Donald Trump has previously called the climate crisis a “hoax” and dismissed those concerned by its worsening impacts as “climate lunatics”, but now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has gone even further under his authority, issuing an extraordinary cavalcade of pollution rule rollbacks.

The agency has announced it would potentially scrap  that planet-heating gases, such carbon dioxide, pose a threat to human health.

The so-called , which followed a supreme court ruling that the EPA could regulate greenhouse gases, provides the underpinning for all rules aimed at cutting the pollution that scientists have unequivocally found is worsening the climate crisis.

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## Trump officials to reconsider whether greenhouse gases cause harm

  is to reconsider the official finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to public health, a move that threatens to rip apart the foundation of the US’s climate laws, amid a stunning barrage of actions to weaken or repeal a host of pollution limits upon power plants, cars and waterways.

Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, said the agency would reconsider the endangerment finding due to concerns that it had spawned “an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas”.



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## Trump hints at financial repercussions if Russia rejects Ukraine ceasefire

Donald Trump has suggested he could target Russia financially as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urged him to take strong steps if Moscow failed to support the 30-day ceasefire proposal.

The US president’s threat came as the French defence minister, Sébastien Lecornu, told a press conference in Paris that a ceasefire announcement could come as soon as Thursday and that  would have to be prepared to help enforce it.



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## Analysis: What leverage does Trump have over Putin in Ukraine negotiations?

Ukraine’s agreement to support a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war against Russia’s invasion has focused attention on what Moscow may or may not agree to, and what pressure can be brought to bear on  by the Trump administration.

While the question has frequently been asked over the last few years as to what leverage Putin might have over Trump, the question here is what leverage Trump might have to persuade Putin.



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## US trying to use obscure law to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil

The US government is relying on a rarely used provision of the law to try to deport a prominent Palestinian activist who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University, where he was a leader in last year’s campus protests.

Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, a green-card holder being held in a Louisiana detention centre, suggested he was being punished for using his free speech, saying the provision was not “intended … to be used to silence dissent”.



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## Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on US imports

 announced retaliatory  on nearly $30bn worth of American imports after US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports went into effect on Wednesday.

The Canadian government said it will be following a “dollar-by-dollar” approach and institute 25% tariffs on American imports, including steel, computers and sports equipment.



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## US pauses water-sharing negotiations with Canada over Columbia River

The United States has paused negotiations with  on a key water-sharing treaty as  continues both his threats to annex his northern neighbour and to upend major agreements governing relations between the two counties.

British Columbia’s energy ministry said officials south of the border were “conducting a broad review” of the Columbia River Treaty, the 61-year-old pact that governs transnational flood control, power generation and  supply.



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## Trump accuses Ireland of stealing US companies in meeting with Taoiseach

Trump has accused Ireland of stealing the US pharmaceutical industry and the tax revenue that should have been paid to the US treasury, in a blow to the Irish premier, Micheál Martin, who had hoped to emerge unscathed from a visit to the White House marking St Patrick’s Day.



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## Trump’s justice department demands New York migrant shelter share names of residents

Federal prosecutors have sent a criminal subpoena to a Manhattan hotel housing undocumented immigrants through a  City program providing shelter to asylum seekers, according to a copy of the filing obtained by the Guardian.



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## House hearing ends after Republican misgenders trans member

The  chair of a US House subcommittee adjourned a hearing after he was challenged for misgendering Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress. Panel chair Keith Self of Texas introduced the Delaware member by saying: “I now recognize the representative from Delaware, Mr McBride.”

McBride responded satirically: “Thank you, Madam Chair” before Bill Keating, a Massachusetts Democrat, defended his colleague. Self ended the hearing early after being admonished by Keating for his choice of words.



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## US health chief RFK Jr endorses beef tallow on TV

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, appeared with a cheeseburger and fries in a nationally televised interview on  – endorsing the decision of the burger chain Steak ‘n Shake to cook its fries in beef tallow.

The appearance came as Kennedy has attacked seed oils and made claims about the measles vaccine that lack context.



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## What else happened today:

- ** was condemned by a leading US Muslim civil rights group for seeking to use the word “Palestinian” as an insult**  , as “not Jewish any more”.

- **At a press conference, Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly called the US trade war “”, and said  to secretary of state** **Marco Rubio** at a summit of top G7 diplomats.

- **Jeanne Shaheen**, a Democratic senator from New Hampshire,  next year, further complicating her party’s chances of retaking the chamber’s majority.

- **Inflation data**  that prices remained stable last month, with no signs of Trump’s trade wars driving them higher – yet.

- **Senate Democrats**  after the House voted to pass a government funding bill that will cut their party’s priorities.
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