While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, May 24, 2025
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People walk through Harvard Yard on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15.
PHOTO: AFP
Judge blocks Trump administration from revoking Harvard enrolment of foreign students
A US judge on May 23 blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign students, a move that ratcheted up White House efforts to conform practices in academia to President Donald Trump’s policies.
In a complaint filed in Boston federal court filed earlier on May 23, Harvard called the revocation a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws, and had an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” Harvard said.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school added.
German woman arrested after 17 stabbed at Hamburg station
German police on May 23 said they had arrested a woman after at least 17 people were injured in a knife attack at the main station in the northern city of Hamburg.
Some of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries in the stabbing, which took place in the middle of the city’s evening rush hour, emergency services said.
The suspect, a 39-year-old German woman, was arrested at the scene by law enforcement, a Hamburg police spokesman said said.
EU urges respect not threats as Trump pushes for 50% tariff
The European Commission urged the US on May 23 to bring respect, not threats, to trade talks after President Donald Trump pushed for a 50 per cent tariff on EU goods.
Insisting the European Union was committed to securing a deal that worked for both sides, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic spoke with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Mr Trump had recommended higher tariffs on the EU from June 1.
The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, remained ready to work in good faith, Mr Sefcovic said.
Boeing reaches deal to avoid prosecution over 737 Max plane crashes
The US Justice Department said on May 23 it has struck a deal in principle with Boeing to allow it to avoid prosecution in a fraud case stemming from two fatal 737 Max plane crashes that killed 346 people.
The agreement allows Boeing to avoid being branded a convicted felon and is a blow to families who lost relatives in the crashes and had pressed prosecutors to take the US planemaker to trial. A lawyer for family members and two US senators had urged the Justice Department not to abandon its prosecution, but the government quickly rejected the requests.
“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in US history. My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it,” said Mr Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing many of the families.
Trump shows approval for Nippon Steel’s bid for US Steel, blesses ‘planned partnership’
US President Donald Trump appeared to give his approval to Nippon Steel’s US$14.9 billion (S$19.2 billion) bid for US Steel on May 23, saying the “planned partnership” between the two would create jobs and help the American economy.
Shares of US Steel soared 21 per cent as investors interpreted the post on Truth Social to mean Nippon Steel’s takeover of US Steel was nearing completion, having cleared the last major hurdle with Mr Trump’s apparent approval. “This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add US$14 Billion Dollars (S$18 billion) to the US Economy,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Mr Trump added that the bulk of that investment would occur in the next 14 months and said he would hold a rally at US Steel in Pittsburgh on May 30.
