Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.
Justices to review Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenshipThe Supreme Court announced this afternoon that it would review a landmark dispute over the constitutionality of President Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship. The legal fight began on the president’s first day back in office, when he signed an executive order declaring that children born to undocumented immigrants and to some temporary foreign residents would no longer be granted citizenship automatically. The move sought to upend the commonly accepted view of American citizenship guaranteed since 1898: that virtually all children born on American soil are automatically citizens. But before the order could go into effect, throwing into doubt the status of hundreds of thousands of babies born every year, the federal government was sued and the order was paused. One federal judge called it “blatantly unconstitutional.” Now, the Supreme Court is tasked with determining whether Trump’s order violates the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized” in the U.S. The case joins what is already a consequential term for the court, during which the justices will hear a series of challenges to other presidential actions, including tariffs and the firing of a Fed governor. In other Trump administration news:
C.D.C. panel changed its childhood vaccine guidanceA federal vaccine committee voted today to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B, a highly infectious virus that leads to chronic liver disease in most infected children. The panel, which was handpicked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted 8 to 3 that women who test negative for hepatitis B should decide “when or if” their children receive the vaccine. The recommendation for mothers who do not test negative did not change, and the shift is not expected to affect insurance coverage of the shots. Still, the decision was a significant step toward Kennedy’s goal of remaking the childhood vaccine schedule, and more changes to childhood vaccine policy are expected. Some experts argued that the changes — and the divisive, dysfunctional process that produced them — could deal a blow to the C.D.C.’s authority.
Netflix is set to buy Warner Bros. in $83 billion dealNetflix shocked Hollywood today when it announced that it intended to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that values the business at $82.7 billion. For now, CNN is excluded from the deal. The acquisition — if it survives what is likely to be a lengthy regulatory battle — would bulk up the world’s biggest paid streaming service and give it further leverage over the entertainment industry. The move also represents a significant about-face from Netflix, which has long which has long prioritized its subscriber base over theatrical distribution.
A titan of American architecture diedFrank Gehry, one of the most formidable and original talents in the history of American architecture, died today at 96. Gehry was one of the first architects to grasp the potential of computer design, which he used to give sculptural bravura to his masterpieces. His greatest popular success was the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — a wildly exuberant, titanium-clad museum that helped turn a rusty port town into an international destination. Our architecture critic, Michael Kimmelman, called Gehry “a wry, pugnacious, singular genius.” Michael highlighted a dozen of Gehry’s most impressive projects. More top news
Across Latin America, there has been a surge in cocaine trafficking as the U.S. prioritizes combating fentanyl. Ecuador has been hit the hardest.
The stage is set for next year’s World CupFIFA brought sports stars like Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and Shaquille O’Neal onstage today to unveil the opening matchups of the 2026 World Cup, which is being hosted next summer by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Americans will take on Australia and Paraguay in Group D. You can see the entire draw here, and which groups are strongest. More from my colleagues at The Athletic:
The real Barbie story is messier and more interestingIn the summer of 2023, the movie “Barbie” brought Mattel’s famous doll into the center of American culture. The film suggested that kids had always played with babyish dolls until Barbie was invented, freeing girls to center their imaginative play on a woman. The true story, as Tarpley Hitt chronicles in her rollicking new book, “Barbieland,” is much more human. Hitt shows how Mattel spied, copied and stole its way to market dominance, and then fought with militarylike intensity to compel us to buy more and more Barbies.
Dinner table topics
Cook: Have some fun with these mint chocolate chip cookies. Watch: Kristen Stewart’s feature directing debut, “The Chronology of Water,” is an uncomfortably visceral tale of abuse and addiction. Read: Ted Geltner’s biography of the writer Denis Johnson is one of the Book Review’s |
