Ƶ

Harvard files legal challenge over Trump’s ban on foreign students. Overseas, admitted students wait

Harvard files legal challenge over Trump’s ban on foreign students. Overseas, admitted students wait
Harvard’s court challenge a day later attacked Trump’s legal justification for the action. (Reuters/File)
Short Url
Updated 06 June 2025

Harvard files legal challenge over Trump’s ban on foreign students. Overseas, admitted students wait

Harvard files legal challenge over Trump’s ban on foreign students. Overseas, admitted students wait

Winning admission to Harvard University fulfilled a longtime goal for Yonas Nuguse, a student in Ethiopia who endured a war in the country’s Tigray region, Internet and phone shutdowns, and the COVID-19 pandemic — all of which made it impossible to finish high school on time.
Now, it’s unclear if he will make it this fall to the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He and other admitted students around the world are anxiously tracking the school’s feud with the Trump administration, which is seeking to keep it from enrolling international students.
On Thursday, Harvard challenged President Donald Trump’s latest move to bar foreign students from entering the US to attend the college, calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of White House demands. In an amended lawsuit filed Thursday, Harvard said the president was attempting an end-run around a previous court order. Last month, a federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard’s certification to host foreign students.
Admission to Harvard, then months of uncertainty
Increasingly, the nation’s oldest and best-known university has attracted some of the brightest minds from around the world, with international students accounting for one-quarter of its enrollment. As Harvard’s fight with the administration plays out, foreign students can only wait to find out if they’ll be able to attend the school at all. Some are weighing other options.
For Nuguse, 21, the war in Ethiopia forced schools to close in many parts of the province. After schooling resumed, he then took a gap year to study and save money to pay for his TOEFL English proficiency test in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
“The war affected me a great deal and when I found out the news that I was accepted to Harvard, I was ecstatic. I knew it was a proud moment for my family, teachers, mentors and friends, who were instrumental in my achievement,” he said.
The following months have been filled with uncertainty. On Wednesday, Trump signed a directive seeking to block US entry for Harvard’s international students, which would block thousands who are scheduled to come to the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for summer and fall terms.
Harvard’s court challenge a day later attacked Trump’s legal justification for the action — a federal law allowing him to block a “class of aliens” deemed detrimental to the nation’s interests. Targeting only those who are coming to the US to study at Harvard doesn’t qualify as a “class of aliens,” Harvard said in its filing.
“The President’s actions thus are not undertaken to protect the ‘interests of the United States,’ but instead to pursue a government vendetta against Harvard,” the university wrote.
In the meantime, Harvard is making contingency plans so students and visiting scholars can continue their work at the university, President Alan Garber said in a message to the campus and alumni.
“Each of us is part of a truly global university community,” Garber said Thursday. “We know that the benefits of bringing talented people together from around the world are unique and irreplaceable.”
Crackdown on international students affects interest in the US
The standoff with Harvard comes as the administration has been tightening scrutiny of student visas nationwide. Thousands of students around the country abruptly lost permission to be in the US this spring before the administration reversed itself, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week the US would “aggressively revoke” visas for students from China.
While many admitted students say they’re waiting to find out if they can come to the US, prospective students still in high school are starting to look elsewhere, said Mike Henniger, CEO of Illume Student Advisory Services.
“It is one blow after another,” said Henniger, who works with colleges in the US, Canada and Europe to recruit international students. “At this point, international student interest in the US has basically dropped to nil.”
The future of Harvard’s roughly 7,000 international students has been hanging in the balance since the Department of Homeland Security first moved to block its foreign enrollment on May 22.
For many, the twists and turns have been exhausting. Jing, a 23-year-old master’s student, is currently completing an internship in China this summer, and unsure if he can reenter the US for the fall semester.
“It is tiring, we all feel numb now. Trump just makes big news headlines once every few days since he got back to the White House,” said Jing, who agreed to speak under his family name out of concern about retaliation from the Trump administration.
Jing said he is going to watch and see what happens for now, in case the move against international students is a negotiating tactic that does not stick.
The possibility that Trump could block foreign enrollment at other colleges only raises the uncertainty for students planning to pursue their education overseas, said Craig Riggs, who has been working in international education for about 30 years and is the editor of ICEF Monitor. He said he urges families to consult carefully with advisers and not to overreact to the day’s headlines.
“The rules under which students would make this huge decision to devote years of their lives and quite a bit of money to studying at Harvard have been shown to change quite quickly,” Riggs said.
An aspiring economist, Nuguse was the only student accepted to Harvard this year from Kalamino Special High School, which caters to gifted students from underprivileged backgrounds from across Tigray.
After receiving acceptances also to Columbia University and Amherst College, Nuguse chose Harvard, which he had long dreamed of attending. He said he hopes it will work out to attend Harvard.
Nuguse was granted a visa to study at Harvard, and he worries it might be too late to reverse his decision and attend another university anyway. He received an email from Harvard last week, telling him to proceed with his registration and highlighting a judge’s order in Harvard’s favor in the dispute over foreign enrollment.
“I hope the situation is temporary and I can enroll on time to go on and realize my dream far from reality in Ethiopia,” he said.


US State Dept resumes processing Harvard student visas after judge’s ruling

US State Dept resumes processing Harvard student visas after judge’s ruling
Updated 10 sec ago

US State Dept resumes processing Harvard student visas after judge’s ruling

US State Dept resumes processing Harvard student visas after judge’s ruling
  • Under that order granted to Harvard late on Thursday, US District Judge Allison Burroughs blocked Trump’s proclamation from taking effect pending further litigation of the matter

WASHINGTON: The US State Department directed all US missions abroad and consular sections to resume processing Harvard University student and exchange visitor visas after a federal judge in Boston last week temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on foreign students at the Ivy-League institution.
In a diplomatic cable sent on June 6 and signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department cited parts of the judge’s decision, saying the fresh directive was “in accordance with” the temporary restraining order.
Under that order granted to Harvard late on Thursday, US District Judge Allison Burroughs blocked Trump’s proclamation from taking effect pending further litigation of the matter.
Trump had cited national security concerns as justification for barring international students from entering the United States to pursue studies at Harvard.
The Trump administration has launched a multi-pronged attack on the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding and proposing to end its tax-exempt status, prompting a series of legal challenges.
Harvard argues the administration is retaliating against it for refusing to accede to demands to control the school’s governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the cable, the State Department added that all other guidance regarding student visas remained in effect, including enhanced social media vetting and the requirement to review the applicants’ online presence.


Macron calls for release of Gaza activists as thousands demonstrate in French cities

Macron calls for release of Gaza activists as thousands demonstrate in French cities
Updated 26 min 3 sec ago

Macron calls for release of Gaza activists as thousands demonstrate in French cities

Macron calls for release of Gaza activists as thousands demonstrate in French cities
  • Tens of thousands of people staged rallies after Israel stopped the boat, the Madleen, that was carrying 12 activists, including Greta Thunberg
  • In Switzerland, several hundred people blocked train stations in Geneva and Lausanne to protest Israel’s military operations in Gaza

NICE: French President Emmanuel Macron called on Israel to quickly free activists, including Greta Thunberg, on a boat that was seized Monday as it headed for Gaza in an operation that sparked angry protests in several European cities.
Tens of thousands of people staged rallies after Israel stopped the boat, the Madleen, that was carrying 12 activists.
In France, rallies in Paris and at least five other cities were called by left wing parties. Jean-Luc Melenchon, head of the France Unbowed (LFI) party, called the seizure of the Gaza boat by the Israeli military “international piracy.”
In Switzerland, several hundred people blocked train stations in Geneva and Lausanne to protest Israel’s military operations in Gaza, media reports said.
Some 300 protesters carrying Palestinian flags occupied two tracks at Geneva’s main station for about an hour, leading to delays and cancellations, the reports said. A similar protest was staged in nearby Lausanne, where police cleared the tracks.
Macron, meanwhile, urged the immediate liberation of French nationals among the 12 activists on the vessel.
Macron had “requested that the six French nationals be allowed to return to France as soon as possible,” his office said.
France was “vigilant” and “stands by all its nationals when they are in danger,” he added. The French government had also called on Israel to ensure the “protection” of the activists. Macron also called the humanitarian blockade of Gaza “a scandal” and a “disgrace.”
Israel’s foreign ministry said earlier that “all the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed,” and it expected the activists to return to their home countries.
Israel has virtually sealed off Gaza as part of its military operation in the Palestinian territory since the Hamas militant group’s attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.


UAE-based comedian Shawn Chidiac brings Dubai ‘comedy gold’ to London audience

UAE-based comedian Shawn Chidiac brings Dubai ‘comedy gold’ to London audience
Updated 09 June 2025

UAE-based comedian Shawn Chidiac brings Dubai ‘comedy gold’ to London audience

UAE-based comedian Shawn Chidiac brings Dubai ‘comedy gold’ to London audience
  • Standup comic’s ‘Laughing in Translation’ will feature a range of accents, personas from the multicultural Gulf city
  • ‘Comedy has been the most healing part of my life,’ Chidiac says ahead of 1st solo show of his career

LONDON: For those who want to experience the hustle and bustle of Dubai without actually booking a flight, Shawn Chidiac’s stand-up comedy show in London will offer an insight into the multicultural city that provides inspiration for his jokes and stage personas.

The UAE-based comedian will perform “” live at the Shaw Theatre in London on June 15. He told Arab News that storytelling and sharing experiences with the audience are at the heart of his stand-up comedy.

Chidiac began sharing his humorous content on Instagram with the handle “Laughing in Arabic,” aiming to introduce Western satire and wit to the Arab region, where it is often unfathomable. He later changed his username to the more personal , which has grown to more than 645,000 followers.

The comedian’s parents are, indeed, divorced, though some people question this when they meet him. He was born in Canada to a family originally from Lebanon, which he still visits a few times a year, and he appreciates the resilience it instilled in him, which saved him from ending up “in a ditch many times,” he said.

Chidiac grew up mainly in Dubai with his mother, who at times worked two jobs and started her own business to make ends meet. In this “City of Gold” on the Arabian Gulf, home to 3.65 million people representing over 200 nationalities and speaking 150 different languages, Chidiac sharpened his wit, picked up various accents, and drew inspiration from stories from all walks of life.

Comedy has been the most healing part of my life so far and will continue to heal me in many different ways

Shawn Chidiac

The stand-up comedian tells astonishing stories about life in Dubai. His comedy is inspired by his experiences interacting with people, while his goal is to connect with audiences through shared similarities, or to educate them about his family upbringing, culture, and history.

“The inspiration comes from the people I know and see, and the things I do, and my interaction with them. So, the more interaction I have, the better it is, which is hard because I’m a massive introvert,” he told Arab News in a video call from Dubai.

His upbringing was mainly Arab, but also blends various cultures, mainly from Southeast Asia, as well as European and African countries. He discovered his talent for adopting different personas and accents at a young age when his mother heard him speaking with an Indian-English accent and asked him to perform it for her friends.

The closest he lived to Europe was Sharjah, an emirate just 10 minutes from Dubai, he said. In addition to working in a software company in the UAE, Chidiac also worked for two months in Amsterdam. In 2023, he decided to quit his 9-5 job and become a full-time content creator and stand-up comedian.

Last summer, he performed for the first time in London at Cadogan Hall alongside a group of stand-up comedians, and he recently had two performances at Dubai Opera and in Bahrain.

Shawn Chidiac performing during a show at Dubai Opera, May 2, 2025. (Courtesy: S&S)

In mid-June, he will visit London for the second time to perform his first solo show. The audience can expect to see and hear various Dubai characters and their distinct accents, such as an Egyptian salesman in a supermarket, a caring Indian father with his son, a Filipino flight attendant ensuring that seat belts are fastened, and possibly a Persian prince wearing a golden necklace secured by a golden lock.

“I’m connecting as many people as possible through (comedy stories about) my upbringing. Whoever has lived in the Gulf will have a similar story or narrative in their minds… The London audience will be experiencing it live, but in their own way and through their own lenses,” Chidiac said.

He said that UK audiences are spoiled for choice when it comes to stand-up comedy shows, and their “palate” is different from those in Dubai, where most of his audience are first-timers. Nevertheless, he said that it matters to him that they find his show “funny, whether they’re black, white, Asian, or Arab.”

I’m connecting as many people as possible through (comedy stories about) my upbringing. Whoever has lived in the Gulf will have a similar story or narrative in their minds

Shawn Chidiac

Dubai is a popular destination for British expats, with an estimated 240,000 living there and many more visiting the city or using it as a transfer hub. Chidiac is working on his British accents, including one similar to the documentary-maker David Attenborough’s and a thick Cockney version from London’s East End.

In Dubai, he operates “Comedy Kitchen,” a community project that hosts open-mic nights to support other stand-up comedians, and he plans to launch a school to train and teach media skills.

Chidiac said that being a full-time content creator and comedian during the past two years “had its ups and downs.” Still, this has provided him with a solid platform on which to thrive and give back to his family.

“It’s a very scary place to call home, but it has changed my life for the better for sure. I never, never look back with any regrets at all.

“Comedy has been the most healing part of my life so far and will continue to heal me in many different ways,” he said.

 by Shawn Chidiac at the Shaw Theatre, London; 8pm, Sunday 15 June 2025


NATO chief calls for ‘quantum leap’ in defense and says Russia could attack in 5 years

NATO chief calls for ‘quantum leap’ in defense and says Russia could attack in 5 years
Updated 09 June 2025

NATO chief calls for ‘quantum leap’ in defense and says Russia could attack in 5 years

NATO chief calls for ‘quantum leap’ in defense and says Russia could attack in 5 years
  • Rutte said Russia is outpacing the far bigger NATO in producing ammunition

LONDON: NATO members need to increase their air and missile defenses by 400 percent to counter the threat from Russia, the head of the military alliance said Monday, warning that Moscow could be ready to attack it within five years.

Secretary-General Mark Rutte said during a visit to London that he expects the 32 NATO members to agree to a big hike in military spending at a summit in the Netherlands this month.

Speaking at the Chatham House think tank, Rutte said Russia is outpacing the far bigger NATO in producing ammunition, and the alliance must take a “quantum leap” in collective defense.

“Wishful thinking will not keep us safe,” Rutte said. “We cannot dream away the danger. Hope is not a strategy. So NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance.”

Rutte has proposed a target of 3.5 percent of economic output on military spending and another 1.5 percent on “defense-related expenditure” such as roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports. He said he is confident the alliance will agree to the target at its summit in The Hague on June 24-25.

At the moment, 22 of the 32 members meet or exceed NATO’s current 2 percent target, which was set in 2014. Rutte said he expects all to reach 2 percent by the end of this year.

The new target would meet a demand by US President Donald Trump that member states spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense. Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that don’t contribute enough.

Rutte said he agreed that “America has carried too much of the burden for too long.”

Rutte said NATO needs thousands more armored vehicles and millions more artillery shells, as well as a 400 percent increase in air and missile defense.

“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” he said.

“Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years,” Rutte added. “We are all on the eastern flank now.”

Rutte also held talks Monday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and praised the UK’s commitment to increase defense spending as “very good stuff.” Starmer has pledged to boost military spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2027 and to 3 percent by 2034.

Like other NATO members, the UK has been reassessing its defense spending since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

European NATO members, led by the UK and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defense posture as Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine.

Last week the UK government said it would build new nuclear-powered attack submarines, prepare its army to fight a war in Europe and become “a battle-ready, armor-clad nation.” The plans represent the most sweeping changes to British defenses since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.


UK think tank calls for national strategy to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, rebuild social cohesion

UK think tank calls for national strategy to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, rebuild social cohesion
Updated 09 June 2025

UK think tank calls for national strategy to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, rebuild social cohesion

UK think tank calls for national strategy to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, rebuild social cohesion
  • Polling by Savanta/ComRes showed majority of Britons hold either neutral or positive views toward Muslims
  • Equi argued that this provided a foundation for progress for building societal trust

LONDON: A new report from the think tank Equi released Monday has urged the UK government to adopt a coordinated national strategy to address anti-Muslim hatred, while warning that social division is harming trust in institutions and threatening the country’s cohesion.

Released as British Muslims marked Eid Al-Adha, the report highlighted growing levels of anti-Muslim narratives and attacks, but also pointed to polling by Savanta/ComRes that showed that the majority of Britons hold either neutral or positive views toward Muslims.

A PDF Embed Here

Equi argued that this provided a foundation for progress, and said that building trust, inclusion and civic resilience must be treated as a national priority.

“Britain’s diverse and welcoming cultural identity is one of its greatest strengths. But we cannot leave social cohesion to chance,” said Prof. Javed Khan, managing director of Equi.

“Failing to address social division is not only unjust but fiscally draining, at a time when resources are scarce,” he added.

The report identified anti-Muslim hatred as a key barrier to intercommunity trust, particularly in the aftermath of flashpoints such as the 2024 summer riots.

It estimated the cost of anti-Muslim hatred last year at a minimum of £243 million ($328.9 million), including expenses linked to policing, imprisonment, and insurance claims.

The report also pointed to alienating government policies, such as Prevent, and rising misinformation as major factors eroding social trust.

Many British Muslims, it noted, feel disproportionately scrutinized and disconnected from wider society.

Among its recommendations, Equi called for a strategic program of public awareness campaigns to counter misinformation and stereotypes, combined with cross-government engagement with local authorities, faith groups and civil society organizations to help rebuild trust.

It also advocated for increased investment in youth and community initiatives that promoted shared experiences and inclusive participation as a means of strengthening intercommunity ties.

“Knowing most Britons are not getting sucked into divisive language that can destroy community relations should give us great hope. The government should use its unique platform to articulate a unifying vision for the nation; one that focuses not on responding to division, but on championing shared values like respect, equality and liberty,” Khan said.

“As Britain’s 4 million Muslims celebrated Eid, this report provides a timely and urgent reminder that with clear focus and leadership, a stronger, peaceful and cohesive UK is within reach.”