June 23 1600 UTC Brief

In U.S. courts and civil rights A federal judge has blocked restrictions that would have kept SNAP benefits from being used to buy candy, soda, and other sugary drinks in 23 states. Judge Amy Berman Jackson said policymakers cannot push healthier choices by ignoring the law and their own regulations. Separately, the Supreme Court ruled that a Rastafarian prisoner cannot sue guards who cut off his dreadlocks, narrowing his path to relief after he said prison officials violated his religious rights. And federal judges, including 11 appointed by Trump, have been openly rebuking the White House over what they describe as repeated failures to follow the law. That is not usually the tone judges use when they are feeling serene. In immigration policy New figures show the Trump administration has driven U.S. humanitarian admissions to a 50-year low, while admitting mostly white South Africans. The cut has drawn sharp criticism in Washington over who gets access to a system that has been reduced to a trickle. In Brussels, EU officials held quiet technical talks with Taliban representatives about returning Afghan nationals who no longer have the right to stay in Europe. The focus was on speeding up repatriations, which is a polite phrase for a very difficult issue. In public safety and local news In California, deputies used a drone and a magnet during a standoff with a known felon and parolee-at-large who was armed with a gun. They eventually helped disarm the suspect after surrounding the home. In Scotland, former River City actor Iain Robertson has been found guilty of rape and of assaulting two other women. In Washington President Trump is standing by his claims of vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, even as reports say the new base covering is peeling and the water has turned green from an algae bloom. The renovation has not exactly aged like a national monument should. In tech and entertainment Netflix says its anime audience has surged from 1 billion views in 2023 to 1.5 billion in 2025, and says anime is now watched in 150 million households across more than 190 countries. The company also unveiled Fool Night and new details on The One Piece. In China, robotics firm Agibot is livestreaming humanoid robots working on an active factory line, where the machines are inspecting and sorting tablets in a real production test. The humans, for now, still get to share the floor.