President Donald Trump 's executive order to facilitate the closure of the U.S. Education Department is met with protests and court challenges. Elon Musk focuses his attention on the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media that the billionaire cost-cutter will discuss "innovation, efficiencies & smarter production." Leaders at dozens of universities facing Trump administration investigations scramble to distance themselves from a nonprofit that helped Black and Latino students pursue business degrees. And the arrests of Canadian and European visitors at U.S. borders has some saying no one is safe to come to America as a tourist anymore.

Here's the Latest:

A federal judge on Thursday ordered immigration officials not to deport a Georgetown scholar who was detained by the Trump Administration and accused of spreading Hamas propaganda in the latest battle over speech on U.S. college campuses.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles in Alexandria, Virginia, ordered that Indian national Badar Khan Suri "shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court issues a contrary order."

Germany's foreign minister reopened its embassy in Damascus on Thursday, 13 years after it was shut in the early days of Syria's civil war, saying that Europe needs "eyes and ears" on the ground as it follows the Syrian political transition.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reopened the embassy before meeting interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and others during a visit to Damascus, her second since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in December.

Israel's renewed military offensive in the Gaza Strip threatens to be even deadlier and more destructive than the last, as it pursues wider aims with far fewer constraints.

Israel resumed the war with a surprise bombardment early Tuesday that killed hundreds of Palestinians, ending the ceasefire and vowing even more devastation if Hamas doesn't release its remaining hostages and leave the territory.

By Chris Nowotarski, Texas A&M University

(THE CONVERSATION) Windstorms can seem like they come out of nowhere, hitting with a sudden blast. They might be hundreds of miles long, stretching over several states, or just in your neighborhood.

Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after beating Bahrain 2-0 at Saitama Stadium on Thursday.

Second-half goals from Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo ensured the Samurai Blue secured a spot in Asia Group C's top two automatic qualification places.

Across wine country in France, Italy and Spain one number is top of mind: 200%.

That's because last week U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a tariff of that amount on European wine, Champagne and other spirits if the European Union went ahead with retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. products. The top wine producers in Europe could face crippling costs that would hit smaller wineries especially hard.

Senior officers from countries across Europe and beyond will meet Thursday at a military headquarters on the outskirts of London to flesh out plans for an international peacekeeping force for Ukraine as details of a partial ceasefire are worked out.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the "coalition of the willing" plan, led by Britain and France, is moving into an "operational phase." But it's unclear how many countries are willing to send troops, or whether there will be any ceasefire to protect.

A French citizen imprisoned in Iran for over 880 days has been freed and is back home, as was another French citizen held under house arrest in Tehran, French officials said Thursday. Their liberation came as France and the rest of Europe are trying to jumpstart talks with Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.

U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seeking negotiations. Trump is also pressuring Tehran over its support of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels as the American military carries out an intense new campaign of airstrikes targeting the group.

Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.

Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Center at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.