Trump news at a glance: Trump backs off threat to resume bombing Iran and extends ceasefire

Trump announces extension of Iran ceasefire until ‘discussion concluded’

Trump’s sharp about-turn drew a withering early response from Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament who has emerged as the Islamic regime’s lead negotiator in recent talks.

Ghalibaf’s personal adviser dismissed the ceasefire extension as “a ploy to buy time for a surprise strike”, adding that “the time for Iran to take the initiative has come”.

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Virginia voters approve new congressional maps in blow to Trump

Voters in Virginia on Tuesday approved new congressional maps intended to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the House of Representatives, in the latest blow to Donald Trump’s effort to use mid-decade redistricting to preserve his control of Congress.

The tit-for-tat redistricting battle began last year after Trump pressed Texas’s Republican-controlled legislature to redraw that state’s congressional maps in a bid to oust as many as five Democratic House lawmakers in the November midterm elections.

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Trump’s Fed chair pick says he’ll maintain independence – but won’t say president lost 2020 election

Donald Trump’s nominee for US Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, faced a tumultuous hearing in Washington on Tuesday, fielding scrutiny over his wealth and his ability to operate independently of the president who appointed him.

Should he be confirmed, Warsh will hold one of the most powerful roles in the US federal government, with massive influence over the global economy and the ability to move markets.

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Southern Poverty Law Center indicted on federal fraud charges

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the prominent civil rights organization, has been indicted on federal fraud charges related to past payments it made to confidential informants to infiltrate extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, the justice department has announced.

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US military service members will no longer be required to get annual flu shot

In a video statement posted to social media, defense secretary Pete Hegseth described the mandate as “overly broad” and “not rational” and the decision to drop the vaccine requirement as “seizing this moment to discard any absurd overreaching mandates that only weaken our war fighting capabilities”.

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Tucker Carlson says he regrets backing Donald Trump and is ‘tormented by it’

Tucker Carlson, a conservative podcaster, has said he is “tormented” by his support of Donald Trump, issuing in an extraordinary mea culpa that called for “a moment to wrestle with our own consciences”.

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Trump officials consider sending 1,100 Afghans who aided US forces to Congo

The Trump administration is in discussions to potentially send up to 1,100 Afghans who helped US forces during the war in Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a non-profit confirmed on Tuesday.

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What else happened today:

• Democratic US representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick said she is resigning effective immediately, after a House committee found she violated ethics rules. The panel was set to issue its recommended punishment for the Florida representative on Tuesday.

• Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, a US appeals court ruled Tuesday in a victory for conservatives who have long sought to incorporate more religion into schools.

• Mexico has launched an investigation into a possible breach of its constitution as it was reported that two US embassy officials who died in a car crash while returning from a raid on a drug lab with local officials in the border state of Chihuahua were CIA operatives.

• Florida’s top prosecutor is to launch a criminal investigation into how the tech company OpenAI and its software tool ChatGPT may influence users’ threats of harm to themselves or others, including whether it “offered significant advice” to a gunman accused of conducting a mass shooting in the state last year.

• North Carolina authorities say they are pursuing criminal charges against adults who allegedly “stood by” a scheduled fight among teenagers that led to a mass shooting that killed two people and wounded five others on Monday.