Federal court blocks Trump’s tsunami of tariffs

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Federal court blocks Trump’s tsunami of tariffs

Haw, yeh kya hua. After months of threatening the global economy with his weapon of mass destruction, the mighty Donald has been brought down by a trade court. In the early hours of Thursday, the Court of International Trade ruled that the US president does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on all imported goods.

The result: The tariffs are history… for now: “The challenged Tariff Orders will be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined.” This includes all the wild Liberation Day tariffs (remember the chart?) and the duties slapped earlier on China, Mexico and Canada—supposedly to fight a war on fentanyl. The court has given the administration a window of 10 calendar days “to effectuate” the order.

The ruling explained: The Trump White House invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law—to impose those crazy tariffs on everyone. The chhota problem: The law is all about embargoes and sanctions. It doesn’t even mention the T-word. Therefore, any tariff that invoked this law has been deemed illegal—since the power to impose tariffs traditionally lies with Congress.

But, but, but: “It does not, however, affect the 25% tariffs on autos, auto parts, steel or aluminum, which were imposed using a different law, the Trade Expansion Act.”

Point to note: This is a low-profile court in Manhattan ruling on appeals filed by a libertarian legal advocacy group Liberty Justice Center in April on behalf of five small businesses. The ruling also covers a petition by 12 Democratic party-ruled states.

What’s next: The administration has already moved to appeal the ruling—and issued its Trumpy statement:

It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. President Trump pledged to put America First, and the Administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness.

The “permanent injunction” comes just as Trump is negotiating bilateral “deals” with 18 countries—including India and the EU—which have now taken an interesting turn. The case will probably end up in the Supreme Court, but Trump’s infamous 90-day deadline to ink a deal runs out on July 9.

To end on an amusing note: Donald is very unhappy with Robert Armstrong of the Financial Times—who coined the acronym TACO—as in “Trump Always Chickens Out”:

On Wednesday, Trump was asked about TACO by a reporter at the Oval Office. “You call that chickening out?” Trump responded. “It’s called negotiation.” He then scolded the reporter for asking “the nastiest question.”

All hail Trump the TACO king!

Reading list: New York Times and CNN have the best reporting. Quartz has more on the TACO kerfuffle.

Farewell, edtech: Unacademy founder heads for the door

The basic deets: Unacademy was founded in 2015 by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, and Roman Saini—with Munjal as the most visible and powerful partner. The company became a unicorn in 2020 and raised $880 million over 12 rounds. The edtech company preps students for competitive exams—NEET, civil services, medical etc—and is primarily an online platform. But like Byju’s etc, it pivoted to offline learning centres when edtech proved to be a post-pandemic bust.

See money pit, dig deeper: Munjal is the typical tech bro founder—big on rhetoric and low on results. A winning combination that has earned him great VC love and his company a $3.4 billion valuation at its peak. Here’s a quick timeline of how he ran his company into the ground:

Between 2018 and 2022, Unacademy went on a shopping spree and acquired 13 companies. Munjal became infamous for bullying founders—promising to destroy them if they refused his offer.
When demand for online courses plummeted almost overnight after the pandemic, Munjal bet heavily on offline centres—spending Rs 100 crore just to poach 30 top teachers from companies in Kota.
The result: Unacademy lost Rs 1,678 crore in FY2023. The loss dropped to Rs 630 crore in FY2024 thanks to overdue layoffs and cost-cutting.
By December 2024, the company tried to sell itself to offline coaching giant Allen at an $800 million valuation—a steep 75% cut from its peak of $3.4 billion. In the end, Allen passed.

Badi, badi baatein: None of this fazed our man Munjal. At a company townhall just last month, he declared, “Almost 70% of our offline centres will be profitable at a centre level this year. And they are producing some amazing outcomes in JEE, NEET and UPSC.” Also this: “We have three simple goals: make the core business profitable asap; build great tech products like Airlearn and Graphy; don’t get distracted by what others are doing.”

Oops, maybe not: Instead of making Unacademy’s “core business” profitable—boring!—Munjal has instead stepped down as CEO. Apparently, he’s “not inclined on running an offline coaching centre.” He wants to instead focus on Unacademy’s newest shiny toy, AirLearn—an Indian version of DuoLingo (our condolences to AirLearn). Co-founder Roman Saini is out the door as well—but no one knows where he’s headed. The third founder Hemesh Singh already exited in 2024.

The real scam: Munjal’s exit also took Unacademy investors by surprise—leaving them in the lurch. Unsurprisingly, they’re pissed off:

Sources say the company’s board was not unanimous in approving Munjal’s decision, signaling growing concerns within the investor community. A lead venture capitalist in Unacademy.. called the move “bizarre and disappointing.” The source said, “After raising over a billion dollars, there’s an implicit responsibility to stay accountable. You don’t walk away from a company of this scale without a clear and aligned transition.”

The source emphasised that Munjal, until recently, had been actively communicating company performance and was deeply involved in operations. “To go from that to saying ‘I don’t care what happens, bring in whoever you want to run it’ — that’s bizarre. You don’t see founders at this scale opting out like this,” they added.

The proverbial cherry on top: AirLearn is being developed as a “separate company.” A chosen few of these investors “may” be given the honor of investing in Munjal's latest cash burning exercise. That’s a bit rich since AirLearn is housed under Unacademy Inc, the group’s Delaware, US-incorporated entity—and was presumably launched with funds raised for Unacademy. Besharmi unlimited!

Reading list: Economic Times broke the story—but is paywalled. We recommend reading the CNBCTV18 report—which has lots more on the investor point of view. We did a Big Story on Munjal’s mismanagement in 2024.

Content warning: This story is about a serial pedophile—although there are no graphic descriptions of his crimes.

France’s latest shame: Serial pedophile Joël Le Scouarnec

The context: Last year, the world was rocked by the mass rape of Gisèle Pelicot—who was repeatedly assaulted by her husband and 49 other men. Then came a new horror: The case of a veteran doctor charged with raping and sexually assaulting 299 people over 25 years—“almost all his patients, almost all children at the time of the suspected abuse.”

The case: 74-year-old Joël Le Scouarnec was first charged in 2017 of raping a girl who lived next door. A police raid on his home uncovered vast amounts of child sex abuse material—including images and 20 life-sized dolls of children. At the time, Le Scouarnec was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. But the police investigation continued to reveal new horrors—leading to a new trial.

What happened now: Yesterday, Le Scouarnec was convicted of 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults—and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. The jail term may seem light, but it is the maximum under French law.

What we know now: The trial revealed appalling details of Le Scouarnec’s crimes. The good doctor preyed on children when they were most vulnerable—sick and in hospital:

Using the cover of medical procedures, the former abdominal and digestive surgeon took advantage of moments when children were alone in their hospital rooms. His method was to disguise sexual abuse as clinical care, targeting young patients who were unlikely to remember the encounters.

The average age of the kids was 11. During the trial, the doctor confessed: “I didn’t see them as people… They were the destination of my fantasies.”

The most enraging bit: Le Scouarnec was flagged by the FBI in 2004 for viewing child abuse images on the dark web. In 2005, he was convicted in France for owning such imagery—and given a four-year suspended prison sentence. But he was never banned from treating children:

He continued to gain prestigious jobs in hospitals across France until his retirement in 2017, systematically abusing children who had undergone surgery… Le Scouarnec.. was employed at a series of regional hospitals that depended on having surgeons of his expertise in order to stay open.

In one instance, Le Scouarnec had told Michèle Cals, the then director of the Jonzac hospital in western France, about his 2005 conviction.. Cals received no word from her medical hierarchy not to hire him, so she appointed him in 2008. “We were in need of surgeons,” Cals told the court.

Quote to note: One of the victims, Manon Lemoine said: “They’re trying to make him out to be a monster, but this monster is the society that created him and allowed him to continue.” The Guardian and CNN have lots more reporting.

Meanwhile, in LA: A stuntwoman has sued director Kevin Costner (who is also the lead actor) for the trauma caused by an “unscripted” and violent rape scene. It occurred during the shooting of the movie ‘Horizon 2’—where Devyn LaBella was a stand-in for actress Ella Hunt. When Hunt refused to perform the scene, LaBella was brought in—without prior warning and without an intimacy coordinator on the set—both of which are violations of industry regulations. (The Independent)

what caught our eye

business & tech

India’s first AI-only tech zone is coming up in Nava Raipur—with Rs 1,000 crore to build a hub for AI research, development and deployment.
Tough US student visa rules have Indian banks worried as education loans for studying in the US and Canada dropped 25% last year, with fears that visa delays or cancellations could further hit loan disbursals.
OpenAI may soon let you log into other apps with your ChatGPT account—the company’s now testing the waters with developers.
Entry-level tech jobs are taking a hit—AI may have helped slash Big Tech grad hiring by 25% and startup offers by 11% in 2024, says SignalFire.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences has launched ‘Mausam’—a new weather app from IMD that delivers easy forecasts, radar images, and alerts.

sports & entertainment

Kamal Haasan’s claim that Kannada “came from Tamil” has sparked outrage—BJP and pro-Kannada groups want an apology, and ‘Thug Life’ now faces boycott calls in Karnataka.
Indian Express has the lowdown on all the Singapore Open highlights—Lakshya’s back troubles, Satwik-Chirag’s smooth comeback, and surprise set steals by Aakarshi and Unnati against Chinese top seeds.
BBC News has the deets on how Chelsea steamrolled through the Conference League all season and sealed the deal with a 4-1 win over Real Betis in the final—celebrated like any top trophy, despite the tournament’s third-tier tag.
The Hindu has an eye-opening interview with Basharat Peer on the real-life story behind ‘Homebound’—a tale of friendship, dignity, and holding on through heartbreak.
Netflix is bringing back Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘The Black Warrant’ for a second season.

health & environment

The Print has a good read on Hyderabad’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology creating the first-ever DNA test that can tell pashmina from shahtoosh by extracting DNA from hair—without damaging the expensive shawls.
Plastic pellets have been found on Kerala’s coast after the recent shipwreck—experts warn they break down into microplastics and sneak into the food chain.
A 5,000-year-old loaf of bread found buried in central Turkey has been brought back to life—archaeologists helped a local bakery recreate the ancient recipe, and now customers are lining up to try it.
The chance of Earth’s average temperature soaring past 1.5°C in the next five years has more than doubled—from 32% in 2023 to 70% in 2025; and there’s an 80% chance one of those years will be hotter than 2024, the warmest on record, says the WMO.
In a shocking 2021, over two dozen pro bodybuilders died suddenly—including a 27-year-old—sparking fresh questions about the deadly risks behind the sport’s muscle.
In a cosmic first, astronomers spot a star orbiting inside another star—talk about a stellar surprise.

meanwhile, in the world

For the first time, Namibia has marked a national day of remembrance for colonial Germany’s genocide of indigenous Namibians in the early twentieth century.
Couples in Gaza using IVF to help them conceive have been left with ‘nothing’ after 4,000 frozen embryos were destroyed by Israel.
Over 400 UK-based writers—including Zadie Smith, Irvine Welsh and Russell T Davies—have signed an open letter denouncing Israel’s genocide of Gaza. FYI: Last year, Smith had penned an essay in The New Yorker denouncing pro-Palestine protestors’ usage of the terms ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ towards Israel.
NPR has sued the Trump administration over its order to defund public broadcasters, labelling it ‘textbook retaliation’.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Chinese students—especially those tied to the CCP or studying in key fields—will soon see their visas revoked, with tougher rules ahead for all applicants from China and Hong Kong.
The bromance is over: Elon Musk is stepping away from the Trump administration—to focus fully on Tesla and SpaceX.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appointed a team of legal experts to work on a new constitution—which could keep him in power beyond the end of his current term in 2028.
Prosecutors in Brazil have sued Chinese EV maker BYD over allegations of ‘slave-like’ labour conditions and trafficking.
UK prosecutors say they previously approved charges of rape and human trafficking against Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.

meanwhile, in India

The Supreme Court extends interim bail for Ashoka prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad but bars him from posting about his cases online.
Twin signals from New Delhi and Washington spark hopes for a US-India interim trade deal by June 25.
Since the Pahalgam terror attack last month, Delhi Police has identified over 500 people as illegal Bangladeshi migrants or overstaying foreigners and deported them to Bangladesh; 770 have been sent back from Delhi in just six months.
Indian universities are laying down rules for how students and staff use social media—as visa approvals and global agencies start paying closer attention to what’s posted online.
With Bihar elections approaching, the Cabinet has approved higher MSPs and extended interest subsidies for farmers, while PM Modi arrives in the state for his third visit in five months to launch Rs 50,000 crore worth of development projects.
Reuters has an in-depth look into global surveillance gear makers clashing with Indian regulators over new CCTV rules demanding hardware, software, and source code checks in government labs.

Six things to see

One: Patna’s Boring Canal Road became the site of a truly bonkers incident—straight outta Grand Theft Auto. This viral video shows a man firing shots from a moving motorcycle for no apparent reason. The police have yet to comment on the incident—which reportedly took place on May 24. Btw, Boring Canal seems to be a popular locale for Patna’s goondas. Recently, unidentified assailants in a Scorpio SUV allegedly fired eight rounds over a parking dispute. The real shocker: No one was injured in either incident. (News18)