BBC News Briefing

27 June, 2025

Alex has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is smiling and wearing a black turtleneck

Alex Binley

Hello. In a highly significant ruling, the US Supreme Court has curbed the power of lower courts to block presidential orders nationwide. BBC Verify analysis of videos from across Gaza show chaos and panic as people head to get aid through a controversial new system. And finally, less than flattering mannequins of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his new wife-to-be have appeared across Venice as the city plays host to their wedding. Plus, try your hand at our quiz of the week.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Trump hails 'giant win' after Supreme Court curbs judges' power to block orders

Trump called the decision a "monumental victory for the constitution". Credit: Reuters

US President Donald Trump is celebrating a "giant win" after the Supreme Court ruled to curb the power of federal judges to block presidential orders nationwide. In a 6-3 ruling, it said lower courts had exceeded their authority when they blocked a bid by the White House to limit automatic birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants born in the US. The ruling "emboldens" Trump "to enact many of his other policy actions that have been temporarily thwarted by similar injunctions", writes North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher. However, the judges did not rule whether Trump's executive order goes against the US constitution or not, meaning it'll likely end up before the top court at a later date.

More on the ruling

GET UP TO SPEED

A courtroom sketch shows two men and a woman sat down and looking straight ahead

Diddy charges 'badly exaggerated', lawyer says

The hip hop star denies the charges against him, including sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Latest updates >

A young man wearing a black suit and bow ties with a white shirt, has very blond hair which is slicked back. He is sat at a table and looking to the side. A woman wearing a yellow dress is sat next to him and claps.

Son of Norway princess suspected of rape - police

Marius Borg Høiby, who is the stepson of Norway's future king, is suspected of three rapes and 23 other offences, police said.

Read more >

Mark Carney and Donald Trump sit on yellow chairs in front of a fireplace and are talking. Both men are wearing suits

Trump says he is cutting off trade talks with Canada

Canada had been hoping to secure a trade deal with the US next month to avoid steep tariffs, but a tax policy has angered Trump.

More on this >

Anna Wintour has brown bobbed hair with a fringe and is looking at the camera and smiling

Who could replace Anna Wintour as Vogue editor?

After 37 years at the helm of the fashion magazine, Anna Wintour leaves big shoes to fill.

Runners and riders >

AT THE SCENE

Nairobi, Kenya

Are East African governments uniting to silence dissent?

A Kenya police officer, in camouflage uniform, hits a fleeing protester, wearing a red hat, with a baton during a protest.

Kenya's crackdown on protesters over the last year has sullied its image as a beacon of democracy. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Kenya has been hit by a recent wave of repression, tarnishing its reputation as a beacon of democracy in East Africa. Just this week, at least 10 people were killed in demonstrations against the government, which then attempted to ban live coverage of the protests. Critics fear Kenya is sliding down the path of neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania, both of which are notorious for cracking down on dissent, and that the governments of the three are collaborating.

Basillioh Rukanga, senior journalist

Activists are alarmed by the fact that more than 80 Kenyans have been abducted in the past year by people who never identified themselves, raising fears that this was the government's latest strategy to crush dissent after the protests over moves to increase taxes amidst a cost-of-living crisis.

‌

There is also mounting evidence that Kenya is no longer a safe haven for Ugandans and Tanzanians, with security agencies from the three states apparently colluding to crack down on the opposition. Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye was in Nairobi for a book launch in November, when he vanished - only to surface four days later in a military court in Uganda. About two months after this, exiled Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai said she was abducted by armed men in Nairobi who released her several hours later. Tsehai said she was manhandled and choked by four assailants who forced her into a vehicle. "I am sure that the reason for the abduction was to get access to my social media [because of] the whistleblowing job that I do," she said, as her abductors kept asking how to unlock her phone.

Keep reading

Death in custody: Why the death of a blogger has put Kenya's police on trial.

Critics' disappearances: The abductions of more than 80 government critics in six months has sparked fears of a return to Kenya's dark past.

President's nicknames: Why does Kenya's William Ruto have so many monikers, many of which are not flattering?

PICK OF THE WEEK

A month into Gaza's new aid system - gunfire and chaos are routine

A black and white image shows a man wearing a black vest </div><script type=