Australia and Japan Strengthen Defence Cooperation Amid Rising Regional Tensions 
U.S. Appeals Court Rules Trump Can Remove Members of Key Federal Labor Boards 
New Orleans Immigration Crackdown Sparks Fear as Federal Arrests Intensify 
Putin and U.S. Envoy Witkoff Hold “Truly Friendly” Talks as Ukraine Peace Efforts Intensify 
Cuba Quietly Signals Openness to Post-Maduro Venezuela as U.S. Pressure Intensifies 
China Urged to Prioritize Economy Over Territorial Ambitions, Says Taiwan’s President Lai 
IMF Deputy Dan Katz Visits China as Key Economic Review Nears 
Escalating Conflict in Eastern Congo Despite U.S.-Brokered Peace Efforts 
Trump Administration Tightens H-1B Visa Vetting With New Focus on Free Speech and Censorship 
Drones Spotted Near Zelenskiy’s Flight Path in Ireland Trigger Security Alert 
Cuba Reaffirms Anti-Drug Cooperation as Tensions Rise in the Caribbean 
Honduras Election Turmoil Deepens as Nasralla Alleges Fraud in Tight Presidential Race 
Trump’s Name Appears on U.S. Institute of Peace Ahead of Rwanda–Congo Deal Signing 
U.S. Expected to Expand Travel Ban to More Than 30 Countries 
Taiwan Opposition Criticizes Plan to Block Chinese App Rednote Over Security Concerns 
CFPB to Review Anti-Discrimination Policies and Fair Lending Rules Amid Policy Shift 
A US judge ruled that the Biden administration has five weeks to end an immigration policy that allowed authorities to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking asylum on the southern border of Mexico. The judge cited that the Title 42 policy breached federal regulatory law.
US District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan said in a 49-page filing Tuesday that the Title 42 policy was an “arbitrary and capricious” policy that breached federal regulatory law. The administration filed an unopposed motion requesting the delay. By Wednesday, Sullivan said he granted the motion to delay with reluctance, adding that the order halting the border expulsion policy will be in effect on December 2.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a separate statement saying that it needed five weeks to “prepare for an orderly transition” at the southern border. “The United States will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws at our border.”
Sullivan’s ruling was welcomed by human rights groups. The Title 42 policy was largely criticized as a violation of US and international laws that would endanger asylum seekers and refugees. Over 2.4 million Title 42 expulsions were carried out at the southern border since the policy was put in place by President Joe Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump’s administration back in March 2020.
The Trump administration argued that Title 42 was necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, experts said it was a pretext to further the Trump administration’s hardline, anti-immigrant policies.
A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Lee Gelernt, who led the challenge to the policy, said Sullivan’s decision was “a huge victory and one that literally has life-and-death stakes.”
US regulators Thursday approved a plan to demolish four dams in the California river, opening up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat in what is seen as the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the world when it goes into effect.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted unanimously in favor of the plan on the lower Klamath River dams, clearing the last regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone for the $500 million demolition proposal that was advocated for by Native American tribes and environmentalists.
