First Thing: US Supreme Court clears way for Alien Enemies Act deportations – but migrants must get court hearing

Family members of many deported Venezuelans deny alleged gang ties. Plus, global executions hit 10-year high in 2024

Good morning.

The supreme court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th-century wartime law to deport Venezuelan people, but said they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the US.

The court said the administration must give Venezuelans who it claims are gang members “reasonable time” to go to court. Detainees “must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs,” the majority wrote.

The ruling said the court was not resolving the validity of the administration’s reliance on that law to carry out the deportations, but found that the challenge to the wartime law must take place in Texas, where the migrants were held, and not in Washington DC. Family members of many of the deported Venezuelans deny the Trump administration’s claims they have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang.

What was the reaction? Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit against the deportations, said the court’s ruling that deportees were entitled to due process was an “important victory”. Donald Trump posted: “The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law in our Nation by allowing a President, whoever that may be, to be able to secure our Borders, and protect our families and our Country, itself. A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA.”

China vows to ‘fight to the end’ against latest Trump tariff threat

China’s government says it will “fight to the end” if the US continues to escalate the trade war, after Donald Trump threatened huge additional tariffs in response to China’s retaliatory measures.

Asian markets improved slightly in early trading on Tuesday, a day after a torrid Monday on global markets. Japan’s Nikkei index rose 6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.5%.

European stock markets also rose. The UK’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.8%, France’s CAC climbed 1.5% and Germany’s DAX rose 1.6%.

What did Beijing say on Tuesday? China’s commerce ministry accused the US of “blackmail” and said Trump’s threats of additional 50% tariffs if Beijing did not reverse its own 34% reciprocal tariff were a “mistake on top of a mistake”.

Israeli strike on hospital camp used by Gaza journalists kills 10 people

An Israeli airstrike on a tent camp within a hospital complex in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis has killed 10 people, including a journalist, Helmi al-Faqawi, while seriously injuring dozens more after their encampment caught fire.

Images and video from the courtyard of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis showed people desperately attempting to extinguish the fires as they burned through a row of tents. One video showed people screaming as a bystander attempted to move a burning piece of furniture, while a journalist, later identified as Ahmed Mansour, of the news outlet Palestine Today, sat upright engulfed by the blaze.

Autopsies conducted on 15 Palestinian paramedics and civil emergency responders who were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza show they were shot in the upper body with “intent to kill”, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which is demanding an international investigation into the attack.

What has the Palestinian foreign ministry in Ramallah said? It said 10 people had been killed in the airstrike, with many more wounded. The ministry called Faqawi’s death an act of “extrajudicial killing”, labelling it part of growing crimes against journalists and an attempt to prevent the media from covering events on the ground.

How many media workers have been killed in Gaza? Israel’s assault on Gaza claimed the lives of 82 Palestinian journalists in 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

In other news …

At least 21 people are reported to have died after a series of deadly storms across the southern and midwest US, with severe rains, flooding rivers and tornadoes leading to several evacuations in the region.

Ten people from the UK who served with the Israeli military in Gaza have been accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity, according to a report prepared by lawyers and presented to London’s Met police. It alleges targeted killing of civilians and aid workers and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, including hospitals.

Donald Trump said the US would hold direct talks with Iran, in an attempt to prevent the country from obtaining an atomic bomb.

Stat of the day: there were 1,518 confirmed executions in 2024 – the highest in a decade

An Amnesty International report documented at least 1,518 executions globally in 2024, the highest since 2015. Iraq executed 63 people, Saudi Arabia 345, Iran, 972, and the US 25 people. The real figure is likely to be much higher, amid thousands of suspected hidden cases in countries including China, North Korea and Vietnam.

Don’t miss this: Sarah Silverman on her outrageous and tender show about her parents’ demise

It’s got sex jokes, Hitler gags and endless gallows humour – the comedian reveals why she’s written a show about the deaths of her stepmother, and the father who taught her to swear. “The first material I tried out was stolen from my eulogy at my dad’s funeral,” she says.

Climate check: poor countries say rich world betraying them over climate pledges on shipping

As 175 countries gathered in London this week at the International Maritime Organization to hammer out a plan to decarbonise shipping by 2050, poor countries have accused the rich world of “backsliding” and betrayal of climate commitments. Proposals for a green levy, with proceeds going to help poor nations with extreme weather, are opposed by powerful economies.

Last Thing: Arizona student becomes Southend soccer fan after accidentally boarding wrong boat in London

When Evan Johnston, a 21-year-old student from Arizona, boarded a boat on vacation in London, he was expecting to see the local sights. But he’d inadvertently boarded a boat chartered by Southend United soccer fans – and was welcomed into their fold. “He was drinking and dancing with other fans,” one said. Johnston said after the trip: “⁠I’m a Southend fan till I die now.”

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email [email protected]

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this piece