INTERNACIONAL
Supreme Court chief justice pinpoints what Americans misunderstand about he and his colleagues
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Political critics of Supreme Court decisions fundamentally do not understand the role of the institution, according to Chief Justice John Roberts.
It is to interpret the law, not make it, he told a judicial conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
«I think, at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, we’re saying we think this is how things should be, as opposed to what the law provides,» Roberts said Wednesday night. «I think they view us as purely political actors, which I don’t think is an accurate understanding of what we do.»
The decision reviewing the unconstitutionality of race-based gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act has resurfaced rebukes of the political ideology of the Court. Three conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, were placed on the bench by President Donald Trump during his first term, giving Republican-nominated justices a 6-3 majority.
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((Win McNamee/Getty Images))
Justices, however, are making decisions based on the law and contextual readings of the Constitution, not their personal policy preferences, Roberts stressed to the conference of judges and lawyers from the 3rd U.S. Circuit in Pennsylvania.
«I think considered criticism is a very good thing,» Roberts said. «You hope it’s intelligent criticism, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a free country and I certainly don’t object to it, and I don’t think my colleagues do either.»
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The Supreme Court has also expanded gun rights and overturned the constitutional right to abortion in recent years. Public confidence in the Supreme Court was at a low of 40% after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion ruling, showing the politics of rulings determines perception as the words of the Constitution remain unchanged.
The rulings are «based on our best effort to figure out what the Constitution means and how it applies» to the existing law, Roberts said.
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Protesters wave transgender pride flags outside the Supreme Court in Washington as it hears arguments on Jan. 13, 2026, over state laws barring transgender girls and women from school athletic teams. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
«We’re not simply part of the political process, and there’s a reason for that, and I’m not sure people grasp that as much as is appropriate,» Roberts said, stressing that «one thing we have to do is make decisions that are unpopular.»
«On the other hand,» Roberts said, «there is a point where it changes from criticism of the opinion to criticism of the judge and it can lead to some very serious problems.»
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Heated political rhetoric, potentially fueled by violent protest groups, can endanger judges.
In June 2022, an armed suspect was caught outside Kavanaugh’s home. Nicholas John Roske pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 97 months in prison and lifetime supervised release after admitting to the attempted assassination.
«There’s a lot of hostility that’s publicized about judicial decisions and which judge wrote those decisions,» Roberts warned. «I think we have to be a little more careful and make sure people, to the extent you can, are more careful about that.»
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Judges bowing to the pressures of political ideology from the American public would have devastating effects, according to Roberts.
«If you do it cavalierly, overrule precedent just because you think it’s wrong, then the whole system begins to suffer,» he said.
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The advanced ages of Thomas and Alito have raised questions of whether they might consider retirement either before the midterms — which could change Congress’ ability to get through another conservative justice nominee under Trump — or before 2028, where a flip of the White House and/or Congress could shift the court back away from a conservative majority.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
supreme court, judiciary, law, federal judges, republicans elections
INTERNACIONAL
El Partido de los Trabajadores proclamó a Lula como candidato para un cuarto mandato en Brasil
El Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) de Brasil oficializó este domingo la candidatura del mandatario Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva para las elecciones presidenciales de octubre, en las que buscará un histórico cuarto mandato no consecutivo con la mayoría de las encuestas a su favor.
“Quiero decir para toda la militancia de los partidos que están aquí: homologamos, oficializamos ahora. Lula, presidente; Geraldo Alckmin, vice», dijo el presidente del PT, Edinho Silva, en una entrevista previa a la ceremonia, celebrada en el centro de convenciones Expo Center Norte, en São Paulo, el mayor colegio electoral del país.
El evento, que comenzó puntual a las 10:00 hora local (13:00 GMT), selló la reedición de la alianza con el moderado Alckmin como candidato a la vicepresidencia, ante cientos de militantes, ministros y dirigentes del bloque oficialista.
A sus 80 años, Lula encara su séptima carrera a la Jefatura de Estado, tras haber gobernado entre 2003 y 2010 y regresar al poder en 2023.
“Tengo la misma energía de cuando tenía 30 años”, ha reiterado el veterano líder sindical para disipar dudas sobre su salud.
La “soberanía” como bandera frente a Trump
La campaña se abre bajo la sombra de Donald Trump, aliado de la familia Bolsonaro y que ha respaldado a varios candidatos en América Latina. “En Brasil no aceptamos que nadie meta la nariz donde no lo llaman”, advirtió Lula la semana pasada.
Estados Unidos impuso en julio dos rondas de aranceles a productos brasileños, tras acusar al país de prácticas comerciales desleales. Alentado por Eduardo Bolsonaro, hijo del ex presidente, Washington ya había aplicado gravámenes similares en 2025 —luego suspendidos en buena parte— en represalia por el juicio contra Jair Bolsonaro. Ante la nueva presión, Lula prometió una «guerra de la verdad contra la mentira» frente a su par estadounidense y acusó a Flávio Bolsonaro de ser un “traidor a la patria” por, según él, alentar el castigo económico a Brasil.
“La narrativa sobre la soberanía le calza como un guante a Lula: en un momento de caída de su popularidad, logra identificar a un enemigo allá afuera”, dijo a la agencia AFP el politólogo Leonardo Paz, de la Fundación Getúlio Vargas.
El clima bilateral sigue deteriorándose: la semana pasada Brasilia negó las visas a dos funcionarios estadounidenses que pretendían viajar al país para hablar de “integridad electoral”.
Lula defiende los avances de su gestión en la caída del desempleo y la reducción de la pobreza, en un contexto de desaceleración económica, con un crecimiento del PIB en torno al 2 % para este año electoral, tras el 3,4 % de 2024 y el 2,3 % de 2025.
La presión inflacionaria —marcada por factores internos y por el alza de precios de alimentos y combustible en el contexto geopolítico— mantiene la tasa básica de interés en 14,25 %, junto a un déficit nominal cercano al 10 % del PIB y una deuda pública que superó el 80 %. Son puntos que la oposición busca explotar, junto con la lucha contra el crimen organizado, que controla barrios populares donde viven millones de personas.
La corrupción también pesa sobre ambos candidatos. Esta semana, un juez de la Corte Suprema autorizó dos investigaciones por tráfico de influencias contra el hijo mayor de Lula, Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, conocido como “Lulinha”, por presuntas gestiones ante el Ministerio de Salud. Del lado opositor, Flávio Bolsonaro enfrenta cuestionamientos por el financiamiento de una película sobre su padre, para la cual habría pedido dinero a un banquero acusado de una megaestafa.
Los comicios de octubre se perfilan como una nueva disputa polarizada entre el progresismo de Lula y la extrema derecha que encarna Flávio Bolsonaro, de 45 años, oficializado la semana pasada como heredero político del espacio conservador. Su padre, Jair Bolsonaro, está inhabilitado, condenado a 27 años de prisión domiciliaria por intento de golpe de Estado, tras perder las elecciones de 2022 ante Lula.
Según la última encuesta de Datafolha, Lula obtendría un 48 % de la intención de voto en un eventual balotaje, frente al 43 % de Flávio Bolsonaro — una diferencia estrecha, similar a la de la ajustada campaña de 2022.
(Con información de EFE y AFP)
South America / Central America
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A sanctioned tanker loaded with crude is leaving a growing trail of oil in protected waters off the coast of Oman, according to newly reviewed satellite images, as experts warn the stranded vessel could break apart during the region’s rough monsoon season.
Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press show an oil sheen covering roughly 20 square kilometers, or about 8 square miles, around Dhofar’s Qibliyah Island, part of Oman’s protected Hallaniyat Islands. Dark patches of crude have also reached the shoreline. Experts say the leak has worsened in recent days, fueling fears that rough weather could trigger a much larger spill.
«The last few days, the imagery indicates an increase in oil coming out, as the size of the sheen is growing,» Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental expert with the Dutch peace organization PAX, told the AP.
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This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows crude oil leaking and spreading from the sanctioned Suezmax tanker Caroline Bezengi grounded off the coast of Oman, on Friday, July 31, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
He said the biggest risk is that the vessel could break apart as strong winds and rough seas during the annual monsoon season continue to pound the ship’s hull.
The 899-foot, Cameroon-flagged Caroline Bezengi has been stranded off Oman’s southern coast since June after its crew reported an onboard explosion, according to maritime news outlets. Reuters, citing maritime security sources, reported the vessel first ran into trouble on June 8 near the Yemeni port of Mukalla, where initial assessments suggested a blast may have occurred. The cause has not been confirmed.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows crude oil leaking and spreading from the sanctioned Suezmax tanker Caroline Bezengi grounded at Qibliyah Island, off the coast of Oman, on Friday, July 31, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed the tanker had loaded Russian crude at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk before its latest voyage. The vessel has been sanctioned by the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and Switzerland for allegedly transporting Russian oil as part of Moscow’s so-called «shadow fleet» — a network of aging tankers used to bypass Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Zwijnenburg estimated the tanker is carrying more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil and said recent imagery suggests at least one section of the hull has been breached. Other maritime specialists who reviewed the images told Reuters the vessel also appears to be listing, adding to concerns that it could eventually break apart.
A satellite image shows an oil slick next to the Caroline Bezengi, a sanctioned vessel off the coast of the Dhofar Governorate, Oman, July 28, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS)
The spill threatens a protected marine reserve in the Arabian Sea that is home to endangered petrels and other rare wildlife. Greenpeace Germany warned that oil has already polluted stretches of coastline and damaged the area’s fragile ecosystem.
«With oil apparently continuing to leak and the tanker stranded in a difficult location, there is a serious risk of a much larger oil disaster, with even more devastating consequences for the region’s coastlines and marine ecosystems,» Greenpeace Germany’s Nina Noelle told the AP.
The U.N.’s International Maritime Organization said earlier this week it is monitoring the situation, adding that while the vessel has not broken apart, authorities are continuing to assess the safety and environmental risks.
Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology ordered the vessel’s owners to remove the ship and its cargo by July 23. It is unclear whether that deadline was met or whether the owners have responded.
middle east, environment world, oceans, world, environmental disasters
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Republicans are sounding the alarm that President Donald Trump’s demand to cancel August recess could cost the GOP seats in the midterms.
As the upcoming jailbreak from Washington, D.C., fast approaches, Trump’s most-prized legislative push remains stalled. He wants Republicans to stay put until it’s finished, but the political reality says otherwise.
And it comes as Republicans are desperate to get out of the Beltway and sell their accomplishments, rather than their shortcomings, to voters on the campaign trail. The GOP has more to lose than Democrats this cycle, too, with three vulnerable incumbents and a handful of others on the periphery.
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President Donald Trump announces the Freedom Haulers initiative on West Executive Avenue in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2026. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
«Canceling August recess, where we have to have our members out campaigning and connecting with their voters, and people not understanding that, is about as tone-deaf as telling everybody to stay home in 2020 when we lost [Kelly] Loefler and [David] Purdue,» Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.
«It’s the same sort of thought process,» he continued. «It’s thinking that one branch runs this country and it doesn’t. If we don’t keep majorities, people are gonna regret it.»
Several of Tillis’ colleagues, however, disagree, and want the Senate to stay put until the SAVE America Act passes, be it through the party-line budget reconciliation process or by nuking the filibuster.
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Trump’s pressure, the online zeitgeist and the political hot potato of the situation have put incumbents in a tough spot: go home and admit defeat, or stay put and push legislation that so far has not gone anywhere.
For many Republicans, they openly acknowledge that it’s a math problem in the Senate — the GOP does not have the votes to pass the SAVE America Act. Some argue that keeping the Senate in town likely wouldn’t change the minds of those who oppose it.
«If it would make a difference in the outcome, I’m fine with that, but it won’t make a difference, which I don’t believe it will, that it’s an act of futility,» Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.
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Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are obstructing President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Todd Blanche. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Both Cornyn and Tillis are retiring — Tillis opted to get out during the tumultuous period that was passing the «big, beautiful bill,» and Cornyn was kneecapped by Trump, who backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over him in a grueling primary battle.
But Cornyn noted that if he was still running for office, he might have a change of heart.
«I don’t know how that would come out, but if I was running for reelection, I would vote to stay,» he said.
Cornyn’s point is the line that some vulnerable Republicans are toeing. Two Republicans running in tight races, Sens. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Fox News Digital that they have been voraciously pushing for the SAVE America Act.
But, Sullivan said that he didn’t want to comment on the president’s push to cancel recess, while Husted said it was always preferable to be back in Ohio with his constituents.
«But I also have a job here, and if the job requires me to be here, then I’ll be here,» he said.
Others in less tight races who support the legislation still understand the reality in the upper chamber: without changing the minds of a cohort of Republicans who have voted against it and flipping several Democrats, the SAVE America Act is going nowhere.
«I think to cancel the whole recess would be a problem, but I think to keep us up here another week or 10 days, certainly, I’m willing to do it. I’d stay here till November if I thought it would change things,» Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital.
But he acknowledged that coming home empty-handed was a problem, too.
«The base would be mad if we don’t make the best effort possible to get this voter ID across the finish line,» Marshall said.
politics, senate elections, republicans, midterm elections, congress
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