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'Boggles my mind': Judge halts Donald Trump's citizenship ban
US President Donald Trump’s plan to outlaw birthright citizenship has been stalled after a judge ruled it unconstitutional.
The ban was signed by Mr Trump on Monday, one of a slew of executive orders he has issued since his inauguration on Tuesday local time.
These are the key moments from the latest day in the Trump administration.
Judge rules birthright citizenship order ‘blatantly unconstitutional’
The court decision temporarily blocking the ban on birthright citizenship follows a challenge launched by multiple Democratic-led states.
Birthright citizenship, long considered a constitutional right, means that anyone born in the United States is automatically considered a citizen.
Mr Trump’s executive order would largely impact children born to undocumented or temporary migrants in the US.
Federal District Court Judge John C Coughenour sided with the four states suing the Trump administration — Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon.
Signing a restraining order to block the executive order for 14 days, Mr Coughenour called it “blatantly unconstitutional”.
“Frankly I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar would state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order,” he told Trump administration lawyers during the hearing.
“It just boggles my mind.”
Mr Trump has already said he would appeal the ruling.
In total 22 states have filed six lawsuits in an attempt to stop the executive order.
Pro-life protesters pardoned ahead of March for Life event
At least 23 anti-abortion activists have been pardoned by Mr Trump, who said they “should not have been prosecuted”.
Anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy. (Reuters: Sarah Silbiger)
Among them were the protesters involved in blockading a Washington, DC abortion clinic in October 2020.
They were charged with conspiring against civil rights and violating laws which protect access to abortion clinics.
One of those pardoned, Lauren Handy, was sentenced to almost five years in prison and garnered international attention after police announced they had found multiple fetuses in her home following her arrest.
Mr Trump’s announcement was made just a day before the annual anti-abortion March for Life event in Washington, where he is expected to address the crowd via video.
Trump orders files on JFK, Martin Luther King Jr assassinations to be declassified
John F Kennedy’s grandson took aim at Donald Trump over an executive order to declassify files relating to the former president’s assassination.
Mr Trump ordered the release of thousands of classified government documents about the 1963 assassination, as well as the assassination of senator Robert F Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of JFK and son of former US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, said there was “nothing heroic” about releasing the files.
“[The assassination was] a tragedy that didn’t need to happen,” he wrote on X.
During his first term, Mr Trump bended to appeals by the CIA and FBI that some documents be withheld.
He promised during the election campaign to make the last batches of still-classified documents surrounding the Kennedy assassination public.
The unreleased documents have fuelled conspiracy theories for decades.
It’s unclear when the records will be released, but the order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to develop a plan within 15 days to declassify the remaining JFK records.
A plan to release the documents relating to the other two cases must be developed within 45 days.
China could help with Russia-Ukraine peace deal, Trump tells World Economic Forum
Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Donald Trump said he hoped China’s President Xi Jinping could help make a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
He added later that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin “immediately” if possible.
“They [China] have a lot of power over Russia,” he said in the Oval Office.
“They supply energy to Russia, and Russia supplies energy to them … it’s really a very big trade.
“So I think Russia should want to make a deal. Maybe they want to make a deal. I think from what I hear, Putin would like to see me as soon as we can.”
Mr Trump also told media Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would “like to stop” and was “ready to negotiate a deal”.
In a televised interview with Fox host Sean Hannity, Mr Trump said he would impose “massive tariffs” on Russia if Mr Putin did not end the war.
Pete Hegseth waiting on confirmation vote amid ongoing controversies
Mr Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, reportedly admitted to paying $US50,000 ($79,135) as part of a confidentiality agreement with a woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her in 2017.
Mr Hegseth said he had made the payment in written answers provided to Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in response to her additional questions as part of the vetting process, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and CNN.
His attorney declined to comment on the dollar figure, which was previously unknown.
Mr Hegseth testified during his confirmation hearings he had been “falsely accused” and completely cleared.
The controversy comes after a confirmation hearing where Democrats raised concerns about his alleged excessive drinking and past opposition to women in combat.
The former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran vowed to abstain from alcohol if confirmed
He later told Republican Senator Joni Ernst, herself a veteran, that he would support women in combat roles “given the standards remain high, and we will have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded”.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski announced she would oppose Mr Hegseth’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense, saying she could not “in good conscience” support him.
She said in a statement her opposition was driven by Mr Hegseth’s lack of experience, past comments about women in combat, and a “lack of judgement”.
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She added the allegations of sexual assault did “nothing to quiet” her concerns.
Mr Hegseth’s lawyer said last month his client had been “falsely accused”. Mr Hegseth also denied the allegations during his testimony.
Another Republican senator, Susan Collins, said she did not believe Mr Hegseth had “the experience and perspective” necessary for the job.
The Senate voted 51-49 to advance Mr Hegseth’s nomination.
A final vote is expected late Friday local time.
ABC/AP
Her opponent at the Babson fight night was her Harvard teammate Muskaan Sandhu, 18, a freshman, who had sparred before. No one likes getting hit, Ms. Sandhu said, but she liked learning that she could take a punch.
It made her feel she could do anything. “After the fight, I never felt so capable in my life,” she said.
Modern life — lived on screens or amid the constant distraction of screens — can feel isolating. She sees boxing as a way to engage with people. “You feel really human,” she said. “You feel a connection with the person you’re fighting. Like we’re in this together.”
Mr. Lake said he intended for Harvard’s club to join the National Collegiate Boxing Association, a nonprofit that provides structure and safety rules. The N.C.B.A. represents about 840 athletes, an 18 percent increase from a year ago, said the group’s president, George Chamberlain, who coaches the University of Iowa’s boxing club.
The well-attended fight night at Babson, which also included boxers from Brandeis University, reflected the growing interest.
Before it began, a volunteer passed out waiver documents. Most of the boxers immediately flipped to the end and signed. Mr. Jiang, of Harvard, appeared to be the only one who read it.
He was a mixed martial arts fan who resolved to try a combat sport in college. “I like the technique side of it,” Mr. Jiang said of boxing, “the science behind the sport.”
His fight plan, he explained, was to control the action with his jab and occasionally throw the right hand, to maintain good defense and try to tire out his opponent.
It seemed a solid strategy — though, as the heavyweight Mike Tyson famously noted, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
A Frontier Airlines plane hit a person on the runway of Denver’s international airport during takeoff, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate, authorities said.
The plane, headed to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff” at about 11.19pm on Friday, the Denver airport’s official X account wrote.
Neither the airport nor the airline has disclosed the person’s condition.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot of the plane involved told the control tower at one point, according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The pilot told the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board – and that an “individual was walking across the runway”.
The air traffic controller responded that they were “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot told the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft”.
“We are going to evacuate on the runway,” the pilot added.
Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision – and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff”. It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the person.
The plane, an Airbus A321, “was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members”, the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”
Passengers were then evacuated using slides, and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal.
Denver’s airport said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had been notified and that runway 17L – where the incident took place – will remain closed while an investigation is conducted.
Friday’s episode at Denver’s airport came one day after a Delta Airline employee died on Thursday night at Orlando’s international airport when a vehicle struck a jet bridge next to an airplane with passengers onboard, as the local news outlet WESH reported.
Meanwhile, on 3 May, a United Airlines plane arriving in Newark, New Jersey, from Venice, Italy, clipped a delivery truck and a light pole, which in turn struck a Jeep. Only the delivery truck driver was injured, but the plane was damaged extensively and the NTSB classified the case as an accident while also opening an investigation.
new video loaded: How Trump Is Prioritizing White People as Refugees
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