Court throws out Trump administration lawsuit against Los Angeles sanctuary city law
A federal judge in California has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Trump administration against the city of Los Angeles over its “sanctuary city” ordinance, delivering a significant legal blow to the White House’s campaign against local immigration protections.
Judge Fernando M. Olguin of the US district court for the central district of California ruled that the administration’s allegations were “insufficient to establish that the Ordinance violates the intergovernmental immunity doctrine”. The ordinance, he noted, “controls the actions of the city’s own agents and agencies”. The judge granted the Justice Department permission to file an amended complaint by 3 July 2026.
The lawsuit, filed in June 2025, had argued that the city’s policy violated the Supremacy Clause by “singling out the Federal Government for adverse treatment” and “seeking to undermine the Federal Government’s immigration enforcement efforts”. The action was brought amid an escalation of immigration raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol agents in Southern California, and after the president deployed troops to quell protests against those operations.
The city’s ordinance, updated in 2024, prohibits the use of city resources, property or personnel to cooperate with federal immigration authorities or to share information about an individual’s immigration status. It builds on a long-standing local policy that traces back to the Los Angeles Police Department’s “Special Order 40” from the 1970s.
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto hailed the ruling as a victory for local control. “This order reinforces the well-established principle that local governments have the authority to decide how to use their personnel and resources,” she said. “The goal of this ordinance … is to encourage victims of and witnesses to crime to feel safe coming forward to seek help from LAPD regardless of their immigration status. It does not obstruct or impede lawful federal immigration enforcement operations.”
Judge Olguin dismissed with prejudice the claims against Mayor Karen Bass, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and the Los Angeles City Council, leaving the City of Los Angeles as the sole defendant.
Senate passes bipartisan housing bill aimed at curbing costs
The US Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan measure designed to lower housing costs by streamlining construction and permitting processes, ending months of fraught negotiations.
The “21st Century Road to Housing Act”, which passed by a vote of 85-5, combines elements of previous House and Senate bills and is the product of years of work. It now heads to the House of Representatives for approval.
Key provisions of the legislation include a ban on investors purchasing single-family homes if they already own 350 or more properties, a measure intended to curb the influence of large-scale buyers on the housing market. The bill also waives some federal permitting rules to ease new construction, and authorises pilot programs to provide grants for home improvements and the planning of affordable housing.
Other components aim to expand access to manufactured homes, increase mortgage availability, streamline environmental reviews for housing projects, and update multifamily financing tools. The legislation creates an innovation fund for communities that increase their housing supply.
Senators Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, and Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, were instrumental in steering the bill through the chamber.
The push for the legislation comes as both Democrats and Republicans prepare for November’s midterm elections, in which concerns about affordability are expected to dominate voters’ minds. A chronic shortfall in the construction of new homes is widely seen as a key driver of rising housing costs.
Tornado kills two older residents in southern Illinois
Two elderly residents were killed and at least five other people injured when a tornado ripped through the town of Mount Vernon, Illinois, on Sunday evening, authorities have confirmed.
The Jefferson County sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that the tornado touched down at about 5pm on Sunday, destroying at least three mobile homes and several other buildings. The victims were identified as Sarita Kimble, 62, and Delores Shelton, 83. Officials said none of the five people who were hurt sustained life-threatening injuries.
AccuWeather reported that 117 tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service on Sunday, and 40 tornado reports were filed with the Storm Prediction Center, mostly between Peoria, Illinois, and Jasper, Indiana. The National Weather Service office in Lincoln is conducting damage surveys, with reports indicating widespread destruction, including toppled trees and roads blocked by debris.
Illinois has already seen more tornado reports in 2026 – 164 up to and including last Thursday – than in any other year since records began. Meteorologists note that potent tornadoes are increasingly striking in concentrated, volatile outbreaks, a trend linked to the climate crisis.
Other developments
Iran nuclear deal. Iran has agreed to allow United Nations nuclear inspectors back into the country as part of an agreement under which the US will lift sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports. US Vice President JD Vance announced the deal following talks in Switzerland. The agreement also involves the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and requires Iran to spend its unfrozen assets on food imports from American farmers. Donald Trump said on social media that Iran would agree to inspections for “Nuclear Honesty”.
California gas price lawsuit. A group of California drivers is suing major gas station operators, including BP, Circle K, Marathon, 7-Eleven, Walmart, and Albertsons, alleging they used an artificial intelligence tool to coordinate and inflate prices at the pump. The lawsuit, filed under the state’s Cartwright Act and Assembly Bill 325 – which targets algorithmic price fixing – claims the AI tool uses competitor data to recommend price increases of up to 30 cents per gallon in some areas. The companies operate more than 1,700 petrol stations across California.
Montreal shooting. Three people were killed in a shooting in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood on Monday. The deceased include a civilian, a police officer from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, and the suspect. A second officer was critically injured, and another civilian sustained minor injuries. The officer was identified as Constable Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, 34. The civilian victim was named as Michael Moshe Mizrahi, a local Jewish man and member of the Chabad centre. Local media identified the suspect as Seth Hatfield from Alberta, and said he is believed to be linked to the “incel” movement. Police said the shooting is not believed to be linked to terrorism.
Ecuador whistleblower murder. Activists have claimed that a Polish anti-corruption activist investigating allegations against the Ecuadorian president’s family business was murdered to silence her. Monika Silva Koniuszek was found dead in her home on 8 June 2026. While the interior minister initially suggested suicide, a postmortem concluded the cause of death was a blow to the head and strangulation. Koniuszek had reportedly been investigating allegations of cocaine seizures in banana containers linked to the president’s family business and had delivered a dossier of allegations to the US embassy.
UK social media plans. The UK government is considering new rules that would force platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to give established media outlets – including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 – greater algorithmic prominence. Ministers have warned that online misinformation is becoming “existential for our democracy”. The proposals could also extend to national and local newspapers, designating them as “trustworthy providers”. Tech companies are expected to oppose the plans, arguing that government-mandated prominence could distort user choice.
Lincoln Memorial pool. The reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial is to be drained again after Donald Trump claimed vandals “went in there with a knife” and damaged his $14m revamp of the feature, where the water has stubbornly refused to turn the desired “American-flag blue”.
Titanic artifacts auction. RMS Titanic Inc, the company that owns exclusive salvage rights to the wreck, is facing opposition from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over its plan to auction more than 100 artifacts from the ship. Noaa, which represents US interests and oversight at the wreck site, contends that such a sale would violate the company’s legal obligations to the site.
House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke has described the upcoming third season as “carnage” and “hectic”, picking up moments after her character Alicent Hightower’s bargain with Rhaenyra. Cooke said the power dynamic between the two is now “more fractured” and “strained”. She also addressed a controversial scene in the season three premiere in which Aemond kisses Alicent, calling it a “shocking” and “fucking weird” incestuous act that disturbed her character.
Lost Hiroshima memoir. A 230-page memoir by Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a Methodist minister who survived the Hiroshima bombing in 1945, is to be published for the first time this summer after its discovery in a US archive. The manuscript was written almost 80 years ago and is described as a “stunning historical discovery and a heartrending testimony”. The memoir is also being adapted into a feature film.
