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Order comes a day after the ‘efficiency’ team sent out orders to lay off 1,500 of the agency’s 1,700 employeesA federal court has blocked the sweeping termination of staff at the top US consumer protection agency, a day after the Trump administration moved to axe around 1,500 of the agency’s 1,700 workforce, while officials investigate whether the action violated existing judicial orders.The ruling from judge Amy Berman Jackson put a legal hurdle in front of mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Thursday, which came after a federal appeals court modified – but did not eliminate

‘We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,’ US secretary of state saysThe Kremlin said on Friday that some progress had already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the United States.“Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We continue to do this.” Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/apr/18/russia-ukraine-war-peace-talks-us-marco-rubio-zelenskyy-trump Author :

Retailers and food producers offer to help efforts reduce ‘unnecessary red tape’ costing industry billions of poundsMore than a dozen of Britain’s biggest retailers and food producers, including Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury and Asda, have called on the EU to reduce checks on food and drink crossing the Channel and Irish Sea, which they say are costing billions of pounds.Ahead of a summit on 19 May that is hoped to “reset” trade ties five years on from Brexit, they are urging politicians to hammer out a deal on sanitary and phytosanitary checks. They hope this would include a veterinary