Axios

Nearly 100 U.S. immigration court professionals are resigning or retiring, on top of the around 30 immigration judges and senior staff recently fired by the Trump administration, a union for immigration judges said Friday.

Why it matters: The staff reduction will likely add to the historic backlog of cases and slow President Trump's mass deportation plan, even as he asks Congress for more resources.

President Trump on Friday threatened new sanctions and tariffs on Russia as he ramped up pressure on the Kremlin to agree to a ceasefire and peace settlement with Ukraine.

Why it matters: This is the first time since taking office that Trump has issued a public threat against Russia, after taking a softer line toward Vladimir Putin while hammering Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Trump said he sent a letter on Wednesday to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and stressed that he wants to reach a deal on the country's nuclear program.

Why it matters: Trump's letter to Khamenei, which the president revealed in an interview with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo that will air in full on Sunday, is the first significant engagement between the U.S. and Iran since the new administration took office.

Thousands of residents in eastern Australia were ordered to evacuate, as Tropical Cyclone Alfred's heavy rains and powerful winds blast two states ahead of it's expected landfall near Brisbane, the country's third-largest city.

The big picture: It's already caused widespread power outages and triggered storm surge along the southern Queensland and northern New South Wales coasts. Those who haven't evacuated were urged to stay inside ahead of its expected hit as a Category 2 storm, per the Bureau of Meteorology.

Israel's concerns over the Trump administration's secret negotiations with Hamas erupted in a contentious call Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-hand man and the U.S. official leading the talks, an Israeli official and a source with knowledge of the call tell Axios.

Why it matters: When Trump aides sounded out Israeli officials in early February about the possibility of engaging directly with Hamas, the Israelis advised them not to do it — particularly not without preconditions. Israel found out through other channels that the U.S. was moving ahead anyway.

A federal judge gave the Trump administration until 6pm Monday ET to make some outstanding foreign aid payments to USAID partners, per multiple reports on Thursday.

The big picture: U.S. District Judge Amir Ali's ruling during a case involving several nonprofits and aid groups including the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council comes one day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the lower court judge's order requiring the Trump administration to unfreeze some $1.9 billion in foreign aid payments.

SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded minutes after it launched from Texas Thursday.

The big picture: Debris from the rocket caused flight delays in cities across the U.S., including Miami and Philadelphia, FAA data show.

Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to discuss efforts to reach a ceasefire in the war with Russia, two sources with knowledge of the meeting said.

Why it matters: It will be the first high-level meeting between the countries since the public spat between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week.

Republicans overwhelmingly support President Trump's tariffs in spite of the higher costs they're likely to face as a result of them, according to a new Economist/YouGov poll out this week.

Why it matters: After promising to lower prices if elected, Trump's tariffs targeting the U.S.'s biggest trade partners will cost the average American household at least $830 per year, economists have warned.

A Russian disinformation effort that flooded the web with false claims and propaganda continues to impact the output of major AI chatbots, according to a new report from NewsGuard, shared first with Axios.

Why it matters: The study, which expands on initial findings from last year, comes amid reports that the U.S. is pausing some of its efforts to counter Russian cyber activities.