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President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the US central bank Wednesday with a call for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to step down, as he repeatedly criticizes Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates.”Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, sharing a Bloomberg news report on how the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s director has called for greater scrutiny of Cook over a pair of mortgages.FHFA director Bill Pulte — a staunch ally of Trump — had reportedly written a letter to the US attorney general calling for an investigation of Cook while suggesting that she might have committed a criminal offense.Cook said she had learned about it in a post on social media, and that the mortgage application took place “before I joined the Federal Reserve.””I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” she said in a statement to AFP.But she said she would take questions about her financial history “seriously” and was “gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”The Trump administration has pursued allegations of mortgage fraud against high-profile Democrats who are seen as political adversaries of the president.It was not immediately clear if such a probe will take place targeting Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank’s board.The president is also limited in his ability to remove officials from the central bank.A Supreme Court order recently suggested that Fed officials cannot be taken out of their jobs over policy disagreements, meaning they have to be removed for “cause,” which could be interpreted to mean wrongdoing.- ‘A disaster’ -The US leader’s targeting of Cook, who sits on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, comes after his repeated broadsides against Powell while the central bank kept the benchmark lending rate unchanged this year.On Tuesday night, Trump again called for a “major rate cut,” saying there was “no inflation” and claiming that the Fed’s policymaking was harming the housing industry due to elevated mortgage rates.He called Powell “a disaster” in a social media post.Although the US consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, was steady at 2.7 percent in July, it remains higher than it was a few months earlier.Fed officials have been trying to ensure inflation is kept in check — despite the effects of Trump’s sweeping tariffs — while balancing risks to the labor market as they mull the right time for further rate cuts.Cook took office as a Fed governor in May 2022 and was reappointed to the board in September 2023. She was sworn in later that same month for a term ending in 2038.She has previously served on the Council of Economic Advisers under former president Barack Obama.Earlier this year, Trump suggested that what he called an overly costly renovation of the Fed’s headquarters could be a reason to oust Powell, before backing off the threat.Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May 2026.

Donald Trump’s newfound if vague willingness to entertain security guarantees for Ukraine could be a game-changer, but the US president’s right-wing base is already warning him not to go too far.After a campaign last year spent bashing predecessor Joe Biden over billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, and Trump’s public upbraiding of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February, Trump has considered promises to Kyiv to end the Russian invasion.He has ruled out ground troops as well as NATO membership, siding with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in blaming Ukraine’s aspirations for the Western alliance for the February 2022 invasion.But after Trump welcomed Putin to Alaska on Friday, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said the Russian president had agreed to a “concession” of the United States offering “Article Five-like protection” for Ukraine, referring to NATO’s binding promise that an attack on one is an attack on all.Some observers doubted Witkoff’s understanding of Putin, noting that Moscow publicly has insisted on guarantees for Russia.But Trump has said “we’ll give them very good protection” and has spoken of providing US airpower to enforce any agreement.Little is known about what US airpower would entail, but it could support a deployment of European troops to Ukraine mulled by France and Britain.If the United States agreed to enforce control of the Ukrainian skies, it would be an “incredible green light for greater ambition” by Europeans on security, said Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund.European leaders showed striking unity and solidarity by coming together to Washington on Monday to back Zelensky in talks with Trump, she said.”For there to be a meaningful difference on the ground in Ukraine, it can’t just be diplomatic alignment. It can’t just be the heads of state being in lockstep for a few days at a time,” she said.”Instead, they have to be ready to actually move and to show to Trump, ‘We have everything ready; we just need x from you to make this work.'”- Vagueness on options -Trump, however, could also authorize a much smaller air deployment, such as one focused on reconnaissance that would see limited numbers of US planes in the Ukrainian skies.”President Trump said some things in his meetings with the European leaders and Zelensky and I am betting a huge sum of money that there are people around Trump who are going to spend a lot of time walking that back,” said Debra Cagan, a former senior US policymaker now at the Atlantic Council.”What I mean by that is that they’re going to try a very de minimis approach to security guarantees, to do as little as possible to carry that out,” she said.She said that any successful strategy needed to have components on land and air as well as sea, including keeping the crucial Black Sea ports open for Ukraine.- Pushback from base -Trump retains a strong hold on the Republican Party, but has already seen some dissent within his hard-right base, which backed him in part for his dismissive attitude to foreign involvement.Outspoken Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who earlier criticized Trump for bombing Iran, said she believed voters would be “appalled” by more support for Ukraine as they struggle with day-to-day concerns.”America is broke,” she told conservative host Megyn Kelly. “At some point we have to start saying no to the rest of the world.”Trump-aligned Senator Tommy Tuberville said it would be an “impossible sell” to voters still shaken by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to start another long-term US military commitment, according to The Hill newspaper.Trump, however, has tried hard to portray the war as belonging to Biden and has spoken openly of his desire for the Nobel Peace Prize.”He could probably sell to his base that this is about America keeping peace and not about America making war,” Berzina said.

Hurricane Erin was nearing North Carolina’s coast Wednesday, threatening huge waves and flooding as the strengthening Category 2 storm triggered mandatory evacuation orders despite its offshore path.The US state, still reeling from last year’s deadly Hurricane Helene, declared an emergency Tuesday as Erin’s impacts were predicted to begin from Wednesday evening through Thursday.”Based on the current forecast, we are anticipating coastal flooding from massive waves, tropical storm force winds and tidal and storm surge for much of the state shoreline, especially the Outer Banks, from this evening through Thursday,” Governor Josh Stein told reporters. As of Wednesday afternoon, Erin was churning northward some 300 miles southeast of North Carolina, packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center — with the possibility it could still restrengthen to a major hurricane.Its unusually large size means tropical storm-force winds extend hundreds of miles from its center, earning it the moniker “Enormous Erin” by hurricane specialist Michael Lowry, who wrote on Substack the US was fortunate to be spared a direct hit.Erin’s low pressure of around 940 millibars at its center is “remarkably low” and a more telling indicator of its destructive potential than wind speed, Lowry added.Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands. Parts of North Carolina to Virginia were under a tropical storm warning.Stein urged residents to pack enough food, water and supplies to last up to five days — and to safeguard important documents like insurance policies.”We have already pre-positioned three swift water rescue teams and 200 National Guard troops to various locations on the coast, along with boats, high clearance vehicles and aircraft,” he added.- ‘Massive’ waves -Highway 12 — which runs through the scenic Outer Banks, a string of low-lying islands and spits already under threat from sea-level rise and erosion  — could be left impassable by waves as high as 20 feet (six meters).Last year’s Hurricane Helene caused approximately $60 billion in damage to North Carolina, equivalent to almost two years of the state’s budget, said Stein, who criticized what he called inadequate federal assistance from the administration of President Donald Trump.Trump has mused about dismantling the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has long been a target of conspiracy theories from the political right.Beyond the flooding risks in North Carolina, nearly the whole of the US East Coast meanwhile is threatened by rip currents, powerful surges that run against the tide. – Insurance risks -The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has entered its historical peak.Despite a relatively quiet start with just four named storms so far, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration continues to forecast an above-normal season.Scientists say climate change is supercharging tropical cyclones: warmer oceans fuel stronger winds, a warmer atmosphere intensifies rainfall, and higher sea levels magnify storm surge.There is also some evidence, though less certainty, that climate change is making hurricanes more frequent.

Texas Republicans were on course Wednesday to approve a contentious new electoral map pushed by President Donald Trump to eke out more seats and defend their razor-thin majority in the US House of Representatives, with the midterm elections looming.   The vote had been delayed by two weeks after Democratic legislators fled the state to halt the aggressive redistricting drive, which carves out five new Republican-friendly districts.More than 50 Democrats walked out, stalling legislative business and generating national headlines as they sought to draw attention to the rare mid-decade redistricting push.The rebels returned this week, but not before their protest had set off a national map-drawing war, with Trump pressuring his party’s state-level officials to do everything they can to protect the House majority. The stakes are sky-high for Trump, who will be bogged down in investigations into almost every aspect of his second term if Democrats manage to flip the handful of districts nationwide needed to win back the House in 2026 midterm elections.  As lawmakers in the Lone Star State debated the map, Democratic representative Chris Turner called it a “clear violation of the Voting Rights Act and the constitution,” according to Austin-based news site The Texas Tribune.Lawmakers sped up the normal legislative process, hoping to bring the new map to a final vote as early as Wednesday evening, with the outcome seen as something of a foregone conclusion in the Republican-led Texas legislature.   After the map gets a green light in the state’s House, it moves to the Senate, where it has passed in a previous session, before heading to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.- Playing hardball -Districts are usually redrawn every 10 years after the US census, and are supposed to be based on its findings, so that districts accurately represent the people who live there. But this is governed by convention, rather than by law.”Redistricting can be done at any point in time,” said the map’s sponsor, Republican Todd Hunter, according to the Tribune. “The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance.”There is little Democrats in Texas can do to thwart the map, but it has prompted retaliation in California, and serious discussions in other Democratic states alarmed that the Texas maneuver could be replicated nationwide.  Republicans are mulling drawing at least 10 new seats and are targeting Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire, Indiana, South Carolina and Florida.Trump on Monday posted the proposed map of Texas on his Truth Social platform, calling it “one of the most popular initiatives I have ever supported.”State lawmakers in Democratic stronghold California — the largest and richest US state — introduced three bills on Monday to create a voter referendum this year for a new congressional map that would effectively counteract Texas.If approved in the state of 39 million residents, the referendum would appear on California’s November 4 ballot.”Nothing about this is normal, and so we’re not going to act as if anything is normal any longer,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a call with reporters on Wednesday. “Yes, we’ll fight fire with fire. Yes, we will push back. It’s not about whether we play hardball anymore, it’s about how we play hardball.”New York Democrats may follow suit, with Governor Kathy Hochul calling the Texas redistricting plan nothing short of a “legal insurrection.”

US Vice President JD Vance’s meet-and-greet with troops deployed in Washington was interrupted on Wednesday by repeated shouts of “Free DC,” as the National Guard said forces from multiple Republican-led states had arrived in the capital.President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of the National Guard in Washington last week as part of what he has called a crackdown on crime, despite statistics showing violent offenses were down in the city.The DC National Guard mobilized 800 troops for the mission, while Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200 more.Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller visited troops at Washington’s Union Station Wednesday.Loud boos could be heard from outside as Vance walked into a fast-food restaurant at the train station. People also shouted slogans including “Free DC! Free DC!” as he greeted troops and spoke with reporters.Vance dismissed the hecklers as “a bunch of crazy protesters,” saying: “We hear these people outside screaming ‘Free DC.’ Let’s free DC from lawlessness. Let’s free Washington, DC from one of the highest murder rates in the entire world.”According to the Igarape Institute, a Brazilian non-profit that monitors murder rates, the US capital had the world’s 50th-highest rate among cities in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.The vice president’s visit to Union Station came as the National Guard posted photos on social media showing personnel from the Republican-led states of Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia arriving at the DC Armory.”Guardsmen continue to support law enforcement partners in safeguarding property and ensuring the functions of government,” the post on X said.- Violent crime is down -The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.But data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.Asked Wednesday if crime statistics had been manipulated by the local police, Vance asserted that “crime statistics all over our country were massively underreported, because a lot of people would pick up the phone, they call somebody and try to get help, and nobody would show up.”Response times in Washington and other areas were “way too long” because there was “too much crime and too few law enforcement agents on the street to bring order,” he said.In addition to sending troops onto the streets, Trump has also sought to take full control of the local Washington police department, attempting at one point to sideline its leadership.After a legal challenge, the Trump administration agreed to allow the police chief to remain in charge, while seeking to push the police to assist with immigration enforcement.Federal law enforcement personnel — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have also recently surged their presence on Washington’s streets, drawing protests from residents.The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was sparked by immigration enforcement raids.That marked the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard against the wishes of a state governor.Most National Guard forces answer to governors and have to be “federalized” to be brought under presidential control, but in Washington these troops already report only to the US president.

Google on Wednesday unveiled new Pixel 10 smartphones that promise more artificial intelligence capabilities, as it seeks to elbow out competition in the emerging AI-assistant market.Comedian Jimmy Fallon hosted a launch event in Brooklyn that blended Google product pitches with stars such as The Jonas Brothers band and Stephen Curry of the Golden Gate Warriors basketball team.”This is exciting,” Fallon, host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” said in an opening monologue.”It’s like a Taylor Swift announcement for nerds.”The line-up of new products included a foldable phone, improved Pixel smartwatch, and ear buds all synced to work with AI and each other.”Pixel continues to be the best way for people to try out the latest bleeding-edge AI from Google,” product manager Tyler Kugler said during a briefing with journalists.Pixel phones claim a scant portion of a high-end smartphone market ruled by Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, but custom Google hardware is an opportunity for the internet giant to highlight what is possible with its Android mobile operating system and the Gemini AI assistant.While Samsung routinely ranks as the world’s top smartphone seller, its products run on Android software.”Initially, Google Pixel devices were designed as a technological showcase to limit Android fragmentation and accelerate innovation,” said Forrester principal analyst Thomas Husson.”Ten years later, the strategic challenge is still not to become the market leader, but to demonstrate the value of Google’s integrated ecosystem.”- AI competition -The tactic promises to promote use of Google’s platform by handset makers and is a spin on the way Apple ties together its iPhones and other devices with its software.Meanwhile, with Apple seen as lagging in the fierce AI race, Google has touted all-out efforts to integrate advanced AI throughout its offerings as it competes with powerhouses such as Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft.”Its positioning remains premium and its market share is less than 5 percent, but in the age of AI, it is a true laboratory of innovation,” Husson said of the Pixel smartphone line.It is also “a means of countering Apple’s integrated hardware-software-services strategy while remaining a strategic partner for Samsung and the Android ecosystem,” Husson added.AI built into new Pixel phones lets Gemini AI assistant look through the cameras to “see” what users see, answering questions or providing tips about locations, objects or situations, according to Kugler.Google is not the only one putting AI in phones. South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung has made AI a centerpiece of its Galaxy smartphone line and recently released a new Galaxy Z Fold7.Google’s product team described the new Pixel Watch 4 as a redesigned experience that marks the biggest update to the line.Features include smartwatch fitness tracking fine-tuned to distinguish between activities such as walking, bicycling, or tennis. The Pixel Watch also enables users to command Gemini AI assistant from one’s wrist.Gemini detects the mood of whoever is speaking to it and adjusts its responses accordingly, and can even “look” through the phone camera to offer photo suggestions, according to the Google team.AI was also used to add 100x telephoto lens capability to Pixel smartphone camera.Pixel 10 prices start at $799, with the Pixel Pro Fold model starting at $1,799. 

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the criminal case against sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.District Judge Richard Berman said the government had failed to prove there were any special circumstances that would justify releasing what are normally secret records.The Justice Department has been seeking the release of the grand jury transcripts to help defuse spiraling anger among President Donald Trump’s own supporters over what they have long seen as a cover-up of Epstein’s crimes.Epstein, a wealthy financier with high-level connections, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of underage girls.Berman noted that the government holds a trove of Epstein investigation materials that it promised in February it would release to the public before abruptly announcing in July that it would not do so.Trump’s supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said in July that Epstein committed suicide while in jail, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a “client list.””The Government’s 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials,” the judge said.”The Government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein Files,” the judge said, and its bid to unseal the Epstein grand jury transcripts “appears to be a ‘diversion.'”The judge also said unsealing the grand jury proceedings could pose “possible threats” to the safety and privacy of Epstein’s more than 1,000 victims.- Maxwell -Berman’s ruling comes a little over a week after another federal judge declined to release the grand jury transcripts in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the only former Epstein associate to have been convicted of criminal charges in connection with his activities.Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of recruiting underage girls for Epstein.Her lawyers had opposed releasing the transcripts, saying it could potentially impact her ongoing legal appeals of her conviction.US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — who is also Trump’s former personal lawyer — met recently with Maxwell but has not revealed what was discussed.She was later moved to a minimum security prison.Trump, 79, was once a friend of Epstein and, according to The Wall Street Journal, the president’s name was among hundreds found during a Justice Department review of the Epstein files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.A House of Representatives committee has subpoenaed the Epstein files and is to receive a first batch of records on Friday from the Justice Department.A committee spokesperson said the panel would begin publicly releasing some of the records after victim identification and child sexual abuse material has been redacted.

Russia said on Wednesday it had to be part of any discussion on security guarantees for Ukraine and downplayed the likelihood of an imminent summit with President Volodymyr Zelensky, tempering hopes for a quick peace deal.NATO military chiefs meanwhile held a virtual summit on security guarantees for Ukraine, the latest in a flurry of global diplomacy aimed at brokering an end to the nearly three-and-a-half year conflict.”On #Ukraine, we confirmed our support. Priority continues to be a just, credible and durable peace,” the chair of the alliance’s military committee, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, wrote on X after the meeting.Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier warned that “seriously discussing security guarantees without the Russian Federation is a utopia, a road to nowhere”.Moscow signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, which was aimed at ensuring security for Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan in exchange for them giving up numerous nuclear weapons left from the Soviet era.But Russia violated that first by taking Crimea in 2014, and then by starting a full-scale offensive in 2022, which has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.On Tuesday, top US officer Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held talks with European military chiefs on the “best options for a potential Ukraine peace deal”, a US defence official told AFP.In eastern Ukraine, far from the diplomatic deliberations, Russian forces claimed fresh advances on the ground and Ukrainian officials reported more deaths from Russian attacks.- Diplomatic flurry -US President Donald Trump brought Zelensky and European leaders to the White House on Monday, three days after his landmark encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.Russia’s long-serving foreign minister downplayed the meeting in Washington, describing it as a “clumsy” attempt to change the US president’s position on Ukraine. Trump, long a fierce critic of the billions of dollars in US support to Ukraine, earlier said European nations were “willing to put people on the ground” to secure any settlement. He ruled out sending US troops but suggested the country might provide air support.Russia has long said it will never tolerate the presence of any Western troops in Ukraine.While Trump said Putin had agreed to meet Zelensky and accept some Western security guarantees for Ukraine, Russia has not confirmed this.Lavrov also cast doubt on an imminent meeting between the sworn enemies, saying that any summit between Putin and Zelensky “must be prepared in the most meticulous way” so it does not lead to a “deterioration” of the situation surrounding the conflict.- Fresh Russian strikes -Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram Wednesday that its troops had captured the villages of Sukhetske and Pankivka in the embattled Donetsk region.They are near a section of the front where the Russian army broke through Ukrainian defences last week, between the logistics hub of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka.”Our units are engaged in heavy defensive battles against superior Russian forces,” said Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky.  Six civilians were killed by Russian attacks across eastern and southern Ukraine Wednesday, local authorities said.One person died in Russia’s western Bryansk region as a result of a Ukrainian drone strike, the local governor said.Russia’s aerial attacks on the northeastern town of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region wounded at least 14 people, including three children, according to regional governor Oleg Grygorov.Zelensky said these latest strikes showed “the need to put pressure on Moscow”, including through sanctions.

President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the US central bank Wednesday, calling for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to step down — after his recent criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates sooner.”Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, while sharing a Bloomberg news report on how the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s director has called for greater scrutiny of Cook over a pair of mortgages.FHFA director Bill Pulte — a staunch ally of Trump — had reportedly written a letter to the US attorney general calling for an investigation of Cook while suggesting that she might have committed a criminal offense.The Trump administration has pursued allegations of mortgage fraud against high-profile Democrats who are seen as political adversaries of the president.It was not immediately clear if such a probe will take place targeting Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank’s board.The president is also limited in his ability to remove officials from the central bank.A Supreme Court order recently suggested that Fed officials cannot be taken out of their jobs over policy disagreements, meaning they have to be removed for “cause,” which could be interpreted to mean wrongdoing.- ‘A disaster’ -The US leader’s targeting of Cook, who sits on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, comes after his repeated broadsides against Powell while the central bank kept the benchmark lending rate unchanged this year.On Tuesday night, Trump again called for a “major rate cut,” saying there was “no inflation” and claiming that the Fed’s policymaking was harming the housing industry due to elevated mortgage rates.He called Powell “a disaster” in a social media post.Although the US consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, was steady at 2.7 percent in July, it remains higher than it was a few months earlier.Fed officials have been trying to ensure inflation is kept in check — despite the effects of Trump’s sweeping tariffs — while balancing risks to the labor market as they mull the right time for further rate cuts.Cook took office as a Fed governor in May 2022 and was reappointed to the board in September 2023. She was sworn in later that same month for a term ending in 2038.She has previously served on the Council of Economic Advisers under former president Barack Obama.Earlier this year, Trump suggested that what he called an overly costly renovation of the Fed’s headquarters could be a reason to oust Powell, before backing off the threat.Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May 2026.

A US federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Texas law that would require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction barring implementation of the law, which was to take effect on September 1 and was challenged by families of diverse faiths with children in public schools.The Texas state law, known as Senate Bill 10, is unconstitutional and “impermissibly takes sides on theological questions and officially favors Christian denominations over others,” Biery wrote in his 55-page ruling.”The displays are likely to send an exclusionary and spiritually burdensome message to the child-Plaintiffs — who do not subscribe to the approved version of the Ten Commandments –that they ‘are outsiders who do not belong in their own school community,'” he said.Rabbi Mara Nathan, one of the plaintiffs in the case, welcomed the ruling.”Children’s religious beliefs should be instilled by parents and faith communities, not politicians and public schools,” Nathan said in a statement.Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, also welcomed the decision, saying it sends a “strong and resounding message across the country that the government respects the religious freedom of every student in our public schools.”Another federal judge blocked a Louisiana law in November that would require the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the conservative southern state.District Judge John deGravelles said the law is unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.The separation of church and state is a founding US principle and the First Amendment forbids the establishment of a national religion or the preference of one religion over another.In a similar case in 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled that the display of the Ten Commandments in schools in Kentucky was unconstitutional.In Oklahoma, the highest education official in the conservative state recently ordered public schools to teach the Bible, a move that is also facing legal challenges.