Supreme Court's Busy Day, Controversial 'Pride Match' & Celebrity Wedding Bets - Friday, June 26, 2026

**Erica Mandy** (0:00)
Today is Friday, June 26th. We'll go through some of the most highly anticipated decisions out of the US. Supreme Court, covering immigration, gun ownership and more. Also, another attack in the Strait of Hormuz, what it means for the future of the Iran deal and oil prices worldwide. Plus, why another big tech company says price hikes are inevitable, where one pride celebration is happening today, despite massive backlash, and how reports and rumors involving a pop star is actually causing a frenzy. And those stories and more news coming up.
Welcome to The NewsWorthy, all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.
Consider two of the US. Supreme Court's latest rulings huge wins for President Trump's immigration agenda. The highest court has sided with the White House on one case that limits asylum seekers, and another that paves the way for hundreds of thousands of deportations. Both rulings came down six to three. We'll start with the asylum case. The new ruling lets federal agents stationed at the border turn people away without giving them a chance to formally claim asylum. Federal law says any non-citizen who arrives in the US has to be given the ability to apply for asylum. So the big question here was what it meant to arrive in the country, and whether arriving at the border counted or not. Well the majority agreed with the Trump administration that non-citizens must fully cross the border to gain the right to asylum. So if border agents stop them, the law does not apply.
But the objections were strong on this one. After the ruling was announced, Justice Sonia Sotomayor took the rare step of reading her dissent from the bench. She argued the American asylum system was made for people fleeing persecution or violence, and that now this ruling basically slams the door in their faces encouraging them to try to cross the border illegally instead. Then there came a highly unusual intense exchange on the bench. Justice Samuel Alito publicly pushed back against his colleague, saying he had been blindsided by her statement, and that if he had known she was going to do that, he would have prepared more remarks. But his final word on it was describing the Trump administration's policy as orderly and humane. Separately, the High Court decided to let President Trump end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Haitians. They had been covered under a temporary protected status, or TPS, that applies to migrants from countries where war, natural disasters, and other catastrophes have made their home countries unlivable. It lets them legally live and work in the US so long as it's unsafe for them to return home. Immigrants from both Haiti and Syria have been covered by TPS for more than a decade now. And in this decision, the conservative majority said it's just not up to the courts to second guess which countries are safe or not, and that the law makes it clear it's the White House's call. On the other side, the liberal justices pointed to President Trump's derogatory comments about deportation immigrants in particular and argued the administration only removed their deportation protections for political or racial reasons, not because their country had gotten any safer. Either way, deportations are expected to begin very soon.
The Supreme Court justices ruled on two more major cases yesterday. There was another 6-3 decision, this one to strike down a Hawaii law that limits guns in businesses like grocery stores and restaurants, saying it violates the Second Amendment. And since California, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland have similar laws on the books, those are now also invalid. And finally, the High Court weighed in on the years-long fight over Roundup weed killer. In a 7-2 ruling, it agreed the herbicides manufacturer could not be sued from people who say they got cancer because of direct exposure to the product. Basically, the ruling said that because the EPA deems Roundup safe when used properly and hasn't required a cancer label, that the company cannot be held liable. The Supreme Court has even more highly anticipated rulings expected next week, including cases over birthright citizenship, mail-in ballots, campaign finance, transgender athletes, and President Trump's firing power.
The American-approved route for ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz has now come under fire. The problem is, it's apparently a different route than the one Iran set up to manage. So an Iranian drone attacked a Singapore-flagged ship that went the other way. Part of the ship was damaged, but there were no casualties and the crew was able to get out OK.
But now the UN has paused its efforts to evacuate ships that have been stranded for months. Before this, traffic through the Strait had been picking up. And yesterday, the price of oil had hovered around its pre-war levels. But since the attack, it started rising again. Meanwhile, there was another flare-up in fighting yesterday between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. So there are now two things threatening the talks for a wider truce. But at last check, those negotiations are on-going.