Politics
Judge strikes down Trump’s $2bn cuts to Harvard
NEW YORK: A US judge has struck down President Donald Trump’s decision to slash $2 billion in funding to Harvard University, calling the move a political attack dressed up as a fight against anti-Semitism and bias at the Ivy League institution.
Harvard had sued in April to restore more than $2 billion in frozen funds. The administration argued its move was legally justified due to Harvard’s alleged failure to protect Jewish and Israeli students, particularly during campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The cuts to Harvard’s funding stream forced it to freeze hiring and pause major research programmes, especially in public health and medical fields — delays that experts warned risked American lives.
“The Court vacates and sets aside the Freeze Orders and Termination Letters as violative of the First Amendment,” Boston federal judge Allison Burroughs said in her ruling.
“All freezes and terminations of funding to Harvard made pursuant to the Freeze Orders and Termination Letters on or after April 14, 2025 are vacated and set aside.”
Burroughs noted Harvard’s own admissions in court filings that there was an issue of anti-Semitism on campus — but said the administration’s cuts had little relevance to the problem.
‘Smokescreen’ for university ‘assault’
“It is clear, even based solely on Harvard’s own admissions, that Harvard has been plagued by anti-Semitism in recent years and could (and should) have done a better job of dealing with the issue,” she wrote.
“That said, there is, in reality, little connection between the research affected by the grant terminations and anti-Semitism.”
The judge, appointed by Democratic former president Barack Obama, said the evidence suggested Trump “used anti-Semitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
Cases brought by both Harvard and the American Association of University Professors against the Trump administration’s measures were combined.
Trump has sought to move the case to the Court of Federal Claims rather than leave it in the federal court in Boston, just miles from Harvard’s Cambridge campus.
The Ivy League institution has been a key target in Trump’s campaign against elite universities after it resisted his demands to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and “viewpoint diversity.”
Trump and his allies accuse Harvard and other top universities of being unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias and anti-Semitism, particularly around protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The government has also gone after Harvard’s ability to host international students, a vital source of income, who made up 27 percent of total enrolment in the 2024-2025 academic year.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a significant statement aimed at easing regional tensions, assuring that Iran will not launch missile strikes or take aggressive action against neighbouring countries.
The president said the decision was taken with the approval of the Interim Leadership Council, stressing that Iran’s policy of non-aggression will remain in place as long as no attacks are carried out on Iranian territory.
Commitment to Peace
In a message shared on social media, Pezeshkian said Iran harbours no hostility toward regional countries and expressed regret over the recent tensions affecting neighbouring states.
“We harbor no hostility toward regional countries and apologize for the recent situation with our neighbors,” the president said.
Sovereignty Will Be Protected
While calling for peace, Pezeshkian also emphasized that Iran’s sovereignty and national security would not be compromised.
He added that diplomatic efforts and mediation aimed at ending the ongoing conflict should be led by the countries that initiated the confrontation.
Regional De-escalation Efforts
The statement comes amid rising tensions in the Middle East following military exchanges involving Iran, Israel, and the United States, prompting calls from several countries for de-escalation and dialogue to restore regional stability.
DUBAI: Dubai has announced the implementation of a new public safety law introducing stricter regulations for public spaces and events, with fines ranging from AED500 ($136) to AED1 million ($272,000), authorities said.
Under the legislation, repeat violations within one year could result in fines of up to AED2 million, officials added.
The new law, which takes effect across the emirate on June 1, sets out enhanced safety requirements for public venues and gatherings.
The rules were issued by Dubai’s Ruler, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
According to the regulations, public venues and events must ensure safe entry and exit routes, adequate lighting, and capacity limits to prevent overcrowding.
Event organisers will be required to provide firefighting equipment, emergency evacuation plans, first aid facilities, and trained security personnel.
Compliance with safety instructions at public venues has been made mandatory.
The law also requires adherence to designated swimming times at beaches and prohibits access to restricted areas.
Possession of explosives or fireworks without a permit is banned, as is the use and transport of hazardous or flammable materials.
India has allowed an Iranian warship to dock as a humanitarian gesture, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday, after the US sank another Iranian navy vessel off neighbouring Sri Lanka.
The Lavan docked at India’s southern port of Kochi on Wednesday, the same day the US submarine struck Iranian navy frigate Dena, after an urgent request from Tehran, an Indian government source told Reuters.
US President Donald Trump has said destroying the Iranian navy is one aim of the war he and Israel launched against the Islamic Republic a week ago.
The Lavan – an amphibious landing vessel, according to the US Naval Institute’s online news site – and two other ships “were coming in for a fleet review and then they got, in a way, caught on the wrong side of the events,” Jaishankar told the annual Raisina Dialogue event.
“I think we really approached it from the point of view of humanity, of other than whatever the legal issues were,” he said. “I think we did the right thing.”
At least 87 people were killed in the US attack on the Dena in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone, 19 nautical miles off the coast, outside its maritime boundaries.
India received the docking request for the Lavan on February 28, the day the Iran war started, the source said late on Friday, adding that the request “was urgent as the vessel had developed technical issues”.
Its 183 crew members have been accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi, said the source, who asked not to be identified citing confidentiality.
The Dena was on its way back from a naval exercise organised by India, according to the drill’s website and Sri Lankan officials.
Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday that they were escorting the Iranian naval ship Booshehr to a harbour on the eastern coast and moving most of its crew to a navy camp near Colombo.
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