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.

AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Britain turns to politics on Wednesday after a first day dominated by pomp and a warm welcome from King Charles III and members of the royal family.

Tuesday’s agenda featured a horse-drawn carriage procession, a 41-gun salute, and a sumptuous banquet at Windsor Castle, west of London, for the president and his wife, Brigitte.

The Macrons will begin the second day of their visit by paying their respects at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor’s St. George’s Chapel.

Macron will then discuss biodiversity issues with King Charles III during a stroll in the castle grounds before bidding farewell to his host and heading to central London.

This is the first state visit by a French president to Britain since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and the first by a European Union head of state since Brexit in 2020.

After Britain’s acrimonious departure from the European Union, the two countries smoothed post-Brexit tensions in 2023 during a state visit by the famously Francophile king and a summit with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in France.

At Tuesday evening’s banquet, Charles used a speech to around 160 guests—including royals, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and music icons Elton John and Mick Jagger—to warn that the two nations’ alliance was as crucial as ever amid a “multitude of complex threats.”

Charles concluded by toasting a new UK-France “entente… no longer just cordiale, but now amicale,” prompting Macron to laud “this entente amicale that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance.”

Hours earlier, in a speech to parliament, the French president had adopted a similar tone, saying that the two countries must work together to defend the post-World War II “international order.”

Macron and Starmer will meet over lunch on Wednesday, ahead of a summit on Thursday involving the two leaders and ministers.

On the economic front, Macron’s Élysée Palace office has already announced that French energy company EDF will acquire a 12.5 percent stake in the new British nuclear power plant Sizewell C in eastern England.

On Wednesday morning, Macron is also due to meet entrepreneurs and scientists working on artificial intelligence at Imperial College London.

Later, the French president will also visit the British Museum to formally announce the loan of the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England.

On the British side, expectations are high that measures to fight against illegal immigration can be agreed upon, following a record over 21,000 migrant arrivals via the Channel since January.

Macron will later meet with the business community at a dinner held in his honour at the Guildhall, a historic building in the City of London, the capital’s financial district, with 650 guests in attendance.

AFP

Kenyan President William Ruto warned Wednesday against attempts to “overthrow” the government through “unconstitutional means”, claiming recent violent protests were sponsored.

Kenya has seen a wave of protests, initially led by young people angry at the state of the economy, corruption and police brutality, since June last year when proposed tax rises triggered widespread anger.

The demonstrations have been met with increasing force by police.

“They want to start chaos, organise protests, burn people’s property, bring disaster so as to overthrow the government before 2027… You cannot tell us that you want to organise chaos to overthrow the government!” Ruto said in Swahili, addressing supporters in the capital Nairobi.

“You cannot sponsor violence and go scot-free,” he added, saying any attacks on the police would be seen as a “declaration of war!” he added.

Ruto’s toughest remarks yet come after nationwide anti-government rallies earlier in the week saw at least 31 people killed, according to rights groups.

Kenyan rights groups have condemned police brutality during the protests, as well as the rise of people paid to disrupt and loot during rallies.