Venezuelan deportations, US Houthi strikes and North Macedonia fire
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Today, over 200 Venezuelans have been deported from the U.S. despite a court order, with the Trump administration saying a judge does not have the authority to block its actions. The U.S. says it will keep hitting Yemen's Houthis until they stop attacks on shipping. And government officials have been arrested after a deadly nightclub fire in North Macedonia. It's Monday, March 17th.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the frontlines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oakes in Liverpool.

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First, to the latest on Russia and Ukraine. President Trump says he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Tuesday. Trump's expected to press Russia to sign a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, while Russia says it's seeking ironclad guarantees in any peace deal, including that NATO nations exclude Kiev from membership and that Ukraine will remain neutral.

The Trump administration has deported alleged members of a Venezuelan gang from the US. That's despite a court order forbidding it from doing so, saying in an extraordinary statement that a judge did not have the authority to block the administration's actions. They've been flown to El Salvador, where they were taken to a notorious high-security prison. Our immigration reporter Ted Hessen is looking into the case.

What we've seen from the Trump administration so far is an effort to try and ramp up deportations, really using novel means. It's almost as if there's sort of a no holds barred effort. And in some cases, they're really experimenting with new uses of laws and testing the legality of them.

And I think the use of the Alien Enemies Act here is a perfect example. You have a law that is best known, it's a wartime statute. It was best known for the justification for internment of Japanese Americans, Italian Americans, and others during World War II. And it's being resurrected here with the intent of being used against alleged gang members. And what we've seen in this case is that

people were deported and the government, US government, still hasn't come forward and said what their identities were, what their alleged crimes might have been, and what convictions they might have. And they've made it to El Salvador now, according to a post by President Nayib Bukele showing men being hustled off a plane in the dark of night amid a massive security presence. I mean, it's quite the post, right? Ted, if you look at it, there's

Bukele posting, oopsie, too late, above a headline about the judge ordering the flights to return, followed by a laughing so hard I'm crying emoji.

Bukele said that the country was accepting these 238 alleged members of Tren de Aragua and that they would be kept in the country's mega prison for up to a year and that it may be longer than that. But it wasn't clear that any charges were being brought against them, just that there was an agreement to hold them there for at least a year and possibly longer.

At least 36 people are known to have died after tornadoes ripped across the Midwest and into the southern United States. The storms hit six states, with power outages affecting more than 300,000 people. Parts of the country are still under a National Weather Service watch. Butch and Sunny are coming home. A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station for a crew swap.

allowing Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams to return after they've been stuck in space for nine months. They're due back on Earth on Wednesday. The U.S. has vowed to keep attacking Yemen's Houthis until they end attacks on shipping, as the Iran-aligned group signaled it could escalate in response to deadly U.S. strikes over the weekend.

The airstrikes are the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since President Trump took office in January. Over 50 people were killed, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. Our national security correspondent, Phil Stewart, has been following this story. The timing of this is really curious. The Houthis, about a week ago, had said that they were going to resume attacks

against Red Sea shipping. But there hadn't been any attacks by the Houthis on commercial vessels since January. And instead of waiting for the Houthis to carry out this campaign, the Trump administration and President Trump himself gave a green light and ordered this campaign to go forward to send a message to the Houthis and clearly to Iran, which backs the Houthis. How is Iran reacting to these attacks?

So Iran is also being quite clear here that they are not going to be pushed around. You saw the head of the Revolutionary Guard come out and warn that Iran would respond decisively and destructively if the United States were to carry out threats to punish Iran for its support to the Houthis.

And so I think that when you look at the Houthis, they've been resilient throughout this entire period. And so now you're seeing the U.S. really turn its gaze to the Houthis and the Trump administration saying that when it comes to international shipping, this is a core national security interest of the United States and this will not be tolerated. And clearly also, this is a message to Iran itself, that this era of backing proxies will not be tolerated any longer.

So Phil, what happens now? So where we're at right now between the United States and Yemen is really a standoff. The United States is saying to the Houthis that it will keep attacking Yemen until the Houthis abandon their threats to attack shipping in the Red Sea and U.S. warships in the Red Sea. And the Houthis are saying that they will keep fighting and attacking U.S. warships until the U.S. stops its bombing of Yemen.

China's State Council has unveiled what it calls a special action plan to boost domestic consumption. It includes increasing residents' income and establishing a childcare subsidy scheme. The plan also envisages measures to stabilise the stock market, but gives no details on when and how this could happen.

Pressure's been building on Chinese officials for consumer-focused stimulus measures to fend off deflationary pressures after the economy was hit by Covid-19 disruptions and a prolonged property slump. Distraught and angry relatives outside a hospital in North Macedonia after a fire ripped through a nightclub, killing at least 59 people. More than 150 others were injured in the fire in the town of Kosani.

Around 500 people were inside when it's thought sparks ignited the roof as a band performed. Maria Teseva was there with her sister when the fire started. She describes the panic as everyone started shouting and screaming and running for the club's only exit. With a bandage on her face after getting injured in the crush, she tells us how her sister didn't make it out and is among those killed.

Declaring seven days of national mourning, Prime Minister Hristian Mikoski says the club's licence had been issued illegally by the Economy Ministry, promising those responsible would face justice. Authorities say about 20 people have already been arrested, including the son of a club owner and government officials.

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A recommended read is about a landmark legal case resuming in a German court featuring a Peruvian farmer and an energy giant. Sol Luciano Leuia argues that RWE's emissions have contributed to the melting of glaciers in the Andes, increasing the risk of flooding to his home. The case could set a precedent for future climate litigation. And if you want to find out more, there's a link in the pod description.

For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player and we'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.