55 h. ago Harvard scores big win over Trump as judge overturns billions in funding cuts

A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday ordered the reversal of the Trump administration’s cuts to more than US$2.6 billion in funding for research grants for Harvard University. US District Judge Allison Burroughs sided with the Ivy League school, ruling the cuts amounted to illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of White House demands for changes to its governance and policies. The ruling delivers a significant victory to Harvard in its battle with the Trump administration, which has also...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump health misinformation swirls despite denials of illness

From manipulated images to out-of-context photos, false claims that Donald Trump is seriously ill - or even dead - have swirled online, with the misinformation persisting even after the US president publicly rejected it on Tuesday. At a White House press conference, Trump dismissed social media rumours about his health as “fake news”, following his noticeable absence from public appearances and press events last week. Recently, Trump has been seen with bruising on the back of his right hand,...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump Dismisses Concern About Xi Challenging US Military Might

Trump Dismisses Concern About Xi Challenging US Military Might  Bloomberg.com

Events

3 d. ago Trump says speedy tariff ruling a must, dismisses rumours about his health

US President Donald Trump emerged from a quiet Labour Day weekend Tuesday, declaring that his administration will urgently appeal to the Supreme Court to defend his contested tariffs, warning that a reversal could force billions in refunds to foreign nations. He also dismissed health rumours as “fake news” and played down China’s coming military parade. In a press briefing at the White House, Trump stressed the need for an expedited Supreme Court ruling. “We’re going to be going to the Supreme...

Politics

4 d. ago Guatemala is prepared to receive deported minors from US: President Arevalo

Guatemala is ready and willing to receive some 150 unaccompanied minors per week of all ages from the United States, President Bernardo Arevalo said on Monday, a day after a US federal judge halted the deportation of 10 Guatemalan children. US President Donald Trump’s administration said in a court filing on Monday that the 10 children, who had been boarded on to planes when the court responded to an emergency predawn appeal, had since been returned to shelters run by the Office of Refugee...

Politics

5 d. ago Judge blocks Trump effort to expand speedy deportations of migrants

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants detained in the interior of the United States. The move is a setback for US President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand the use of the federal expedited removal statute to quickly remove some migrants in the country illegally without appearing before a judge first. Trump promised to engineer a massive deportation operation during his 2024 campaign if voters returned him...

Events

5 d. ago US federal judge blocks Trump effort to expand speedy deportations

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants detained in the interior of the United States. The move is a setback for US President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand the use of the federal expedited removal statute to quickly remove some migrants in the country illegally without appearing before a judge first. Trump promised to engineer a massive deportation operation during his 2024 campaign if voters returned him...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump to cut 500 jobs at Voice of America and parent agency despite legal actions

The agency that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded international broadcasters is eliminating jobs for more than 500 employees, a Trump administration official said. The move could ratchet up a months-long legal challenge over the news outlets’ fate. Kari Lake, acting CEO of the US Agency for Global Media, announced the latest round of job cuts late on Friday, one day after a federal judge blocked her from removing Michael Abramowitz as VOA director. US District Judge Royce...

Politics

8 d. ago In blow to Trump, judge orders ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to close

The immigration detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” must keep moving towards shutting down operations by late October, a judge has ruled, even as the state and federal governments fight that decision. US District Judge Kathleen Williams late on Wednesday denied those requests to pause her order to wind down operations at the facility, which has been plagued by reports of unsanitary conditions and detainees being cut off from the legal system. A Florida official...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ likely to be empty within days: Florida official

A top Florida official says the controversial state-run immigration detention facility in the Everglades is likely to be empty in a matter of days, even as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration and the federal government fight a judge’s order to close the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by late October. That is according to an email exchange shared with The Associated Press. In a message sent to South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman on August 22 related to providing chaplaincy...

Politics

9 d. ago Kilmar Abrego Garcia seeks asylum in US to prevent deportation to Uganda

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has become the face of US President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, wants to seek asylum in the United States, his lawyers told a federal judge on Wednesday. Abrego Garcia, 30, was detained on Monday in Baltimore by US Customs and Immigration Enforcement after leaving a Tennessee jail on Friday. The Trump administration said it intends to deport him to the African country of Uganda. Administration officials have said he is part of the dangerous MS-13 gang,...

Events

9 d. ago Chinese firms slam Trump’s claim that Europe gives them ‘a complete pass’

US President Donald Trump has dragged China into his battle against European taxes and regulations targeting American technology giants, accusing Europe of singling out US firms and giving Chinese tech companies “a complete pass”. The claim was quickly rejected by the Chinese business community, with one executive dismissing Trump’s post as “political rhetoric” that does not “align with the reality”, while analysts said the attack was likely part of Trump’s plan to pressure Europe into easing...

Politics

1 week ago Facing Maga anger, Trump defends move to admit thousands of Chinese students

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his proposal to admit hundreds of thousands of Chinese students, saying the US is “honored” to host them and warning that the American college system would “go to hell” without them. Facing growing anger from his political base, Trump dismissed criticism of the plan as “insulting” and pointed to his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a broader strategy of engagement. “We’re getting along very well with China, and I’m getting...

Politics

1 week ago Trump calls criticism of move to admit thousands of Chinese students ‘insulting’

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his proposal to admit hundreds of thousands of Chinese students, saying the US is “honored” to host them and warning that the American college system would “go to hell” without them. Facing growing anger from his political base, Trump dismissed criticism of the plan as “insulting” and pointed to his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a broader strategy of engagement. “We’re getting along very well with China, and I’m getting...

Politics

1 week ago US federal judge dismisses Trump lawsuit in Maryland deportation case

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Maryland’s entire federal bench over an order by the chief judge that stopped the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removals. US District Judge Thomas Cullen granted a request by the judges to toss the case. Cullen was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in 2020. He serves in the Western District of Virginia, but he was tapped to oversee the case because all 15 of Maryland’s federal judges are...

Politics

2 w. ago Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ faces closure. What happens now?

A US federal judge has put a stop to further expansion of the immigration detention centre built in the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz, ordering that its operations wind down within two months. US District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami wrote in her 82-page order late on Thursday that Florida officials never sufficiently explained why an immigration detention centre needed to be located in the middle of sensitive wetlands cherished by environmentalists and outdoor...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s US$515 million fraud penalty dismissed by New York appeal court

An appeal court has thrown out the massive civil fraud penalty against US President Donald Trump, ruling on Thursday in New York state’s lawsuit accusing him of exaggerating his wealth. The decision came seven months after the Republican returned to the White House. A panel of five judges in New York’s mid-level Appellate Division said the verdict, which stood to cost Trump more than US$515 million and rock his real estate empire, was “excessive”. After finding that Trump engaged in fraud by...

Politics

2 w. ago Elon Musk must face lawsuit claiming he ran illegal US$1 million election lottery

Elon Musk was ordered on Wednesday by a federal judge to face a lawsuit by voters accusing the world’s richest person of defrauding them into signing a petition to support the US Constitution for a chance to win his US$1 million-a-day giveaway. US District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas said Jacqueline McAferty plausibly alleged in her proposed class action that Musk and his political action committee America PAC wrongly induced her to provide personal identifying information as part of...

Politics

2 w. ago Musk must face lawsuit claiming he ran illegal US$1 million election lottery

Elon Musk was ordered on Wednesday by a federal judge to face a lawsuit by voters accusing the world’s richest person of defrauding them into signing a petition to support the US Constitution for a chance to win his US$1 million-a-day giveaway. US District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas, said Jacqueline McAferty plausibly alleged in her proposed class action that Musk and his political action committee America PAC wrongly induced her to provide personal identifying information as part of...

Politics