Republicans pass new map ahead of midterms after US Supreme Court weakened Voting Rights Act restrictions.

Tennessee’s Republican-dominated state legislature and governor have approved a new congressional map ahead of the US midterms, carving up the state’s only Black majority district.

The approval on Thursday culminated the latest push in states across the country to redistrict ahead of the US midterms in November, which will determine which party controls the US House of Representatives and Senate.

While redistricting typically happens following the US census every ten years, several state legislatures have sought to redraw their congressional maps mid-decade to create more districts that favour their party.

The spree began with US President Donald Trump calling on the Republican-controlled legislature in Texas to redraw its map to create five more Republican-favoured US House Districts. Republican and Democratic-controlled legislatures in Missouri, California, Utah, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia and Texas have since followed suit.

The campaign was kicked into overdrive when the US Supreme Court ruled last week that a provision of the landmark 1973 Voting Rights Act, which prevented diluting the voting power of minorities, was unconstitutional.

Under the ruling, challengers must now prove that a map had been drawn to intentionally disenfranchise minority voters, a bar that voting rights groups charge is nearly impossible to clear.

The new Tennessee map splits the state’s only Democrat-held House district, which centres on the majority-Black city of Memphis. Black voters in the US have historically leaned heavily towards the Democratic Party.

Opposing legislators said the new map was intentionally drawn to ensure Black voting power was diluted throughout Tennessee’s nine congressional districts.

“These maps are racist tools of white supremacy at the behest of the most powerful white supremacist in the United States of America, Donald J Trump,” state Representative Justin Pearson, a Democrat, said.

Protesters held banners that denounced the redistricting as a “Jim Crow” effort, referring to the racist laws that mandated segregation in many southern states and cities in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Republican House Speaker, Cameron Sexton, maintained the new districts were drawn based on population and politics, not racial data.

Republican state Senator John Stevens said legislators in states across the country regularly draw congressional maps to benefit their parties, a process known as gerrymandering.

“This bill represents Tennessee’s attempt to maximise our partisan advantage,” he said.

It is not clear if more states would redraw their congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections.

Louisiana has paused its House primaries in light of the Supreme Court ruling as it pursues redistricting. Alabama is also seeking to redraw its map ahead of the November election.

Republicans have so far netted more seats than Democrats in the redistricting flurry.

That is expected to make the fight for control of the US House of Representatives tighter, though election predictors still assess that most of the 435 US House districts across the country currently lean Democratic, spelling an uphill battle for Republicans.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/7/tennessee-approves-new-congressional-map-in-latest-redistricting-flurry?traffic_source=rss

Days before the cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak is set to dock in southern Tenerife in the Canary Islands, locals are expressing a mix of concern and calm. According to Oceanwide Expeditions, there are currently no symptomatic individuals on board the ship.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/5/7/tenerife-resort-town-awaits-hantavirus-hit-cruise-ship?traffic_source=rss

The court ruled in favour of small businesses that challenged the tariffs that took place in February.

The United States trade court has ruled against President Donald Trump’s latest 10 percent global tariffs, finding that across-the-board tariffs were not justified under a 1970s trade law.

The US Court of International Trade ruled on Thursday in favour of small businesses that challenged the tariffs, which took effect on February 24. The ruling was 2-1, with one judge saying it was premature to grant victory to the small business plaintiffs.

The small businesses had argued the new tariffs were an attempt to sidestep a landmark US Supreme Court decision that struck down the Republican president’s 2025 tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

In his February order, Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows for duties for up to 150 days to correct serious “balance of payments deficits” or head off an imminent depreciation of the dollar.

Thursday’s court ruling found the law was not an appropriate step for the kinds of trade deficits that Trump cited in his February order.

“This decision is an important win for American companies that rely on global manufacturing to deliver safe and affordable products. Unlawful tariffs make it harder for businesses like ours to compete and grow,” said Jay Foreman, CEO of toymaker Basic Fun!

“We are encouraged by the court’s recognition that these tariffs exceeded the President’s authority. This ruling brings needed clarity and stability for companies navigating global supply chains,” he said in a statement.

The Trump administration had argued that a serious balance-of-payments deficit existed in the form of a $1.2 trillion annual US goods trade deficit and a current account deficit of 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). But some economists and trade lawyers argue the US is not on the cusp of a balance-of-payments crisis, making the new duties vulnerable to a legal challenge.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/5/7/us-trade-court-rules-against-trumps-10-percent-global-tariffs?traffic_source=rss