Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that its forces had taken control of the strategic coal-mining city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine, but Ukraine's military denied the city had been captured and reported heavy fighting in and around it.

The federal deferred resignation program accepted by thousands of workers continues to cause confusion and concern. Now the courts are involved.

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Office of Personnel Management's deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" offer. U.S. District George O'Toole prevented the agency from implementing the program's deadline during a brief hearing held hours before federal workers were required to notify OPM of whether they would accept or reject the offer to step away from their positions.

A federal judge on Thursday pushed back to Monday a deadline for U.S. government employees to opt into the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" program offering workers nearly eight months of pay and benefits to leave their jobs.

Just hours before the deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration's deferred resignation offer, a judge has temporarily blocked the buyout offer.