List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

Treasury yields surged Thursday, most to the highest levels since March, as strong economic growth data prompted traders

Some of the Midwesterners who visit Casey’s General Stores Inc. convenience stores are changing their behavior because of

Harvard University was defiant after the Supreme Court effectively banned universities from using race as a factor in

A former Pfizer Inc. employee was charged with using inside information about the company’s Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid to

President Joe Biden on Thursday said he “strongly, strongly disagree[d” with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the use of affirmative action programmes in college admissions decisions and condemned the six-justice majority that did so as “not a normal court”. Mr Biden’s harsh words for the highest court in the land came in response to a reporter’s query on whether the court was acting as a “rogue court,” just after he addressed the landmark decision in brief remarks before departing the White House for New York. Speaking from the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing, the president echoed the dissenting Justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in his reaction to the ruling, which ends the long-standing precedent that allowed colleges and universities to use affirmative action to help establish a diverse group of accepted students. “Discrimination still exists in America. Today’s decision does not change that,” Mr Biden said in a brief press conference. He added: “I believe our colleges are stronger when they’re racially diverse. Our nation is stronger because we are tapping into the full range of talent in this nation. We cannot let this decision be the last word.” The rulings come from two consolidated cases, Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College. Both cases were brought forth by the anti-affirmative action organisation Students for Fair Admissions. That group, which is headed by conservative legal strategist Edward Blum, has for years made attempts to give the court’s GOP-appointed majority a chance to gut previous court precedents which have been used to justify limited use of race-based preferences in college admissions. While the court upheld such programmes in a decision nearly two decades, ago, the newly-emboldened conservative majority swept away any legal justification for them in Thursday’s opinions. In a 6-3 and 6-2 decision, the Court’s conservative majority sided with Students for Fair Admissions claiming the use of race-conscious admissions was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Now, higher education institutions will no longer be allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions. Instead, students who wish to have their race or culture considered in their application will have to volunteer the information like in their personal essay. At the end of the press conference, Mr Biden responded to a question about the court’s decision to strike down a long-standing precedent: “This is not a normal Court.” Leaders from Harvard said in a letter that they would “comply” with the court’s decision but emphasised that “deep and transformative teaching, learning, and research depend upon a community comprising people of many backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences.” Mr Biden said he is directing the Department of Education to analyse best practices for high education institutions to create more inclusive and diverse student bodies without using race as a conscious factor in admissions and recruiting. The Harvard Black Students Association called the court’s decision, “detrimental”, adding that it “poses a significant threat to the future of the Black community on and beyond our campus.” “It is evident that the college application system cannot maintain holistic evaluation without taking into consideration how race profoundly influences our experiences, perspectives, and identities in multifaceted ways,” the Harvard Black Students Association wrote. Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement: “In a society still scarred by the wounds of racial disparities, the Supreme Court has displayed a willful ignorance of our reality.” Discussions around affirmative action have generated debate among Republicans and Democrats for years. Those in support of it believe it is necessary to create fair and equal opportunity for students of color because higher education institutions have failed at creating diverse student bodies. Those against affirmative action believe it puts other students, like white or Asian American students, at a disadvantage. Former president Donald Trump celebrated the ruling calling it “everyone was waiting for” in a post on Truth Social. “We’re going back to all merit-based – and that’s the way it should be!” Mr Trump wrote. Mr Trump appointed three of the six conservative Justices on the Court while serving as President of the United States – Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Mr Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, also expressed support for the Court’s decision, writing on Twitter, “I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the Justices that ensured today’s welcomed decision.” He added: “There is no place for discrimination based on race in the United States, and I am pleased that the Supreme Court has put an end to this egregious violation of civil and constitutional rights in admissions processes, which only served to perpetuate racism.” The ruling will likely have repercussions beyond higher education institutions, extending to elementary, middle and high schools as well as workplaces and more as it opens a door for challenges to racial diversity programs. Read More Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivers searing civil rights lesson in dissent to affirmative action ruling How the government that promised to ‘stop the boats’ has lost control of its immigration policy Clarence Thomas says he doesn’t have a ‘clue’ what diversity means as Supreme Court takes aim at affirmative action One year after the anti-abortion ruling, the White House keeps a spotlight on the issue

An affiliate of Ion Group, the Irish financial software behemoth whose derivatives trading arm was hacked this year,

Brazil’s upcoming decision on future inflation targets is likely to define whether the central bank may start cutting

A former friend of Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the ongoing Madeleine McCann case, has claimed that he revealed crucial information to Scotland Yard in 2008 but was ignored. In his first public interview, Helge Busching claimed that the jailed paedophile had told him “She didn’t scream” during a conversation about the missing three-year-old. He told German outlet Bild that he had contacted the special hotline to report Brueckner’s comments but failed to receive a response. After leaving prison in 2017 and hearing about the 10th anniversary of her disappearance, he made a second call. Brueckner, who is currently serving a prison sentence for raping a pensioner, was named as a prime suspect in 2020. Last month, a reservoir in Portugal was searched by police after sources claimed that Brueckner had described it as a “little slice of paradise” while living near the Praia de Luz resort. Scotland Yard has been contacted for comment. Read More Sixteen years and countless heartbreaks: Where are Madeleine McCann’s family now? Madeleine McCann case: Timeline of the missing child’s disappearance Who is Christian Brueckner? Madeleine McCann suspect and the accusations against him

Pokemon Go maker Niantic Inc. is closing its Los Angeles game studio and canceling NBA and Marvel titles

Smoke that billowed outside Tiffany & Co.’s New York flagship location on Thursday morning was from a transformer

China is falling into a “balance-sheet recession” and needs to ramp up fiscal stimulus quickly to address the

The European Union cleared a significant hurdle toward unifying its financial markets with a provisional deal to create