Disney suspends Venezuelan workers after protected status revoked


By AFP
May 22, 2025


Disney has said the Venezuelan employees will be on leave without pay but with benefits 'to ensure they are not in violation of the law' - Copyright AFP FABRICE COFFRINI

Entertainment giant Disney has placed at least 45 Venezuelan employees on unpaid leave, the company told AFP Thursday, following the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow the revocation of a special legal status that shielded them from deportation.

Shortly after returning to office, President Donald Trump revoked temporary protected status (TPS) for Venezuelan nationals, which shields foreign citizens from deportation who cannot safely return home — affecting about 350,000 people.

The US Supreme Court has allowed that revocation to stand pending an appeal in a lower court.

“As we sort out the complexities of this situation, we have placed affected employees on leave with benefits to ensure they are not in violation of the law,” a spokesperson for Disney said in a statement, however noting the leave is “unpaid.”

“We are committed to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of all our employees who may be navigating changing immigration policies and how they could impact them or their families,” the statement added.

The entertainment giant informed workers placed on leave that their employment will be terminated if they do not find an alternate work permit within 30 days, according to the Miami Herald.

It was not immediately clear where all of the employees worked, but the newspaper said it had spoken to several who work at Disney World in Orlando.

One Venezuelan Disney employee, a woman in her 40s, told the Herald she was “very distressed” by the suspension.

“We have bills, we just renewed our apartment lease, my son goes to college,” she told the publication.

Former president Joe Biden had extended TPS for Venezuelans for 18 months just days before Trump returned to the White House in January, citing ongoing crises in the South American country under longtime ruler Nicolas Maduro.

But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to revoke the protections, leading to the ensuing court battle.

State Dept says Chevron must leave Venezuela, even as American freed

By AFP
May 22, 2025


Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Chevron must wrap up operations in Venezuela, without exception - Copyright AFP/File 

Pedro MATTEY

The US State Department said Thursday that Chevron must wrap up operations in Venezuela next week as scheduled, contradicting an envoy who told a podcast differently after Caracas freed an American.

President Donald Trump’s administration has canceled an exemption in sanctions on Venezuela, run by leftist Nicolas Maduro, that had been granted by former president Joe Biden under a previous deal.

Ric Grenell, a Trump loyalist who holds a broad role of “special presidential envoy for special missions,” on Tuesday flew back to the United States with a freed US military veteran, Joe St. Clair, who had been detained in Venezuela since November.

Grenell, who secured St. Clair’s release in talks in Antigua, said after his return to Washington that Trump believed in “engagement.”

Asked in an interview with pro-Trump media personality Steve Bannon about Chevron, Grenell said, “President Trump authorized that extension if we were able to get some progress, if we were able to build some confidence.”

“We were able to do that today. So that extension will be granted,” Grenell told Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.

“We want to put America first and do what’s best for America. That means making sure that the Chinese do not take the Venezuelan oil,” he said.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security advisor, promptly wrote on X late Wednesday: “The pro-Maduro Biden oil license in Venezuela will expire as scheduled next Tuesday May 27th.”

Asked about the contradicting messages, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Rubio was “making it clear that that license is going to expire.”

“There’s no confusion. I think many people, on every issue, can have a lot of opinions, but I think clearly who we look to are the people who have the power to have the impact and who make the decision,” Bruce said.

Rubio, a Cuban-American and former senator from Florida, is a vociferous opponent of Latin American leftists including in Venezuela and Cuba.

Maduro is angling to sweep power in parliamentary and regional elections on Sunday, 10 months after his disputed re-election. Only a handful of countries, including longtime allies Russia and Cuba, have recognized the 62-year-old’s presidency.

Grenell, early in Trump’s term, traveled to Venezuela which agreed to send planes to bring back undocumented migrants, a key Trump priority.

The deal drew outrage from Florida Republicans in the narrowly divided House of Representatives who instead want more robust support for Venezuela’s democratic opposition.

President vows oil won’t threaten Suriname’s carbon negative status


By AFP

May 23, 2025


Suriname President Chan Santokhi spoke to AFP in the capital Paramaribo - Copyright AFP Juan BARRETO
Laurent ABADIE

Suriname President Chan Santokhi has vowed days ahead of elections that his country will maintain its rare status as a carbon negative nation, despite plans to exploit massive oil reserves.

Voters head to the polls on Sunday to decide who will oversee output from recently discovered offshore crude deposits, which have the potential to transform South America’s smallest nation.

There will be “a huge amount of income for the country” once drilling gets underway in 2028, Santokhi told AFP in an exclusive interview.

“That money will be used for the transition towards the green energy which we need, also because we know the fossil (fuel) energy is limited. It will be gone after 40 years,” he said Thursday in the capital Paramaribo.

Suriname is rich in biodiversity and 90 percent of its territory is covered by the Amazon rainforest, allowing the country to absorb more carbon pollution than it gives off.

Santokhi pledged to “protect our forests” and vowed “we will remain carbon negative” despite the oil output.

“It’s possible that we can increase the (oil) production based on high tech, based on modern technology, based on limiting the emission and to stay carbon negative,” he said.

Experts say Suriname stands to make billions of dollars in the next 10 to 20 years from exploiting its oil reserves.

The country is battling high debt, rampant inflation, and poverty affecting nearly one in five of its 600,000 residents according to the World Bank.

While it emerges from its long economic crisis, voters are tasked with picking 51 lawmakers on Sunday before parliament decides on the next president.

Santokhi is eligible for a second term but pollsters are not choosing a favorite, with no single party clearly in the lead.

Fears for crops as drought hits northern Europe


By AFP
May 23, 2025


A combine harvest in Lincolnshire, eastern England, as Britain suffers its driest spring in over a century - Copyright AFP Mohd RASFAN

Ambre BERTOCCHI with AFP bureaus

Parts of northern Europe have seen their worst drought in decades in recent weeks, with farmers from Scotland to the Netherlands fearing the dry spell will dent harvests if it continues.

Water shortages can stunt the growth of crops such as wheat, corn, rapeseed and barley, Nicolas Guilpart, a lecturer in agronomy at the Agro Paris Tech research institute, told AFP.

Countries including France, Belgium, Britain and Germany have seen much lower levels of rainfall than usual in some areas this spring, leaving the soil parched and dusty.

The unusually dry weather has already delayed the life cycle of crops that would normally have sprouted by now.

Luke Abblitt, a farmer in eastern England, said he was “praying for the rain” as Britain suffers its driest spring in well over a century.

The weather is going from “one extreme to the other,” he told AFP.

“We’re having a lot of rain in the wintertime, not so much rain in the spring or summer time,” he said. “We need to adapt our cultivation methods, look at different varieties, different cropping possibly to combat these adverse weather conditions.”

According to the Environment Agency, levels in Britain’s reservoirs have fallen to “exceptionally low”.

Some farmers have begun irrigating their crops earlier than usual, the National Farmers’ Union said, calling for investments to improve water storage and collection systems.



– High sun levels –



In the Netherlands, it has not been this dry since records began in 1906, and Germany’s environment minister warned in April of a high risk of forest fires and poor harvests due to a “worrying” lack of rain.

From February 1 to April 13, Germany saw 40 litres of rainfall per square metre, the its lowest level since records began in 1931, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

And in early May, the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) warned that the previous three months had been exceptionally dry, with just 63 millimetres of rainfall.

Since 1874, there have only been seven times when less rain fell during the period from February to April, it said.

Denmark has also seen above-average temperatures for the time of year.

The country’s drought index, which runs on a scale of one to 10, has been above nine since May 15, the first time this has happened so early in the year since the index was established in 2005.

The Federation of Swedish Farmers said it was “too early to say what the impact on farming will be this summer” but advised farmers to go over their water planning.



– Irrigation –



In France, groundwater levels remain satisfactory but plants need surface water to grow — and that means rain.

Northern France has been on drought alert since Monday after seeing the same rainfall between February and early May as it would normally see in a month.

Strong northeast winds have also dried out the soil, with farmers increasingly turning to irrigation.

Between March and May, the village of Beuvry-la-Foret saw eight times less rain than during the same period last year.

Chicory farmer Sebastien De Coninck told AFP that until five years ago, “irrigation was not even considered in the north” — but these days it can as much as double crop production.

Irrigation can help compensate for low rainfall, Guilpart said, but “you need the resources to do it”.

Water for irrigation is primarily obtained from surface water such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs or from groundwater using wells and aquifers.

In France, air temperatures have also been warmer than usual, meaning plants need more water from the soil.

The dry spell in northern Europe contrasts with southern Europe, including Spain and Portugal, where rainfall has been up to twice the usual amount for the time of year.

France’s TotalEnergies to face court in June in ‘greenwashing’ case


By AFP
May 23, 2025


Three environmental groups have accused the French energy giant of 'misleading commercial practices' - Copyright AFP Jim WATSON

TotalEnergies will face a Paris civil court in June over allegations it made false advertisements about its climate pledges — an unprecedented case in France against a major fossil fuel company, activists said Friday.

The case stems from a March 2022 lawsuit by three environmental groups accusing the French energy giant of “misleading commercial practices” for saying it could reach carbon neutrality while continuing oil and gas production.

The company “should not be allowed to promote these claims to consumers, which are contrary to reality”, said Greenpeace France, Friends of the Earth France and Notre Affaire a Tous on Friday.

“Its strategy to expand fossil fuel production is clearly at odds with the science-based imperative to rapidly and significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce fossil fuel use,” the groups added.

The environmental organisations demanded that the court order “the immediate cessation… of misleading commercial practices”, said Greenpeace legal director Apolline Cagnat, a ruling that could have major implications for companies’ climate pledges.

TotalEnergies pushed back against the allegations, saying “its role in the energy transition is reliable and based on objective, verifiable data”.

Without clear standards, companies have promoted their environmental policies using vague terms like “green” or “sustainable” in a practice activists call “greenwashing”.

Environmental groups in recent years have turned to the courts to establish case law on companies misleading consumers by appearing more eco-friendly than they are.

In Europe, courts ruled against Dutch airline KLM in 2024 and Germany’s Lufthansa in March over misleading consumers about their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of flying.

Starting in May 2021, TotalEnergies advertised its goal of “carbon neutrality by 2050” and touted gas as “the fossil fuel with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions”.

The company, which was holding its annual shareholder meeting in Paris on Friday, said oil and gas are needed to meet global energy demand but insists it is “becoming the most committed major company to the energy transition”.

Paris police pushed back environmental activists from Extinction Rebellion Friday morning after they tried to enter the headquarters of BNP Paribas, accusing the bank of funding fossil fuels through its ties with TotalEnergies.

The proceedings against the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas company are unprecedented in France, according to Greenpeace.

The court will rule “on whether advertising gas as essential to the energy transition is legal, despite concern over its climate impact”, said the group.

A greenwashing case against Australian oil and gas producer Santos, challenging its claim to be a “clean fuels” company, has been ongoing since 2021.

California’s electric car drive put on blocks by US Senate


By AFP
May 22, 2025


US President Donald Trump has helped Tesla CEO Elon Musk -- a former close aide -- promote his company from the White House - Copyright AFP/File Mandel NGAN

US senators on Thursday blocked California’s landmark mandate phasing out gas-powered cars, dealing a blow to the state’s move towards electric vehicles in a pointed rebuke of Democratic climate change policies.

The Republican-led Senate revoked a waiver instituted under then-president Joe Biden that allowed the Golden State to set aside national pollution standards for cars and set its own more stringent regulations.

But the Senate’s rubber stamp of a House-passed bill is likely to be challenged in court, setting up a battle royale between California’s left-leaning government and President Donald Trump.

California Governor Gavin Newsom warned Trump’s Republicans ahead of the vote against action that would “cede American car-industry dominance to China and clog the lungs of our children.”

The West Coast state’s San Joaquin Valley and its biggest city, Los Angeles, historically tolerated persistent smog before decades of efforts to clean up the worst air pollution in the country.

Part of that push was a mandate ensuring that a third of new 2026 model cars sold in the state must be zero-emission, rising to two-thirds in 2030 and 100 percent in 2035.

Republicans in Washington argue that this is costly, unworkable and anathema to consumer choice.

“California got special permission from the Biden administration to ban gas-powered cars. Because of their market share, this would impact the entire nation,” said right-wing Utah Senator Mike Lee.

“But Gavin Newsom doesn’t get to ruin 49 other states.”

Republicans argue that the Congressional Review Act gives them the right to overturn California’s carve-out on a simple majority vote.

But Democrats say Thursday’s move was illegal, as nonpartisan watchdogs including the Government Accountability Office and the Senate Parliamentarian said the CRA could not be applied to waivers.

The Senate has only overruled its parliamentarian a handful of times in since the role was launched in the 1930s.

Trump harshly criticized electric vehicles (EVs) as he sought reelection, despite significant federal funding allocated to projects in Republican districts, where thousands of jobs are expected to be created.

He took aim at the sector as part of his flurry of executive orders on his first day in office in a bid to ensure what he called a “level” playing field for gasoline-powered motors.

But he has not been consistent in his opposition — even taking time out of his schedule to promote former right-hand man Elon Musk’s prestige EV company Tesla at the White House.

US EV sales reached 1.3 million units last year, up 7.3 percent from 2023, according to Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book, but automakers have recently scaled back investments, pointing to slowing demand growth.

UPDATED

Federal judge blocks Trump administration from barring foreign student enrolment at Harvard

Harvard said the US government's action came in retaliation for defying its political demands.

By Emma De Ruiter with AP
Published on 23/05/2025 - 

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cutting off Harvard's enrolment of foreign students.

In a lawsuit filed in Boston on Friday, the Ivy League university said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders".

The renowned institution said it had been targeted for defying the White House’s political demands.

Since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, the US government has sought to fundamentally change the country's universities.

“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”

The temporary restraining order was granted by US District Judge Allison Burroughs.

If the Trump administration's decision stands, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.

Graduate schools like the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, would be the worst affected.

Harvard said the White House's move on Thursday puts the school at an immediate disadvantage as it competes for the world's top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government", the lawsuit said.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed on Thursday that it had acted against Harvard because the university had created an unsafe environment for Jewish students by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus.

On 16 April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.

Noem said Harvard could regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces records on foreign students within 72 hours.

Harvard sues Trump administration over ban on enrolling foreign students

 - People walk between buildings, Dec. 17, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Steven Senne/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

By Emma De Ruiter with AP
Published on 23/05/2025 -

Harvard said the US government's action came in retaliation for defying its political demands.

Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration's decision to bar it from enrolling foreign students.

In a lawsuit filed in Boston on Friday, the Ivy League university said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders".

The renowned institution said it had been targeted for defying the White House’s political demands.

Since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, the US government has sought to fundamentally change the country's universities.

“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”

The university also filed a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.



If the Trump administration's decision stands, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.

Graduate schools like the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, would be the worst affected.

Harvard said the White House's move on Thursday puts the school at an immediate disadvantage as it competes for the world's top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government", the lawsuit said.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed on Thursday that it had acted against Harvard because the university had created an unsafe environment for Jewish students by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus.



On 16 April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.

Noem said Harvard could regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces records on foreign students within 72 hours.

Dismayed Chinese students ponder prospects after Trump Harvard ban


By AFP
May 23, 2025


Around 1,300 Chinese students are currently enrolled at Harvard, according to official figures - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Sophie Park

Celia Cazale and Matthew Walsh, with Agatha Cantrill in Shanghai

Dismayed Chinese students feared for their international futures on Friday after US President Donald Trump revoked Harvard University’s right to enrol foreign nationals.

The sharp escalation in Trump’s longstanding feud with the elite Cambridge, Massachusetts-based college came as tensions simmer between Washington and Beijing over trade and other issues.

Around 1,300 Chinese students are currently enrolled at Harvard, according to official figures, and hundreds of thousands more attend other universities in a country long viewed by many in China as a beacon of academic freedom and rigour.

Admissions consultant Xiaofeng Wan, who advises overseas students on getting into top US universities, told AFP he had been on the phone with panicked clients all evening.

“I’ve got questions not only from families but also from school-based college counsellors in China as well, including principals of high schools,” Wan said, speaking by phone from Massachusetts.

“They were all shocked by the news. They could not believe that this actually happened.”

On the streets of Beijing on Friday, budding international students told AFP they feared their scholarly ambitions were now hanging in the balance.

“I’m a bit panicked to be honest,” said Jennifer, who was planning to attend college in the United States this autumn.

While she did not intend to apply to Harvard, “budget cuts and enrollment restrictions affect all universities in the United States, regardless of where you apply”, said the 20-year-old, who declined to give her surname.

Jennifer said she worried Trump’s policies would “affect my chances of getting admitted” to her top choice, Ohio State University, which said last month that the federal government had revoked the visas of at least seven of its international students.

“My classmates and I feel like we don’t have any particularly good solutions to this issue, other than being pessimistic,” she said.

– ‘Sense of panic’ –

Trump has blasted Harvard for refusing to submit to government oversight on admissions and hiring, and has repeatedly claimed it is rife with anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that Thursday’s move would also hold Harvard “accountable for… coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus”, without giving details.

In a swift response, Harvard slammed the revocation as “unlawful”.

China’s foreign ministry was quick to criticise the move on Friday, saying the ban would “only harm the image and international standing of the United States”.

The number of Chinese students at American universities has been declining in recent years but still stood at nearly 280,000 in the 2023-24 academic year, according to figures from the US State Department and the Institute of International Education.

Entire industries have sprung up in China in recent decades as millions of people have risen into the middle class and ploughed money into lucrative foreign educations for their children.

“There’s a great sense of panic among the international student community, both current and prospective,” said Wan, the Massachusetts-based consultant.

They are “concerned that the country of the US is closing the door on them”, he said.

“(It’s) not helpful for a country that thrives on talents from abroad… and whose fundamental engine in research is supported by international talent.”

Trump administration bars Harvard from admitting foreign students

Copyright Charles Krupa/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved

By Malek Fouda
Published on 23/05/2025

The Trump administration has intensified its battle with Harvard University, revoking their license to host international students for the upcoming academic year as it looks to crackdown on “left wing activism, liberalism”.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has rescinded Harvard University's ability to admit international students as part of its intensifying conflict with the Ivy League institution.

The Trump administration says that thousands of current students are required to either transfer to different universities or leave the country.

“This means Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” stated the US Department of Homeland Security in a statement.

The agency made the announcement on Thursday, stating that Harvard has fostered an unsafe campus atmosphere by permitting "anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators" to attack Jewish students on its grounds.

Furthermore, it alleged that Harvard has collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party, claiming that it hosted and provided training to members of a Chinese paramilitary organisation as recently as 2024.




Harvard University has nearly 6,800 international students enrolled at its campus located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which represents over a quarter of its total student population.

The majority of these students are pursuing graduate studies and hail from more than 100 different countries.

Harvard called the action unlawful and said it's working to provide guidance to students.

“This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” the university said in a statement.

The conflict between the Trump administration and Harvard, the oldest and most affluent university in the United States, has escalated since Harvard became the first institution to openly resist the White House's requests for changes at elite schools that have been labelled as brewing grounds of liberalism and antisemitism.

The federal government has reduced federal grants to Harvard by $2.6 billion (€2.3 billion), forcing the university to self-finance a significant portion of its extensive research activities. Trump has expressed his desire to strip the university of its tax-exempt status.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says the decision to bar Harvard from hosting international students for the upcoming academic year stems from the school’s inability to comply with a 16 April request demanding information on foreign students.

The request from the Homeland Security department demanded the Ivy League university to provide data related to students who were involved in protests or dangerous activity on campus to be considered for deportation.

Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces the desired records on them within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage of the students.

Students in Harvard College Democrats said the Trump administration is playing with students’ lives to push a radical agenda and to quiet dissent.

“Trump's attack on international students is text book authoritarianism — Harvard must continue to hold the line,” the group said in a statement.

The administration drew condemnation from free speech groups, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which said Noem is demanding a “surveillance state.”

"This sweeping fishing expedition reaches protected expression and must be flatly rejected," the group said.

Trump attacks Harvard students: 'Can't add 2 and 2'

Sarah K. Burris
May 23, 2025 
RAW STORY

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement about a trade deal with the U.K., in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo


As part of his ongoing attack on Harvard University, President Donald Trump attacked students admitted to the Ivy League school, saying that students there "can't add."

While signing an executive order on an unrelated matter, Trump criticized "billions of dollars" given to Harvard by the government. The U.S. funds medical research and more. Last week, the U.S. National Science Foundation listed 193 grants worth nearly $150 million that were being terminated. There are also 56 grants from the U.S. Department of Defense worth $105 million that were canceled.

A reporter asked Trump whether he intends to target international students at any other universities.

Trump replied, "We're looking at a lot of things. Billions of dollars have been given to Harvard. How ridiculous is that? Billions."

He also cited Harvard's $52 billion endowment fund while charging "student loans."

The Associated Press reported in March that Harvard announced that any student whose family makes less than $200,000 will receive free tuition.

When asked why Trump wouldn't want some of the best and brightest to come to the United States, Trump promised he did, but that "a lot of them need remedial math."

"Did you see that? Where these students can't add two and two and they go to Harvard," Trump claimed.

All students who attend Harvard must take the SAT or ACT tests, their website says. Both tests ask significantly more complicated questions than simple addition, practice tests show.

"They're going to teach remedial math at Harvard," Trump said. "Now, wait a minute. So, why would they get in? How can somebody that can't add or has very basic skills, how do they get into Harvard? Why are they there? Then you see those same people picketing and screaming at the United States or screaming at, you know, they're antisemitic or they're something. We don't want troublemakers here. But how do people that can't — when Harvard comes out with a statement that they're going to teach some of their students remedial math — that's basic math, uh, that's not the deal."

Remedial math is not "basic math," which is simple addition, a remedial contemporary math final exam test at Study.com showed.

Trump was not admitted to Harvard, rather, he went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish reported in 2019 that Trump was able to get an interview after his older brother made a call to the admissions office in 1966.

James Nolan, who recalled the interview with Trump to the Post, described Trump's dad, Fred Trump Sr., as seeking to "ingratiate" himself. He also said that Trump had a higher "acceptance score" based on his college experience. The acceptance rate in 1966 wasn't available on the school's website, but it showed that in 1980, the acceptance rate was "slightly greater than 40%." Trump bragged that getting into Penn was "super genius stuff." Nolan recounted, "it was not very difficult."

Trump was rejected from the University of Southern California and began his college career at Fordham's Bronx campus in 1964 until 1966, reported The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2016.

See the clip below or at the link here.

‘Extortion’: Ex-Harvard president blasts Trump’s act of ‘madness’

David Badash,

 The New Civil Rights Movement
May 23, 2025


Demonstrators rally on Cambridge Common in a protest organized by the City of Cambridge calling on Harvard leadership to resist interference at the university by the federal government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. April 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi

Former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers delivered sharp criticism of President Donald Trump and his administration for barring the nation’s oldest university from admitting foreign students—part of the President’s ongoing feud with several Ivy League institutions.

Harvard quickly sued the Trump administration. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against Trump’s efforts to revoke Harvard’s ability to admit foreign students, which comprise about one-quarter of the school’s total enrolled population.

“U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs’ order provides temporary relief to the thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Ivy League school called part of the administration’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to ‘surrender its academic independence,'” Reuters reported.

Summers, who not only helmed the nearly four-century-old Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution but also served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, took to social media to blast Trump and praise the school for fighting back.

“Harvard University is doing just the right thing,” Summers wrote. “This is extortion. It’s a vendetta using all powers of the government because of a political argument with Harvard. It is violating the First Amendment. It is also violating all the laws we have regarding administrative procedures.”

“The consequences are real,” he continued, “whether it’s students who are dissidents from tyrannies who are going to be sent home and possibly be imprisoned, whether it’s labs that are fighting cancer or diabetes, that are going to lose key people, whether it’s 7,000 people, some small fraction of whom are going to go on to be Prime Ministers of countries who’ve now been turned into enemies of the United States, whether it is the way in which America [is] seen when it expels people whose dream it was to come to Harvard to study, this is madness.”

And he criticized the move as a “gift” to enemy nations.

“I cannot imagine a greater strategic gift that we could be giving to China and Russia, the enemies of freedom around the world,” Summers wrote. “If this lawsuit is allowed to stand, it is going to be incredibly damaging to Harvard. But that is the least of it. It is much more profound in how damaging this will be to the standing, the role and the position of the U.S. We used to be a beacon to the world. We’re now becoming a negative example. I imagine there must be great joy in Beijing and Moscow, seeing us implode with these kinds of policies.”

Current Harvard University President Alan Garber in a letter wrote: “For those international students and scholars affected by yesterday’s action, know that you are vital members of our community. You are our classmates and friends, our colleagues and mentors, our partners in the work of this great institution. Thanks to you, we know more and understand more, and our country and our world are more enlightened and more resilient. We will support you as we do our utmost to ensure that Harvard remains open to the world.”

Others weighed in as well.

“America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don’t align politically with the current head of the government,” wrote former Biden Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

“When Trump and [DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem say that they are cutting off visas for Harvard students because of ‘DEI’ concerns, they mean that Harvard admits non white males and has non white male faculty. DEI is just now code for white male supremacy,” declared U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).

“The letter Noem sent to Harvard cites no law violated, no regulation broken, no policy ignored,” noted attorney and immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, “just a threat to punish Harvard for their refusal to hand over FIVE YEARS of video of every student protest at the university, among other things. THAT is weaponization of government.”

DOJ-Boeing Deal Over Deadly Crashes Called 'Utterly Appalling'

"This kind of nonprosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history," said one attorney representing crash victims' families.


Families of the victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8 that crashed in 2019, attended a U.S. Senate hearing that featured testimony by Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2024.

(Photo: Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
May 23, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


The Trump administration on Friday faced swift backlash to the U.S. Department of Justice's deal to end a felony case against Boeing that stemmed from a pair of 737 MAX passenger jet crashes that collectively killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Responses on social media included: "No accountability, no safety, just corruption." "Really gotta feel for the families here. Just awful." "Just utterly appalling that Boeing escape[s] real criminal penalties here. People should have gone to jail." "They don't want to set the precedent that powerful people should have to answer to the public for fucking up."

Some critics also pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial luxury Boeing plane from the Qatari government, asking: "Is Trump getting another free plane? Is that the deal?"

During the Biden administration, Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay a fine of up to $487.2 million over the 2018 and 2019 crashes—a deal that was also criticized by some victims' relatives who wanted a trial. However, at a meeting last Friday, federal prosecutors told families the company's posture changed after a judge rejected the plea agreement in December.

That's according toReuters, which cited unnamed sources. The news agency also shared remarks from families' attorneys:
Paul Cassell, a lawyer for the families, said in a statement the government was intent on dropping the prosecution, saying "they conveyed their preconceived idea that Boeing should be allowed to escape any real consequences for its deadly lies."

Another lawyer representing family members who attended the meeting, Erin Applebaum, said the DOJ's "scripted presentation made it clear that the outcome has already been decided."

Despite Cassell's conclusion, the lawyer wrote to the DOJ on Thursday to argue against the agreement. He wrote that "in this case any further concessions to Boeing would be utterly inappropriate. This case is the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history, as found by" Judge Reed O'Connor in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, who rejected the previous plea deal.

Also on Thursday, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged Attorney General Pam Bondi not to sign an agreement that "would amount to a slap on the wrist, requiring Boeing to pay an additional fine and compensation to the victims' families, and hire an independent compliance consultant, in exchange for dismissal of the criminal fraud charge."

"DOJ must not sign a nonprosecution agreement with Boeing that would allow the company to weasel its way out of accountability for its failed corporate culture, and for any illegal behavior that has resulted in deadly consequences," argued Warren and Blumenthal, respectively the ranking members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, in their letter to Bondi.

"Instead, DOJ should ensure that both the company and the executives that ran it are held accountable for any wrongdoing by thoroughly investigating the potential culpability of Boeing executives and holding criminally accountable any individuals that contributed to or allowed the pursuit of profits over people in violation of federal laws or regulations," they added.




Ignoring those urgings, the DOJ on Friday announced an "agreement in principle" that—if it receives final approval—will cost Boeing more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for families of those killed on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610. In exchange, the department would dismiss the fraud charge, and the company would not be subject to oversight by an independent monitor.

"Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. "Nothing will diminish the victims' losses, but this resolution holds Boeing financially accountable, provides finality and compensation for the families, and makes an impact for the safety of future air travelers."

While Boeing hasn't commented, Cassell told Reuters that "this kind of nonprosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history. My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it."

US, Boeing reach deal to resolve MAX criminal case

“After repeatedly rebuffing responsibility and lying, Boeing will now permanently escape accountability,”


By AFP
May 23, 2025


Some family members of victims of the Boeing 737 MAX crashes slammed a proposed accord between Boeing and the Department of Justice - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File WIN MCNAMEE

John BIERS

The Justice Department said Friday it reached a preliminary agreement with Boeing to settle a long-running criminal probe into deadly 737 MAX crashes, drawing condemnation from some crash victim families.

Under an “agreement in principle,” Boeing will pay $1.1 billion and the Department of Justice (DOJ) would dismiss a criminal charge against Boeing over its conduct in the certification of the MAX, DOJ said in a federal filing.

A judge must approve the accord, which would scuttle a criminal trial scheduled for June in Fort Worth, Texas.

The agreement would resolve the case without requiring Boeing to plead guilty to fraud in the certification of the MAX, which was involved in two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that claimed 346 lives.

Family members of some MAX victims slammed the proposed settlement as a giveaway to Boeing.

“The message sent by this action to companies around the country is, don’t worry about making your products safe for your customers,” said Javier de Luis in a statement released by attorneys for plaintiffs suing Boeing.

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in US history,” said Paul Cassell, an attorney representing relatives of victims. “My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it.”

But the DOJ, in its brief, cited other family members who expressed a desire for closure, quoting one who said “the grief resurfaces every time this case is discussed in court or other forums.”

Family members of more than 110 crash victims told the government “they either support the Agreement specifically, support the Department’s efforts to resolve the case pre-trial more generally or do not oppose the agreement,” the filing said.

The DOJ filing called the accord “a fair and just resolution that serves the public interest.”

“The Agreement guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial,” it said.

Boeing declined to comment when contacted by AFP.



– ‘Slap on the wrist’ –



Friday’s proposed agreement marks the latest development in a marathon case that came in the wake of the two crashes that tarnished Boeing’s reputation and contributed to leadership shakeups at the aviation giant.

The case dates to a January 2021 DOJ agreement with Boeing that settled charges that the company knowingly defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during the MAX certification.

The 2021 accord included a three-year probation period. But in May 2024, the DOJ determined that Boeing had violated the 2021 accord following a number of subsequent safety lapses.

Boeing agreed in July 2024 to plead guilty to “conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

But in December, federal judge Reed O’Connor rejected a settlement codifying the guilty plea, setting the stage for the incoming Trump administration to decide the next steps.

Under Friday’s proposed accord, Boeing “will admit to conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group.”

But this acknowledgment “doesn’t carry any criminal penalties,” said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

“You don’t have that kind of stigma or retribution or whatever it is that we think of as deterring that behavior,” Tobias said. “It’s a slap on the wrist.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who held hearings into Boeing’s problems in 2024, condemned the agreement as an “outrageous injustice” to victims and the public.

“After repeatedly rebuffing responsibility and lying, Boeing will now permanently escape accountability,” Blumenthal said. “Victims, families, and the flying public deserve better. They deserve justice, not this sham.”

260 miners stuck underground after ‘incident’ at S.African shaft


By AFP
May 23, 2025


Copyright AFP Jim WATSON

Damage to a mine shaft kept 260 miners stuck in a gold mine outside Johannesburg overnight, the mine manager and union said Friday.

Mining employs hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa — the biggest exporter of platinum and a major exporter of gold, diamonds, coal and other raw materials — and accidents are common.

“All 260 employees have been accounted for, are safe and have been provided with food,” Sibanye-Stillwater said in a statement.

“The employees are not trapped; it was decided to keep them at the sub-shaft station for now,” spokesperson Henrika Ninham said.

Sibanye-Stillwater said the miners should be brought to surface around midday Friday.

The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident had occurred around 10 am (0800 GMT) on Thursday and expressed concern for the miners who had been “underground for almost 20 hours”.

Dozens of mineworkers are killed each year, though numbers have been falling as safety standards have been stepped up over the past two decades.

According to industry group Minerals Council South Africa, 42 miners died in 2024, compared to 55 the previous year.

S.Africa moves to ease black empowerment law under Starlink pressure


ByAFP
May 23, 2025


The draft law comes days after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met his US counterpart - Copyright AFP 

Jim WATSON

South Africa’s government is moving towards easing its black ownership laws in the telecoms sector — a policy change that would smooth the way for Elon Musk’s Starlink to enter the local market.

The directive came days after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met his US counterpart Donald Trump for tense talks on deteriorating ties between the two countries.

Telecoms companies operating in South Africa, including those with foreign investment, are currently required to provide 30 percent equity to historically disadvantaged groups — a policy created to mitigate the legacy of racial inequality left by apartheid.

South Africa-born Elon Musk has refused ceding ownership, calling the black empowerment policy “openly racist” and blaming it for delays in licensing his satellite internet service in the country.

On Friday, Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi published a draft policy that would allow the country’s telecoms regulator to accept equity equivalent programmes as an alternative to the 30 percent ownership law.

The draft policy is now open to public comments for a 30-day period.

– Attracting investment –

The policy change would allow multinationals like Starlink to meet empowerment obligations through alternatives to the 30 percent ownership law, such as investing in local suppliers, creating jobs or funding small businesses owned by black people.

It “seeks to provide the much-needed policy certainty to attract investment into the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, and specifically with regards to licensing for broadcasters, internet service providers, mobile networks, or fixed and mobile networks,” the communications ministry said.

Equity equivalents have already been approved in Africa’s most industrialised nation for many multinationals, including US-based Microsoft and Hewlett Packard and South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics.

South Africa offered a similar deal to the automotive industry in 2019.

Ties between Washington and Pretoria have nosedived since Trump took office in January, with the US leader cutting aid, expelling the South African ambassador and threatening tariff hikes.

Both sides met in Washington on Wednesday and agreed “to strengthen bilateral trade ties, increase investments for mutual benefit and forge collaboration in technological exchanges,” the South African presidency has said.

A presidency spokesman told AFP that while there had been discussions about Starlink at the meeting, the draft law was aimed at benefiting the whole sector.

In April, South Africa’s neighbour Lesotho granted a licence to Starlink hours after denying it was fast-tracking the process as part of US tariff concessions.

Els and Goosen: Golfers dragged into Trump’s ambush of S.Africa leader


By AFP
May 22, 2025


South African golfer Ernie Els, standing, speaks during the Oval Office meeting between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa - Copyright AFP Jade GAO

Former world number one golfer, Ernie Els, declared himself a “proud South African” as he was dragged into the ambush of his country’s leader Cyril Ramaphosa by US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Ramaphosa invited Els and another leading South African golfer, Retief Goosen, to accompany him to the White House meeting on Wednesday, where Trump claimed genocide is being committed against white people in South Africa.

The South African president had strategically chosen Els and Goosen, who are white and have six major championship titles between them, to appeal to Trump, a keen golfer who also owns golf courses.

They watched as Trump played a video that he said showed black South African politicians calling for the persecution of white people and Ramaphosa repeatedly tried to debunk the claims.

As Trump dug in, Els, a former world Number 1 who has played golf with the US president, was invited to speak from his position behind one of the sofas where the South African delegation was sitting.

Els pulled out his passport and described himself as a “proud South African” and referred to post-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela’s calls for unity in South Africa.

“I know there was a lot of anger through the transition, there was a lot of stuff happening in the apartheid days,” he said. “We grew up in the apartheid era, but I don’t think two wrongs make a right.

Els and Goosen are part of a crop of talented South African golfers who have left their mark on world golf in the last two decades.



– Ernie Els –



Els, 55, is a two-time winner of both the US Open and the British Open. His British Open win at Lytham St Annes in 2012 was his last major title.

Els is nicknamed “the Big Easy”, because of his broad-shouldered physique but also because of his laid-back playing style.

A member of golf’s Hall of Fame, he refused to join the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV golf which has rocked golf in recent years, saying the format “is not proper golf”.

Els was born in Johannesburg and he and his family split their time between South Africa and Florida, where many of the world’s top golfers have a home.



– Retief Goosen –



Goosen is also a two-time US Open champion.

When he was 15, Goosen was struck by lightning while playing golf with a friend. He was burned but recovered and still has a scar on his wrist from the incident.

Goosen, 56, whose father combined farming with working as a property developer, grew up in Pietersburg, which is now called Polokwane, in the northern Limpopo province. He has homes there, in England and in Florida.

In Washington, Goosen said his brother was still running the farm but that he has suffered attempts to attack the property.

“It’s a constant battle with… them trying to burn the farm down to chase you away,” he said.