A judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to place 2,200 employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on paid leave, hours before it was due to happen.

Judge Carl Nichols said he would issue a “very limited” temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by unions, challenging the plan to place thousands of staff on leave from midnight on Friday.

USAID, which is the US government’s main overseas development arm, employs about 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom work overseas. It’s unclear where the remaining staff stand regarding their jobs.

Under Trump’s plan, some 611 employees would have been kept working at the agency. The ruling came as officials removed and covered USAID signs at the organisation’s headquarters in Washington DC.

[BBC]

Hamas has released the names of the next hostages to be freed today [08] in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

They are male civilians Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy.

So far, 18 hostages have been freed since the ceasefire began on 19 January with Israel in return releasing 383 prisoners. Hamas says another 183 are to be returned on Saturday.

Some 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners are due to be freed by the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks’ time. Israel says eight of the 33 are dead.

[BBC]