Iowa Republicans Pass Bill Banning Most Abortions After About 6 Weeks; Governor to Sign Friday

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Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature passed a bill banning most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a marathon special session Tuesday that continued late into the night. Governor Kim Reynolds immediately said in a statement she would sign the bill Friday.  The bill passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative burst lasting more than 14 hours over the vocal — and sometimes tense — objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates protesting at the Capitol.   Just after 11 p.m., lingering protesters in the gallery booed and yelled “shame” to state senators in the minutes after themore

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Trump Can Be Held Liable in Writer’s Defamation Lawsuit After Justice Department Reverses Course

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The Justice Department on Tuesday said that Donald Trump can be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape — a reversal of its position that Trump was protected because he was president when he made the remarks.  In a letter filed with the judge presiding over a defamation lawsuit that columnist E. Jean Carroll brought in Manhattan federal court in 2020, the department says it no longer has “a sufficient basis” to conclude that Trump was motivated in his statements about Carroll’s claims by more than an insignificant desire to serve themore

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Applying to US Universities: What You Need to Know

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The Teen Mag has a guide for international students considering applying to U.S. schools. The article says it “aims to provide a comprehensive overview of key considerations for international students applying to U.S. universities.” Topics covered include scholarships, safety on campus and immigration and visa regulations. Read it here. (June 2023)    …

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Are the Humanities Really Dying?

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The U.S. media has run several stories recently on the “death of the humanities,” with undergraduate enrollments dropping by more than 50% at some schools. But Karin Beck, an associate dean at Lehman College in New York City, says this is misleading. Elite schools’ humanities programs are declining – but her school, which mostly serves low-income and first-generation students, is graduating more humanities majors than ever before. She argues that culturally sensitive and rewarding humanities classes can captivate anyone, even students who are assumed to lack interest. Weigh her arguments in Inside Higher Ed. (June 2023) …

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Biden, Sunak to Discuss Ukraine Ahead of NATO Summit

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The war in Ukraine will be high on the agenda Monday as U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet in London as allies prepare for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.  It will be the leaders’ sixth meeting in six months. In June, Biden hosted Sunak at the White House, committing to the Atlantic Declaration to cooperate on advanced technologies, clean energy, and critical minerals to counter China’s clout around the world.    Biden is also due to meet Monday with Britain’s King Charles before traveling to Vilnius, where it remains unlikely NATO will welcome Sweden as itsmore

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Biden Heads to UK, Seeks to Bolster ‘Close Relationship’

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THE WHITE HOUSE – President Joe Biden will seek to grow his “close relationship” with the United Kingdom, the White House says, when he pays his first visit to newly crowned King Charles III and meets with Britain’s political leader to strengthen the bond between the two nations ahead of a critical NATO summit that could determine the course of the conflict in Ukraine. London is the first stop on Biden’s three-nation tour, which begins Monday. He will then go to Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, for a summit of NATO leaders, and then to Helsinki, the capital city of NATO’s newest member,more

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Americans Divided Over Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action

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Americans are divided by the Supreme Court overturning decades of precedent supporting affirmative action in college admissions, a policy that advantaged otherwise disadvantaged students from racial or ethnic minority groups.  “Unfortunately, race still matters in our society and affirmative action is essential in guaranteeing that everyone — not just the advantaged — benefit from an education that can serve as a pathway to upward mobility,” Coalition for a Diverse Harvard board member Michael Williams told VOA. Harvard University, along with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, were sued by Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit organization against racial classificationsmore

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What’s It Like to Find a Job Using OPT?

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The United States gives international students the option to work for a year after graduating, without receiving a work visa. But the process to apply is long, difficult and carries risks. Sarah Dittenber of Idaho Ed News profiled undergraduates who are beginning new jobs and contributing to Idaho’s economy, using the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. (June 2023) …

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US Refusing More Student Visas, Report Says

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ICEF Monitor, a dedicated market intelligence resource for the international education industry, has worrying news for international students seeking visas to study in the U.S. It says student visa refusals soared for 2022, with more than 1 in 3 students failing to get a visa. “This is both a notable increase in the overall refusal rate for F-1 applicants, and also considerably higher than the average rate for other non-immigrant visa classes,” ICEF Monitor notes. It takes a closer look at the trend here. (June 2023) …

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Nigerian Student in New York Joins Ocean Expedition Near Greenland

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A Nigerian student working toward a doctorate in geological sciences at the State University of New York, Binghamton, has joined an ocean expedition near Greenland and Iceland. “I was captivated by the potential for groundbreaking research and knew immediately that I wanted to be part of such a significant scientific endeavor,” Halima Ibrahim told BingUNews. She’ll work as a ship-based sedimentologist examining sediment drilled from the ocean floor. Read the full story here. (June 2023) …

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Putin ‘Somewhat Weakened’ by Mutiny, Trump Says

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WASHINGTON – Former U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Thursday that Putin has been “somewhat weakened” by an aborted mutiny and that now is the time for the United States to try to broker a negotiated peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking expansively about foreign policy in a telephone interview with Reuters, the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination also said China should be given a 48-hour deadline to get out of what sources familiar with the matter say is a Chinese spy capability on the island ofmore

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Biden Refutes Top-Down Economic Policy with ‘Bidenomics’

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Here comes “Bidenomics,” President Joe Biden’s self-named plan to forge an economic future “for families and communities that have long been written off and left behind.” On Wednesday, he visited Chicago — a legendary city in the nation’s once-booming industrial and agricultural heartland — to introduce Bidenomics to the world. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report. …

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International Students Worry AI Detectors Wrongly Flag Them as Cheaters

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Some universities are using AI detectors to root out cheating. But international students worry that they’ll be wrongly targeted by the algorithms. A recent study from Stanford University underscores the concern, finding that AI detectors can be “unreliable and biased against non-native English writers,” the Financial Express reports. Among other things, the study found that non-native speakers’ use of translation and grammar tools can wrongly indicate the work was generated by AI. Read the full story here. (June 2023)  …

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FBI, Homeland Security Ignored ‘Massive Amount’ of Intelligence Before Jan. 6, Senate Report Says

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The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security downplayed or ignored “a massive amount of intelligence information” ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S Capitol, according to the chairman of a Senate panel that on Tuesday released a new report on the intelligence failures ahead of the insurrection.    The report details how the agencies failed to recognize and warn of the potential for violence as some of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters openly planned the siege in messages and forums online.  Among the multitude of intelligence that was overlooked was a December 2020 tip to the FBImore

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White House Takes a Bet on ‘Bidenomics’ Amid Americans’ Pessimism on Economy

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Ahead of President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, the White House is promoting the term “Bidenomics” to make the case that his policies to “grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out” have succeeded in taming inflation and lowering unemployment. “The share of working-age Americans in the workforce is higher now than it has been for 15 years,” Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said Tuesday during a news briefing. “While we have more work to do, inflation has been coming down for 11 months in a row.” She touted 13 million jobsmore

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Crowded, Diverse Republican Presidential Field Expands

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Former President Donald Trump and current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held dueling events in the early primary state of New Hampshire on Tuesday, as campaigning among the dozen or more Republicans seeking the presidency next year escalates. DeSantis was on the stump in the town of Hollis, just before Trump spoke 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the north in Concord, the state capital. The two rivals’ common target on Tuesday: President Joe Biden, who at the age of 80 is running for a second term. “If this election is about Biden’s failures and our vision for the future, we aremore

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Can US Reverse College Enrollment Declines?

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Due to a shrinking youth population, the dislocations of the pandemic and rising tuition costs, fewer Americans are choosing college. However, it remains a good choice – graduates earn more and even live longer. Katharine Meyer of the Brookings Institution offers recommendations, such as financial aid for older people and partnerships with local businesses and welfare offices. (June 2023)  …

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Trump Discussed ‘Highly Confidential’ Document in Audio Recording

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An audio recording obtained by news organizations reveals U.S. President Donald Trump discussing secret documents about a plan to attack Iran as he spoke to a writer after leaving office in 2021.  Federal prosecutors cited parts of the conversation in an indictment last month on charges that he illegally retained classified government documents and then conspired to obstruct a federal investigation.    CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times released the audio clip Monday in which Trump references reports that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley feared Trump would manufacture a conflict with Iran after losingmore

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How Are US-China Tensions Affecting Student Exchange?

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There are currently only about 350 Americans studying in China, down from 15,000 a decade ago. Meanwhile, there are over 300,000 Chinese nationals studying in the U.S. The mismatch is due to growing mistrust in the U.S. of China’s government, as well as the impact of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy on foreign travel – and it has consequences for the future. “It just seems like China is knowing much more about the rest of the world, but the U.S. is not getting to know much more about what’s going on outside of the states,” said one student at New York University’smore

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