A split U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a bid led by two Catholic dioceses to establish in Oklahoma the nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in a major case involv­ing religious rights in American education.

With conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recusing herself from the case, the 4-4 ruling left intact a lower court’s decision that blocked the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. Oklahoma’s top court found that the proposed school would violate the U.S. Constitu­tion’s First Amendment limits on government involvement in religion.

Barrett’s decision not to partic­ipate in the case left eight justices rather than the full slate of nine to decide the outcome. Barrett did not publicly explain her recusal but she is a former professor at Notre Dame Law School, which rep­resents the school’s organisers.

When the Supreme Court is evenly divided, the lower court’s decision stands. The justices did not provide a rationale for their action in the unsigned ruling.

Set up as alternatives to tra­ditional public schools, charter schools typically operate under private management and often feature small class sizes, innovative teaching styles or a particular aca­demic focus. Charter schools are considered public schools under Oklahoma law and draw funding from the state government.

The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Barrett’s absence was key to the outcome in the case. The issue of the establish­ment of a religious charter school could return to the Supreme Court in the future to be heard before all its members.

The Supreme Court has rec­ognised broader religious rights in a series of rulings in recent years.

During April 30 arguments in the St. Isidore case, divisions between the three liberal justices and the conservative justices who participated were laid bare as they explored the tensions between the first amendment’s two religion clauses.

Its “establishment clause” restricts government officials from establishing or endorsing any particular religion or promoting religion over non religion. Its “free exercise” clause protects the right to practice one’s religion freely, without government interference.

On balance, the five conserva­tive justices who heard the case signaled sympathy during the arguments toward the proposed St. Isidore school, though Chief Justice John Roberts struck a note of ambivalence, posing tough questions to lawyers on both sides of the dispute.

—Reuters

 A house in the Brussels mu­nicipality of Anderlecht was shot at in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The shooting occurred at 1:40 a.m. on the facade of a building, com­posed of a professional room and a dwelling, near Place Lemmens in Anderlecht, the Brussels Public Pros­ecutor’s Office has now confirmed.

Initial reports suggested that the shooting took place on the corner Place Clemenceau, but the scene was later confirmed to be about a ten minutes’ walk away.

The Brussels Public Prosecutor also confirmed that 23 bullet holes and two failed molotov cocktails had been found at the scene. Initial unconfirmed reports suggested 15 shots and one molotov cocktail had been found.

It is not yet known whether there is a link with the shootings that took place in the past few days on Saint-Guidon Square, or with pre­vious shootings at the Clemenceau metro station and in the Peterbos neighbourhood in Anderlecht.

Since the beginning of February, those shootings, linked to the drug environment, have already left two dead and three wounded.

Peru declared a state of emer­gency on Monday, following the detonation of explosives attacking the Public Ministry of Tru­jillo. Monday’s incident marks the second attack in Trujillo this year.

During the emergency state de­clared by President Boluarte to stop delinquency, the Presidency of Peru stated that “the Armed Forces and the police will take control of the city due to the state of emergency.” The Superior Court of Justice of La Libertad declared its commitment to “not succumb to any acts of violence.”

An unidentified individual posing as a delivery driver attacked the Pub­lic Ministry of Trujillo by leaving a package with explosive material that later detonated. Two explosions were detected, one originating from the package, which led to another car explosion.

Public Minister Delia Espino­za said in an interview that initial signs link the tragedy with illegal mining. Espinoza also revealed that days earlier, someone threatened a comptroller working on an orga­nized crime case.

According to Espinoza, these events show that the Minister of Interior makes promises he cannot fulfil, stating, “Constitutionally, the labor of prevention is for the police, there is no police intelligence.” Recent research shows that the disapproval of the current Minister of Interior, Juan José Santiváñez, peaked at 80 per cent in December 2024.

Former minister of Interior Oscar Valdés criticised the low efficiency of the state of emergency because of the intelligence system, argu­ing that the government failed to address illegal mining and drug trafficking as the real threats to the country.

Illegal mining has been a contro­versial issue in Peru. On December 1, 2024, the Peruvian Congress ex­tended temporary permits for “in­formal miners,” which critics argue are a part of systemic corruption that legitimised illegal mining and helped circumvent environmen­tal regulations. In April 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights also found that Peru’s failure to regulate mining activities violated inhabitants’ basic right to a healthy environment.