11 h. ago The Latest: Federal judge blocks Trump administration decision to bar foreign students at Harvard

A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration decision to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students

Politics

25 h. ago Fear, hope and loathing in Elon Musk’s new city: ‘It’s the wild, wild west and the future’

Starbase in Texas, where the world’s richest man has a rocket-launching facility, was incorporated this week. Mars obsessives are flocking there – but some long-term locals are far from happyAlong a flat coastal highway in south-east Texas, surrounded by wetlands and open plains, the artefacts of a new American oligarchy appear in quick succession. Three towering rockets stand upright on the horizon. A fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks speeds by. A large mural of the Shiba Inu “doge” dog stares ahead, its arms crossed. There is a 12ft-tall bust of the world’s richest person, painted in bronze, facing a dusty roadside. “ELON aka MemeLord”, a plaque beneath reads. It’s not exactly romantic poetry, but the whole scene reminds me of the sonnet by Shelley: “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”While old Ozymandias may have seen his fiefdoms crumble, Elon Musk’s empire is possibly only just beginning. Here in Cameron County, on the southern tip of the Lone Star state, where Google Maps prou...

Politics

57 h. ago Judge reprimands Alina Habba’s office for ‘embarrassing’ case against New Jersey mayor

Trump’s top prosecutor in New Jersey made a ‘worrying misstep’ with the case of Mayor Ras Baraka, judge says

Events

59 h. ago Trump makes baseless claim white farmers are ‘executed’ as meeting with South Africa’s president turns chaotic

Cyril Ramaphosa responds ‘they are not’ after US president surprises him with footage he claims supports allegations of white genocideA federal judge has rejected a bid by the US treasury department to cancel a union contract covering tens of thousands of IRS staff, Reuters reports, in an early blow to Donald Trump’s efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for many federal workers.US district judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, said in a written opinion late on Tuesday that the department lacked legal standing to bring a lawsuit against the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). Continue reading...

Politics

60 h. ago Trump plays videos to South African president he claims support white genocide allegations in tense meeting – live

Cyril Ramaphosa and US president talk to reporters at White House when Trump surprises room by playing series of videos A federal judge has rejected a bid by the US treasury department to cancel a union contract covering tens of thousands of IRS staff, Reuters reports, in an early blow to Donald Trump’s efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for many federal workers.US district judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, said in a written opinion late on Tuesday that the department lacked legal standing to bring a lawsuit against the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). Continue reading...

Politics

62 h. ago Trump official says US seeking to deport eight migrants but doesn’t confirm South Sudan destination – live

Homeland security official said on Wednesday that the US is seeking to deport eight migrants convicted of serious crimesA federal judge has rejected a bid by the US treasury department to cancel a union contract covering tens of thousands of IRS staff, Reuters reports, in an early blow to Donald Trump’s efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for many federal workers.US district judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, said in a written opinion late on Tuesday that the department lacked legal standing to bring a lawsuit against the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump officials ‘illegally deported’ Vietnamese and Burmese migrants to South Sudan

Immigrant rights advocates say White House violated court order and ask judge to order nearly a dozen people’s returnImmigrant rights advocates have accused the Trump administration of deporting about a dozen migrants from countries including Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in violation of a court order, and asked a judge to order their return.Lawyers for the migrants made the request in a court filing on Tuesday directed to US district judge Brian Murphy, who had barred the Trump administration from swiftly deporting migrants to countries other than their own without first hearing any concerns they had that they might be tortured or persecuted if sent there. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago At least 50 migrants sent to El Salvador prison entered US legally, report finds

Cato analysis goes against Trump administration’s claim that only undocumented people were deported to CecotUS politics live – latest updatesAt least 50 Venezuelan men sent by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador had entered the United States legally, according to a review by the Cato Institute.The report, published by the libertarian thinktank on Monday, analyzed the available immigration data for only a portion of the men who were deported to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), and focuses on the cases where records could be found. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Lawyer for Venezuelans deported to El Salvador prison arrested

Ruth López held without access to lawyers at secret location accused of ‘embezzlement’ a decade agoThe head lawyer of a human rights group representing the families of Venezuelan migrants imprisoned in El Salvador after being deported from the United States has been arrested.Ruth López, an outspoken critic of President Nayib Bukele, was detained late on Sunday under an order from the prosecutor’s office which accused her of “embezzlement” when she worked for an electoral court a decade ago, the human rights group Cristosal said in a statement. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago US supreme court upholds block on Trump deportations under Alien Enemies Act as judge questions Ábrego García case – live

Justices block Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants; judge frustrated by DoJ’s failure to detail efforts to return wrongly deported manSupreme court blocks Trump bid to resume deportations under 1798 lawAlso on Iran, AFP reports that Trump said earlier that Tehran should make a quick decision on an American proposal for a nuclear deal or “something bad will happen”.Speaking in Abu Dhabi as he finished his Gulf tour, Trump said his administration had handed Iran a proposal for a agreement, adding that “they know they have to move quickly or something bad is going to happen”. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Supreme Court delivers massive blow to Trump over Alien Enemies Act deportations

7-2 decision finds government violated due process for Venezuelans during rushed attempt to deport them

Politics

7 d. ago Trump rages at Supreme Court over ruling that blocks Alien Enemies Act deportations: ‘Bad and dangerous day’

7-2 decision finds government violated due process for Venezuelans during rushed attempt to deport them

Politics

7 d. ago Venezuelans deported by Trump are victims of ‘torture’, lawyers allege

Lawyers hired by Venezuela have been unable to confirm ‘proof of life’ for 252 migrants imprisoned in El SalvadorLawyers for 252 Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration and imprisoned in El Salvador for two months have alleged that the migrants are victims of physical and emotional “torture”.A law firm hired by the Venezuelan government said that it had been unable to visit the migrants in the mega-prison where they are locked up. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Rights groups sue to free Venezuelans deported from the US and held in El Salvador

International human rights organizations have filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador’s government to release Venezuelans deported from the United States and held in a maximum-security prison

Politics

2 w. ago Judge bars Trump administration from shrinking agencies that fund libraries, settle labor disputes

A federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump’s administration from dramatically shrinking three agencies that fund libraries, settle labor disputes and support state business contracting programs

Politics

2 w. ago Identity of second man illegally deported to El Salvador prison revealed

Daniel Lozano-Camargo, 20, was deported in March in violation of a legal settlement over his asylum applicationThe identity of a second man illegally deported from the US by the Trump administration in defiance of a court order and now in detention in El Salvador has been revealed.Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a 20-year-old Venezuelan, was deported to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot terrorism confinement facility in March under the White House’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, Politico reported. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Judge cautions prosecutors in healthcare exec murder trial to refrain from public comments

Comments from legal team and Trump administration officials could prevent Luigi Mangione from getting a fair trialDuring a 25 April proceeding in Luigi Mangione’s Manhattan federal court case for allegedly murdering UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson last year, the judge implored prosecutors to watch what they say – including top honchos of Donald Trump’s justice department.Judge Margaret M Garnett pointed prosecutors to a district court policy barring lawyers on both sides from making “public commentary that could impede Mr Mangione’s right to a fair trial”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Elon Musk’s company town: SpaceX employees vote to create ‘Starbase’

Residents – most of them SpaceX workers – in remote Texas community approve plan to create new cityVoters in a small patch of south Texas voted on Saturday to give Elon Musk a town to call his own, officially creating a new city called Starbase in the area where Musk’s SpaceX holds rocket launches.A couple of hundred residents of what was previously known as Boca Chica decided to make their unincorporated neighborhoods into a town that will grant them the authority to pass city ordinances. Continue reading...

Technology

2 w. ago Elon Musk’s company town: SpaceX employees to vote on ‘Starbase’

Residents – most of them SpaceX workers – in remote Texas community expected to approve plan to create new cityVoters in a small patch of south Texas are casting their ballots on Saturday in an election that could give Elon Musk a town to call his own. The vote would officially create a new city called Starbase in the area where Musk’s SpaceX holds its Texas rocket launches.A couple of hundred residents of what was previously known as Boca Chica will decide whether to make their unincorporated neighborhoods into a town that would grant them the authority to pass city ordinances. The outcome, which will be decided almost entirely by SpaceX employees and their families, who make up the majority of the local population, is nearly guaranteed to result in incorporation. Continue reading...

Technology

3 w. ago Voters to decide if the Texas home of Elon Musk's SpaceX should become an official city: Starbase

Voters are deciding if the South Texas home of Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX will become an official city known as Starbase

Politics