A U.S. Air Force judge on Wednesday ordered Khalid Sheikh ‌Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and three co-defendants to go on trial before a military tribunal in June 2028.

The trial-scheduling order entered by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama marked the latest ​milestone in a military prosecution beset by two decades of legal deadlock surrounding the four detainees ​held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Reuters reported.

Last month, a U.S. appeals court refused to allow Mohammed ⁠and two of his co-defendants to plead guilty under agreements that would have spared them the death penalty.

The appellate ​decision reversed decisions of a military judge and the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review in support of ​the plea deal.

The agreement had been offered last year and accepted by the official who oversees the Pentagon’s Guantanamo war court, only to be revoked last August by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin amid criticism of the deal from Republican lawmakers.

Under Schrama’s 11-page ​order, Mohammed and three co-defendants — Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali ​Abdul Aziz Ali — will stand trial starting on June 5, 2028.

The proceedings open with selection of a panel consisting entirely of ‌service ⁠members who will act as the jury to hear the case according to rules of military justice.

Opening statements will commence 30 calendar days after the panel is seated, followed by presentation of the prosecution’s evidence, after which the defendants may file motions for findings of not guilty.

The order gives both sides opportunities to argue those ​motions and rebut one ​another, and for prosecutors ⁠to reopen their case. The defense presents its principal evidence starting 60 calendar days after the prosecution concludes its case.

The trial ends with a sentencing phase.

Schrama rejected the ​prosecutors’ proposal to open the trial in January 2027, saying that would leave ​too little ⁠time for the “resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions.”

Mohammed remains the most well-known inmate at the Guantanamo detention facility, which was set up in 2002 by then-U.S. President George W. Bush to house foreign militant suspects following the ⁠September 11, ​2001, attacks.

He is accused of orchestrating the plot to fly hijacked ​passenger jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and into the Pentagon. The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

President Donald Trump’s administration has ​issued a pause on visa appointments for applicants around the world during ‌an ongoing immigration crackdown by the U.S. government in the Republican leader’s second term in the White House.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that it launched a global training initiative at ​all U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide and that appointments for visa services ​will be adjusted to accommodate the training, Reuters reported.

Trump has pursued an aggressive deportation ⁠drive and immigration crackdown that includes revocations of visas and green cards and rejection ​of applications over a. range of reasons like political opinions and pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s ​assault on Gaza.

He says the crackdown aims to improve domestic security.

The crackdown has faced some legal setbacks. A U.S. judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants ​from 75 countries, saying that the policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statutory ​authority.

The State Department did not specify details on the training and its timeline, beyond saying the ‌training aimed ⁠to help consular officers screen out applicants deemed likely to become dependent on U.S. public benefits and to ensure evaluation of visa applicants “comprehensively and consistently.”

The pause on visa appointments was reported earlier by the Financial Times, which said immigrant visa applicants with scheduled ​interviews at U.S. embassies ​and consulates have ⁠received emails that their appointments were being rescheduled and that they would receive future notice of a new date.

Trump’s immigration crackdown has ​been widely condemned by human rights groups as being discriminatory and ​in violation ⁠of free speech and due process rights. Rights groups also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment in the U.S., especially for ethnic minorities who have raised concerns about racial ⁠profiling.

While ​Trump campaigned in 2024 on a platform of stopping ​illegal immigration, his administration has also made legal immigration more difficult – for example, by imposing new and expensive fees ​for applicants of certain work visas.

U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with Russian officials, U.S. media outlets reported, citing unnamed ​sources.

The trip would be the first known visit to the Russian capital by ‌a U.S. spy chief since Ratcliffe’s predecessor, William Burns, held talks with Vladimir Putin in November 2021. About three months after that meeting, the Russian president launched Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

CBS News and Axios ​reported the visit by Ratcliffe, U.S. President Donald Trump’s CIA chief, who served ​as director of national intelligence in Trump’s first term. The outlets did ⁠not say whom he was meeting or what the talks are expected to cover.

The ​CIA declined to comment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed nor denied the report, telling ​Reuters President Vladimir Putin did not plan to have a meeting with Ratcliffe.

The U.S. last week asked Ukraine not to launch air strikes around Moscow, St. Petersburg, and some northern territories of Russia on ​Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week because a plane carrying a senior U.S. ​official would be flying to the Russian capital, said a source familiar with the matter.

The source declined ‌to ⁠provide further information. The Financial Times first reported the U.S. message to Ukraine.

On Monday, the U.S. warned countries to cut business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions, a move aimed at stepping up economic pressure on Tehran to settle the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran ​launched in February.

The U.S. ​has no ambassador ⁠to Russia, which maintains a close strategic partnership with Iran involving extensive military, economic and diplomatic ties.

Tehran supplied Moscow with drones for its ​war against Ukraine. In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of ​supplying its ⁠version of those drones to Iran.

A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reported by Reuters in April said that Russia has aided Iran with satellite imagery for use in targeting U.S. facilities in the ⁠Middle East.

Moscow ​denies providing such assistance and has said it is ​ready to help resolve the U.S.-Iran conflict.