Good morning. Yesterday the US supreme court handed Donald Trump – and all future presidents – the power to fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, overturning 90 years of court precedent curbing executive power.
While Trump celebrated the ruling on Truth Social as a “big win”, labor advocates, unions, and consumer advocacy groups criticized the decision on the case, Trump v Slaughter, and warned of the long-term impact on democracy in the US. Rebecca Slaughter, the federal trade commissioner fired last March, said she was “profoundly disappointed about today’s decision”. Our columnist, Moira Donegan, says the court’s verdict has again undermined the power of Congress.
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What have lawyers said about the verdict? Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown law professor, wrote: “There’s no sugar-coating [it]. It’s an enormously important ruling. It’s a huge win for Trump/the executive. And it’s going to have massive ramifications for the functioning of the government long after Trump is gone.”
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What other decisions did the court make? The supreme court sided against national Republicans and Trump’s administration to allow mail-in ballots that arrive after election day to be counted, upholding the law in more than a dozen states. It also ruled that law enforcement’s use of sprawling warrants that sweep up smartphone location data requires privacy protections under the fourth amendment, in a boost to critics who view their use as an unconstitutional dragnet.
Trump tried to appeal E Jean Carroll verdict all the way to the supreme court
The US supreme court also declined Donald Trump’s request to review a New York jury’s 2023 verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing the writer E Jean Carroll, and then defaming her.
The justices did not provide an explanation or reasoning, and no public dissents were noted. The decision leaves intact the $5m civil judgment against Trump that was returned by the jury after the two-week trial in 2023.
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How did Trump and Carroll react? The US president wrote on Truth Social: “Surprisingly, the supreme court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me”. Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, also issued a statement in response to the decision, saying: “Today’s supreme court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E Jean Carroll.”
Monaco parcel bomb blast severely wounds Ukrainian oligarch
A parcel bomb blast has wounded a Ukrainian oligarch and two others in Monaco in an unprecedented act that has rocked the super-safe principality. Prince Albert II, the head of state, described it as a “heinous crime” and “a shock to the entire Monégasque community”.
A source close to the investigation said one of those wounded was the Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Iermolaiev. A multimillionaire Monaco resident, Iermolaiev has been subject to sanctions from Kyiv since December 2023, which Ukrainian security services reportedly said stemmed from his alcohol business activity in Russian-occupied Crimea.
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How did the explosion happen? The public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said a suspect had left a bag or package in the building’s lobby before leaving. The Monaco government said the “strong explosion” was caused by a “parcel bomb” and that “a suspect was seen on video surveillance fleeing towards the municipality of Beausoleil in France”. The explosive device apparently contained bolts and buckshot.
In other news …
Stat of the day: San Francisco archdiocese to pay $395m to settle more than 500 child sexual abuse claims
The San Francisco Catholic archdiocese has agreed to pay $395m to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials, plaintiffs’ attorneys have said. Salvatore Cordileone, the San Francisco archbishop, will write an apology letter to each survivor as part of the settlement, which also requires the archdiocese to implement a series of child protection and transparency reforms, including creating a list of clergy accused of abuse.
Culture pick: Porn star turned late-night TV icon Robin Byrd
Robin Byrd, an eager and effective advocate for safe sex right at the start of the Aids epidemic, kept things upbeat and encouraging, relentlessly promoting the use of condoms and dental dams while demonstrating their proper use. In the process she became what the directors of a new documentary – Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story – call “an accidental activist”. Jim Farber speaks to her.
Don’t miss this: A US champion of ‘freebirthing’ claimed there had been no maternal deaths linked to the movement. Is Stacey Warnecke the first?
A Guardian investigation exposes the full links between a US business linked to baby deaths around the world and the Australian “birth keeper” Emily Lal, the central witness at the inquest into the death of a Melbourne wellness influencer.
… or this: How a Cook Islands fisher survived eight days lost in the Pacific
Junior Apiuta Apiuta was twice thrown into the ocean by huge swells that threatened to overwhelm him as he spent eight days drifting alone in the vast Pacific Ocean. This is his story.
Climate check: How I survived the record Paris heatwave while seven months pregnant
“I plan to ask about the extreme heat plan at an information session this afternoon, but the session is cancelled due to the heatwave,” says Megan Clement as she recounts how she has coped with Europe’s hellish heat in the past few days.
Last Thing: Naomi Osaka wows Wimbledon crowd with kimono-inspired outfit
It was one of the most anticipated moments on the opening day of Wimbledon: Naomi Osaka’s on-court outfit. She arrived to whoops and cheers in a floor-length ruffled gown inspired by Japanese ceremonial dress and, crucially, given the tournament’s fussy rules about female athletes’ attire, was all in white. Game, set and match to Osaka!
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