and aluminum, with the EU readying retaliatory tariffs of its own in what threatens to escalate into a full-scale transatlantic trade war.
Social Security
Trump Admin Threatens to Stop Social Security If DOGE Can’t Have Personal Data (YahooNews)
Donald Trump’s interim Social Security chief suggested Thursday night he will effectively turn off the agency that manages the essential safety net program for seniors and the disabled, if Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) can’t access the non-anonymized sensitive personal information and data of hundreds of millions of Americans, based on a judge’s order.
Social Security Administration to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients (AP)
In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose tighter identity-proofing measures — which will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with the agency over the phone...The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information... The plan also comes as the agency plans to shutter dozens of Social Security offices throughout the country and has already laid out plans to lay off thousands of workers.
Public safety
NTSB says DCA midair collision part of 'serious safety issue' (NPR)
The NTSB's Jennifer Homendy called on the Federal Aviation Administration to implement several "urgent safety recommendations" during a Tuesday news conference. Her comments followed the release of a preliminary investigation report into the Jan. 29 midair collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, which was attempting to land at DCA airport.
Critics warn cuts at agencies overseeing US dams could put public safety at risk (ABC)
Experts are warning that Trump administration workforce cuts at federal agencies overseeing U.S. dams are threatening their ability to provide reliable electricity, supply water to farmers and protect communities from floods
Immigrants, deportations, and citizens deported
ICE Returns All Migrants From Guantánamo to Stateside Facilities(New York Times)
A court filing described strip searches and the use of restraint chairs on some of the 290 migrants the Trump administration has cycled through the base.
U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer removed to Mexico with undocumented parents (NBC)
The Texas family was on their way to an emergency medical checkup, they said, when they were detained at an immigration checkpoint.
Lawyers for R.I. doctor allege she was deported despite federal court order (PublicsRadio)
Dr. Rasha Alawieh held a valid H-1B temporary visa when she arrived in Boston after visiting family in Lebanon, according to her lawyer.
Protesters arrested after storming Trump Tower to demand release of Mahmoud Khalil (CNN)
Nearly 100 people were arrested after protesters gathered at Trump Tower in Manhattan Thursday to denounce the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist detained by ICE over his involvement with pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University.
German man with green card ‘violently interrogated’ by US border officials (Guardian)
Berlin checking if US immigration policy has changed after Fabian Schmidt becomes third German to be detained... His mother, Astrid Senior, told the Boston-headquartered public broadcaster WGBH news that her son had been “violently interrogated” at Boston’s Logan airport for hours, stripped naked and put in a cold shower by two officials.
Canadian actor detained at US border in ‘inhumane conditions’ for nearly two weeks (Guardian)
A Canadian entrepreneur and actor in the American Pie movie franchise said she was detained for almost two weeks in “inhumane” conditions by US border authorities over an incomplete visa.... Mooney, an actor who is also co-founder of the beverage brand Holy! Water, was detained on 3 March in San Diego.. Mooney had not been charged with any crime and does not have a prior criminal record....Mooney told ABC 10 ... “I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days.”
Education
US Education Department to cut half its staff as Trump eyes elimination (Reuters)
The U.S. Department of Education said on Tuesday it would lay off nearly half its staff, a possible precursor to closing its doors altogether, as government agencies scrambled to meet President Donald Trump's Thursday deadline to submit plans for a second round of mass layoffs.
Can protesting in the US be ‘illegal’? Trump’s vague warning raises constitutional questions (CNN)
Among the hundreds of social media posts President Donald Trump has put out since Inauguration Day, two words have gotten special attention: “illegal protests.” “All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” he wrote in a March 4 Truth Social post. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came.”
US foreign relations and human rights
US added to human rights watchlist over Trump moves (Fox 5)
The United States has been added to CIVICUS’s monitor list of potential human rights threats, a move the global nonprofit says is directly linked to President Donald Trump’s actions since his return to the White House in January. “Restrictive executive orders, unjustifiable institutional cutbacks, and intimidation tactics through threatening pronouncements by senior officials in the administration are creating an atmosphere to chill democratic dissent, a cherished American ideal,” CIVICUS interim co-secretary general Mandeep Tiwana said in a statement. “The Trump administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances which are the pillars of a democratic society.”
French Official Demands the U.S. Return the Statue of Liberty (MTN)
A French M.E.P. wants France to reclaim the beacon of global democracy after Trump sides with dictators
Secretary of State says 83% of US AID programs are being cancelled (CBS)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said early Monday that 83% of programs funded by U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, are being canceled, in the latest for the beleaguered agency that provides humanitarian aid overseas and has become the target for the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to keep $2 billion in foreign aid frozen (CBS News)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to halt a lower court order that required the Trump administration to unfreeze nearly $2 billion in foreign-aid funding, clearing the way for the money to flow to groups that have done work for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development overseas.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
‘Chilling’: NYT reveals list of words banned by Trump’s 'anti-woke' initiatives (MSN)
President Donald Trump’s purge of so-called woke initiatives as one of his first orders of business after returning to the White House in January has already filtered through hundreds of federal government websites, according to a New York Times analysis. The Times on Friday revealed a list of banned words that came with that order – from phrases like “sense of belonging,” “all-inclusive” and “at risk” – to more innocuous terms like “women,” “institutional,” and “systemic.”
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from banning transgender people from military service (AP)
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
Resistance
Drawing huge crowds, Bernie Sanders steps into leadership of the anti-Trump resistance (AP)
Bernie Sanders is standing alone on the back of a pickup truck shouting into a bullhorn... The crowd screams in delight when he tells them that a combined total of 9,000 people had shown up for the rally. “What all of this tells me, is not just in Michigan or in Vermont, the people of this country will not allow us to move toward oligarchy. They will not allow Trump to take us into authoritarianism,” Sanders yelled. “We’re prepared to fight. And we’re going to win.”
Project 2025
Trump’s Policies Are Making Project 2025’s Vision a Reality (Wall St. Journal)
On the campaign trail, President Trump distanced himself from Project 2025’s radical conservative vision. Now, more than half of his executive orders align with recommendations made in the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint.
Pardons
Fact-checking Trump’s claim that Biden pardons are ‘void’ because he used an autopen (Politifact, via PBS)
President Donald Trump claimed some of former President Joe Biden’s pardons are invalid because Biden used an autopen... We found universal agreement among legal scholars that the Constitution doesn’t require a pardon’s direct human signing, and subsequent judicial decisions and legal memoranda support an autopen’s use for similar purposes. Legal scholars also agreed that there is no constitutional mechanism to overturn pardons once granted.
Judge says Trump Jan. 6 pardon doesn’t apply to man who conspired to kill investigators (Politico)
The ruling is the first to confront the Trump administration’s vacillating views about how far Trump intended to go with his blanket pardon.
WORLD
Mexico
Mexico City bans violent bullfighting, sparking fury and celebration (NPR)
Mexico City lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to ban violent bullfighting, triggering outrage from aficionados and celebration from animal rights advocates. The legislation, approved by a 61-1 vote, prohibits the killing of bulls and the use of sharp objects that could injure the animals. It also sets time limits on how long bulls could be in the ring, all part of an initiative dubbed "bullfighting without violence."
Ukraine-Russia war
More than 30 nations will participate in Paris planning talks on a security force for Ukraine (AP)
Military officials from more than 30 nations will take part in Paris talks on the creation of an international security force for Ukraine, a French military official said Monday. Such an international force would aim to dissuade Russia from launching another offensive after any ceasefire in Ukraine comes into effect.
US ‘deletes evidence’ of Russia’s kidnap of thousands of Ukrainian children (UK Independent)
Researchers at Yale University had been compiling database of alleged Russian war crimes, including abduction of up to 35,000 children
Russia and Ukraine conduct large prisoner exchange after Putin-Trump call (Reuters)
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 175 prisoners of war each, both sides said on Wednesday, following a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin in which the swap was discussed.
Putin showed ‘true face’ by bombing Ukraine after ceasefire call, says Finland’s president (PoliticoEU)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed his real intentions in Ukraine by bombing civilian energy infrastructure after telling Donald Trump that Moscow would stop such attacks, said Finnish President Alexander Stubb. The only real solution to deter Moscow, Stubb told POLITICO on Wednesday, was to “militarize Ukraine to its teeth.”
Israel-Gaza War
Israel launches first ground offensive since Gaza ceasefire collapse, partially recapturing key area (CNN)
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had launched “targeted ground activities” in Gaza, partially recapturing a key area in the territory, a day after launching an aerial bombardment of the strip that shattered the two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas.
Netanyahu faces fury as renewed war deepens Israeli divisions (CNN)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced fury from protesters outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, a day after he resumed the war in Gaza, shattering the two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas....The anger in those accusations was palpable on Wednesday, just a day after Israel bombarded Gaza, killing more than 400 people and injuring hundreds more, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry – marking one of the war’s deadliest days.
Europe
Trump's handling of Ukraine and tariffs has NATO rethinking the U.S.-made F-35 fighter (NPR)
Growing tensions with NATO over the U.S. stance on Ukraine and President Trump's escalating trade war now jeopardize a crucial aspect of the alliance's airpower strategy, as member countries indicate they could walk away from plans to purchase F-35 fighters. The F-35 is currently operated by the U.S. and 19 allied nations — including some non-NATO members such as South Korea, Japan, Australia and Israel.
German lawmakers approve huge defense and infrastructure spending (NPR)
NPR - Germany's would-be next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, won lawmakers' approval Tuesday for ambitious plans to loosen the nation's strict debt rules for higher defense spending as doubts mount about the strength of the trans-Atlantic alliance, and to set up an enormous fund for investment in its creaking infrastructure…. The package will exempt from the debt rules spending on defense and security, including intelligence agencies and assistance to Ukraine, worth more than 1% of GDP.
Travel ban
Trump's new travel ban could prohibit entry to the US from this 'red list' of countries (USA Today Network )
The Trump administration is finishing a travel ban that would prohibit citizens from a list of blacklisted countries from entering the U.S., officials told The New York Times and Reuters.... According to Reuters, the following "red list" countries are considered to be on the travel ban list: Sudan, Venezuela, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Libya, Cuba, and North Korea. Pakistan and Afghanistan are expected to be added to the list.
“I know there’s been a lot of confusion after the fires and a lot of questions about what goes on,” said Helix Water District General Manager Brian Olney (photo, right). “Are we prepared? Yes, we’re prepared for what we know can happen.” He added, “The events in in Los Angeles obviously really put some visuals and some things into our minds about what really happens in a water system, and ‘Can that happen here with us?’ I think it opens us up to have really healthy discussions about ‘What are the expectations?’ and ‘What can a water system survive?’” 
La Mesa City Councilmember Patricia Dillard (photo, right) asked Olney about protection needs, especially concerning some of the more hilly areas of the city. 
City Council member Laura Lothian (photo, right) said she thought one of the most shocking stories from the L.A. fires was the empty Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water resource near Pacific Palisades that was under renovation and empty when the fires ripped through the region. 
Helix Water District is the second largest water utility in the county, serving more than 275,000 people in La Mesa, Lemon Grove, El Cajon and other areas in the county. 
eting is March 21, but the meeting for the sand mine item has been set for 9 a.m., Friday, April 18 at the County Operations Center Hearing Room on Overland Drive.
Dr. Bob Foster 
some rhetorical questions to those in attendance.
Areas included within the project boundary that are not disturbed by mining would be subject to habitat improvement through removal of invasive species in the river channel (if necessary) or would be left in their current condition including the existing Sweetwater River channel. (
Elizabeth Urquhart, who has spearheaded the 
