10 things you need to know today: June 29, 2019

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1. Trump, Xi revive trade talks at G-20 summit
2. Supreme Court to consider whether Trump can shutter DACA next term
3. Trump offers to meet Kim at DMZ
4. Charlottesville white supremacist gets life in prison on hate crime charges
5. Sudan's military council deems AU, Ethiopian proposal 'suitable' for continuing talks with opposition
6. European powers unable to dissaude Iran from breaching nuclear pact
7. Federal judge blocks use of military funds to construct border wall
8. DOJ to provide funding for Alaska law enforcement after Barr declares emergency
9. Stocks finish best June in decades
10. U.S. defeats France 2-1 in Women's World Cup quarterfinal

published 29 June 2019

1. Trump, Xi revive trade talks at G-20 summit

President Trump on Saturday said that trade negotiations with China are "back on track" after he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for 80 minutes in Osaka, Japan, during the G-20 summit. Trump agreed to delay new tariffs on Chinese goods and to scale back restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei, allowing U.S. firms to sell some high-tech equipment to the company. In exchange, Trump said Beijing has agreed to buy large amounts of U.S. farm products. As for Huawei, Trump said his administration would hold meetings to discuss the company, which is on the so-called entity list meaning that U.S. companies cannot provide it with U.S.-origin technology without government approval. But Trump said his discussions with Xi revolved around equipment that doesn't involve "a great national-emergency problem."

The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would consider whether the Trump administration can end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which shields about 800,00 young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The program, started by former President Barack Obama, protects so-called DREAMers who immigrated as young children, which President Trump called an unconstitutional use of Obama's executive power. Federal courts blocked Trump from shuttering the program in 2017, but legal challenges have continued behind the scenes. The Supreme Court will consider whether the Trump administration can end the program during its next term, likely deciding in the spring or summer of 2020.

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In a tweet on Saturday, President Trump invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a brief meeting at the Korean Demilitarized Zone as part of his visit to Seoul where he is scheduled to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-In. Trump wrote that he wanted to shake Kim's hand and say hello. "All I did was put out a feeler if he'd like to meet," Trump said, adding that Kim was "very receptive to meeting." Indeed, North Korea said Trump's offer is a "very interesting suggestion." If it does happen, it would be the third face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, who have attempted to negotiate North Korea's denuclearization process in the past. Their last meeting, which took place in Hanoi in February, ended abruptly without a deal.

The white supremacist who killed a woman and injured dozens of others after driving his car into a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville received a life sentence on federal hate crime charges on Friday. James Alex Fields Jr. was sentenced after pleading guilty to 29 hate crime charges in the attack that killed Heather Heyer and injured 35 people who were protesting a white supremacist rally in Aug. 2017. Fields pleaded guilty as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty. In court, Fields apologized "for the hurt and loss I've caused." He was previously convicted on first-degree murder charges. Prosecutor Christopher Kavanaugh pushed for a life sentence, saying Fields "demonstrated that he feels no remorse for his actions and continues to espouse his hateful ideology."

Sudan's ruling military council said on Friday that a proposal submitted by the African Union and Ethiopia is suitable for resuming talks on a transition to democracy with Sudan's opposition coalition. The proposal reportedly addresses a major sticking point in negotiations: balance of power. It provides for a sovereign council consisting of seven civilians and seven members of the military that would oversee the transition. One additional seat would be reserved for an independent member. The makeup of a legislative council, though, would only be decided after the agreement was signed. Activists in Sudan have called for a million-strong march on Sunday to revive street pressure on the military council as part of an effort to force the council to cede power to civilians.

European powers were unable to persuade Iran on Friday to refrain from breaching its side of the 2015 nuclear pact by surpassing its limits on low-enriched uranium possession. "It was a step forward, but it is still not enough and not meeting Iran's expectations," Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, said after the talks in Vienna with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. "I don't think the progress made today will be enough to stop our process." If Iran does go ahead with its plan the EU would likely join the United States, which left the nuclear pact last year, in imposing sanctions on Tehran.

A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration cannot use military funds to construct a wall at the southern border. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam issued the permanent injunction in a California federal court a month after temporarily halting the use of military funds. Gilliam wrote that the administration's lawyers were unable to provide any new evidence or an argument for why the court should reverse its previous decision. He also determined that groups suing to block the use of military funds would suffer "irreparable harm" over border wall construction because it would prevent them from enjoying public land along the border.

Attorney General William Barr on Friday declared an emergency for public safety in rural Alaska. He announced that the Department of Justice will provide more than $10 million in funding to support law enforcement in Alaska Native villages. The department will immediately provide $6 million to the state to hire, equip, and train rural police; another 4.5 million, which will be provided to Alaska Native organizations by the end of July, will support 20 officer positions. Barr said in a statement that he witnessed firsthand Alaska's "dire law enforcement challenges" during a May visit. Alaska has the highest per-capita crime rate in the country, but it suffers from a shortage in law enforcement officers. Last month, it was reported that one in three communities had no local law enforcement at some point this year.

Markets closed up on Friday, capping the best June in two decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 7.2 percent this month, the strongest June rally since 1938, while the S&P 500 has skyrocketed 17.3 percent this year, reaching an all-time high at one point and completing its best first half of a year since 1997. The Nasdaq Composite surged 20 percent in the first half of 2019. While investors fear some growth could be tampered by regulation on big-money tech leaders, especially in the S&P 500, Wall Street is largely celebratory, given the comeback markets have experienced since the second half of last year. Markets could soon be affected by the G-20 summit in Osaka, where President Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss trade.

The U.S. women's national soccer team beat France 2-1 in the quarterfinal of the FIFA Women's World Cup on Friday. France, the host country, was considered one of the tournaments top contenders, making the showdown a match that some called the "final before the final." Co-captain Megan Rapinoe scored both goals for the U.S., sinking one within the first five minutes of the match and another in the 65th minute. The defending champions will now move on to face England on July 2 in the semifinals. Italy takes on the Netherlands on Saturday, while Germany squares off with Sweden in the last two quarterfinal games. The winners will face each other in the other semifinal.

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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.