AFP USA

Shares of Microsoft spiked Thursday following blowout quarterly results, lifting the tech giant into the previously unprecedented $4 trillion club along with Nvidia, another artificial intelligence standout.The landmark valuation is the latest sign of growing bullishness about an AI investment boom that market watchers believe is still in the early stages — even as companies like Microsoft plan $100 billion or more in annual capital spending to add new capacity.Microsoft reported profit of $27.2 billion on revenue of $76.4 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, capping another year of growth amid massive customer interest in the company’s cutting-edge AI capacity.Shortly after midday, Microsoft shares were up 4.3 percent, giving it a market capitalization slightly under $4 trillion after earlier eclipsing the benchmark.”Cloud and AI is the driving force of business transformation across every industry and sector,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We’re innovating across the tech stack to help customers adapt and grow in this new era.”The results drew plaudits from Wall Street analysts on an earnings conference call at which Nadella boasted that the company had opened new data centers across six continents in the last year and touted major contracts for global companies like Nestle and Barclays.Microsoft was one of the first tech giants to double down on artificial intelligence when the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 rocked the tech industry. Microsoft has had a strategic partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI since 2019, holding rights to its intellectual property.At the heart of the results was a stunning 39 percent surge in Azure, the company’s legacy cloud computing platform, which is getting “supercharged” with AI, said Angelo Zino, technology analyst at CFRA Research.Zino attributed “just about all of” Microsoft’s recent surge in valuation to AI.- Legacy businesses -While Nvidia is part of a wave of tech companies that have risen to prominence with the AI boom of the last few years, Microsoft has long been among America’s corporate elite, joining the prestigious Dow index in 1999, more than a decade after introducing the once-revolutionary Windows program.The company’s revenue base includes such workplace mainstays as the Outlook email platform and the LinkedIn career website. Microsoft also has a significant gaming division with the Xbox console.All of these businesses are set to benefit from Microsoft’s AI advantages.”We view (Microsoft) as kind of the enterprise king,” said Zino. “What AI does is it provides new growth opportunities for this company.”For all of fiscal 2025, Microsoft reported revenues of $281.7 billion, up 15 percent from the prior year. Microsoft’s revenues have more than doubled from 2018, when they were $110.4 billion.Zino thinks Microsoft is poised for a comparable run over the next six or seven years when it could see annual revenue growth of 10 percent as greater use of AI creates even more opportunity.The biggest risk to this outlook — and to the AI boom generally — would be “if we get to the point where supply for AI exceeds demand,” Zino said. “That could put pressure on pricing for cloud computing and space.”

Investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence kept Wall Street buoyant Thursday as Microsoft surfed a tech wave to pass $4 trillion in market value even as traders weighed Federal Reserve rates caution.US tariffs and a Fed decision Wednesday to hold rates steady as inflation stays stubbornly high in the United States could not dampen down the bulls piling into tech.Shares of Microsoft vaulted around five percent after it reported $27.2 billion in quarterly profits as it touted massive investments in AI, joining fellow AI star Nvidia in leaping the $4 trillion value barrier.Just over two hours into trading, Wall Street had lost a smidgin of its earlier momentum as the Dow was flat while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index had added 0.8 percent as the broader S&P 500 rose around half of one percent.Europe was sluggish, meanwhile, London sliding just into the red by the close while eurozone indices Paris and Frankfurt both lost around one percent.  “As Wall Street braces for a slew of further tech earnings and key economic data releases, volatility looks set to rise — particularly with the looming tariff deadline tomorrow, on 1st August, casting a shadow over sentiment,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst with FOREX.comAhead of US jobs data Friday, focus was on company earnings, with Microsoft and Facebook owner Meta posting better-than-expected earnings, the latter seeing its shares soar 12 percent.With US rates on pause for now, “often, that might have been enough to send traders scurrying for cover — but strong earnings results from some of the leading US tech companies have kept sentiment strong, allowing markets to make new gains this morning,” said Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown.The latest developments on the tariffs front saw US President Donald Trump announce a deal that sees 15 percent levies on South Korean goods and a commitment from Seoul to invest $350 billion in the United States.The president Thursday said his sweeping tariffs were making the US “great & rich again”.Earlier, he revealed India would face 25-percent tolls, coupled with an unspecified penalty over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian weapons and energy.Trump has also signed an executive order implementing an additional tax on Brazilian products, as he lambasts what he calls Brazil’s “witch hunt” against his far-right ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, on coup charges.Traders are keeping tabs on talks with other countries that are yet to sign deals with Washington ahead of Trump’s self-imposed Friday deadline.After a broadly negative session Wednesday on Wall Street, Asian markets struggled.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Manila, Wellington and Jakarta closed lower, while Tokyo, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok climbed.The yen retreated against the dollar after the Bank of Japan decided against hiking interest rates, while lifting economic growth and inflation costs. – Key figures at around 1545 GMT -New York – Dow: FLAT at 44,434.37 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.7 percent at 6,390.88New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.3 percent at 21,307.73London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 9,132.81 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.1 percent at 7,771.97 (close) Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.8 percent at 24,065.47 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent at 41,069.82 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.6 percent at 24,773.33 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,573.21 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1435 from $1.1409 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3220 from $1.3239Dollar/yen: UP at 150.58 yen from 149.50 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.46 pence from 86.15 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $68.72 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $72.43burs-bcp/ajb/cw/kjm

A former US Air Force sergeant who killed his wife and two young children is to be executed by lethal injection in the southern state of Florida on Thursday.Edward Zakrzewski, 60, pleaded guilty to the June 1994 murders of his wife, Sylvia, son Edward, 7, and daughter, Anna, 5.His wife was beaten with a crowbar, strangled with a rope and struck with a machete.The two children were hacked to death with the machete, which Zakrzewski had purchased during his lunch break after being informed that his wife planned to divorce him.Zakrzewski fled to Hawaii and changed his name following the murders but turned himself in four months later after being identified by friends on a television show called “Unsolved Mysteries.”Zakrzewski is to be executed at 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) at the Florida State Prison in Raiford.There have been 26 executions in the United States this year, the most since the 28 executions of 2015.Twenty-one have been carried out by lethal injection, two have been by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.Florida has carried out the most executions in 2025 — eight.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.”

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the sweeping tariffs he has imposed on nations around the world were making the country “great & rich again” as governments raced to strike deals with Washington less than 24 hours before an August 1 deadline.”Tariffs are making America GREAT & RICH Again,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.”ONE YEAR AGO, AMERICA WAS A DEAD COUNTRY, NOW IT IS THE “HOTTEST” COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” he added.A day earlier, the US President imposed new tariffs to punish or favor several major trading partners — the latest round of sweeping measures that have roiled markets around the world.South Korea squeezed in at the last moment, securing agreement on a 15 percent tariff for exports to the United States — significantly below the 25 percent that Trump had earlier threatened to introduce.But Trump also announced crippling 50 percent tariffs on Brazil and a 25 percent levy on Indian exports, while warning Canada it would face trade repercussions for planning to recognize a Palestinian state.The 15 percent rate on Seoul — Washington’s key security ally — was equivalent to levies determined from US trade deals with Japan and the European Union.He added that South Korea had committed to investing $350 billion in the United States, as well as the purchase of “$100 billion worth” of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other energy sources.Seoul’s presidential office said tariffs on automobiles — one of Seoul’s key exports — would also stay at 15 percent. Trump hit Brazil with high tariffs as well as sanctions against the judge overseeing a trial of his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting a coup in Latin America’s biggest economy.But he delayed its implementation from Friday to August 6, and crucially exempted many products from the prohibitive levy, including orange juice, civil aircraft, iron ore and some energy products.- Canada trade threat -He had threatened to wield US economic might to punish Brazil — and its Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, in particular — for what he has termed a “witch hunt” against former president Bolsonaro.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would defend “the sovereignty of the Brazilian people in the face of measures announced by the president of the United States.”Among Trump’s latest announcements were a 25 percent duty on Indian goods to begin Friday — slightly lower than previously threatened — after talks between Washington and New Delhi failed to bring about a trade pact.India would face an unspecified “penalty” over purchases of Russian weapons and energy as well, Trump said.”I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.”We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” he added.Canada’s trade relations with the United States also came under threat after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.”Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”- ‘Big day for America’ -He also signed an order Wednesday to impose previously threatened 50 percent tariffs on certain copper products and end a tariff exemption for low-value shipments from abroad.It left out products like copper ores, concentrates and cathodes, bringing some relief to industry.As Trump’s deal deadline neared, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that Washington had struck trade deals with Cambodia and Thailand, but provided no details of the accords.The US tariff hikes due Friday were initially announced in April as part of a package in which Trump slapped a minimum 10 percent levy on goods from almost all trading partners — citing unfair trade practices.This rate was set to rise to varying levels for dozens of economies such as the European Union, Japan and others, but Washington twice postponed their implementation as financial markets gyrated.The US leader insisted Wednesday that the August 1 deadline “will not be extended” any further.So far, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, the EU and South Korea have reached initial deals with Washington to secure less punishing conditions.While the United States and China earlier slapped escalating tariffs on each other’s products, both sides are working to further a truce maintaining duties at lower levels.Although Trump has promised a surge in government revenues from his duties, economists warn that higher tariffs can fuel an uptick in inflation and weigh on economic growth.

US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs to punish or favor major trading partners Wednesday, as governments raced to strike deals with Washington less than 24 hours before an August 1 deadline.South Korea squeezed in at the last moment, securing agreement on a 15 percent tariff for exports to the United States — significantly below the 25 percent that Trump had earlier threatened to introduce.But Trump also announced crippling 50 percent tariffs on Brazil and a 25 percent levy on Indian exports, while warning Canada it would face trade repercussions for planning to recognize a Palestinian state.The 15 percent rate on Seoul — Washington’s key security ally — was equivalent to levies determined from US trade deals with Japan and the European Union.An additional unspecified “large sum of money” will be invested by South Korea in the United States, the American leader said.Seoul’s presidential office said tariffs on automobiles — one of Seoul’s key exports — would also stay at 15 percent. Trump hit Brazil with high tariffs as well as sanctions against the judge overseeing a trial of his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting a coup in Latin America’s biggest economy.But he delayed its implementation from Friday to August 6, and crucially exempted many products from the prohibitive levy, including orange juice, civil aircraft, iron ore and some energy products.- Canada trade threat -He had threatened to wield US economic might to punish Brazil — and its Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, in particular — for what he has termed a “witch hunt” against former president Bolsonaro.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would defend “the sovereignty of the Brazilian people in the face of measures announced by the president of the United States.”Among Trump’s latest announcements were a 25 percent duty on Indian goods to begin Friday — slightly lower than previously threatened — after talks between Washington and New Delhi failed to bring about a trade pact.India would face an unspecified “penalty” over purchases of Russian weapons and energy as well, Trump said.”I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.”We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” he added.Canada’s trade relations with the United States also came under threat after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.”Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”- ‘Big day for America’ -He also signed an order Wednesday to impose previously threatened 50 percent tariffs on certain copper products and end a tariff exemption for low-value shipments from abroad.It left out products like copper ores, concentrates and cathodes, bringing some relief to industry.As Trump’s deal deadline neared, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that Washington had struck trade deals with Cambodia and Thailand, but provided no details of the accords.The US tariff hikes due Friday were initially announced in April as part of a package in which Trump slapped a minimum 10 percent levy on goods from almost all trading partners — citing unfair trade practices.This rate was set to rise to varying levels for dozens of economies such as the European Union, Japan and others, but Washington twice postponed their implementation as financial markets gyrated.The US leader insisted Wednesday that the August 1 deadline “will not be extended” any further.In a Truth Social post, he vowed that this would be “a big day for America.”So far, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, the EU and South Korea have reached initial deals with Washington to secure less punishing conditions.While the United States and China earlier slapped escalating tariffs on each other’s products, both sides are working to further a truce maintaining duties at lower levels.Although Trump has promised a surge in government revenues from his duties, economists warn that higher tariffs can fuel an uptick in inflation and weigh on economic growth. This could change consumption patterns.Already, consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate that is the highest since the 1930s, according to a recent analysis by The Budget Lab at Yale University.The effect on consumer prices has been limited so far. But analysts cautioned this could become more pronounced as businesses run down on existing inventory and pass on more costs to buyers.

Chinese authorities summoned Nvidia representatives on Thursday to discuss “serious security issues” over some of its artificial intelligence chips, as the US tech giant finds itself entangled in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.Nvidia is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, but the United States effectively restricts which chips it can export to China on national security grounds.A key issue has been Chinese access to the “H20”, a less powerful version of Nvidia’s AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China.The California-based firm said this month it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports.But the firm still faces obstacles — US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities.And Beijing’s top internet regulator said Thursday it had summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss recently discovered “serious security issues” involving the H20.The Cyberspace Administration of China said it had asked Nvidia to “explain the security risks of vulnerabilities and backdoors in its H20 chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials”.The statement posted on social media noted that, according to US experts, location tracking and remote shutdown technologies for Nvidia chips “are already matured”.The announcement marked the latest complication for Nvidia in selling its advanced products in the key Chinese market, where it is in increasingly fierce competition with homegrown technology firms.- Nvidia committed -CEO Jensen Huang said during a closely watched visit to Beijing this month that his firm remained committed to serving local customers.Huang said he had been assured during talks with top Chinese officials during the trip that the country was “open and stable”.”They want to know that Nvidia continues to invest here, that we are still doing our best to serve the market here,” he said.Nvidia this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value — a new milestone in Wall Street’s bet that AI will transform the global economy.Jost Wubbeke of the Sinolytics consultancy told AFP the move by China to summon Nvidia was “not surprising in the sense that targeting individual US companies has become a common tool in the context of US-China tensions”.”What is surprising, however, is the timing,” he noted, after the two countries agreed to further talks to extend their trade truce.”China’s action may signal a shift toward a more assertive stance,” Wubbeke said.Beijing is also aiming to reduce reliance on foreign tech by promoting Huawei’s domestically developed 910C chip as an alternative to the H20, he added.”From that perspective, the US decision to allow renewed exports of the H20 to China could be seen as counterproductive, as it might tempt Chinese hyperscalers to revert to the H20, potentially undermining momentum behind the 910C and other domestic alternatives.”New hurdles to Nvidia’s operation in China come as the country’s economy wavers, beset by a years-long property sector crisis and heightened trade headwinds under US President Donald Trump.Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the country to enhance self-reliance in certain areas deemed vital for national security — including AI and semiconductors — as tensions with Washington mount.The country’s firms have made great strides in recent years, with Huang praising their “super-fast” innovation during his visit to Beijing this month.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the United States will impose a 15 percent tariff on imports from South Korea, as he touted a “full and complete trade deal” between the two countries.”South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding that the country would buy $100 billion in liquefied natural gas or other energy products.The 15 percent rate is below a 25 percent tariff that Trump had threatened earlier, and was equivalent to deals with Japan and the European Union.Trump added that an additional unspecified “large sum of money” will be invested by Seoul.”This sum will be announced within the next two weeks when the President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, comes to the White House for a Bilateral Meeting,” Trump said, offering congratulations to his South Korean counterpart for his “electoral success.”South Korea’s Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Seoul’s commitment to help the United States revive its shipbuilding industry was instrumental in reaching the deal.”I believe MASGA made the greatest contribution to reaching today’s agreement,” Koo said at a news conference in Washington, referring to the “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” proposal.”Our world-class shipbuilding companies, equipped with the highest level of ship design and construction capabilities, are expected to help revive the US shipbuilding industry,” he said.Shares in South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, which owns a shipyard in Philadelphia, soared more than 15 percent Thursday. The leaders’ White House meeting will be their first since Lee assumed the presidency in June.In a statement on Facebook, Lee called the deal “the first major trade challenge” since his administration took power, adding: “We have overcome a major hurdle.””Through this deal, the government has eliminated uncertainty surrounding export conditions and ensured that US tariffs on our exports are either lower than or equal to those imposed on our major trade competitors.”- Mixed reaction -Lee was elected in a snap vote last month following the impeachment of predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol over his disastrous martial law declaration in December.The deal marks an early victory for Lee’s tenure as head of the export-reliant economy, Asia’s fourth biggest.”This agreement represents the convergence of US interests in revitalizing its manufacturing sector and our determination to strengthen Korean companies’ competitiveness in the American market,” Lee’s statement continued.But there were mixed reactions in South Korea. Its six major business associations, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce, said in a joint statement: “We view this agreement as a critical milestone that will not only ease trade-related uncertainties but also pave the way for a significant strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries.”With much of the external uncertainty now resolved, the Korean business community will redouble efforts to boost domestic investment and job creation.”But a handful of civic groups, including farmers and labour organisations, protested at the US Embassy in central Seoul, opposing “Trump’s madman strategy.” Demonstrators held signs reading “No Trump! No King!” and pointed out that there may be additional negotiations when Lee meets Trump.”Trump’s actions amount to excessive interference in our domestic affairs,” said Park Sung-hoon, head of the Korean Apple Growers Association.Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff on trading partners — with extra rates for dozens of economies set for August 1 — alongside steeper tolls on steel, aluminium and autos.News of the deal with South Korea came as Trump on Wednesday imposed 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods and 50 percent on those from Brazil.

For over a month, Alberto has hardly dared to leave the small room he rents in someone’s backyard for fear of encountering the masked police who have been rounding up immigrants in Los Angeles.”It’s terrible,” sighed the 60-year-old Salvadoran, who does not have a US visa.”It’s a confinement I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.” To survive, Alberto — AFP agreed to use a pseudonym — relies on an organization that delivers food to him twice a week.”It helps me a lot, because if I don’t have this… how will I eat?” said Alberto, who has not been to his job at a car wash for weeks.The sudden intensification of immigration enforcement activity in Los Angeles in early June saw scores of people — mostly Latinos — arrested at car washes, hardware stores, on farms and even in the street.Videos circulating on social media showed masked and heavily armed men pouncing on people who they claimed were hardened criminals.However, critics of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweeps say those snatched were only trying to earn a meagre wage in jobs that many Americans don’t want to do.The raids — slammed as brutal and seemingly arbitrary — sparked a wave of demonstrations that gripped the city for weeks, including some that spiraled into violence and vandalism.Alberto decided to hole up in his room after one such raid on a car wash in which some of his friends were arrested, and subsequently deported.Despite being pre-diabetic, he is hesitant to attend an upcoming medical appointment. His only breath of fresh air is pacing the private alley in front of his home. “I’m very stressed. I have headaches and body pain because I was used to working,” he said. In 15 years in the United States, Trump’s second term has turned out to be “worse than anything” for him. – ‘Ghost town’ – Trump’s immigration offensive was a major feature of his re-election campaign, even winning the favor of some voters in liberal Los Angeles.But its ferocity, in a place that is home to hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers, has taken the city by surprise.Faced with mounting raids, migrants are limiting their movement as much as possible. In June, the use of the public transportation system — a key network for the city’s poorer residents — dropped by 13.5 percent compared to the previous month. “As you’re driving through certain neighborhoods, it looks like a ghost town sometimes,” said Norma Fajardo, from the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, a non-profit organization that supports these workers. It has joined forces with other groups to deliver hundreds of bags of food every week to those afraid to step outside.”There is a huge need for this,” said the 37-year-old American.”It’s very saddening and infuriating. Workers should be able to go to work and not fear getting kidnapped.”In June, ICE agents arrested over 2,200 people in the Los Angeles area, according to internal documents analyzed by AFP. About 60 percent of them had no criminal record. Given the colossal resources recently allocated to ICE by Congress — nearly $30 billion to bolster immigration enforcement, including funding to recruit 10,000 additional agents — Fajardo says she is not expecting any let up.- ‘New normal’ – “It seems like this is the new normal,” she sighed.”When we first heard of an ICE raid at a car wash, we were in emergency crisis mode. Now we are just really accepting that we need to plan for the long term.”Food assistance has also become essential for Marisol, a Honduran woman who has been confined to her building for weeks with 12 family members.”We constantly thank God (for the food deliveries) because this has been a huge relief,” says the 62-year-old Catholic, who has not attended Mass in weeks.Marisol — not her real name — has hung up curtains on the windows at her home entrance to block any view from outside.She forbids her grandchildren from opening the door and worries enormously when her daughters venture out to work a few hours to provide for the family’s needs.”Every time they go out, I pray to God that they come back, because you never know what might happen,” she said. Marisol and her family fled a Honduran crime gang 15 years ago because they wanted to forcibly recruit her children.Now, some of them wonder if it’s worth continuing to live in the United States. “My sons have already said to me: ‘Mom, sometimes I would prefer to go to Europe.'” 

The issue of academic research on the Middle East has become a political flashpoint in the United States, where critics of Israel allege a “Palestine exception” exists when it comes to free speech rights.Case in point, recently a special edition of the prestigious Harvard Educational Review (HER) was in the works, entirely dedicated to the hot-button issue of the Palestinians — the articles had been painstakingly written, edited and approved.But authors said they received an unusual demand for a final readout by lawyers, which soon derailed their efforts.The publisher’s stunning late-stage decision to scrap the entire edition reflects the overheated political climate in the US where academic research on the Middle East has attracted accusations of so-called “wokeism” and “anti-Semitism” from President Donald Trump, as conflict rages in the region.The edition began taking shape when, in March 2024 — six months after the deadly October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the Israeli reprisals in the Gaza Strip — the renowned Harvard publication called for papers for a special issue on “Education and Palestine.” Anthropologist Thea Abu El-Haj and her colleagues submitted a paper on “scholasticide,” a term describing the destruction of an education system, like in Gaza, with reference to the experience of Palestinian teachers during the Lebanese Civil War between 1975 and 1990.But then the authors received phone calls informing them that the text would have to be submitted to Harvard’s Office of the General Counsel for a “risk assessment.””I have been publishing for decades in academic journals — including HER twice –and I have never been asked for this kind of review,” said El-Haj, a professor at Columbia University’s Barnard College.After the authors objected to “censorship,” the director of Harvard Education Press Jessica Fiorillo, told the authors the special issue had been cancelled in its entirety. – ‘Censorship’? -Fiorillo denied “censorship” in a memo to the authors, seen by AFP, blaming inadequate review because the editors insisted on limiting the publisher’s involvement to copyediting — without touching the “politically charged content.” “The only explanation that makes sense to me is that this is another instance of what has been called the ‘Palestine exception’ to free speech,” said El-Haj, accusing Harvard of not upholding free speech while proclaiming to champion it amid its fight with Trump.Since returning to power, Trump has accused prestigious US universities of anti-Semitism for failing to protect Jewish students during protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.In an escalating war of attrition against Harvard, Trump sought to cut more than $2.6 billion of funding to the Ivy League university, while seeking to block entry of international students — a quarter of its enrollment.Harvard said it had strengthened measures to protect Jewish and Israeli students while fighting the government’s measures in court. “The chilling climate for scholarly inquiry about Palestine at Harvard (and beyond) has been difficult for some time. Faculty, staff, and students have understandably felt a generalized cloud of fear and anxiety,” Margaret Litvin, an Arabic literature professor at Boston University, told AFP.At the start of the year, Harvard also adopted a definition of anti-Semitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).That definition is contested, however, as critics argue it may prevent criticism of Israel. That distinction appears to be at the heart of the furor over the “education and Palestine” edition of the HER, said Chandni Desai, a University of Toronto professor, who was supposed to pen an article for the journal. Harvard University did not comment. The submitted articles would “likely fail” to have passed the IHRA definition test because “all the pieces are critical of Israel,” Desai said.”We’ve never seen an entire special issue collection being canceled — especially after… contracts have been signed and reviews and revisions done.”

Time is running short for governments to strike deals with Washington to avert tariff hikes that Donald Trump has vowed against dozens of economies — and the US president continues to expand his trade wars.As the clock ticked down on a Friday deadline for higher levies to take effect on goods from various trading partners, Trump announced a trade deal with South Korea and separate duties on Brazilian and Indian imports.He also signed an order Wednesday to impose previously-threatened 50 percent tariffs on certain copper products and end a tariff exemption for low-value shipments from abroad.The tariff hikes due Friday were initially announced in April as part of a package where Trump slapped a 10 percent levy on goods from almost all trading partners — citing unfair trade practices.This rate was set to rise to varying levels for dozens of economies like the European Union, Japan and others, but Washington twice postponed their implementation as financial markets gyrated.So far, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, the EU and South Korea have reached initial deals with Washington to secure less punishing conditions.While the United States and China earlier slapped escalating tariffs on each other’s products, both sides are working to further a truce maintaining duties at lower levels.- ‘Big day’ -But Trump has been pushing ahead in his efforts to reshape global trade. The US leader insisted Wednesday that the August 1 deadline “will not be extended” any further.In a Truth Social post, he vowed that this would be “a big day for America.”Although Trump has promised a surge in government revenues from his duties, economists warn that higher tariffs can fuel an uptick in inflation and weigh on economic growth. This could change consumption patterns.Already, consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate that is the highest since the 1930s, according to a recent analysis by The Budget Lab at Yale University.The effect on consumer prices has been limited so far. But analysts cautioned this could become more pronounced as businesses run down on existing inventory and pass on more costs to buyers.- Tariff blitz, delays -Among Trump’s latest announcements were a 25 percent duty on Indian goods to begin Friday — slightly lower than previously threatened — after talks between Washington and New Delhi failed to bring about a trade pact.India would face an unspecified “penalty” over purchases of Russian weapons and energy as well, Trump said.He also unveiled a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods, saying its government’s policies and actions threaten US national security.But he delayed its implementation from Friday to August 6 and crucially exempted many products from the prohibitive levy, including orange juice, civil aircraft, iron ore and some energy products.Trump inked an order too for a 50 percent tariff to kick in Friday on goods like copper pipes and wiring, making good on an earlier vow to impose these duties.But the levy, which came after a Commerce Department probe on national security grounds, was less sweeping than anticipated.It left out products like copper ores, concentrates and cathodes, bringing some relief to industry.Meanwhile, Seoul landed a deal with Trump in which South Korean products would face a 15 percent tariff when entering the United States — significantly below a 25 percent level threatened.