Latest news with #SkullandBones
New York Times
18-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Judge Draws Trump's Ire Over Ruling to Stop Deportation Flights
As chief judge of the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia since 2023, Judge James E. Boasberg has been responsible for setting the tone of the court through some of its highest-profile dealings with President Trump, including overseeing the end of grand jury inquiries in both federal cases against Mr. Trump, the 2020 elections case and the president's handling of classified documents. But in the last several days, Judge Boasberg and his court have been drawn into a battle with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement that threatens, more than anything to date, to pitch the branches of government into a constitutional crisis. Over the weekend, the Trump administration sent three planes carrying 238 migrants from Venezuela to El Salvador, even as Judge Boasberg ordered a halt to the deportations and turning any planes around. Shortly before the migrants were expelled, Mr. Trump signed an executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act, a law from 1798 that gives the president power to deport citizens and subjects of any foreign nation with which the United States is at war or which are in the process of an invasion. Mr. Trump's order justified the deportations by accusing the migrants of being members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that he charged with 'conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise,' of President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. On Monday, the threat of a showdown between the executive and the judicial branches appeared to grow, as Justice Department lawyers stonewalled Judge Boasberg and tried to get him removed from the case, refusing to answer any of his questions about the deportation flights and claiming Mr. Trump had unfettered power to remove immigrants from the United States that could not be questioned by the courts. It worsened still after Mr. Trump called for Judge Boasberg's impeachment on his social media platform, Truth Social, and the Supreme Court's chief justice, John G. Roberts, rebuked the idea in a public statement. Here's more about Judge Boasberg, the jurist going toe-to-toe with the Trump administration. Who is Judge Boasberg? Judge Boasberg, who goes by the nickname Jeb, spent his formative years in Washington, D.C., while his father worked for Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. He went to St. Alban's, an all-boys prep school, attended Yale University, where he played basketball and was a member of the secretive Skull and Bones club. During law school at Yale, he lived with Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court justice. Before Judge Boasberg wore robes, he was a homicide prosecutor in Washington, D.C. President George W. Bush, a fellow Yale and Skull and Bones member, gave him his first job on the bench in 2002, as an associate justice of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Nine years later, former President Barack Obama nominated him to the federal bench in the capital, a position for which he was unanimously confirmed. In the years since, Judge Boasberg has served on a number of specialized courts. He was on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approves surveillance warrants, for seven years, rising to become its presiding judge during the first Trump administration. During the first Trump administration, he was also appointed to the U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court as its chief judge, a term that ended earlier this year. He took over as chief judge for the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia in 2023, succeeding Beryl A. Howell. What are some of his notable rulings? Judge Boasberg has fielded several polarizing cases that were significant for Mr. Trump. In 2016, he ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to release nearly 15,000 emails belonging to Hillary Clinton, the former senator and presidential candidate. But he also dismissed lawsuits trying to force the State Department to recover more of her correspondence, upsetting Mr. Trump. The following year, Judge Boasberg ruled against a group seeking the release of Mr. Trump's tax returns, stating that only Congress or Mr. Trump could choose to publicize them. He is also the judge that ruled in 2012 against the public release of photos of a deceased Osama bin Laden, finding there were reasonable national security ground to keep them private. Why is Judge Boasberg in conflict with the administration? Judge Boasberg delivered the order that prompted the standoff with the Trump administration on Saturday night, stating from the bench that the deportations of Venezuelans should be stopped and the planes brought back to the United States. He made the ruling during a swiftly organized hearing to challenge Mr. Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. Less than an hour later, he delivered a written ruling following up on that order, though the instruction to turn back planes was left out. The Trump administration maintains that it did not flout a court order because the written order — which they argue is the important one — came only after the flights of migrants that had already taken off for El Salvador. They have also argued that the judge has no power to question the president's deportation authority. On Monday, Justice Department lawyers wrote a letter to the federal appeals court asking it to remove Judge Boasberg from the case, and arguing that he had engaged in 'highly unusual and improper procedures.' They also refused to answer several of Judge Boasberg's questions regarding the flights in question, asserting that they could not for national security reasons. What happens next? Members of the Trump administration, including Tom Homan, his border czar, have promised to continue the deportations, regardless of court rulings. But the case against Mr. Trump's efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act, in a case brought by five Venezuelan migrants in federal custody who fear they could be among the administration's targets, continues. Judge Boasberg gave the administration a Tuesday deadline to detail how many migrants could theoretically be covered under the Alien Enemies Act. The administration complied, partially — meeting the judge's deadline but again refusing to detail the answers he sought. The parties are due in court again on Friday to argue the merits of the case. It is unclear what may flow from Mr. Trump's Tuesday morning post asserting that Judge Boasberg 'should be impeached.' The call prompted a rare statement from Chief Justice John G. Roberts of the Supreme Court, who admonished the idea in a statement saying: 'For more than two centuries it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.'
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘It's been a challenge': Assassin's Creed Shadows and the quest to bring feudal Japan to life
More than four years after its announcement and after two last-minute delays, the latest title in Ubisoft's historical fiction series Assassin's Creed will finally be released on Thursday. Set in Japan in 1579, a time of intense civil war dominated by the feudal lord Oda Nobunaga, it follows two characters navigating their way through the bloody chaos: a female shinobi named Fujibayashi Naoe, and Yasuke, an African slave turned samurai. Japan has been the series' most-requested setting for years, Ubisoft says. "I've been on [this] franchise for 16 years and I think every time we start a new game, Japan comes up and we ask, is this the time?' says executive producer Marc-Alexis Coté. 'We've never pushed beyond the conception phase with Japan until this one." The game comes at a crucial time for Ubisoft after the disappointing performance of last year's titles Star Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and the expensive closure of live service shooter XDefiant. There has also been a furore over the game's Black and female protagonists, with the usual rightwing YouTubers criticising them as 'woke' and historically inaccurate, despite the fact that female warriors fought throughout the feudal period, and that Yasuke, the game's Black samurai, is a historical figure. It is something the team is keen to address. 'In-house historians were some of the first people to get staffed on the production team,' says creative director Jonathan Dumont. 'A huge data bank is continually fed. As we get a sense of the era, the research effort then requires the help of specialists from around the world, including Japan, to narrow down details or understand finer cultural points.' There were also field trips to the game's key locations of Kyoto and Osaka, which revealed elements the team hadn't thought of. Coté recalls travelling to Japan to show local colleagues some technological breakthroughs the development team had made with lighting on landscapes. But they all shook their heads and said it wasn't working. 'I was like, 'Why?!'' he says. 'And they just replied: 'That's not how light falls on the mountains in Japan.' So when our art director was there I asked him specifically to go look at the mountains. He went, took reference photos, and now we've captured it.' The team also had to render individual characters' socks, because they are always depicted removing their footwear when entering a building. 'The expectations have been this high throughout. It's been a challenge.' Like all the previous Assassin's Creed titles before it, Shadows uses authentic locations and historical figures to seat the game's time-hopping narrative. Takeda, Fukuchiyama and Himeji castles are all replicated along with the villages, ports and rural landscapes of Central Japan. But as ever, this is first and foremost a game about sneaking over rooftops and skilfully taking down enemies. In a demo we played just before release, the lead characters are assaulting Himeji castle, and you can choose to play either as Naoe, skulking in the shadows using smoke bombs and silent attacks to escape detection, or Yasuke, running in with his sword and lopping off limbs. While Ubisoft has put immense effort into capturing the Azuchi-Momoyama period and the nature of the Iga peasant class (the possible origin of the modern ninja archetype), what matters equally is how good it feels to leap off a rooftop and decapitate a passing enemy. In many ways, it seems the game draws as much from modern cultural depictions of the period and its warriors as from history. 'Japanese storytelling has been very influential to the development of the game and to all occidental arts in general,' says Dumont. 'Kagemusha from Kurosawa, 13 Assassins, Zatoichi, Sekigahara, The Tale of Genji or Musashi from Eiji Yoshikawa, to name the more obvious, have [all] helped shape our vision for the game. Even Studio Ghibli movies such as My Neighbour Totoro have helped us understand the countryside and vegetation.' It's certainly an interesting time for Shadows to release. Multiple high-profile failures of recent live service games have left players yearning for the era of big single-player adventures, with decent sales reported for Obsidian's recent RPG Avowed. Meanwhile, the huge success of FX/Hulu's Shōgun series has brought feudal Japan back into the cultural spotlight, and its story of stranded English navigator John Blackthorne becoming a high ranking samurai somewhat reflects that of Yasuke. The game does look beautiful, with intricate environments, a dramatic weather system and incredibly bloody combat. Ubisoft has survived a difficult period; a lot now rests on its most treasured possession. Assassin's Creed Shadows is released on 20 March for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. Keith Stuart attended a press trip to Kyoto with other journalists. Accommodation and travel expenses were met by Ubisoft
