“Columbia University announced on Wednesday that it has reached a deal with the Trump administration following months of negotiation to restore federal funding to the school, in a move described by the administration as a “seismic shift” in its fight with elite higher education. Under the terms of the deal to resolve several federal probes into allegations that it had violated anti-discrimination laws, Columbia did not admit to wrongdoing but agreed to pay the government a $200 million settlement over three years and an additional $21 million to settle US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigations. In exchange, the university said in its statement, ‘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.'” (07/23/25)
“Donald Trump’s effort to repeal birthright citizenship has hit another a stumbling block, with a federal appeals court in San Francisco declaring the president’s attempt unconstitutional. The three-judge ruling panel in the 9th US circuit court of appeals echoed a district court in New Hampshire that blocked the executive order earlier this month. ‘The district court correctly concluded that the executive order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,’ the verdict said.” (07/23/25)
“The Knesset approved a non-binding motion in favor of annexing the West Bank on Wednesday, a symbolic gesture that united the otherwise fractious right-wing governing coalition. The resolution, which passed 71-13, declared that the West Bank is ‘an inseparable part of the Land of Israel, the historical, cultural and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people’ and that ‘Israel has the natural, historical and legal right to all of the territories of the Land of Israel.’ It called on the government to ‘apply Israeli sovereignty, law, judgment and administration to all the areas of Jewish settlement of all kinds in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley,’ the government’s term for the West Bank.” (07/23/25)
“President Donald Trump was struggling Wednesday to contain the fallout from his administration’s decision not to release the Epstein files, as a House subcommittee for the first time voted to subpoena the administration for the files and a Florida court declined to release grand jury testimony from the case. … The furor may be further fanned by a new report in the Wall Street Journal that describes how Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy informed the president in May that his name appeared ‘multiple times’ in the files, along with those of ‘many people’ who socialized with Epstein. … Last week, Trump said that Bondi told him his name wasn’t in the files.” (07/23/25)
“Ukraine’s government is facing a growing backlash after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law limiting the independence of two anti-corruption agencies. The contentious bill grants control of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sap) to the prosecutor general, who is appointed by the president. Protests kicked off spontaneously in several cities on Tuesday. As protesters began to gather in Kyiv on Wednesday for a second night of demonstrations, Zelensky acknowledged public anger and said he would submit a new bill to parliament in response to the criticism, although he offered no further details about what it would contain. Kyiv’s Western allies expressed their displeasure at the law.” (07/23/25)
“Three Haitian police officers and two civilians were killed in the country’s central region, where gang violence has surged, the government and a police union said Wednesday. The officers were members of a specialized unit known as UDMO, which is largely activated during protests and disturbances. A video shared on social media show gunmen dragging the bodies of at least two officers near a burning armored vehicle as heavy gunfire fills the air. SPNH-17, a local police union, said that two ‘brave citizens’ fighting alongside the slain officers in Artibonite also were killed. … A Kenyan-led, U.N.-backed mission is helping Haiti’s National Police [gang] to quell [rival] gang violence, but officers often are overwhelmed by powerful gangs with military-grade weapons.” (07/23/25)
“A judge on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Jeffrey Epstein years ago in Florida, saying the request doesn’t meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. A similar records request is still pending in New York. The Justice Department last week asked the judge to release records to quell a storm among Trump supporters who believe there was a conspiracy to protect Epstein’s clients, conceal videos of crimes being committed and other evidence.” [editor’s note: The regime never expected these requests to be granted; they were for show – TLK] (07/23/25)
“The state department is opening an investigation into Harvard University’s eligibility as a sponsor for the exchange visitor program, the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on the university over alleged failures to combat campus antisemitism and inadequate support of Israel. The department announced the investigation will examine whether Harvard maintains proper standards for hosting international students, professors, researchers and other exchange visitors. All program sponsors must demonstrate ‘transparency in reporting’ and commitment to cultural exchange principles while ensuring their activities do not ‘undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States,’ the agency said.” (07/23/25)
“The son of a British couple detained by the Taliban five months ago has told the BBC that he fears they may die in prison. Peter Reynolds, 80, and Barbie, 76, were arrested on 1 February while returning to their home in central Bamiyan province, Afghanistan. It is not known exactly why they were detained. Their son Jonathan Reynolds said their health was rapidly deteriorating, with his father suffering serious convulsions and his mother ‘numb’ from anaemia and malnutrition. The Taliban’s foreign minister said they were receiving medical care and that ‘efforts are under way to secure their release, but the process is not complete.'” (07/23/25)
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing protests across the country after signing a controversial bill on Tuesday that critics say will neuter the independence of two prominent anti-corruption bodies. … On Tuesday, Zelenskyy signed a controversial law passed by parliament that will bring the Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and its partner organization, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), under the direct control of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO). … The passing of the new legislation this week prompted protests in Kyiv and other major cities across Ukraine, with demonstrators even violating the nighttime curfew imposed as a guard against nightly Russian drone and missile strikes. A spokesperson for the European Commission warned the move could undermine Ukraine’s potential bid to join the EU.” (07/23/25)
