World News
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO PAUSE MASS LAYOFFS AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to pause a court order to reinstate Education Department employees who were fired in mass layoffs as part of his plan to dismantle the agency. The Justice Department’s emergency appeal to the high court claims that U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston exceeded his authority when he issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs of nearly 1,400 people and putting the broader plan on hold.
Judge Joun’s order has blocked one of President Trump’s biggest campaign promises and effectively stalled the effort to wind down the department. However, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that Joun was substituting his policy preferences for those of the Trump administration. “The layoffs help put in place the ‘policy of streamlining the department and eliminating discretionary functions that, in the administration’s view, are better left to the states,'” Sauer wrote.
The current case involves two consolidated lawsuits that claim Trump’s plan amounts to an illegal closure of the Education Department. One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups, while the other suit was filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general.
The suits argue that layoffs left the department unable to carry out responsibilities required by Congress, including duties to support special education, distribute financial aid, and enforce civil rights laws. President Trump has made it a priority to shut down the Education Department, though he has acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to do that.
In March, Trump issued an order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to wind down the department “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” Trump later said the department’s functions will be parceled to other agencies, suggesting that federal student loans should be managed by the Small Business Administration and programs involving students with disabilities would be absorbed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The president argues that the Education Department has been overtaken by liberals and has failed to spur improvements to the nation’s lagging academic scores. He has promised to “return education to the states,” although opponents note that K-12 education is already mostly overseen by states and cities.
The Trump administration’s Education Department budget seeks a 15% budget cut, including a $4.5 billion cut in K-12 funding as part of the agency’s downsizing, which has been blasted by Democrats.
Iranian media reported an unusual Israeli drone attack in Tehran on Wednesday night, with the semiofficial Fars news agency saying Israeli drones struck security checkpoints at several locations across the capital. Fars, which is affiliated with the regime, said explosions and clashes were reported at multiple points in Tehran and that about 10 security personnel were killed, including members of Iran’s security forces and the Basij, the militia linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Other sources, however, said the toll among regime operatives was significantly higher, claiming dozens of Basij members were killed within minutes. “This operation is a joint effort by the Mossad and monarchist elements to infiltrate terrorists and sabotage the country. This operation will fail,” a knowledgeable source was quoted as saying in the statement carried by the agency aligned with the mullah regime.
Fearing unrest, the regime’s Basij forces set up checkpoints on major streets to restrict civilian movement across Tehran. The drone attack was intended to signal to regime opponents that its internal security forces are vulnerable, while also instilling a sense of fear among Basij operatives in the hope they would be deterred from carrying out similar actions against civilians later on.
Before the reported attack, Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former shah, called on his supporters to stay home. “We are at a very critical stage in our final struggle. For your safety, leave the streets and remain in your homes,” Pahlavi said in a recorded statement. “Continue to strike and not go to work,” he added. “Continue singing loudly at night to show your solidarity. To the army and law enforcement forces: this is your last opportunity to separate yourselves from the forces of repression and join the people.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian public. “In the coming days, we will create the conditions for you to take your fate into your own hands. Your dreams will create reality. When the right time comes—and it is approaching quickly—we will pass the torch to you,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, the IDF announced that dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets, guided by military intelligence, had completed large waves of strikes against Iranian regime infrastructure in Tehran and other areas of Iran. According to the military, aircraft carrying out the strike missions identified personnel at an IRGC headquarters in the heart of Tehran and, within seconds, fighter jets struck the site, killing those inside. The operation also targeted headquarters and bases belonging to Iran’s internal security forces and the Basij, along with the regime’s intelligence headquarters.
Authorities in Belgium have condemned an early-morning explosion outside a synagogue in the city of Liège as a serious act of anti-Semitism.
The blast occurred shortly before 4 a.m. on Monday outside the synagogue in Liège. No injuries were reported, though windows in buildings opposite the synagogue were damaged.
Police closed the street and established a security perimeter while the investigation continues.
Liège Mayor Willy Demeyer strongly condemned the incident, describing it as an extremely violent act of anti-Semitism. The mayor and the city council express their total condemnation of this extremely violent act of anti-Semitism, which is contrary to the Liège tradition of respect for others, Demeyer said, according to the Belga news agency.
He also warned against bringing international conflicts into the city, referring to the ongoing war involving Israel, the U.S. and Iran.
Yves Oschinsky, president of the Committee of Jewish Organizations in Belgium, described the blast as an extremely disturbing, serious and worrying anti-Semitic act.
Asian stock markets dropped Monday as oil prices soared 30 per cent on fears about supplies from the Middle East, as the US-Israeli war against Iran continued into a second week with no sign of letting up.
Investors, already spooked by concerns over extended tech valuations and the huge spending on AI, ran for the hills as crude rocketed to its highest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Fears grew that the Middle East conflict could last for some time after US President Donald Trump said only the unconditional surrender of Iran would end the war. He added at the weekend that the spike in prices was a small price to pay to eliminate Irans nuclear threat, reiterating the White Houses insistence that the rise is temporary.
Both main contracts, which had surged more than a quarter last week, spiked as Iran carried out retaliatory strikes against crude-producing Gulf nations. West Texas Intermediate, the main US oil benchmark, jumped as much as 30 per cent to hit a high of $118.88 per barrel, while Brent spiked 28 percent to as much as $118.73.
Since the beginning of the war, WTI is up more than 75 per cent and Brent more than 60 per cent.
Attacks on oilfields were reported in southern Iraq and in the northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which forced a US-run oilfield to cease production, while the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have started reducing output. That came with maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of global crude and gas passes halted since the war began on February 28.
The prospect of high energy prices for a sustained period has fanned fears of a fresh spike in inflation that could hit the global economy while preventing central banks from cutting interest rates to support growth.
With the prospect of the global economy taking a blow from the crisis, equity markets extended last weeks losses. Seoul, which had been the best performer this year thanks to a tech rally, tumbled more than eight percent at one point, while Tokyo shed seven percent and Taipei fell more than five percent. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Manila, and Wellington were also sharply lower.
Futures for all three main indexes on Wall Street were down more than two percent, while the dollar jumped against its peers as traders sought out its safe-haven status.
The deeper shock is spreading across the production chain, said SPI Asset Managements Stephen Innes. Gulf producers are scaling back output because storage hubs are filling up and export flows are seizing. Qatar has halted liquefaction at key gas facilities, a move that will take weeks to reverse even if the conflict cools tomorrow. In other words, the market is not dealing with a headline shock. It deals with a physical disruption of oil molecules. Oil above $100 is not just a commodity rally. It becomes a tax on the global economy.
However, Trump sought to offer reassurance that the spike in crude would not last long. Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A. and World, Safety and Peace, he wrote on social media Sunday evening Washington time.