Harvard to ask court to declare Trump’s $2bn funding freeze unlawful – US politics live

Top US university returns to court to fight against funding freeze that halted major research efforts

Ever since Donald Trump began his second presidency, he has used an “invented” national energy emergency to help justify expanding oil, gas and coal while slashing green energy – despite years of scientific evidence that burning fossil fuels has contributed significantly to climate change, say scholars and watchdogs.

It’s an agenda that in only its first six months, has put back environmental progress by decades, they say.

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Iran’s water crisis: ‘Day Zero’ looms as Islamic Republic faces complete shortage – Yahoo Home

  1. Iran's water crisis: 'Day Zero' looms as Islamic Republic faces complete shortage  Yahoo Home
  2. Heatwave causes water shortages in Iran as temps top 50C  Al Jazeera
  3. Iran’s capital and surrounding province will shut for a day due to a heat wave  AP News
  4. Tehran residents urged to buy water tanks as outages spread across Iran | Iran International  ایران اینترنشنال
  5. Iran in danger of complete water shortage amid heatwave  The Jerusalem Post
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Harvard heads to court to argue Trump administration’s $2.6bn in cuts were illegal

Ruling in the university’s favor would reverse funding freezes that became cuts as Trump administration escalated fight

Harvard University will appear in federal court Monday to make the case that the Trump administration illegally cut $2.6bn from the storied college – a pivotal moment in its battle against the federal government.

If US district Judge Allison Burroughs decides in the university’s favor, the ruling would reverse a series of funding freezes that later became outright cuts as the Trump administration escalated its fight with the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university. Such a ruling, if it stands, would revive Harvard’s sprawling scientific and medical research operation and hundreds of projects that lost federal money.

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‘It’s really theft’: the Republican plan to redraw Texas maps – and grab more power

Democrats are livid over the governor’s plan to redraw districts at a time when Texas officials are supposed to be focused on recovery from the floods

A plan for Texas to redraw its congressional districts and gain five additional Republican seats barrels through flimsy legal arguments and political norms like a rough-stock rodeo bronco through a broken chute.

But the fiddly process of drawing the maps to Republicans’ advantage for 2026 may require more finesse than cowboy politics can produce.

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Iran turns to Russia and China to discuss European threat of sanctions ‘snapback’ – France 24

  1. Iran turns to Russia and China to discuss European threat of sanctions ‘snapback’  France 24
  2. Iran seeks China, Russia help to stall UN sanctions ahead of nuclear talks with Europeans  Fox News
  3. Iran Builds Alliance with China and Russia in Face of US Threat  Newsweek
  4. China was on the sidelines of the Iran-Israel war. That’s just where it wanted to be  CNN
  5. Iran to consult with Russia and China ahead of Friday nuclear talks with European nations  Euronews.com
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Israeli soldiers arrested in Belgium after war crimes complaint by rights groups – Middle East Eye

  1. Israeli soldiers arrested in Belgium after war crimes complaint by rights groups  Middle East Eye
  2. Belgian police question two Israelis over war crimes accusations  The Guardian
  3. BREAKTHROUGH: Belgian Authorities Arrest and Interrogate Israeli War Crimes Suspects Following Complaint by Hind Rajab Foundation and GLAN  Hind Rajab Foundation
  4. Belgian police question Israelis over alleged Gaza war crimes  Al Jazeera
  5. Israeli detained in Belgium says he was beaten by police  The Times of Israel
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Israel launches air and ground offensive on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza

Military targets key humanitarian hub that was relatively unscathed by war after ordering Palestinians to leave

Israel has launched substantial air raids and a ground operation in Gaza, targeting Deir al-Balah, the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the devastated Palestinian territory, amid urgent warnings of widening starvation in the coastal strip.

The latest assault comes a day after the highest death toll in 21 months inflicted by the Israeli military on desperate Palestinians seeking food aid, with at least 85 killed on Sunday in what has become an almost daily slaughter.

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What a croc: the day a reptile was reportedly seen in Noosa … or was it?

Claimed sighting 300km south of typical crocodile territory started as a Facebook post before doing the rounds of breakfast TV

It started as a Facebook post on a community noticeboard by a man with a designer dog as his profile picture and just a few friends – but within 24 hours it was doing the rounds of breakfast TV and online news platforms.

The question was: had Ross Buckley really seen a 3.5-metre crocodile while on his “usual 6:30am stroll” down the dog beach at the mouth of the Noosa River? Was Buckley even real?

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Keir Starmer to replace post-ministerial jobs watchdog with tougher regime

PM will bring in financial penalties for those who break rules and set up new independent ethics and integrity commission

Keir Starmer is to abolish the independent post-ministerial jobs watchdog, which has long been criticised as “toothless”, and – for the first time – financial penalties will be imposed on those who break the rules after leaving government.

As part of a standards overhaul that ministers hope will help improve public faith in the system, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) will be scrapped and a tougher regime introduced.

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Pope condemns Gaza war’s ‘barbarity’ as 93 reported killed by Israeli fire while waiting for food | First Thing

Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians in one of bloodiest incidents involving aid seekers. Plus, Ellen DeGeneres confirms she moved to the UK because of Donald Trump

Good morning.

Pope Leo XIV has condemned the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza and the “indiscriminate use of force” as Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 93 Palestinians had been killed queueing for food, and Israel issued fresh evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced people.

What has Israel said about the killings? Israel’s military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who it claimed posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. It did not immediately comment on the incidents in the south.

Why else is Ice in the news? An 82-year-old man in Pennsylvania was secretly deported to Guatemala – a country to which he has no connection – after visiting an immigration office last month to replace his lost green card, according to his family, who have not heard from him since and were initially told he was dead.

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Israeli drones strike Houthi ‘military infrastructure’ at Yemen’s Hodeida port – The Times of Israel

  1. Israeli drones strike Houthi ‘military infrastructure’ at Yemen’s Hodeida port  The Times of Israel
  2. Israel says it has attacked Houthi targets in Yemen’s Hodeidah port  Al Jazeera
  3. Israeli military attacks Houthi targets in Yemen's Hodeidah port  Reuters
  4. Israel strikes Houthi sites in response to missile fire  The Jerusalem Post
  5. IDF Confirms Having Struck Houthi Infrastructure In Yemen  i24NEWS
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China starts building world’s largest dam, fuelling fears in India – BBC

  1. China starts building world's largest dam, fuelling fears in India  BBC
  2. China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam  The Guardian
  3. China starts construction on world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet  NBC News
  4. China embarks on world's largest hydropower dam, capital markets cheer  Reuters
  5. China Advances $167 Billion Tibet Mega-Dam Despite Risks  Bloomberg.com
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Ofwat to be abolished in ‘reset’ of water industry regulation

Environment secretary backs plan to end sewage spills and financial mismanagement in England and Wales

A new water regulator will replace the powers of Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environment Agency to “reset” a sector tarnished by scandals over sewage spills and financial mismanagement, after a major review of the sector.

The government will adopt the recommendation for England and Wales made in the review it commissioned from Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, which was released on Monday. In England, the powers of Natural England will also be subsumed.

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