New batch of ‘morally bankrupt’ college administrators to be grilled over campus antisemitism by House
Members of Congress are preparing to grill “morally bankrupt administrators” from Northwestern, UCLA and Rutgers Thursday regarding their handling of campus antisemitism that has swept the nation’s colleges. “Northwestern, Rutgers and UCLA negotiated with pro-Hamas terrorist encampments, bent the knee to the radical antisemitic mob and surrendered their campuses to illegal antisemitic encampments while repeatedly ignoring the harassment and violence against Jewish students and faculty,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. “House Republicans will use every tool at our disposal to ensure accountability from campus leadership for allowing self-proclaimed terrorists to turn once acclaimed American colleges into dens of antisemitic hate.” Titled “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos,” the hearing will begin Thursday morning, when Northwestern President Michael Schill, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway will testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding their “dereliction of” duty to Jewish students, according to the committee’s press release. “The American people want answers. Why are some of our most prestigious universities backing down in a moment that requires moral clarity? The disruptors showing up at schools nationwide have been taught these tactics because weak and morally bankrupt administrators refuse to take decisive action,” Republican New York Rep. Brandon Williams, who also sits on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, told Fox News Digital Wednesday. STEFANIK GRILLS HARVARD PRESIDENT OVER STUDENTS CALLING FOR ‘INTIFADA,’ RAMPANT ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS The committee is the same body that grilled the presidents of Penn, Harvard and MIT last year about their handling of campus antisemitism. The hearing was shortly followed by Penn President Liz Magill and Harvard President Claudine Gay resigning from their positions amid widespread backlash for waffling on whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated their respective schools’ codes of conduct. HARVARD, MIT AND UPENN PRESIDENTS PRESSED ON ‘RACE-BASED IDEOLOGY OF THE RADICAL LEFT’ AT ANTISEMITISM HEARING Each school facing scrutiny Thursday has been rocked by anti-Israel protests since last month, and UCLA saw more than 200 arrests earlier in May when police clad in riot gear stormed the campus to clear out an anti-Israel encampment. Rutgers also had a large encampment on campus, where student agitators and others pledged support for Palestinians while demanding the school cut financial ties with Israel. Northwestern became the first school in the nation to publicly announce that university leaders struck a deal with campus agitators, allowing students to review school investments connected to Israel and to fund Palestinians-related scholarships and faculty salaries in exchange for protesters largely dismantling their encampment. CAMPUS ‘OCCUPATION GUIDE’ TAPS INTO AGITATORS’ ‘RAGE,’ INSTRUCTS HOW TO ‘ESCALATE’ CHAOS Last month, Columbia University dominated headlines as student agitators and outsiders staged large protests on campus denouncing Israel. The protests soon turned threatening after video footage showed an agitator holding a sign directed at Jewish students that said “Al-Qasam’s next targets,” referring to the military wing of Hamas. A local rabbi warned Jewish students to leave campus for their own safety, while a business professor at the Ivy League school told Fox News Digital at the time protesters “crossed the line” and became “an actual terror organization.” Columbia’s protests were soon followed by encampments on college campuses nationwide, including at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities, such as Harvard, Penn, Yale, USC and others. ‘SCREAMING AND CURSING’ ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS DESCEND ON SENATOR’S HOME MORE THAN A DOZEN TIMES The protests have been associated with groups tied to far-left organizations backed by dark money and liberal megadonor George Soros, Fox News Digital previously reported. Namely, the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) has had a large presence amid the protests on Columbia University’s campus, as well as on the campuses of UCLA, Tufts and the University of Texas at Austin. For the leaders at Rutgers, UCLA and Northwestern, critics have not held back that they botched their handling of the protests, with some calling on them to resign. Rutgers and Northwestern leaders both came under fire from the Jewish community for striking deals with campus agitators to quell their protests and encampments. “The campus has rules and regulations for how students should act on campus and for appropriate protest. This seemed to be capitulation to a group of students who were extorting the school based on their disruption of finals,” David Levy, director of the New Jersey Region of the American Jewish Committee, told North Jersey.com earlier this month. “The school had to move 28 different exams for 1,000 students because of the protests, and I’ve been told Jewish students were harassed making their way to class, which is against all school guidelines.” Rutgers student Ezra Pfeffer told Fox News Digital that antisemitism has long been an issue on the New Jersey school’s campus. JEWISH STUDENT DEFIES ANTI-ISRAEL RADICALS WHO ‘STALKED’ HIM ON CALIFORNIA CAMPUS: WON’T BE ‘SILENCED’ “I am very much looking forward to the hearing as the antisemitism at Rutgers has been a recurring issue ever since I was a freshman,” Pfeffer said. “Too many instances have been brushed under the rug, and I hope we can finally put an end to this issue. As a Jewish student on the brink of graduation, I want to be able to confidently recommend Rutgers to my younger Jewish friends when they are applying to college.” Another student, Joe Gindi, told Fox News Digital the “encampment at Rutgers or those at other schools can in no way be depicted as ‘pro-peace’ in any sort of way.” “They are pro-violence, pro-war, anti-two-state-solution, anti-peace of any kind. They seek to make Jewish students afraid to be on their own campuses, and, in that, they have succeeded,” Gindi said. “I and many Jewish students are looking forward to the university living up to its commitment to upholding the code of conduct. “Public interest in Rutgers (a state university) is completely warranted and has helped Jewish students and all students in many regards understand the president is in a difficult position, but I am guardedly optimistic that he
12 state attorneys general challenge blue states’ ‘radical’ climate policies impacting others
Alabama is spearheading a coalition of 12 Republican-led states in a federal lawsuit against five Democrat-run states, alleging the latter are trying to coerce the former into complying with strict climate-conscious policies that could imperil their residents’ access to affordable energy. The filing was made at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as the plaintiffs argued that Democrat-led states California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island are essentially forcing residents of politically opposed states to feel repercussions of their restrictions and, therefore, are dictating national energy policy. “California and New Jersey and the defendant states are trying to make national energy policy through state laws,” said Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, one state official who is party to the lawsuit. “And if the Supreme Court does not step in, they may succeed.” “If the defendant states’ laws have their desired effects, fossil fuel energy companies across the nation will either be hit with massive damages or have to change their policies directly. And, those defendant states will affect the availability of cheap, affordable energy in our states,” he said. “One state does not have the right to control policy in another state.” GOP STATE AGS PRESS SUPREME COURT TO TAKE UP HAWAII CLIMATE CHANGE CASE THEY CALL A ‘GRAVE THREAT’ Of criticisms that it may not be apropos to escalate such a case immediately to the Supreme Court, Kobach said this is a rare instance where it is needed. He said the high bench has always had jurisdiction over interstate quarrels and that the “opposing interests” in this filing are especially stark. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who is leading the charge, told Fox News Digital he has the right to take the complaint directly to the Supreme Court because it has original jurisdiction over state action. He pointed to other cases in which one state takes legal action against another and makes its plea to the high court. “When you have two sovereigns that are making claims against one another, it is the appropriate venue for those claims to be heard,” he said. CONSUMER GROUP REVEALS LEFT-WING GROUPS INCREASINGLY USING COURTS TO PUSH GREEN NEW DEAL Marshall said the crux of the matter is essentially that defendant states are crafting climate policies that will have an undue effect on Alabama and its fellow plaintiff states. “I think one of the things that is so most objectionable is the fact they are using common law claims, plus the statutory Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims, as a vehicle to engage in climate policy,” he said. “I think, broadly, the issue is how does this affect the constituents of our individual states? And so the legitimate question is: Why should we care in Alabama how California chooses to operate in the state courts themselves?” “Well, if California prevails, they’re really going to be able to do two things. They’re going to be able to impose a tax on carbon because that’s what [legal] ‘damages’ truly are in these cases,” Marshall said. He expressed hope the Supreme Court would agree that energy and climate policy is a federal issue and not one the states can dictate in a way that could affect others. BILLIONAIRE-FUELED ROCKEFELLER FUND COORDINATED CLIMATE LAWSUITS WITH DEM STATE AG: INTERNAL DOCUMENTS The legal complaint reads in part: “Defendant States want a global carbon tax on the traditional energy industry” … “In their view, a small gas station in rural Alabama could owe damages to the people of Minnesota simply for selling a gallon of gas.” The complaint cited API v. Minnesota, a case brought against energy firms for alleged harm caused by their contributions to global warming, among other things. It also referenced a case from 1981 brought against West Virginia by bordering states who took issue with a policy that required Mountaineer natural gas producers to meet local needs before exporting their valuable energy source. Kobach said this current multiparty lawsuit is one of a few qualified cases that should be heard first and ultimately by the Supreme Court: “A relatively small number of cases can go directly to the Supreme Court because they are complex between one state and another or one group of states and another group of states,” Kobach said, adding that the high bench has at times declined to hear such cases. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Asked about what plaintiff states’ resources might be if New Jersey, California and the others are permitted to continue crafting policy with alleged wider-reaching effects than statutorily permitted, Kobach said Kansas, for example, has limited recourse. “The second course of action would be [to] seek legislation in Congress, preempting what the defendant states have done, but that is a difficult process,” he said. “It takes a long time, and it may come too late, depending on what happens in these defendant states.” Kobach said the current suit is not the first of its kind. The Supreme Court previously upheld California’s sow housing law that plaintiffs said led to an avoidable spike in the cost of bacon and other pork products outside California. Efforts to reach representatives for the defendant states in the case were unsuccessful.
Biden outpaces Trump with 200 confirmed judges, cementing impact on courts
President Biden hit a milestone on Wednesday, officially appointing 200 judges to the federal bench and cementing what will be a long-lasting effect on the country’s judiciary, according to experts and lawmakers. Biden is currently outpacing former President Trump, who made significant traction in judicial appointments. Trump was able to get nearly as many federal appellate judges confirmed as former President Obama before him, who notably had double the time. “Judges matter. These men and women have the power to uphold basic rights or to roll them back,” Biden said in a statement recognizing his 200 appointments. ‘WORSE THAN DOING NOTHING’: GOP RIPS INTO SCHUMER-BACKED BORDER BILL Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, slammed Biden’s nominees as “the most political nominees I’ve ever seen nominated for the federal bench.” “Joe Biden, like Barack Obama before him, is thoroughly committed to transforming the federal judiciary and packing it with radical left-wing judges,” said Josh Hammer, senior counsel for the Article III Project. Biden and his counterparts in the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., celebrated the accomplishment, specifically highlighting the racial, ethnic and gender diversity among his slate of appointments. BIDEN BORDER CHIEF MAYORKAS IN HOT SEAT OVER JORDANIAN NATIONALS WHO TRIED TO BREACH QUANTICO “We’re making our courts look more like America. It’s not just going to be partners, male White partners in fancy law firms. It’s much more diverse. And the bench is better for it. It’s something we can all be proud of,” Schumer told his colleagues in remarks on the Senate floor. “127 women, 125 people of color, over twice as many women and more than three times as many people of color confirmed under the last administration,” he touted. Carrie Severino, the president of the Judicial Crisis Network, told Fox News Digital that the judges “weren’t chosen for their fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law.” MCCONNELL-ALIGNED GROUP SHREDS SEN BROWN’S ‘HANDOUTS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ IN OHIO SPOT “We’re going to have a lot of new political activists on the federal bench who think that judges should be super legislators,” Kennedy said. “I’m sure these judges will be around for a while, like ours,” said Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “The next president will get to pick a lot of them, too. So, it’s important that you win these elections.” According to Severino, the 2024 election will ultimately decide what the federal judiciary looks like for years. “They’re going to serve for life,” she noted. “The judiciary really does ride on this upcoming election.” UNUSED COVID-19 FUNDS WOULD BUILD BORDER WALL UNDER NEW SENATE BILL “When I clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 2018, in the midst of President Trump’s term, I saw how courts can also be transformed in the other direction, for the better,” Hammer said. The conservative group’s senior counsel also noted the importance of the election in determining what the judiciary looks like. While Biden is currently outpacing Trump at the same point in his presidency, its unclear whether he will be able to match the former president’s 234 confirmed judges by the end of his term. Further, Biden has not been able to match Trump’s appointments at the appellate or Supreme Court level. Trump saw three of his Supreme Court justice nominees confirmed, setting in motion a majority conservative court that has ushered in landmark decisions such as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. On the other hand, Biden has appointed one Supreme Court justice. The former president also racked up 51 appellate court judicial appointments, according to the Associated Press. Biden has been able to confirm 42 judges to that level, instead boasting a greater number of district judges than Trump. Severino said that due to this disparity, the judges appointed by Trump are “more impactful.”
Arizona Senate advances measure allowing local, state police to arrest migrants illegally crossing border
Arizona senators narrowly approved a proposed ballot measure on Wednesday that would give local law enforcement the authority to arrest people who illegally cross the US-Mexico border into the state. The proposal, which passed along party lines by a 16-13 vote, would make it a state crime for illegal migrants to enter Arizona from Mexico at any location other than a port of entry – therefore allowing local and state police to arrest them. It would also allow state judges to send those convicted of the crime, which would be punishable by up to six months in jail for the first offense, back to their country of origin after completing their sentence. Judges could also dismiss a pending charge if the person agrees to return to their home country. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ESCAPE INTO THE US THROUGH GAP IN ARIZONA BORDER WALL While it is already illegal at the federal level to make unauthorized entry into the U.S., supporters of the measure said Arizona should be able to deal with the crime itself because the federal government isn’t stopping the increase in crossings. “Democrat legislators, Katie Hobbs and Joe Biden are failing Arizona. We share your concern. You will have the opportunity to take border security matters into your own hands this November with the Secure the Border Act,” the Arizona Senate GOP posted on its X account on Wednesday. Supporters also said some of the illegal migrants entering Arizona commit identity theft and take advantage of public benefits. Opponents believe the proposal, if passed, would hurt Arizona businesses, burden law enforcement and lead to racial profiling of illegal migrants and American citizens. “HCR2060 will kill-jobs(sic), make it harder for law enforcement to keep us safe and will vilify communities of color,” Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement earlier this month. “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a safe, secure & humane environment at the border to fix the crisis on our hands, but this referral is not the answer.” SWING STATE GOP LOOKS TO GO AROUND DEM GOVERNOR, PUT TEXAS-STYLE BORDER BILL BEFORE VOTERS A slightly different version of the proposal stalled last week after Republican Sen. Ken Bennett raised concerns over a provision targeting recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which prevents deportation for thousands who arrived in the U.S. as a child. The earlier version of the proposal would have made DACA recipients subject to prosecution if their protections from deportation were later canceled or deemed unlawful. That provision was cut from the measure approved on Wednesday and language was added to clarify that the law wouldn’t apply to migrants illegally in Arizona prior to its enforcement. “I know this is not perfect, but this is a vast improvement of where it was a week ago,” Bennett said. The measure now advances to the Republican-controlled House. If approved by the state legislature as a whole, it will bypass Hobbs – who vetoed a similar proposal in March – and be decided upon by Arizona voters on the Nov. 5 ballot. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Amal Clooney, the ICC’s shame and the real threat to Israel
When the International Criminal Court needed a top adviser to justify an appalling arrest warrant for Bibi Netanyahu, its members turned to Amal Clooney. The ultra-liberal British human rights lawyer – and the wife of George Clooney – was happy to comply. In a statement referring to “Palestine,” she said both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar are guilty of war crimes. Think about that for a moment. Hamas murders civilians deliberately, as we saw with the Oct. 7 massacre that started this war, the largest one-day death toll since the Holocaust. Israel at least tries to minimize civilian casualties with warnings and leaflets. BIDEN TAKES ROLE AS BYSTANDER ON BORDER AND CAMPUS PROTESTS, SURRENDERS THE BULLY PULPIT Now critics can argue that Israel has used excessive force, that it’s created a humanitarian crisis and famine in Gaza, but to compare it to a terrorist organization is a “travesty of justice” and “disgrace,” as Bibi Netanyahu says. “This is like creating a moral equivalence after September 11th between President Bush and Osama bin Laden, or during World War II between FDR and Hitler.” It’s truly shocking that Amal Clooney would advise the ICC that Hamas and Israel are on the same moral ground. Ironically, George Clooney is a prime celebrity face of President Biden’s campaign. He’ll co-host a Biden-Obama fundraiser next month and appear in digital ads for the campaign. Yet his wife says in effect that Biden is supporting a war criminal. WHY BIDEN DID THE DEBATE THROWDOWN, TRUMP AGREED, AND THE RISKS FOR EACH SIDE The absurd ruling by the ICC has given Biden a chance to mend fences with Israel. He immediately called the move “outrageous” and said there is no genocide by Israel. And he did it on camera. After that, the only televised comment from Biden was a response to a shouted question so terse that reporters couldn’t agree on what he said. Still, the president’s stance might ease some of the tension created by his decision to withhold 2,000-pound bombs from Israel out of concern they’d be used in an invasion of heavily populated Rafah. That didn’t stop Biden from approving $1 billion in military funding for the Israelis. The far left, including in Biden’s party, despises Israel. That animus also fueled the often violent campus protests, which Biden took far too long to address. Those calling themselves pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who occupied buildings and harassed Jewish students, are essentially supporting Hamas, which wants to wipe Israel off the map. Israel voluntarily withdraw from Gaza nearly two decades ago and basically wants to defend itself, though Netanyahu has strongly resisted a two-state solution. COLUMBIA PROTESTORS OCCUPY BUILDING AS TRUMP BLAMES BIDEN FOR ANTISEMITIC DEMONSTRATIONS All this has put Biden in a box. The hard-left liberals are disgusted by his support of Israel, and he’s often greeted by protesters waving “Genocide Joe” signs. But any expression of sympathy for the massive death toll in Gaza and need for humanitarian aid draws flak for being insufficiently pro-Israel. Republicans, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson, are pushing for sanctions against the ICC. This absurd ruling – lumping the head of the Hamas dictatorship, which kidnaps the youngest and oldest civilians and uses its own people as human shields, with the elected leader of the world’s only Jewish state – is why the court’s reputation may now be damaged beyond repair. Meanwhile, Israel sparked a backlash by raiding an AP bureau in Gaza and hauling away its camera equipment. A top official at the wire service said, “The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed showing a view into Gaza and seize AP equipment.” SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES The reason was that one of the feeds being distributed belongs to al-Jazeera, which the Israelis recently banned as a front for Hamas. The government later returned the AP’s equipment, saying it needs to study the matter further. And in an orchestrated move, Norway, Spain and Ireland agreed to recognize a Palestinian state, which for now remains a fiction. That would seem to reward Hamas for its barbaric attack, but is also a sign of Israel’s dwindling international support. And that, more than any crazy move by the ICC, is a threat to Israel and its American partner.
Ancient humans lived in East Timor 44,000 years ago, archaeologists find
Stone artefacts and animal bones found in a deep cave in northern East Timor offer new insights into where ancient humans lived more than 35,000 years before Egyptians built the first pyramids. Archaeologists from Australian and United Kingdom universities say thousands of stone artefacts and animal bones found in a cave, known as the Laili rock shelter, in the northern parts of East Timor, indicate ancient humans lived there some 44,000 years ago. The researchers say their analysis of deep sediment, dating back between 59,000 and 54,000 years, from the cave and other locations in East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, revealed an “arrival signature” that suggests humans were not present in the area before 44,000 years ago. “Unlike other sites in the region, the Laili rock shelter preserved deep sediments dating between which showed no clear signs of human occupation,” said Shimona Kealy, an archaeologist and palaeobiologist from the Australian National University, who was involved in the research. Sue O’Connor, a Distinguished Professor at the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University, examines a polished stone axe head found on the island of Timor [Courtesy of Jamie Kidston, ANU] Australian National University Distinguished Professor and archaeologist Sue O’Connor said the newly examined sediment gave insights into when humans arrived on the island of Timor. “The absence of humans on Timor Island earlier than at least 50,000 years ago is significant as it indicates that these early humans arrived on the island later than previously believed,” said O’Connor. The researchers – from the Australian National University (ANU), Flinders University, University College London (UCL) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage – published their findings in the journal Nature Communications this week. The new discovery in the country is the latest in a region known for some of the most ancient archaeological finds giving insights into the lives of ancient humans, alongside neighbouring Indonesia and Australia. A region of ancient artefacts Researchers say an ochre painting of a pig at Leang Tedongnge in Sulawesi, Indonesia, was painted at least 45,500 years ago [File: Adhi Agus Oktaviana, Griffith University via AFP] The island of Timor lies to the south of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, where researchers believe a 45,500-year-old life-size ochre painting of a warty pig could be the oldest rock art painting on earth. Basran Burhan, an Indonesian archaeologist from southern Sulawesi and current Griffith PhD student who led the survey that found the painting, said of the discovery in 2021 that “humans have hunted Sulawesi warty pigs for tens of thousands of years”. “These pigs were the most commonly portrayed animal in the ice age rock art of the island, suggesting they have long been valued both as food and a focus of creative thinking and artistic expression,” said Burhan. The team had earlier found a 44,000-year-old painting in another Sulawesi cave, depicting half-human hunters using what appeared to be spears and ropes to chase wild animals. The discovery of that painting was named one of the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2020 by Science magazine. Ancient cultural heritage at risk? Many of the oldest cultural heritage sites on earth are found in Australia to the south of East Timor and Indonesia. Aboriginal people living in Australia have one of the oldest continuous living cultures on earth, as documented by archaeological evidence dating back at least 60,000 years. At Murujuga in northwestern Australia, an estimated one million petroglyphs include rock carvings dating back as far as 40,000 years. The carvings include drawings of animals that are now extinct, including nail-tailed wallabies and thylacines, also known as Tasmanian tigers. The Murujuga Cultural Landscape was formally nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status earlier this year. “Murujuga is a deeply storied landscape where the ancestors of Ngarda-Ngarli lived and thrived for thousands of generations,” said Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation CEO Kim Wood. “Every part of this landscape is inscribed with that history, culture and lore that has managed Ngurra [the word for ‘country’ in Indigenous Western desert languages] for 50,000 years,” Wood said. But some traditional owners have expressed concerns Murujuga could become the latest Indigenous heritage site in Australia to be damaged or destroyed, due to a gas project in the area. While a UNESCO World Heritage Listing could see the petroglyphs protected, the Western Australia state government last year overturned new cultural heritage laws introduced to protect cultural heritage sites after mining giant Rio Tinto destroyed a 46,000-year-old cultural heritage site at Juukan Gorge, about 1,075km (668 miles) north of Perth. The destruction of the Juukan Gorge shelters in May 2020 prompted widespread outrage, prompting Rio Tinto’s CEO to resign and an Australian government report titled Never Again, which recommended that the mining giant impose a moratorium on mining in the area and rehabilitate the sacred sites. Adblock test (Why?)
Macron says French troops will stay in New Caledonia ‘as long as necessary’
France’s president is visiting the Pacific territory where electoral reform plans have fuelled the worst unrest in more than 30 years. French President Emmanuel Macron has said French soldiers will remain in New Caledonia “as long as necessary” after more than a week of unrest triggered by French plans to change electoral rules in the Pacific island territory. Macron arrived in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea on Thursday, amid continuing protests over voting reforms the Indigenous Kanak people say would dilute their vote and undermine their struggle for independence. The reforms would allow French people who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years or more to vote in New Caledonia’s provincial elections. About 3,000 soldiers have been sent from Paris since the violence began and could stay until the Olympic Games in Paris, which begin on July 26, Macron said. Six people, including three young Kanaks, have been killed and about 280 people arrested since the protests broke out and a state of emergency was declared. Macron observed a minute of silence for the people who had been killed and said if roadblocks and barricades were removed, he would be opposed to extending the state of emergency. The French president also met the pro-independence President of the Government of New Caledonia Louis Mapou and the President of Congress Roch Wamytan, in a meeting at the residence of France’s high commissioner to New Caledonia in Noumea on Thursday. Macron flew about 17,000km (10,500 miles) from mainland France to reach Noumea and was expected to remain in New Caledonia for around 12 hours. Demonstrators waving New Caledonian flags lined the streets as the French president’s convoy made its way along the newly reopened road from the international airport to Noumea. “I don’t know why our fate is being discussed by people who don’t even live here,” said Mike, a 52-year-old Kanak at a roadblock north of the capital, on the eve of Macron’s arrival. People demonstrate as French President Emmanuel Macron’s motorcade drives past in Noumea in France’s Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday [Ludovic Marin/Pool via AFP] About 90 barricades put up by protesters had been cleared by heavily armed police and paramilitaries, but new barricades were still appearing the night before Macron arrived, according to the Reuters news agency. Jimmy Naouna, from the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) of New Caledonia, said the pro-independence political party had called for protesters to remove the roadblocks, and urged Macron to drop the electoral reform plan. “We are expecting if [Macron] travels to Kanaky, he will make some strong announcement that he is withdrawing this electoral bill, but if he is just coming here as a provocation, that might just turn bad,” Naouna said ahead of the French president’s arrival, using the island’s Indigenous name. The Kanaks make up about 40 percent of the slightly more than 300,000 people who live in New Caledonia, which lies between Australia and Fiji in the Pacific Ocean. In 1998, France agreed to cede the territory more political power and to limit voting in New Caledonia’s provincial and assembly elections to those who were residents of the island at the time, under the so-called Noumea Accord. About 40,000 French citizens have moved to New Caledonia since 1998, and the changes expand the electoral roll to include those who have lived in the territory for 10 years. The Noumea Accord also included a series of three independence referendums, with the last one taking place in December 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pro-independence groups boycotted the vote, which backed remaining in France, and rejected the result. Last week, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told the TV channel France 2 that Azerbaijan, alongside China and Russia, were “interfering” in New Caledonia. “I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan,” Darmanin claimed. Adblock test (Why?)
Nvidia’s profits soar as AI boom shows no sign of slowing down
California-based company reports seven-fold jump in profit to $14.88bn in first quarter. Nvidia, the chipmaker at the centre of the boom in artificial intelligence (AI), has reported a seven-fold jump in profit, sending its stock to a record high. The Santa Clara, California-based company said on Wednesday that net income rose to $14.88bn in the first quarter, up from $2.04bn a year earlier. Revenue more than tripled to $26.04bn, well above analysts’ forecasts. Nvidia forecast revenue would hit $28bn, plus or minus 2 percent, in the second quarter, also beating analysts’ forecasts. Nvidia also announced it would split its stock 10-for-1, effective June 7, to make its shares more accessible, and raise its quarterly dividend by 150 percent to 1 cent per share. Stock splits increase the number of outstanding shares without affecting the company’s market capitalisation, making each share cheaper to buy for investors. Nvidia shares, which are up over 90 percent this year, surged 5.9 percent to break past the $1,000 mark. “The next industrial revolution has begun,” Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said in a conference call with analysts. “Companies and countries are partnering with Nvidia to shift the trillion-dollar traditional data centres to accelerated computing and build a new type of data centre – AI factories – to produce a new commodity: artificial intelligence.” Huang said he expected demand for Nvidia chips to outstrip supply for the foreseeable future, with the company “racing every single day” to keep up with orders. Nvidia has seen skyrocketing demand for its graphics processing units over the past year as tech giants such as Google, Meta, OpenAI and Amazon race to take the lead in AI. In March, Nvidia overtook Saudi Aramco to become the world’s third-most valuable firm after Apple and Microsoft, with a market value of more than $2.1 trillion. Adblock test (Why?)
Will not accept HC order scrapping OBC status of several classes in West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee
Banerjee accused the BJP of conspiring to stall the OBC quota by using central agencies.
Swati Maliwal assault case: Delhi Police to interrogate CM Kejriwal’s wife, parents; AAP reacts
In a veiled attack on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Swati Maliwal said that it was ironic that the person who had “assassinated her character” and called her a “BJP agent” was now calling for a free and fair investigation.