A judge threatened to hold Trump officials in contempt
A judge in Washington yesterday said that he would open a contempt investigation into the Trump administration over its deportation flights of migrants unless it gave the deported men a chance to challenge their removal.
The judge, James Boasberg, said that there was “probable cause” the administration had violated an order he gave last month to keep the migrants in the U.S., instead of sending them to El Salvador.
The move toward a possible inquiry was a remarkable attempt by a judge to hold the White House accountable for its apparent willingness to flout court orders. Read the ruling here.
What’s next: Boasberg said that if the White House did not comply, he would order sworn declarations from officials to find who was responsible. If that failed, he would require depositions or hold hearings under oath. And if that was unsuccessful, Boasberg said he would refer the case to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
Mission to El Salvador: Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic Senator, traveled to El Salvador yesterday to press for the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant who was mistakenly deported from the U.S.
Chipmakers are caught in the U.S.-China trade war
The stock price for Nvidia, the American chip giant, tumbled nearly 7 percent yesterday after the company revealed that the U.S. government would restrict sales of some of its chips to China. A congressional committee also opened an investigation into Nvidia, seeking to assess whether the company knowingly helped China develop advanced A.I. technology.
Trump has also threatened tariffs on Taiwan, where most of the world’s advanced semiconductors are made. China similarly views the island’s chip dominance as a problem. But unlike the U.S., it has sought to reduce barriers to import the technology.
Israel threatened ‘tremendous force’ in Gaza
Israel’s defense minister warned yesterday that the war in Gaza would soon escalate with “tremendous force” and an extended humanitarian blockade if Hamas did not quickly release hostages.
The U.N. said that the humanitarian situation in the enclave was likely at its worst since the conflict began, with the population on the brink of famine.
A hostage’s ordeal: Keith Siegel, who spent 484 days as a hostage in Gaza, described the distress he endured. During his captivity, he was whisked between hiding locations over 30 times and spent a stretch in a tunnel. “I thought about death many times in that tunnel,” he said in an interview with The Times.
Who would spend hours a day watching moose trudge through northern Sweden? Lots of people, it turns out. For the next three weeks, moose fans are following “The Great Moose Migration” live on the country’s national broadcaster. “This is reality TV at its finest,” the moderator of a Facebook group said.
Lives lived: Richard Armitage, who served as the No. 2 official at the State Department during the 9/11 attacks and the start of America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, died at 79.
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The Grand Egyptian Museum is finally open
The world’s most anticipated museum is finally open. The Grand Egyptian Museum, outside Cairo, had been announcing and then canceling plans since 2012, delayed by revolutions, wars, financial crises and a pandemic.
My colleague Stephen Hiltner traveled to the colossal complex and was greeted by one of its many showstoppers: a 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II. Other highlights included a mummified crocodile and a display of figurines left as servants for the dead. Take a look.
