Judge blocks Trump's birthright citizenship order after Supreme Court ruling
A federal judge on Thursday again barred President Donald Trump's administration from denying citizenship to some babies born in the U.S., making use of an exception to overcome the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that restricted the ability of judges to block that and other policies nationwide, BBC reported.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante ruled at a hearing in Concord, New Hampshire, after immigrant rights advocates implored him to grant class action status to a lawsuit they filed seeking to represent any children whose citizenship status would be threatened by the implementation of Trump's executive order curtailing automatic birthright citizenship.
The ruling is far from the last word in the legal battle over Trump's order, which he signed in January on his first day back in office. The judge paused his ruling for seven days to give the Trump administration time to appeal, which a Justice Department lawyer at the hearing indicated would certainly happen, according to BBC.
Laplante, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, agreed, opens new tab the plaintiffs could provisionally proceed as a class, allowing him to issue a fresh judicial order blocking implementation of the Republican president's policy nationally.
Brazil's Lula pledges retaliation to Trump tariffs but keeps diplomacy open
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he wanted to find a diplomatic solution to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports, but vowed to reciprocate like-for-like if they take effect on August 1, BBC reported.
"We'll first try to negotiate, but if there's no negotiation, the law of reciprocity will be put into practice," Lula said in an interview with Record TV, citing a law Congress recently passed giving the president powers to retaliate against trade barriers. "If they're going to charge us 50, we'll charge them 50."
The president is unlikely to announce any retaliatory measures until the tariffs are implemented, said a Brazilian diplomat who requested anonymity to describe internal government debates. "We have until August 1," the source said, according to BBC.
In a letter to Lula published on Wednesday, Trump linked the tariffs to Brazil's judiciary launching legal proceedings against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial on charges of plotting a coup to stop Lula from taking office in 2023 after hundreds of pro-Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress. Trump said Bolsonaro was the victim of a "witch hunt."
North Korean defector to sue Kim Jong Un for abuse
A North Korean defector is filing civil and criminal charges against the country's leader Kim Jong Un for abuses she faced while detained in the country, BBC reported.
Choi Min-kyung fled the North to China in 1997 but was forcibly repatriated in 2008. She said she was sexually abused and tortured after her return.
When she files the case in Seoul on Friday, it will be the first time a North Korean-born defector takes legal action against the regime, said a South-based rights group assisting Ms Choi.
South Korean courts have in the past ruled against North Korea on similar claims by South Koreans but such verdicts are largely symbolic and ignored by Pyongyang, according to BBC.
UK to return some migrants to France within weeks - PM
The UK will begin returning migrants arriving in small boats to France within weeks under a new pilot scheme, Sir Keir Starmer has said, BBC reported.
Under the "one in, one out" deal, some arrivals would be returned to France and in exchange the UK would accept an equivalent number of asylum seekers, subject to security checks.
Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of a three-day state visit, the prime minister said the plan would show that attempts to cross the Channel in small boats would "be in vain".
It had been reported that the scheme would see up to 50 people a week being returned, but Sir Keir did not confirm any figures, according to BBC