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The US State Department has ordered the suspension of student visa processing in the latest escalation of a Trump administration crackdown on foreign students criticized Wednesday by China.President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking unprecedented control over leading US universities, including revoking foreign student visas and deporting some of those involved in protests against the war in Gaza.A cable signed Tuesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and seen by AFP orders embassies and consulates not to allow “any additional student or exchange visa… appointment capacity until further guidance is issued.”The government plans to ramp up vetting of the social media profiles of international applicants to US universities, the cable said.Rubio earlier rescinded hundreds of visas and the Trump administration has moved to bar Harvard University from admitting non-Americans.China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday said Beijing urged Washington to “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of international students, including those from China.”Hundreds of thousands of Chinese students attend US universities, long viewed by many in China as beacons of academic freedom and rigour.The sweeping US measures have resulted in foreign governments moving to snap up affected students, with Japan and Hong Kong urging local universities to take in more international applicants.In Taiwan, a PhD student set to study at the University of California told AFP they were left “feeling uncertain” by the visa pause.”I understand the process may be delayed but there is still some time before the semester begins in mid-August,” said the 27-year-old student who did not want to be identified.”All I can do now is wait and hope for the best.”- Protests at Harvard -The suspension of visa processing came as Harvard students protested on Tuesday after the government said it intended to cancel all remaining financial contracts, Trump’s latest attempt to force the institution to submit to unprecedented oversight.Trump is furious at Harvard for rejecting his administration’s push for oversight on admissions and hiring, amid the president’s claims the school is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.A judge issued a restraining order pending a hearing on the matter scheduled for Thursday, the same day as the university’s graduation ceremony for which thousands of students and their families had gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts near Boston.The White House, meanwhile, doubled down in its offensive, saying that public money should go to vocational schools that train electricians and plumbers. “The president is more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programs and state schools where they are promoting American values, but most importantly, educating the next generation based on skills that we need in our economy and our society,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Tuesday.Some Harvard students were worried that the Trump administration’s policies would make US universities less attractive to international students.”I don’t know if I’d pursue a PhD here. Six years is a long time,” said Jack, a history of medicine student from Britain who is graduating this week and gave one name.Harvard itself has filed extensive legal challenges against Trump’s measures.Alumni plan to file a legal brief against Trump on June 9, filmmaker Anurima Bhargava told a virtual meeting staged by Crimson Courage, a grassroots alumni group.The group is gathering thousands of signatures to show the courts the depth of support for the existing legal action. The Trump administration is also piling financial pressure on Harvard.It has announced the cutting of Harvard’s government contracts, estimated by US media to be worth $100 million.In the last few weeks, the elite educational and research powerhouse has already seen billions of dollars in federal grants frozen and millions of dollars of federal contracts torn up.The university has sued both to block the revocation of its right to recruit and sponsor foreign students, 27 percent of its total roll, as well as to overturn the withdrawal of federal funding.On Monday, Trump vowed he would prevail in the increasingly public struggle with Harvard, claiming that foreign students there include “radicalized lunatics, troublemakers.”

The billionaire chief of Georgia’s ruling party — widely seen as the Caucasus country’s most powerful figure — has refused to meet the US ambassador, the American embassy said Wednesday.The diplomatic snub comes as ties between Washington and Tbilisi have sunk to their lowest level in years, with the United States repeatedly condemning Georgia for democratic backsliding, its violent crackdown on protestors and its move to suspend talks on joining the European Union.Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest person and key power broker, is among those hit with US sanctions and visa restrictions put in place under ex-president Joe Biden.”Bidzina Ivanishvili has refused to meet with Ambassador (Robin) Dunnigan to hear a message from the Trump Administration,” the US embassy said in a statement.Officials from Ivanishvili’s ruling Georgian Dream party have dismissed Washington’s sanctions pressure as blackmail.The embassy said the meeting had been requested by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, so the US envoy could “again relay specific steps the Georgian government can take to show it is serious about resetting its relationship with the United States”.”It is our hope that the Georgian government sincerely wishes to return to 33 years of partnership and friendship with America and the American people,” it added.Dunnigan, a career diplomat, was appointed by Biden but has continued as ambassador to Georgia under Trump.Critics accuse the Georgian Dream party of moving Tbilisi away from the West and closer to Russia, with whom Georgia fought a brief war in 2008.Ivanishvili said it was “inappropriate” for him to meet with the US ambassador due to sanctions against him, and said the ambassador had refused to meet Georgia’s prime minister.”Against the backdrop of such personal blackmail, I believe it would be inappropriate for me to meet with the ambassador and discuss matters of state,” the billionaire said.Prime Minister Kobakhidze on Tuesday accused Washington of being controlled by the “deep state”, echoing language frequently employed by President Donald Trump.”We want relations with a United States that is free from the deep state — a relationship with an independent, sovereign country — and that is what we are waiting for,” Kobakhidze said.Georgia has been rocked by protests since Georgian Dream shelved talks on joining the European Union shortly after disputed parliamentary elections last October.

Auto giant Stellantis, whose brands include Jeep, Peugeot and Fiat, on Wednesday named company veteran Antonio Filosa as its new chief executive officer as the US-European group navigates US tariffs and slumping North American sales.The Italian manager, who has led Stellantis in North and South America, will succeed Carlos Tavares, who was sacked in December.Filosa, who joined Fiat in 1999, recalled that his first job was as a paint shop quality supervisor at a plant in Spain, where he worked the night shift.”This company is in my blood and I couldn’t be more proud of the chance to work with all of you,” Filosa said in a letter to employees seen by AFP.Filosa, 51, was unanimously selected by the board following a “thorough search process of internal and external candidates”, Stellantis said in a statement.Stellantis said it would call an extraordinary shareholder meeting in the coming days to elect Filosa to the board to serve as an executive director of the company.”Meanwhile, to give him full authority and ensure an efficient transition, the Board has granted him CEO powers effective June 23,” the statement said.”The Board selected Antonio Filosa to be CEO based on his proven track record of hands-on success during his more than 25 years in the automotive industry,” Stellantis said.The company also praised “the depth and span of his experience around the world, his unrivalled knowledge of the Company and his recognised leadership qualities”.Stellantis shares were flat at around midday following the announcement.- Tavares: good times, bad times -Stellantis, whose other brands include Ram trucks, Dodge, Chrysler and Maserati, has struggled with falling sales in its key North American market.US President Donald Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on the car industry have added to the company’s woes.Last month, Stellantis dropped its annual financial guidance due to uncertainty over the levies.Filosa, who has previously served as chief executive of the Jeep brand, was promoted to the role of chief operating officer for the Americas region in December.”Since his appointment, he has initiated the strengthening of the US operations,” Stellantis said, noting that he “significantly” reduced excessive inventories at dealerships and reorganised the leadership team.Filosa was also named to the new role of chief quality officer earlier this year.Tavares engineered one of the most ambitious mergers in automotive history in 2021, when more than a dozen brands were put under the same roof.The Portuguese executive, who headed French group Peugeot-Citroen at the time, was appointed chief executive of the newly created French-Italian-American behemoth Stellantis.His three-year tenure was marked by high profit margins that were the envy of its rivals in the auto industry but the good times ended last year as sales plummeted in the United States.When his abrupt resignation was announced in December, Stellantis pointed out that “different views” had emerged between the board and Tavares.In February, the group shifted focus to the quality of its vehicles, unravelling the legacy left by CEO Carlos Tavares, a staunch advocate of cost-cutting.After the first few years marked by record profits, the disappointing quality of certain models and prices that were too high compared to the competition contributed to the collapse of the group’s sales in the United States in 2024.In France, the CFE-CGC union said it expects Filosa to “break with the authoritarian, cost-cutting management style of the Tavares era”.The Peugeot family, the second-biggest shareholder in Stellantis, issued a statement hailing Filosa’s “in-depth knowledge of the realities on the ground and close understanding of the industrial culture” in the group.

US President Donald Trump warned Vladimir Putin Tuesday that he was “playing with fire,” taking a fresh jab at his Russian counterpart as Washington weighs new sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine war.Trump’s latest broadside showed his frustration with stalled ceasefire talks and comes two days after he called the Kremlin leader “absolutely CRAZY” following a major drone attack on Ukraine.Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, insisted it was responding to escalating Ukrainian strikes on its own civilians and accused Kyiv of trying to “disrupt” peace efforts.Diplomatic efforts to end the war have intensified in recent weeks, but Putin has been accused of stalling peace talks.”What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.Trump did not specify what the “really bad” things were.But the Wall Street Journal and CNN both reported that the Republican was now considering fresh sanctions as early as this week.Trump told reporters on Sunday he was “absolutely” weighing such a move.- ‘Provocative’ -The White House said Trump was keeping “all options” open.”This war is Joe Biden’s fault, and President Trump has been clear he wants to see a negotiated peace deal. President Trump has also smartly kept all options on the table,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told AFP in a statement.Biden, Trump’s Democratic predecessor, imposed sweeping sanctions after Russia’s invasion. Trump has so far avoided what he says could be “devastating” sanctions on Russian banks.But Trump’s recent rebukes mark a sharp change from his previous attitude towards Putin, of whom he often speaks with admiration.His frustration at his failure to end a war he said he could solve within 24 hours boiled over at the weekend after Russia’s drone barrage killed at least 13 people.”I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump posted.Russia has kept up attacks despite a phone call eight days ago in which Trump said Putin had agreed to immediately start talks.Moscow did not react to Trump’s comments on Tuesday, but it earlier sought to blame Ukraine for the impasse.”Kyiv, with the support of some European countries, has taken a series of provocative steps to thwart negotiations initiated by Russia,” the Russian defense ministry said.Civilians including women and children were injured in what it said were Ukrainian drone strikes. Russian air defenses destroyed 2,331 Ukrainian drones between May 20 and 27, it said.Fresh drone attacks were also reported overnight to Wednesday.Russian authorities said almost 150 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted, including 33 heading toward Moscow.- ‘Eternal waiting’ -Ukraine said it was Russia that had targeted civilians.”We need to end this eternal waiting — Russia needs more sanctions,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Tuesday on Telegram.US lawmakers have stepped up calls for Trump to slap sanctions on Russia.Veteran Republican Senator Chuck Grassley called for strong measures to let Putin know it was “game over.”Two other senators, Republican Lindsay Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal, also called for heavy “secondary” sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and raw materials.Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg told Fox News that the next peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, if they happen, would likely take place in Geneva after Moscow rejected the Vatican as a venue.The aim would then be to get Trump, Putin and Zelensky together “and hammer this thing out,” he added.The Swiss government would not confirm that it would host the talks.”Switzerland remains ready to offer its good offices,” the foreign ministry told AFP in a statement, adding that it was “in contact with all parties.”Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks in more than three years in Istanbul in early May.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered a suspension of student visa processing in the latest swipe at foreign students in the country.The White House is cracking down on foreign students at US universities, revoking visas and deporting those involved in protests against the war in Gaza, accusing them of supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas.Rubio earlier rescinded hundreds of visas and President Donald Trump’s administration moved to bar Harvard University from admitting non-Americans.A cable signed by Rubio and seen by AFP orders embassies and consulates not to allow “any additional student or exchange visa… appointment capacity until further guidance is issued.”The government also plans to ramp up vetting of the social media profiles of international applicants to US universities, the cable said.The move came as Harvard students protested after the government said it intends to cancel all remaining financial contracts with the elite school, Trump’s latest attempt to force the institution to submit to unprecedented oversight.Hundreds of students gathered to oppose Trump’s widening offensive, including Tuesday’s measures estimated to be worth $100 million, against the university that has drawn his ire for refusing to give up control of curriculum, admissions and research.”Trump = traitor” read one student placard, while the crowd chanted “who belongs in class today, let them stay” in reference to Harvard’s international students whose status Trump has upended by summarily revoking the university’s accreditation to the country’s Student and Exchange Visitor program.A judge issued a restraining order pending a hearing on the matter scheduled for Thursday, the same day as the university’s commencement graduation ceremony for which thousands of graduating students and their families had gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts near Boston.The White House meanwhile, doubled down in its offensive, saying that public money should go to vocational schools that train electricians and plumbers. “The president is more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programs and state schools where they are promoting American values, but most importantly, educating the next generation based on skills that we need in our economy and our society,” Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Tuesday evening. “We need more of those in our country, and less LGBTQ graduate majors from Harvard University.”Tuesday’s protest unfolded as news helicopters hovered overhead and graduating students in academic attire and their guests ate finger food at a reception on the lawns of Harvard Square nearby.”All my international friends and peers and professors and researchers are at risk and (are) threatened with being deported — or their option is to transfer” to another university, said Alice Goyer, who attended the protest wearing a black academic gown.One history of medicine student from Britain graduating this week who gave his name only as Jack said that the policies pursued by Trump would make US universities less attractive to international students.”I don’t know if I’d pursue a PhD here, six years is a long time,” he said.Harvard itself has filed extensive legal challenges against Trump’s measures, which legal experts say are likely to be overturned by the courts.Separately, alumni plan to file a lawsuit against Trump on June 9, filmmaker Anurima Bhargava told a virtual meeting staged by Crimson Courage, a grassroots alumni group that held a mass webinar to raise awareness and a fighting fund from former students.- ‘American values’ -The cutting of contracts announced Tuesday — estimated by US media to be worth $100 million — would mark the slashing of business ties between the government and the country’s oldest university.Amid a broad campaign against seats of learning that Trump accuses of being hotbeds of liberal bias and anti-Semitism, the president has singled out Harvard.In the last few weeks, the elite educational and research powerhouse has seen billions of dollars in federal grants frozen and millions of dollars of federal contracts torn up.The university has sued both to block the revocation of its right to recruit and sponsor foreign students, 27 percent of its total roll, as well as to overturn the withdrawal of federal funding.A legal expert suggested Harvard could file a lawsuit to overturn the latest contract cuts as part of existing legal action.”The case is so strong that the court system is not going to step to the side and allow this… to go forward,” said Albany Law School professor Ray Brescia.He said the Trump administration’s assault on Harvard was so flawed that a higher court would likely strike down the campaign if the Trump administration were to challenge it on appeal. On Monday, Trump nonetheless vowed he would prevail in the increasingly public struggle, claiming that foreign students at Harvard include “radicalized lunatics, troublemakers.”

SpaceX’s prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, capping another bumpy test flight for the rocket central to billionaire Elon Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars.The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built lifted off around 6:36 pm (2336 GMT) from the company’s Starbase facility, near a southern Texas village that earlier this month voted to become a city — also named Starbase.Excitement ran high among SpaceX engineers and spectators alike, after the last two outings ended with the upper stage disintegrating in fiery cascades over the Caribbean.But signs of trouble emerged quickly: the first-stage Super Heavy booster blew up instead of executing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.A live feed then showed the upper-stage spaceship failing to open its doors to deploy a payload of Starlink satellite “simulators.”Though the ship flew farther than on its two previous attempts, it sprang leaks and began spinning out of control as it coasted through space.Mission teams vented fuel to reduce the force of the expected explosion, and onboard cameras cut out roughly 45 minutes into what was meant to be a 66-minute flight — falling short of its target splashdown zone off Australia’s west coast.”Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” SpaceX posted on X — a familiar euphemism for fiery failure — while stressing it would learn from the setback.Musk, meanwhile, vowed to pick up the pace: “Launch cadence for the next 3 flights will be faster — approximately one every 3 to 4 weeks,” he said.He did not say, however, whether he still planned to deliver a live stream about Mars that SpaceX had been promoting.- Space fans – Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, the black-and-white behemoth is designed to eventually be fully reusable and launch at low cost, carrying Musk’s hopes of making humanity a multi-planetary species.NASA is also counting on a variant of Starship to serve as the crew lander for Artemis 3, the mission to return Americans to the Moon.Ahead of the launch, dozens of space fans gathered at Isla Blanca Park on nearby South Padre Island, hoping to catch a glimpse of history.Several small tourist boats also dotted the lagoon, while a live feed showed Musk sitting at ground control in Starbase, wearing an “Occupy Mars” T-shirt.Australian Piers Dawson, 50, told AFP he’s “obsessed” with the rocket and built his family vacation around the launch — his first trip to the United States, with his wife and teenage son whom he took out of school to be there.”I know in science there’s never a failure, you learn everything from every single test so that was still super exciting to see,” said Joshua Wingate, a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur from Austin, after the launch.- ‘Fail fast, learn fast’ -Starship has now completed nine integrated test flights atop its Super Heavy booster.  SpaceX is betting that its “fail fast, learn fast” ethos, which helped it dominate commercial spaceflight, will once again pay off.One bright spot: the company has now caught the Super Heavy booster in the launch tower’s giant robotic arms three times — a daring engineering feat it sees as key to rapid reusability and slashing costs.This ninth flight marked the first time SpaceX reused a Super Heavy booster, though it opted not to attempt a catch — instead pushing the envelope with a steeper descent angle and one engine intentionally disabled.The FAA recently approved an increase in Starship launches from five to 25 annually, stating the expanded schedule wouldn’t harm the environment — a decision that overruled objections from conservation groups concerned about impacts to sea turtles and shorebirds.

US President Donald Trump’s move to sidestep global regulations and begin pushing for seabed mining in international waters could pose a wider threat of competing countries claiming sovereignty over the ocean, experts say.Trump last month signed an executive order to accelerate the permit-granting process for deep-sea mining in domestic and international waters, citing an obscure 1980 US law.And the Canadian deep-sea mining frontrunner The Metals Company has already filed an application in the United States to conduct commercial mining on the high seas — bypassing the International Seabed Authority (ISA). This is the body entrusted by a United Nations convention with managing the ocean floor outside of national jurisdictions.Ocean law is largely guided by that accord — the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), first signed in 1982 to prevent “a competitive scramble for sovereign rights over the land underlying the world’s seas and oceans,” according to Maltese diplomat Arvid Pardo, the convention’s forebearer.The United States never ratified the convention, which took effect in 1994, though it has applied many of its clauses.Coalter Lathrop, an attorney at the US law firm Sovereign Geographic, told AFP that the United States is “a huge beneficiary of the parallel set of customary international law rules” despite not being a party to UNCLOS.For instance, the United States has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) which gives states sovereignty over maritime areas up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from their coastline — protecting them from foreign fishing boats, among other extractive industries.If the US enjoys the benefits of ocean law, Lathrop argues, “but then you disregard the other part of the package deal — that the seabed and its minerals in areas beyond national jurisdiction are the common heritage of humankind — that is going to be destabilizing, to say the least, for the general legal order of the oceans.””US unilateral permitting could lead to the disintegration of a system that has been carefully curated and created by the United States, largely for its own benefit,” he added.- ‘Unraveled’ -The US and Canadian moves sparked an international outcry from ISA member states, including China, whose foreign ministry spokesman warned it violates international law.ISA secretary general Leticia Carvalho expressed similar concern, saying that “any unilateral action… sets a dangerous precedent that could destabilize the entire system of global ocean governance.”The Metals Company does maintain contracts with ISA members like Japan — where it has a partnership with smelting company Pamco. And experts note such ISA member states could invoke their obligation to UNCLOS to enforce maritime law on The Metals Company via these proxies, even if it ultimately receives a permit from the Trump administration.Guy Standing, an economist at the University of London, told AFP: “It’s the most dangerous thing he’s done so far,” referring to Trump.If marine laws “were to come sort of unraveled,” Standing said, “you could have a carve up in different parts of the world, with Russia, China and America carving up the Arctic.”However, not all scholars in the field are in agreement.James Kraska, a professor of international maritime law at US Naval War College, said “it’s naive to think the United States has that kind of influence.””I just disagree with the people that are saying that it’s somehow a legal obligation to comply with a treaty that you never joined,” he told AFP.”I just can’t see any way that it’s unlawful. I understand that there’s sort of political opposition to it, but I would just distinguish between politics and the law.”

As a damning expose on Joe Biden’s cognitive decline scandalizes Washington, Democrats in Congress are facing their own reckoning over a seniority system that critics say is holding back younger talent.Six Democratic lawmakers have died in a little over a year — dispiriting bereaved colleagues but also leaving the rank-and-file critically under-resourced when it comes to opposing President Donald Trump.House Republicans passed Trump’s sprawling tax relief and spending cuts by a solitary vote last week, approving a package that Democrats say will deprive more than eight million Americans of health care.Democrats did not have the numbers to cause problems for the bill because of three empty seats on their side — all recently vacated by lawmakers in their 70s who had died after battling cancer.”Imagine if one of the older and sicker Dems would’ve retired instead of died in office and what that would’ve meant for millions of people,” political consultant Rebecca Katz posted on X.The complicated math means that even a full Democratic contingent would likely only have been able to delay rather than torpedo the bill.But it is being seen as a lost opportunity that has laid bare the party’s problems with aging members clinging to office despite ailing health — in a party desperate for new blood.One of the vacancies was the Virginia seat formerly held by Gerry Connolly, 75, who had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and died just a day earlier.- Oldest president -Democrats had just picked Connolly to be their leader on the powerful oversight committee, choosing his experience over the energy and social media savvy of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, 40 years his junior.”By elevating someone who was more of a standard politician, they sort of lost out on getting into the culture,” left-leaning political commentator Molly Jong-Fast told MSNBC.”And ultimately that was, I think, a miss for Democrats.”Age is a touchy subject among Democrats, with 82-year-old Biden’s inner circle denying accusations in a new book by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of covering up his glaring infirmity. In the Senate the party is led by 74-year-old Chuck Schumer and in the House former speaker Nancy Pelosi, 85, still holds enormous sway two years after giving up the gavel.  Democrats do not have a monopoly on aging issues.Mitch McConnell, 83, was clearly ailing when he stepped down after 18 years as Republican leader in the Senate in January and Trump, 78, is set to become the oldest US president in history.But the so-called “gerontocracy” has been more harmful to Washington’s minority party, frustrating the agenda of Democratic White Houses and allowing Republicans in Congress to absorb more defections.At the heart of the problem is the Democrats’ long-honored seniority system, which prioritizes lawmakers based on experience when allocating plum committee assignments, leadership posts and office space. – ‘Contemptible little twerp’ -As a result, top Democrats on more than half of the House committees are aged 70 or over. The mean age of these 20 party grandees is 69, compared with a more youthful 62 for Republicans.And the problem is not confined to Congress.Mourning gave way to frustration over liberal Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who clung on until her death in 2020 at age 87 instead of retiring with Barack Obama in office, allowing Trump to fill the vacancy. There have been baby steps to address the gerontocracy but progress has been halting.Gun safety campaigner David Hogg, 25, was elected as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee in February and promptly called for primary challenges to “out-of-touch, ineffective Democrats.”This did not go down well among the party’s old guard, with 80-year-old strategist James Carville calling Hogg a “contemptible little twerp.”But the revelations about Biden’s deteriorating health, including a newly announced prostate cancer diagnosis, are an illustration for activists and analysts that the party needs to change course.”If you are saying that democracy is on the ballot, if you are saying this the most important election of our lifetime, which they did say to the base, then the base expects you to act like it,” Jong-Fast added.”They expect you to elevate the people who can speak better than the people who are your friends… And I think this is a sea change for the Democratic Party.”

Harvard students protested Tuesday after the US government said it intends to cancel all remaining financial contracts with the university, President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to force the prestigious institution to submit to unprecedented oversight.Hundreds of students gathered to oppose Trump’s widening offensive, including Tuesday’s measures estimated to be worth $100 million, against the university that has drawn his ire for refusing to give up control of curriculum, admissions and research.”Trump = traitor” read one student placard, while the crowd chanted “who belongs in class today, let them stay” in reference to Harvard’s international students whose status Trump has upended by summarily revoking the university’s accreditation to the country’s Student and Exchange Visitor program.A judge issued a restraining order pending a hearing on the matter scheduled for Thursday, the same day as the university’s commencement graduation ceremony for which thousands of graduating students and their families had gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts near Boston.Tuesday’s protest unfolded as news helicopters hovered overhead and graduating students in academic attire and their guests ate finger food at a reception on the lawns of Harvard Square nearby.”I’m graduating this week and not only is my last week as a Harvard student but it’s a very important week as all my international friends and peers and professors and researchers are at risk and be threatened with being deported — or their option is to transfer” to another university, said Alice Goyer, who attended the protest wearing a black academic gown.”As a US student, it’s my responsibility to speak out for them.”One history of medicine student from Britain graduating this week who gave his name only as Jack said that the policies pursued by Trump would make US universities less attractive to international students.”The cloud may pass but the damage will be done,” said the graduating student whose parents had travelled from Britain for the graduation ceremony, suggesting that the courts would likely overturn the most damaging measures.”(Foreign students) who are here don’t know where they stand, those overseas don’t know if they’ll be able to get back in… I don’t know if I’d pursue a PhD here, six years is a long time.”Harvard itself has filed extensive legal challenges against the Trump measures, which legal experts say are likely to be overturned by the courts.Separately, alumni plan to file a lawsuit against Trump on June 9, filmmaker Anurima Bhargava told a virtual meeting staged by Crimson Courage, a grassroots alumni group that held a mass webinar to raise awareness and a fighting fund from former students.- ‘American values’ -The cutting of contracts announced Tuesday — estimated by US media to be worth $100 million — would mark the slashing of business ties between the government and a university that is the country’s oldest and a research powerhouse.Amid a broad campaign against seats of learning that Trump accuses of being hotbeds of liberal bias and anti-Semitism, the president has singled out Harvard for particular punishment.In the last few weeks, the elite educational powerhouse has seen billions of dollars in federal grants frozen and millions of dollars of federal contracts torn up.The university has sued both to block the revocation of its right to recruit and sponsor foreign students, 27 percent of its total roll, as well as to overturn the withdrawal of federal funding.A legal expert suggested Harvard could file a lawsuit to overturn the latest contract cuts as part of existing legal action.”The case is so strong that the court system is not going to step to the side and allow this… to go forward,” said Albany Law School professor Ray Brescia.He said the Trump administration’s assault on Harvard was so flawed that a higher court would likely strike down the campaign against the university if the Trump was to challenge it on appeal. On Monday, Trump nonetheless vowed he would prevail in the increasingly public struggle, claiming that foreign students at Harvard included “radicalized lunatics, troublemakers.”Professor of government Ryan Enos said that Trump’s campaign against Harvard had already made the United States less attractive as a destination for top scholars.”I’ve already heard this from professors in other countries who say ‘we encourage our best students to go to the United States’,” he told AFP at the rally, adding  “we wonder if we can tell them that anymore.”

King Charles III hailed Canada as “strong and free” as he delivered a major speech to open parliament in Ottawa against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s threats to take over the country.”Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination, and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear, and ones which the government is determined to protect,” King Charles said, adding that Canada was facing a “critical moment.”To loud applause, he drew on the national anthem as he said “the true north is indeed strong and free!”Prime Minister Mark Carney invited the 76-year-old British monarch — Canada’s head of state as it is a Commonwealth member — to the capital, accompanied by Queen Camilla.The king has never publicly commented on Trump’s repeated talk of making Canada the 51st US state, but his language was closely watched for veiled references.Although the speech was read by the king as if it were his own words, it was written by the prime minister’s office to set out the government’s priorities to “build Canada strong” and how it aims to achieve them.In addition to his annexation threats, Trump has also launched tariff wars, particularly targeting Canada.”The system of open global trade that, while not perfect, has helped to deliver prosperity for Canadians for decades, is changing,” Charles said, in cautious words.”We must be clear-eyed: the world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the Second World War.”Not to be outdone, Trump on Tuesday posted on his TruthSocial platform about annexing Canada — eliding mention of King Charles — by offering protection from his proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system. “I told Canada, which very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System, that it will cost $61 Billion Dollars if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation, but will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State,” Trump said, adding: “They are considering the offer!”There was no immediate response from Canada to Trump’s claims.- ‘Symbolism’ – The speech was delivered in the Senate — a former railway station that has been converted while parliament undergoes renovations — with past prime ministers, Supreme Court justices and Indigenous leaders in feather headdresses in attendance.”You see the enthusiasm for our institutions,” Carney told reporters, pointing to cheering crowds that awaited the king. “Our sovereignty is strong.”King Charles’s “speech from the throne” was the first by a monarch in nearly half a century. It was delivered by Charles’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 1957 and 1977.”In terms of symbolism, it’s extraordinary,” said Felix Mathieu, a politics professor at the University of Quebec in Outaouais.Tuesday’s event, Mathieu said, was a message to Trump to show him that “Canada is not alone in this fight.”Carney has vowed to oversee the biggest transformation of Canada’s economy since the end of the Second World War to enable it to “stand up” to Trump.Charles said in the speech that Canada would also “build new alliances” and seek out “reliable trading partners and allies around the world,” while reinvesting in its military and Arctic defense.”Canada is ready to build a coalition of like-minded countries that share its values, that believe in international cooperation and the free and open exchange of goods, services, and ideas,” he said.- Festive welcome -Thousands gathered along a parade route for a chance to see the monarch arriving in a carriage escorted by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers on horseback.The atmosphere was festive, with people waving Canadian flags, a 21-gun salute and a fighter jet flyover. The king stopped several times to speak with people along a security fence before and after his speech.Kirsten Hanson, 44, said she welcomed the king’s show of support as the pressure grows from the United States.”If there’s anything that he can do to demonstrate Canada’s sovereignty I think that that’s fantastic,” she told AFP. “Nobody wants to be absorbed into the US.””Elbows up,” said Marion Hand, 88, in reference to Carney’s battle cry in the face of Trump’s annexation threats. She traveled from Mississauga, Ontario for the event and was visibly giddy after shaking hands with the king and queen.