If you’re born in the United States, you’re a US citizen. That isn’t how it works in many European countries, including the UK, but that’s how things work in America.
Your parent might just have been on holiday, or a layover between flights, but if you’re on US soil when your mother gives birth, you’re an American. This is known as birthright citizenship, and it’s codified in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.
That is, at least, the view of five of the nine justices of the US Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling against the Trump administration handed down on Tuesday, the last day of the court’s current term.
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Parcel bomb injures Ukrainian oligarch in Monaco
Three people – two adults and a teenager – suffered injuries in the blast on Monday evening. Here is everything we know so far.
Caption: Members of a bomb disposal team operate the day after an allaged attack involving an explosive device in the lobby of a residential building, in Monaco on June 30, 2026. Law enforcement officers were deployed on the morning of June 30, 2026, in Monaco and the surrounding area in an attempt to track down the suspect in the parcel bomb explosion that rocked the principality on the evening of June 29, 2026 seriously injuring a Ukrainian oligarch and two of his relatives. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: VALERY HACHE
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
What you need to know
- Vadym Yermolaiev was named as the victim of the bombing at 9pm on Monday.
- A suspect left a parcel at the door of a residential building then fled the scene.
- Yermolaiev and his wife suffered life-threatening injuries, with a child aged 13 less seriously hurt.
- Minister of state Christophe Mirmand described the attack as first of its kind in Monaco’s history.
Explained
6 min read
Who is Vadym Yermolaiev?
Yermolaiev is a multimillionaire from Dnipro. He was sanctioned by Ukraine in 2023 for allegedly doing business in Russia-controlled Crimea.
Yermolaiev, who renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2017, denied paying taxes to Moscow. The construction tycoon was estimated to be worth $220m by Ukraine before the war.
Caption: This photograph shows a general view of a damaged residential building as a bomb disposal team operates at the scene of an alleged attack involving an explosive device the night before, in Monaco on June 30, 2026. Law enforcement officers were deployed on the morning of June 30, 2026, in Monaco and the surrounding area in an attempt to track down the suspect in the parcel bomb explosion that rocked the principality on the evening of June 29, 2026 seriously injuring a Ukrainian oligarch and two of his relatives. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: VALERY HACHE
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
Analysis
7 min read
Manhunt underway for suspected bomber
A suspect was seen on video surveillance fleeing towards the municipality of Beausoleil in France.
GOVERNMENT OF MONACO
Caption: This photograph shows a police security tape near the area of an explosion that occurred in a residential building in Monaco, near the border with France on June 29, 2026. Three people were injured two of them very seriously in the explosion of an explosive device in Monaco in the evening. The blast at a residential building was “very likely an attack”, Monaco’s Minister of State (head of government) told AFP. Public prosecutor said a suspect had left a bag or package in the building’s lobby before leaving. Nothing appeared for the moment to indicate why the building might have been targeted, he said. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: VALERY HACHE
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
Four key takeaways from new defence spending plan
Sir Keir Starmer said the UK must be prepared for war as he set out a £15bn boost to defence spending. Here are some key takeaways.
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 02: HMS Diamond passes under the London cable car as it is pulled along the Thames by tugboats on May 2, 2023 in London, England. HMS Diamond is a Royal Navy Type 45 air-defence destroyer that launched in 2007 and is one of the most advanced warships ever built. She arrived in Greenwich today and will remain for the duration of the Coronation. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Photographer: Carl Court
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Key details outlined
- Britain will spend £80bn a year on defence by 2029.
- Some projects, including on roads and energy, have been scrapped to help fund it.
- The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) will include £5bn to increase the armed forces’ use of drones and autonomous weapons.
- The Royal Navy will not get Type 83 destroyers but cheaper combat vessels plus drones.
Analysis
4 min read
Starmer declines to say if Burnham backs plan
Starmer, who has resigned as PM, refused to say if his expected successor Andy Burnham signed off on the plan. But he added it “represents our best judgment of what the country needs to meet this moment and it is a platform on which I know my successor will build”.
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 22: Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria Starmer, return to No.10 after announcing his resignation as UK Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, outside No.10 Downing Street on June 22, 2026 in London, England. The prime minister is facing calls to announce a timeline for his departure from office ahead of an expected leadership challenge by Andy Burnham, who is re-entering parliament after his victory in the Makerfield by-election. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)
Photographer: Peter Nicholls
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Getty Images
NEWS
3 min read
Starmer promises stability
I am absolutely certain that this is the platform on which whoever comes after me can build, and I’m proud that it is, and I will do everything within my power to make sure that any transition is orderly and that we go from strength to strength.
SIR KEIR STARMER
Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis arrive to deliver a speech in Berkshire, following the publication of long-delayed defence investment plan (Photo: PA)
Life Drawing Live! (Photo: BBC/Avanti Media/Matt Crockett)
entertainment
Joe Lycett applies for licence to run his own pub for new live Channel 4 series
Comedian Joe Lycett has applied for a licence to serve alcohol as he plans to run his own pub for a new Channel 4 series.
The 37-year-old will open his east London pub for just one hour a week for the duration of a live episode of six-part series The Lycett Arms.
What did the comedian say?
I’ve always wanted to run a pub that only exists for an hour a week, for the purposes of a TV concept, and I’m thrilled beyond words to embark on the extended process of applying for a licence to sell and serve alcohol.
Joe lycett
Joe Lycett (Photo: Channel 4/Rob Parfitt)
What you need to know
In order for the show to go ahead, Lycett will have to be fully accredited with a personal licence to serve alcohol, and is currently preparing to undergo the relevant training course and exam to be accredited with a Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders.
Caption: EMBARGOED TO 0001 TUESDAY JUNE 28
29/12/21 PA File Photo of Joe Lycett during the filming for the Graham Norton Show at BBC Studioworks 6 Television Centre, Wood Lane, London. See PA Feature SHOWBIZ TV Lycett. Picture credit should read: Matt Crossick/PA Photos. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature SHOWBIZ TV Lycett.
Photographer: Matt Crossick
LIFESTYLE
4 min read
Who will accompany him?
Each episode will see Lycett accompanied by a celebrity pub manager, and see The Lycett Arms paired with a real pub elsewhere in the UK.
FILM
4 min read
LIFESTYLE
8 min read
The ‘slick’ CEO who will run Burnham’s Britain from the North
Caroline Simpson will leave her role as chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to take on a new role in Andy Burnham’s government.
Caption: Caroline Simpson
woman earmarked to run Andy Burnham’s ‘Number 10 North’
https://www.facebook.com/manchesterfire/photos/welcome-to-teamgmfrs-caroline-simpsonhaving-spent-her-whole-career-in-public-ser/811850301042258/?_rdr
Copyright: Facebook/(GMFRS)
What you need to know
- Simpson has been asked to serve as Burnham’s deputy chief of staff.
- She will be in charge of running No 10 North in Manchester.
- Burnham says it will be the “nerve centre” of a ‘rewired’ Britain.
- Simpson is career civil servant who has worked in West Midlands, Cheshire and the North West.
OPINION
3 min read
What her colleagues say
Simpson has been described as “effective and very PR-minded, very slick”, by one official. But a second said she “sometimes goes along with Andy’s stuff too easily, rather than pushing back until it’s ready and ends up clearing up the mess”.
Caroline Simpson (left) has worked closely with Burnham while he was mayor of Greater Manchester, as well as his deputy, Kate Green (Photo: @GMCA_CEO/X)
POLITICS
4 min read
Watch more from The i Paper
Though the overall decision went against Donald Trump by six votes to three, the constitutional question was five-four – meaning that four justices held that the constitution did not guarantee birthright citizenship.
This was something the Trump administration had been trying to argue, in order to help its mass deportation efforts. It would allow the US to strip the children of illegal immigrants of their citizenship, and deport them – despite them having been born in the USA and having lived and worked there their whole lives.
The ruling is a defeat for the President and he is sure to react angrily against it, but it is no cause for celebration among his opponents.
This was not some complex or technical area of law: the Supreme Court was being asked to read a single sentence in the constitution and decide what the words meant.
Here is that sentence, the first of the 14th Amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
There is not much ambiguity there. It is not hard to tell what the authors meant. The only part that might cause some confusion was “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof”, which was a qualifier added to exclude people born into Native tribes with their own sovereignty (along with children of foreign diplomats, and a few others), who were not subject to US rules.
Leaving that aside, the Supreme Court was being asked to pass a fairly simple reading comprehension test. Would they admit that sentence had an obvious meaning, or would they look for convoluted reasoning to abandon the constitution and give Trump what he wanted, yet again?
The court as a whole passed the test, but only just. Only the smallest majority of its justices sided with the US Constitution over Trump. The constitution has endured for almost 250 years, but at the moment hangs on more-or-less by a single heartbeat – if the wrong justice gets ill, or crosses the road at the wrong moment, its time may be over.
It is easy to overstate the Supreme Court’s role as a check on Trump’s power. On Tuesday, it handed the President two major victories alongside one defeat. The court upheld bans in several states against trans girls competing in girls’ sports in schools, and it also overturned one of the few remaining laws restricting campaign spending in US elections. Trump took almost immediately to Truth Social to celebrate: “The Supreme Court just took restrictions off political spending! A BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS and, more importantly, The First Amendment! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Trump is not the kind of president who takes two wins and a loss in his stride. He wants absolute fealty, and will settle for nothing less. He will surely rage at the court, and Republicans will almost certainly make other bids to overturn birthright citizenship – overturning Roe v Wade, after all, took decades.
Still, for now, the US Constitution has been upheld, if only by one vote. The state of the union is fragile, indeed.