AFP USA

President Donald Trump has defied international norms on the nascent field of deep-sea mining, signing an executive order Thursday expanding the practice for rare earth minerals in domestic and international waters.White House aides say the initiative could see US operations scoop up more than a billion metric tons of mineral-rich deep-sea nodules, and pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the American economy.But the move to disrupt ocean floor ecosystems to extract cobalt and other minerals flies in the face of environmental group concerns and the controls set by global regulators at the International Seabed Authority. Since the 1990s, the group has sought to set ground rules for the burgeoning industry’s extraction efforts in international waters. But the US never ratified the agreements that empowered the ISA’s jurisdiction and is not a member of the UN-affiliated body. Instead, the Trump administration is “relying on an obscure 1980 law that empowers the federal government to issue seabed mining permits in international waters,” the New York Times reported. ISA didn’t immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.Under the order, the secretary of commerce has 60 days to “expedite the process for reviewing and issuing seabed mineral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”- ‘Environmental disaster’ -Commercial deep-sea mining remains in its infancy, but with a global race underway for rare earth minerals — and the industry dominated by China — Washington appears set on expanding its collection capacity to benefit its defense, advanced manufacturing and energy industries.But environmental groups warn the process can cause major ecological damage.”Fast-tracking deep-sea mining is an environmental disaster in the making,” Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.”Trump is trying to open one of Earth’s most fragile and least understood ecosystems to reckless industrial exploitation.”The boosted deep-sea mining policy is aimed in part at “strengthening partnerships with allies and industry to counter China’s growing influence over seabed mineral resources,” the White House said.The ISA is scrambling to devise a rulebook for deep-sea mining, balancing its economic potential against warnings of irreversible environmental damage.Last week the American firm Impossible Metals said it had asked US officials to “commence a leasing process” in a parcel of the Pacific Ocean surrounding far-flung US territory American Samoa.  The bid circumvents the ISA by mining within US jurisdiction, rather than international waters.Key seabed resources include polymetallic nodules, potato-sized pebbles found at depths of 13,000 to 20,000 feet (4,000 to 6,000 meters) that contain manganese, iron, cobalt, copper and nickel.A senior administration official told reporters shortly before the signing that the US could retrieve more than a billion metric tons of material, and the process could create some 100,000 jobs and generate $300 billion in domestic GDP over 10 years.Canada-based deep-sea mining frontrunner The Metals Company recently stunned industry observers with an attempt to sideline the ISA.After years of pushing the authority to adopt rules for industrial-scale mining, The Metals Company abruptly announced earlier this year it would seek US approval instead, with CEO Gerard Barron lauding Trump’s order.”By building on decades of domestic innovation and regulatory groundwork, this action reasserts America’s role in securiting critical seabed resources and ensures the US is not left behind in a strategic arena increasingly influenced by China,” Barron said in a statement.

Russia’s foreign minister said Thursday that Moscow was ready to do a deal on its war in Ukraine after Donald Trump urged Vladimir Putin to halt attacks, in a rare rebuke following the deadliest strikes on Kyiv in months.”We are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points… which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this,” Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with CBS News.Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Russia on Friday where he is expected to hold another round of ceasefire talks with Putin.Lavrov said the talks process was moving in the right direction, and negotiations would continue with Washington.He said the US president was “probably the only leader on Earth who recognised the need to address the root causes of this situation”, but said Trump “did not spell out the elements of the deal”. Trump, however, issued a direct appeal to Russian President Putin following missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital early Thursday which left at least 12 people dead.It was the latest in a wave of Russian aerial attacks that have killed dozens of civilians, defying Trump’s push to bring about a rapid end to the bloodshed.”I am not happy with the Russian strikes,” Trump said on social media. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”Trump, who is accused of favoring Russia and has often vilified Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was asked by reporters what concessions Moscow had offered in negotiations to end the war.”Stopping taking the whole country — pretty big concession,” he replied.Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since been bogged down in a bloody war with huge casualties on both sides.- Crimea spat -Zelensky cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with the aftermath of the latest strikes.He questioned whether Kyiv’s allies were doing enough to force Putin to agree to a full and unconditional ceasefire.”I don’t see any strong pressure on Russia or any new sanctions packages against Russia’s aggression,” Zelensky said, highlighting that Trump had previously warned of repercussions if Moscow did not agree to pause the fighting.Trump on Wednesday had accused Zelensky of frustrating peace efforts by ruling out recognizing Russia’s claim over Crimea, a territory the US president said was “lost years ago”. Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014.”We do everything that our partners have proposed; only what contradicts our legislation and the Constitution we cannot do,” Zelensky said in response to a question about Crimea.In contrast, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday it was Moscow, not Kyiv, that needed to move forward in negotiations.”The balls are clearly in the Russian court now,” Rutte told reporters at the White House after meeting Trump.- ‘Pulled out of the rubble’ -Russia fired at least 70 missiles and 145 drones at Ukraine between late Wednesday and early Thursday, the main target being Kyiv, the Ukrainian air force said.”As of 5:30 pm (1430 GMT), the death toll in Kyiv’s Sviatoshinsky district has risen to 12,” Ukraine’s state emergency services reported, with the number of wounded rising to 90.Russia said it had targeted Ukraine’s defense industry, including plants that produced “rocket fuel and gunpowder”.Asked about the strikes, Lavrov told CBS News: “We only target military goals or civilian sites used by the military.””If this was a target used by the Ukrainian military, the Ministry of Defense, the commanders in the field have the right to attack them.”Ukraine has been battered by aerial attacks throughout Russia’s three-year invasion but strikes on Kyiv, better protected by air defenses than other cities, are less common.Zelensky said Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile in the strikes.Olena Davydiuk, a 33-year-old lawyer in Kyiv, told AFP she saw windows breaking and doors “falling out of their hinges”.”People were being pulled out of the rubble,” she added.Zelensky said that on the ground, Russian forces had been attacking Ukrainian positions on Thursday, following the Kyiv strikes.”Basically, the Russians tried to go on the offence under the cover of their massive strike,” he said on X.”While the bulk of our forces were focused on protection from missiles and drones, the Russians significantly intensified their ground attacks.”

Google parent Alphabet on Thursday reported profit of $34.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, powered by its cloud computing and artificial intelligence operations.Overall revenue at Alphabet grew 12 percent to $90.2 billion compared to the same period a year earlier, while revenue for the cloud unit grew 28 percent to $12.3 billion, according to the tech giant.Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai said the strong quarterly results reflect healthy growth and momentum across the business.”Underpinning this growth is our unique full stack approach to AI,” Pichai said in an earnings release.He touted the latest Gemini software as Alphabet’s most intelligent AI model and an “extraordinary foundation” for the Silicon Valley company’s innovation.Alphabet shares were up more than three percent in after-market trades that followed the release of the earnings figures.”Cloud grew rapidly with significant demand for our solutions,” Pichai said of Alphabet’s services and tools hosted at data centers.Investors have been watching closely to see whether the tech giant may be pouring too much money into artificial intelligence.”Cloud’s growth indicates that Google AI product mix continues to thrive despite heightened competition,” said Emarketer principal analyst Yory Wurmser.Google and rivals are spending billions of dollars on data centers and more for AI, while the rise of lower-cost model DeepSeek from China raises questions about how much needs to be spent.- Antitrust battles -Meanwhile the online ad business that churns out the cash Google invests in its future could be neutered due to a defeat in a US antitrust case.US government attorneys are urging a federal judge to make Google spin off its Chrome browser, arguing artificial intelligence is poised to ramp up the company’s online search dominance.The Department of Justice (DOJ) is arguing its position before District Judge Amit Mehta, who is considering “remedies” after making a landmark decision last year that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in online search.”Nothing less than the future of the internet is at stake here,” Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater said prior to the start of the hearings this week in Washington.”If Google’s conduct is not remedied, it will control much of the internet for the next decade and not just in internet search, but in new technologies like artificial intelligence.”Google countered in the case that the United States has gone way beyond the scope of the suit by recommending a spinoff of its widely used Chrome, and holding open the option to force a sale of its Android mobile operating system.The legal case focused on Google’s agreements with partners such as Apple and Samsung to distribute its search tools, noted Google president of global affairs Kent Walker.”The DOJ chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership,” Walker wrote in a blog post.In another legal battle, a different US judge ruled this month that Google wielded monopoly power in the online ad technology market in a legal blow that could rattle the tech giant’s revenue engine.The federal government and more than a dozen US states filed the antitrust suit against Google, accusing it of acting illegally to dominate major sectors of digital advertising.District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google built an illegal monopoly over ad software and tools used by publishers.”Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising,” Brinkema said in her ruling.Online advertising is the driving engine of Google’s fortune and pays for widely used online services like Maps, Gmail, and search offered free.Combined, the courtroom defeats have the potential to leave Google split up and its influence curbed.Google said it is appealing both rulings.

Donald Trump called Thursday on Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on Ukraine, in a rare rebuke of the Russian leader after Moscow fired missiles and drones at Kyiv in the deadliest attack on the capital in months.The US president’s direct appeal to Putin came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his allies to put Russia under more pressure to halt its invasion.Zelensky cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with the aftermath of the strikes, the latest in a wave of Russian aerial attacks that have killed dozens of civilians.”I am not happy with the Russian strikes,” Trump said on social media. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”Trump, who is accused of favoring Russia and has often vilified Zelensky, was asked by reporters what concessions Moscow had offered in negotiations to end the war.”Stopping taking the whole country — pretty big concession,” he replied.Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since been bogged down in a bloody war with huge casualties on both sides.Trump on Wednesday accused Zelensky of frustrating peace efforts by ruling out recognizing Russia’s claim over Crimea, a territory the US president said was “lost years ago.”In contrast, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday it was Russia, not Ukraine, that needed to move forward in negotiations.”The balls are clearly in the Russian court now,” Rutte told reporters at the White House after meeting Trump.- Ceasefire deal -Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Russia this week where he is expected to hold another round of ceasefire talks with Putin.Ukraine has been battered by aerial attacks throughout Russia’s three-year invasion but strikes on Kyiv, better protected by air defenses than other cities, are less common.Zelensky said Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile in the strikes, which killed at least 12.The assault threw more doubt on US efforts to push Russia and Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire, after Trump lashed out at Zelensky this week for not being willing to accept Russian occupation of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.”We do everything that our partners have proposed, only what contradicts our legislation and the Constitution we cannot do,” Zelensky said in response to a question about Crimea.Zelensky also questioned whether Kyiv’s allies were themselves doing enough to force Putin to agree to a full and unconditional ceasefire.”I don’t see any strong pressure on Russia or any new sanctions packages against Russia’s aggression,” Zelensky said, highlighting that Trump had previously warned of repercussions if Moscow did not agree to pause the fighting.- ‘Pulled out of the rubble’ -Loud blasts sounded over the Ukrainian capital around 1:00 am (2200 GMT) after air raid sirens rang out across Kyiv, AFP journalists said.Russia fired at least 70 missiles and 145 drones at Ukraine between late Wednesday and early Thursday, the main target being Kyiv, the Ukrainian air force said.”As of 5:30 pm, the death toll in Kyiv’s Sviatoshinsky district has risen to 12,” Ukraine’s state emergency services reported, with the number of wounded rising to 90.Russia said it had targeted Ukraine’s defense industry, including plants that produced “rocket fuel and gunpowder.”Olena Davydiuk, a 33-year-old lawyer in Kyiv, told AFP she saw windows breaking and doors “falling out of their hinges.””People were being pulled out of the rubble,” she added.In Sviatoshinsky, west of Kyiv, an AFP journalist saw a body bag containing one of the victims set on a strip of grass.A woman sat on a small folding chair stroking the arm of another victim, the body covered in a striped blue sheet.Moscow has launched some of its deadliest aerial strikes over the last month — defying Trump’s push to bring about a rapid end to the bloodshed.A ballistic missile strike on the center of northeastern city of Sumy killed at least 35 on April 13.

Donald Trump’s online store is selling merchandise emblazoned with “Trump 2028,” the year of the next US presidential election, in which the Republican is constitutionally banned from running.The 78-year-old, who has seen his approval rating sink to new lows in recent opinion polls, has not ruled out serving a third term — even though it would require amending the Constitution. Most political experts, including his own Attorney General, say that would be tough to pull off. Yet, a social media account linked to Trump shared a photo Thursday of his son Eric sporting one of the new red caps, which is priced at $50. “Make a statement with this Made in America Trump 2028 hat,” a product description on the Trump Store website says.The shop is also selling T-shirts in navy and red, priced at $36, which read “Trump 2028 (Rewrite the Rules),” with matching beer can coolers for $18.Opinion polls have reflected American concerns over his handling of key issues during the first 100 days of his second term, including living costs and chaotic tariff policies. The 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”Trump, who also served as president from 2017 to 2021, has insisted he is “not joking” about a third term, saying last month there are “methods” that would allow it to happen.Any serious effort to amend the founding document would send the United States into uncharted territory.Changing the US Constitution to allow a third presidential term would require a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.An amendment would also need ratification by at least 38 of the 50 US state legislatures, another slim possibility. Trump has amassed an impressive range of branded products to promote his political career alongside his real estate empire.They include Mother’s Day-inspired gifts such as pink pajamas and pickleball paddles with Trump logos. Also on sale are earrings and necklaces styled with the numbers 45 and 47 to represent Trump’s two presidencies. On Wednesday, Trump also offered an invitation to a private dinner to the top 220 investors in his lucrative cryptocurrency, dubbed $TRUMP, the New York Times reported.In the past, the billionaire has flogged everything from steaks to “Trump University” courses to stock in his own media company, best known for the platform Truth Social. He has also released the “God Bless the USA Bible,” priced at $59.99, in a collaboration with American country singer Lee Greenwood.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday directed the Justice Department to investigate the main fundraising platform used by Democrats, who responded with accusations that he was simply weaponizing the government against his political opponents.The Republican leader signed a memorandum instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to probe supposed foreign and other illicit payments to platforms including ActBlue, used by Democrats to process donations to election campaigns and other causes online. The Republican said he wanted the probe to look at the use of “fundraising platforms to make ‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions and to make foreign contributions to US political candidates and committees, all of which break the law.”While the order urged a broad investigation, Trump specifically cited ActBlue, a non-profit group whose platform has become a small-dollar juggernaut but which has long been the target of unsubstantiated accusations by Republicans.Top Trump advisor Elon Musk tweeted multiple times about the organization in March, accusing it — without providing evidence — of fraud and posting: “Something stinks about ActBlue.”Action against one of the main sources of income for liberal causes could hamper Democrats’ ability to compete in the midterm elections next year that will decide who controls Congress for the remainder of Trump’s second term.Straw donations — donors giving money in other people’s names — and foreign contributions to federal political candidates or political action committees are against US law.But Trump’s memo drew accusations for the third time in as many weeks that he was abusing his power for personal and political ends. Earlier this month he signed memorandums ordering criminal investigations into two officials who had defied him during his first term. One of the officials, Chris Krebs, was targeted for dismissing Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden was stolen from him through widespread voter fraud.- ‘Silencing grassroots donors’ -Trump was also berated by Democrats for a number of executive orders penalizing specific law firms that had taken on work to which he objected. Republican interest in ActBlue intensified during the 2020 election, amid an avalanche of personal contributions and polls showing voters were fed up with dark money and corporate influence in politics.Three House committees — judiciary, administration and oversight — released a report on April 2 claiming “extensive fraud… including from foreign sources” on ActBlue and accusing the platform of lowering its prevention efforts.The probe contained no significant new examples of wrongdoing but said almost 500 pages of internal ActBlue documents released alongside its report “demonstrate a lack of commitment to stopping fraud and paint a picture of complacency.”Some Democrats, including Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, raced to urge donations from supporters “while we still can” as others took to social media to accuse Trump of abusing his office.”His approval rating is tanking, and he’s panicking about the midterms,” Democratic strategist Mike Nellis, a former top aide to 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris, posted on X.”This is about letting his billionaire buddies buy more elections while silencing grassroots donors and tearing down the Dems’ infrastructure.”Fellow Democratic strategist and consultant Sawyer Hackett said the move could be “Trump’s most authoritarian action yet.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to expand US deep-sea mining for rare earth minerals in domestic and international waters, despite warnings by environmental groups.White House aides say the initiative could see US operations scoop up more than a billion metric tons of deep-sea nodules and pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the American economy.The fast-tracking also flies in the face of a decade-long international effort to set ground rules for the burgeoning deep-sea industry.Commercial deep-sea mining remains in its infancy, but with a global race underway for rare earth minerals — and the industry dominated by China — Washington appears set on expanding its collection capacity to benefit its defense, advanced manufacturing and energy industries.Under the order, the secretary of commerce has 60 days to “expedite the process for reviewing and issuing seabed mineral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”The boosted deep-sea mining policy is aimed in part at “strengthening partnerships with allies and industry to counter China’s growing influence over seabed mineral resources,” it said.- ‘Environmental disaster’ -The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is scrambling to devise a rulebook for deep-sea mining, balancing its economic potential against warnings of irreversible environmental damage.The United States is not a member of the UN-affiliated body.Last week the American firm Impossible Metals said it had asked US officials to “commence a leasing process” in a parcel of the Pacific Ocean surrounding far-flung US territory American Samoa.The bid circumvents the ISA by mining within US jurisdiction, rather than international waters.Key seabed resources include polymetallic nodules, potato-sized pebbles found at depths of 13,000 to 20,000 feet (4,000 to 6,000 meters) that contain manganese, iron, cobalt, copper and nickel.A senior administration official told reporters shortly before the signing that the US could retrieve more than a billion metric tons of material, and the process could create some 100,000 jobs and generate $300 billion in domestic GDP over 10 years.Several countries are scrambling to increase capacity for deep-sea mining, seen as a potential boon for industries and the green energy transition.But environmental groups warn the process can cause major ecological damage.”Fast-tracking deep-sea mining is an environmental disaster in the making,” Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.”Trump is trying to open one of Earth’s most fragile and least understood ecosystems to reckless industrial exploitation.”Canada-based deep-sea mining frontrunner The Metals Company recently stunned industry observers with an attempt to sideline the ISA.After years of pushing the authority to adopt rules for industrial-scale mining, The Metals Company abruptly announced earlier this year it would seek US approval instead.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday steered clear of describing the Ottoman Empire’s World War I-era mass killings of Armenians as “genocide,” a reversal from his predecessor Joe Biden.Turkey, whose leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has forged close ties with Trump, has long denied genocide and angrily sought to block any international use of the term.In an annual message issued by presidents on the tragedy’s anniversary, Trump said that the American people “honor the memories of those wonderful souls who suffered in one of the worst disasters of the 20th century.”Biden in 2021 became the first president to recognize the genocide, writing: “The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.”Biden, who throughout his political career had a tight relationship with Armenian Americans, used similar formulations throughout his presidency and directly told Erdogan that he would use the term genocide.Armenian American activists voiced outrage at Trump’s language and noted that he had promised to support Armenians, who are overwhelmingly Christian, after Turkish-aligned Azerbaijan seized the Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway enclave dominated by the community in 2023.”President Trump’s retreat from US recognition of the Armenian genocide represents a disgraceful surrender to Turkish threats,” said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.”President Trump’s omission is not a diplomatic oversight — but rather a deliberate retreat from truth and a dangerous signal of US tolerance for ongoing anti-Armenian violence,” he said in a statement.”It mirrors his first administration’s shameful record of silence and complicity.”Asked why Trump did not use the term genocide, National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt said: “These horrific events were one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. “That is why the US government acknowledges that 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire,” he said.- 110-year anniversary -According to Armenia and most mainstream Western historians, up to 1.5 million people died between 1915 and 1916 when the Ottoman authorities, struggling on the battlefield, repressed the Armenian minority which it saw as traitors in league with Russia.They were either killed or sent on deadly marches into the Syrian desert, deprived of food and water.Turkey denies that the killings were systematic or genocide. It estimates Armenian deaths at 300,000 to 500,000 and claims that as many Turks died in civil strife after many Armenians sided with invading Russian forces. Both houses of the US Congress in 2019 nearly unanimously declared that the United States recognizes an Armenian genocide, leading Trump’s State Department to issue a statement that the administration’s stance “has not changed” against using the term.Other major countries that recognize an Armenian genocide inlcude France and Russia, which both have close ties with Armenia, and Germany, which has long been sensitive to the issue due to its Nazi past.Trump administration officials have often accused Biden of jeopardizing US interests by focusing on human rights, instead suggesting to only raise the issue as a cudgel against US adversaries. At the end of Trump’s first term, the State Department declared that China was committing genocide against its mostly Muslim Uyghur minority due to mass incarceration camps, charges strongly denied by Beijing.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday bashed Harvard as an “Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution,” as the prestigious university battles his administration’s funding freeze in court.The latest outburst from Trump comes as his administration cracks down on US universities on several fronts, alleging widespread anti-Semitism, anti-white bias, and the promotion of “gender ideology” by protecting trans students.The administration has threatened several top-tier universities with funding freezes and other punishments, prompting concerns over declining academic freedom.It has also moved to revoke visas and deport foreign students involved in the protests, accusing them of supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel provoked the war.Harvard, which has seen billions in federal funding frozen after it rejected wide-ranging government oversight, filed suit against the Trump administration on Monday.”The place is a Liberal mess,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, also complaining that the university has admitted students “from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart.”His broadside came a day after he issued an executive order targeting higher education, upending how federal authorities decide which universities and colleges can access billions of dollars from certain grants and student loans.The executive order seeks to clamp down on what Trump brands “unlawful discrimination” — that is any measures that seek to promote the representation of “racial and ethnic minority individuals.”On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that Trump could not withhold funds from public schools that operate equality and diversity policies which have been a particular target of the president.The ruling issued in New Hampshire does not apply across the board but instead to the largest US teacher union, the National Education Association (NEA), and the Center for Black Educator Development (CBED) non-profit which promotes the recruitment of Black teachers. The ruling will apply in schools employing members of the NEA, or contracting with the CBED.- Anti-Semitism claims -Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled anti-Semitism and a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at addressing historical oppression of minorities.The administration claims that protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that swept across US college campuses last year were rife with anti-Semitism.Several Jewish lawmakers accused Trump on Thursday of weaponizing anti-Semitism to attack universities for his own ends.”We reject any policies or actions that foment or take advantage of anti-Semitism and pit communities against one another; and we unequivocally condemn the exploitation of our community’s real concerns about anti-Semitism to undermine democratic norms and rights,” the Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, wrote in a joint letter.Many US universities, including Harvard, cracked down on the protests over the allegations at the time, with the Cambridge-based institution placing 23 students on probation and denying degrees to 12 others, according to protest organizers.Trump’s claims about diversity tap into long-standing conservative complaints that US university campuses are too liberal, shutting out right-wing voices and favoring minorities.In the case of Harvard, the White House is seeking unprecedented levels of government control over the inner workings of the country’s oldest and wealthiest university — and one of the most respected educational and research institutions in the world.Professor Kirsten Weld, president of the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), told AFP “this is an increasingly autocratic, authoritarian government that is trying to dismantle not just our universities, but the higher education sector as a whole.”

US prosecutors have accused a man of concealing his role in the Rwandan genocide to move to the United States and attempt to become a citizen, they said Thursday.Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, allegedly had a leadership role whereby he oversaw killings of Tutsi civilians in the 1994 genocide in which the United Nations said some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered.”As alleged in the indictment, Nsabumukunzi used his leadership position to oversee the violence and killings of Tutsis in his local area and directed groups of armed Hutus to kill Tutsis,” federal prosecutors said in a statement Thursday, following the unsealing of an indictment issued Tuesday. “He is alleged to have set up roadblocks during the genocide to detain and kill Tutsis and to have participated in killings. According to court filings, Nsabumukunzi was subsequently convicted in absentia by a Rwandan court for genocide.”He is charged with immigration fraud for neglecting to mention his alleged roles in the bloodshed on his application for permanent residency and his subsequent citizenship paperwork.Nsabumukunzi, who entered a not guilty plea and was released on $250,000 bail according to a court source, faces up to 30 years imprisonment if convicted.His bond was put up by a private equity executive on Long Island who employed Nsabumukunzi as a gardener, the source added.Nsabumukunzi was profiled in a 2006 article by The New York Times which highlighted his plight moving between refugee camps for a decade before seeking political asylum with his family in 2004.It also highlighted his experiences as a beekeeper and how he came into contact with a honey producer in the exclusive Hamptons community on Long Island, New York.The article reports that he lost 200 relatives to the violence that devastated the African nation.”The depraved conduct of which the defendant is accused represent the worst of humanity,” said acting special agent in charge Darren McCormack.