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A federal judge on Thursday halted President Donald Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship, as opponents of the policy pursue a new legal avenue following the US Supreme Court’s overturning of a previous block.The high court’s conservative majority delivered a landmark decision in late June that limits the ability of individual judges to issue nationwide injunctions against presidents’ policies.Several such judges had in fact blocked Trump’s attempt to end the longstanding rule, guaranteed in the US Constitution, that anyone born on US soil is automatically an American citizen.However, the Supreme Court left open the possibility that orders could be blocked via broad class-action suits against the government.Trump’s opponents quickly filed new class-action suits seeking to block again the executive order.On Thursday, Judge Joseph Laplante of the US District of New Hampshire granted class-action status to any child who would potentially be denied citizenship under Trump’s order. The judge ordered a preliminary halt to it as legal proceedings carry on.The judge delayed his ruling for seven days to permit the Trump administration to appeal.Cody Wofsy, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who argued the case, called the ruling a “huge victory” that “will help protect the citizenship of all children born in the United States, as the Constitution intended.”Trump’s executive order decrees that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become citizens — a radical reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.His administration has argued that the 14th Amendment, passed in the wake of the Civil War, addresses the rights of former slaves and not the children of undocumented migrants or temporary US visitors.The Supreme Court rejected such a narrow definition in a landmark 1898 case.The current high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, avoided ruling last month on the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order and only addressed the issue of nationwide injunctions.It nonetheless permitted the order to go ahead but delayed its ruling from taking effect until late July to allow for new court challenges.Several lower courts, in issuing their previous injunctions, had ruled that the executive order violated the Constitution.

Shares of Delta Air Lines rocketed higher Thursday after the carrier reported better-than-expected profits and reinstated its full-year forecast based on a reassuring travel outlook.The big US airline, which had withdrawn its forecast in April amid a weakening outlook at the time, characterized travel demand as “stabilized” and the US economy as “solid,” according to Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian.”Our core consumer is in good shape and continues to prioritize travel and affinity for Delta’s brand has never been stronger,” he said on a conference call with analysts.For the quarter ending June 30, Delta reported profits of $2.1 billion, up 63 percent from the year-ago period. Revenues were flat at $16.6 billion.The company projected 2025 profits of between $5.25 and $6.25 a share. Delta had withdrawn its full-year earnings forecast on April 9, which was near the stock market’s nadir following President Donald Trump’s aggressive “Liberation Day” tariff announcement in early April.Trump in recent days has announces a slew of new tariff actions. But stock markets have lingered at or near records as investors bet the president won’t execute the most onerous levies. Bastian on Thursday pointed to “continued progress on trade negotiations, predicting consumer and corporate confidence would improve in the second half of 2025, “creating the environment for travel demand to accelerate.”Delta executives said the company enjoyed a five percent growth in revenues from premium seats, offsetting lackluster demand for lower-priced tickets. Executives described as “very weak” demand for travel on off-peak periods, leading the industry to slash flights at odd times on less-traveled days such as Tuesday and Wednesday.Shares of Delta soared 13.6 percent in afternoon trading.jmb /mlm

Texas authorities faced mounting scrutiny Thursday over the response to flash flooding that has left at least 120 people dead, as details surfaced about reported delays of early alerts that could have saved lives.The confirmed death toll from Fourth of July holiday floods that ravaged the central Texas Hill Country — including a river bank cluttered with children’s summer camps — stood at 120, after police lowered it by one from a day earlier.And the urgent search for more than 170 people still missing entered a seventh day.Hundreds of workers in Kerr County and other central Texas communities continue to comb through piles of muddy debris, but with no live rescues reported this week, worries have swelled that the death toll could still rise.With US President Donald Trump preparing to visit the disaster zone Friday with First Lady Melania Trump, new questions have emerged about when the first emergency alerts reached the hundreds of people in the path of nature’s fury.At a news conference Thursday Kerrville police Sergeant Jonathan Lamb deflected a question about police radios being unable to communicate with county and emergency officials, perhaps hampering rescue efforts as the flood raged.”I don’t have any information to that point,” he responded.Lamb said people from all over Texas were volunteering to help with the search effort, offering their own equipment such as boats and earth moving vehicles, and suggested there was a glut of good will.”I don’t want to say it’s been a problem, because we’re so grateful for the amount of people who want to come to this community to help,” Lamb said.”But it’s important that we have certified professional search teams out there right now.”- 90-minute alert delay? -Several local and state officials in recent days have deflected questions that sought to clarify Kerr County’s specific actions as the disaster rapidly unfolded.ABC News reported early Thursday that at 4:22 am on July 4, a firefighter in Ingram, upstream of Kerrville, had asked the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office to alert residents of nearby Hunt of the coming flood.The network said its affiliate KSAT obtained audio of the call, and that the first alert did not reach Kerr County’s CodeRED system for a full 90 minutes.In some cases, it said, the warning messages did not arrive until after 10:00 am, when hundreds of people had already been swept away by raging waters.”The Guadalupe Schumacher sign is underwater on State Highway 39,” the firefighter said in the dispatch audio published by ABC. “Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents, asking them to find higher ground or stay home?””Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor,” a sheriff’s office dispatcher replied in the audio.Kerr County, the tragedy’s epicenter and part of an area nicknamed “Flash Flood Alley,” has confirmed 96 deaths including 36 children, with 161 people still missing.Kendall County, which has confirmed eight fatalities, reported no change to its toll Thursday.Reporters pressed area officials this week about whether the Trump government’s sweeping funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and why so many people did not receive timely flood alerts. “There’s going to be an after-action” review, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Wednesday, adding “those questions need to be answered.”Leitha said “it was between 4:00 or 5:00 (am) when I got notified” of incoming emergency calls — but he declined to address specifics of the warning system and any possible delays.The flooding of the Guadalupe River was particularly devastating for summer camps on its banks, including Camp Mystic, where 27 girls and counselors died. Five other Mystic campers and a counselor remain missing.Governor Gregg Abbott has scheduled a special session of the Texas Legislature, beginning July 21. Sergeant Lamb said the session will be “a starting point” for reviewing ways to improve warning systems for weather events.

The Ferrero Group will acquire US cereal mainstay WK Kellogg for $3.1 billion as the Italian food giant expands further in North America, the companies announced Thursday.Ferrero, whose products include Nutella chocolate spread and Ferrero Rocher chocolate treats, will pay $23 per share in cash for WK Kellogg, which is known for Rice Krispies and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, among other offerings.The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025, said a joint press release. On completion of the transaction, WK Kellogg will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferrero.The pricing of Kellogg represents a 31 percent premium to the company’s closing price on Wednesday.Ferrero Chief Executive Giovanni Ferrero described the merger as “the coming together of two companies” with “generations of loyal consumers.””Over recent years, Ferrero has expanded its presence in North America,” said Giovanni Ferrero. “Today’s news is a key milestone in that journey, giving us confidence in the opportunities ahead.”   Ferrero, whose origins stem from its founding in Alba, Italy in 1946, has struck a number of deals in recent years to expand in North America, including the 2018 purchase of Nestle’s US confectionary business for $2.8 billion in cash.Prior to the Kellogg deal, Ferrero had more than 14,000 employes across 22 plants and 11 offices in North America, according to the press release. Its US brands include Keebler, Famous Amos and Tic Tac.WK Kellogg is the cereal arm of Michigan-based Kellogg, which split itself up a couple of years ago, with its Kellanova snack brand being sold to Mars in August 2024 for around $36 billion.”We believe this proposed transaction maximizes value for our share owners and enables WK Kellogg Co to write the next chapter of our company’s storied legacy,” said Gary Pilnick, chief executive of WK Kellogg. “Joining Ferrero will provide WK Kellogg Co with greater resources and more flexibility to grow our iconic brands in this competitive and dynamic market.”Kellogg dates its origins to 1894 when founder WK Kellogg invented the Corn Flakes cereal, the first of a series of offerings that later expanded to Raisin Bran and Froot Loops.Shares of WK Kellogg surged 30.9 percent in mid-morning trading.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that Asian nations might get “better” tariff rates than the rest of the world, as he attended ASEAN talks focused on Washington’s trade war.Rubio’s visit to Malaysia came after US President Donald Trump threatened this week to impose punitive tariffs on more than 20 countries if they did not strike deals with Washington by August 1.”I would say that when all is said and done, many of the countries in Southeast Asia are going to have tariff rates that are actually better than countries in other parts of the world,” Rubio said on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Kuala Lumpur. “But these talks continue. There’ll be talks next week with Japan. There’s ongoing talks with virtually every country represented here.”Trump said Monday that duties he had suspended in April would snap back — even more steeply — by the new deadline. He has told more than 20 countries, many in Asia, they face tariffs ranging from 20 to 50 percent, and announced a 50 percent toll on copper imports and a possible 200 percent duty on pharmaceuticals.Among those targeted were top trade partners Japan and South Korea, which could each be hit with 25 percent.Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Myanmar — all members of ASEAN — face duties ranging from 20 percent to 40 percent.Vietnam, which is also an ASEAN member, is one of only two countries — Britain being the other — to have reached a tentative agreement with Trump. The levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some were notably lower this time.  – ‘Not going to walk away’ -US officials said ahead of Rubio’s trip that Washington was “prioritising” its commitment to East and Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, Rubio said the United States has “no intention of abandoning” the region. “We’ve spent decades building these relationships,” Rubio told reporters. “Not only we’re not going to walk away from them, we seek to expand them and build upon them with a part of the world that is essential.”Rubio’s remarks followed a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov where the US diplomat expressed “disappointment and frustration” about the lack of progress on ending the war in Ukraine.  He also attended a post-ministerial conference, trilateral talks with the Philippines and Japan and met with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for talks on tariffs.”Malaysia believes that such unilateral actions undermine free trade flows and could have a negative impact on regional economic growth, especially for trading nations like Malaysia,” Anwar said in a statement.”I expressed my stance that the space for negotiations should remain open to ensure fair, equitable and non-oppressive trade outcomes for developing countries.”Rubio said he might also meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who is attending the ASEAN meeting.The two largest economies remain locked in a range of disputes on issues from trade and fentanyl, to Taiwan and cutting-edge technology.Without mentioning the United States, Wang on Thursday called for a “fairer and more reasonable” international order.”At the same time, we are also confronted with challenges such as the impact of unilateral protectionism and the abuse of tariffs by a certain major country.”

Texas authorities faced mounting scrutiny Thursday over the response to flash flooding that has left more than 120 people dead, as details surfaced about reported delays of early alerts that could have saved lives.The confirmed death toll from Fourth of July holiday floods that ravaged the central Texas Hill Country — including a river bank cluttered with children’s summer camps — rose to 121 as the urgent search for more than 170 people still missing entered a seventh day.Hundreds of workers in Kerr County and other central Texas communities continue to comb through piles of muddy debris, but with no live rescues reported this week, worries have swelled that the death toll could still rise.With US President Donald Trump preparing to visit the disaster zone Friday with First Lady Melania Trump, new questions have emerged about when the first emergency alerts reached the hundreds of people in the path of nature’s fury.Several local and state officials in recent days have deflected questions that sought to clarify Kerr County’s specific actions as the disaster rapidly unfolded.ABC News reported early Thursday that a firefighter in Ingram, upstream of Kerrville, had asked the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office at 4:22 am on July 4 to alert residents of nearby Hunt of the coming flood.The network said its affiliate KSAT obtained audio of the call, and that the first alert did not reach Kerr County’s CodeRed system for a full 90 minutes.In some cases, it said, the warning messages did not arrive until after 10:00 am, when hundreds of people had already been swept away by raging waters.”The Guadalupe Schumacher sign is underwater on State Highway 39,” the firefighter said in the dispatch audio published by ABC. “Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents, asking them to find higher ground or stay home?””Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor,” a sheriff’s office dispatcher replied in the audio.Kerr County, the tragedy’s epicenter and part of an area nicknamed “Flash Flood Alley,” has confirmed 97 deaths including 36 children, with 161 people still missing.Reporters pressed area officials this week about whether the Trump government’s sweeping funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and why so many people did not receive timely flood alerts. “There’s going to be an after-action” review, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said, adding “those questions need to be answered.”Leitha said “it was between 4:00 or 5:00 (am) when I got notified” of incoming emergency calls — but he declined to address specifics of the warning system and any possible delays.The flooding of the Guadalupe River was particularly devastating for summer camps on its banks, including Camp Mystic, where 27 girls and counselors died. Five other Mystic campers and a counselor remain missing.Governor Gregg Abbott has scheduled a special session of the Texas Legislature, beginning July 21, with ABC reporting it will discuss improving warning systems for weather events.

The halt to US foreign aid is a “ticking time bomb” that could reverse decades of hard-fought gains in the fight against AIDS, the United Nations warned Thursday.Around 31.6 million people were on antiretroviral drugs in 2024 and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses had more than halved since 2010 to 630,000 that year, the UNAIDS agency said in a new report.Now however, infections were likely to shoot up as funding cuts have shuttered prevention and treatment programmes, it said.The United States was the world’s biggest donor of humanitarian assistance until President Donald Trump’s abrupt slashing of international aid in February. That left the global humanitarian community scrambling to keep life-saving operations afloat.”We are proud of the achievements, but worried about this sudden disruption reversing the gains we have made,” UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told AFP ahead of the report’s launch in Johannesburg.The agency in April warned that a permanent discontinuation of PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/AIDS, would lead to more than six million new infections and an additional 4.2 million AIDS-related deaths in the next four years.This would bring the pandemic back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.- A ‘ticking time bomb’ -“This is not just a funding gap,” Byanyima said in a press release.”It’s a ticking time bomb” whose effects are already felt worldwide.Over 60 percent of all women-led HIV organisations surveyed by UNAIDS had lost funding or had to suspend services, the report said.In a striking example, the number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs to prevent transmission in Nigeria fell by over 85 percent in the first few months of 2025.The “story of how the world has come together” to fight HIV/AIDS is “one of the most important stories of progress in global health”, Byanyima told AFP.”But that great story has been disrupted massively” by Trump’s “unprecedented” and “cruel” move, she said.”Priorities can shift, but you do not take away life-saving support from people just like that,” she said. – Key research hit -Crucial medical research on prevention and treatment have also shut down, including many in South Africa which has one of the highest HIV rates in the world and has become a leader in global research.”Developing countries themselves contribute very much towards the research on HIV and AIDS, and that research serves the whole world,” Byanyima said.In 25 out of 60 low- and middle-income countries surveyed by UNAIDS, governments had found ways to compensate part of the funding shortfall with domestic resources.”We have to move towards nationally owned and financed responses,” Byaniyma said.She called for debt relief and the reform of international financial institutions to “free up the fiscal space for developing countries to pay for their own response”.”It is the responsibility of every government to provide for its people,” South Africa’s health minister Aaron Motsoaledi said at the report’s launch, calling the US pullout a “wake-up call”.The global HIV response built from grassroots activism was “resilient by its very nature”, Byanyima told AFP.”We moved from people dying every single day to now a point where it is really like a chronic illness,” she said.”There is no question that the investment has been worth it, and continues to be worth it. It saves lives.”

The halt to US foreign aid is a “ticking time bomb” that could reverse decades of hard-fought gains in the fight against AIDS, the United Nations warned Thursday.Around 31.6 million people were on antiretroviral drugs in 2024 and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses had more than halved since 2010 to 630,000 that year, the UNAIDS agency said in a new report.But now infections were likely to shoot up as funding cuts have shuttered prevention and treatment programmes, it said.The United States has been the world’s biggest donor of humanitarian assistance but President Donald Trump’s abrupt slashing of international aid in February sent the global humanitarian community scrambling to keep life-saving operations afloat.”We are proud of the achievements, but worried about this sudden disruption reversing the gains we have made,” UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told AFP ahead of the report’s launch in Johannesburg.The agency in April warned that a permanent discontinuation of PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/AIDS, would lead to more than six million new infections and an additional 4.2 million AIDS-related deaths in the next four years.This would bring the pandemic back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.”This is not just a funding gap – it’s a ticking time bomb” whose effects are already felt worldwide, Byanyima said in a press release.Over 60 percent of all women-led HIV organisations surveyed by UNAIDS had lost funding or had to suspend services, the report said.In a striking example, the number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs to prevent transmission in Nigeria fell by over 85 percent in the first few months of 2025.The “story of how the world has come together” to fight HIV/AIDS is “one of the most important stories of progress in global health,” Byanyima told AFP.”But that great story has been disrupted massively” by Trump’s “unprecedented” and “cruel” move, she said.”Priorities can shift, but you do not take away life-saving support from people just like that,” she said. – Key medical research affected -Crucial medical research on prevention and treatment have also shut down, including many in South Africa which has one of the highest HIV rates in the world and has become a leader in global research.”Developing countries themselves contribute very much towards the research on HIV and AIDS, and that research serves the whole world,” Byaniyma said.In 25 out of 60 low- and middle-income countries surveyed by UNAIDS, governments had found ways to compensate part of the funding shortfall with domestic resources.”We have to move towards nationally-owned and financed responses,” Byaniyma said, calling for debt relief and the reform of international financial institutions to “free up the fiscal space for developing countries to pay for their own response”.Still, the global HIV response built from grassroots activism was “resilient by its very nature”, she told AFP.”We moved from people dying every single day to now a point where it is really like a chronic illness,” she said.”There is no question that the investment has been worth it, and continues to be worth it. It saves lives.”

President Donald Trump announced a 50-percent tariff Wednesday targeting Brazil as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-leader, and said a US “national security” levy on copper would begin in August.In a letter addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump criticized the treatment of his right-wing ally Jair Bolsonaro as an “international disgrace.”Bolsonaro is facing trial over accusations he plotted a coup after his narrow 2022 election loss to Lula.In response to Trump’s tariff letter, Lula warned of possible reciprocation, writing on social media that “any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity.”Brazil said earlier on Wednesday it had summoned the US charge d’affaires over Trump’s previous criticism of the Bolsonaro trial.The 50-percent US tariff on Brazilian goods will take effect August 1, Trump said in his letter, mirroring a deadline that dozens of other economies face.On that same date, a 50-percent tariff on US imports of copper — a key metal used in green energy and other technologies — will take effect, Trump announced Wednesday evening on social media.He said the move followed a “robust NATIONAL SECURITY ASSESSMENT,” likely alluding to a Department of Commerce investigation into copper launched this year.”Copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense!” Trump said.- Escalation threats -Trump’s message to Lula was the latest in more than 20 such letters the US president has released since Monday, after repeatedly threatening to simply decide a rate for countries as negotiations continue over his elevated “reciprocal” tariffs.Brazil had not been among those threatened previously with duties above a 10-percent baseline, and the United States runs a goods trade surplus with Brazil.China said in response that “arbitrary” tariffs such as the 50-percent levy on copper “serve no party’s interests”.”We have always opposed the overstretching of the concept of national security,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news conference.On Wednesday, Trump also addressed letters to leaders of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Moldova, spelling out duties ranging from 20 percent to 30 percent that would also take effect on August 1.Similar to a first batch of documents published Monday, the levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some partners received notably lower rates this time.While Trump in April imposed a 10-percent levy on almost all trading partners, he unveiled — and then withheld — higher rates for dozens of economies.The deadline for those steeper levels to take effect was meant to be Wednesday, before Trump postponed it further to August 1.Countries that faced the threats of elevated duties began receiving letters spelling out US tariff rates on their products.In the messages, Trump justified his tariffs as a response to trade ties that he says are “far from Reciprocal.”The letters urged countries to manufacture products in the United States to avoid duties, while threatening further escalation if leaders retaliated.Other countries that have received Trump’s letters include key US allies Japan and South Korea, as well as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand.- EU deal in ‘coming days’? -Analysts have noted that Asian countries have been a key target so far.But all eyes are on the state of negotiations with major partners who have yet to receive such letters, including the European Union.European stock markets rose at the start of trading on Thursday, with London hitting a fresh record high on optimism that governments will strike deals to avoid the worst of US tariffs.The Trump administration is under pressure to unveil more trade pacts. So far, Washington has only reached agreements with Britain and Vietnam, alongside a deal to temporarily lower tit-for-tat levies with China.Trump said on Tuesday his government was “probably two days off” from sending the EU a letter with an updated tariff rate.An EU spokesperson said Wednesday the bloc wants to strike a deal with the United States “in the coming days,” and has shown readiness to reach an agreement in principle.Apart from tariffs targeting goods from different countries, Trump has rolled out sector-specific duties on steel, aluminum and autos since returning to the White House in January.

The US Secretary of Agriculture has announced ports will be closed to the livestock trade at the southern border after Mexican cattle tested positive for the flesh-eating New World screwworm (NWS).”The United States has promised to be vigilant — and after detecting this new NWS case, we are pausing the planned port reopening’s to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico,” Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement on Wednesday. President Donald Trump’s administration on May 11 announced a halt on imports of live cattle, horses and bison over the southern border because of an outbreak of the screwworm fly, whose flesh-eating larvae can kill cattle.Mexico resumed cattle exports to the United States on Monday after mitigation efforts, following Washington’s announcement that it was gradually lifting the nearly two-month pause.At the time, officials said cattle exports had resumed thanks to efforts by both countries in battling the parasitic pest. Rollins’s statement on Wednesday said further efforts were necessary in specific regions.”We must see additional progress combatting NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states in order to reopen livestock ports along the Southern border,” the official said.Mexico exported just over one million head of cattle to the United States in 2024, according to official estimates. The trade was halted briefly that year for the same reason.The cattle standoff comes amid heightened tensions between the two neighbors over the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policy and trade tariffs.