News & Current Events

[ad_1] Harvard University, Donald Trump (AP photo) The United States government planned to withdraw another $1 billion in federal grants and health research contracts from Harvard University, escalating conflict over institutional autonomy, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.The administration announced last Monday its decision to suspend $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in contract value after Harvard's refusal to comply with policy requirements.Officials were caught off guard when the university disclosed a letter from the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, according to the Journal's Sunday report."Before Monday, the administration was planning to treat Harvard more leniently than Columbia University, but now officials want to apply even more pressure to the nation's most prominent university, according to the people," the Journal reports. "People familiar with Harvard's response say there was no agreement to keep the letter private, and […]

[ad_1] Gunmen launched a violent attack on a Chinese-owned hydroelectric power plant under construction in southern Chile on Sunday, setting fire to dozens of vehicles and construction equipment.The targeted facility, the Rucalhue power plant, is being built by Rucalhue Energia Spa, a subsidiary of China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), with a projected investment of $350 million. It is located along the Biobio River, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of Santiago.According to police chief Renzo Miccono, the armed attackers threatened security personnel before setting fire to the site. "They proceeded to burn all the equipment there was at the site," he said.The assault led to the destruction of 45 trucks and five pieces of earth-moving machinery. Two security guards were injured during the incident.The comes amid the ongoing opposition from Indigenous communities that the project is facing. Critics […]

[ad_1] US President Donald Trump on Easter Sunday issued a stern message to international trade partners, posting an eight-point list of alleged “non-tariff cheating” practices that he claimed could damage relations with the United States. Among the listed tactics were currency manipulation, government subsidies, counterfeiting, and transshipping to evade tariffs. The post comes shortly after Trump announced a 90-day suspension of reciprocal tariffs for most US trade allies—excluding China. Speaking to reporters last Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump said discussions with Beijing were ongoing. “Yeah, we're talking to China. I would say they have reached out a number of times,” he said.Trump’s ‘non-tariff cheating’ list: Currency manipulation VATs which act as tariffs and export subsidies Dumping below cost Export subsidies and other government subsidies Protective agricultural standards (e.g., no genetically engineered corn in EU) Protective technical standards (Japan's bowling […]

[ad_1] Two days before their planned visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, 27 French lawmakers and local officials were informed on Sunday that their entry visas had been revoked. The group, which included members of France's left-wing ecologist and communist parties, said the trip was meant to promote international cooperation and peace, reported news agency AFP.The French consulate in Jerusalem had invited the lawmakers for a five-day official programme. However, Israel’s interior ministry cancelled their visas under a law that allows authorities to bar individuals considered a threat to national interests. Among those banned were national assembly deputies Francois Ruffin, Alexis Corbiere, Julie Ozenne, communist deputy Soumya Bourouaha, and senator Marianne Margate. Other participants included mayors and local elected officials. In a joint statement, they described the move as “collective punishment” and a “major rupture in diplomatic ties.” They […]

[ad_1] US President Donald Trump (File Image) US President Donald Trump on Sunday said Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement "this week," possibly to end their war of more than three years. He also said the two rivals could then do "big business" with the United States and "make a fortune.""Hopefully Russia amd (sic) Ukraine will make a deal this week. Both will then start to do big business with the United States of America, which is thriving, and make a big fortune!" Trump posted to his Truth Social network.However, he did not share details of any progress in peace talks Washington has sought to push forward between Moscow and Kyiv, since he took over from Joe Biden in January.The US president's Truth Social post comes just days after his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned that Washington could […]

[ad_1] A German police officer on Sunday shot and killed a man who threatened people with a knife outside a night club in the northern city of Oldenburg.The man also used an "irritant gas" against two night club employees, and later, on a group of police officers.Also Read: Hundreds at solidarity march after synagogue attack in Germany's OldenburgPolice said in a statement, "Law enforcement opened an investigation into the 27-year-old officer who fired several shots at the 21-year-old man in Oldenburg. The man died from his wounds in hospital."The statement added, "After being turned away from the club, the suspect sprayed an irritant gas in the direction of two security employees and several people suffered light injuries."A few people began chasing the suspect. However, they stopped when he threatened them with a knife.Also Read: Two dead, several injured as car […]

[ad_1] The UK's Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on Sunday that Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets intercepted Russian aircraft flying close to the airspace of Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).According to the ministry, RAF fighters intercepted the Russian aircraft as part of the United Kingdom's contribution to Nato’s enhanced air policing in the region.The UK MoD said in a statement, "Two RAF Typhoons were scrambled from Malbork Air Base in Poland on Tuesday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M 'Coot-A' intelligence aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Whilst on Thursday, another two Typhoons scrambled from the base, to intercept an unknown aircraft leaving Kaliningrad air space and close to Nato airspace."It added, "The intercepts marked the RAF’s first scramble as part of Operation Chessman and come just weeks after the aircraft arrived in eastern Poland to begin their deployment alongside […]

[ad_1] TALLINN, ESTNOA: Journalist Ksenia Lutskina served only half of her eight-year prison sentence in Belarus after being convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government. She was pardoned after she kept fainting in her cell from a brain tumor diagnosed during pretrial detention. "I was literally brought to the penal colony in a wheelchair, and I realized that journalism has really turned into a life-threatening profession in Belarus," she told The Associated Press in Vilnius, Lithuania, where she lives. Lutskina was one of dozens of journalists imprisoned in Belarus, where many face beatings, poor medical care and the inability to contact lawyers or relatives, according to activists and former inmates. She compared the prisons to those from the Soviet era.PollDo you believe that journalism is a life-threatening profession in Belarus? The group Reporters Without Borders says Belarus is Europe's leading […]

[ad_1] United States Supreme Court judge Samuel Alito, who was on the nine-judge bench which temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump's administration from deporting a group of Venezuelans detained in Texas, mentioned in his sharply-worded dissent note that the court acted “literally in the middle of the night” and "without sufficient explanation."Also Read: Ann Coulter openly asks Donald Trump to defy court order, says Supreme Court was not elected presidentJustice Alito, one of the two judges who dissented, the other being Justice Clarence Thomas, said there was “dubious factual support” for granting the request in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The group had contended immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart such removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.In the dissent note, released hours after the court’s intervention against the Trump administration, Alito […]

[ad_1] Efforts to establish a coordinated global tax regime for tech giants and ultra-wealthy individuals are unraveling, as US President Donald Trump pulls back support and threatens new tariffs. The move has reopened transatlantic tensions and cast uncertainty over years of negotiations aimed at curbing tax avoidance and closing loopholes exploited by multinationals.Tech tax standoffOn February 21, Trump issued a formal memo warning that his administration would retaliate against any country imposing taxes or fines on US tech firms that are “discriminatory, disproportionate,” or intended to shift revenue to local companies. He specifically threatened tariffs and other trade measures to protect American firms.This echoes a dispute from his first term, when Trump threatened to impose tariffs on French wine and cheese after France implemented a digital services tax in 2019 targeting US firms. Since then, at least seven more countries […]