challenging

The lawsuit claims Trump does not have the authority to override the law that created the H-1B visa programme.

A coalition of unions, employers and religious groups has filed a lawsuit seeking to block United States President Donald Trump’s bid to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco on Friday is the first to challenge Trump’s proclamation issued last month announcing the fee.

The United Auto Workers union, American Association of University Professors and other plaintiffs say Trump’s power to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals does not allow him to override the law that created the H-1B visa programme.

The programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers in speciality fields, and technology companies in particular rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas.

Critics of H-1Bs and other work visa programmes say they are often used to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labour. But business groups and major companies have said H-1Bs are a critical means to address a shortage of qualified American workers.

Employers who sponsor H-1B workers currently typically pay between $2,000 and $5,000 in fees, depending on the size of the company and other factors.

Trump’s order bars new H-1B recipients from entering the US unless the employer sponsoring their visa has made an additional $100,000 payment. The administration has said the order does not apply to people who already hold H-1B visas or those who submitted applications before September 21.

Trump in his unprecedented order invoked his power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals that would be detrimental to the interests of the US.

He said that high numbers of lower-wage workers in the H-1B programme have undercut its integrity and that the programme threatens national security, including by discouraging Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology. He said the “large-scale replacement of American workers” through the H-1B programme threatens the country’s economic and national security.

‘Pay to play’

The plaintiffs argue that Trump has no authority to alter a comprehensive statutory scheme governing the visa programme and cannot, under the US Constitution, unilaterally impose fees, taxes or other mechanisms to generate revenue for the US, saying that power is reserved for Congress.

“The Proclamation transforms the H-1B program into one where employers must either ‘pay to play’ or seek a ‘national interest’ exemption, which will be doled out at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, a system that opens the door to selective enforcement and corruption,” the lawsuit said.

The groups argue that agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services and US Department of State, likewise adopted new policies to implement Trump’s proclamation without following necessary rulemaking processes, and without considering how “extorting exorbitant fees will stifle innovation”.

The H-1B programme offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialised fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. The visas are approved for a period of three to six years.

India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71 percent of approved visas, while China was a distant second at 11.7 percent, according to government data.

The postponed hearing could lead to the removal of Ozgur Ozel, the Republican People’s Party’s chairman.

A court in Ankara has postponed the hearing of a controversial case that could oust the leader of Turkiye’s main opposition party, amid protests against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Monday, the hearing about alleged internal irregularities during the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 congress was adjourned until October 24.

Prosecutors have accused CHP leaders of vote-buying at the internal event in 2023 in which Ozgur Ozel was elected chairman, allegations the CHP says are politically motivated.

The case is the latest in a long line of challenges faced by the party.

The Turkish government has rejected accusations of political interference, insisting the judiciary acts independently.

Officials said the cases against CHP figures stem from corruption charges, which the party denied and argued are designed to weaken the opposition.

Turkish authorities have jailed hundreds of CHP members this year for alleged corruption, including Erdogan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested in March.

Critics say the crackdown is an attempt to destabilise Turkiye’s oldest political party, which won a large victory over Erdogan’s AK Party, or Justice and Development Party, in local elections last year.

On Sunday, Ozel told thousands of protesters in the national capital that the case was part of Erdogan’s wider attempt to undermine democracy.

“This case is political, the allegations are slander,” said Ozel, who claimed CHP was experiencing the “grave consequences” of government oppression.

“Anyone who poses a democratic threat to the government is now the government’s target,” he suggested.

The government denies the claim. Erdogan has described the CHP network as corrupt, comparing it with “an octopus whose arms stretch to other parts of Turkiye and abroad”.

Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu said the CHP congress case had been criticised by legal experts.

“Many legal experts are against the procedure because, according to the Turkish laws, any irregularity related to a political party’s internal dynamics should be taken care of by the higher election board, not by a local board,” Koseoglu noted.

Imamoglu, the CHP’s presidential candidate, also accused Erdogan and his allies of anti-democratic actions.

“This isn’t about the CHP, it’s about the existence or absence of democracy in Turkiye,” he said, after appearing in court on Friday in an unrelated case.

The CHP has had a chequered history with democracy despite founding modern Turkiye. The CHP pursued authoritarian policies in the past that suppressed ethnic and religious minorities and it has been a key factor in how Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were able to rise to power and hold it.

There is also an historical distrust of the CHP from many communities who will continue to stand with the AKP regardless.

After Imamoglu’s arrest, Turkiye experienced its largest protests in more than a decade.

In advance of the Ankara court ruling, at least 50,000 people took part in a protest in the capital on Sunday.

Over the weekend, the Turkish authorities arrested 48 more people as part of the inquiry into the CHP.

On September 2, a court removed the leadership of the party’s Istanbul branch over the allegations of vote-buying at its provincial congress. The decision was seen by analysts as a test run for the congress case that was adjourned on Monday.

Following the ruling earlier this month, Turkiye’s stock market plummeted by 5.5 percent, raising fears about its already fragile economy.

ITV boss Kevin Lygo has lifted the lid on upcoming cuts to the channel’s daytime offerings, admitting that certain shows are a huge expense to make

ITV boss Kevin Lygo has insisted the channel will try to make their daytime shows look the same next year but admitted it will be “challenging” – as he spoke out about the budget cuts to daytime.

From January 2026 Lorraine Kelly’s morning show on ITV will be cut from an hour to 30 minutes as more than 220 jobs across the station’s daytime output are being cut, the broadcaster announced in May.

Asked directly if the best days of daytime TV were behind them at ITV, ITV managing director Lygo said “no, I don’t think so” but admitted there would be changes.

He said: “As a commercial broadcast you earn most of your money with big audiences in peak time. That is what advertisers want and the cost of those has gone up and up and up. Those are the things that drive us commercially.

“Those morning shows have been on forever and they are brilliant and they are watched and they are seven hours of TV a day but they do cost a great deal of money.

“So we thought, is there a way of keeping those long standing brands on air and keeping the familiar faces on that give comfort to people? So the editorial brief was if you have a lot less money, which you will do from January, to try to make it so the audience isn’t shocked. They should look more or less the same, they are less funded so that will be challenging to the producers. But unfortunately that means people doing a perfectly good job will lose their jobs because we need fewer people making them.”

Lygo also defended the decision to keep Torode’s John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen on air on ITV after he was sacked from MasterChef following an independent report.

Questioned over this decision to let him remain on screen, Lygo said he “felt it was a bit much for us to jump on the bandwagon and just deny these shows to go out.”

He added: “We don’t know the details, the BBC haven’t come out with that. We pre-recorded those shows. We did ask the producers of our shows if there were any incidents and they said everything was fine.”

Torode was sacked after the report, initially examining allegations against Wallace, upheld a complaint against him for use of racial language. Torode has apologised but denied the incident took place.

In a separate session at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC’s chief content officer said the corporation “acted fast” after misconduct allegations against former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace.

Wallace, 60, issued an apology saying he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate”, after a review said 45 out of 83 allegations made against him were upheld.

Speaking at the Festival, Kate Phillips said: “I think when complaints came to me about Gregg Wallace, which was 2019, when I dealt with it, I always dealt with it straightaway.

“So there were two complaints. I dealt with them. I acted on them fast.

“I think we weren’t as joined-up in the BBC as we are now, so I didn’t know about some of the historical things that had taken place. So if I’d known about those at the time, yes, I may have acted differently, but I acted on the information I was given.

“I think I acted responsibly. I left him in no doubt of the expected behaviour that we expect at the BBC, if you like. I stand by the actions I took at the time with the knowledge that I had.”

ITV staff working on daytime were told in a meeting in May that 220 production staff out of 440 will lose their jobs

On the other daytime shows as previously revealed in the Mirror there will be cuts to Loose Women which will see less panelists needed than the current rota of 26.

One insider insister 8-10 might leave in the New Year and it would mean the next six months would see panelists being more outrageous and bold with their comments than normal to keep the spot on the show. ITV have insisted there will be no widespread cuts when it comes to panelists.

Good Morning Britain will also see big cuts and changes but the one constant will be Susanna Reid. A source previously told the Mirror: “When there are cuts this big normally no one is safe but Susanne Reid is someone ITV want to build the show around and is seen as an essential part of daytime. She is 100% safe from the cuts but will be very worried for friends she has on GMB and what the cuts mean for the quality of the programme on screen.”

Hundreds of staff are now in a consultation process at ITV.

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