10 things you need to know today: April 13, 2019

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1. Court settlement allows children from Central America to reunite with parents
2. Report: Trump told DHS head he'd be pardoned if he broke the law
3. Appeals court temporarily allows Trump administration to return asylum seekers to Mexico
4. ICC refuses to probe Afghanistan war crimes
5. Protesters in Sudan demand civilian rule
6. Roger Stone's defense team asks for a full copy of the Mueller report
7. Cory Booker to launch national campaign tour in hometown of Newark
8. Leaderboard remains crowded as Masters weekend play gets underway
9. NBA playoffs tip off on Saturday
10. Star Wars: Episode IX title and trailer released

published 13 April 2019

1. Court settlement allows children from Central America to reunite with parents

A court settlement announced on Friday will allow up to 2,700 children in Central America to reunite with their parents living under protected status in the United States. The settlement follows a lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration's 2017 decision to end a program that began in 2014 and allowed children living in Central America to reunite with their parents residing legally in the United States. The case was brought against the government by 12 children and parent applicants to the program. Under the terms of the settlement, which must be approved by a judge, the government must finish processing the children who were in the final stages of their applications when the program was ended. The government reportedly anticipates most applicants will be approved and allowed to travel to the United States.

Last week, President Trump told then-Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan to close the border to asylum seekers, two senior officials informed both The New York Times and CNN. Trump also reportedly said that if McAleenan was arrested for it, he would pardon him, though the officials didn't make it clear if Trump was joking. The reported conversation comes after Trump backed down from his idea of closing the border to curb the swelling number of asylum seekers. McAleenan has since become the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security. A DHS official denied that Trump would ever tell McAleenan to "do anything illegal," or that McAleenan would do such a thing. Trump also denied the report via Twitter.

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A federal appeals court in California on Friday temporarily blocked a judge's order that would have halted the Trump administration from returning asylum seekers to Mexico. The decision follows the White House's emergency motion filing on Thursday to allow the government to continue forcing migrants to wait in Mexico while their asylum cases remain under review. On Monday, judge Richard Seeborg ruled in favor of three civil liberties groups suing the government over the practice. His ruling would have put a stop to it on Friday, but the appeals court has now set a Tuesday deadline for the groups to submit arguments as to why the order blocking the Trump Administration should take effect. The Trump administration, meanwhile, will have until Wednesday to argue why the policy should remain in place.

International Criminal Court judges on Friday sided with President Trump in rejecting their own prosecutor's request to probe alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda proposed investigating U.S. forces for possible war crimes committed in Afghanistan more than 18 months ago. Three ICC judges unanimously agreed there was "reasonable basis" to investigate American troops for the crimes, but ultimately said "current circumstances" in Afghanistan would make "prospects for a successful investigation and prosecution extremely limited." Bensouda's U.S. visa was revoked last week in what some say was retribution for her request. The White House released a statement praising the decision as a "major international victory" because the U.S. already "holds American citizens to the highest legal and ethical standards."

The leaders of the protests in Sudan which resulted in the ouster of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir on Thursday are calling on supporters to remain in the streets. They are demanding civilian rule rather than the military council which seized power during a coup led by Defense Minister Awad Ibn Auf. The military says it wants to hold power for two years before holding elections. But both Ibn Auf and security chief Gen. Salah Gosh resigned on Saturday as protests continued in the capital city Khartoum in an apparent concession. Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman, who now heads the military council, accepted both resignations. Burhan is reportedly believed to be more willing to begin negotiating with the protesters.

The defense team for President Trump's longtime adviser and Republican political operative Roger Stone on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss Stone's indictment for lying to Congress and obstructing justice. They also asked the judge to order that Stone receive a full, unredacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his office's investigation into whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russian election interference in 2016. Stone's lawyers reportedly argued that their client was unfairly singled out during the investigation. They also reportedly argued that the claims against Stone are "unsubstantiated" because "the Department of Justice has concluded that there was no conspiracy between Russian agents and any American citizen, including Roger Stone." Stone has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) will hold his first major rally as a Democratic presidential candidate on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, where he previously served as mayor for seven years. The Newark rally is the beginning of a two-week national tour for Booker, who will then travel to Iowa, Georgia, and Nevada. The trip, operating under the moniker "Justice for All," will reportedly focus on economic policies, including Booker's proposed "baby bonds" that would give every child in the United States a government-run savings account at birth. Booker is currently in the middle of the pack in a crowded Democratic field, both in terms of fundraising and in early polls. But his campaign aides have dismissed concerns about either.

Five players share a 36-hole lead as weekend play kicks off on Saturday at the 83rd edition of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Francisco Molinari, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, and Brooks Koepka all sit at seven-under par after the tournament's first two rounds which took place on Thursday and Friday. All five players have at least one major championship title. The field gets even more crowded after that as four players — including Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson — remain just one shot behind the leaders. Coverage will continue throughout the day on CBS.

The NBA playoffs are set to begin on Saturday when the Philadelphia 76ers host the Brooklyn Nets at 2:30 p.m on ESPN. Three more games will take place later in the day — the Orlando Magic visit the Toronto Raptors, the Los Angeles Clippers will face off against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, and the San Antonio Spurs will head to Colorado to take on the Denver Nuggets. The rest of the 16-team field will begin their seven-game series on Sunday. Those matchups include the Indiana Pacers at the Boston Celtics, the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Portland Trail Blazers, the Detroit Pistons at the Milwaukee Bucks, who hold the league's best record, and, finally, the Utah Jazz at the Houston Rockets.

The official title and first trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker debuted Friday, giving fans a peak at the ninth and final episode in the primary trilogy of trilogies within the series universe. The clip ends with a cackling Emperor Palpatine, who was killed off in Return of the Jedi, after a shot of the wreckage of the Death Star. The conclusion suggests characters and settings which haven't recently factored into the saga in a major way could unexpectedly play a key role in its final installment. The Rise of Skywalker is directed by J.J. Abrams and scheduled for release on Dec. 20, 2019.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.