The US Supreme Court on Thursday gave the green light for the Trump administration to deport a group of migrants stranded at an American military base in Djibouti to war-torn South Sudan.The decision by the  conservative-dominated top court comes 10 days after it cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport migrants to countries that are not their own.The eight migrants were being flown to South Sudan from the US in May but ended up in Djibouti when a district court imposed a stay on third-country deportations.The court said migrants were not being given a “meaningful opportunity” to contest removal.On June 23, the Supreme Court lifted the stay imposed by District Judge Brian Murphy, clearing the way for third-country deportations.But Murphy, an appointee of former president Joe Biden, said the case of the eight migrants who ended up in Djibouti was subject to a separate stay order he issued that had not been addressed by the Supreme Court.On Thursday, the Supreme Court said its June 23 decision applied to both of the judge’s orders.Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the decision.”What the Government wants to do, concretely, is send the eight noncitizens it illegally removed from the United States from Djibouti to South Sudan, where they will be turned over to the local authorities without regard for the likelihood that they will face torture or death,” Sotomayor said.”Today’s order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” she said.The US authorities have said that the eight men — two from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one each from Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan — are convicted violent criminals.The Trump administration has defended third-country deportations as necessary since the home nations of some of those who are targeted for removal sometimes refuse to accept them.Donald Trump campaigned for president promising to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States, and he has taken a number of actions aimed at speeding up deportations since returning to the White House in January.

While the world economy faces instability from US President Donald Trump’s threats of a global trade war, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is dramatically ramping up its investment activities.The Washington-based IFC — the World Bank’s private sector arm — mobilizes private capital and provides financing to support businesses across emerging economies. Though not widely known outside development circles, the organization plays a crucial role in creating jobs and supporting growth in less developed regions.”The world economy has been going through a bit of a turbulent time, but what I must say is that even though there is turbulence… we are seeing a lot of interest in investing in emerging countries,” Makhtar Diop, the IFC’s managing director, told AFP.This optimism is backed by concrete numbers. In the fiscal year ending June 30, preliminary data shows that the IFC committed over $71 billion — nearly double its commitment from just three years ago and a significant jump from last year’s record of $56 billion.The investment spans the globe, with more than $20 billion flowing to Latin America, $17 billion to Asia, and $15.4 billion to Africa. The dramatic increase stems from a deliberate strategic shift. Diop, an economist and former Senegalese finance minister, explained that the IFC has focused on becoming “simpler, more agile, and delegating decision-making to our teams that are in the field.” This approach abandons the over-centralized structure that previously “was slowing down our ability to respond and seize new opportunities.”The timing is significant. As Western economies pull back from direct aid to developing countries — constrained by mounting debts, rising defense budgets, and increasingly inward-looking politics — the IFC has accelerated.”It’s totally understandable that they have fewer resources to make available in the form of grants to developing countries,” Diop acknowledges.However, he emphasized that World Bank funding for the world’s poorest countries remains fully replenished, calling it “the most efficient and best way to support countries.”The IFC’s expanding role within the World Bank Group is evident. Today, its funding nearly matches the support the bank provides directly to governments, making it an equal partner in development efforts.- Dubai to Africa -The organization is also attracting new types of investors. Many co-financing partners now come from regions that traditionally haven’t invested outside their home areas. The IFC’s largest renewable energy investment in Africa, for example, was completed with a Dubai-based company.These investors trust the IFC not only for its market knowledge but also for the risk-mitigation tools it offers, Diop said.In Africa particularly, the IFC pursues a strategy of identifying and supporting “national champions” — successful local companies that need help to become more competitive and globally integrated.A significant portion of the IFC’s mandate involves sustainability projects, an area where Diop decries debates with false choices between economic development and the environment, especially in electricity projects that form an important part of the agency’s portfolio.”It happens that today, you don’t have to make that trade-off because the sustainable solutions are often the cheaper ones, and that’s the beauty of what we are seeing,” he said. While fossil fuel generation remains part of the energy mix to ensure grid stability, the economics increasingly favor clean alternatives.Behind all these investments lies an urgent demographic reality: 1.2 billion young people will reach working age in developing countries over the next decade. For the World Bank, creating employment for this massive cohort is paramount.”The first question of any leader you meet from the developing world is how can you help to create jobs for young people?” Diop observed.Beyond infrastructure development that stimulates broader economic activity, Diop identifies tourism, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture as the most promising sectors for job creation. These industries can offer the scale and growth potential needed to absorb the coming wave of young workers entering the global economy.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has suspended 139 employees after they signed a scathing open letter accusing Administrator Lee Zeldin of pushing policies hazardous to both people and the planet, a spokesperson said Thursday.The letter, published Monday on the website of activist group Standup for Science, described a climate of political interference and warned that the agency’s leadership was eroding public health protections and scientific integrity.”The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” the EPA said in an email to AFP. More than 200 individuals originally endorsed the statement, though the number placed on administrative leave was 139. The list of names, which initially appeared on the website, has since been removed, and the reason for the numeric discrepancy was not immediately clear.”The decisions of the current administration frequently contradict the peer-reviewed research and recommendations of Agency experts,” said the letter.”Make no mistake: your actions endanger public health and erode scientific progress — not only in America — but around the world.”The letter outlines five key concerns, including the deepening politicization of the EPA, the reversal of initiatives aimed at marginalized communities, and the “dismantling” of the agency’s Office of Research and Development.It further accuses EPA leadership of turning the agency’s communications apparatus into a vehicle “to promote misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric.”Since taking office, Zeldin has led the charge in executing Donald Trump’s environmental agenda: gutting climate regulations, ramping up fossil fuel development, and slashing funding for clean energy — moves that have drawn fierce backlash from scientists and environmental advocates alike.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday secured a major political victory when Congress narrowly passed his signature tax and spending bill, cementing his radical second-term agenda and boosting funds for his anti-immigration drive.A jubilant Trump said the bill’s passage would supercharge the US economy “into a rocket ship” — glossing over deep concerns within his own Republican Party that it will balloon the national debt and gut health and welfare support.Speaking to reporters as he headed for a rally in Iowa to kick off America’s 250th birthday celebrations, the president called the spending package “the biggest bill of its kind ever signed.”A small group of Republican opponents finally fell into line after Speaker Mike Johnson worked through the night to corral dissenters in the House of Representatives behind the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”The bill squeezed past a final vote, 218-214. The White House declared “VICTORY” on social media and said Trump would sign the bill into law on Friday, the July 4th Independence Day holiday.The timing of the vote had slipped back to Thursday as Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke against the bill for nearly nine hours to delay proceedings.- Mass deportations, tax breaks -The legislation is the latest in a series of big wins for Trump, including a Supreme Court ruling last week that curbed lone federal judges from blocking his policies, and US air strikes that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.His sprawling mega-bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday and had to return to the lower chamber for a rubber stamp of the senators’ revisions.The package honors many of Trump’s campaign promises: boosting military spending, funding a mass migrant deportation drive and committing $4.5 trillion to extend his first-term tax relief.”Everything was an absolute disaster under the Biden-Harris radical regime, and we took the best effort that we could, in one big, beautiful bill, to fix as much of it as we could,” Johnson said.”And I am so grateful that we got that done.”But it is expected to pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the country’s fast-growing deficits, while shrinking the federal food assistance program and forcing through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance scheme for low-income Americans since its 1960s launch.Some estimates put the total number of recipients set to lose their insurance coverage under the bill at 17 million. Scores of rural hospitals are expected to close.While Republican moderates in the House fear the cuts will damage their prospects of reelection next year, fiscal hawks chafed over savings that they say fall far short of what was promised.Johnson had to negotiate tight margins, and could only lose a handful of lawmakers in the final vote, among more than two dozen who had earlier declared themselves open to rejecting Trump’s 869-page text.Trump spent weeks hitting the phones and hosting White House meetings to cajole lawmakers torn between angering welfare recipients at home and incurring the president’s wrath.Democrats hope public opposition to the bill will help them flip the House in the 2026 midterm election, pointing to data showing that it represents a huge redistribution of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest.Jeffries held the floor for his Democrats ahead of the final vote, as he told stories of everyday Americans who he argued would be harmed by Trump’s legislation. “This bill, this one big, ugly bill — this reckless Republican budget, this disgusting abomination — is not about improving the quality of life of the American people,” he said.  After the bill was passed, Trump predecessor’s Joe Biden said it was “not only reckless — it’s cruel.”Extra spending on the military and border security will be paid in part through ending clean energy and electric vehicle subsidies — a factor triggering a bitter public feud between Trump and former key advisor Elon Musk.