House Republican breaks with Trump, says ending Haitian TPS risks US healthcare ‘crisis’
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s Thursday decision in Mullin v. Doe, which ruled that Syrian and Haitian nationals seeking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) could not receive judicial relief postponing the Trump administration decision to rescind their TPS while challenging Trump’s decision in court. Lawler, in a post on X, maintained that he supported President Donald Trump’s right to end TPS, but he disagreed with the decision to end it for Haitians at this time. “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. First, the situation on the ground in Haiti is a humanitarian and political disaster and continues to warrant an extension,” Lawler wrote. Lawler cited the State Department’s decision to issue a level 4 travel advisory to Americans, warning them to evacuate Haiti and not travel to the Caribbean island due to heightened gang activity. “The gangs are in charge of the country, engaged in gun and drug trafficking, and kidnapping innocent Haitians,” Lawler continued. Lawler then pointed to the large number of Haitians on TPS working in the U.S. healthcare system, arguing that revoking the status would create a healthcare “crisis.” “Of the 350,000+ lawful Haitian TPS holders, roughly 1/3rd work in our healthcare system. Immediately shutting off TPS will create a crisis in our hospitals, nursing homes, and in the I/DD community,” he said. TRUMP ADMIN TURNS TABLES ON POLICY ‘EXPLOITED’ BY BIDEN DHS TO SHIELD MORE HAITIANS FROM DEPORTATIONS Lawler outlined a request to the Trump administration to extend Haitian TPS. “I’m asking the administration to allow for an orderly process by which Haitian TPS holders can maintain their work authorization while their immigration cases are adjudicated over the next six months, if the revocation of TPS moves forward. Furthermore, I believe the Senate should take up my legislation with Congresswoman Gillen to temporarily extend Haitian TPS to address these issues,” Lawler concluded. Trump first attempted to revoke TPS for Haitians, which was initially granted after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, during his first term in 2017. A series of federal challenges to that attempt kept Haitian TPS in place throughout Trump’s first term, but in 2025, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended the status entirely. TRUMP SAYS VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES LEFT ‘DEVASTATING NUMBER OF DEATHS’ AS US READIES AID On Thursday, the Supreme Court bolstered that order, ruling 6-3 that federal courts do not have the jurisdiction to second-guess executive branch decisions regarding TPS terminations. The White House and representatives for DHS reacted positively to the rulings. “This ruling is a tremendous win for the Trump Administration. Today, the Supreme Court affirmed what President Trump has always maintained: temporary protected status is, by definition, temporary. It was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status or legal residency and it is committed to the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. “The Trump Administration continues to lawfully end the egregious abuses to our immigration system that have hurt Americans for years,” Jackson concluded. James Percival, general counsel for the DHS, also praised the ruling in a Thursday post on X. “The Court vindicates DHS yet again,” Percival wrote. “The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense,” Percival concluded. Lawler also issued an official statement from his Congressional office clarifying his remarks. “Congressman Lawler has consistently advocated for extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals. He co-led H.R. 1689 with Rep. Laura Gillen, urged the Administration on multiple occasions to extend TPS protections, led a bipartisan effort with local officials in support of Haitian TPS recipients, issued an open letter to the Haitian community, and voted in favor of legislation after signing the discharge petition to bring the legislation to the House floor,” the statement read. “Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York’s 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties,” the statement also read. Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.
Obama-appointed judge blocks Trump’s election order as SAVE America Act fight intensifies
An Obama-appointed judge blocked President Donald Trump‘s effort to curb noncitizens from registering to vote or voting in federal elections. “President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of our elections. The President’s executive order lawfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. The lawsuit centers on President Trump’s March executive order, Executive Order (EO) 14248, which directed the creation of a federal voter registration list and imposed new restrictions on eligibility for voting by mail as part of the administration’s broader effort to combat voter fraud. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled Thursday that the president does not have the power to set election rules because only Congress and the states have that authority. Talwani has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts since 2014, after then-President Barack Obama appointed her to the bench. ‘ROGUE’ OBAMA JUDGE’S SMACKDOWN OF TRUMP ELECTION RULES PROVOKES OMINOUS WARNING FROM WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY The lawsuit also comes after Trump recently threatened to withhold support for the bipartisan 21st Century Housing Act in an effort to pressure Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. “President Trump has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting to secure our elections for generations to come,” Jackson added. Trump’s EO ordered a federal voting registration list and directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail-in ballots only to individuals on said list. TRUMP VOWS BLOCK ON SIGNING NEW LAWS UNTIL SAVE AMERICA ACT PASSES SENATE Talwani’s ruling prevents the administration from enforcing those provisions ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The lawsuits were brought by a coalition of states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by 22 other states and the District of Columbia as well as voting rights organizations. The decision found that Trump exceeded his authority by trying to change election rules through executive action, writing that the Constitution gives that power to Congress and the states, not the White House. The ruling follows a decision Tuesday that struck down parts of President Donald Trump’s March election integrity executive order titled, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper found that the order went beyond enforcing existing law and instead attempted to create or change election rules on its own. The decision blocks the administration from requiring documentary proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, changing voting rules for military and overseas voters, or withholding election funding from states that reject certain election rules, including counting ballots received after Election Day. Trump abruptly canceled the signing of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on Wednesday and issued an ultimatum demanding passage of the SAVE Act. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act includes Trump’s long-sought voter ID and citizenship verification requirements ahead of the midterm elections. Fox News Digital’s Elaine Mallon contributed to this report.
South Dakota mayoral candidates separated by just two votes in shockingly close race, recount expected
Out of more than 36,000 votes cast in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, mayoral runoff contest, the candidates are shockingly separated by just two votes. Christine Erickson, a former South Dakota state representative and former Sioux Falls city council member, is leading state Sen. Jamie Smith, who is also a former state House member, by that razor-thin two-vote margin. The candidates have 18,280 and 18,278 votes respectively. WHAT’S NEXT FOR KRISTI NOEM? 2026 SENATE CHATTER GROWS AFTER DHS EXIT Smith, who plans to request a recount, said during a phone call with Fox News Digital on Thursday that “every vote does count,” noting, “This is exactly an election that shows you that.” While the race was nonpartisan, Smith is listed as a Democrat on the South Dakota legislature’s website, while Erickson, who served in the state House over a decade ago, is listed as a Republican on the site. SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR SURVIVES CROWDED PRIMARY — FOR NOW “Thank you Sioux Falls! To my family, friends and supporters, I couldn’t have done this without you. This election exemplified that every single vote truly matters. To the people of Sioux Falls, even with a close margin, I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to lead Sioux Falls forward for the next four years,” Erickson said in a Wednesday statement. “Even though the polls have closed, the fight continues. We know there will be a recount and I feel confident going into this next phase. My team and I are prepared to make sure the recount moves forward fairly with accuracy and transparency,” she continued. TRUMP MAKES LATE-NIGHT ENDORSEMENTS IN SIX STATES AHEAD OF TUESDAY PRIMARIES, INCLUDING CALIFORNIA “Congratulations also to Jamie for a hard fought campaign. Sioux Falls has a bright future, and we will come together to make sure our community thrives today and for generations to come. My promise is the same as it was on day one of this campaign: I will lead with common sense and make sure city government serves you, the people. I’m excited to get to work,” she concluded.
Lebanon Latest: Peace talks between Lebanon and Israel, people return south
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Al Jazeera’s Robert McBride brings you the latest from Beirut as people return to the south of Lebanon.
Israel kills three in Lebanon as Rubio praises progress in Washington talks
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reports three people have been killed in an Israeli attack on a car in Nabatieh. Published On 25 Jun 202625 Jun 2026 Israeli attacks on Lebanon have continued despite a ceasefire, with three people killed during a strike on a car in the south of the country, as senior Israeli and Lebanese officials meet for a final day of talks in Washington. According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), three people were killed on Thursday, and one was wounded after the Israeli attack hit a car on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun in Nabatieh Governorate. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list NNA also reported that Israeli forces burned a number of houses in the town of Ain Arab, after issuing warnings forcing residents to evacuate the town before 5pm on Wednesday. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, since the conflict began on March 2, 4,230 people have been killed and 12,179 others have been wounded. Reporting from Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remains “fragile” as the Israeli army continues to target “anyone or anything in front-line villages”. “[These are ] villages on the outskirts [of the] city of Nabatieh, which lie along the area which is under Israel’s occupation,” Khodr explained. “So the message is they don’t want people to approach that area, there’ve been drone strikes, they’ve dropped stun grenades … people killed. “Those villages, the Israeli army was not able to occupy them during weeks of fighting and it wants to still be able to control them by fire because the more territory you control, the more leverage you have in negotiations,” she said, adding that officials from Lebanon and Israel are discussing the possible and gradual handover of territory. Ceasefire talks Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a United States-backed proposal for the past three days, with the talks wrapping up in Washington, DC, on Thursday. The negotiations have been focused on Israeli forces handing over some of the territory they occupied during the fighting with Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military. Advertisement A US State Department official told the Reuters news agency that Israel had taken a “concrete step” towards the proposal, which had been part of the latest round of talks, by pulling back from a part of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. However, a senior Israeli defence official denied that there had been any pullback, adding that Israel would not be withdrawing from its buffer zone. Moreover, a senior Lebanese military official also told Reuters that developments on the ground in recent days had shown the “opposite of a pullback”. Still, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon were making good progress towards a “commitment of intent”. “I think we are very close in our hopes of getting a commitment of intent between the two countries,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Bahrain. “It’ll be a process, it’ll take some time, it’ll take a lot of work, but I can tell you that for the first time in 30 years, the sovereign government of Lebanon is speaking to the government of Israel directly.” Under US pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks in April with Israel in Washington. Hezbollah, however, has condemned the Lebanon-Israel talks, demanding the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon first. Adblock test (Why?)
They fled war as child refugees, now they’re playing at World Cup 2026
In Vancouver, during the opening week of the 2026 edition of FIFA’s global football showpiece, Nestory Irankunda became the youngest player to score for Australia at a World Cup. The 20-year-old celebrated the effort in the 2-0 victory against Turkiye by punching the corner flag, his tribute to Australian great Tim Cahill. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The celebration did not show what came before it: a refugee camp in Kigoma, Tanzania, where Irankunda was born after his parents fled Burundi’s civil war. Two of his teammates carry a version of that same story onto the same pitch. Across the largest World Cup staged with 48 nations, hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, at least nine players carry a refugee or displacement story. Together with others, they were brought together last month by the UN refugee agency under a campaign called the Gamechanging Team. The UNHCR says 117 million people are displaced worldwide, including almost 49 million children. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih, called this World Cup “an ideal moment… to send a message of hope to fans all over the world,” in the same May statement that announced the Gamechanging Team. For the players who share painfully similar pasts, that message plays out across more than a hundred matches this summer, in front of the largest audience football has ever drawn. Here are those nine of the players who reached the finals – along with two more who missed out – and where their stories come from. Alphonso Davies — Canada Canada’s Alphonso Davies prior to the 2022 World Cup match with Croatia in Qatar, Nov. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) Davies was born in 2000 in Buduburam refugee camp, Ghana, after his parents fled Liberia’s civil war; the family resettled in Edmonton, Canada, when he was five. In March 2021 he became the first footballer named a UNHCR Global Goodwill Ambassador. “Whilst the refugee camp provided a safe place for my family when they fled war, I often wonder where I would have been if I had stayed there,” he said in the statement UNHCR released announcing his appointment. “I don’t think I would have made it to where I am today.” Davies now captains Canada, one of three co-host nations alongside Mexico and the US — who qualify automatically. Advertisement Mohamed Toure — Australia Australia’s Mohamed Toure celebrates after the group-stage match against Turkiye [Albert Gea/Reuters] Toure was born in a refugee camp in Conakry, Guinea, in 2004, after his family fled an attack on their hometown in Liberia and spent 14 years waiting to be resettled. “Our town was attacked by a group of men and we had to flee,” his father, Amara, told Football Australia’s YouTube channel, in comments reported by ITV News Anglia on June 12, 2026. The family settled in Adelaide, Australia. Now Australia’s starting striker, Toure told Football Australia around the same time: “If my dad can go to work and say: ‘Yeah, my son played at the World Cup’… that makes me happier than me playing in a World Cup”. Awer Mabil — Australia Australia’s Awer Mabil after the match against Tunisia [Annegret Hilse/Reuters] Mabil was born in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya, after his South Sudanese parents fled civil war, and was resettled in Adelaide aged ten. He scored the penalty that sent Australia to the 2022 World Cup and co-founded Barefoot to Boots, a charity supplying football gear to children still living in Kakuma. “Everything is possible… so keep going,” he told the Philippine outlet Sunstar during Refugee Week in June 2026. Nestory Irankunda — Australia Nestory Irankunda celebrates scoring Australia’s first goal of World Cup 2026 [Lee Smith/Reuters] (Reuters) Irankunda was born in a refugee camp in Kigoma, Tanzania, after his parents fled Burundi’s civil war. “My older sister was sick and they were close to leaving her behind, but my dad couldn’t do it,” he said in an interview this month with beIN Sports describing his family’s escape. Of his World Cup goal against Türkiye: “It is unreal and a dream come true”. Ermedin Demirovic — Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ermedin Demirovic celebrates after playing Qatar [Blake Dahlin/Reuters] Demirovic was born in Germany, where his father settled after fleeing Bosnia during the Balkan war. He chose to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina rather than Germany. “To now represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at only its second-ever World Cup makes me incredibly proud,” he said in the statement UNHCR released in May launching its Gamechanging Team campaign. Asmir Begovic — Bosnia and Herzegovina Asmir Begovic in action in the UEFA Champions League during his time with Chelsea [John Sibley/Reuters] Begovic fled Bosnia at four, first to Germany, then to Canada, where he learned the game. He played at Bosnia’s first World Cup in 2014 and remains part of the squad for its second. “I get flashbacks every once in a while travelling in the car,” he said in a 2022 interview with Goal.com. “Nobody felt sorry for us, and you couldn’t feel sorry for yourself.” Advertisement Antonio Rudiger — Germany Germany’s Antonio Rudiger plays for Real Madrid in Spain [Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters] Rudiger was born in Berlin – not in a camp, but to a mother who fled Sierra Leone’s civil war in 1991 and settled in Neukolln, a district he described in a 2020 interview on Chelsea FC’s official site as “a tough area where mostly refugees grew up.” “My parents came to Germany from Sierra Leone to seek safety and a better future,” he said in the same UNHCR statement that introduced the Gamechanging Team in May. “Representing Germany is a full circle moment for me.” Ali Al-Hamadi — Iraq Norway’s Erling Haaland is challenged by Iraq’s Ali Al Hamadi [Pilar Olivares/Reuters] Al-Hamadi was a baby when his family fled Iraq in 2003, spurred by the jailing of his father for joining a peaceful protest against Saddam Hussein. Upon the release of his father, who was studying to
Passport Row: What is proof of Indian citizenship? Opposition fires back, Govt clarifies
MEA stated that “A passport is a travel document, and not a document of citizenship.” Responding to this, the Opposition questioned which document then serves as proof of citizenship. The government cites the Passport Act 1967 and the Bombay HC 2013 ruling for clarification.
Ketan Agarwal Murder Case Update: How Lohagad Fort staffer caught Siya off guard on spot, brings new twist
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Ram Mandir Donation Row: VHP seeks FIR, quick probe, daily hearings by fast-track court
On Tuesday, the three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the alleged Ram Mandir donation embezzlement case, submitted its report to Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad.
Rahul Gandhi slams Dharmendra Pradhan over ‘terrorist’ remark, seeks resignation
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the Centre and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday over the latter’s controversial remarks against students protesting discrepancies in the education system.