University announces mass layoffs after grants pulled over antisemitism on campus
Columbia University said it will cut around 180 staff members Tuesday following the Trump administration’s announcement in March that it canceled $400 million in federal grants over the Ivy League school’s “failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment.”
“Across the research portfolio we have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,” acting Columbia University President Claire Shipman said in a statement. “This represents about 20% of the individuals who are funded in some manner by the terminated grants.
“In the coming weeks and months, we will need to continue to take actions that preserve our financial flexibility and allow us to invest in areas that drive us forward,” she added. “This is a deeply challenging time across all higher education, and we are attempting to navigate through tremendous ambiguity with precision, which will be imperfect at times.”
The White House did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
LINDA MCMAHON BLASTS HARVARD IN SCATHING LETTER TELLING ELITE UNIVERSITY IT WILL NO LONGER GET FEDERAL GRANTS
Columbia University said in early March that it was “notified of federal action from Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) cancelling $400 million in federal funding to the University.
“The federal agencies cite ‘the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.’ There is no question that the cancellation of these funds will immediately impact research and other critical functions of the University, impacting students, faculty, staff, research, and patient care,” it added at the time.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY JANITORS SUE ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS ACCUSED OF HOLDING THEM HOSTAGE IN CAMPUS BUILDING
Then in April, Columbia University caved in to demands from the Trump administration in an effort to restore federal funding.
The Ivy League school agreed to ban masks for the purpose of concealing identity, empower 36 campus police officers with new powers to arrest students and appoint a senior vice provost with broad authority to oversee the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies, as well as the Center for Palestine Studies.
As of today, “Columbia’s leadership continues discussions with the federal government in support of resuming activity on these research awards and additional other awards that have remained active, but unpaid,” according to Shipman.
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“Increasing budget constraints combined with uncertainty related to future levels of federal funding for research, including proposed reductions in facilities and administration (i.e., indirect costs) reimbursements, requires us to make difficult choices,” Shipman said about the layoffs. “We have had to make deliberate, considered decisions about the allocation of our financial resources. Those decisions also impact our greatest resource, our people. We understand this news will be hard.”
India launches strikes on ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in Pakistan
India said it attacked “terrorist infrastructure” in neighboring Pakistan on Wednesday in two of its occupied territories, killing at least one child and wounding two other people in what Pakistan has called a “blatant act of war.”
The Indian armed forces launched “Operation Sindoor,” which targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed, the Press Information Bureau of India said in a statement.
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature,” India’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. “No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted.”
INDIA’S MODI GIVES ARMY FREEDOM TO ACT AS TENSIONS RISE WITH PAKISTAN AFTER DEADLY TERROR ATTACK
“India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the statement said.
The missiles launched Wednesday struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province. A mosque in the city of Bahawalpur was struck, killing a child, and a woman and man were injured, one Pakistani security official said.
The attack occurred in a remote valley only accessible on foot or by horse, and survivors claimed after the attack that the gunmen had accused some of the victims of supporting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“In an unprovoked and blatant act of war, the Indian Air Force, while remaining within Indian airspace, has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting civilian population across international border in Muridke and Bahawalpur, and across Line of Control in Kotli and Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said. “India’s act of aggression has resulted in martyrdom of civilians, including women and children. This act of aggression has also caused grave threat to commercial air traffic.”
President Donald Trump said he hoped the tension between the two nations subsides.
“It’s a shame. We just heard about it just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval (Office),” he said. “I just heard about it. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time. You know, they’ve been fighting for many, many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it.”
PAKISTAN FEARS INDIA INCURISON ‘IMMINENT’ AMID HEIGHTENED TENSIONS FOLLOWING TERROR ATTACK
“I just hope it ends very quickly,” he said.
The military action comes amid tense relations between the nuclear-armed states following an April 22 attack that killed 26 people in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, a long-disputed territory that has been the source of tension between the two nations and is one of the most militarized regions in the world.
Kashmir has been a disputed region since both India and Pakistan gained their autonomy from Britain in 1947.
India has blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.
“In the wake of Pahalgam attack, the Indian leadership has once again used the bogey of terrorism to advance its sham narrative of victimhood, jeopardizing regional peace and security,” Pakistan said. “India’s reckless action has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was monitoring the situation.
“I am monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely,” he wrote on social media. “I echo @POTUS’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.”
Pakistani army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, told ARY News that the missiles were launched Wednesday from within Indian territory and that no Indian aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace.
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“This was a cowardly attack targeting innocent civilians under the cover of darkness,” Sharif told the broadcaster.
Supreme Court hands down decision in trans military ban suit
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with the Trump administration in lifting a lower court order that paused the Pentagon’s transgender military ban from taking effect – allowing Trump’s order and related policies to proceed, at least.
The high court ruling is a near-term victory for the White House, even as it did not address the underlying merits of the case or President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order banning transgender service members from the U.S. military.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the administration’s appeal and kept the lower court injunction in place.
At issue in the suit, Shilling v. United States, is Trump’s executive order banning transgender military members.
HEGSETH SAYS HE’S SIGNING MEMO ON COMBAT ARMS STANDARDS FOR MEN AND WOMEN
The executive order would require the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.”
The Trump administration has argued that further stalling the policy could pose a threat to U.S. military readines – concerns it outlined to Supreme Court in a filing late last month.
“Absent a stay, the district court’s universal injunction will remain in place for the duration of further review in the Ninth Circuit and in this Court – a period far too long for the military to be forced to maintain a policy that it has determined, in its professional judgment, to be contrary to military readiness and the Nation’s interests,” U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court, urging justices to grant the stay.
Trump officials have argued that the transgender military policy “furthers the government’s important interests in military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and avoiding disproportionate costs.”
The case was immediately challenged in federal court. Seven transgender military members brought suit against the administration in Seattle-based federal court, and in Washington, D.C., where U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes grilled lawyers for the Trump administration in a dizzying line of questioning that invoked shelters, Jesus, and Miss Pac-Man, among other things, before asking the government to push its planned implementation deadline. That decision was later overturned by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
TRUMP’S TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN DEALT LEGAL BLOW AFTER APPEALS COURT RULING
In the Seattle case, plaintiffs argued that the executive order “turns away” transgender military members “and kicks them out – for no legitimate reason.”
“Rather, it baselessly declares all transgender people unfit to serve, insults and demeans them, and cruelly describes every one of them as incapable of ‘an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,’ based solely because they are transgender,” it continued.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle issued a preliminary injunction in March that blocked the administration from identifying and removing transgender service members as the suit worked its way through the lower courts.
In his opinion granting the injunction, Settle characterized the ban as a “blanket prohibition on transgender service.” Settle found the plaintiffs would likely succeed on the merits of their equal protection, First Amendment, and procedural due process claims, among others.
“The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record,” Settle wrote.
Settle wrote in his order that the injunction was to “maintain the status quo of military policy regarding both active-duty and prospective transgender service” that were in place prior to Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order.
The administration quickly appealed the order to the 9th Circuit, requesting the appellate court stay Settle’s order.
HEGSETH SUGGESTS JUDGE REPORT TO MILITARY BASES AFTER RULING THAT PENTAGON MUST ALLOW TRANSGENDER TROOPS
The administration argued in court filings that the policy “furthers the government’s important interests in military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and avoiding disproportionate costs.”
A three-judge panel – composed of Judges Atsushi Wallace Tashima, a Clinton-appointee, John B. Owens, an Obama-appointee, and Roopali H. Desai, a Biden-appointee – denied the administration’s request for a stay on March 31, which was overturned by the Supreme Court ruling Tuesday.
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“The Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s executive actions, including the Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness Executive Order, and will continue to do so,” a Justice Department official told Fox News Digital at the time.
Shilling v. United States is just one of several suits challenging the Trump administration’s military ban. It comes as Trump has used his early days in office to undo major Biden-era policies, including their efforts to promote a diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, agenda.
Incredible air traffic control (ATC) audio captures the moment staff lost radar and radio signals while guiding planes to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey last week.
The April 28 outage lasted roughly 90 seconds. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital, writing that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s operation in Philadelphia had “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them.”
The audio shows the initial moments of controllers learning of an outage at Philadelphia TRACON/ATCT.
“There is some equipment outages, so I don’t know what exactly the equipment is, but they’re having some frequency issues, and then the radar scopes are out, so they can’t have anyone depart right now,” one man is heard saying.
NEWARK AIRPORT HIT WITH NEW DELAYS, OUTAGE HEARD ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AUDIO
I am going to move you here because I just got told that the approach lost all the radars. Three of the four radar screens went black and they have no frequencies,” another says.
Another man remarks, “I guess this is a serious issue because I have one more arrival, and now I have nobody else coming in back.”
The audio also captures controllers attempting to get more information about the outage.
“Any idea how long the departure delay is going to be?” one man asks in the audio.
I have no idea. We’re still waiting on word from Newark TRACON,” another quickly replies.
HAKEEM JEFFRIES BLAMES TRUMP FOR NEWARK AIRPORT CHAOS, ACCUSES WHITE HOUSE OF ‘BREAKING THE FAA’
“The approach just told me that a couple of techs went in, looked at the radar scope and walked out,” a man is heard saying. “They think it’s going to be a likely delay.”
The incident predated massive delays and cancellations at the New Jersey travel hub, which has been ongoing since Thursday.
In a statement obtained by FOX Business, the FAA addressed the staffing shortages that have contributed to the issue.
“While we cannot quickly replace [the controllers who have left] due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,” the agency said Monday.
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“When staffing or equipment issues occur, the FAA will ensure safety by slowing the rate of arrivals into the airport. We will keep the public updated as we work through these issues.”
Comedian struggles with country life after fleeing US following Trump win
Ellen DeGeneres appeared to bite off a little more than she could chew when she took on a common household chore.
A recent Instagram video posted by the former talk show host shows DeGeneres attempting to mow the lawn at her new home in the U.K. in a video shot by her wife, “Arrested Development” actress Portia de Rossi.
“Portia thought it would be fun to film my first time on the mower,” DeGeneres wrote in the caption. “She was right.”
The video starts off with DeGeneres on a ride-on mower successfully mowing a small flat portion of her lawn, with the words “How it started” written on the screen.
ELLEN DEGENERES SHUTS DOWN RUMORS HER UK FARMHOUSE FLOODED AFTER FLEEING US
In the next clip, DeGeneres struggled to drive the lawn mower up a hill, and the on-screen caption changed to “How it ended.” The video showed DeGeneres sitting on the mower as someone assists her by pushing the machine from the back.
De Rossi can be heard struggling to hold back her laughter from behind the camera as she recorded the whole ordeal.
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The Hollywood couple first made headlines when they reportedly moved to the U.K. in November 2024 after Donald Trump was elected president. They sold one of their homes in Montecito, California, in August 2024 and sold their second home in the city in March.
“Portia thought it would be fun to film my first time on the mower. … She was right.”
“Ellen was in England house hunting in the beginning of October,” a source told People when the couple first moved. “She ended up finding a house that she loved and purchased it shortly after.”
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Shortly after news of the couple’s big move broke, the two were spotted out with a group of friends at The Farmer’s Dog in the Cotswolds, a countryside region in England. It is unclear where in the U.K. they relocated to, but they are rumored to live in the English countryside.
DeGeneres is not the only comedian who left after President Trump won the election. In a TikTok video shared in March 2025, Rosie O’Donnell shared she left the country and moved to Ireland Jan. 15, five days before Trump’s inauguration.
In the video, O’Donnell explained she “was someone who never thought I would move to another country,” but she thought it was best for her and her young child.
“I miss my other kids,” she added of her five grown children. “I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home. And I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country. And when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back.”
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When speaking with US Weekly in April, O’Donnell shared that she was “shocked” to find out the reason DeGeneres chose to flee the country.
“I’ve never really known Ellen to say anything political in her life, so I was surprised to read that she left because of President Trump. Like, that shocked me, actually,” O’Donnell said. “I’ve been a political person my whole life. Not better or worse. It’s just a different way to be in the world.
“I was very clear about the reason why I was leaving, and I don’t think it came as a surprise to anyone. We’re not really in each other’s worlds, and it’s been kind of awkward, but you know what? I wish her the best. I wish that she has peace and love in her life and that she is OK.”
Top Trump officials to meet with Chinese delegation for trade talks
Top officials with the Trump administration are expected to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this week in Switzerland, marking the first major talks between the two countries since President Donald Trump ignited a trade war based on tariffs on imports.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer are expected to represent the U.S. as they meet with their Chinese counterparts in Geneva.
“Economic security is national security, and President Donald J. Trump is leading the way both at home and abroad for a stronger, more prosperous America,” Bessent said. “I look forward to productive talks as we work towards rebalancing the international economic system towards better serving the interests of the United States.”
TRUMP SAYS HE WILL NOT DROP TARIFFS TO GET CHINA TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday, and during his time in Switzerland, Bessent will meet with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter.
According to a news release, Bessent will follow up with his recent meeting with Keller-Sutter on the sidelines of the recent World Bank Group (WBG) International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings.
Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, confirmed the meeting in a post on X on Tuesday.
CHINA OPEN TO TALKS WITH TRUMP ADMIN ON LOWERING TARIFFS, MINISTRY SAYS
“At the invitation of the government of Switzerland, from May 9 to 12, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng will visit Switzerland. He will hold talks with Swiss leaders and relevant parties,” Jian said in the social media post. “During his visit to Switzerland, Vice Premier He, as the Chinese lead person for China-US economic and trade affairs, will have a meeting with the US lead person Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“From May 12 to 16, Vice Premier He will be in France to co-chair with the French side the 10th China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue,” he added.
The meeting comes as the U.S. market worries over the effects of Trump’s tariffs on prices and supply continue to increase.
TRUMP WAGERS US ECONOMY IN HIGH-STAKES TARIFF GAMBLE AT 100-DAY MARK
Trump announced sweeping global tariffs last month. He slapped a 145% tariff on Chinese imports. Meanwhile, Beijing put a 125% tariff on U.S. imports. However, the country recently waived the tariff on a host of American-made products.
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There were already exemptions for some pharmaceuticals, microchips and aircraft engines, but China added an exemption for ethane imports, according to Reuters.
Beijing’s change in messaging regarding the tariffs comes in stark contrast to its April 23 comments during a U.N. Security Council Arria-formula meeting on “The Impact of Unilateralism and Bullying Practices on International Relations.” At that meeting, China accused the U.S. of using tariffs to bully the rest of the world.
Motown legend accused of sexual assault in explosive $50M lawsuit
Smokey Robinson was accused of sexual misconduct and false imprisonment Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by four anonymous former employees, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Smokey, 85, is accused of harassing and assaulting four former housekeepers who worked at his Chatsworth home between 2006 and 2024, according to the suit. The accusers are seeking $50 million in damages.
Frances Robinson, Smokey’s wife of 25 years, was also accused of perpetuating a “hostile work environment.”
The accusers claimed Frances “failed to take the appropriate corrective action to prevent Defendant Smokey Robinson’s deviant misconduct” despite having “full knowledge of his prior acts of sexual misconduct, having settled cases with other women that suffered and experienced similar sexual assaults perpetuated by him.”
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Representatives for Smokey did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jane Doe 1 (JD1) worked for the Motown legend from January 2023 through February 2024, but was forced to resign due to Smokey’s “repeated sexual assaults and sexual harassment against her,” the suit states.
She claimed Smokey sexually assaulted her “at least 7 times” while she was employed by the family. She was unwilling to report the incidents due to “her fear of losing her livelihood, familial reprisal, public embarrassment, shame and humiliation to her and her family, the possible adverse effect on her immigration status, as well as being threatened and intimidated by Defendant Smokey Robinson’s well-recognized celebrity status and his influential friends and associates,” documents say.
Smokey would allegedly call JD1 into his “blue bedroom,” lock the door and, while wearing only his underwear, “neatly place a white towel on his bed, not to soil the bed linens, in preparation for what was about to occur.”
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Smokey allegedly repeated this “ritual” in the “blue bedroom” against each of the four accusers.
“In a desperate attempt to get him to stop his sexual assaults, she would proclaim ‘you’re married,’ to which he would casually ignore,” JD1 claimed. Additionally, the accuser claimed Smokey and his wife “failed to pay minimum wage or pay overtime wages” and did not provide rest or lunch breaks.
Jane Doe 2 (JD2) claimed sexual assaults began in 2016 when the “Tracks of My Tears” singer would send text messages for JD2 to meet him in areas of the Chatsworth home where closed-circuit cameras weren’t located. Upon arrival, she claimed he would “proceed to rape her.”
JD2 also claimed Smokey assaulted her at least 23 times and would “threaten her that if she refused to have sex with him, he would make Defendant Frances Robinson be ‘mean’ to her,” the lawsuit states.
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Jane Doe 3 (JD3) alleged Smokey repeatedly raped her during “most of her entire employment with Defendants,” which began in February 2012 and ended with her forced resignation in April 2024.
She claimed Smokey “repeatedly raped” her at least 20 times, and, on one occasion, when she resisted his advances, Smokey allegedly offered JD3 “$500 to allow him to orally copulate her, an offer she refused,” according to documents.
Jane Doe 4 (JD4) worked as a housekeeper and served as Frances’ personal assistant, cook and hairdresser, beginning in October 2006. She claimed Smokey first sexually assaulted her the following year at his Las Vegas home.
Frances allegedly “also perpetuated a hostile work environment by regularly screaming at JD4 in a hostile manner, using ethnically pejorative words and language.”
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“Plaintiffs were severely harmed and humiliated by Defendant Smokey Robinson’s conduct,” the women claimed in their lawsuit.
In addition to sexual battery and assault, the four women sued for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, gender violence and a number of labor code violations.
Football fans rip Eagles star for attending Met Gala after skipping White House
Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback Jalen Hurts was ripped by fans on social media for attending the Met Gala on Monday when the quarterback did not attend the White House during the Eagles’ recent visit to celebrate their Super Bowl win.
Hurts did not attend the Eagles Super Bowl celebration with President Donald Trump due to “scheduling conflicts,” Fox News confirmed.
Hurts was at the Met Gala with his wife, Bry Burrows.
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Hurts was not the only Eagles player to skip their White House visit.
Star wide receivers AJ Brown and Devonta Smith were also among players not present.
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Hurts’ teammate, Saquon Barkley, was also in attendance at the Met Gala on Monday. Barkley faced criticism for interacting with Trump on social media and pushed back against the blowback he received.
“lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” Barkley wrote on X in April. “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago… and look forward to finishing my round with Trump ! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day.”
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While Hurts has received criticism for his decision to skip the Eagles celebration at the White House, others have supported the quarterback’s decision.