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Apple revenues rise on strong services business and iPad sales

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Apple revenues rise on strong services business and iPad sales

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Apple’s revenue increased 5 per cent in the three months to the end of June, as earnings from its services business and a surge in iPad purchases offset a decline in iPhone sales and a continued slowdown in China.

Total net sales rose to $85.8bn from $81.8bn in the second quarter of 2023, beating analysts’ expectations for $84.5bn. Net income rose 8 per cent to $21.4bn from $19.9bn, while earnings per share were up 11 per cent year on year to $1.40 versus the consensus estimate for $1.35.

Shares flipped between small gains and losses in after-hours trading on Thursday. Apple has risen 18 per cent this year and is the most valuable company in the world with a market capitalisation of $3.3tn.

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Blemishing the quarter, revenue for the closely watched greater China region declined again, falling 7 per cent to $14.7bn from $15.8bn a year earlier, as Apple continues to face competitive pressure from local handset makers and a ban from governmental use.

While acknowledging the challenges faced in the country amid US-China geopolitical tensions, chief financial officer Luca Maestri said that on a constant currency basis the fall in sales was only 3 per cent and the rate of decline was slowing.

More encouraging was Apple’s services business — which includes the App Store, Apple Pay and the TV+ streaming platform — which continued to accelerate, rising to $24.2bn from $21.bn a year ago.

Revenue from its flagship iPhone was $39.3bn, down slightly from $39.7bn a year ago. This was offset by a 24 per cent jump in iPad sales to $7.2bn, driven by the release in May of a series of new models with more powerful chips and larger screens.

“[The] focus will be on underlying demand across various product categories, especially iPhones given concerns around overall smartphone market and China competition,” said Citigroup analyst Atif Malik.

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Apple is bullish at the prospect of many customers upgrading to the newest iPhone models to gain access to new artificial intelligence features. With the iPhone 16 expected to launch in September, investors are watching closely for signs of how quickly the anticipated AI boost will start to show.

Apple announced the new features, known as “Apple Intelligence”, at its developer conference in June. A beta version of the AI-enhanced iPhone operating system, iOS 18.1, became available to developers this week. A deal with OpenAI will also give Apple users free access to ChatGPT, and Apple has explored partnerships with other big model providers such as Google.

“The Apple intelligence rollout will provide something that we think is relevant for users and another compelling reason to upgrade,” Maestri said.

Research and development expenses rose 8 per cent to $8bn in the quarter. Maestri declined to comment on how much of this was spent on AI, including the infrastructure needed to train and run its own large language models. Apple plans to run those models on-device and in its own data centres, which it says will better protect users’ privacy and data.

“We have significantly increased our level of effort on AI over the course of the year,” Maestri said. “We redeployed engineering resources from other programmes to AI because we recognised the need and importance of this new tech.”

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Last month Apple’s new mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, launched for consumers in Europe, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

Apple announced a dividend of 25 cents a share worth $3.7bn for the quarter, with total shareholder returns rising to $32bn when buybacks were included.

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Federal judge bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote

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Federal judge bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote

A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban.

Casper rejected the Republican administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had yet to be put in place. Instead, she agreed that the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to regulate elections, and that Trump’s requirements violated the separation of powers.

The Constitution “does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” wrote Casper.

Among other proposed changes, Trump’s order would have required people to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, prevented mail ballots from being counted if they arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked by then, and punished states that failed to comply by withholding certain federal money.

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In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was grateful the court had blocked Trump’s “unconstitutional attempt to seize control of our elections” and would continue to defend voting rights in this year’s midterm elections.

“Generations of Americans fought tirelessly for the right to vote, and we honor their legacy by protecting that right against anyone who tries to undermine it,” said James, a Democrat.

A voter casts a ballot during New York’s primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state was the lead plaintiff in the case, said the ruling reaffirmed the constitutional principle that it s up to the states and Congress to set election rules.

“While we are proud of this result, we are clear-eyed that President Trump’s attacks on voting rights and our elections show no signs of slowing down,” Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement. “So let me be clear: we will keep fighting back every step of the way.”

Requests for comment sent to the White House and he U.S. Department of Justice were not immediately returned.

The ruling was the latest in a series against the elections executive order Trump signed just months after taking office for his second term. The Republican president has since signed another executive order on elections that seeks to create a national voter list and limit mail balloting. That directive also faces multiple legal challenges.

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Last fall, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., overseeing a separate challenge to the first election executive order by civil rights and Democratic Party-aligned groups blocked the government from taking steps to include the proof-of-citizenship requirement on the federal voter registration form. That judge later barred Trump’s defense secretary from requiring documentary proof of citizenship when military personnel register to vote or request ballots.

In an apparent nod to the difficulty of implementing a proof-of-citizen requirement by executive order, Trump is pushing legislation in the Republican-controlled Congress to create such a mandate. The SAVE America Act has passed the House but has stalled in the Senate, leading Trump to advocate for eliminating the filibuster that is blocking the legislation.

On Wednesday, he abruptly canceled the expected signing of a bipartisan housing bill, saying he would not sign legislation until Congress passes his proof of citizenship requirement for voting.

The president and many of his Republican allies have been promoting the narrative that voting by noncitizens is a major problem, when in fact it’s quite rare. The federal voter registration form already requires people to attest that they are U.S. citizens. Violating that is punishable as a felony that can lead to prison or deportation.

In another major voting case, the U.S. Supreme Court is due to issue an opinion soon on whether mail ballots must arrive by Election Day. That could immediately change the rules in 14 states that allow grace periods ranging from days to weeks if the ballots are postmarked by Election Day.

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Casper, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, is the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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Video: Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries

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Video: Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries

new video loaded: Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries

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Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive coalition had a big night on Tuesday. Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won their Democratic House primaries.

“I see a New York that we can all afford. I see a New York that truly invests in its babies, not bombs.” Reporter: “What’s the first thing you’re looking forward to doing in Congress?” “Well, tomorrow — thank you — I mean, tomorrow morning, you know, I’m going to be back at 26 Federal Plaza doing court watching, and we want to carry that into Congress as well.”

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive coalition had a big night on Tuesday. Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won their Democratic House primaries.

By Julie Yoon

June 24, 2026

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Appeals court allows Trump administration expanded use of speedy deportations

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Appeals court allows Trump administration expanded use of speedy deportations

A massive 826,780-square-foot warehouse sits illuminated Feb. 12, 2026, in the El Paso suburb of Socorro, Texas, that was recently purchased by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for $122.8 million.

Morgan Lee/AP


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Morgan Lee/AP

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants throughout the United States, not just near the border.

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out a lower court decision that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s expanded use of expedited removal. The ruling was a big victory for the Republican administration, which views the expansion of so-called expedited removal as a key tool for carrying out its mass deportation policy.

Expedited removal — quick deportation without a chance to appear before a judge — has previously been applied to migrants arriving by sea or caught at or near the border shortly after crossing.

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In January, Trump expanded its use to undocumented migrants all over the United States. Immigration agents began whisking migrants away from courthouses where they had gone for immigration proceedings and then removing them from the country within days.

“The Trump administration’s push for fast-track deportations will subject people to an unfair and error-prone system,” Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement.

Balakrishnan represented plaintiffs in arguments before the appellate panel and said its ruling “undermines the fundamental principle that people receive due process when the government seeks to deport them.”

DC Circuit Judge Justin R. Walker, one of the judges on the panel, said the plaintiffs had not shown the expanded use of expedited removal violated due process rights. Immigrants received notice of removal proceedings and were given a chance to respond, he wrote in his opinion.

Walker and the second judge in the majority, Neomi Rao, were appointed by Trump. The third judge on the panel was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

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Walker said there was no requirement that the administration inform immigrants that they can avoid expedited removal if they can show they have been in the United States for more than two years.

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