Politics today spans courtrooms, ballot boxes, and flashpoints abroad. In the U.S., a federal judge struck down Donald Trump’s proposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee, ruling it an unauthorized tax and halting a measure that would have sharply raised costs for employers seeking highly skilled foreign workers. Trump also stepped into a worsening Middle East crisis, urging Israel and Iran to “stop shooting” after renewed strikes threatened a fragile ceasefire, while Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis escalated tensions further by announcing a total ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea. In Europe, Britain’s Keir Starmer gave tech firms three months to curb the sharing of nude images by children, signaling tough regulation if they fail. And in the Caucasus, Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan emerged strengthened from parliamentary elections, securing a mandate that could revive peace efforts with Azerbaijan while deepening his country’s westward tilt.