Amna Nawaz:
We start the day’s other headlines with a series of legal developments.
First up, a judge has ordered that Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil be freed from the immigration detention center where he’s been held since March. The Trump administration is trying to deport Khalil for engaging in pro-Palestinian protests, saying he’s a threat to the nation’s foreign policy.
But the judge in New Jersey said Khalil is not a flight risk and is — quote — “not a danger to the community, period, full stop.” Khalil is a green card holder and a legal U.S. resident. He’s not been charged with any crime.
Also today, a federal judge is blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent Harvard University from hosting international students. Today’s order is a temporary victory for the school, which has been the target of government actions towards its tax-exempt status and billions of dollars in federal funding, among others.
It comes as President Trump said on social media that his administration is nearing a deal with Harvard, saying school officials have — quote — “acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations and appear to be committed to doing what’s right.”
In California, a federal judge set a Monday deadline for state officials to argue whether and how they will challenge the Trump administration’s use of the National Guard in Los Angeles. Last night, an appeals court said President Trump can retain federal control of California’s forces for now.
Trump deployed them earlier this month over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom amid protests against immigration raids. Vice President J.D. Vance is in L.A. tonight, where he’s set to meet with federal law enforcement and Marines, who were also deployed in response to the recent demonstrations.
The Supreme Court sided with the fossil fuel and vaping industries today in a pair of 7-2 decisions. In one case, the justices decided to allow fuel producers to challenge California’s ability to set stricter emission standards than federal law typically allows. Oil and gas companies had argued that California’s waiver from those federal standards hurts the gas-powered car industry.
Separately, the court rejected a bid by the FDA to limit which courts vaping companies can use to challenge federal regulations. The justices found that R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company can pursue a case about e-cigarette marketing in the nation’s Fifth Circuit. That court has been more friendly to the industry. Anti-smoking groups say the ruling could hurt efforts to keep young people from vaping.
The Trump administration sent layoff notices to hundreds more employees at Voice of America today. The cuts impacted 639 employees at the broadcaster and the U.S. agency that oversees it. According to a press release, that means some 1,400 people have now lost their jobs since March, or about 85 percent of its prior work force.
VOA began broadcasting to residents of Nazi Germany in the 1940s. But President Trump’s senior adviser to the agency, Kari Lake, says the layoffs are a — quote — “long-overdue effort” to dismantle what she calls a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy.
Turning overseas, at least 37 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip today, some while trying to get food. Hospital officials in Central Gaza say they received the bodies of 14 people. Many of them died in an Israeli airstrike on a home nearby. They say the others were killed as they tried to get food at an aid distribution site.
Violence near such sites has become almost daily occurrences, with the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry saying hundreds have been killed in recent weeks. In a statement provided to Reuters, Israel says it fired warning shots at suspected militants who approached its forces and then — quote — “struck and eliminated the suspects with an aircraft.”
Lawmakers in the U.K. approved a bill today to legalize assisted dying, bringing it one step closer to becoming law.
