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The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Tue Mar 18 2025

Nicole Fallert | Newsletter Writer

@nicolefallert

Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Lady Gaga will always be our innovator.

Get ready for Tuesday's news:

•	Two veteran astronauts stranded in space are finally head home.
•	A legal battle over the deportation of Venezuelans ensues.
•	A Texas midwife was arrested under the state's abortion trigger ban.

Boeing Starliner astronauts are flying home

After an unexpected stay of more than nine months, NASA astronauts and Starliner crew members Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore boarded a SpaceX Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Later Tuesday evening, the Dragon carrying the astronauts – including NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov – is due to splash down off the Florida coast. The astronauts are now on a roughly 17-hour voyage back to Earth.

•	Follow live coverage of their journey home.

From left, NASA astronaut Suni Williams, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, and NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore inside the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft docked to the International Space Station.

NASA

Did Venezuelan deportations defy a judge's order?

Lawyers representing nearly 300 Venezuelans deported under President Donald Trump's invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act say deportation flights may have come after a judge ordered the removals halted.

What happened: The flights were in the air when Washington, D.C. Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that they should return to the U.S. while the case was litigated. But they continued to their destinations.

•	This is a debate about timing. Lawyers for the Venezuelans alleged the flights to Honduras and El Salvador were "a blatant violation" of the judge's order.
•	A president can invoke the 1798 law during "a declared war." Congress has not declared war, but Trump said on Sunday "this is a time of war," referring to his mass deportation campaign.
•	The Trump administration is doubling down. "Border czar" Tom Homan said he plans to continue the aggressive roundups and removals despite court rulings and injunctions halting them.

Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government on March 16, 2025.

Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia, via REUTERS

More news to know now

•	Israeli military launched "extensive" strikes in Gaza, jeopardizing a ceasefire deal.
•	How easily does a deadly bird flu strain spread?
•	Here's how Hezbollah photos led to a Brown University doctor's deportation.
•	Trump's call Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin will cover a possible Ukraine ceasefire.
•	Unredacted JFK assassination files are going public on Tuesday.

Turn up your Tuesday with our crossword! Sally's hint: iPod Shuffle.

How did a deadly storm rip across the US?

Weather that swept the nation over the weekend delivered an unusually powerful punch, spinning up more than 50 tornadoes, fanning wildfires and killing at least 42 people. During this transition between winter and spring, it's not unusual to get severe weather. But this system had more impact than usual, experts said. A trio of conditions in the atmosphere unleashed nature's fury as high winds in a very strong jet stream aloft encountered very dry air from the Desert Southwest and unusual warmth in the Gulf pulled in extra moisture. National Weather Service survey teams are still assessing the storm damage.

Texas midwife the first arrest under state abortion ban

A licensed midwife from the Houston area has been arrested and charged with performing two abortions, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday, marking the first known arrest under the state's near-total abortion ban that prohibits all but lifesaving abortions. The law, which became active post-Roe, carries penalties, including the loss of a medical license, fines of no less than $100,000 and sentences of up to life in prison. Texas state Republicans also continue cracking down on abortions with new legislation this year.

Today's talkers

•	Tracy Morgan appeared to fall ill during the Knicks-Heat game.
•	Amazon is removing an Echo privacy setting that keeps Alexa recordings from the company.
•	People are paying thousands to go under anesthesia for tattoos.
•	Forever 21 was not forever.
•	Taylor Swift really did have the tour of the century.
•	Walton Goggins talked about that surprise "White Lotus" appearance (spoiler warning!).

Do you use Gmail or Outlook? Be weary of ransomware.

Federal authorities are warning users of Gmail, Outlook and other popular email services about dangerous ransomware linked to a group of developers who have breached hundreds of victims' data, including people in the medical, education, legal, insurance, tech and manufacturing fields. The group operating the ransomware variant, called "Medusa," has been identified as a group called Spearwing. The ransoms demanded by Spearwing using the Medusa ransomware have ranged from $100,000 up to $15 million, according to watchdogs. Here's how to protect yourself.

Photo of the day: Snowy stars

Celebrities bundled up in winter coats on a gorgeous, snowy night in the French Alps to take in some elevated fashion — literally. Models walked 6,500 feet above sea level as fresh snow flurried at the Moncler Grenoble fashion show. Sometimes you just gotta commit to the 'fit.

Jessica Chastain attends the Moncler fashion show at the Courchevel Altiport.

Moncler

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here . Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.