What happened
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, in a ruling unsealed yesterday, threw out six federal subpoenas targeting Minnesota Democratic officials, including Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison (pictured above). There’s “overwhelming evidence” that the “dominant purpose” of the subpoenas was to “coerce Minnesota officials into assisting” the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and “to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so,” Schlitz, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in his June 17 ruling. That’s a “blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand jury process.” 

Who said what
The subpoenas were issued in January “amid a bitter political battle between the Trump administration and state officials” following the shooting death of Renee Good, The Washington Post said. The Justice Department has “struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas,” Schiltz wrote. But they fit President Donald Trump’s “well-established history of using criminal investigations to retaliate against” his “political and personal adversaries.” 

What next?
Schlitz’s ruling is the “latest rebuke by the federal judiciary of Justice Department efforts to aggressively implement” Trump’s agenda and improperly “target” his opponents, The Associated Press said. It also “raises questions about similar immigration-related investigations elsewhere,” Axios said.

What happened
Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has emerged as the likely successor to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation yesterday amid a revolt inside his Labour Party triggered by falling poll numbers and substantial losses in local elections last month. Burnham (pictured above), who won a seat in Parliament in a special election last week, announced he would run for Labour leader before being sworn in yesterday.

Who said what
Starmer’s resignation “could have triggered a divisive leadership contest, but several Labour lawmakers said they now expected more of a coronation,” Reuters said. Burnham, 56, “quickly won the support of another potential leadership rival,” ​former Health Minister Wes Streeting, and no other potential candidates stepped forward. Following an “extraordinary month of deft political maneuvering,” The New York Times said, Burnham “was treated like a celebrity” when he arrived at Parliament, “with television crews filming his arrival from helicopters.” 

What next?
Starmer will stay on as caretaker prime minister until Labour picks a new leader, a process starting with nominations opening July 9. If there’s a contest, “the election would likely drag on into September,” The Associated Press said. If it’s a “coronation,” Reuters said, Burnham could “enter office by mid-July.”

Summer is a “boom time for ice cream makers,” said Agence France-Presse. But in Japan, some of the country’s biggest producers are feeling the heat. Officials at the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) have raided six companies on suspicion of colluding to hike prices in an ice cream cartel. Staff members are believed to have “sent emails or met up for years to coordinate the timing and size” of the increases, according to an anonymous source.

The commission searched the head offices of Meiji, Morinaga Milk Industry, Lotte, Ezaki Glico, Morinaga & Co., and Akagi Nyugyo, company officials said. The six firms are “suspected of raising the suggested retail prices of ice cream” in increments of 10 yen ($0.06), The Japan Times reported. The aim seems to be “securing profits for each company.” But now the antitrust case “threatens to undermine the reputations” of some of Japan’s largest food companies, said The New York Times. 

The ice cream industry has “boomed in recent years,” valued at more than $4 billion last year, a 3% rise from 2024, the Times said. But rising prices have “stoked public anger” in the nation, which is battling inflation for the “first time in decades,” fueled by higher energy costs from the war in the Middle East.

The JFTC will analyze seized materials and interview individuals to investigate the suspected violation of anti-monopoly laws. And if it “concludes that there was a cartel,” said AFP, the antitrust watchdog will “order the firms to improve their business practices and pay a fine.”