Author: KnowledgeHippo

Campus protests aren’t usually directed at just one person. But last week at the University of Pennsylvania, professors organized a rally aimed at Marc Rowan, the New York private equity billionaire.A Penn alumnus and major benefactor of the university, Mr. Rowan used his formidable resources in a relentless campaign against Penn President M. Elizabeth Magill that led to her resignation in December.But it was what happened next that sparked the protest. Mr. Rowan sent a four-page email to university administrators titled “Moving Forward,” which many professors interpreted as a plan for a more conservative campus.Amy C. Offner, a history professor…

Virginia is on track to ban legacy preferences at its public universities, which give a boost to the children of graduates applying for admission.The state House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would repeal the preferences. the State Senate did so last week.Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office indicated he would sign the legislation, saying in a statement that he “believes that admission to Virginia’s universities and colleges should be based on merit.” The law will go into effect on July 1, after admissions decisions are made for the fall of 2024.The ban, which would affect two of the nation’s…

The newsUtah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a sweeping bill that dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the state’s educational institutions and government offices — the latest state to take action amid a broader national backlash against such efforts.The law prohibits any program, office or initiative that has “diversity, equity and inclusion” in its name or “asserts that meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist.” It also requires that student support services be open to all students, outlawing efforts that target students of certain races or genders.The Background: The law is part of a broader national crackdown on diversity efforts.Since early…

In the fall of 2020, around the height of the pandemic school closing debate, a lawsuit in California made a serious claim: the state failed in its constitutional obligation to provide an equal education to low-income, black and Hispanic students, who had less access in online learning.Now, in a settlement announced Thursday, the state has agreed to use at least $2 billion earmarked for pandemic recovery to help those students still trying to catch up. And it includes guardrails on how the money can be used.Mark Rosenbaum, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, described it as a “historic settlement” that ensures…

The United States has led a major wave of retaliation in the Middle East, striking dozens of targets belonging to armed groups backed by Iran since Friday. The strikes represent a sharp escalation of hostilities in the region, something President Biden has sought to avoid since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began in October.See how the latest strikes have unfolded.January 28: Three US service members were killed and dozens wounded in a drone attack on their remote military outpost in Jordan, the Pentagon said. They were the first known US military deaths by enemy fire in the…

Tucked away in a patch of dying grass on the outskirts of Islamabad, the gathering hardly looked like a political gathering at the height of an election season. Two dozen men sat in plastic chairs in silence. There were no posters to promote a campaign, no microphones for speeches, no sound system to amplify the crowd.Even the candidate, Aamir Mughal, was missing: he had gone into hiding months earlier, with the first signs of a military crackdown on his political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI. Authorities had already raided his home. arrested two of his sons and filed a…

His unit decimated by Ukrainian fire, the last surviving soldier in a Russian attack hid in a shallow crater while the Ukrainians shouted at him to surrender. As he hoisted two grenades into the air, a Ukrainian drone swooped overhead and exploded.Soon, the smoke cleared, a surveillance drone appeared overhead, revealing the body of the Russian soldier. That day’s attack, just north of the ruined city of Avdiivka, was repulsed. But Ukrainians were under no illusions: There would be many more.”They’re coming in waves,” said Lt. Oleksandr Shyrshyn, 29, the deputy battalion commander in the 47th Mechanized Brigade. “And they…

Kenya’s government will not wait for an appeals court ruling before deploying forces to Haiti, a senior government official said, further underscoring the government’s determination to press ahead with a proposed multinational force aimed at bringing stability to the Caribbean nation ravaged by gangs.Abraham Korir Sing’Oei, the principal secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, told The New York Times in an interview that Kenya and Haiti are working to finalize a bilateral agreement in the next two weeks and that, once in place, its forces Kenya will direct development.Mr Sing’Oei’s statement comes just a week after the country’s Supreme…

The United States launched dozens of raids across the Middle East over the weekend as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken headed to the region to advance negotiations to secure the release of Israelis still being held hostage in Gaza and bring in more humanitarian aid. in the abused pockets.The latest strike came on Sunday in Yemen, where the US military said it destroyed an anti-ship cruise missile belonging to Houthi fighters that posed “an immediate threat to US naval vessels and commercial vessels in the area”.It was the third U.S. military action against Iranian-backed militias in as many days:…

Days after devastating wildfires ripped through Chile’s Pacific coast, ravaging entire neighborhoods and trapping people fleeing in cars, officials said Sunday that at least 99 people had been killed and hundreds were still missing, and warned that the death toll could rise sharply. .”This number will increase, we know it will increase significantly,” President Gabriel Boric said Sunday, describing the fires in the Valparaiso region as the country’s worst disaster since the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 400 people. dead and displaced 1.5 million.”We are facing a tragedy of enormous proportions,” said the president, who visited the fire and…