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The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to weigh in on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship.The conservative-dominated court did not set a date for oral arguments in the blockbuster case but it is likely to be early next year, with a ruling in June.Several lower courts have blocked as unconstitutional Trump’s attempt to put restrictions on the law that states that anyone born on US soil is automatically an American citizen.Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.Lower courts have ruled the order to be a violation of the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”Trump’s executive order was premised on the idea that anyone in the United States illegally, or on a visa, was not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the country, and therefore excluded from this category.The Supreme Court rejected such a narrow definition in a landmark 1898 case.The Trump administration has also 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.In a brief with the court, Trump’s solicitor general, John Sauer, argued that “the erroneous extension of birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens has caused substantial harm to the United States.””Most obviously, it has impaired the United States’ territorial integrity by creating a strong incentive for illegal immigration,” Sauer said.- ‘Blatantly unconstitutional’ -Trump’s executive order had been due to come into effect on February 19, but it was halted after federal judges ruled against the administration in multiple lawsuits.District Judge John Coughenour, who heard the case in Washington state, described the president’s executive order as “blatantly unconstitutional.””I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” said Coughenour, who was appointed by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan.Conservatives hold a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and three of the justices were appointed by Trump.Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has spearheaded the legal challenges to the attempt to end birthright citizenship, said she is hopeful the top court will “strike down this harmful order once and for all.””Federal courts around the country have consistently rejected President Trump’s attempts to strip away this core constitutional protection,” Wang said.”Depriving any US-born child of their citizenship would be devastating and profoundly cruel,” she said. “The president’s action goes against a core American right that has been a part of our Constitution for over 150 years.”

“Sinners” topped the slate of nominees for the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Friday, as the movie industry’s awards season starts to take shape.The acclaimed period horror drama, written and directed by Ryan Coogler, received a whopping 17 nods, including one for best picture, giving it early momentum as Hollywood gears up for the Oscars in March.Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” also solidified its place as a firm awards favorite with 14 nominations, including five for actors, after well-received performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.Both top films are from Warner Bros., which streamer Netflix said Friday it would buy for $83 billion in the industry deal of the decade.Coming in a respectable third place in the tallies were “Frankenstein” and “Hamnet,” with 11 nods each.Musical juggernaut “Wicked: For Good” earned seven nominations, including best supporting actress for Ariana Grande, but Cynthia Erivo missed out in the best actress category, where Emma Stone secured a nod for her kidnap victim in Yorgos Lanthimos’s quirky “Bugonia.”Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who said this week that he would return to his home country despite being sentenced to a year in jail, will compete for best foreign language film with his “It Was Just An Accident.” However, the Cannes Palme D’Or winner was left out of the best picture race.Norwegian dramedy “Sentimental Value,” meanwhile, made the best picture list.Last season’s Critics Choice best picture winner “Anora” rode the award to victory at the Oscars, despite snubs at the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards.The annual Critics Choice Awards have a relatively small voting body, but offer an insight into how the industry is thinking.Winners will be announced on January 4.

A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of the grand jury transcripts from the investigation in Florida of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The Justice Department requested the unsealing of the transcripts after President Donald Trump signed a bill last month requiring the public release of all government records regarding Epstein.Grand jury proceedings are generally kept secret and a previous Justice Department request to unseal the transcripts from Epstein’s Florida case had been rebuffed.But US District Judge Rodney Smith said Friday in a brief order that the Epstein Files Transparency Act mandates their release.Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution.The wealthy financier was arrested again in New York in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors. He died while in pre-trial detention and his death was ruled to be a suicide.The Justice Department is also seeking the release of the grand jury transcripts from the New York case and that of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein.Trump, a once close friend of Epstein, fought for months to prevent the release of the Epstein files held by the Justice Department.However, on November 19 he caved to pressure from Congress, including from his Republican Party, and signed a law compelling release of the materials.The Epstein Files Transparency Act calls for the release within 30 days of “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” in the possession of the Justice Department, the FBI and US attorneys’ offices related to Epstein and Maxwell.Trump and his allies spent years pushing theories about powerful Democrats being protected over involvement with Epstein, framing the case as a potent symbol of how rich men can hide behind lawyers, money and connections.The FBI and Justice Department triggered a political furor in July with the release of a memo stating that after an “exhaustive review” of the Epstein files no evidence had emerged that would warrant further investigation.

A day after a peace accord aimed at ending the conflict in DR Congo was signed, fresh fighting in the east on Friday forced hundreds of civilians to flee across the border into Rwanda for safety, AFP journalists witnessed.Saturday’s deal was meant to stabilise the east of the country, which is rich in resources but has been plagued by conflict for 30 years.In January, anti-government armed group M23, backed by Kigali and its army went on the offensive, capturing the major regional cities of Goma in North Kivu province and Bukavu, South Kivu.On Thursday in Washington, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame signed an agreement that their host, US President Donald Trump, dubbed a “miracle.” But the deal has had little visible effect on the ground so far.Friday saw heavy fighting in South Kivu between M23 and the Congolese army, backed by thousands of Burundian soldiers deployed alongside it.Both sides are fighting for control of the border town of Kamanyola, where the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi meet. The town is currently controlled by M23.Loud detonations, which shook the inside of buildings, echoed throughout the morning near Kamanyola, reported an AFP journalist in Bugarama, a border post on the Rwandan side some two kilometres (1.3 miles) away.Around dawn, lines of civilians fleeing the fighting crossed the border watched by Rwandan police.”The bombs were exploding above the houses,” said one witness, Immaculee Antoinette, from Ruhumba, near Kamanyola.”We were asked to remain locked inside our houses, but that seemed impossible,” she said.”Schools, hospitals, and civilian homes” were all shelled said Hassan Shabani, an administrative official in Kamanyola, which is under M23 control.On Friday, the M23 accused the Burundian army of firing “without interruption” into the DRC.On the Rwandan side, some residents were “scouring the hills from where the shots are coming, in small groups”, said Farizi Bizimana, a resident.”The children and women are very scared and take refuge in houses when the gunfire becomes intense,” she added.

The deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Friday lashed out at US sanctions, arguing they effectively put top court officials on a par with “terrorists and drug traffickers”.In a wide-ranging interview with AFP, Mame Mandiaye Niang also said it would be “conceivable” to hold an in-absentia hearing against high-level ICC targets such as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Sixty-five-year-old Niang, along with top ICC judges, is subject to sanctions from the administration of US President Donald Trump, in retaliation at the court’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu over Israel’s campaign in Gaza.”You can disagree with what we’re doing. That happens all the time,” Niang told AFP in a one-to-one interview on the sixth floor of the ICC’s building in The Hague.”But even if we upset you, you should never put us on the same list as terrorists or drug traffickers. That is the message” to Trump.Niang said the sanctions affected several areas of his personal, family, and financial life.He found himself unable to charge up his hybrid car because it required a credit card that had been blocked due to the sanctions.”I have a subscription that has absolutely nothing to do with the United States, but I need a credit card. And my credit card was American Express,” he said.”So I found that all of a sudden, I couldn’t even charge up my car.”Niang said he was unable to transfer money to family members for fear their accounts would also be blocked.Sanctions have a place in international relations, the prosecutor told AFP, but attacking the ICC — the world’s only permanent court to try war crimes suspects — risks “de-legitimising” the instrument.- Putin, Netanyahu hearings ‘conceivable’ -Niang said it was frustrating that arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Putin has not resulted in a court appearance.The ICC has no police force and relies on countries to arrest suspects and transfer them to the court — extremely unlikely in the case of Putin or Netanyahu.However, he pointed to an unprecedented hearing against fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony earlier this year, held in absentia.Could such a “confirmation of charges” hearing take place for the leaders of Russia or Israel? “It’s conceivable,” said. “We tested it in the Kony case. It’s a cumbersome process. But we tried it and we realised it was possible and useful.”The advantages of such a hearing are to preserve evidence and also to give a voice to victims, said the prosecutor.But any request for such a hearing would require the consent of judges and would not be a trial, just a confirmation of the charges against the suspect.- ‘Poisoned the atmosphere’ -Niang is currently acting chief prosecutor of the ICC, in the absence of Karim Khan, on leave pending an investigation into sexual abuse allegations that he denies.”Even if they are only accusations, it disturbs us and it has poisoned the atmosphere of the court,” said Niang.”It is all the more unfortunate because it has been exploited to almost sabotage what we are doing, notably in the Palestine case,” added Niang.Israel has alleged Khan issued “baseless and outrageous” warrants against Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant to distract from the sexual abuse accusations.Niang welcomed the investigation into the Khan allegations but said the case was undoubtedly a hindrance.The accusations “are out there and that is enough to cast a veil of doubt over what we’re doing,” he said.- ‘Work to do’ -Despite the challenges facing the court, Niang was combative.”At this time when our existence is under threat, the world needs us more than ever,” he argued.He pointed to successes this year, such as the arrest of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte and the conviction of a feared Sudanese militia chief.For many years, the ICC focused on African suspects but now had investigations running in Latin America, Asia, and even Europe with Ukraine, he noted.Mass crimes are being committed daily and the court is there to try those crimes, said the Senegalese jurist.”The court is here and we would love for it not to be needed. Unfortunately, the world is as it is and we still have work to do.”

US consumer pricing and sentiment reports released Friday pointed to lingering questions about affordability as the calendar moves towards the peak of the festive season.The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred data point for measuring inflation, rose to 2.8 percent on an annual basis in September from 2.7 percent in August.When food and energy prices were excluded, prices also rose by 2.8 percent in September. However, that was below the 2.9 percent reading in August for the same benchmark.The mixed report, delayed due to the US federal government shutdown, is the last major inflation reading before the Fed’s rate decision next week.The figures were largely in line with expectations, but included notable increases in some categories that have strained consumers. Durable goods like automobiles, appliances and furniture rose 1.4 percent from a year ago.A separate report showed consumer sentiment rose in December to 53.3 from 51.0 in November, according to the University of Michigan.However, consumers today have a diminished outlook for their expected personal income compared with early in 2025 and labor market expectations “remained relatively dismal,” said survey director Joanne Hsu.”Consumers see modest improvements from November on a few dimensions, but the overall tenor of views is broadly somber, as consumers continue to cite the burden of high prices,” she said.The data did not significantly move the US stock market on Friday. Stocks are up modestly for the week, due partly to expectations the Fed will cut interest rates next week.The Fed has cut interest rates at its last two meetings following indications of a slowdown in the US employment market. But the Fed has also kept an eye on inflation due to the risk that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could reignite a major increase in prices.EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco predicted the US central bank would cut rates as expected next week, but could face multiple dissents.Fed Chair Jerome Powell will “persuade several hesitant policymakers to support a third consecutive ‘risk management’ rate cut, while signaling firmly that additional easing is unlikely before next spring absent a material weakening in economic conditions,” Daco said in a note.Friday’s pricing data revealed a “gradual and uneven” tariff pass-through on goods, “exacerbating the affordability crisis,” Daco said. “While many businesses have absorbed cost pressures using pre-tariff inventories and narrower margins, these buffers are slowly eroding,” said Daco, who expects rising inflation in late 2025 and early 2026, “further complicating the consumer outlook amid softening labor-market dynamics.”

US President Donald Trump became the first ever recipient of FIFA’s new peace prize at the 2026 World Cup draw Friday — a compensation gift for a leader whose dream of winning the Nobel remains unfulfilled.Gianni Infantino, the head of world football’s governing body and a close ally of Trump, presented the 79-year-old with the award during the ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington.”Thank you very much. This is truly one of the great honors of my life. And beyond awards, Gianni and I were discussing this, we saved millions and millions of lives,” Trump said.Infantino said Trump won the award for “exceptional and extraordinary” actions to promote peace and unity around the world.FIFA announced the annual prize in November, saying it would recognize people who bring “hope for future generations.” Its inaugural recipient was hardly a surprise.Infantino, 55, has developed a tight relationship with Trump, visiting the White House more than any world leader since Trump’s return to office in January.The US president often insists that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending what he says are eight conflicts this year, including a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.He was snubbed by the Norwegian Nobel Committee last month as it awarded the peace prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.Trump has put himself at the head of a “board of peace” for war-torn Gaza — Infantino also attended the signing of that peace deal in Egypt — while his administration this week renamed a Washington peace institute after him.The US leader has made the World Cup a centerpiece of his second presidency.Yet it was an extraordinary gesture for FIFA, a sporting organization that trumpets its political neutrality.There has been little transparency around the prize. Human Rights Watch says it has written to FIFA to request a list of the nominees, the judges, the criteria and the selection process — and has received no response.The prize came as Trump faces criticism from Democrats and rights groups on a host of issues.The self-proclaimed “president of peace” has launched a huge US military build-up around Venezuela and ordered deadly airstrikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats.He has also ordered a hardline migration crackdown, threatening to move World Cup games from cities where he has sent troops and freezing asylum decisions from 19 countries — including World Cup participants Haiti and Iran.And he has cracked down on political opponents, rival ideologies and those who challenge his false claim he won the 2020 election.The venue for the draw, the Kennedy Center, was where Trump installed himself this year as chairman in what he called a war on “woke” culture.

The European Union hit Elon Musk’s X with a 120-million-euro ($140-million) fine Friday for breaking its digital rules, sparking an angry reaction from Washington.The high-profile probe into the social media platform was seen as a test of the EU’s resolve to police Big Tech. Even before the penalty was made public, US Vice President JD Vance warned against “attacking” US firms through “censorship”.Hours after Brussels announced the fine, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined the attack.”The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” Rubio posted on X.”The days of censoring Americans online are over.”This was the first fine imposed by the European Commission under its Digital Services Act (DSA) on content.X was guilty of breaching the DSA’s transparency obligation, said a Commission statement.The breaches include the deceptive design of its “blue checkmark” for supposedly verified accounts, and its failure to provide access to public data for researchers, it added.”This decision is about the transparency of X” and “nothing to do with censorship,” the bloc’s technology commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters — pushing back against Washington’s line of attack.Posting on X on Thursday, Vance had told the EU it “should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage” — to which Musk replied “Much appreciated”.- ‘Deception’ -Musk’s platform — targeted by the EU’s first formal DSA investigation in December 2023 — was found to have breached its rules on several counts in July 2024.The EU found that changes made to the platform’s checkmark system after Musk took over in 2022 meant that “anyone can pay” to obtain a badge of authenticity — without X “meaningfully verifying who is behind the account”.”This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors,” said the Commission statement.X had also failed to be sufficiently transparent about its advertising and to give researchers access to public data in line with DSA rules, it added.X remains under investigation over tackling the spread of illegal content and information manipulation. The first part of the X probe had appeared to stall since last year — with no movement on imposing a fine.Weighing on the EU’s mind was the picture in the United States — starkly different from 2023 — after Trump returned as president this year with Musk by his side.While the pair later fell out, the tycoon has since reappeared in White House circles, and Brussels has had to contend with the prospect that any fine on X would fan tensions with Trump.- ‘Words to action’ -The DSA gives the EU power to fine companies as much as six percent of their global annual revenue — and in the case of X the bloc could have based itself on Musk’s entire business empire, including Tesla.Brussels settled on what is arguably a moderate sum relative to X’s clout — but Virkkunen told reporters it was “proportionate” to the violations at stake.”We are not here to impose the highest fines,” said the tech chief.”We are here to make sure that our digital legislation is enforced,” she added. “If you comply with our rules, you don’t get a fine — and it’s as simple as that.”She also emphasised that this was one part of a “very broad investigation” into X, which was ongoing.The Center for Countering Digital Hate advocacy group said the EU move “sends a message that no tech platform is above the laws all corporations have to abide by”.Washington has made plain its distaste for EU tech laws. A new national security strategy released Friday by Trump’s administration urges Europe to “abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation”.France’s digital affairs minister Anne Le Henanff hailed the EU’s “historic” decision. “By sanctioning X, Europe shows it is capable of moving from words to action,” she said.Germany’s digital minister Karsten Wildberger said the bloc’s digital rules “apply to everyone, no matter where they come from”.At the same time as the X fine, the Commission announced it had accepted commitments from TikTok to address concerns over its advertising system.But the Chinese-owned platform remains under DSA investigation over other issues.

An advisory panel appointed by the Trump administration’s vaccine-skeptic health secretary voted Friday to stop recommending that all newborns in the United States receive a hepatitis B vaccine.The move to end the three-decade-old recommendation is the panel’s latest contentious decision overturning long-standing medical advice since its overhaul by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spent decades spreading anti-vaccine rhetoric.US health authorities previously recommended all babies receive the first of three hepatitis B shots just after birth, mainly to prevent infections from mothers who unknowingly had the liver disease or had falsely tested negative.The approach has virtually eradicated hepatitis B infections among young people in the United States.Hepatitis B is a viral liver disease that can be transmitted by the mother during childbirth and puts those affected at high risk of death from cirrhosis or liver cancer.After delaying the vote by a day, the panel eventually passed its new recommendation for “individual-based decision-making,” in consultation with a health care provider, when children are born to mothers testing negatively for the disease.The decision should “consider vaccine benefits, vaccine risks, and infection risks.”It also recommends that babies who are not vaccinated at birth wait at least two months to get the initial dose.Under Kennedy, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is now composed largely of figures criticized by the scientific community for lack of expertise or their promotion of vaccine-skeptic theories.The vote was 8-3. Trump-appointed officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are widely expected to formally adopt the recommendations at a later date.Since 1991, US health officials have recommended the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, as is done in countries including China and Australia and is recommended by the World Health Organization.But several ACIP members have argued that Friday’s decision aligns the US vaccination schedule with those of other economically developed countries such as France and Britain.Medical experts say such a change is risky in the United States, pointing to shortcomings in maternal screening, with delays likely to cause a drop in vaccination rates in a country where access to health care can be complicated.”This irresponsible and purposely misleading guidance will lead to more hepatitis B infections in infants and children,” American Academy of Pediatrics President Susan J. Kressly said in a statement.The repercussions of the ACIP’s vaccine recommendations are broad because federal guidelines often dictate whether vaccines are paid for by health insurance companies in the United States, where a vaccine can cost hundreds of dollars.On Friday, the panel is set to begin a broader review of the childhood vaccination schedule and the composition of vaccines.But the committee’s influence is waning amid withering criticism from the US scientific and medical community, with Democratic-led states announcing they will no longer follow its recommendations.Some in Trump’s own Republican party have also pushed back against the ACIP’s actions, including Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy.Cassidy, a medical doctor who provided a key vote to allow Kennedy’s nomination to succeed, condemned the ACIP’s decision, noting the original recommendation was “NOT a mandate” to get the jab.CDC officials “should not sign these new recommendations and instead retain the current, evidence-based approach,” he said on X.Ahead of the vote, Dr. Cody Meissner, one of the few dissenting voices on the advisory committee, urged his colleagues not to change the current recommendations. “Do no harm is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording,” he warned.

Meta announced Friday it will integrate content from major news organizations into its artificial intelligence assistant to provide Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users with real-time information.The social media giant said Meta AI will offer breaking news, entertainment and lifestyle stories when users ask news-related questions, drawing from partnerships with outlets including CNN, Fox News, Le Monde, People and USA Today.The feature will allow users to access “more diverse content sources” and receive links to partner websites to dive deeper into stories, Meta said in a blog post.Meta said the expansion aims to make its AI assistant “more responsive, accurate, and balanced” by incorporating diverse viewpoints, acknowledging that “real-time events can be challenging for current AI systems to keep up with.”The initial partnerships span mainstream and conservative-leaning publications, including The Daily Caller and The Washington Examiner.The company said it plans to continue adding partnerships and develop new features as competition intensifies among technology firms to enhance the capabilities of their AI assistants.Meta AI is available across the company’s platforms, serving billions of users globally.The announcement comes as artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, increasingly move to incorporate live web content and news feeds.OpenAI has deals with News Corp., Le Monde, The Washington Post and Axel Springer, while The New York Times has partnered with Amazon and Google has partnered with The Associated Press. Europe’s Mistral has partnered with Agence France-Presse.At the end of August, the startup Perplexity unveiled a subscription package called Comet Plus, named after its AI-infused internet browser, Comet, which gives access to partnered media content for $5 per month.Perplexity has committed to redistributing 80 percent of the revenue generated by Comet Plus to news publishers.Despite these collaborations, several lawsuits brought by media outlets against AI companies are ongoing, notably that of The New York Times against OpenAI, which the newspaper accuses of using its articles without authorization and without compensation.In recent days The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune joined The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post with their own lawsuits against Perplexity.Meta has had a sometimes turbulent relationship with the news media over the years.The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg declared in 2024 that news was a very small share of user engagement on the company’s platforms and began shutting down the Facebook News tab in markets including the United States, Britain and France.This also saw the end of multi-million-dollar deals with leading news organizations.Zuckerberg also made the surprise decision in January to end Meta’s US fact-checking program, as he more closely aligned with the Trump administration’s antipathy toward establishment news.That program had employed third-party fact-checkers, many from news media organizations such as AFP, to identify misinformation disseminated on the platform.The AI news came a day after Meta’s share price rose sharply on a report that the company is significantly cutting back on virtual reality investments as it pivots toward artificial intelligence.