First Thing: Judge thwarts Trump administration attempt to overthrow LA ‘sanctuary city’ policy
Central California US district court rejected claim policy was ‘unconstitutional’
Good morning. A California court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump’s administration against Los Angeles over a city ordinance making it a “sanctuary city” and limiting its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Fernando Olguin, a judge in the central California US district court, rejected the administration’s argument that the city’s policy was unconstitutional. He gave the administration permission to file an amended complaint. The White House did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
What did the city say about the victory? The Los Angeles city attorney, Hydee Feldstein Soto, said: “This order reinforces the well-established principle that local governments have the authority to decide how to use their personnel and resources. The goal of this ordinance … is to encourage victims of and witnesses to crime to feel safe coming forward to seek help from LAPD regardless of their immigration status. It does not obstruct or impede lawful federal immigration enforcement operations.”
US Senate passes bipartisan bill to lower housing costs
The Senate has passed a bipartisan measure aimed at lowering housing costs by streamlining construction and permitting, ending months of fraught negotiations.
The 21st Century Road to Housing Act would limit investors’ ability to buy homes, waive some federal permitting rules in a bid to ease new construction, and authorize pilot programs to facilitate grants for home improvements and planning affordable housing. It includes language banning investors from buying single-family homes if they already own 350 or more properties, and has provisions to expand access to manufactured homes and increase mortgage availability.
Why did both sides want the act to pass? The legislation comes as Democrats and Republicans prepare for November’s midterm elections, in which concerns about affordability are expected to loom large in the minds of voters. A shortfall in construction of new homes is seen as a key driver of housing costs, which have crept higher in recent years.
Two killed and several injured as tornado rips through southern Illinois
Authorities in Illinois say that two older residents were killed and at least five other people were injured in a tornado that ripped through Mount Vernon in Illinois and destroyed several buildings on Sunday evening.
The sheriff’s office said in a post on Facebook that the tornado had touched down at about 5pm on Sunday, and destroyed at least three mobile homes. None of the five people who were hurt sustained life-threatening injuries, the agency said.
What did weather services say about the tornadoes? AccuWeather reported that 117 tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service, and 40 tornado reports were filed with the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) on Sunday, mostly between Peoria, Illinois, and Jasper, Indiana. The weather forecaster said Illinois had already seen more tornado reports in 2026 – 164 up to and including last Thursday – than in any other year since records began. Potent tornadoes are increasingly striking in concentrated, volatile outbreaks amid the climate crisis.
In other news …
Iran has agreed to allow UN nuclear inspectors back into the country as part of an agreement under which Washington will lift sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports.
California drivers are to sue gas stations for allegedly using an AI tool to coordinate and inflate prices.
A “nightmare” shooting in Montreal has left three people dead, including a police officer and a bystander.
A whistleblower investigating the Ecuadorian president’s family business was murdered to silence her, activists say, despite the government claiming Monika Silva Koniuszek died by suicide.
The UK government plans to force YouTube and TikTok to give established media more visibility on their platforms, in a move likely to spark a clash with Silicon Valley bosses and the Trump administration.
The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is to be drained again as Donald Trump claimed vandals “went in there with a knife” and damaged his $14m revamp of the feature, where the water stubbornly refuses to turn the desired “American-flag blue”.
Stat of the day: Plan to auction over 100 Titanic artifacts faces US government opposition
RMS Titanic Inc, the company that owns exclusive salvage rights to the famous wreck, wants to sell the artifacts despite previous agreements to only display them at museums and traveling exhibitions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) represents US interests and oversight in the wreck site and contends such a sale would violate RMS Titanic’s legal obligations to the site.
Culture pick: Olivia Cooke on power, privilege, and dividing audiences in House of the Dragon
As season three looms, Rebecca Nicholson interviews the actor who plays Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon about playing “the saddest woman in Westeros”, getting sworn at by people wanting selfies, and going viral for the way she says “stunning”.
Don’t miss this: Me and my idiot AI boyfriend
Lauren Oyler believed that talking to an AI directly, as if it were a person, was a capitulation to an enemy who believes other people can be eliminated in pursuit of total seamlessness. Then her editor asked her to get an AI boyfriend, which makes for an emotional rollercoaster of an essay.
… or this: The rise and fall of the UK’s Keir Starmer – where did it all go wrong?
The UK is about to get its seventh prime minister in 10 years – most likely Andy Burnham (pictured above) – despite Keir Starmer winning a landslide election victory in 2024. Jonathan Freedland attempts to unpack why Starmer is being forced out despite the fact “few could point to the single, obvious political crime he had committed”. Perhaps the UK has just become an increasingly volatile and impatient electorate, Freedland argues.
Climate check: A thousand years old and 20 storeys high: tracking down Taiwan’s tallest trees
Older trees are also a vital defence against the climate crisis, thanks to their ability to absorb planet-warming carbon. In this piece, Chris Swanston, the director of science for the Save the Redwoods League, describes the giant trees as “an engine for biodiversity”, explaining that “in a single 2,000-year-old tree you could have dozens of generations of species developing ecologically within the canopy. Their branches aren’t just branches like normal trees, they’re neighborhoods.”
Last Thing: Lost memoir of Hiroshima survivor found after decades in US archive
The memoir of a man who survived the horrors of the Hiroshima bombing is to be published for the first time this summer after its discovery in a US archive. The 230-page memoir was written almost 80 years ago by Kiyoshi Tanimoto, who witnessed the city’s destruction.
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com