U.S. judge rejects business group's challenge to Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee
A federal judge on Tuesday (December 23, 2025) rejected a challenge by ‍the largest U.S. business lobby group to U.S. President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, saying it fell ‌under his broad powers to regulate immigration, Reuters reported.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., rejected arguments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the fee conflicts with federal immigration law and will lead many companies, hospitals and other employers to cut jobs and the services they provide to the public.
“The parties’ vigorous debate over the ultimate wisdom of this political judgment is not within the province of the courts,” Justice Howell wrote. “So long as the actions dictated by the policy decision and articulated in the Proclamation fit within the confines of the law, the Proclamation must be upheld.”
UN experts urge Iran to stop execution of woman activist
UN experts and 400 prominent women have urged Iran not to execute Zahra Tabari, a 67-year-old electrical engineer and women's rights activist, BBC reported.
Ms Tabari was arrested in April and accused of collaborating with a banned opposition group, the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), according to her family.
In October, she was convicted of "armed rebellion" by a Revolutionary Court in Rasht after a trial via video link that lasted less than 10 minutes. Her family said the verdict was based on extremely limited and unreliable evidence: a piece of cloth bearing the words "Woman, Resistance, Freedom", and an unpublished audio message, according to BBC.
US denies visas to ex-EU commissioner and others over social media rules
The US State Department said it would deny visas to five people, including a former EU commissioner, for seeking to "coerce" American social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose, BBC reported.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states - in each case targeting American speakers and American companies," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, suggested that a "witch hunt" was taking place, according to BBC.
Gunmen abduct 28 Muslim travellers in central Nigeria
Armed men have kidnapped 28 people travelling to an annual Islamic event in Nigeria's central Plateau state, local police told the BBC.
The victims, including women and children, were ambushed in their bus on Sunday night as it was driving between villages.
Police spokesperson Alabo Alfred said the authorities have "deployed assets" to the affected area to ensure that those abducted are rescued, according to BBC.
