9 h. ago University of California reiterates ban on student government boycotts of Israel

The president of the University of California has reiterated that student governments are prohibited from financial boycotts of companies associated with any particular country, including Israel

Politics

3 d. ago Peter Thiel’s Palantir poses a grave threat to Americans | Robert Reich

Working with the Trump administration, the data company could be used to target the president’s opponentsDraw a circle around all the assets in the US now devoted to artificial intelligence.Draw a second circle around all the assets devoted to the US military.The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women – two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians – have rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ into an oxymoron.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago I was one of those men who couldn’t stop talking. Here’s how I learned to shut up and listen

After realising how much I interrupted other people, I decided I needed to make a drastic change. Here’s how starting to listen changed my relationships – and made me happierI like to talk as much as the next man – and men like to talk. A now-famous study by the University of California, Santa Barbara, noted that, in a series of recorded public conversations between men and women, 48 interruptions occurred, 46 of which came from men. The 2024 Women in the Workplace survey by McKinsey found that nearly 40% of women experienced being interrupted or spoken over “more than others” at work, against 20% of men.Men in public spaces, according to research, talk more than women, talk over women, and talk down to women, contributing to the rise of gender neologisms such as manologuing, bropropriating and mansplaining. So, aware that men tend to dominate and disrupt, aware that the world at large feels unbearably loud, aware that I, too, often add to that noise, I decided to learn to keep my m...

Politics

8 d. ago Disposable vapes release MORE cancer chemicals than traditional cigarettes, shock research indicates

Disposable vapes may release more cancer-causing chemicals than 20 cigarettes, a shock study published this week from researchers at the University of California - Davis suggests.

Science

8 d. ago Supermarket to stop selling Israeli carrots and Russian vodka in new ‘peace’ policy

The supermarket said the policy had been approved by the group board

Politics

2 w. ago Serbia’s Exit festival may go ‘into exile’ amid government pressure over student protests

This year’s edition to be last held in country after Belgrade withholds funding over support of anti-corruption activistsOne of Europe’s largest music festivals will no longer be held in Serbia and could go “into exile” in Germany or a neighbouring Balkan state after Belgrade withheld funding over its support of the country’s anti-corruption student protesters.Exit festival, which is held every July in a medieval bastion fortress in Serbia’s second city, Novi Sad, was founded in 2000 by student activists from the protest movement that helped topple Slobodan Milošević. Affordable ticket prices and starry lineups mean it has acquired a reputation as Europe’s premier music event with a social conscience, with 210,000 people from more than 80 countries attending in 2024. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Trump is steamrolling congressional Republicans. What’s in it for them? | David Kirp

The budget bill was a reminder: the president and House speaker don’t care about lawmakers’ views. Why not just quit?Like soldiers in a well-disciplined army, Republican members of US Congress do whatever Commander Donald Trump demands. While the foot soldiers may occasionally grumble, they quickly fall in line when Trump intervenes.Republican representatives go through contortions to satisfy the bully in the White House: we hated deficits, goes the party orthodoxy, but now we vote for adding trillions to the deficit; we supported Ukraine, but now we cozy up to the Russians; we scrutinized cabinet nominees, but now we give our “advice and consent” to a cabinet of knaves and charlatans.David Kirp is professor emeritus at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘No way to invest in a career here’: US academics flee overseas to avoid Trump crackdown

Budding scholars pursue overseas jobs amid attacks on education and research, prompting fears of an American brain drainEric Schuster was over the moon when he landed a lab assistant position in a coral reef biology lab at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO). The 23-year-old had recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nanoengineering from the University of California, San Diego, into a fiercely competitive job market. He felt like he’d struck gold.But the relentless cuts to scientific research and attacks on higher education by the Trump administration have turned what felt like a promising academic future into unstable ground. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Mahmoud Khalil denied release from ICE after Trump administration’s ‘cruel and shocking’ tactics, lawyers say

Attorneys blast the government’s shifting legal grounds to keep the Columbia student activist in detention

Politics

2 w. ago Mahmoud Khalil: US judge denies release of detained Palestinian activist

Setback for former student held since March as lawyers condemn government’s ‘cruel, transparent delay tactics’A federal judge declined to order the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a setback for the former Columbia University student days after a major ruling against the Trump administration’s efforts to keep him detained.Khalil, a green-card holder who has not been charged with a crime, is one of the most high-profile people targeted by the US government’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism. Despite key rulings in his favor, Khalil has been detained since March, missing the birth of his son. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Judge says government must release Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil

A federal judge has ruled that the government cannot deport and must release Mahmoud Khalil, the student whom the Trump administration jailed over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University

Events

3 w. ago We are witnessing the first stages of Trump’s police state | Robert Reich

The national guard’s deployment in Los Angeles sets the US on a familiar authoritarian pathway. History shows the resultsNow that Donald Trump’s tariffs have been halted, his big, beautiful bill has been stymied, and his multi-billionaire tech bro has turned on him, how does he demonstrate his power?On Friday morning, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted raids across Los Angeles – including at two Home Depots and a clothing wholesaler – in search of workers who they suspected of being undocumented immigrants.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago We are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state | Robert Reich

The national guard’s deployment in Los Angeles sets the US on a familiar authoritarian pathway. History shows the resultsNow that Donald Trump’s tariffs have been halted, his big, beautiful bill has been stymied, and his multi-billionaire tech bro has turned on him, how does he demonstrate his power?On Friday morning, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted raids across Los Angeles – including at two Home Depots and a clothing wholesaler – in search of workers who they suspected of being undocumented immigrants.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Newsom is warned of ‘criminal tax evasion’ if he withholds federal taxes

California governor made threat amid reports Trump is weighing huge federal funding cuts targeting stateThe US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has warned California governor Gavin Newsom that he would be guilty of “criminal tax evasion” if he withholds his state’s tax payments to the federal government amid threats of a funding cut by Donald Trump.Newsom had threatened to cut tax payments to the federal government two days ago after reports that Trump was preparing huge federal funding cuts targeting Democrat-dominated California, including its state university system. Continue reading...

Events