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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Harvard University rejected a set of funding conditions from the Trump administration aimed at addressing anti-Semitism and other civil rights issues on its campus on Monday, risking the potential loss of hundreds of millions of federal education dollars.
👥 Who’s Involved: Harvard University, President Donald J. Trump’s administration, and Harvard President Alan M. Garber.
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📍 Where & When: The statement was issued by Harvard on Monday through a post on their X (formerly Twitter) account.
💬 Key Quote: “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the university stated.
⚠️ Impact: Harvard risks potential federal funding cuts as it opposes the Trump administration’s conditions, which are intended to combat anti-Semitism and involve an audit of class subjects and student admission criteria adjustments.
IN FULL:
Harvard University announced on Monday that it will not comply with a set of conditions issued by President Donald J. Trump’s administration in order to continue receiving federal funding. The Trump White House previously informed the university that future federal funding would be conditioned on its adoption of a proposed series of policy changes aimed at combating antisemitism on campus, eliminating its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and additional screening of international students for potential terrorist sympathies.
“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Harvard University posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, announcing its decision to refuse the government’s funding conditions. Meanwhile, students, teachers, and staff were notified of the university’s decision in a note from Harvard President Alan Garber.
“No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Garber wrote, alleging: “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”
Harvard’s decision to reject the Trump administration proposal could imperil nearly $9 billion in federal funding. Earlier this year, President Trump moved to cut an estimated $400 million in federal funding earmarked for Columbia University over the school’s failure to handle pro-Hamas and antisemitic protests on campus. The Trump administration has also cut $500 million in funding for Brown University, again citing the school’s failure to address anti-Semitic incidents and pro-Hamas demonstrators.
Additional schools seeing significant funding cuts include Cornell University, which has lost $1 billion in federal dollars, and Northwestern University, which saw a cut of around $790 million.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: A violent incident occurred in His Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Frankland where Manchester Arena terrorist Hashem Abedi attacked three prison guards. In response, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government has suspended kitchen use in prison separation centers.
👥 Who’s Involved: Hashem Abedi, who played a role in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, and three prison guards.
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📍 Where & When: The attack took place at HMP Frankland, one of two so-called separation centers for the most dangerous convicts, on Saturday.
💬 Key Quote: “In our view, [Abedi] should not be allowed any privileges whatsoever while serving a sentence for the deaths of 22 innocent lives and the injuring of many more,” relatives of the Manchester Arena attack’s victims wrote in a letter to the authorities. “He should not have access to anything that he can weaponize, such as hot oil or items he can turn into blades.”
⚠️ Impact: Two male guards remain in hospital with “potentially fatal” injuries, with one suffering a severed artery in his neck and another being left with a punctured lung. A female officer, left with third-degree burns after Abedi threw hot oil on her, was discharged from hospital on Sunday.
IN FULL:
Following a serious assault on prison staff by Hashem Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi, at His Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Frankland, kitchen use in certain prison “separation centers” has been temporarily suspended. The incident occurred Saturday at HMP Frankland, where Abedi, already serving a life sentence, reportedly attacked three guards. Two male victims suffered “potentially fatal” injuries and remain hospitalized, while a female guard received third-degree burns. Abedi had melted down hoarded butter sachets into hot oil to attack her, according to sources.
Abedi was involved in his brother’s 2017 suicide bombing of an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, England. Twenty-two people, many of them young girls and parents, were murdered, and over 1,000 were injured, some critically.
This latest attack unfolded after Abedi accessed kitchen areas at the prison’s separation center, which accommodates some of Britain’s most dangerous inmates. The prison officers’ association detailed how the jihadist launched an attack using hot oil and homemade blades crafted from cooking trays.
Abedi has since been transferred to another high-security separation site. The Ministry of Justice announced a comprehensive investigation into the attack, affirming their commitment to reviewing and potentially revising security protocols in response to the breach. However, this is already Abedi’s second documented attack on prison staff, following a previous attack on two guards at London’s HMP Belmarsh in 2020.
The Manchester Arena bombing followed a series of catastrophic state failures, beginning with the decision to grant the Abedi brothers’ Libyan father asylum despite the fact he was a known Islamist. Salman Abedi had been flagged to both MI5—the domestic security agency—and Greater Manchester Police multiple times, but no meaningful action was taken.
On the night of his attack, the concert was not being covered by police due to officers taking an unauthorized multi-hour dinner break. Security guards at the arena also failed to act when Abedi, who was observed performing prayers and behaving erratically while wearing a gigantic backpack at the scene, was reported to them because they were “scared” they would be “branded racist” if they approached him.
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