Just In: A French court has ruled that far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen is banned from running for political office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds, in a politically explosive ruling that has shattered her hopes of winning the presidency in 2027.

Pope Francis seen in public for the first time in weeks after battling double pneumonia. He was greeted to cheers of “Papa Francesco.”

Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...

Just In: US District Judge James Boasberg has extended his deadline for the Justice Dept. to provide him w/info about deportations the Trump administration carried out last weekend under the Alien Enemies Act, or decide if it will invoke "state-secrets privilege" to avoid divulging the information.

Just In: Trump's call with Ukraine's President Zelensky is now over; On his social media, Trump called it a "very good" call and said much of it focused on the conversation he had with Russian President Putin yesterday.

CNN: White House says the Trump-Zelensky call has started.

More on call: Kremlin said Putin agreed to a temporary ceasefire on energy infrastructure for a 30-day period, adding “During the conversation, Donald Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days"

Kremlin statement: “It was emphasized that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working towards its resolution through political and diplomatic means should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv.”

DONE: Trump-Putin call is over and per Russian source with knowledge of the call, it "went very well" #CNN

Trump's call with Putin is underway, White House official says, and is "going well" www.cnn.com/politics/liv...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer postpones book tour this week over 'security concerns.' www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/p...

The Kremlin says Trump admin decision to cut Radio Free Europe and Voice of America does not concern Russia, slamming the media outlets as “propaganda.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says “this is an internal decision of the US administration” that doesn’t concern Moscow.

JUST IN: Retail sales rose just 0.2% in February per the Commerce Department -- that figure is much weaker than expected and a troubling sign that the American shopper could be starting to tap out.

NEW: Kremlin aide Yuriy Ushakov said today that Moscow doesn’t want a temporary ceasefire as it would give a break to the Ukrainian army, saying that he explained Russia’s position to US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz in a Wednesday phone call. #CNN

The Trump White House is about to get a masterclass in real Kremlin diplomacy from our Nick Paton Walsh: www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/e...

JD Vance met with House Republicans today, asking them to vote to extend current government funding through September to support Trump and his agenda, according to members who were in the room. Vance also warned the group that the GOP will be blamed if the government shuts down.

BREAKING: Trump just announced in a social media post that he's doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada into the United States -- to 50% starting tomorrow (was supposed to be 25%). Watch Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room right now. #CNN

NEW: The latest snapshot of job openings in the U.S. shows that there were 7.74 million available positions in January, signaling renewed optimism from US employers to start the year -- this, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

BREAKING: Trump just announced on his Truth Social that Mexico will be exempt from tariffs on goods covered by the USMCA trade agreement until April 2nd.

Breaking: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just said on CNBC that Trump will likely announce a one-month tariff delay later today on all treaty-compliant products from Mexico & Canada - more to come

NEW from our Katelyn Polantz: www.cnn.com/usda-employe...

From #CNN's Alayna Treene: Two White House officials say that Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have spoken today on the phone but thy offered no details of the call beyond that. A readout is anticipated and the WH briefing is a 1 pm ET

Monday is launch day!!

BREAKING: Per a source to CNN: Twenty-one (21) U.S. Digital Service technology staffers have just resigned in what is being seen as a mass protest resignation against the DOGE efforts. These are said to be engineers, designers, data scientists, project managers, etc.

Supreme Court orders new trial for death row inmate Richard Glossip: www.cnn.com/2025/02/25/p...

JUST IN: Consumer confidence falls to its biggest margin in 3.5 years w/inflation fears driving the worries. #CNN

Complete confusion among the federal workforce. www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/p...

Per #CNN's Pete Muntean: The Dept of Transportation has ordered "all employees" to respond to Musk's email to answer the question, "what did you do last week?" by 11:59 pm ET tonight, according to an internal email shared w/Pete. That includes chronically understaffed air traffic controller corps.

#CNN NEW: Today, the US Supreme Court just opted against hearing a pair of appeals that sought to wipe out protest buffer zones around abortion clinics – a move that, for now, will leave those restrictions in place. Justices Thomas and Alito were willing to hear the cases.

NEW: Apple says it'll invest $500 billion on expanding US facilities over 4 years, creating 20k jobs. Last month, Trump announced tariffs of 10% on all imports from China, from which Apple imports many products, including most iPhones. Trump is now attributing this investment to his tariffs.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on X: “If Elon Musk truly wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week, he should get to know each department and agency, and learn about the jobs he’s trying to cut"

The Pentagon, The FBI, State Dept, Homeland Security and The Energy Dept. have instructed their staff not to reply to an email that federal workers received from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday with the subject line: “What did you do last week?” www.cnn.com/2025/02/23/p...

CNN: On the eve of their first major vote to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda, key House Republicans are warning Speaker Mike Johnson that they won’t simply rubber-stamp steep cuts across the federal government. www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/p...

Great reporting here: How Trump’s government-cutting moves risk exposing the CIA’s secrets www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/p...

BREAKING (x 2): Sen. Mitch McConnell will not seek re-election in 2026 + Dow is down -600+ points after Walmart said it expects 2025 to see slower growth #CNN

RIGHT NOW: Senate voting to break filibuster on FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel -- if vote passes, it will set up final vote on his nomination this afternoon. Stay w/CNN

May their memories be a blessing. 🇮🇱

NEW from @natashabertrand.bsky.social Defense Secy. Pete Hegseth could soon fire more than half a dozen generals and flag officers, per two sources familiar w/matter, part of an effort to purge dept. of senior leaders perceived as either too political or too close to former Def Secy Austin #CNN