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The Trump administration’s attack on academic freedom

The Trump administration’s attack on academic freedom

Christopher L. Eisgruber writes: The United States is home to the best collection of research universities in the world. Those universities have contributed tremendously to America’s prosperity, health, and security. They are magnets for outstanding talent from throughout the country and around the world. The Trump administration’s recent attack on Columbia University puts all of that at risk, presenting the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s. Every American should be concerned. The rise of…

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Israel’s return to war is a prelude to mass expulsion

Israel’s return to war is a prelude to mass expulsion

Ben Reiff writes: Two months after agreeing to a ceasefire deal that should have ended the war, Israel has resumed its bombardment of the Gaza Strip with an intensity that recalls the earliest days of the onslaught. Israeli airstrikes have killed over 400 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more since the early hours of this morning, and the army has ordered thousands of residents of the towns and neighborhoods spanning the perimeter of the Strip to flee their homes. Israel has again fully sealed off Rafah…

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Tesla and Musk face a ‘brand tornado crisis’ as 46,000 Cybertrucks are recalled

Tesla and Musk face a ‘brand tornado crisis’ as 46,000 Cybertrucks are recalled

The Guardian reports: Tesla and Elon Musk are embroiled in a “brand tornado crisis moment” and the electric carmaker’s chief executive needs to cut back on his work for Donald Trump to stem the damage, one of the company’s biggest supporters has said. The warning came as Tesla announced a recall of 46,000 Cybertrucks in the US on Thursday to fix an exterior panel that could detach while driving. It came as protesters announced on Wednesday they were planning what…

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Some Democrats start to echo Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric

Some Democrats start to echo Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric

The New York Times reports: When he took the stage in downtown Eau Claire, Wis., on Tuesday night to rev up Democrats ahead of a critical State Supreme Court race, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said he didn’t think name-calling would help things. Then he called Elon Musk a “dipshit” and, later, a “South African nepo baby” with the power to cut government programs. The crowd roared. Mr. Walz, his party’s nominee for vice president last year, is one of…

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After Roberts’ rebuke, Trump responds with weasel words

After Roberts’ rebuke, Trump responds with weasel words

USA Today reports: The growing clash between President Donald Trump and the judiciary took a major turn Tuesday as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Trump’s call for the impeachment of a federal judge. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a rare public statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Trump’s call for impeachment escalated his increasing…

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Top IRS lawyer warned that Trump firings, based on false statements, were a ‘fraud’ on the courts

Top IRS lawyer warned that Trump firings, based on false statements, were a ‘fraud’ on the courts

By Andy Kroll This story was originally published by ProPublica On Feb. 20, nearly 7,000 probationary employees at the Internal Revenue Service began receiving an unsigned letter telling them that they had been fired for poor performance. Trump administration lawyers insist that the IRS and other federal agencies have acted within their authority when they ordered waves of mass terminations since Trump took office. But according to previously unreported emails obtained by ProPublica, a top lawyer at the IRS warned…

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For Trump, human rights seem to be more problematic than human rights abuses

For Trump, human rights seem to be more problematic than human rights abuses

Politico reports: The Trump administration is slashing the State Department’s annual human rights report — cutting sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community and more. The goal appears to be a far thinner report that meets the minimum standards required by the law, according to documents obtained by POLITICO, as well as a current and a former State Department official who were familiar with the plan. The move underscores President Donald Trump’s resistance to emphasizing human…

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Arrest of immigrant-rights advocate is a ‘Putin-style persecution of political dissidents’

Arrest of immigrant-rights advocate is a ‘Putin-style persecution of political dissidents’

The New York Times reports: An undocumented woman in Denver who became a symbol of immigrant resistance during President Trump’s first term as she evaded deportation was arrested at work on Monday by federal immigration agents, her family and immigrant activists said. Jeanette Vizguerra, 53, had been on her break at a Target store near Denver when immigration agents took her into custody, said Jordan Garcia, an immigrant-rights advocate with the American Friends Service Committee who has known Ms. Vizguerra…

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I’m the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped

I’m the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped

Jasmine Mooney writes: I restarted the visa process and returned to the same immigration office at the San Diego border, since they had processed my visa before and I was familiar with it. Hours passed, with many confused opinions about my case. The officer I spoke to was kind but told me that, due to my previous issues, I needed to apply for my visa through the consulate. I told her I hadn’t been aware I needed to apply that…

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U.S. Institute of Peace sues to stop DOGE ‘takeover by force’

U.S. Institute of Peace sues to stop DOGE ‘takeover by force’

Democracy Docket reports: An independent nonprofit created by Congress to promote peace efforts around the world filed a lawsuit late Tuesday to block an aggressive takeover by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) board members, including former U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan, asked the D.C. District Court to stop DOGE from “completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution…

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Greenpeace must pay at least $660m over Dakota pipeline protests, says jury

Greenpeace must pay at least $660m over Dakota pipeline protests, says jury

The Guardian reports: A jury in North Dakota has decided that the environmental group Greenpeace must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the pipeline company Energy Transfer and is liable for defamation and other claims over protests in the state nearly a decade ago. Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based oil and gas company worth almost $70bn, had sued Greenpeace, alleging defamation and orchestrating criminal behavior by protesters at the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016 and 2017, claiming the organization…

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Trump said to ‘green-light’ renewal of Gaza strikes, killing over 400 Palestinians

Trump said to ‘green-light’ renewal of Gaza strikes, killing over 400 Palestinians

The Times of Israel reports: US President Donald Trump gave Israel a “green light” to renew military operations against Hamas in Gaza, US media reported Tuesday, as the international community lamented the collapse of the hostage-ceasefire deal. Trump made the decision after Hamas refused to release more hostages, an Israeli official was quoted as telling The Wall Street Journal. Israel let the US know that it was resuming strikes on Gaza before carrying them out, the official added, echoing other…

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‘I am a political prisoner’: Mahmoud Khalil says he’s being targeted for political beliefs

‘I am a political prisoner’: Mahmoud Khalil says he’s being targeted for political beliefs

The Guardian reports: In his first public remarks since being detained by federal immigration authorities, Palestinian activist and recent Columbia graduate, Mahmoud Khalil, spoke out against the conditions facing immigrants in US detention and said he was being targeted by the Trump administration for his political beliefs. “I am a political prisoner,” he said in a statement provided exclusively to the Guardian. “I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and…

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Why GOP efforts to impeach federal judges will fail

Why GOP efforts to impeach federal judges will fail

NBC News reports: Donald Trump’s allies have been calling for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg after he blocked the deportation of migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. On Tuesday, the push to get rid of Boasberg became more serious when the president himself weighed in and agreed. “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump posted on social media. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts issued a rare…

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