Author: AFP
The US government will review $9 billion of funding for Harvard University over alleged anti-Semitism on campus, authorities said Monday, after it cut millions from Columbia University, which has also seen fierce pro-Palestinian student protests. President Donald Trump has aggressively targeted prestigious universities that saw bitter protests sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping their federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators, including those with green cards. Officials would look at $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard and the government, as well as $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to the prestigious Ivy League…
Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza has reportedly left at least 322 children dead and 609 wounded in the Palestinian territory in the past 10 days, UNICEF said Monday. The figures include children who were reportedly killed or wounded when the surgical department of Al Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza, was hit in an attack on March 23, the UN children’s agency said in a statement. UNICEF said most of these children were displaced, and sheltering in makeshift tents or damaged homes. Ending a nearly two-month ceasefire in the war with Hamas, Israel resumed intense bombing of Gaza on March 18…
US President Donald Trump vowed Monday that strikes on Yemen’s Huthis will continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping, warning the rebels and their Iranian backers of “real pain” to come. “The choice for the Huthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Huthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. Shortly after Trump’s threat, Yemeni rebel media said two US strikes Monday hit the island of Kamaran,…
US President Donald Trump said Monday he would be “very kind” to trading partners when he unveils further tariffs this week, risking global turmoil to address what he says are unfair trade imbalances. Trump — who has been making unprecedented use of presidential powers since taking office in January — said he could announce as early as Tuesday night exactly what “reciprocal tariffs” will be imposed. The Republican billionaire insists that reciprocal action is needed because the world’s biggest economy has been “ripped off by every country in the world,” promising “Liberation Day” for the United States. He could also…
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the bloc still hopes for a “negotiated solution” to US tariffs looming this week, but that “all instruments are on the table” to hit back if necessary. “We are open to negotiations,” the European Commission chief told a European Parliament session, “but we have a strong plan to retaliate if necessary.” US President Donald Trump is set to announce a new raft of tariffs against multiple countries as early as Tuesday night, in what he has dubbed a “Liberation Day” to redress supposedly unfair trade imbalances. “We will assess tomorrow’s announcements carefully…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday received the wanted leader of Bosnia’s ethnic Serbs, Milorad Dodik, in the Kremlin, Russian news agencies reported. The TASS state news agency, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said the Russian leader had met with Dodik, who had announced a day earlier that he was in Moscow.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Monday of a forceful retaliation if the United States or its allies bomb the Islamic republic, following a threat by President Donald Trump. “They threaten to do mischief,” Khamenei said of Trump’s latest threat, during a speech on Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. “If it is carried out, they will definitely receive a strong counterattack.” In an interview on Saturday, Trump said “there will be bombing” if Iran does not agree to a deal to curb its nuclear programme. “If they don’t make a…
A powerful earthquake has killed more than 1,700 people in war-torn Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand and caused widespread damage. Here is what we know about relief efforts: – China – China sent an 82-person team of rescuers to Myanmar on Saturday, Beijing said. On Sunday, state-run Xinhua news agency said a 118-member search and rescue team had also arrived. A separate rescue team arrived in Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon on Saturday, state media said. The Chinese government will also provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in emergency humanitarian assistance, with shipments to begin Monday, its international aid agency…
Keir Starmer and Donald Trump spoke on Sunday and discussed “productive” talks towards a UK-US trade deal, the British Prime Minister’s Downing Street office said on Sunday. Since Britain’s exit from the European Union at the start of the decade successive UK governments have sought to strike a trade deal with the United States. “They discussed the productive negotiations between their respective teams on a UK-US economic prosperity deal, agreeing that these will continue at pace this week,” a statement read. “They agreed to stay in touch in the coming days.” Trump himself has dangled the prospect of a “great”…
France’s trade ministry condemned “unacceptable” US interference Saturday after the American embassy in Paris sent several French firms letters warning against using the diversity programmes known as “DEI”, a frequent Donald Trump target. The letters, sent to French companies currently doing or looking to do business with the United States, included an attached questionnaire asking firms to certify that they “do not practice programmes to promote diversity, equity and inclusion”, or DEI. The questionnaire, which was shared with AFP, added that such programmes “infringe on applicable federal anti-discrimination laws” in the United States, where Trump signed an order banning federal…