Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Wednesday, March 12, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have a number of riveting stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening both nationally and around the world.
Ukraine makes a major peace gesture after bombarding Russia with a massive drone attack just hours before crucial peace talks begin; President Donald Trump cancels plans to double certain tariffs on one particular country as a trade war deescalates; and a federal judge issues a critical ruling concerning the transparency of DOGE operations.
Also, Vice President JD Vance links the high cost of housing to a significant problem facing our nation, and the U.S. Department of Education issues a stern warning to dozens of universities regarding the ongoing harassment of one particular group.
US to Restart Aid as Ukraine Agrees to 30-Day Cease-Fire
U.S. officials say that Ukraine has just agreed to enter into a temporary 30-day cease-fire with Russia in an effort to kickstart further talks to permanently end the ongoing war between the two nations.Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the United States will now bring this offer to the Russians, and that he hopes they’ll agree to the pause.
He also says that both Ukraine and Russia would have to prepare to make some difficult decisions to facilitate an eventual peace arrangement, including the realization that the current war cannot be resolved by military means.
The announcement arrives after a lengthy round of discussions between high-level American and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia. Both nations say that following those talks, the United States will now lift its hold on intelligence sharing with Ukraine and resume security assistance as well.
However, it remains to be seen how Moscow will respond to the proposal following a recent aerial assault by Ukraine. Russian officials say that two people were killed and 18 individuals were injured, including three children, in what appears to be the largest Ukrainian drone attack on Russia since the war began in 2022.
Trump Drops Plans to Double Tariffs on Canada
The White House says that Trump has just canceled plans to double the steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada following the province of Ontario’s decision to rescind a proposed 25 percent surcharge on all of its electricity exports to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota.The White House says that once again, the president has used the leverage of the U.S. economy, which is the best and the biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people.
For his part, Ontario’s premier says that he’s suspending his energy export tax following a conversation with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He also says that they plan to meet later this week to further discuss trade between our two nations.
Earlier, Ontario’s premier pointed out that his now-canceled tariff would have added roughly $100 per month to the energy bills of nearly 1.5 million American households and businesses.
Meanwhile, Trump describes Canada as a “tariff abuser” that charges the United States up to nearly 400 percent on many of our farm product exports to the country.
Trump also says that if Canada does not drop its other long-time tariffs, he’ll levy additional charges beginning on April 2, when reciprocal tariffs are currently scheduled to go into effect.
Additionally, he went on to reiterate his calls for Canada to become our nation’s 51st state, which he says is “the only thing that makes sense” because Canadians would save on taxes, have better national security, and be part of the greatest nation on earth.
Judge Says DOGE Must Produce Records on Operations
A federal judge in Washington says that DOGE must now hand over records concerning its operations, which he says have been conducted with what he calls “unusual secrecy.”In issuing his ruling, the judge rejected the government’s arguments that DOGE is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which enables people and groups to request records concerning many government agencies.
He ordered DOGE to hand over its records being sought by a group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Additionally, he says that the public “would be irreparably harmed by an indefinite delay in unearthing the records CREW seeks.”
Since late last year, CREW has filed a number of FOIA requests. They include one for records dealing with communications between officials affiliated with DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget, as well as requests for additional DOGE records, including organizational charts.
When the group was told by the Office of Management and Budget that its request would take some time, CREW sued, asking the federal court to force the agencies to produce the records quickly. In its motion, CREW argued that DOGE is subject to the Freedom of Information Act because it is a federal agency.
For their part, government lawyers argued that DOGE is not subject to the act because it is part of the Executive Office of the President, which would exclude it from the mandate.
However, the court ruled that in its actions, DOGE has “wielded substantial authority independently” of the president, opening it up to the information request. The judge now says that both the Office of Management and Budget and DOGE must move forward with processing the requested records, and he’s ordering the parties to meet before the end of this month to propose a timeline for delivery.
Vance Links High Housing Prices to Immigration Rates
Vance says that our nation’s current housing problem is partially due to high demand, which was driven up by the large rates of immigration under former President Joe Biden.The vice president says that over the last four years, a large number of people have come into the United States illegally, and that we must address that problem if we want to meaningfully reduce the cost of housing.
In a recent speech made to a group called the National League of Cities, Vance went on to say that the large influx of people into the United States coincided with a simultaneous strain on the housing supply. He says that shortage was due in part to stringent building regulations.
Vance went on to say that similar trends can be observed all over the world, where a “very consistent relationship” can be seen between massive increases in immigration and massive increases in housing prices.
He also pointed out that President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office that was designed to both lower the cost of housing and expand the housing supply by making a change to certain zoning regulations.
By the way, according to a group called the Center for Immigration Studies, between March 2022 and March 2024, the foreign-born population of the United States, both legal and illegal, increased by just over 5 million people, which they noted is “the largest two-year increase in American history.”
Additionally, our nation’s foreign-born population now stands at more than 51 million, which is more than 15 percent of our population and is also the highest number ever recorded.
US Department of Education Warns 60 Universities They Must Protect Jewish Students
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has just sent letters to 60 universities, alerting them that they are now under investigation for violations related to anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination on their campuses.The list of campuses receiving the letters includes prestigious Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Columbia. It also includes Stanford University, as well as a number of widespread state and local schools.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon says that her department is “deeply disappointed” that Jewish students who are studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety.
She says that university leaders must do better to put an end to what she calls “the relentless antisemitic eruptions” that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. By the way, those incidents increased significantly following the Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023.
Meanwhile, the department, along with other federal agencies, recently canceled nearly $400 million in federal grants and contracts at Columbia University over its alleged inaction in addressing the persistent harassment of Jewish students.
Additionally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents recently arrested a Palestinian graduate student and U.S. permanent resident who led pro-Palestinian encampment protests at Columbia; however, earlier this week, a federal judge blocked efforts by the Trump administration to deport that student, and a hearing will take place later today to decide that case.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Wednesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
Finally, as we do each day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Vincent Van Gogh, who said: “I don’t know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.”
Van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who produced around 2,100 artworks, including 860 oil paintings, mostly in his final two years.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
