Russia, Ukraine launch airstrikes following Putin-Trump peace call

The fighting between Russia and Ukraine continues over energy and infrastructure as President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin outline the initial aspects of a ceasefire to end the war. And two astronauts successfully return to Earth, marking the end of nine months stranded in space. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Russia, Ukraine launch airstrikes following Putin-Trump peace talks

Despite what President Donald Trump called a successful phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding negotiations for a ceasefire in Ukraine, both Russia and Ukraine have conducted airstrikes that damaged each other’s infrastructure.

Russia claimed this morning that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot in the southern part of the country.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia targeted “civilian infrastructure” overnight, including a hospital in Sumy.

Officials said firefighters evacuated at least 147 patients, and the blasts also damaged part of a children’s medical facility.

According to a Ukrainian state railway company, Russia also launched a drone attack on the electricity system powering the railways in a central region of Ukraine.

The attacks come just hours after Putin accepted an American proposal for both Russia and Ukraine to refrain from targeting energy infrastructure for 30 days.

However, Russia did not agree to a full ceasefire.

In a statement, the White House said they did agree to start “technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace.”

“These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” the statement added.

Zelenskyy responded to the agreement between the U.S. and Russia in a post on social media.

Right now, in many regions, you can literally hear what Russia truly needs. Around 40 "Shahed" drones are in our skies, and air defense is active.

Unfortunately, there have been hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure. A direct hit by a "Shahed" drone on a hospital in… pic.twitter.com/TKTeB9gaZy

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 18, 2025

He said, “Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire. It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war.”

During his call with Trump, Putin said the “key condition” for achieving lasting peace would be for Ukraine to stop rearming and receiving military aid and intelligence support.

Zelenskyy told reporters he hoped Kyiv’s partners would not cut vital military assistance for Ukraine. He said he had phone conversations with key allies, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Judge rules Musk-led DOGE’s shutdown of USAID likely unconstitutional

A federal judge said dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was likely unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, March 18, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled that a group of unnamed aid workers who sued to halt the demolition of the agency and its programs would likely win the lawsuit. He also stated that Musk’s power over executive agencies likely violates the Constitution’s appointments clause.

The judge also ordered DOGE to partially restore USAID operations, ordering the agency to submit a plan for employees to reoccupy the federal office they were evicted from in February.

He also barred DOGE from any further work “related to the shutdown of USAID.”

This comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a strong warning about the consequences of closing the agency.

WHO warned that countries worldwide could lose access to life-saving vaccines, treatments and medications as U.S. funding cuts linger. The organization’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that halting financial support from U.S. agencies like USAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could have devastating consequences on global health.

Straight Arrow News reporter Kalé Carey has more on the story here.

Trump has said he’s planning to remove the U.S. from WHO. Currently, the U.S. provides about one-fifth of the WHO’s annual budget.

Justice Roberts rebukes calls to impeach judges who disagree with Trump

In a rare statement, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts defended federal judges who have issued decisions against the Trump administration, stating, “Impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement” with a court’s decision.

Roberts’ statement came after Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, March 18, calling for the impeachment of a federal judge. The judge, James Boasberg, temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Saturday, March 15, from using the wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport non-citizens.

The Trump administration was reportedly flying reputed members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua out of the country when the judge issued the restraining order.

The flights eventually landed in El Salvador. 

Federal judges receive lifetime appointments. Only Congress can remove them from the bench if the House impeaches them and the Senate convicts them.

Congress has only impeached 15 judges in U.S. history, with the last one occurring in 2010 due to bribery charges.

Eight out of those 15 were convicted and removed from office.

Trump administration releases JFK files

History buffs, conspiracy theorists and curious Americans have much to comb through after the Trump administration released thousands of records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Tuesday, March 18.

The release consisted of approximately 80,000 pages of previously classified records, according to the Department of National Intelligence.

The documents were made public on the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration’s website, where more than 6 million other records related to the assassination can be found.

Straight Arrow news reporter Lauren Taylor has more details on this long-awaited release here.

Many of the files related to the JFK assassination in 1963 have already been disclosed, including 13,000 documents released during the Biden administration.

However, most of the documents made public on Tuesday had been redacted before, so there is a possibility they might contain new insights, although many experts believe that’s unlikely.

Astronauts return home after nine months aboard International Space Station

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore returned to Earth as their SpaceX capsule parachuted and splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, ending a nine-month ordeal.

Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, Nick, Suni, Butch, and Aleks! pic.twitter.com/M4RZ6UYsQ2

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2025

Medics received the astronauts from the capsule, laying them on stretchers as they waved to the cameras.

The two astronauts had been stranded at the International Space Station since June 2024. They arrived at the ISS aboard the new Boeing Starliner for a mission that was expected to last about a week.

However, Starliner returned to Earth empty due to several mechanical issues that rendered the spacecraft unsafe. SpaceX then took over the mission to bring them home.

The arrival of a SpaceX capsule at the International Space Station on Sunday, March 16, meant that they finally had a ride home.

Wilmore and Williams spent 286 days in space, conducting experiments and performing spacewalks. They traveled over 120 million miles in total.

On X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted, “Congratulations to the SpaceX and NASA teams for another safe astronaut return. Thank you to the president of the United States for prioritizing this mission.”

Wilmore and Williams are both retired Navy captains who said that the extended time in space reminded them of a long military deployment and that it was hard on their families.

The two will now have a few days of routine health checks at Johnson’s Space Center in Houston before being allowed to return to their homes.

Women’s NCAA tournament tips off tonight with the First Four

March Madness has officially begun.

The NCAA women’s tournament begins with the First Four on Wednesday, March 19. Several teams can claim contender status before tip-off.

Straight Arrow News sports anchor Chris Francis breaks down the women’s dark horse and Cinderella teams that could shake up the bracket here.

Vibes are high in Dayton 🔥#MarchMadness @UNC_Basketball pic.twitter.com/qO1xNoOeFj

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2025

The men’s NCAA Tournament First Four in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday, March 18, featured a pair of No. 16 seeds –– Alabama State against St. Francis of Pennsylvania. Then, two No. 11 seeds, veteran tournament teams San Diego State and North Carolina.

North Carolina and Alabama State emerged victorious, advancing to the First Round.