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A South Carolina man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat was put to death by firing squad on Friday in the first such execution in the United States in 15 years.Brad Sigmon, 67, was executed by a three-person firing squad at the Broad River Correctional Institution in the state capital Columbia, South Carolina prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said.Shain said the fatal shots were fired at 6:05 pm (2305 GMT) and Sigmon was pronounced dead by a physician at 6:08 pm (2308 GMT).Journalists who witnessed the execution from behind bulletproof glass said Sigmon was wearing a black jumpsuit with a small red bullseye made of paper or cloth over his heart and was strapped into a chair in the death chamber.In a final statement read out by his attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, Sigmon said he wanted to send a message of “love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty.”A hood was then placed over Sigmon’s head. About two minutes later, the firing squad — volunteers from the South Carolina Department of Corrections — fired their rifles through a slit in a wall about 15 feet (five meters) away.Anna Dobbins of WYFF News 4 TV station said the shots “were all fired at once” like it was “just one sound.””His arms flexed,” Dobbins said. “There was something in his midsection that moved — I’m not necessarily going to call them breaths, I don’t really know — but there was some movement that went on there for two or three seconds.””It was very fast,” she said. “I did see a splash of blood when the bullets entered his body. It was not a huge amount, but there was a splash.”Sigmon, who confessed to the 2001 murders of David and Gladys Larke and admitted his guilt at trial, had asked the Supreme Court for a last-minute stay of execution but it was denied.South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster also rejected his appeal for clemency.- ‘Impossible’ position -“Brad’s death was horrifying and violent,” King, his lawyer, said in a statement. “It is unfathomable that, in 2025, South Carolina would execute one of its citizens in this bloody spectacle.”Sigmon had a choice between lethal injection, the firing squad or the electric chair.King said Sigmon had chosen the firing squad after being placed in an “impossible” position, forced to decide how he would die.The electric chair “would burn and cook him alive,” he said, but the alternative was “just as monstrous.””If he chose lethal injection, he risked the prolonged death suffered by all three of the men South Carolina has executed since September,” King said.The last firing squad execution in the United States was in Utah in 2010, which also carried out two others, one in 1996 and one in 1977.The 1977 execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was the basis for the 1979 book “The Executioner’s Song” by Norman Mailer.The vast majority of US executions have been carried out by lethal injection since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.Alabama has carried out four executions recently using nitrogen gas, which has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane. The execution is performed by pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.Three other states — Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma — have joined South Carolina and Utah in authorizing the use of firing squads.There have been six executions in the United States so far this year following 25 last year.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Scientists rallied in cities across the United States on Friday to denounce efforts by the administration of US President Donald Trump to eliminate key staff across multiple agencies and curb life-saving research.Since Trump returned to the White House, his government has cut federal research funding, withdrawn from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, and sought to dismiss hundreds of federal workers working on health and climate research.In response, researchers, doctors, students, engineers and elected officials took to the streets in New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin to vent their fury at what they see as an unprecedented attack on science.”I have never been so angry,” said Jesse Heitner, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who joined more than 1,000 people demonstrating in the US capital.”They’re lighting everything on fire,” Heitner told AFP at the Lincoln Memorial.He felt particularly incensed about the appointment of noted vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.”If you put someone in charge of NASA who’s a ‘Flat Earther,’ that’s not okay,” he said.- ‘Inexcusable’ -“Fund science, not billionaires” and “America was built on science,” read some of the signs brandished at the Washington protest.”What’s happening now is unprecedented,” said Grover, a university researcher in his 50s who declined to provide further personal details due to professional constraints. Dressed in a white lab coat and wielding a pink sign that read “Stand Up for Science,” he told AFP his employer had urged staff to keep a low profile, fearing financial retribution in the form of suspended or cancelled federal grants. “I’ve been around research over 30 years, and what’s going on has never happened,” he said, adding that the “inexcusable” actions by the federal government would have “long-term repercussions.”- Brain drain? -Many researchers told AFP about their fears about the future of their grants and other funding.The suspension of some grants has already led some universities to reduce the number of students accepted into doctoral programs or research positions. For those just getting started in their careers, the concern is palpable. “I should be at home studying, instead of having to be here defending my right to have a job,” said Rebecca Glisson, a 28-year-old doctoral student in neuroscience. Glisson is due to defend her thesis at her program in Maryland next week, but feels apprehensive about her future beyond that, as funding for the laboratory she had planned to work for has been cut.Chelsea Gray, a 34-year-old environmental scientist working on shark preservation, had dreamed of working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the federal agencies under particular threat over its climate research. Instead, she has begun the process of obtaining an Irish passport. “I did everything right and set myself up for success, and I’ve watched my entire career path crumble before my eyes,” Gray told AFP. “I want to stay and serve the United States as a United States citizen,” she said.”But if that option is not available to me, I need to keep all doors open.”

The anti-abortion movement in the United States has set its sights on a new target: doctors sending pills across state lines to help women end unwanted pregnancies.Since the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal protection of the right to an abortion, states like Texas and Louisiana have adopted tough anti-abortion laws.Women seeking to end pregnancies, even victims of rape or incest, are now obliged to travel long distances or to seek the delivery of abortion pills from other jurisdictions.And that measure is now under attack.Texas and Louisiana are launching a legal case against a doctor in New York, a state which in turn has passed a “shield law” to protect its physicians from outside prosecutions.  “These are the first kind of cross-border fights that we’ve seen since Roe was overturned,” said California legal scholar Mary Ziegler, referring to the 2022 Supreme Court decision.”And those are just, I think in some ways, the tip of the iceberg. We’re likely to see a lot more of these cross-border fights.”From Texas or Louisiana’s standpoint, they’re saying: ‘Why is this doctor mailing pills into our state?'” explained Ziegler, a professor at the law school at the University of California, Davis.”And from New York’s standpoint, they’re saying: ‘Our doctor wasn’t doing anything wrong. Why are you trying to prosecute her?'”- ‘Chilling effect’ -In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton declared that “out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.”Margaret Carpenter, a New York doctor and a co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, was ordered to stop sending pills to Texas and fined $100,000.  In Louisiana, she faces criminal charges and the state has demanded her extradition, to which New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded: “Not now, not ever.”Hochul said the state’s shield law was designed to “anticipate this very situation.”According to #WeCount, an initiative that collates abortion statistics nationwide, 10 percent of abortions in the second quarter of 2024 were conducted under the protection of shield laws.This accounts for approximately 10,000 women each month. In Louisiana, this was the solution chosen by 60 percent of women — about 2,500 — to terminate pregnancies in the second half of 2023, #WeCount estimates.Now, abortion rights activists fear that individual doctors will be targeted.”The tactic of going after providers, patients and helpers through the courts is definitely something that we are going to see them try more of,” Amy Friedrich-Karnik, of the Guttmacher Institute, told AFP.”And I think the goal is both to, you know, scare those individuals… and there’s a chilling effect from that,” said Friedrich-Karnik, a policy director at the pro-abortion rights think tank.The legal battles will be long, and the results are far from certain. Some cases may get to the Supreme Court, and it is not clear whether President Donald Trump’s administration will attempt to intervene. “This is a long-lasting debate, even if it goes to the Supreme Court,” Ziegler said.”Because then what would happen is the next case that comes along will be different enough that whatever the Supreme Court has to say about these cases won’t give us the answer necessarily,” she said. “There’s not… going to be one clean solution that the Supreme Court reaches that resolves this once and for all.”- Procedure rejected -Meanwhile, the attorneys general of Idaho, Kansas and Missouri have demanded that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) end prescriptions of the pill via online medical visits — effectively restricting access nationwide.A similar request was nevertheless rejected by the Supreme Court in 2024.”There’s uncertainty about what Trump is going to do. There’s uncertainty about what power states have to project power outside of state lines. There’s uncertainty about what the FDA is going to do,” Ziegler said. “Simply not knowing can impact patients and doctors. But that’s the scenario right now — there’s a big question mark around a lot of it.”

US President Donald Trump imposed vast tariffs this week on key partners Canada and Mexico, roiling cross-border ties before offering temporary relief to manufacturers — but with more levies kicking in next week, the respite may be fleeting.US companies faced a series of duties starting Monday, with Trump doubling an additional levy on Chinese goods before allowing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports to take effect Tuesday.The moves rattled markets, sending major Wall Street indexes down, and the president on Thursday announced exemptions for Canadian and Mexican goods entering the United States under a North American trade pact.But some 62 percent of Canadian imports are still hit by the new levies, even as much of them are energy resources covered by a lower 10 percent tariff.For Mexican goods, this proportion is around half, the White House estimates.”It’s surprising because it’s such a self-destructive policy,” said Philip Luck, director of the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).Referring to the initial imposition of 25 percent Canada and Mexico tariffs, Luck called it “economic kryptonite.”Although Trump partially rolled back levies — taking into consideration heavily integrated North American auto supply chains — the fact that tariffs came on has lingering effects, Luck said.”The damage was done for the week they were on, and the damage continues to be done in terms of the fact that we just have a much more uncertain trade environment,” he told AFP.- Steel, aluminum hit -Looking ahead, Trump’s 25 percent tariffs across steel and aluminum imports are due to take effect next Wednesday.Trump has said he would not modify the levies.These tariffs will also affect Canada and Mexico, both of whom export steel to the United States, alongside other trading partners like Brazil, South Korea and European countries.But even as Washington seeks to help domestic steel producers, experts warn that targeting the metals harms various other industries.Steel and aluminum are inputs to construction, data centers and automobiles, said Luck of CSIS.And it is unclear if such tariffs do more good than harm.In 2002, the George W. Bush administration placed tariffs on imports of certain steel products to guard the domestic sector.But Luck noted that more jobs were lost in steel-consuming industries than the total number employed by the American steel industry itself.Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), estimates that existing steel and aluminum tariffs currently cover less than half of all such US imports.But Trump’s moves next week are “essentially a reset” of levies to 25 percent. – Cost concerns -To guard against volatility from upcoming tariffs, some manufacturers will look to source more products domestically or renegotiate their import contracts, said Paul of AAM.Businesses may also delay orders, and others are likely stocking up on inventory, he told AFP.No matter what, there will be an “adjustment period” for firms, he said.The speed of policy rollout now, Paul added, means a “rapid reset” of trade ties — a sharp contrast to the slow spread of deindustrialization over decades previously.This week alone, he said, the additional 20 percent tariff targeting China raises the effective average rate on Chinese products to about 30 percent.”When you look at what’s actually been put into place so far, from a tariff point of view, the focus has certainly been China,” he said.”I don’t think they’re done yet,” he added, referring to the world’s second biggest economy.Industries are on edge as they eye the possibility of more levies to come — with Trump promising “reciprocal tariffs” as soon as April 2.On Friday, trade association the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) expressed concern that “the continued threat of tariffs will make it harder for builders and their customers to move ahead with new construction projects.””With the nation facing a housing affordability crisis, we continue to believe that critical construction materials should be exempt from any future tariffs,” said NAHB chairman Buddy Hughes.

A measles outbreak in the southwestern United States has killed two people and infected more than 200, prompting a top health agency to issue a travel warning.As of Friday, Texas had reported 198 cases and New Mexico 30, bringing the total to 228. Each state confirmed one death, and both were unvaccinated.The Texas patient was a child while the New Mexico patient was an adult who tested positive for measles after death. Although the official cause of the adult’s death has not been released by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified it as a measles-related fatality.”More cases are expected as this outbreak continues to expand rapidly,” the CDC warned in a Health Alert Network advisory to healthcare workers, public health officials, and potential travelers.”With spring and summer travel season approaching in the United States, CDC emphasizes the important role that clinicians and public health officials play in preventing the spread of measles,” the agency said.”They should be vigilant for cases of febrile rash illness that meet the measles case definition and share effective measles prevention strategies, including vaccination guidance for international travelers.”Measles is highly contagious, spreading through respiratory droplets and lingering in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area. The disease causes fever, respiratory symptoms, and a rash — but can also lead to severe complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death.Vaccination remains the best protection. The measles vaccine, required for children 12 months and older, confers 93 percent lifetime immunity after one dose, rising to 97 percent after two.But immunization rates have been declining in the US, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic fueled a surge in vaccine misinformation. The CDC recommends a 95 percent vaccination rate for herd immunity, but nationwide coverage among kindergartners had slumped to 92.7 percent by 2023-2024.Religious exemptions are on the rise and the epicenter of the oubtreak is a west Texas county with a large Mennonite religious community that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy.Current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent decades falsely linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism — a claim thoroughly debunked by scientific research. Since the outbreak expanded, he has softened his stance, recommending vaccination while simultaneously promoting treatments such as vitamin A and steroids.While these treatments are medically valid, experts warn that emphasizing them may divert attention from the urgent need to boost immunization rates.Before this outbreak, the last US measles-related death was in 2015, when a Washington state woman died from virus-induced pneumonia while on immunosuppressive medication. The previous fatality was in 2003.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he could impose reciprocal tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber within days — a move set to fuel tensions with Ottawa just days after an earlier wave of levies.Since taking office in January, Trump has unleashed a series of tariffs and threats targeting US allies and adversaries, including duties of up to 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico.On Thursday, he provided the vital trading partners temporary reprieve, exempting goods coming in from both countries under a North American trade pact.But he has vowed broader “reciprocal tariffs” as soon as April 2, aimed at remedying practices that Washington deems unfair.Trump also signaled that reciprocal levies could come as soon as Friday: “Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and for dairy products.””They’ll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it, and that’s what reciprocal means,” the president added.”We may do it as early as today, or we’ll wait till Monday or Tuesday,” he said of the two sectors which have long been affected by trade disputes between the neighbors.Economists warn that blanket levies could weigh on US growth and raise inflation, adding that they also weigh on business and consumer sentiment.But Trump kept the pressure up on Canada on Friday: “It’s not fair. Never has been fair, and they’ve treated our farmers badly.”- Rising tariffs? -In an earlier interview with Fox Business, Trump said that tariffs affecting Canada and Mexico could rise in the future.Asked if companies might get more clarity on his trade policies, Trump said: “I think so. But, you know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by.”White House senior counselor Peter Navarro told CNBC in a separate interview he rejected the idea that there was uncertainty surrounding Trump’s trade policies.”The uncertainty is created by the fact that people don’t take President Trump at his word,” he said.Trump’s move to back off some tariffs on Canada and Mexico came after stock markets tumbled as his levies of up to 25 percent took effect this week.On Thursday, the White House said adjustments exempting goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) recognize “the unique impact that these tariffs could have on American automotive manufacturers.”A White House official told reporters that about 62 percent of Canadian imports will still face the fresh levies, though much of them are energy resources slapped with a lower 10 percent rate.For Mexico, the proportion of imports affected is around 50 percent, the official added on condition of anonymity.However, Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s secretary of economy, said 90 percent of its exports to the United States fall under the three-nation trade pact and will be exempted from tariffs until April. “Under the agreement, we estimate that we will reach very close to 90%…of all types of products,” he told a press conference.

A measles outbreak in the southwestern United States has killed two people and infected more than 200, prompting a top health agency to issue a travel warning.As of Friday, Texas had reported 198 cases and New Mexico 10, bringing the total to 208. Each state confirmed one death. Both were unvaccinated, and the New Mexico patient tested positive for measles posthumously. Although their official cause of death has not been released, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified it as a measles-related fatality.”More cases are expected as this outbreak continues to expand rapidly,” the CDC warned in a Health Alert Network advisory to healthcare workers, public health officials, and potential travelers.”With spring and summer travel season approaching in the United States, CDC emphasizes the important role that clinicians and public health officials play in preventing the spread of measles,” the agency said.”They should be vigilant for cases of febrile rash illness that meet the measles case definition and share effective measles prevention strategies, including vaccination guidance for international travelers.”Measles is highly contagious, spreading through respiratory droplets and lingering in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area. The disease causes fever, respiratory symptoms, and a rash — but can also lead to severe complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death.Vaccination remains the best protection. The measles vaccine, required for children 12 months and older, confers 93 percent lifetime immunity after one dose, rising to 97 percent after two.But immunization rates have been declining in the US, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic fueled a surge in vaccine misinformation. The CDC recommends a 95 percent vaccination rate for herd immunity, but nationwide coverage among kindergartners had slumped to 92.7 percent by 2023-2024.Current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent decades falsely linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism — a claim thoroughly debunked by scientific research. Since the outbreak expanded, he has softened his stance, recommending vaccination while simultaneously promoting treatments such as vitamin A and steroids.While these treatments are medically valid, experts warn that emphasizing them may divert attention from the urgent need to boost immunization rates.Before this outbreak, the last US measles-related death was in 2015, when a Washington state woman died from virus-induced pneumonia while on immunosuppressive medication. The previous fatality was in 2003.

Donald Trump on Friday doubled down on his embrace of cryptocurrencies as he hosted top industry players at the White House, while making investments in the field.US crypto investors were major supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign, contributing millions of dollars toward his victory in hopes of ending the deep skepticism of the previous Democratic administration toward digital currencies.”Last year, I promised to make America the bitcoin superpower of the world and crypto capital of the planet, and we’re taking historic action to deliver on that promise,” Trump told the assembled room of executives.Once hostile to the crypto industry, Trump has already taken significant steps to clear regulatory hurdles and has money invested.Trump has partnered with exchange platform World Liberty Financial and launched the “Trump” memecoin in January.First Lady Melania Trump announced a memecoin of her own, $MELANIA, one day before her husband’s January 20 inauguration.The prominent founders, CEOs and investors, along with members of a Trump working group, assembled Friday to help craft policies aimed at accelerating crypto growth.On the eve of the event, Trump signed an executive order establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” that would audit the government’s bitcoin reserves, which were mainly accumulated by law enforcement from judicial seizures.”Unfortunately, in recent years, the US government has foolishly sold tens of thousands of additional bitcoin that were worth billions and billions of dollars had they not sold them,” Trump said in his opening remarks.”From this day on, America will follow the rule that every bitcoin investor knows very well: never sell your bitcoin.”Bitcoin, the world’s most traded cryptocurrency, is heralded by advocates as a substitute for gold or a hedge against currency devaluation and political instability.Trump donor and Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, the administration’s “crypto czar,” said that if previous administrations had held onto their digital holdings over the past decade, rather than selling them, they would be worth $17 billion today.- ‘Like criminals’ -The summit’s guest list included twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of crypto platform Gemini, as well as Brian Armstrong of Coinbase and Michael Saylor, the boss of major Bitcoin investor MicroStrategy.In a gesture to the industry, Trump has already appointed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.Under Atkins, the SEC has dropped legal proceedings against major platforms like Coinbase and Kraken that were initiated during former president Joe Biden’s term.Biden’s administration had implemented restrictions on banks holding cryptocurrencies — which have since been lifted — and allowed former SEC chairman Gary Gensler to pursue aggressive enforcement.Sacks said the Biden administration treated the industry “like criminals” and launched investigations when there were no clear rules of the road.”We never thought that we would get attacked the way we did in our own backyard after trying to do the right thing for so many years,” Cameron Winklevoss told the meeting.For believers, cryptocurrencies represent a financial revolution that reduces dependence on centralized authorities while offering individuals an alternative to traditional banking systems.Critics meanwhile maintain that these assets function primarily as speculative investments with questionable real-world utility that could leave taxpayers on the hook for cleaning up if the market crashes.The proliferation of “memecoins” — cryptocurrencies based on celebrities, internet memes, or pop culture items rather than technical utility — presents another challenge.Much of the crypto industry frowns upon these tokens, fearing they tarnish the sector’s credibility, amid reports of quick pump-and-dump schemes that leave unwitting buyers paying for assets that end up worthless.Asked about the risky nature of crypto investing, Sacks said that the government’s embrace of the industry did not amount to investment advice and warned that digital currencies were highly volatile, encouraging Americans to talk to an advisor before entering the market.”My job is not to encourage people to buy crypto. My job is to create an innovation framework for the United States,” he added as he arrived at the White House.

President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday it was cutting $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, accusing it of failing to protect Jewish students from harassment as protesters rallied against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.Four government agencies announced in a statement “the immediate cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”Trump said this week that he would cut funding for schools that allow “illegal protests,” his latest threat to turn off the flow of federal money to the country’s education system.US campuses including Columbia’s were rocked by student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. The demonstrations ignited accusations of anti-Semitism.Protests, some of which turned violent and saw campus buildings occupied and lectures disrupted, pitted students protesting Israel’s conduct against pro-Israel campaigners, many of whom were Jewish. A university spokesman said “we are reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and pledge to work with the federal government to restore Columbia’s federal funding.” “We take Columbia’s legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is and are committed to combatting anti-Semitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff,” the spokesman said.Protests continued at Columbia this week — on Tuesday, more than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated against former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, who was on campus for a speaking engagement.”All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote Tuesday on his platform Truth Social.”Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on …the crime, arrested,” the post said.- ‘Anti-Semitic harassment’ -Joseph Howley, an associate professor of classics at Columbia, told AFP he hoped the university would challenge the defunding in court. “The university has devoted tremendous resources to address discrimination and harassment over the last year and still the government makes these claims without any legal finding or official ruling,” he said.Friday’s statement, issued by the US General Services Administration, said the cuts were the “first round of action” — and that additional cancellations to the around $5 billion of federal grant commitments to Columbia are expected to follow.”Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses — only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.”Universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding,” she said.”For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus. Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.”Last month, the Justice Department announced the formation of a multi-agency task force to combat anti-Semitism.”The task force’s first priority will be to root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses,” it said in a statement.Two New York congressmen, Jerrold Nadler and Adriano Espaillat, said in a joint statement that “if the Trump administration were as serious about anti-Semitism as they claim, they would not have filled their ranks with unapologetic anti-Semites.””Slashing this funding will not protect the Jewish students Trump claims to defend but will instead undermine their academic futures,” they said.

A top leader of Mexico’s violent Jalisco New Generation cartel was sentenced to life in US prison Friday for his bloody role in creating one of the world’s most powerful drug syndicates.Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, 35, is the son of Mexico’s most-wanted man — Jalisco New Generation leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who has a $15 million US bounty on his head.Known as “El Menchito,” Oseguera was convicted by a federal jury in Washington in September of multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges.Pronouncing the life sentence, District Judge Beryl Howell said Jalisco New Generation was a “notoriously violent cartel” and that Oseguera had a “whole team of hitmen” at his command.Howell also ordered Oseguera to forfeit $6 billion in drug proceeds.Anthony Colombo, Oseguera’s lawyer, speaking to AFP after the sentencing, said the life term was “greater than necessary” and that he would file an appeal.”This is a situation where no acts were committed in the US or on US territory,” Colombo said. “Everything was extraterritorial. This should have been a case tried in Mexico, not in the United States.”The US-born Oseguera was second in command of Jalisco New Generation.He was captured by Mexican authorities in 2015 and extradited to the United States in February 2020.The United States has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of his father, Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho.”According to court documents, the younger Oseguera directed the smuggling of “staggering” quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl into the United States.Oseguera also “pioneered” the manufacturing of fentanyl in Mexico to help build his father’s cartel into one of the world’s most powerful drug syndicates, the Justice Department said.He amassed a huge arsenal of weapons, according to US authorities, and killed a number of people over the years to control and expand the cartel.In April 2015, Oseguera “personally butchered five bound men who owed him money for drugs sold in the United States,” prosecutors said in their sentencing memo.”As described by one of the eyewitnesses, (Oseguera) slashed each of the five bound men’s throats using a half-moon shaped knife, and after he was done, asked for a clean shirt.”In another notorious incident, in May 2015, cartel members acting on Oseguera’s orders shot down a Mexican military helicopter hunting Jalisco New Generation leaders, killing at least nine people on board.A Mexican federal police officer who suffered burns over 70 percent of his body survived the crash and was among those who testified at Oseguera’s two-week trial.