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Huawei’s founder rebukes the U.S., religion-based violence spikes in India, and Karl Lagerfeld’s death leaves a hole in an industry largely defined by him. Here’s the latest:
States sue Trump over national emergency declaration
Days after President Trump declared a national emergency at the border in order to build his long-promised wall, 16 states banded together to challenge him and his top officials in court.
Details: The lawsuit argues that the president doesn’t have the power to divert federal funds to build the wall because Congress controls spending, setting up a constitutional clash over the scope of presidential emergency powers.
What next? The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is also gearing up to confront the president, including the possibility of bringing its own lawsuit.
Though Congress doesn’t have the power to stop the president from declaring a national emergency, the House and Senate can end the emergency status if they believe the president is acting irresponsibly.
Vatican admits to secret rules for priests with children
The Roman Catholic Church confirmed, apparently for the first time, that it has general guidelines for what to do when clerics break celibacy vows and end up fathering children, a growing issue that strikes at the heart of the Vatican’s culture of secrecy.
The children are often the result of affairs with nuns or laywomen while others are the product of rape or abuse — raising uncomfortable questions about whether the church should loosen its celibacy requirements, as other Christian churches have.
By the numbers: While it’s difficult to estimate how many such children exist, one dedicated support group website has 50,000 users in 175 countries.
What next? The children of priests are among the many people who feel they have been wronged by the church and are descending on Rome to press their cause during the Vatican’s landmark meeting on sexual abuse this week.
Huawei founder slams U.S. for ‘politically motivated’ case
Ren Zhengfei accused the U.S. of bringing criminal charges against his daughter, a top executive at the Chinese telecommunication giant, for political reasons.
Mr. Ren made the unusually sharp comments, a departure from his previous reluctance to comment, in an interview with the BBC, as a Canadian judge prepares in coming weeks to hear arguments on whether his daughter, Meng Wanzhou, should be transferred to the U.S. to stand trial.
Background: Ms. Meng was arrested in December by Canadian authorities at the request of the U.S. Last month, the Justice Department accused her and Huawei of trying to steal trade secrets, obstructing a criminal investigation and evading sanctions against Iran.
The arrest added strains to U.S.-China relations already damaged by an escalating trade war and coincided with a U.S. effort to pressure other Western government to turn on Huawei.
Canada has warned the U.S. not to use the extradition process to pursue political ends.
Karl Lagerfeld, a prolific designer who reshaped fashion, is dead at 85
The luxury fashion designer, with his signature dark glasses and powdered white ponytail, was one of the most recognizable faces of an industry he helped define.
Our director of fashion coverage, Vanessa Friedman, called him the most prolific designer of the 20th and 21st centuries. He served as creative director at Chanel since 1983 and Fendi since 1965, and had his own line.
In his 80s, when most of his peers were retiring, he was designing almost 14 new collections a year. Read the full obituary.
Impact: By reinventing and modernizing heritage brands, he dragged them into “the present with a healthy dose of disrespect and a dollop of pop culture.”
Famous quotes: Among the witty aphorisms and quips that were eventually collected in a book, “The World According to Karl”: “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat” and “I’m very much down to earth. Just not this earth.”
Here’s what else is happening
India: A new report by Human Rights Watch found that since India’s 2014 elections brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party to power, attacks on religious minorities have spiked and the authorities have blocked investigations into homicides or even filed charges against victims’ families.
Iran: A commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards said at least three Pakistani citizens were among the assailants responsible for killing 27 members of his force in a suicide truck bombing last week, one of the deadliest attacks in the country in years.
McKinsey: The global consulting firm operates a secret $12.3 billion hedge fund, prompting questions about conflicts of interest. The firm says the fund is completely separate from its consulting arm and doesn’t benefit from any inside knowledge.
Honda: The Japanese automaker, grappling with the slowing global market, confirmed that it planned to close its plant in Britain, which employs 3,500 people, by 2021. The news was a blow for the country, which has experienced an exodus of businesses as it prepares to withdraw from the E.U.
Egypt: Officials detained a veteran New York Times correspondent, David Kirkpatrick, after he arrived in Cairo from London, holding him for seven hours without food, water or an explanation before sending him back to London. The case exemplifies the increasingly severe crackdown against the news media under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
China: A new Zara ad featuring the model Jing Wen with striking crimson lipstick and little other makeup to hide her freckles has created an uproar in a country that views freckles as blemishes. Some online users even accused the Spanish fashion brand of imposing Western beauty standards on Chinese women.
Ai Weiwei: A segment the dissident artist directed for an anthology film, “Berlin, I Love You,” was cut from the final version, and he said the producers told him the reason was that investors, distributors and other partners had raised concerns about his political sensitivity in China.
Bernie Sanders: The Vermont senator and Democratic primary runner-up in the 2016 presidential election embarked on a run for 2020, bringing his liberal populist agenda to an increasingly crowded field.
Australian War Memorial: Plans to expand significantly the Canberra memorial to add more on the country’s role in Iraq and Afghanistan are drawing criticism that the changes will minimize the far larger losses in World War I and II, as well as concern that the current conflicts will be sanitized to legitimize continuing troop deployments.
Nigella Lawson: Two decades after the release of her first book, “How to Eat,” the celebrity home cook reflects on her fame and the scrutiny that came with it. “I remember complaining in the book that no one ate kale anymore,” she told our Australia Fare columnist, Besha Rodell.
Smarter Living
Tips for a more fulfilling life.
But an insider could always write a tell-all book. In 2015, the longtime secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad, did just that, infuriating the committee.
Among his revelations: The controversial decision to honor Barack Obama just months into his presidency was intended to strengthen his campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons. And Mr. Obama considered not going to Norway to accept the award, but realized that would only create more uproar.
Back to Mr. Trump — he is definitely in the running this year. Two Norwegian lawmakers have said that they nominated him after his Singapore meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea.
The Nobel is announced in October.
Andrea Kannapell, the briefings editor, wrote today’s Back Story.
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