Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’ll be talking about Trump’s war on higher education, the Golden Dome, Argentina leaving the WHO, the Nippon Steel deal, the Supreme Court, NPR’s lawsuit, and Trump’s crypto reserve. 

Here’s some good news: The Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs is set to modernize British zoo practices for the first time in over a decade and require zoos to give animals more enclosure space. Also, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law blocking his administration’s plans to allow more kinds of development on conservation lands.

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“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

Coming For The Crimson, Cont’d

The U.S. president is continuing his war on the most prestigious university in his country. Yesterday, Trump’s General Services Administration sent a letter to federal agencies ordering them to cancel their few remaining contracts with Harvard University – the school could lose up to $100 million in revenue. Honestly, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the money Harvard has already lost – last month, the White House froze over $3.2 billion in grants and contracts.

Trump has accused Harvard of having a liberal bias, discriminating in its admissions process, and allowing antisemitic acts on campus. Harvard is using its massive army of Harvard Law alumni and has already sued to get its $3 billion back.

Trump also revoked the university’s ability to enroll international students, though the school had that right reinstated by a judge last week. Now, Trump has declared a nationwide block on international students, ordering U.S. embassies to stop conducting student visa interviews. Apparently, Trump wants embassies to begin screening people’s social media accounts before they’re allowed to study in the U.S., though they’ve been conducting those screenings in a limited capacity since March. International students can expect to have their visa applications blocked if they show any support for “terrorist activity or a terrorist organization,” which, according to Trump guidelines, includes expressing support for Palestinians. 

They’re Jealous Of Our Dome, Folks!

Trump’s “Golden Dome” doesn’t even exist yet, and it’s already intimidating countries around the globe. Last week, the president announced plans to begin construction of a defense project to shield the entire U.S. from missile attacks. Now, countries like Russia and North Korea say it would bring global conflicts into space and change how countries view their space programs.

Trump said his Golden Dome would include a global network of satellites capable of detecting and intercepting missile launches “even if they are launched from other sides of the world.” The main problem that Washington’s rivals have with the system – besides the fact that it changes the landscape of mutually assured destruction between nuclear powers – is that space-based missile interception systems need the capability to shoot down missiles mid-flight. That means that U.S. satellites armed with missiles would be stationed in orbit around the world, an understandably worrying proposition for countries that aren’t on friendly terms with the U.S.

Yesterday, Moscow said that the plan “undermines the foundations of strategic stability,” while North Korea’s government took a more… passionate approach, calling the $175 billion project “the height of self-righteousness [and] arrogance” and saying it might spark “a global nuclear and space arms race.”

Vaccination Is No Bueno

• Argentina has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO). The process was started in February when Javier Milei, the country’s Trump-lite president, followed the U.S.’s footsteps in trying to leave the U.N. health agency. Buenos Aires justified Milei’s decision to leave the WHO by writing, “The WHO’s prescriptions do not work because they are not based on science but on political interests and bureaucratic structures that refuse to review their own mistakes.” 

• The far-right leader was apparently incensed by the organization’s “caveman quarantine” recommendations during the pandemic. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was in the country as the decision was ratified – following a meeting with the notorious anti-vaxxer, Argentina’s health minister said his country would work on “a joint work agenda that will strengthen transparency and trust in the health system” with the U.S. Sounds like Buenos Aires might be saying adios to vaccines.

Don’t Call It A Buyout (Because It’s Not)

• For almost two years at this point, Nippon Steel (Japan’s largest steelmaker) has been in the process of buying out U.S. Steel, a former titan of the U.S. steel industry. The deal has come under scrutiny from U.S. presidents, who want the failing company (which now produces just about one-third of the steel that Nippon Steel does) to remain in U.S. hands. Yesterday, the Trump administration announced that the merger would be allowed to go through…with a few caveats.

• First, the White House reframed the acquisition, calling it an “investment” and a “partial ownership” instead of a full buyout. Second, the new deal ensures that the company will have an American CEO, a majority of board members will be U.S. citizens, and certain corporate functions will be controlled by the U.S. government. That doesn’t sound like capitalism to us, but sure. In total, Nippon Steel will spend roughly $28 billion on the buyout, with half of that going into the actual purchase of U.S. Steel and the other half going into investments in the company’s growth.

More Mixed Nuts

• King Charles III says Canada facing unprecedented challenges as Trump threatens annexation (AP)

• 17 E.U. countries sound alarm over Hungarian LGBTQ laws (NBC)

• Poorest 75 nations face ‘tidal wave’ of debt repayments to China in 2025, study warns (Guardian)

• Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after Liverpool parade collision (ESPN)

Middle East Mixed Nuts

• Gaza’s youngest influencer aged 11 among children killed by Israeli strikes (Guardian)

• Mediators Urge Gaza Cease-Fire Proposal as Israeli Offensive Looms (NYT, $)

• Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says his country is committing war crimes (Guardian)

The Supremely Uninterested Court

• The Supreme Court rejected two cases yesterday. The first involved a Massachusetts student's challenge to his middle school, which barred him from wearing a T-shirt that said “There are only two genders.” “We’re disappointed the Supreme Court chose not to hear this critical free speech case,” said one of the student’s lawyers. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the decision not to hear the case.

• The second rejected case involved an attempt by Native Americans to stop a massive copper mining project in Arizona that would destroy a sacred site used for tribal ceremonies. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas said they would have taken up the case, while Justice Alito did not participate for an unknown reason. Gorsuch wrote, “Just imagine if the government sought to demolish a historic cathedral on so questionable a chain of legal reasoning. I have no doubt that we would find that case worth our time,” he said. “Faced with the government's plan to destroy an ancient site of tribal worship, we owe the Apaches no less.”

NPR In Need Of CPR

• NPR and three Colorado public radio stations sued the White House yesterday. At the center of the lawsuit is an executive order that bars the use of Congressionally appropriated funds for NPR and PBS, taking away Congress's power to direct how federal money will be spent and to pass laws.

• The legal filing says the order “targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President's view, their news and other content is not ‘fair, accurate, or unbiased.’” NPR calls this “a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press.”

More Nuts In America

• 2 New Orleans prison escapees are still on the run after massive jailbreak (USA Today)

• Harvard revokes tenure from professor famous for ethics studies, first time in 80 years (NBC)

• RFK Jr. cuts COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for healthy kids, pregnant women (ABC)

Trump Media Pumps Bitcoin

• Bitcoin is the new Trump coin, apparently. Yesterday, President Trump’s media company – Trump Media and Technology Group – announced that it would be making a $2.5 billion investment in bitcoin. The money is being provided by a group of over 50 institutional investors and will see the creation of a Trump Media “bitcoin treasury.”

• “We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom, and now Trump Media will hold cryptocurrency as a crucial part of our assets. Our first acquisition of a crown jewel asset, this investment will help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions,” said Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes.

• The move reflects the Trump administration’s plans to build up a “strategic bitcoin reserve” – basically just buying and holding bitcoin because Trump wants to – and puts the company in a position to profit from any gains bitcoin sees as a result of White House policies. It’s just blatant at this point, folks.

More Loose Nuts

• Nearly extinct ‘forgotten antelope’ photographed for first time in DRC (Guardian)

• SpaceX to launch 9th flight test of Starship spacecraft after last 2 sent debris falling back to Earth (ABC)

• Shein’s ‘fake discounts’ break the law, EU says (The Verge)

• Japan introduces rules to put outlandish baby names to bed (Guardian)

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Team Thoughts

Kayli - I may not understand what a bitcoin reserve is, but I do understand conflicts of interest, and that bitcoin reserve sure sounds like one. 

Marcus - How is this deal good for Nippon Steel at all? Maybe this is why I don’t have an MBA… 

Editor In Chief: Kayli Woods

Head Writer: Marcus Gee-Lim

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