The Headlines - Big Wins for Trump at the Supreme Court, and a $2.5 Billion Cyberattack Whodunit

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

Plus, the Friday news quiz.  Here’s what we’re covering: Public Schools Try to Sell Themselves as More Students Use Vouchers, by Dana Goldstein Iran Strikes Ship in Strait of Hormuz, Undermining Efforts to Restore Traffic, by Peter Eavis, Farnaz Fassihi, Jenny Gross and Euan Ward Hoping for Miracles as Venezuela Digs Out From Massive Quakes, by María Victoria Fermín, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Julie Turkewitz, Isayen Herrera and Michael Levenson A $2.5 Billion Whodunit: The Hack That Dented the U.K. Economy, by Adam Goldman, Jane Bradley, Dustin Volz and Michael Schwirtz Older Adults Are No Longer Staying in ‘Empty Shell’ Marriages, by Catherine Pearson Tune in every weekday morning, and tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, June 26th. Here's what we're covering. In Washington, the Supreme Court has handed down a major ruling expanding President Trump's power over immigration and allowing him to potentially expel more than 350,000 migrants. The decision centered on temporary protected status or TPS,

which grants people from countries facing humanitarian crises like wars or natural disasters, permission to live and work in the U.S. President Trump has opposed TPS for years, and his administration moved to revoke it for people from two countries specifically, Haiti and Syria, arguing in part that conditions were safe enough

for people to go back. Lower courts blocked those moves, but yesterday the Supreme Court's six conservative justices ruled that the president can strip those protections, and that the courts cannot second-guess the administration's determinations on who does and doesn't qualify for TPS. As part of their ruling, the conservative justices rejected claims that the Trump administration was motivated by racial bias. That prompted a sharp dissent from Justice Elena Kagan, who laid out a series of derogatory comments Trump has made about Haitians in particular, like when he claimed they were eating people's pets in Ohio and that they were, quote,

poisoning the blood of the United States. The Trump administration celebrated the court's ruling with Stephen Miller, atop Trump aide, saying Haitians with TPS should now leave the U.S. Right now, TPS holders are scrambling to find other forms of immigration protection if they haven't been doing so already. Many have already applied for asylum, work visas,

but those pathways are narrow, and petitions are costly, and they can take years to process. My colleague Jasmine Neoa covers immigration for the times. People right now are having to decide whether to make exit plans to another country. Some people are looking to migrate again to South America or to Canada. Others are frankly debating whether they should stay here and live a life in the margins. They're not going to have work authorization. If they encounter ICE or federal immigration officers, they may be subject to deportation.

And so that's a very scary prospect for a lot of families. Jasmine says the ruling could not only upend the lives of many migrants, but also have widespread consequences for their communities. For example, employers like hospitals and construction companies, where thousands of TPS holders work will have to fire their Haitian and Syrian employees who only had authorization to work through the program. And going forward, the court's ruling could also affect the status of over a million other TPS holders, including people from Afghanistan and Somalia,

whose status the Trump administration is trying to revoke, too. The ruling on TPS was one of two major wins for President Trump's immigration agenda yesterday. The Supreme Court also ruled that the administration can prevent migrants from seeking asylum by physically stopping them from crossing into the U.S. as they seek protection. For more on that decision, listen to today's episode of The Daily. In Venezuela. The morning has been very sobering. You just see so many buildings entirely collapsed, just piles upon piles of debris.

My colleague Adriana Lurero Fernandez has been reporting on the search and rescue efforts still underway after the country was hit by back-to-back deadly earthquakes. In this building specifically, they believe. There are as much as four people who are alive and they're trying to get to them. They really need more tools so they can dig deeper. Doctors, nurses, firefighters, and just anyone. I mean, I saw hikers. Anyone would come around and help. According to Venezuela's government, at least 235 people were killed and more than 4,000 were injured.

numbers that are expected to rise. Several hundred people are believed to be trapped, and residents in one of the hardest-hit areas said they'd seen very few rescue workers and minimal government presence. Although Venezuela is rich in oil, years of economic crisis have hollowed out its emergency services and left its infrastructure deteriorating, factors that are likely to complicate the country's recovery.

Yesterday, Iran, Iran's armed forces attacked a container ship that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz, undercutting the idea that shipping through the crucial waterway is returning to normal, and contradicting President Trump's assurances that the strait is open. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a U.S. official told the times the ship was hit by a drone. It came hours after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps warned vessels that they could only travel along a route, it approved. Now, traffic has come to a standstill again. Oil prices have jumped, and it's not clear if the strike will complicate the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

Last year in the UK. A source familiar with the situation at Jaguar Land Rover has told ITV news, this is catastrophic. It's a complete shutdown. Hackers burrow deep into the computer systems of Jaguar Land Rover, the ice. iconic car company. It's not just the assembly lines. Dealers haven't been able to register vehicles, even the individual diagnostic software that a mechanic might use.

That hasn't been working. The hack forced the auto giant, which makes luxury cars and military vehicles, to completely suspend production for more than a month, costing the British economy an estimated $2.5 billion and making it the costliest cyber attack in the country's history. In the months that followed, a loose collective of hackers, including some in Britain, took credit for the attack. But now the Times has learned that it was not them. Instead, a group of Russian hackers was responsible. According to people familiar with the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, authorities are still trying to figure out whether the Kremlin gave specific orders to carry this out, or just tacit approval.

The cyber attack came as tensions between Russia and the U.K. were flaring over the war in Ukraine, and the dramatic incident underscores how a hostile nation can cause economic damage by targeting critical infrastructure. Former British intelligence officials say that for its part, the U.K. has also mounted secret cyber attacks and sabotage operations against Russia. In response to questions from the Times, Jaguar Land Rover declined to comment on the attack, and a spokesman for a Russian president Vladimir Putin said, quote, we don't know anything about this. And finally, around the U.S., divorce rates have been dropping in recent years, but there is an exception to that trend,

and it is people 65 and up. The reasons are varied and complex, but it's becoming clear that baby boomers are increasingly unwilling to stay in what sociologists call empty-shell marriages. Those kinds of relationships where they may have been together for decades, but the spark is gone. Traditionally, couples often decided to stay together anyway, to try and not cause upheaval for the kids, or because of concerns about money, or the stigma of divorce. But that could now be a thing of the past. Experts think one big factor may be that people are

living longer. If you have a lot more years ahead of you, you may be more willing to make a big change. Also, experts say, societal expectations for what marriage can or should be have changed two. Couples who may have gotten married relatively young because it was just the expectation are now living in a time when the emphasis for marriage is more about love, fulfillment. One sociology professor told the times that basically, our collective tolerance for staying in a just so-so relationship is going down. Online dating has also changed the equation, potentially making it easier or at least less daunting to try and find a new partner. According to a report from Pew, more than 10% of Americans over the age of 70 say they have used a dating app. Those are the headlines. If you'd

like to play the Friday News Quiz, stick around. It is just after these credits. This show is made by Will Jarvis, Margaret Cedifa, Jake Lucas, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, Sam Dolnik, Miles McKinley, and Zoe Murphy. Now, time for the quiz. Every week, we ask you a few questions about stories the Times has been covering. Can you get them all? First question.

I don't restrict all what I eat. I eat until I'm full, and I still lose weight because I'm eating the right stuff. At a recent event, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was talking up the benefits of a particular diet that he's been on. J.D. Vance is also on that diet, and you can see how different he looks, and several other members that Cabinet are also on it, and it's probably the best shape cabinet that has ever heard. Kennedy claimed he's gotten a lot of other members of the administration to try it, too, including the vice president. Your question, what kind of food is central to the diet that Kennedy has been

promoting? The answer? I eat fermented vegetables and fermented and yogurt, anything fermented, and meat. Fermented foods. So sauerkraut, kimchi, apple cider vinegar, that kind of thing. Some research has suggested these foods may have a few health benefits like lowering inflammation. And under Kennedy's tenure, federal dietary guidelines were updated to include those kinds of foods for the very first time. Kennedy's passion for sauerkraut in particular has been documented before. with his wife telling a podcast last year that when he goes out to dinner,

he sometimes brings his own sauerkraut in a bag. Next question. This week, a new 13-hour audiobook version of The Odyssey was released. The 3,000-year-old epic was always intended to be read aloud, but Homer probably never imagined it like this. This version is one of the first major audiobooks to feature an AI reader that is a clone of a celebrity's voice. Take another listen.

Can you name which Oscar-winning actor lent his deep, distinctive tone to the project? His life was often peril, as he labored to bring back his comrades to their homes. He saved them not. Though earnestly he strove, they perished all through their own folly. If you need a hint, he has had a wide-ranging Hollywood career, playing everything from a Christmas crank to a very loyal butler. Dancer? Michael Cain.

When Kane licensed his voice to the company behind the audiobook last year, it set off a wave of controversy, with people accusing him of selling out and endangering the careers of voice actors. Whether this kind of AI voice project is a hit with audiences remains to be seen, but my colleague who listened to it said synthetic Michael Cain was a little jarring, and in some of the biggest most intense parts of the Odyssey, the voices just sounded a little flat. And last question. Time starts now.

Where do you go to school? Sir Michael's intellectual. Oh, okay. Recently, the Times profiled a comedian and radio host who has found surprising success thanks to a very specific kind of talent that he shows off on air. Do you know Louis Joucest? No. Okay, do you, Andy Nakanechnie?

The gimmick is that he takes calls from random people. as long as they come from the same country that he does. And in just 60 seconds, he tries to find someone who they both know. Okay, do you know Matt Williamson or Katie Jones? He is shockingly good at it. It helps, of course, that his country is small. Your question, what country are he and all of his callers from? The answer?

Let's find out. We have a caller on the line from Wales. Hello. Wales. Population just over 3 million. The comedian Ellis James puts his skills to the test regularly on his show, which airs on the BBC. When he gets a caller, he almost always starts by asking a person's age and school. That lets him narrow in on the hometown.

Then he throws out the names of local extroverts, maybe a pub owner, a legendary teacher, that kind of thing. And he tries to rely on Wales' deep old school community ties to get him to a connection. He has joked that if the timer goes off and he has not managed to find a connection, He feels like he's disappointed the whole country. That is it for this week's news quiz. If you want to tell us how you did, our email is The Headlines at NYTimes.com. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back on Monday.