Welcome to the Saturday briefing, which, as you’ll see below, caps a very busy week. Our World News podcast digs into Australia's mushroom-murders trial, while our latest edition of City Memo explores Dublin. I recommend my colleague Ossian Shine’s first column looking ahead to weekend sports action. We're also keeping an eye on the Pride march in Budapest, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of people despite being banned.
Power curb: The 6-3 ruling reduces the power of federal judges to impose nationwide rulings to limit President Trump’s policies, but left unresolved the issue of whether he can limit birthright citizenship. The court also allowed parents to take their children out of classes where teachers read storybooks featuring LGBT characters, and preserved an element of Obamacare that helps guarantee that health insurers cover preventive care such as cancer screenings and medication to prevent HIV. Here’s the rundown on all the rulings, which gave Trump a series of victories as the court wrapped up its term. Also: A federal judge permanently blocked a White House executive order against Susman Godfrey, saying it was unlawful retaliation for the law firm's efforts to promote racial diversity.
But first: The second deportation, which will not send him to El Salvador, will come after he is tried in federal court on migrant-smuggling charges, a White House spokesperson said. Florida is building a migrant-detention facility in the Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, with minimal security thanks to the inhospitable terrain and fauna. The Pentagon will create two new military zones along the Mexico border to allow troops to detain migrants and trespassers. Immigration officers arrested Iranian asylum-seekers in Los Angeles.
Abroad: Portugal doubled the amount of time most foreigners need to be legal residents before applying for citizenship to 10 years thanks to pressure from the far right to reduce immigration. Germany is moving closer to suspending family reunification for migrants who do not qualify for full refugee status. Greece will deploy ships near Libya to stem migrant flows.
Middle East: The U.N. secretary-general said the U.S.-backed aid operation is inherently unsafe and is killing people. Israel’s military is investigating a deadly shooting near one aid site as a war crime, Haaretz reported. Syrian Christians struggled to understand why a suicide attack targeted their community in Damascus.
What did he say? Vladimir Putin’s remarks come after a NATO meeting this week where allies agreed to raise their collective spending goal to 5% of GDP over the next 10 years, citing a long-term threat posed by Russia. The West likely will greet Putin’s comments on reduced spending with extreme skepticism.
Back to chaos: Canada’s new tax targeting U.S. tech firms is a “blatant attack,” and Washington will set a new tariff rate on Canadian goods next week, he said. Trump also is planning executive orders to boost energy supply to power U.S. expansion of artificial intelligence. A group of authors sued Microsoft, saying it used their books without permission to train its AI model, while Meta fended off another authors’ lawsuit.
Doing donuts: McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme are ending their partnership in the United States. Tesla’s Robotaxi test in Austin, Texas didn’t go well, videos from company-selected riders showed.
