Birthright ban blocked, Trump's federal purge, ICC Taliban warrants, BoJ and the Oscars
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Today, a judge temporarily blocks Trump's order to end birthright citizenship. Trump's purge of the federal workforce begins. The ICC's prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over their treatment of women and girls. And will this be the year Netflix finally gets an Oscar for Best Picture?

It's Friday, January 24th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. When you hear LSEC Data & Analytics, what do you think of? Comprehensive data you can trust. Exclusive access to Reuters news. Industry-leading analytics and unique insights. Discover new possibilities with LSEC Data & Analytics.

A federal judge in Seattle has blocked President Donald Trump's executive order curtailing the right to automatic birthright citizenship in the United States, calling it blatantly unconstitutional. Trump heads to disaster-hit North Carolina and Los Angeles today. It's his first trip since taking office, and it's one which could inflame partisan tensions over recovery efforts in western North Carolina, still recovering from September's Hurricane Helene.

Pete Hegseth is likely to be confirmed by the Senate later today as Trump's Secretary of Defense. The U.S. Senate has narrowly advanced Hegseth after 51 of 100 senators voted to end debate on his nomination, despite new allegations about his personal conduct. A British teenager who killed three young girls at a dance event has been jailed for at least 52 years.

Axel Rudder-Cabana admitted killing the girls in the northern English town of Southport, an atrocity that shocked Britain and was followed by days of nationwide rioting. I travelled back to Southport, which is my hometown, in the wake of the killings last year, to speak to the grieving population. There's a link to the special episode in our pod description.

And Novak Djokovic has pledged to continue his hunt for a record 25th Grand Slam title, even as he had to drop out of the Australian Open semi-final due to a muscle injury. It's his second setback at the Grand Slams in a year after pulling out of the French Open with a knee problem. The Bank of Japan has raised interest rates to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis.

bringing up the short-term policy rate 25 basis points to 0.5% from 0.25%. The BOJ has also revised up its inflation forecasts, underscoring its confidence that rising wages will keep inflation stable around its 2% target.

It's their first rate hike since July last year and comes days after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who's likely to keep global policymakers vigilant in the face of his tariff threats. And if you're a global economics buff or a budding one, check out this week's episode of Ecom World Podcast with Carmel Crimmins. This week, she turns her laser-like focus to the UK.

And we hear from British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves as she pushes the growth agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos. We are, you know, taking out those barriers that have stopped businesses investing and growing in Britain. There's a link to the episode in the pod description and you can find the show wherever you get your podcasts.

Now, Donald Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the so-called deep state. And now his administration is moving with stunning speed to begin firing or sidelining hundreds of federal workers. An executive order signed on his first day in office would allow his administration to fire, at will, tens of thousands of Korea civil servants who've historically enjoyed job protections that insulate them from political partisanship.

The order, known as Schedule F, would permit Trump to fill those positions with hand-picked loyalists.

Our politics reporter Tim Reed has been following the purge as it happens. So Tim, government agencies and unions have spent months preparing for this. How are they reacting? The speed at which Trump has moved and the scope of his executive orders has stunned even people who've been trying to prepare for this. I spoke to one union leader. He met with some federal workers and he said it was like stunned silence everywhere.

Everyone is shocked at how ferocious and quick the actions taken against government departments has been in just three or four days of Trump being in office. And help me understand, how does this executive order make it easier for him to fire all these workers? So there's one specific order that reclassifies career civil servants individually.

in a way that robs them of all their employment protections and means that they can be fired at will. There's already a lawsuit challenging this order, but if that lawsuit fails, we could literally see hundreds of thousands of government workers being fired, according to government experts and union officials. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about government worker concerns.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor has applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, accusing them of the persecution of women and girls since 2021 when Taliban forces captured Kabul. It's the first time the ICC has publicly sought warrants in their 18-year investigation into potential war crimes in Afghanistan, and these ones are for the country's supreme spiritual leader and its chief justice.

Taliban leaders have not yet commented. Stephanie Vandenberg in The Hague is here to unpack what this means. It's a case that's been lingering at the court for many, many years.

And so it's a really big move, not only for finally getting some kind of accountability, possibly in Afghanistan, but also very much looking at discrimination against women and girls and really having this focus on this gender persecution that they are trying to litigate. So the accusation of gender persecution, what in concrete terms does that mean? What it technically means is just that they accused the Taliban of going

after putting restrictions and committing crimes against women and girls simply for the reason that they are women and girls, and so simply on the basis of their gender. But this is the first real case where we see an arrest warrant that is sought solely for this gender persecution. It's not mentioning any other crimes. So this is really part also of the strategy of the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor, who has said,

many times that he wants to specifically go after crimes committed against the most vulnerable in society, mainly women and children. Well, let's not keep people waiting any longer. Let's go. Are we ready for some nominees? Let's go. The Oscar nominations are out, and the Spanish-language musical Emilia Perez is leading the pack with 13 nominations. The Brutalist and Wicked picked up 10 nods each. Lisa Richwine is our entertainment reporter.

So were there any snubs or surprises this year? Two of the biggest snubs that people are talking about are Nicole Kidman for a movie called Baby Girl that many thought would be nominated. And Angelina Jolie, she played the opera singer Maria Callas in a movie and many experts thought she would also be on the list, but they were both left off.

And has Netflix ever won a Best Picture? Netflix has never won Best Picture. They've had some contenders in the past. One was Roma, one was The Irishman. And, you know, some voters still have kind of a negative view toward Netflix in the film business because it's a streaming service and they only release movies in theaters for a very limited time so they can qualify for awards. They prefer to let their subscribers watch them at home.

And many people in the film business still think the proper way to see a movie is in a theater on a big screen. So many awards experts think that has hurt Netflix along the way. So here we go. There's another shot with Amelia Perez and we'll see if Netflix can finally pull it off. And so this year's awards are still going on as scheduled despite the wildfires. So it's still hanging over the city, this tragedy.

And the award season, it's certainly put a damper on things. This is usually the big time of celebration in Hollywood. But the Oscars, they are going on. There are, you know, debates about whether they should still have a show. And the organizers have said they really want to celebrate filmmaking and the resilience of Hollywood and show the world that the industry is back, that Los Angeles is back, that the city and the industry have been through many things, but they will rebound from this devastation.

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And for today's recommended read, a Canadian fashion statement. Donald Trump's tariff threats and suggestions that Canada could become the 51st state are paying off for one entrepreneur who's fashioned a hat emblazoned with the message, Canada is not for sale. Tens of thousands of the hats have been sold after first being spotted on the head of the Ontario premier during a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. There's a link to a story in the pod description.

For more on any of today's stories, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back on Monday with our daily headline show.