A federal trade court ruled that President Donald Trump's across-the-board 10 percent tariff on most imports is illegal, finding that he improperly relied on a decades-old trade law to impose the measure. The split decision places new limits on the president's authority to reshape trade policy unilaterally. The administration is expected to appeal the ruling.

The decision follows an earlier setback in which the Supreme Court struck down a previous round of tariffs. The ruling adds to mounting challenges for the administration, which is also grappling with concerns that federal debt may have surpassed the nation's total economic output.

Meanwhile, tensions escalated in the Middle East as Iran and the United States exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz, testing a fragile cease-fire. Lawmakers in Tennessee approved a new congressional map that could eliminate the state's only Democratic-held House seat, setting up a major legal test of recent limits placed on the Voting Rights Act.

In other developments, more than 100 dams were removed across the United States last year, reconnecting rivers and improving environmental conditions. Additional headlines included severe storms in Mississippi, a new high school history course in Florida, and fresh details about a deadly plane crash in China that investigators now believe was intentional.