Global News Podcast - US Supreme Court curbs judges' power to block Trump orders

Episode Date: June 28, 2025

The top court in the US has ruled judges in lower courts have limited ability to block presidential orders. Also: DR Congo and Rwanda sign long-awaited peace deal, and should we be letting maggots eat our food waste?

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Jackie Leonard and in the early hours of Saturday, the 28th of June, these are our main stories. President Trump says he's been handed a giant win after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that judges in lower courts have limited ability to block presidential orders. In a separate move, Mr. Trump says he's cutting off trade talks with Canada because it's about to enforce a tax targeting big tech companies. And the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have signed a peace deal seen as a first step

towards ending three decades of conflict between the two countries. Also in this podcast. As babies, they are super, super hungry. If you remember the book The Hungry Caterpillar, you just eat and eat. The maggots being used in food waste disposal in Lithuania. In a highly significant ruling, the US Supreme Court has curbed the power of federal judges to block presidential orders nationwide. The case stems from President Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship for the children

of undocumented immigrants. He hailed the 6-3 decision as a giant win. Dissenting justices said the ruling made a mockery of the Constitution. This is a ruling likely to have implications for other policies President Trump is pursuing. From Washington, our North America correspondent Gary O'Donoghue reports. This next order relates to the definition of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the United States. That's a good one. Just hours after taking the presidential oath in January, Donald Trump signed one of his most controversial executive orders. It was designed to overturn the constitutional right to citizenship for children born on US soil,

to undocumented migrants and to people in the country temporarily. The move drew protests from migrant groups and it was immediately challenged in the courts. The move drew protests from migrant groups and it was immediately challenged in the courts. Three federal judges prevented the change from coming into effect nationwide until the merits of the case were decided. We will hear argument this morning in case 24A884, Trump vs. Casa, Inc. In May, the Trump administration went to the Supreme Court arguing such injunctions were too broad and the nine justices split down ideological lines have now agreed with the president and

have said such injunctions should be limited. The White House hastily redrew the president's schedule so he could celebrate what he termed a monumental victory. It's been an amazing period of time, this last hour. There are people elated all over the country. I've seen such happiness and spirit. Sometimes you don't see that, but this case is very important. The Supreme Court's judgment does not come into effect for 30 days, leaving time for those who brought the cases to go back to court.

While this is undoubtedly a big win for the President, it's still true that the challenges to these specific policies will still proceed through the courts and the merits and constitutionality of each case is a separate question to what's been decided today. In truth this is an issue that administrations of both complexions have complained about, so expect Republicans to see this as a double-edged sword when and if a Democrat enters the White House, he or she will enjoy the same legal

advantages as Donald Trump will now make the most of. There will also be much more work for lawyers. Gary O'Donoghue in Washington. Donald Trump has abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada and says he'll set a new tariff rate on Canadian goods within the next week. The escalation comes just days after the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said both leaders had agreed to finalise a new economic and security deal within a month, signalling what had seemed to be a moment of calm in US-Canada relations.

The BBC's John Donison in Washington told us more. What Mr Trump said in this post on his Truth Social platform was that he was terminating all discussions on trade with Canada with immediate effect because they had imposed this digital services tax of 3% on US technology companies. This has long been a sticking point in the negotiations with Canada. I think the first payments were due to come in on Monday and Mr. Trump said in response he was cutting off trade and he would announce within the next seven days a tariff to be applied to all Canadian goods coming

into the United States. And Canada of course is one of Washington's biggest trading partners. How significant is this? Very. I mean I think there's around about 750 billion dollars of trade every year between the two countries in each direction, roughly split equally between the two, and it's going to cause a lot of concern for businesses and consumers because when these tariffs come into effect, if they do, that is obviously going to lead to prices going up. As you say, if they do, what's going to happen next? You'll remember that back in April, Donald Trump announced that there was going to be

a 90-day pause on all the tariffs he had previously announced to allow negotiations to continue, not just with Canada but with countries all around the world. That deadline is coming up on July the 9th and after that, if deals aren't done, then Mr Trump says his tariffs will be imposed. Now in the past week, we've heard him say that they're very close to doing a deal with China, very close to doing a deal with India, although nothing has yet been announced in detail. But the question is, is this just a negotiating tactic, if you like, to put pressure on the

Canadians or is it something that Donald Trump is going to stick to? Now in terms of what the Canadians have said well the Prime Minister Mark Carney has given very brief comments to the media today and he simply said well the discussions are ongoing and we will continue to try and reach an agreement so from his point of view it seems like negotiations haven't stopped. That's not what the Americans are saying. John Donison. After 30 years of conflict that's cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced

millions, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have signed a peace agreement in Washington. The peace deal was mediated by Qatar and the US and could open the way for billions of dollars of Western investment in the mineral rich region. Dozens of armed groups have been fighting for control of Congo's mineral riches and one, Kodeko, attacked a displaced persons camp in Ituri province hours before the signing of the accord, killing 10 people. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the deal an important moment after decades of hostilities. We think sometimes about peace. It's not just about ending wars. And it's not just about saving lives. It's about allowing people to live.

It's about allowing people to now have dreams and hopes for a better life, for prosperity, for economic opportunity, for a family reunification, for all the things that make life worth living. Those things become impossible when there's war and when there's conflict. President Trump said the deal opens a new chapter of hope. He also said that the US will now get access to some of the vast array of minerals in the Congo as part of the agreement. Our Africa correspondent is Mayeni Jones. So what are the key elements

of the peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda? Some of the key elements of this deal between the DRC and Rwanda appear to be, in the first instance, like a secession of hostilities, so basically a ceasefire. Both countries have committed to disengaging and disarming some of the non-state armed groups that are active in the area, groups like M23 and FDLR, which both sides have kind of accused each other of supporting. They also say that they'll put the conditions in place to make it possible for people who have been displaced by the conflicts to come back. They want to grant humanitarian access to groups like the UN. And finally, they talk about some sort of regional economic integration framework.

Now, it's not clear what that means, but it appears to be some sort of reference towards working together to make the most out of the region's vast mineral wealth. Yes. How significant are the minerals in the region in terms of brokering this deal? I think they're pretty central. President Trump's made no secret of the fact that one of the reasons he's interested in solving this conflict is because he believes that America could greatly benefit from the minerals in Eastern DLC in the early stages of his involvement. He talked about, you know, this would be a great deal for the US. So it appears to be central to it. What is interesting with this evening's

events is that very little mention was mentioned of the details of that economic involvement, how much access would the US have to that wealth? And that's very controversial for a lot of Congolese people because the country has a long history of Western countries benefiting from the country's mineral wealth. And many Congolese people want to know what are the details of this deal? What access will the US be given for how long. And I think it's also important to mention also that this is coming at a time when the US is in competition with China with access to Africa's minerals and so for President Trump he sees this as a way of perhaps bettering one of his geopolitical big rivals. And given that there are dozens of different rebel groups involved, how realistic are the

chances that this agreement is actually going to lead to a long lasting peace? That's the million dollar question really, because many of these groups, some of them are affiliated with the kind of government state parties in this conflict, but some of them are completely disconnected from them and they also want a part of the mineral wealth of eastern DRC. Just a few hours before this deal was signed a militia group called Kodeco attacked a camp for displaced people in eastern DRC. So getting some of these groups that are unnecessarily beholden to the DRC or Rwanda to fall in line is going to be tricky and that means that for the people who are affected by this conflict the civilians were supposed to benefit from this. Whether there will be a long

lasting peace that will allow them to go home and lead happy lives which is what Mr. Trump says this deal will do I think is very much up in the air. That was Mayani Jones. Israel's Prime Minister, Defence Minister and military have all denied reports that soldiers were ordered to fire on civilians at aid distribution centres in Gaza. The claims, published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, alleged that IDF commanders told troops to shoot at Palestinians to push them back from newly opened sites run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Speaking at a news briefing on Friday, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres gave this assessment. Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarised zones is inherently unsafe. It's killing people. It's time for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,

the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and full, safe and sustained humanitarian access. Meanwhile, the head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation told the BBC his organisation is facing a disinformation campaign and is doing the best it can in what he called a war zone. Our correspondent Wirra Davis sent this report from Jerusalem. Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper and website that has been frequently critical of how Benjamin Netanyahu is running the war in Gaza and his reluctance to end the military campaign. This morning it published an explosive story campaign. This morning it published an explosive story alleging that IDF officers and soldiers said they'd been ordered to shoot at unarmed crowds near food distribution sites in Gaza,

even when no threat was present. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed at or near distribution centers in recent weeks and according to Haaretz, the Israeli military advocate general has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes at the sites. In a statement, the IDF said it strongly rejected the accusations and that it did not instruct forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, although it acknowledged that incidents were being examined by the relevant IDF authorities. The sound of gunfire today reportedly from an aid point in southern Gaza. A civil defence spokesperson said that at least 60 people had been killed today by Israeli

gunfire or airstrikes, including several at or near aid distribution points. Johnny Moore is the head of the American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which, amid much controversy, has replaced much of the well-established UN aid mechanisms in Gaza. He told the BBC's News Hour programme that allegations of deaths at their sites were part of a disinformation campaign. We're not actually sure that all of this information that's being distributed every single day is entirely accurate. A huge percentage of it is part of a significant disinformation effort to try to both discourage Gazans from coming to get our assistance and also to sort of try to get us to fold up our operation.

Referring to the Haaretz report, Israel's Prime Minister tonight said he rejected what he called a contemptible blood libel against the most moral military in the world. But the increasing number of people being killed and the ongoing humanitarian crisis has again brought calls for more aid to be distributed across Gaza by the UN and other international agencies. We're a Davis. Now to Lithuania and an unusual approach to food waste disposal using maggots. In the capital Vilnius, Fly larvae have been assigned the job of processing the city's food waste from its 600,000 residents and this method is reported to be saving the City Council millions of dollars every year. Mary Lou Costa has been following the story.

As babies they are super, super hungry. So I guess if you've ever taken care of a newborn baby, you know, like a human baby, you know that they want to drink milk all the time. They just want to put on weight. It's exactly the same with fly larvae. So if you remember the book The Hungry Caterpillar, he just eats and eats until he hides away. He becomes a big beautiful butterfly. So it's exactly the same with fly larvae. They consume about half their body weight in food a day and they can gain about 5,000 times their body weight in a couple of weeks. That's sort of in half their lifespan and their favourite food is essentially rotten food. So it's a perfect combination of collecting food waste from people's houses and using it as part of the council food decomposing process. OK, but fly larvae do not turn into big, beautiful butterflies. What happens to the flies afterwards?

That's the exact point in this whole process. They eat and they eat and they eat and it's a bit like, I guess, in traditional farming where you've got, they are fattened, culled before they go to market as such. So before they transition into flies, the fly larvae are culled and then they are sort of harvested and processed and then converted into protein based products. So that is going to vary depending on the laws of that country. And it just meant the company that is processing the waste for the Vilnius City Council is using the fly larvae to supply the furniture and interior of the industry. So for example, using their processed protein product as a component in paint and fabric,

so like sofa coverings. So in other countries where there are different laws in terms of what they can be fed, you have fly larvae processing operations that are then converted into animal feed, which is really high in protein, so for example, for livestock. And then of course, there are some larvae that will be allowed to blossom into a fully grown fly because, as I said the lifespan is only around 30 days so they do need to they do need to kind of repopulate the mating population as such so so there are some that will be held back and be

allowed to grow into mid-shore flies to kind of keep keep the population going Mary Lou Costa Still to come? I'm just gonna plead with them not to do it, not to do it to us, because you won't get anything from us. The Health Minister of Tonga on the hackers who recently attacked the IT system for the Tongan Health Service. Next, to Iran. The Iranian president says that if his country had not responded to Israeli airstrikes earlier this month, the situation in the Middle East could have escalated into a full-scale and uncontrollable war. Israel and the US attacked several sites linked to Tehran's nuclear program, sparking a 12-day conflict ended by a fragile ceasefire.

Our Chief International Correspondent Lise Doucette sent this report on Friday from Tehran. Iranians are savouring the quiet which has returned to their city. Restaurants and cafes are filling up again. Families are strolling in Tehran's many parks on this fourth day of the ceasefire. But many Iranians still tell us they're worried this fragile truce won't hold. President Trump announced that the US and Iran would return to negotiations next week, but the foreign minister Abbas Harakshi denied there were any firm plans

to resume the mainly indirect talks halted by Israel's 12-day war. But it's known that messages are being exchanged through many mediators about finding ways to resolve this crisis over Iran's nuclear program through diplomacy rather than another descent into war. Iran's President Masoud Pesachian reiterated Tehran's view that Israel's assault was a deliberate attempt to sabotage the negotiating process. He accused Israel of, in his words, killing outside the norms of war, by targeting areas beyond military bases and nuclear sites, which killed and injured civilians. As arguments intensify in Washington about how much damage was inflicted on Iran's nuclear program, Mr. Herakshi told

state television that the country's facilities sustained significant and serious damage, but he said the situation was still being studied. Those assessments will play a critical role whenever negotiations resume. Liz Doucet is being allowed to report from Iran on the condition that none of her reports is used on the BBC's Persian service. This law from the Iranian authorities applies to all international media agencies operating in Iran. There was, during the 12 days of war between Iran and Israel, considerable speculation that Tehran might retaliate for the US strikes on its nuclear facilities by closing the world's busiest oil shipping channel, the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of global oil and gas flows

through this narrow shipping lane in the Gulf. Blocking it would have profound consequences for the global economy, disrupting international trade and ratcheting up oil prices. It could also have inflated the cost of goods and services worldwide and hit some of the world's biggest economies, including China, India and Japan, which are among the top importers of crude oil passing through the strait. So what might be the lasting impact on a region so dependent on the strait? Sameer Hashmi reports from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

A bomb strikes Tehran. For nearly two weeks, Iran and Israel were locked in their most intense conflict in decades and for a few hours It felt like the gulf was on the brink one of the biggest fears that Iran might block the strait of humus One of the world's most important shipping routes and its most vital oil transit chalk point with nearly 20 percent of the world's oil passing through it Ben cahill is an energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He says Iran closing the strait was never a likely scenario. The full closure of the strait would cut off Iran's critical source of export revenues, foreign currency revenues, and that's definitely not in the interest of Iranian state or the oil

sector. So that would be a major reason why Iran would not decide to go for a full-scale closure of the strait. And no matter what happens in the months to come, I mean Iran will be highly dependent on oil revenues. But it wasn't just oil that was affected. I'm standing right now at Dubai Creek, the heart of old Dubai's trading routes. But now this place has become more symbolic than strategic. But just a few kilometers away from here sits Jabal Ali, the largest port in the Middle East and one of the busiest in the world.

Over the last few decades, Dubai has emerged as a major global trade hub connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. But the recent Israel-Iran conflict threatened to disrupt that rhythm. Average container shipping rates jumped by 55%. Rashman Manoli is the vice president of freight forwarding at Consolidated Shipping Services, one of Dubai's largest freight companies. At the moment it's still fluid. Everybody is waiting and watching how things unfold. And the prices that go up, do they immediately come down

or does it take some time then for the prices to gradually settle down? It gradually settles down. Initial impact is when you have a choke point and when you have a situation of backlogs, obviously the vessels will need to be diverted to other ports and then moving those containers from those transshipment ports back into UAE,

that's additional cost. So yes, if there is a long term, then the prices will continue to be long term. Throughout the conflict, Gulf states tried desperately to avoid being dragged in. The region also houses some of the world's largest oil and gas facilities, infrastructure that has been targeted in past attacks. Since then, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have worked to thaw relations with the Iranian regime, even as they have deepened security ties

with the United States. Badr Al-Saaf, a Gulf-based geopolitical analyst and a professor at the Kuwait University, believes that the recent conflict will push Gulf states to double down on improving ties with Tehran. Look, the Gulf states have been pursuing a nimble foreign policy. That caters to fast-changing dynamics, that advances their security, their national interests, that also advances their domestic needs.

And those plans require peace and stability. For the Gulf economies, war is not just a matter of geopolitics. It's about survival. In a region trying to chart a new course away from oil towards innovation and growth, stability is currency. That report by Sameer Hashmi in the UAE. The head of the World Health Organisation says China is still withholding crucial data on the origins of Covid-19. Dr Tejra Adhanem-Gabriesus says the WHO has asked repeatedly

for early patient samples and lab safety records from Wuhan but hasn't received them. He insists all theories must remain open. All hypotheses must remain on the table including zoonotic spillover and lab leak. We continue to appeal to China and any other country that has information about the origins of COVID-19 to share that information openly. With his assessment of this development, here's our Asia Pacific editor, Mickey Bristo. It's important because the World Health Organisation doesn't yet know what caused COVID to spill over into the human population in order to find out that.

It really needs to get all the data it possibly can from the first cases which were detected in Wuhan way back in December 2019. And what the World Health Organization has done with this report it's released today is essentially lay out all it's been able to find out about the origins of COVID in the last five years and its conclusions are that, well, there aren't any firm conclusions because it says it just doesn't have enough data.

It comes up with two main theories. The first one that the COVID virus could have come from an animal, perhaps about to an intermediary animal, or the second one which is that this could have been a lab leak in Wuhan. And what can the WHO realistically do if a country doesn't want to cooperate? Nothing and I think it's worth pointing out that the WHO has said a number of countries haven't cooperated, including the United States, with providing raw information. But really it's focused primarily on China and the data that it hasn't supplied. Essentially it's highlighted three things it wants from China. The first is the data you mentioned there of those first cases.

It also wants to find out what kind of animals are on sale at the Huanan Seafood Market. This is where there were a cluster of cases, what animals were there and where they came from. It also wants to check out the kind of health records of workers working in laboratories, working on viruses in Wuhan. It hasn't got that information from China and it's probably not going to get them because just a few months ago the Chinese government issued a report on its thoughts about the origins of Covid. It said that it believed that the investigation into the origins was over and it believes that Covid came to China through

frozen goods from outside the country. And without that information, Miki, what chance is there that the world will ever know for certain what happened? Are there still investigations? Reading through this report, you get the impression that the World Health Organization is not optimistic that it's going to find any more information or be given any more raw data. It seems unlikely that we're ever going to find out what caused Covid. Mickey Bristow.

A court in Tbilisi has sentenced a leader of Georgia's opposition coalition for change to eight months in prison. Nneka Melia is the sixth opposition figure this week to be jailed for refusing to give evidence to a parliamentary commission. Rehan Demetri has this report. All of those imprisoned have also been banned from holding public office for two years. The parliamentary commission led by a former Justice Minister from the ruling Georgian Dream Party, is investigating alleged crimes committed by the previous administration, including during the 2008 war with Russia,

which it blames on the then government. Failure to comply with the inquiry, the government ruled, would be punishable by up to one year in jail. Commentators say that's intended to silence critics, be they from civil society, the media or opposition parties. The inquiry set up by the governing Georgian Dream Party is investigating alleged crimes committed by the previous administration. Rights groups say the pro-Russian government has launched a full-scale authoritarian offensive against its critics. Cybercriminals have turned their attention to the tiny island nation of Tonga in the South Pacific. Earlier this month they attacked the IT system of the Tongan Health Service. Ella Bicknell reports.

800 kilometers from Fiji and more than 2,000 kilometers from New Zealand the turquoise lagoons and palmed-lined beaches. Tonga has been long called the untouched jewel of the South Pacific. But recently that tranquillity has been disrupted. Two weeks ago, the country's IT system for its health service suddenly stopped working. Doctors were locked out of patient data. The cause? Hackers under the name INC Ransom, demanding a million dollar payment for control of the system. We don't have enough money for our people, for health in Tonga, let alone paying a ransom to anyone.

It's unthinkable for me, it's unthinkable. Dr Anna Akaola is Tonga's Health Minister. She says some members of her IT team were in tears and they called in a specialised team from Australia to help resolve the issue. For me, for the doctors, for everyone, yes, it was very stressful. I'm just going to plead with them not to do it to us. You won't get anything from us. We are very dependent on other countries to help us. This is why Australia is coming over to help try and fix our problem. It's not yet clear how hackers gained access. In Parliament, Tonga's Minister for Police criticised

the government for ignoring previous warnings to shore up the country's digital infrastructure. But as the deadlock continues, doctors are doing what they can, with pens, paper and patients. Hello Bicknell. Here in Britain, the world famous Glastonbury Music Festival is underway in southern England. Action began on the main stages on Friday. Performers so far include the 90s superstar Alanis Morissette and the 1975. The Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi made a surprise return two years after he was unable to finish his performance at the Pyramid stage. From Worthy Farm, Charlotte Gallagher reports. Lewis Capaldi had only performed a few low-key shows since Glastonbury two years ago when

his voice faltered and the crowd helped finish his songs. This was his emotional and triumphant return. Glastonbury, how we doing? Capaldi said he wasn't going to say much as he'd start crying. It's just amazing to be here with you all, and I can't thank you all enough for coming out and coming and seeing me. Ritpop has been a big crowd crowd pleaser at the festival too. Supergrass opened the pyramid stage and Shed 7 attracted thousands in the afternoon.

But in true school assembly style, everyone was on their best behaviour. On what's been a hot and sunny start to Glastonbury 2025. Charlotte Gallagher reporting. And that's it from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you would like to comment on this podcast or on the topics covered in it, do please send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service, just use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Masoud Ibrahim Khayel. The producers were Liam McShaffrey

and Alice Adderley. Our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jackie Leonard and until next time, goodbye.