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In her dissent from one of the Thursday Supreme Court decisions on immigrant rights, Justice Elena Kagan made sure Donald Trump’s litany of racist remarks would be a forever part of the court’s historical record.The liberal justice used her dissent in a case where the conservative majority gave the president the legal authority to strip Temporary Protected Status from over 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, among others, to call out the president for his flagrant racism.On MS NOW, legal analyst Lisa Rubin read directly from Kagan’s blunt dissent, telling the panel, “Justice Kagan in her dissent doesn't just summarize the statements from the president and from Kristi Noem, who was then the head of Homeland Security, but makes them plain, and I want to read to you from her dissent because she gathers them up.”Looking at her laptop, she read, “’Haitians are eating the dogs, they're eating the cats, they're eating the pets of the people that live in Springfield.’ And ‘Haitians are also,’ and this is the quote, ‘eating other things too that they're not supposed to be.’ And Haitians in the United States, quote, ‘Probably have AIDS’. And Haiti, is quote, 'A whole country which is,’ quote, ‘filthy, dirty and disgusting,’ end quote.”She continued, “And, Haitian immigration is, quote, ‘Like a death wish for our country.’ And Haitians, along with some others, are quote, ‘Poisoning the blood,' end quote, of our country. And finally, this is a statement from the president that ‘we only take people from s-hole countries like Haiti and Somalia. Why can't we have some people from Norway and Sweden?’”“And then she [Kagan] goes back to something that was talked about at oral argument when she asked one of the lawyers for the Haitians, ‘So it's not Haiti particularly, it's all these countries have people of color, as opposed to Denmark and Scandinavia, you know Scandinavia generally, and whatever,’ and the lawyer says, ‘I certainly think that the record supports the idea that the president in particular, has focused in on Haitians, but it's broader than that. Haitians are our plaintiffs.’ But the relevant comparison, the relevant group here is all TPS countries all of which are non-white — and that makes its way into Justice Kagan's dissent," Rubin pointed out.“The majority briefly replies that those remarks are not 'overtly racial,' but it is hard to know what that means,” Kagan wrote, before adding, “Haitians are Black. (Norwegians and Swedes not so much.) The references—of filth, disease, and primitiveness—are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes. It is hard to imagine the statements being made today of any white community.” - YouTube youtu.be

MAGA followers rebuffed Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) on Thursday after he spoke out against the Trump administration following a Supreme Court ruling that ended temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians.Lawler wrote in a post on X that he thinks the situation in Haiti is a "humanitarian and political disaster and continues to warrant an extension.""While I have never disputed the ability of the President to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS), I strongly disagree with ending Haitian TPS at this time," Lawler wrote, adding that the immediate ending of this status would "create a crisis in our hospitals, nursing homes."Conservative social media users and MAGA supporters made their dissatisfaction with Lawler known."Two things can be true at the same time. We can sympathize with those who have to leave our great country but also understand that applying the skills and education they received here back in Haiti is the only hope of ever saving that nation," Julie Kelly, a MAGA-aligned political commentator and writer with more than 909,000 followers, wrote on X."I've said it before and I'll say it again. The worst GOP Congressman. He hurts our team more than a Democrat in his seat would. Vote him out-- yes, even in the general," Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at conservative think tank the Claremont Institute, wrote on X."They’ve been on this 'temporary' status for nearly 20 years," Real Political Data, a conservative political commentary account with more than 58,000 followers, wrote on X."Exile this guy to Haiti," conservative writer Paul Kersey wrote on X.I've said it before and I'll say it again.The worst GOP Congressman. He hurts our team more than a Democrat in his seat would.Vote him out-- yes, even in the general. https://t.co/AUkPwOxgqs— Jeremy Carl (@realJeremyCarl) June 25, 2026

Opposition figures fear changes will further tighten 83-year-old president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s hold on powerZimbabwe is on the brink of amending its constitution to give the president more time in office, a change that the government says will bring stability but that opponents have labelled a “constitutional coup”.The upper house of Zimbabwe’s parliament voted on Wednesday 75-4 in favour of the constitutional amendments, which will allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to stay in office until 2030 by extending presidential terms from five to seven years. Continue reading...

Reactions were mounting after U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to defend President Donald Trump's Iran agreement.Waltz claimed the Iran deal was a success, despite conflicting reports about the terms of the negotiations."The Iranian regime is absolutely desperate. I think no president has ever negotiated from such a position of strength," Waltz said.Commentators criticized Waltz for lying."The way these people lie is just still hard to believe," popular influencer account Spiro's Ghost wrote on X."They’re so desperate that we’re giving them $300 billion dollars to stop fighting us," Patric Reynolds, comic book artist and political commentator, wrote on Bluesky."He can't think that we don't see with our own eyes the reality of things and not the lies they tell," progressive political commentator Sandy, who has more than 28,000 followers, wrote on Bluesky."It’s insane that this dude has a job after Signalgate," writer and editor Viv Jackson wrote on Bluesky.The way these people lie is just still hard to believe. https://t.co/tJw9yDsNgK— Spiro’s Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) June 24, 2026

Rights campaigners and MEPs say meeting would normalise regime that erases women from public lifeRights campaigners and MEPs have warned that a meeting between EU officials and a Taliban delegation in Brussels risks normalising a regime that has banned girls from school beyond the sixth grade and sought to erase women from public life, while its ranks include two leaders accused of crimes against humanity.A spokesperson for the Afghan foreign ministry confirmed that a delegation representing the ⁠Taliban had travelled to Brussels after the Belgian foreign ministry issued five single-day visas. Continue reading...

Iran is moving unilaterally to tighten its grip on the Strait of Hormuz — and to start collecting revenue from it – even as it negotiates with the U.S. and its Gulf neighbors over future management of the waterway.Iran's top insurance regulator, Mousa Rezaei, announced Sunday that a new insurance company has been created specifically for the strait, according to Iranian state media, and days earlier, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority — an entity Iran established in May — began requiring vessels to register and carry a new mandatory Iranian insurance policy, reported the New York Times.For now, that coverage is free, but shipping experts say the 60-day free period is telling. That matches the length of the cease-fire and free-passage guarantees in last week's U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding ending the war and reopening the strait.Once that window closes, maritime historian Salvatore Mercogliano said, Iran could begin charging vessels for "insurance" against risks — attacks, detained mariners — that didn't exist before Iran itself created them by striking commercial ships earlier this year.Richard Meade, editor of Lloyd's List, called the arrangement effectively a toll by another name, designed to get ahead of the broader negotiations over the strait's security framework that Vice President JD Vance said are still to come.International law generally bars charging tolls for mere passage through a strait, though fees for actual services — like tugging waste disposal — can be legitimate. Iran has not specified what services its new insurance would provide, and the International Maritime Organization said the scheme has not been submitted to it and carries no basis in international law allowing mandatory fees or tolls.The maneuver also creates a trap for shippers. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the Persian Gulf Strait Authority in May, accusing Iran of trying to monetize attacks on vessels through extortion, and has warned that paying the authority could itself trigger sanctions — leaving companies caught between Iranian demands and U.S. enforcement.The result, Meade said, is that shippers remain stuck in limbo, unable to return to how transit worked before the war and unable to know what rules will govern it next. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority did not respond to a request for comment by the outlet.

A U.S. fighter jet pilot described a seemingly extraterrestrial sight before he ejected from his aircraft during hostilities in Iran.The downed F-15 pilot told intelligence officials during a debriefing after the April incident that he saw multiple Iranian drones hovering in air in a formation resembling a jellyfish, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN, and one source said the pilot described the formation as a “minefield of drones.""It immediately set off a firestorm of debate within the US intelligence community that has yet to be resolved," CNN reported. "If the airman really saw what he described — a formation moving in unison — it would be an alarming advance in Iranian drone capabilities."The downing remains under investigation, but initial reports indicated the formation had allowed Iran to shoot down a U.S. fighter jet for the first time during the war, two of the sources said.“Multiple drones interconnected and moving as one with smaller drones below the bigger drones like legs,” one of the sources told CNN. “Real alien s---.”The pilot was rescued hours later, but the weapons systems office on board the two-person craft evaded capture for more than a day in the mountains of Iran before also being rescued.A second aircraft, an A-10, was also downed during the rescue effort but that pilot ejected safely outside Iranian airspace.U.S. intelligence officials disagreed on their interpretation of the pilot's recollection, and some cast doubt on his account, pointing out he was concussed in the crash – his second time being shot out of the sky during the Iran conflict."Had he witnessed a mature capability that U.S. intelligence wasn’t aware of? A beta test? A mirage in the desert?" CNN reported.The technical term for what the pilot purportedly described is “one-to-many meshed networking,” according to the sources, and U.S. intelligence agencies had not been aware Iran was capable of using.Multiple reports have indicated that Iran received assistance in developing its drone technology from China and Russia, which are both believed to possess that capabbility.

Abelardo De la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer who used to practice law in Florida, appeared to win his presidential bid in Colombia this week after securing an endorsement from President Donald Trump, and the journalists at Zeteo opted to shed light on his “eye-opening” background in a scathing report.“He Tied Firecrackers to Cats. Yes, you read that right,” reads Zeteo’s report published on Monday. “On a television show, De la Espriella confessed that when young, he tied firecrackers to cats to try to make them fly, but they ended up exploding. He first said he was an ‘innocent’ child at the time, then walked the story back, saying it was a bad joke. Sure.”Also a businessman, De la Espriella has “made a brand of flaunting his wealth,” Zeteo’s report reads, and is “often seen wearing tailored suits, fedoras, and fancy watches.” He practiced law in Miami, Florida as a defense attorney and “came to prominence” defending right-wing paramilitaries and "politicians accused of corruption.”De la Espriella also “sexually harassed” a journalist during an appearance on a popular radio show, Zeteo reported.On a popular radio show, De la Espriella made a crude boast about his anatomy, claiming it would win him women's votes, then showed a female reporter a suggestive photo of himself in sweatpants. The reporter said she felt "violated, harassed, and disgusted." A court ordered him to apologize publicly.De la Espriella received a "congratulatory call” from Trump after his apparent election victory, Reuters reported, with the president touting his endorsement record after De la Espriella’s election win Tuesday morning. De la Espriella’s victory represents a recent “shift to the right” in Latin America.