WATCH: DEI efforts were rebranded at 2 red-state colleges to skirt Trump orders, staffers admit
Staff at two of Tennessee’s most prominent universities — Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee — were caught on undercover recordings admitting to rebranding their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in an effort to sidestep Republican-led bans. Despite state and federal orders aimed at dismantling DEI initiatives, school officials described a deliberate strategy to rename, repackage and quietly preserve these controversial programs under new labels like “access and engagement” and “belonging and community.” “It’s a chess game,” Will Eakin, a coordinator for UT’s “Access & Engagement” office, said in a recording obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. “We had to take our current programming and our future programming and make sure that it aligns so that we can do the work that we’re trying to do, while also catering to the Department of Education, the federal,” the staffer went on, adding, “The biggest thing is using language as a tool for protection.” The staffers at UT also boasted about how good the school’s government relations team is at helping guide staff and faculty on how to deal with anti-DEI legislation at the state and federal levels. FEDERAL JUDGE SLAPS TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER ON MISSISSIPPI DEI BAN “We have an incredible government relations team,” Eakin said. He claimed that UT President Randy Boyd, “though he is a Republican, cares deeply about access and engagement, and he has been fully committed to the work of DEI and access and engagement, and he works very closely with government relations when they go to Nashville.” “Because our government relations team is so good, they know which bills to be mindful of, how to best prepare and everything. And so here we are. These committees and task forces and offices were built back in 2020, and they’re still up and running,” said Eakin. The staffer added that a few years ago, when state officials were beginning to scrutinize universities’ DEI practices, the government relations team and other university leaders took steps to “get ahead of the curve” to “make sure the access and engagement, which is DEI, could maintain itself.” “So they changed the language so that the state government couldn’t put a magnifying glass on us,” the UT staffer added. DHS CANCELS $18.5 MILLION IN BIDEN-ERA GRANTS DESIGNATED TO FUND LGBTQ AND DEI PROGRAMS A spokesperson for the University of Tennessee told Fox News Digital in a statement that the person in the recording “does not speak on behalf of the University of Tenenssee and their statements contain significant misrepresentations.” “We reject any insinuation that the university has failed to act in good faith in its efforts to meet all legal requirements. Our commitment remains clear: we are fully compliant with state and federal laws, and our focus continues to be on creating a respectful environment that aligns with our mission of access and success for all students,” the school said. Meanwhile, at Vanderbilt, another major university in the state, an academic coach at the school’s “Center for Student Wellbeing” said that though the names of their offices may have changed, their DEI missions have not. ”At one point, you know, everybody, like different universities, were under investigation for their, like, DEI practices and stuff like that. So, that’s why I think the naming has changed,” said Ivie Carmouche, an academic coach in Vanderbilt’s Center for Student Wellbeing. “We’re in the Center for Student Wellbeing – like I said, we have things that clue people in and let people know that this is a safe space for everybody,” she said, adding, “Belonging and Communities is like as close to that DEI work you can probably get. Previously, they were the Center for Social Justice and Identities.” DEI-FUELED INVESTING IS ‘IDEOLOGICAL COERCION’ OF SHAREHOLDERS, MISSOURI AG WARNS AMID NEW PROBE When asked whether the renamed university center was still doing DEI work, Carmouche responded, “Yeah.” “The language will be different because we have to kind of be strategic. But there’s a lot of collaborations with them, KC Potter House, Black Cultural Center, Women’s Center, like even in the Women’s Center, they’re very open and welcoming to all gender identities.” “When I say different, it just looks different now because the language has had to change. Students Center for Belonging Communities is kind of like the DEI,” she added. A Vanderbuilt spokesperson said, “We are aware of recent covert recordings by external groups on university campuses nationwide. At Vanderbilt, we are fully compliant with all applicable federal and state laws. Any comments by individual employees that suggest otherwise do not reflect university policy and are being reviewed through appropriate channels.”
Florida AG invites people to alert his office if their ex is in US illegally: ‘We’d be happy to assist’
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has invited people to tip off his office if their ex is in the U.S. illegally. “We recently got a tip from someone whose abusive ex overstayed a tourism visa. He is now cued up for deportation. If your ex is in this country illegally, please feel free to reach out to our office. We’d be happy to assist,” Uthmeier wrote on X. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security retweeted Uthmeier’s post and shared the phone number for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tip line. FLORIDA AG ASKS SUPREME COURT TO ALLOW HIM TO CONTINUE ENFORCING CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRATION LAW “From domestic abuser to deported loser. ICE Tip Line: 866-DHS-2-ICE,” the DHS post reads. Uthmeier took office as the Sunshine State’s attorney general earlier this year after being tapped for the role by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL HELD IN CONTEMPT AFTER CHALLENGING COURT’S BLOCK ON IMMIGRATION LAW The governor had the opportunity to place Uthmeier in the post because he picked Ashley Moody, who had been serving as Florida attorney general, to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate. Rubio departed the Senate because President Donald Trump selected him to serve as Secretary of State. “Florida sets the standard for assisting the Trump administration in enforcing federal immigration law,” Uthmeier wrote in another X post on Tuesday. FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS HE IS WORKING TO MAKE HIS STATE THE SAFEST PLACE TO RAISE A FAMILY “Great job, FHP!” he added. He made the comment when retweeting a post from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which read, “In Martin County, the Florida Highway Patrol arrested 6 Guatemalan nationals at one traffic stop. If you’re an illegal immigrant in the state of Florida, it’s time to go.”
Columbia University suspends, expels nearly 80 students over Gaza protests
Some students also had their degrees revoked for participating in antiwar protests, including the 2024 Gaza encampments. Columbia University in the United States has imposed severe punishments, including expulsion, suspension from courses and revocation of academic degrees, on dozens of students who participated in protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. The student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which has called for the school to cut all financial ties with Israel, said in a statement that nearly 80 students have now been either expelled or suspended for up to three years over their involvement in antiwar protests. On Tuesday, Columbia said in a statement that its latest punishment of students relates to “disruption of Butler Library in May 2025 and the encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024″. “Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences,” the university wrote. The CUAD group said the university’s sanctions on students “hugely exceed precedent for teach-ins or non-Palestine-related building occupations”. “We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation,” the group added. The pro-Palestinian student encampments at Columbia University in 2024 helped ignite a global movement against Israel’s unrelenting war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The protest sites were eventually broken up when Columbia University allowed hundreds of New York City police officers on campus, leading to dozens of arrests. Despite the university’s harsh crackdowns, student protesters occupied the Butler Library during final exams in May this year, demanding divestment from companies linked to the Israeli military and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Advertisement Columbia University’s Judicial Board confirmed it issued expulsions, suspensions and degree revocations after what it called a disruption during “reading period”. It did not say how many students were expelled but said that this was “the final set of findings from that period”. The Ivy League university is in negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration to restore some $400m in federal funding. The Trump administration cut funds to the New York City-based institution over what it claimed were failures to “meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment”. Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, a former trustee, was booed by students during a May graduation ceremony for her role in cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests. Fellow Ivy League institution Harvard University, which has also been targeted with billions in funding cuts by the government, has pushed back against pressure to change its policies by taking the Trump administration to court. The latest disciplinary measures announced by Columbia against students came on Tuesday as Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip continued to cause widespread starvation, with at least 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, dying from hunger and malnutrition within a 24-hour period, according to health officials. Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protest leader targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, more than a month after he was released from immigration custody in Louisiana, where he was being held amid a pledge by the US president to deport pro-Palestinian activists. Adblock test (Why?)
Interpol takes whaling activist, Sea Shepherd founder off wanted list
Canadian-American anti-whaling activist Paul Watson greeted Interpol’s decision with the words: ‘Finally I am free.’ Global police organisation Interpol said it has removed its most-wanted designation for the anti-whaling activist and founder of the Sea Shepherd conservation group, Paul Watson, who is wanted in Japan over an encounter with a whaling ship in 2010. Interpol had issued a “red notice”, at Japan’s request, for the arrest of the Canadian-American Watson, 74, who is known for his daring tactics, including disrupting and confronting whaling ships on the high seas. Interpol has now decided that the notice was “disproportionate”, Watson’s Paris-based lawyer William Julie said on Tuesday. An Interpol red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending legal action, based on a warrant from the judicial authorities in the requesting country, in this case, Japan. In a post on social media by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, the activist was quoted saying: “Finally I am free.” “The Japanese whalers have been after me for 14 years ever since I was first detained in Frankfurt, Germany in May 2012,” Watson said. “It has been an incredible pursuit by a very powerful nation using unlimited resources but finally I am free.” 🚨INTERPOL RED NOTICE CANCELLED!! The Japanese whalers have been after me for 14 years ever since I was first detained in Frankfurt, Germany in May 2012. It has been an incredible pursuit by a very powerful nation using unlimited resources but finally I am free pic.twitter.com/XIBuMwksoe — Captain Paul Watson Foundation 🐋🏴☠️ (@CaptPaulWatson) July 22, 2025 Advertisement A spokesperson for Interpol confirmed to the AFP news agency that the organisation’s Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF) had deleted the arrest notice for Watson. “The CCF decision was made in light of new facts, including the refusal by the Kingdom of Denmark to extradite Mr Watson. This is in line with normal procedures,” the spokesperson said. Watson was arrested and detained in Greenland in July 2024, on a more than decade-old Japanese arrest warrant, which accused him of causing damage to a whaling ship and injuring a whaler. He was released in December after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over the 2010 incident. Watson left Denmark on December 20, and returned to France, where his children attend school. In a statement, Watson’s lawyer said that the CCF considered that Interpol’s red notice “did not meet Interpol’s standards, citing the disproportionate nature of the charges… the considerable passage of time since the alleged facts, Denmark’s refusal to extradite him, and the fact that several other countries declined to act on Japan’s arrest or extradition requests”. Lamya Essemlali, the president of Sea Shepherd France, hailed the “good news that this notice was finally cancelled”, but noted that Watson could still be arrested and sent to Japan for prosecution. “It does not give Paul Watson his freedom of movement because the Japanese arrest warrant is sufficient for a country to order his arrest,” she said. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Changed the planet of rock’: Tributes pour in for rock icon Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne, a trailblazer who rose to fame as a founding force in heavy metal music and later became a reality television icon, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 76. His family confirmed his death in a statement, but did not disclose the location or cause. In recent years, Osbourne had been undergoing treatment for a form of Parkinson’s disease. He died just two weeks after performing a farewell show in his hometown of Birmingham, England. This is how family, friends and musicians paid tribute: Family statement signed by Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, and children “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” the statement read. The statement was signed by the singer’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, and their children, Jack Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne and Aimee Osbourne. Louis Osbourne, his son with his ex-wife, Thelma Riley, also signed the statement. Aston Villa football club: ‘A special connection’ Aston Villa FC honoured one of its most iconic fans. “Aston Villa Football Club is saddened to learn that world-renowned rockstar and Villan Ozzy Osbourne has passed away. Growing up in Aston, not far from Villa Park, Ozzy always held a special connection to the club and the community he came from,” the club said in a statement. Aston Villa Football Club is saddened to learn that world-renowned rockstar and Villan, Ozzy Osbourne has passed away. Growing up in Aston, not far from Villa Park, Ozzy always held a special connection to the club and the community he came from. The thoughts of everyone at… pic.twitter.com/lcyBomOdxq — Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) July 22, 2025 Advertisement Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi: ‘Heartbreaking news’ Black Sabbath cofounder Tony Iommi said on Facebook: “I just can’t believe it! My dear dear friend Ozzy has passed away only weeks after our show at Villa Park. “It’s just such heartbreaking news that I can’t really find the words, there won’t ever be another like him,” he said. “Geezer, Bill and myself have lost our brother. My thoughts go out to Sharon and all the Osbourne family. Rest in peace Oz.” Elton John: ‘He was a dear friend’ Elton John said he was “so sad to hear the news”. “He was a dear friend and a huge trailblazer who secured his place in the pantheon of rock gods – a true legend. He was also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. I will miss him dearly. To Sharon and the family, I send my condolences and love,” John said. Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong “No words. We love you Ozzy,” Armstrong wrote in a caption accompanying a photo he posted on his Instagram account. Metallica shares photo tribute The heavy metal band Metallica paid tribute on X by posting a photo of themselves with Ozzy Osbourne, accompanied by a simple broken heart emoji. 💔 pic.twitter.com/ojOksUPkKi — Metallica (@Metallica) July 22, 2025 Motörhead: ‘We’ve lost a dear friend’ The metal band Motörhead shared a tribute posting a photo of Osbourne with their late frontman, Lemmy. Nirvana: Black Sabbath was ‘the template’ Nirvana’s official X account shared a brief message expressing gratitude to Osbourne and Black Sabbath for inspiring the iconic grunge rock band. Thank you Ozzy Osbourne for the inspiration. @BlackSabbath is the template for heavy Rock. #Ozzy — Nirvana (@Nirvana) July 22, 2025 Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant: ‘What a journey’ “Farewell Ozzy … what a journey … sail on up there .. finally at peace .. you truly changed the planet of rock!,” Plant said in a social media post. Farewell Ozzy … what a journey … sail on up there .. finally at peace .. you truly changed the planet of rock! — Robert Plant (@RobertPlant) July 22, 2025 PETA: ‘Osbourne was a legend and a provocateur’ Although Osbourne famously bit the head off a dead bat during a 1982 concert, he was also a vocal supporter of animal welfare. “Ozzy Osbourne was a legend and a provocateur, but PETA will remember the ‘Prince of Darkness’ most fondly for the gentle side he showed to animals – most recently cats, by using his fame to decry painful, crippling declawing mutilations,” PETA’s senior vice president, Lisa Lange, said in a statement to Yahoo news. Advertisement Rod Stewart: ‘Sleep well, my friend’ “Bye, bye Ozzy. Sleep well, my friend,” Stewart said on Instagram. “I’ll see you up there – later rather than sooner.” The Rolling Stones’s Ronnie Wood: ‘I’m so very sad’ “I am so very sad to hear of the death of Ozzy Osbourne. What a lovely goodbye concert he had at Back To The Beginning in Birmingham,” Wood added. I am so very sad to hear of the death of Ozzy Osbourne 💔🙏 What a lovely goodbye concert he had at Back To The Beginning in Birmingham🙏☀️❤️🎤 pic.twitter.com/Z6V2CNXWNG — Ronnie Wood (@ronniewood) July 22, 2025 Sony Music: Osbourne’s work ‘will live on’ Sony Music issued a statement saying that “his music will live on”. “Sony Music is deeply saddened by the passing of our legendary recording artist Ozzy Osbourne,” the statement said. “He redefined the sound and spirit of rock music and became an unmistakable voice and icon for his millions of fans around the world!” Parkinson’s UK Charity “News of Ozzy Osbourne’s death, so soon after his celebratory homecoming show, will come as a shock to so many. By speaking openly about both his diagnosis and life with Parkinson’s, Ozzy and all his family helped so many families in the same situation,” the charity said in a statement. “They normalised tough conversations and made others feel less alone with a condition that’s on the rise and affecting more people every day.” Yungblud: ‘You were the greatest’ Rocker Yungblud shared a photo with Osbourne on Instagram, expressing shock at his passing and saying he never thought Osbourne would “leave
UIDAI takes big step, to start Aadhar card update for children in…., issues warning to parents, ‘If the MBU is not…’
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is set to launch a nationwide initiative to expedite the biometric update of Aadhaar cards for children through schools in the next two months. The initiative aims to cover over 7 crore children whose biometric details have not yet been updated.
Union Cabinet approves free trade deal with UK, to be signed during PM Modi’s visit: Report
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the free trade deal between India and the UK, which will be signed in London on July 24, PTI reported. The pact, officially called Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, will be signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London. Here’s more on this.
Nimisha Priya case: MEA issues BIG statement on Indian nurse jailed in Yemen, says, ‘We continue to…’
The Indian government on Tuesday said it was providing all necessary assistance to Nimisha Priya and her family. Nimisha, who is from Kerala, has been on death row in Yemen for murder and her execution was postponed just a day before it scheduled to take place on July 16. Read on to know more.
Himachal Pradesh monsoon havoc: Death toll rises to 135, most casualties in Mandi, Kullu, Kangra, Chamba
The cumulative death toll has reached 135, of which 76 are due to rain-related incidents such as landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts, and electrocution, while 59 deaths have occurred in road accidents, according to the SDMA’s Cumulative Loss Report dated July 22, 2025.
Weather update: Heavy rainfall lashes parts of Delhi-NCR, waterlogging snarls traffic in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad
Heavy rain lashed parts of the national capital on Wednesday, bringing much-needed relief from the prevailing heat and contributing to ongoing monsoon activity in the region but also leading to waterlogging and traffic snarls.