International

New Supreme Court justice Jackson hails US progress on racial equality

AFP

Ketanji Brown Jackson celebrated her rise “from segregation to the Supreme Court” at a White House event Friday marking her confirmation as the first Black woman appointed to the nation’s highest judicial bench.

In her first public remarks since the Senate endorsed her on Thursday, the 51-year-old judge shared the credit for a milestone that was 232 years in the making, telling her supporters: “We have made it — all of us.”

“In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States,” she told around 150 guests invited to the South Lawn by President Joe Biden.

“And it is an honor, the honor of a lifetime, for me to have this chance to join the court.”

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Jackson came out of the White House with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to cheers from the new justice’s family, current and former Supreme Court justices, administration officials and senators who voted for her.

“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to appointed to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, but we have made it — all of us,” she said.

“And our children are telling me that they see now more than ever that, here in America, anything is possible.”

Jackson was green-lit by the Senate in a 53-47 vote that capped a bruising confirmation battle, with just three Republicans joining Democrats in advancing Biden’s vision for a more diverse high court.

She was also with the president at the White House to watch the vote on Thursday, with the pair embracing as she was confirmed.

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– ‘Moment of real change’ –

Introducing his first pick to the court, in front of a sun-drenched South Portico decked in US flags, Biden vowed future generations would be “proud of what we did” in choosing Jackson.

“This is going to let so much sunshine on so many young women, so many young Black men, so many minorities — it’s real,” the Democratic president said.

“We’re going to look back and see this is a moment of real change in American history.”

Harris, who presided over the confirmation hearing, has broken down barriers of her own as the first woman and first Black and Asian American to be vice president.

“President George Washington once referred to America as a great experiment, a nation founded on the previously untested belief that the people — we, the people — could form a more perfect union,” Harris said.

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“And that belief has pushed our nation forward for generations and it is that belief that we reaffirmed yesterday through the confirmation of the first Black woman to the United States Supreme Court.”

One Democrat-backed justice replacing another — the retiring Stephen Breyer — will not change the ideological balance of the court, which has a 6-3 conservative edge.

But it will be the first time the bench has included four women, with Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan nominated by Barack Obama and Amy Coney Barrett picked by Donald Trump.

Jackson will be the sixth woman in total to be elevated to the Supreme Court. Her confirmation comes 55 years after Thurgood Marshall became the first Black justice.

Clarence Thomas, who assumed office in 1991, is the only other African American to have served on the bench.

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International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.