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Announcing the move, staff at the outlet said ‘authoritarian regimes are already celebrating’ its potential demise.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) will shut down its news operations on Friday, citing the government-funded news outlet’s dire financial situation caused by funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration and the ongoing US government shutdown.

Bay Fang, RFA’s president and CEO, said in a statement that “uncertainty about our budgetary future” means that the outlet has been “forced to suspend all remaining news content production”.

“In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already reduced footprint,” she said on Wednesday.

Fang added that RFA would begin closing its overseas bureaus and would formally lay off and pay severance to furloughed staff. She said many staff members have been on unpaid leave since March, “when the US Agency for Global Media [USAGM] unlawfully terminated RFA’s Congressionally appropriated grant”.

On March 14, Trump signed an executive order effectively eliminating USAGM, an independent US government agency created in the mid-1990s to broadcast news and information to regions with poor press freedom records.

Alongside RFA, USAGM also hosts sister publications Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) and Voice of America (VOA).

Following March’s executive order, RFA was forced to put three-quarters of its US-based employees on unpaid leave and terminate most of its overseas contractors.

Another round of mass layoffs followed in May, along with the termination of several RFA language services, including Tibetan, Burmese and Uighur.

Mass layoffs also took place at VOA in March when Trump signed another executive order placing nearly all 1,400 staff at the outlet – which he described as a “total left-wing disaster” – on paid leave. It has operated on a limited basis since then.

Trump has said operations like RFA, RFE/Radio Liberty and VOA are a waste of government resources and accused them of being biased against his administration.

Since its founding in 1996, RFA has reported on Asia’s most repressive regimes, providing English- and local-language online and broadcast services to citizens of authoritarian governments across the region.

Its flagship projects include its Uighur service – the world’s only independent Uyghur-language outlet, covering the repressed ethnic group in western China – as well as its North Korea service, which reports on events inside the hermit state.

An announcement penned by RFA executive editor Rosa Hwang, published on the outlet’s website on Wednesday, said, “Make no mistake, authoritarian regimes are already celebrating RFA’s potential demise.”

“Independent journalism is at the core of RFA. For the first time since RFA’s inception almost 30 years ago, that voice is at risk,” Hwang said.

“We still believe in the urgency of that mission – and in the resilience of our extraordinary journalists. Once our funding returns, so will we,” she added.

RFE/Radio Liberty, which went through its own round of furloughs earlier this year, said this week that it received its last round of federal funding in September and its news services are continuing for now.

“We plan to continue reaching our audiences for the foreseeable future,” it said.

It’s not immediately clear why RFA and RFE/Radio Liberty – which share the same governing and funding structure, but are based in the US and Europe, respectively – are taking different approaches.

Group of 27 Congress members call for release of Mohammed Ibrahim, 16, held in Israeli detention for eight months.

A group of United States lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to secure the release of a 16-year-old Palestinian American who has been held in Israeli detention centres for eight months.

In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, 27 members of the US Congress called for the release of Mohammed Ibrahim amid reports that he faces abusive conditions in detention.

“As we have been told repeatedly, ‘the Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad,’” the letter, signed by figures such as Senators Bernie Sanders and Chris Von Hollen, states. “We share that view and urge you to fulfil this responsibility by engaging the Israeli government directly to secure the swift release of this American boy.”

Mohammed’s detention, which has now lasted for more than eight months, has underscored the harsh conditions faced by Palestinians held in Israeli prisons with little legal recourse.

“His family has received updates from US embassy staff and former detainees who described his alarming weight loss, deteriorating health, and signs of torture as his court hearings continue to be routinely postponed,” the letter said.

Analysts and rights advocates also say the case is demonstrative of a general apathy towards the plight of Palestinian Americans by the US government, which is quick to offer support to Israeli Americans who find themselves in harm’s way but slow to respond to instances of violence or abuse against Palestinians with US citizenship.

“The contrast has been made clear: The US government simply does not care about Palestinians with US citizenship who are killed or unjustly detained by Israel,” Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington DC, told Al Jazeera.

During his time in prison, Mohammed’s 20-year-old cousin, Sayfollah Musallet, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. US Ambassador Huckabee called for the Israeli government to “aggressively investigate” the murder, but no arrests have been made thus far, and Israeli settlers who carry out violent attacks against Palestinian communities rarely face consequences.

Musallet’s family have called for the Trump administration to launch its own independent investigation.

“Our government is not unaware of these cases. They are themselves complicit,” said Munayyer. “In many cases where Palestinian Americans have been killed, the government does nothing. This is not unique to the Trump administration.”

In testimony obtained by the rights group Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), Mohammed said that he was beaten with rifle butts as he was being transported and has been held in a cold cell with inadequate food. DCIP states that he has lost a “considerable amount of weight” since his arrest in February.

Israeli authorities have alleged that Mohammed, 15 years old at the time of his initial detention, threw stones at Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. He has not had a trial and denies the charge, and the letter from US lawmakers states that “no evidence has been publicly provided to support this allegation”.

Charges of stone throwing are widely used by Israeli authorities against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli facilities are notorious for their mistreatment of detainees.

A DCIP investigation into the detention of Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank found that about 75 percent described being subjected to physical violence following their arrest and that 85.5 percent were not informed of the reason for their arrest.

“The abuse and imprisonment of an American teenager by any other foreign power should be met with outrage and decisive action by our government,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement about the case.

“The Trump administration must be America and American citizens first, and secure the release of Mohammed Ibrahim from Israel immediately. This 16-year-old from Florida belongs at home, safe with his family – not in Israeli military prisons notorious for human rights abuses.”

Penny Moyses and her family, who are from Hertfordshire, had hoped to see the beautiful sights of Croatia but a last-minute snag dashed the group’s travel plans

A mum had to leave her five-year-old son at home during the start of their holiday due to a basic admin error.

Penny Moyses, 37, has today warned fellow parents to always ensure their children’s passports are valid after she discovered her eldest son’s document expired. Penny only realised this was the case just days before they were due to depart from Stansted airport, dashing her family’s hopes to attend a wedding in Croatia and spend time enjoying the country’s beautiful sights.

Panicked, the mother of two rushed to secure an emergency one – but was stunned to find out children’s passports need to be applied for at least one week in advance. So, the tragic admin error meant Penny had to leave husband James and their five-year-old son at home, while she flew to Croatia with their youngest child.

“Fear totally went through me – I felt sick to my stomach. I just had a quick peek just to double-check I had the exact right passports and just happened to notice that my eldest son’s passport expired,” Penny said today.

“I thought ‘It’s fine we can get an emergency passport, you can get those in a day” Turns out that for kids you have to wait a week as there’s a lot of safeguarding regulations, which I totally respect.”

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Despite missing their flight and a few days in the sun, James eventually managed to secure their eldest’s emergency passport. The pair met the group at the port and, with their outfits in tow, quickly changed on the boat transfer before stepping off in their suits – much to Penny’s relief.

Penny, who lives in Hertfordshire, said: “My eldest ended up missing the first two days of the holiday. Luckily we managed to intercept the passport at our local sorting office and they arrived just in time for the wedding, literally the boat transferred them to the wedding.”

The traumatic event has encouraged Penny to take charge of what she refers to as the “silent load” of life admin that swirls around her head on a daily basis. One new trick in particular is helping her brain take a break from constant worries about planning.

The mum is using an app called Fyio, a digital filing cabinet that helps users keep track of their most important personal documents. She said: “The silent load is often what can fall on a woman for various reasons but typically the person that is running the household.

“It’s something that I certainly can’t switch off. By using Fyio I can now keep track of my important documents; if I had the passport expiry dates in there, I would’ve completely avoided the Croatia disaster and saved myself hundreds.

“My son wouldn’t have missed two days of our holiday. For me, it’s those family moments that paperwork can really impact. I totally underestimated what it was like going back to school with kids.

Penny first came across Fyio when it launched at her 2022 ‘Clean & Tidy Home Show’. Since then, her event has evolved into ‘Home, Life & You LIVE’, which returns to Excel London in October 2025.

She is now an avid user of the app, which allows for everything from passport renewal reminders to managing prescriptions, uploading files in seconds and sharing documents safely with others, with them set to expire after a chosen time.

The platform uses military-grade security and even Fyio’s own team cannot access the data. She said: “Now, I have all the important documents in my online filing drawers, such as school uniform regulations ” and, of course, passport info.

“The app helps with the silent load I used to feel and helps me take ownership of my life admin in a simple way. Finding ways to save time ” especially as a parent ” means I can be present with my family instead of worrying if I’ve forgotten something. This app makes my life easier and takes some of the pressure off my shoulders ” something every mum could do with.”

Aug. 20 (UPI) — Defense attorneys for Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration wrongly deported to El Salvador this spring and then brought human trafficking charges against him once he returned to the United States, are accusing the Justice Department of vindictively prosecuting their client.

In a motion filed Tuesday, Abrego Garcia’s defense is asking the court to dismiss the charges brought against the 30-year-old Salvadoran national is punishment for him standing up to the Trump administration.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been singled out by the United States government. It is obvious why. And it is not because of the seriousness of his alleged conduct. Nor is it because he poses some unique threat to this country. Instead, Mr. Abrego was charged because he refused to acquiesce in the government’s violation of his due process rights,” Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said in the motion.

Abrego Garcia, a resident of Maryland who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration as part of its mass deportation plans. Despite a court order prohibiting his removal, he was deported to El Salvador in March and incarcerated in the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, where he said he was subjected to torture.

Abrego Garcia then challenged his removal in court, prompting the Trump administration to try and label him a gang member in public, while admitting in court it wrongly deported the immigrant.

He was returned to the United States in June, but only after he was charged with human smuggling by the Justice Department.

In the filing, his lawyers accused the Trump administration of conducting “a public campaign to punish Mr. Abrego for daring to fight back, culminating in the criminal investigation that led to the charges in this case.”

His lawyers point to comments from senior Trump administration officials, as well as President Donald Trump, calling him a criminal following his win in court that secured his return to the United States but before he was charged as proof of the White House’s vindictiveness.

“The government’s motive has been to paint Mr. Abrego as a criminal in order to punish him for challenging his removal, to avoid the embarrassment of accepting responsibility for its unlawful conduct and to shift public opinion around Mr. Abrego’s removal, including ‘mounting concerns’ with the government’s compliance with court orders,” they said in the filing.

The Justice Department’s case against Abrego Garcia stems from a November 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County, Tenn. Nine passengers were in the vehicle with him when stopped, but he was allowed to continue on his way, not even receiving a traffic ticket.

The government alleges he was the driver in a human smuggling conspiracy, and his defense argues that the Trump administration “has gone to extreme lengths” to make its criminal case.

His lawyers in the filing state that they have tried to secure the cooperation of multiple alleged conspirators who have already been sentenced to testify against Abrego Garcia, with its so-called star witness being a convicted leader of a human smuggling business with three felony convictions and who has been deported from the United States five times.

According to the filing, the Justice Department arranged for this alleged co-conspirator to be released early from a 30-month sentence to a halfway house to cooperate against Abrego Garcia, while relatives or those in relationship with this person also appear to be provided with “similar benefits” for providing corroborating testimony.

In the filing Tuesday, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argue that nothing had changed in the three years since the traffic stop, except for the government wrongly deporting him to El Salvador and that he challenged his deportation.

“As a matter of timing, it is clear that it was that lawsuit — and its effects on the government — that prompted the government to re-evaluate the 2022 traffic stop and bring this case,” the filing states.

“[N]o similarly situated defendant — an alleged driver in an alien smuggling conspiracy — has ever had to wait two and a half years to be charged with a crime where the facts had not changed since the stop itself.”

His defense alleges that the only explanation for the timing of the charges is that the government has chosen to punish him for fighting his deportation.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty.

US President Donald Trump had placed Washington’s police department under federal control earlier this week.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has reversed course and agreed to leave the Washington, DC police chief in control of the department, after Washington officials and the United States Justice Department negotiated a deal at the urging of a federal judge.

Trump had placed Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal control on Monday and ordered the deployment of 800 National Guard troops onto the streets of the capital, claiming a surge in crime.

On Friday afternoon, a deal was hammered out at a federal court hearing after Washington, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb had sought a court order blocking Trump’s police takeover as illegal.

Trump administration lawyers conceded that Pamela Smith, the police chief appointed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, would remain in command of the Metropolitan Police Department, according to the accord presented by the two sides to US District Judge Ana Reyes.

But US Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a new memo, directed the district’s police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law.

Meanwhile, the precise role of Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole, who had been named by Bondi as the city’s “emergency police commissioner” under Trump’s takeover bid, is still to be hashed out in further talks.

In a social media post on Friday evening, Bondi criticised Schwalb, saying he “continues to oppose our efforts to improve public safety”.

But she added, “We remain committed to working closely with Mayor Bowser.”

Legal battle

Friday’s legal battle is the latest evidence of the escalating tensions in mostly Democratic Washington, DC.

As the weekend approached, though, signs across the city — from the streets to the legal system — suggested a deepening crisis over who controls the city’s immigration and policing policies, the district’s right to govern itself and daily life for the millions of people who live and work in the metro area.

Bowser’s office said late on Friday that it was still evaluating how it can comply with the new Bondi order on immigration enforcement operations. The police department already eased some restrictions on cooperating with federal officials facilitating Trump’s mass-deportation campaign but reaffirmed that it would follow the district’s sanctuary city laws.

In a letter sent Friday night to DC citizens, Bowser wrote: “It has been an unsettling and unprecedented week in our city. Over the course of a week, the surge in federal law enforcement across DC has created waves of anxiety.”

She added that “our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now,” but added that if Washingtonians stick together, “we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy – even when we don’t have full access to it.”

The police takeover is the latest move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of undocumented people in the United States.

While Washington has grappled with spikes in violence and visible homelessness, the city’s homicide rate ranks below those of several other major US cities, and the capital is not in the throes of the public safety collapse the Trump administration has portrayed.

The president has more power over the nation’s capital than other cities, but DC has elected its own mayor and city council since the Home Rule Act was signed in 1973.

Trump is the first president to exert control over the city’s police force since the Act was passed. The law limits that control to 30 days without congressional approval, though Trump has suggested he would seek to extend it.

The White House has ordered an extensive review of the Smithsonian museums and exhibitions in advance of next year’s 250th anniversary of the United States, with the goal of aligning the institution’s content with President Donald Trump’s interpretation of US history.

In a letter sent on Tuesday to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, the White House laid out in detail the steps it expects the organisation to take so that museum content can be reviewed for a focus on “Americanism”.

The federal government will review public-facing museum content, such as social media, exhibition text and educational materials, to “assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals”, the letter said.

“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,” the letter added.

In a statement responding to the letter, the Smithsonian said it remained committed to “scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history”.

“We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents,” it said.

The White House said that the review is in line with the Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History Executive Order, which Trump signed in March.

At the time, the Congressional Black Caucus, made up of Black members of the US Congress, described the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict the Smithsonian Institution as “whitewashing our nation’s history”.

“Donald Trump’s idea that the National Museum of African American History and Culture is guilty of distorting our nation’s history or painting our ‘founding principles’ in a ‘negative light’ is patently ridiculous,” the caucus said in a statement.

“Let’s be clear, Black history is American history. Any rhetoric that opposes this notion is not only factually incorrect but blatantly racist,” the caucus said.

“It is the Trump Administration that bans books, words, and phrases that do not fit their narrative. It is the Trump Administration that wants to erase and retell our history,” the caucus added.

The White House said the review would initially focus on the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The museums under review are all located in Washington, DC, where the president this week ordered the deployment of the US National Guard to tackle a purported crime wave that city officials in the capital have refuted.

The museums all offer free admission and attract millions of visitors each year, with the National Museum of American History alone recording 2 million in-person visits in 2024.

The Smithsonian has repeatedly denied allegations that it has changed or removed exhibit details in response to pressure from the Trump administration. Recently, the institution removed references to Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit on the US presidency. The Smithsonian Institution said that a placard was removed for reasons related to consistency and because it “blocked the view of the objects inside its case”.

“We were not asked by any Administration or other government officials to remove content from the exhibit,” the Institution said.

The Smithsonian Institution, which runs 21 museums and the National Zoo, said at the time that the impeachment section of the museum would be updated in the coming weeks to “reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history”.

Trump was impeached in January 2021, for “incitement of insurrection”, after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Aug. 5 (UPI) — Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered the house arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro, prompting swift condemnation from the Trump administration, which has imposed penalties against those prosecuting President Donald Trump‘s ally.

Bolsonaro is being prosecuted on charges of conspiring to overturn his 2022 election loss.

In his order Monday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the house arrest of Bolsonaro on allegations he violated court-imposed precautionary measures by using the social media accounts of allies, including his three sons, one of whom is a congressman, to post statements online.

Moraes described the social media posts as a “continued attempt to coerce the STF and obstruct justice.” STF stands for Supremo Tribunal Federal, or Supreme Federal Court, in Portuguese.

“The arrest is to be served at Bolsonaro’s residence in Brasilia. He will not be allowed to receive visitors, except for his lawyers and other individuals previously authorized by the STF,” the order states. “The former president is also prohibited from using a cell phone, either directly or through third parties.”

A search and seizure of any cell phones in Bolsonaro’s possession was also ordered by Moraes, who is overseeing the criminal case.

“There is no doubt that Jair Messias Bolsonaro violated the precautionary measures imposed on him, as the defendant produced material for publication on the social media accounts of his three sons and all his followers and political supporters, with clear content encouraging and inciting attacks on the Supreme Federal Court and openly supporting foreign intervention in the Brazilian judiciary,” Moraes said.

Trump, who has similarly been accused of trying to overturn his own election loss, in 2020, is an ally of Bolsonaro, and has repeatedly used his executive powers to punish those involved in the 70-year-old politician’s prosecution, which has prompted accusations of meddling in Brazil’s judicial system.

Among the measures imposed by the American president are slapping a 40% tariff on Brazilian goods and sanctioning Moraes, as well as revoking his visas and those of his family.

The U.S. State Department on Monday night condemned the house arrest order as Moraes’ alleged continued use of “Brazil’s institutions to silence opposition and threaten democracy.”

“Putting even more restrictions on Jair Bolsonaro’s ability to defend himself in public it not a public service. Let Bolsonaro speak!” the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said in both English- and Portuguese-language statements.

“The United States condemns Moraes’ order imposing house arrest on Bolsonaro and will hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct.”

Brazil charged Bolsonaro in February with attempting a coup following his 2022 election loss to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. According to court documents, his supporters claiming voter fraud stormed Brazil’s Congress and other federal facilities on Jan. 8, 2023.

The indictment accuses Bolsonaro of spreading debunked claims of fraud in election machines as far back as July 2022 in order to prepare conditions for the coup. As part of the scheme, prosecutors said they even planned the possibility of assassinating Lula.

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, while Trump has described the trial as a “witch hunt.”

Aug. 1 (UPI) — The University of California, Los Angeles, has announced that it has lost research funding over federal accusations of anti-Semitism at the school.

The announcement comes days after the Justice Department said UCLA failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students during pro-Palestine protests that erupted on its campus, as well as those across the United States, in the spring and summer of last year in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The prestigious university did not state the amount of federal funding it would be stripped of, but said it may impact hundreds of grants.

“In its notice to us, the federal government claims anti-Semitism and bias as the reasons. This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination,” UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said in the Thursday letter addressed to the school’s community.

Frenk said the funding affect is under the control of the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, which will result in the suspension of certain research funding.

“This is not only a loss to the researchers who rely on critical grants. It is a loss for Americans across the nation whose work, health and future depend on the groundbreaking work we do.”

UCLA is one of dozens of American universities that have been targeted by the Trump administration with civil rights and constitutional investigations in connection to protests demanding the schools divest from Israel over its war in Gaza.

Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has been cracking down on institutions of higher learning, in particular elite schools, over a slew of allegations, from not protecting Jewish students to illegally enforcing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department told UCLA in a letter that an investigation into its handling of the pro-Palestine protests found it had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by “acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”

That same day, the university reached a multimillion-dollar settlement that includes paying $6.13 million to three Jewish students and a professor who accused the school of violating their civil rights by permitting the pro-Palestine protests.

Frenk said UCLA shares the goal of eradicating anti-Semitism from society, and has taken actions to manage protests on campus as well as launched an initiative to combat anti-Semitism.

July 24 (UPI) — Columbia University announced on Wednesday it will pay $221 million for the New York City private school to settle its dispute with the Trump administration and restore funding.

Under terms of the deal, Columbia won’t admit to violating anti-discrimination laws and will pay $200 million to the federal government over three years and a one-time $21 million to settle investigations by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In return, “a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 — will be reinstated and Columbia’s access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored,” the Ivy League school said in a news release.

This includes funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services.

In March, the federal government revoked $400 million in federal funding over campus protests by pro-Palestinian activists.

Also, the majority of the school’s future $1.3 billion in funding had been put on hold, including science research.

Policies already were implemented on March 21 regarding restrictions on demonstrations, new disciplinary procedures and a review of the Middle East curriculum. An independent monitor will oversee the agreement implementation.

The university also agreed to provide the federal government with “all relevant data and information to rigorously assess compliance with its commitment to merit-based hiring and admissions,” a senior White House official told CNN.

And Columbia will review its admission procedures and “strengthen oversight of international students,” the official said.

“While Columbia does not admit to wrongdoing with this resolution agreement, the institution’s leaders have recognized, repeatedly, that Jewish students and faculty have experienced painful, unacceptable incidents, and that reform was and is needed,” the university said.

University President Claire Shipman said she was pleased with the settlement.

“The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track,” Shipman said in a statement. “Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest.”

Shipman also separately addressed the Columbia community, writing “as I have discussed on many occasions with our community, we carefully explored all options open to us. We might have achieved short-term litigation victories, but not without incurring deeper long-term damage — the likely loss of future federal funding, the possibility of losing accreditation, and the potential revocation of visa status of thousands of international students.”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon also touted the settlement.

“The Trump Administration’s deal with Columbia University is a seismic shift in our nation’s fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment,” she said in a statement.

“For decades, the American public has watched in horror as our elite campuses have been overrun by anti-western teachings and a leftist groupthink that restricts speech and debate to push a one-sided view of our nation and the world. These dangerous trends fueled the outbreak of violent antisemitism that paralyzed campuses after the October 7th massacre and was previously unthinkable in the United States of America.”

The announcement came a day after Columbia said it had disciplined dozens of pro-Palestine protesters who had participated in protests in May.

Other elite schools, including Harvard, have been under pressure to adhere to the Trump administration’s policies, including cracking down on anti-Semitism and ending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

“Columbia’s reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate,” McMahon said. “I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”

Harvard has implemented some changes but sued the federal government over a loss of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts.

Trump told CNN earlier this month: “I think we’re going to probably settle with Harvard. We’re going to probably settle with Columbia. They want to settle very badly. There’s no rush.”

Shipman had been concerned about the effects on research.

“Columbia’s top scientists are facing the decimation of decades of research,” Shipman said in a letter on June 12. “Graduate students, postdocs, mid-career researchers, and established, celebrated scientists, have all had their breakthroughs lauded by the world one minute and defunded the next. We’re in danger of reaching a tipping point in terms of preserving our research excellence and the work we do for humanity.”

The university had a total enrollment of 26,272 graduate students and 9,111 undergrads in the 2024-2025 academic year. Tuition is $70,000-pus each year with about 90% getting student aid.

About 40% of the student body are international students, Politico reported.

Jewish students comprise 19% undergraduates and 15.9% graduate students, according to Hillel International.

“This announcement is an important recognition of what Jewish students and their families have expressed with increasing urgency: antisemitism at Columbia is real, and it has had a tangible impact on Jewish students’ sense of safety and belonging and, in turn, their civil rights,” Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, posted on X. “Acknowledging this fact is essential, and along with the new path laid out by the President and Trustees, I am hopeful that today’s agreement marks the beginning of real, sustained change.”

July 22 (UPI) — A coalition of school districts, teachers’ unions, nonprofits and parents has filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of illegally withholding nearly $7 billion in Congress-approved education funding.

In the lawsuit filed Monday, the coalition asks a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island to compel the Department of Education and the White House Office of Management and Budget to release the funding, which supports low-income students, teacher training, English learners, immigrant students and after-school programs.

According to the lawsuit, the Department of Education is required to disburse Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds on July 1. But on June 30, states were informed that the department would not be disbursing nearly $7 billion in ESEA funds and that a new policy had been adopted requiring a review to first be conducted to ensure the money is spent “in accordance with the president’s priorities,” the lawsuit states, citing the letter.

The Trump administration provided the states with neither a timeline nor assurances that the funds would be released, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration has been dismantling the Department of Education, in line with President Donald Trump‘s March executive order seeking to shutter the department and return its authorities to the states.

Last week, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court approved Trump’s mass firings at the department. At the same time, 24 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration over its freezing of billions of dollars in education funds.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten described the Trump administration’s freeze on Monday as throwing a “monkey wrench” at millions of U.S. educators.

“These are long-term, school-based programs, already passed by Congress and signed into law by the president,” she said in a statement.

“Since day one, the Trump administration has attacked public education, undermining opportunity in America. Now it is trying to lawlessly defund education unilaterally through rampant government overreach. It’s not only morally repugnant: the administration lacks the legal right to sacrifice kids’ futures at the alter of ideology.”

Among the plaintiffs are Alaska’s largest school district, Anchorage School District; Cincinnati Public Schools and Fairbanks North Star Borough, among others.

July 16 (UPI) — The Trump administration has deported five migrants convicted of violent crimes to the African nation of Eswatini, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The migrants from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen arrived in the small Southeast African nation Tuesday night, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on social media, announcing that their flight had landed.

“This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them,” she said in a statement, adding that it was thanks to President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that “they are off of American soil.”

The announcement marks the second instance of the Trump administration shipping migrants to a third country since the Supreme Court earlier this month said it could deport eight migrants to South Sudan.

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court ruling ended litigation over the legality of the United States deporting noncitizens to a third country other than their own without permitting them the opportunity to argue they would be tortured or receive degrading treatment in the new country.

The justices did not give a detailed explanation for their reasoning, though liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, arguing the Supreme Court’s refusal to justify its decision “is indefensible.”

“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” she wrote.

It was not clear when the United States made a deal with Eswatini to accept its deported migrants.

The majority of those who landed in Eswatini late Tuesday had been convicted of murder, among other charges. One migrant was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a minor.

The announcement comes amid reports that a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo states that “effective immediately” the Trump administration may deport migrants to a third country with as little as six hours’ notice as long as the receiving country has given the United States assurances that the deportee “will not be persecuted or tortured.”

July 8 (UPI) — The Trump administration has announced it will work to limit Chinese nationals and nationals from other so-called adversarial countries from purchasing U.S. farmland, saying their ownership of U.S. crops poses a national security risk.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a seven-point National Farm Security Action Plan on Tuesday aimed at protecting U.S. farmland and food from becoming owned by foreign governments and entities, specifically the People’s Republic of China.

During a press conference in Washington, D.C., with the Trump administration’s leading law enforcement and military officials, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said U.S. farmland was under threat from “criminals,” “political adversaries” and “hostile regimes” seeking to use it as a weapon against the American people.

“American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,” she said.

According to the plan, the USDA will seek state and congressional lawmakers to pass legislation and the president to institute executive action to end the direct and indirect purchase or control of U.S. farmland by nationals from countries of concern or other foreign adversaries.

Rollins explained that they are also working to “claw back” land already purchased by Chinese nationals and nationals from other foreign adversarial countries.

She said they have already canceled seven active agreements with entities in foreign countries of concern and that she signed a memo Tuesday to immediately remove 70 citizens from those countries who have contracts or research arrangements with the USDA. She added that another 550 entities were in the process of being removed.

The announcement comes amid deepening competition between the United States and China and concern over Chinese nationals potentially working in the United States to further the objectives of Beijing, whether that be through stealing technology or recruiting potential assets.

According to a USDA Farm Service Agency report for 2023, Chinese, Iranian, North Korean and Russian investment in U.S. agricultural land accounts for less than 1% of foreign-held agricultural property across the country, with Chinese investors owning 277,336 acres as of the end of that year.

Also participating in the press conference were Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, emphasizing the national security attention the Trump administration intends to place on U.S. ownership of U.S. cropland.

Hegseth, as the head of the Pentagon, said he wants to know who is buying farmland in the United States near his bases, calling that “common sense.”

“We would be asleep at the wheel if we were not fully a party to an effort like this, to ensure that our nation had the food supply it needs,” he said.

May 29 (UPI) — The Trump administration announced plans Thursday to overhaul the Department of State, saying the federal agency has grown too big and costly while producing too few results.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he has submitted the reorganization plan to Congress — a report that includes feedback from lawmakers, government bureaus and employees.

He first announced plans for the reorganization in April, calling his department “bloated, bureaucratic and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition.”

The report submitted to Congress, obtained by Politico, would reduce the State Department’s domestic workforce by 3,448 jobs, including recent reductions in positions and voluntary exits under the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program.

It also calls for the elimination of most offices under the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, which champions American values abroad, including the rule of law and individual rights.

Positions to be created under the plan align with the Trump administration’s conservative reshaping of the federal government, including a deputy assistant secretary of state for Democracy and Western values, as well as a so-called Natural Rights Office that will “ground the department’s values-based diplomacy in traditional Western conceptions of core freedoms,” according to an international state Department notification to lawmakers states cited by Politico.

“Over the past quarter century, the domestic operations of the State Department have grown exponentially, resulting in more bureaucracy, higher costs and fewer results for the American people,” Rubio said Wednesday.

“The reorganization plan will result in a more agile Department, better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world.”

It was unclear how Congress would react to the proposal, but House and Senate Democrats on the foreign relations committees quickly rejected the plan as being detrimental to U.S. interests abroad.

They said it “hands over” Afghan allies who worked with the U.S. military to the Taliban, guts programs to protect people who protect democracy, fires thousands of employees without cause and moves foreign assistance programs to entities with no experience with managing them.

“We welcome reforms where needed but they must be done with a scalpel, not a chainsaw,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.

“Taken together, these moves significantly undercut America’s role in the world and open the door for adversaries to threaten our safety and prosperity,” she said.

The overhaul comes as the Trump administration seeks to reshape and downsize the federal government in an effort to consolidate more power under President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump said Harvard University is refusing to tell the United States government who its international students are.

On May 22, the Trump administration stripped Harvard of the federal government certification that lets it enrol international students. A federal judge on May 23 temporarily blocked the administration’s effort.

“Part of the problem with Harvard is that there are about 31 percent of foreigners coming to Harvard … but they refuse to tell us who the people are,” Trump told reporters on May 25. “We want a list of those foreign students and we’ll find out whether or not they’re OK. Many will be OK, I assume. And I assume with Harvard many will be bad.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says Harvard did not provide the information it requested about the university’s international students. DHS cited that as one reason for revoking Harvard’s certification. But Harvard disputed that in its lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Courts have not yet ruled on whether Harvard complied with providing DHS with the additional information it requested. DHS asked for details about students’ activities, including “illegal” and “dangerous or violent activity”. However, immigration law experts said Trump’s statement that the US government doesn’t know the identities of Harvard’s international students is incorrect.

US colleges and universities that enrol international students must be certified under the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, called SEVP.

SEVP’s database “contains all information about every student visa holder. Addresses, courses, grades, jobs, social media accounts and much more”, Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration lawyer and Emory University law professor, said.

Harvard has been certified to enrol international students since 1954, according to court documents. As part of the certification, the university is required to report to the US government detailed information about its international students.

Schools renew their SEVP certification every two years. In its lawsuit, Harvard said the university’s “seamless recertification across this period – spanning more than 14 presidential administrations”, is evidence of its compliance.

Additionally, to enter the US, all international students must apply for and be issued student visas via the State Department. To be eligible for a student visa, a person must be enrolled in an SEVP-certified university. The visa application process requires students to provide the US government with detailed biographical information.

When contacted for comment, a White House spokesperson said Trump was “making a simple ask” for Harvard to comply with the government.

What is the Student and Exchange Visitor Program?

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program “collects, maintains, analyses and provides information so only legitimate foreign students or exchange visitors gain entry to the United States”, the DHS website says. “SEVP also ensures that the institutions accepting non-immigrant students are certified and follow the federal rules and regulations that govern them.”

As part of the programme, DHS manages the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System which maintains records on international students and certified universities. Immigration law dictates what records universities must keep and report to maintain certification.

These records include “US entry and exit data, US residential address changes, programme extensions, employment notifications, and program of study changes”, Sheila Velez Martínez, University of Pittsburgh immigration law professor, said. “The information is available to US government agencies.”

The certification programme does not provide visas to students. The federal State Department issues visas. To apply for a student visa, a person must fill out a form and schedule an interview. As part of the application process, students must provide biographical and employment information, including information about their relatives, and answer security questions, including about their criminal records.

Trump administration says Harvard failed to provide international students’ information

On April 16, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent Harvard a letter requesting information about every international student enrolled in the university. Noem asked for “relevant information” about international students’ “illegal activity”, “dangerous or violent activity”, “known threats to students or university personnel” and “known deprivation of rights of other classmates or university personnel”.

Noem said failure to comply with the request would “be treated as a voluntary withdrawal” from the SEVP certification programme.

On April 30, Steve Bunnell, a Harvard lawyer, responded to Homeland Security with information about 5,200 international students, according to Bunnell’s email included in the court filing.

The university said it did not seek to withdraw from the certification and said that while parts of Noem’s request used terms not defined in the immigration law that dictates what information universities must provide, “Harvard is committed to good faith compliance and is therefore producing responsive materials that we believe are reasonably required” by law.

According to Harvard’s lawsuit, the information included student identification numbers, names, dates of birth, countries of citizenship and enrolment information such as academic status, coursework and credit hours. Harvard also provided information about international students who left and why they left, which can cover a “range of reasons, including but not limited to disciplinary action”, Harvard’s email to DHS said.

On May 7, DHS responded saying the information Harvard provided “does not completely address the Secretary’s request”. It reiterated its original request.

Harvard responded on May 14 saying it was “not aware of any criminal convictions” of international students and identified three students who received disciplinary consequences.

As for students who deprived the rights of classmates, faculty or staff, Harvard said it did not find any.

On May 22, Noem sent Harvard a letter saying the university’s certification had been revoked.

“As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information … you have lost this privilege.”

Our ruling

Trump said Harvard University “refuse(s) to tell us” who its international students are.

To enrol international students, Harvard, and all other certified institutions must provide the US government with detailed biographical information about every international student at its institution. That includes students’ names, addresses, contact information and details about their coursework.

Additionally, all international students must have student visas to enter the US. To get these, students who have enrolled in a government-certified university must apply via the State Department. That process also requires students to provide biographical and security information to the federal government.

We rate the statement False.

May 28 (UPI) — The Trump administration is suing North Carolina and the state’s Board of Elections on accusations of maintaining voter registration records that include voters who did not provide required identifying information, in violation of federal law.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit Tuesday, alleging the defendants violated the Help America Vote Act of 2002 by using a state voter registration form that did not “explicitly require” a voter to provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.

Those who filled out the form, without providing the identifying information, were then added to the voter registration record.

HAVA was sweeping voter reform legislation that included updated voter identification procedures. Under the law, a voter registration application must include either the applicant’s driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

The lawsuit alleges that a “significant number” of North Carolina voters who did not provide the required identifying information were registered to vote by election officials.

“Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately and without fraud,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws.”

The lawsuit comes after Jefferson Griffin, a Republican Court of Appeals judge, finally conceded defeat to his Democratic opponent for North Carolina’s state Supreme Court seat earlier this month, following six months of litigation over the legality of tens of thousands of votes cast in the election.

Griffin lost to Associate Justice Allison Riggs by 734 votes and sought to have some 60,000 ballots in six Democratic-leaning counties rejected on the same grounds that the Justice Department cited in its lawsuit on Wednesday — the ballots were cast by voters, mostly in the military or overseas, who did not provide photo ID or an ID exception form.

Democrats accused him of attempting to steal the election, and the state’s high court ruled to uphold the validity of the votes cast.

With Riggs’ victory, the state’s Supreme Court maintains a 5-2 Republican majority.

The ruling comes as US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is set to pause federal funds to New York state.

New York City has won a temporary reprieve in its legal battle against the administration of US President Donald Trump, which had threatened to withhold federal funding from New York state unless the city ended its congestion pricing programme.

United States District Judge Lewis Liman held the hearing on the matter on Tuesday and granted a temporary restraining order that will allow the programme to keep running until at least June 9 as the administration and state-level officials battle over the future of congestion pricing.

A day earlier, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said he believed the federal government would withhold government approvals in the state, which would have frozen contracts for highway and transit projects.

Congestion pricing is likely to move forward indefinitely despite the federal administration’s objections because the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) – New York City’s mass transit system, which is operated as a state-level agency – “showed a likelihood of success”, according to the judge.

The courts said this is because the plan was already reviewed by state, local and federal agencies, according to the New York Times newspaper.

“Congestion relief is perfectly legal and thoroughly vetted. Opponents exhausted all plausible arguments against the programme, and now the increasingly outlandish theories are falling flat, too,” Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance, a transportation advocacy group, told Al Jazeera.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the judge’s decision “a massive victory” for New York commuters.

“So here’s the deal: Secretary Duffy can issue as many letters and social media posts as he wants, but a court has blocked the Trump Administration from retaliating against New York for reducing traffic and investing in transit … Congestion pricing is legal, it’s working and we’re keeping the cameras on,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

“It’s really upsetting that it came to this point to begin with. We should not be in a position where the federal government is trying to stop New York state from enacting its own policy and trying to blackmail New York state when it doesn’t follow their [the US Department of Transportation’s] lead,” Alexa Sledge, communications director for the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, told Al Jazeera.

New York state launched the programme in January. Drivers have to pay congestion pricing tolls of $9 per day for driving during peak times in parts of Manhattan. The state made the programme in an effort to cut congestion in the nation’s most populous city as well as raise funds for NYC’s mass transit system.

“New York state should be able to make their own laws, and they should be able to run their own streets. And so hopefully, this can be the end of this,” Sledge said.

Meeting its goals

Since the programme began earlier this year, it has fulfilled many of its goals. Within a month of congestion pricing, subway ridership increased by six percent, and bus ridership by nine percent. Traffic decreased by 11 percent.

In March, the MTA forecasted that congestion pricing would bring in $500m in revenue for the system, which will fund a swath of new transit-system projects including station upgrades and zero-emissions buses. At the time, a Siena College poll found that 42 percent of New Yorkers wanted to keep the programme, while 35 percent wanted to get rid of it.

Neither the MTA nor the US Department of Transportation was immediately available for comment.

US Supreme Court lets Trump terminate Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of people from Venezuela.

Washington, DC – The United States Supreme Court has enabled the administration of President Donald Trump to revoke the protected immigration status of about 350,000 Venezuelans.

The top court’s justices issued a brief order on Monday, granting the administration’s request for lifting the suspension that had been placed by a lower court in March.

In February, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem terminated a 2023 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Venezuelans that had been issued by the administration of former President Joe Biden.

TPS is a programme that shields noncitizens already in the US on a temporary basis from deportation and allows them to seek a work permit if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deems their home country to be unsafe to return to.

Millions of people have fled Venezuela in recent years due to political repression and a crippling economic crisis spurred in part by US sanctions against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The Supreme Court did not elaborate on why it sided with the Trump administration on Monday. The ruling simply added that liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson “would deny” the government’s request.

The DHS had argued that TPS designations are not subject to judicial review.

Noem had declared the 2023 designation for Venezuela “contrary to the national interest”, citing gang membership and “adverse effects on US workers”. However, she kept a previous TPS issued for Venezuelans in place.

DHS welcomed the ruling on Monday, saying without evidence that the Biden administration granted TPS to “gang members” and “known terrorists and murderers”.

“The Trump Administration is reinstituting integrity into our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,” the agency said in a social media post.

Several Democrats described the push to deport Venezuelans – part of a border immigration crackdown – as cruel, rejecting the Trump administration’s allegation that people under the TPS designation are criminals and “terrorists”.

“Venezuelans face extreme oppression, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings and torture,” Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said in a statement.

“Poverty levels are surging, and essentials like electricity, water and medical care are scarce. The dire circumstances in Venezuela make it clear that this is exactly the type of situation that requires the government to provide TPS.”