WASHINGTON — The president of the United States has been elevated to the status of “a king above the law.” The occupant of the White House may order assassinations of political rivals without fear of prosecution. America’s leader may now be insulated from criminal consequences for whatever he or she wants to do in office.

That is what US Supreme Court liberals said in dissent to Monday’s landmark decision recognizing for the first time broad immunity from prosecution for former presidents.

In the ruling involving the federal criminal case against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, the court found that he cannot be prosecuted for official actions taken within his constitutional powers as president. Private actions, under the ruling, were not protected.

The court’s six conservatives were in the majority in the ruling, with liberals Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent.

“The president of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution,” Ms. Sotomayor wrote, joined by Ms. Kagan and Ms. Jackson.

“Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune. Let the president violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends,” Ms. Sotomayor wrote.

The ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, noted that presidents need to execute their duties “fearlessly and fairly” without the threat of prosecution for their actions.

“Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today,” Ms. Sotomayor wrote. “Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.”

Ms. Jackson, writing a separate dissent, said that the ruling overthrows long-cherished principles in American law. “All of this is to say that our government has long functioned under an accountability paradigm in which no one is above the law; an accused person is innocent until proven guilty; and criminal defendants may raise defenses, both legal and factual, tailored to their particular circumstances, whether they be government officials or ordinary citizens. For over two centuries, our nation has survived with these principles intact,” Ms. Jackson wrote.

Ms. Jackson said that the court’s majority with this decision instead “breaks new and dangerous ground.”

“Departing from the traditional model of individual accountability, the majority has concocted something entirely different: a presidential accountability model that creates immunity — an exemption from criminal law — applicable only to the most powerful official in our government,” Ms. Jackson wrote.

Ms. Jackson zeroed in on the question of what might constitute an official action shielded from prosecution.

“Thus, even a hypothetical president who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics … or one who indisputably instigates an unsuccessful coup … has a fair shot at getting immunity under the majority’s new presidential accountability model,” Ms. Jackson said.

That is because, Ms. Jackson added, whether a president’s conduct may subject him to criminal liability hinges on the characteristics of the action at issue that would imbue it with the status of “official” or “unofficial” conduct.

“In the end, then, under the majority’s new paradigm, whether the president will be exempt from legal liability for murder, assault, theft, fraud or any other reprehensible and outlawed criminal act,” Ms. Jackson said, “will turn on whether he committed that act in his official capacity, such that the answer to the immunity question will always and inevitably be: It depends.” — Reuters

SYDNEY — New Zealand’s conservative coalition government will proceed with a bill that would make it compulsory for digital technology platforms to pay media companies for news, it said on Tuesday.

The bill is being introduced as New Zealand media companies struggle against technology firms for advertising dollars, leading them to find new ways to provide news programming.

The Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, introduced last year by the previous Labour government, will be presented in Parliament with amendments to support “our local media companies to earn revenue for the news they produce,” Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said.

The proposed changes would align it more closely with Australia’s digital bargaining law, Mr. Goldsmith said.

That law, which took effect in Australia in March 2021, gives the government power to force internet firms such as Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Alphabet, Inc’s Google to negotiate content supply deals with media outlets, if the parties fail to reach an agreement on payments.

Meta said the New Zealand bill ignored the realities of how its platforms work, their voluntary nature, the preferences of users and the free value it provided news outlets.

“We will continue to be open and transparent with the government and publishers on our business decisions as this bill progresses,” a Meta spokesperson said in an email.

Google did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

After Canada introduced a similar law in 2023, Meta blocked news content from appearing on Facebook there. Meta has also said it plans to stop paying Australian media companies for news and the government is still considering whether to intervene.

Mr. Goldsmith said the proposed changes would give power to the communications minister to decide which digital platforms would come under the law. An independent regulator will be appointed as the bill’s authority, he said.

One of the governing coalition’s partners, the right-wing ACT New Zealand party, will not support the bill, Mr. Goldsmith said, which means it must have the support of other parties to pass. 

The opposition Labour party said it would check the amendments but supported the intent of the bill.

“I am relieved the government is seeing sense and progressing with legislation to make the media landscape fairer for news companies operating online,” Willie Jackson, Labour spokesperson for media and broadcasting, said in a statement. — Reuters

AMERICAN TOURISTS headed for Japan have surged this year, lured by a slump in the value of the yen, which is also driving a massive jump in foreign investor interest in the country’s lodgings market.

The number of Americans arriving in Japan by air crossed more than 900,000 in the first five months of 2024, climbing 17.4% year over year and vaulting 35.5% from 2019 before the pandemic, the International Trade Administration data showed.

While pent-up travel demand since the end of the pandemic has also contributed, the Japanese currency’s recent plunge to a 38-year low to the US dollar has been a key factor, as it boosts the spending power of American tourists.

Since the end of the pandemic, demand has been booming across the Asia-Pacific, drawing in travelers from China, as well as long-haul visitors from North America with more Americans opting to travel internationally.

“The weakened yen compared to the US dollar makes the entire travel experience more affordable for American tourists,” said Tim Hentschel, chief executive officer of travel bookings platform HotelPlanner.

Foreign investments in the Japanese hotel industry have also seen a sharp spike. Cross-border investments in the industry came in at $1.38 billion in the first half of this year, up 19.2% from the same period of 2023, and 176.3% compared to the first half of 2019, according to MSCI data.

Several US-based hotels such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Choice have been expanding their footprint in Japan by partnering with local real estate and hospitality companies.  “When someone who doesn’t know much about Japan visits the country for the first time, they might be more inclined to book with a familiar name,” said Wanping Aw, a travel agent in Tokyo.

Short-term rentals giant Airbnb reported a 130% increase in nights booked by American guests in Japan in 2023 from a year earlier.

Airlines are also moving in tandem with this trend, adding more seats between the US and Japan.

Carriers scheduled about 1.5 million seats between the two countries in June, July and August, a 9% increase from a year earlier, according to data in May from online travel agency Hopper.

United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines Group have increased scheduled seat capacity between the US and Japan for the summer by 19%, 10% and 7%, respectively, Hopper data showed. — Reuters