--:-- Tracey Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracey Mumford. Today's Tuesday, March 18th.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Here's what we're covering. It feels like we have returned to some of the bloodiest moments of the war. Our colleague in Gaza, Bilal Shabir, woke to the terrifying sound of explosions near his home in central Gaza.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: The walls, he said, began to shake, and very quickly he realized that war had returned.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: Patrick Kingsley, the Times-Jerusalem bureau chief, says Israel has launched a new large-scale attack in the Gaza Strip.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: The strikes began overnight and have killed more than 400 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: It's the largest wave of violence since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in January.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: But recently, talks on how to extend that ceasefire have stalled.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: What we don't think has happened yet is any sign of a ground operation.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: We think these are all airstrikes so far. That could change very quickly.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: Israel had planned for weeks for renewed ground operations, renewed invasion of places that they had left during earlier phases of the war.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: But we don't see that just yet.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: And that has caused analysts to wonder whether this is still a short-term effort to force Hamas to compromise during ongoing negotiations, or whether it is in fact the opening salvos of a much more intense full war in which Israel once and for all will attempt to force Hamas from power.
--:-- Patrick Kingsley: It's not clear where on the spectrum between those two things we are yet.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Live coverage of the strikes and the fallout is at nytimes.com.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: In Washington, the showdown between the Trump administration and the courts escalated yesterday over recent deportations.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: A federal judge questioned a lawyer for the government about what time exactly the U.S. deported hundreds of Venezuelan migrants this weekend.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: He wanted to know the timeline to see if the Trump administration had defied his order to stop the flights and even turn them around midair if necessary.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: The Justice Department lawyer repeatedly stonewalled the judge and refused to answer his questions, citing national security.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: A Times review of flight data, though, does provide a timeline.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: The data shows that two of the planes were mid-flight and one had not taken off yet when the judge's order was posted, apparently putting the administration in violation of the ruling.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: The tense back and forth between the judge and the government lawyer was the latest and potentially most serious flashpoint yet between the White House and the judicial branch, as many of the president's actions face legal challenges.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: If the executive branch does not comply with judicial rulings, it could push the country towards a constitutional crisis.
--:-- Tom Homan: You're going against the judges now. What's next? Another flight. Another flight every day.
--:-- Tom Homan: In an interview on Fox News yesterday, President Trump's border czar Tom Homan promised the deportations will continue.
--:-- Tom Homan: I'm proud to be a part of this administration. We're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the left thinks. We're coming.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Here are three more updates on the Trump administration.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: President Trump is set to speak today with Russian President Vladimir Putin about how to end the war in Ukraine.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: When asked what they would discuss, Trump said it would include, quote, dividing up certain assets, which echoes earlier comments from U.S. officials that Ukraine will have to give up some of its land as part of any peace deal.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Also, President Trump said he's pulling Secret Service protection for Joe Biden's adult children, Hunter and Ashley Biden.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Since taking office, Trump has revoked Secret Service protection from a number of people he perceives as his adversaries, including members of his first administration, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, who have faced ongoing death threats.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: And... You've got a lot of reading. I don't believe we're going to redact anything.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: I said, just don't redact. You can't redact.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: President Trump says his administration will release 80,000 pages of documents today related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: But he didn't say what's in them.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: The assassination has long fueled conspiracy theories, including some that Trump himself has shared.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: In Texas, authorities have arrested and charged two people with violating the state's near-total abortion ban, a midwife and her colleague.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: These appear to be the first criminal arrests of alleged abortion providers in the U.S. since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade three years ago.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: In a statement, the Attorney General of Texas said that the midwife operated a network of clinics in the Houston area.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: She was also charged with practicing medicine without a license.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: According to a friend of the midwife, she had been on her way to one of her clinics when she was pulled over by police at gunpoint and taken into custody.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Until now, states with abortion bans have largely only threatened prosecution rather than carry out actual arrests.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: And finally, the main climbing season on Mount Everest starts next month, and expedition companies there will be trying out some new tech.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: They're going to be testing drones to carry some of the load.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Right now, Nepali Sherpas carry the heavy equipment for many of the climbers who try to make their way up the world's tallest mountain.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: The Sherpas also carry ladders to put over crevices and stash oxygen bottles at high camps.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: They can make the climb at least 40 times a season with all of that in tow.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Now, the drones will be used to ferry some of it instead and to cut down on transport time.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Goods that would normally take about seven hours to carry on foot can be airlifted in about 15 minutes.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: By relying less on Sherpas and reducing their number of trips, expedition companies hope that the chance of fatal accidents will go down.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: There have been multiple deadly tragedies involving Sherpas, including an avalanche a few years ago that killed three of the guides.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: The plan is also to use the drones to pick up some of the trash that climbers leave behind.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Some years, volunteers have collected more than 20,000 pounds of trash off of the mountain.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: Those are the headlines today on The Daily, how President Trump is targeting a single law firm as part of a revenge campaign against his political enemies.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: That's next in The New York Times audio app, where you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Tracey Mumford: I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you.
