UNITED STATES
Education cuts approved
A divided Supreme Court on Monday gave President Donald Trump the green light to resume dismantling the Department of Education. The conservative-dominated court, in an unsigned order, lifted a stay that had been placed by a federal district judge on mass layoffs at the department. The three liberal justices on the nine-member panel dissented. Trump pledged during his White House campaign to eliminate the education department, which was created by an act of Congress in 1979, and he moved in March to slash its work force by nearly half. About 20 states joined teachers’ unions in challenging the move in court, arguing that Trump was violating the principle of separation of powers by encroaching on Congress’ prerogatives. In May, District Judge Myong Joun ordered the reinstatement of hundreds of fired department employees. The Supreme Court lifted the judge’s order without explanation, just days after another ruling that cleared the way for Trump to carry out mass firings of federal workers in other government departments. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent joined by justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, said in the education ruling that “only Congress has the power to abolish the Department... The majority is either willfully blind to the implications of its ruling or naive, but either way the threat to our Constitution’s separation of powers is grave.”
HONG KONG
Lee backs gay couples’ bill
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) yesterday threw his weight behind a bill recognizing limited rights for same-sex couples, despite fears that opposition from pro-Beijing parties could sink it. Lee’s administration this month proposed legislation to recognize some rights for same-sex partners whose marriages are registered abroad. Despite LGBTQ activists arguing it does not go far enough, the proposal drew near-universal criticism from the pro-Beijing politicians that dominate the Legislative Council. The clash pitted Lee against conservative lawmakers from his own camp and led some to fear the proposal might be pulled. The territory’s top court ordered the government to create an “alternative framework” for LGBTQ couples when it quashed a bid to recognize same-sex marriage in 2023. Lee yesterday said that the government “must not act in violation” of the Court of Final Appeal’s judgement. “Otherwise, it will be against the rule of law... Violating the rule of law will mean serious consequences,” he told reporters. The government will respect the legislature’s final decision, he added.
UNITED STATES
Beyonce’s music stolen
Computer drives containing unreleased music by Beyonce and plans related to her concerts were stolen last week in Atlanta, police said on Monday, with a suspect still at large. The items were stolen from a rental car used by Beyonce’s choreographer and a dancer on Tuesday last week, two days before the pop icon started the Atlanta leg of her “Cowboy Carter” tour, a police incident report said. Choreographer Christopher Grant, 37, told police that he returned to the car to find its rear window smashed and their luggage stolen. Inside were multiple jump drives that “contained water marked music, some un-released music, footage plans for the show, and past and future set list [sic],” the report said. Also missing were an Apple MacBook, headphones and several items of luxury clothing. Atlanta Police said in an online statement that a warrant had been issued for an unnamed suspect’s arrest, but that the suspect remained at large.
Young Chinese, many who fear age discrimination in their workplace after turning 35, are increasingly starting “one-person companies” that have artificial intelligence (AI) do most of the work. Smaller start-ups are already in vogue in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, with rapidly advancing AI tools seen as a welcome teammate even as they threaten layoffs at existing firms. More young people in China are subscribing to the model, as cities pledge millions of dollars in funding and rent subsidies for such ventures, in alignment with Beijing’s political goal of “technological self-reliance.” “The one-person company is a product of the AI era,” said Karen Dai
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
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