Boston mayoral candidate on his Jeffrey Epstein-like name: 'Trying to be straight up'
'That other one is a dead American, and I am a live Aussie. But, of course, there is all the horrifying criminality and darkness of the other guy. I have lived my life trying to be straight up and improving things,' Epstein, who is seeking office in Framingham, told HuffPost.
The aspiring politician has said that he does not intend to change his name to avoid association with Epstein. 'I like my name and I am proud of my family,' he said, adding that his family fought in World War II. The Australian man, who was born on September 11, holds a PhD in theoretical physics.
In 2024, another politician, a New York State Assemblyman named Harvey Epstein, faced a similar controversy over his name, which is similar to that of Jeffrey Epstein, as well as convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.
"Your name is your name. It is what it is. Both [Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein] are horrific,' the politician had said.
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First Post
25 minutes ago
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Why does Australia want more foreign students a year after curbs? Who will benefit?
Australia is seeking to attract more international students, a year after a cap on enrolments. The Albanese government has decided to raise the limit on the number of foreign students by nine per cent to 2,95,000 from 2026, a jump from the current 2,70,000. Here's who will benefit read more Students walk past stalls during the orientation week at The University of Sydney, in Camperdown, Australia, February 15, 2023. File Photo/Reuters Australia wants more international students, a year after limiting enrolment. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government on Monday (August 4) announced that it will increase its cap on foreign students by nine per cent to 295,000 next year. The move is set to benefit students from Southeast Asia, who will reportedly be given preference. This comes after Australia slashed enrolments in 2024 due to record migration. Then why is Australia increasing the cap on foreign students now? We will explain. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Australia to raise foreign student cap Australia is lifting its cap on foreign students from next year to 295,000, a jump from the current 270,000. An addition of 25,000 placements will be offered for universities in 2026, with applicants from Southeast Asia being prioritised, reported Reuters. Around two-thirds of places will be up for grabs in universities and one-third in the vocational skills training sector. Universities can apply to have their allotments increased if they can show that domestic and international students have 'access to safe and secure housing' and enrol more students from Southeast Asia to raise their individual allocations, as per the report. This comes amid the Australian government's efforts to boost relations with Southeast Asia — its strategic partner — and reduce the country's economic dependence on China. Australia is one of the top destinations for international students. File Photo/Reuters It was important 'for Australia's future soft power that we continue to bring the best and brightest from our (Southeast Asian) neighbours to have a bit of Australia with them for the rest of their life,' Australian International Education Assistant Minister Julian Hill told national broadcaster ABC. The cap does not apply to international students who shift from secondary schools in Australia to publicly funded universities or TAFE (technical and further education). Why Australia curbed foreign student enrolment in 2024 In 2024, the Labor government introduced caps on foreign student numbers to 270,000. To curb migration, Australia also more than doubled the visa fee for international students to A$2,000 (approximately Rs 1.14 lakh) and slowed visa processing. This came as some claimed that record levels of migration led to a surge in housing prices. Ahead of this year's May elections, the Albanese government aimed to improve housing affordability and ease the cost-of-living crisis. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'What this means is next year there will be about the same number of international students starting a course here as there were before the pandemic,' Education Minister Jason Clare had said last August. 'There'll be more in our universities and there'll be fewer in our private vocational providers.' Australia had granted roughly 600,000 student visas in the 2023 financial year, as overseas students flooded the country after the pandemic. The country received more than 257,000 student visa applications in 2024-25, with just over 234,000 granted, reported, citing Department of Home Affairs data. What's behind the change now? Education is Australia's fourth biggest export, with the country seeing one of the highest numbers of international students globally. Foreign students boost Australia's economy. They shell out nearly twice as much as Australian students on average, propping up some institutions and domestic study fees, as per BBC. Australia's international education sector is worth A$50 billion to the economy each year and provides a quarter of a million jobs. It contributed over A$51 billion to the economy in 2024. Last year, Australia's top eight universities had criticised the government's proposed caps on foreign enrolments, saying they are 'reliant' on international student fees. For example, foreign students make up over 40 per cent of the revenue of the University of Sydney. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Australia's largest source of international students is China and India. Now, Australia is back to accepting more international students. Education Minister Clare acknowledged that the international education sector is an 'incredibly important export' to Australia, but added that its growth has to be managed to ensure its sustainability. 'International education doesn't just make us money, it makes us friends. This is about making sure international education grows in a way that supports students, universities and the national interest. 'The new planning level gives the sector certainty to continue delivering a high-quality educational experience to international students, while addressing national priorities,' he said. The government's crackdown on migration was 'bearing fruit', allowing for a modest increase in the cap in 2026, International Education Assistant Minister Hill said. 'The numbers were growing out of control. The government has taken tough decisions over the last 12 months, not always loved by the sector, to get the numbers down and get them to a more sustainable footing,' he told ABC. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Universities Australia hailed the 'sensible' hike in places. 'Universities have called for growth in this critically important sector, and the government has honoured this,' CEO Luke Sheehy was quoted as saying by Reuters. With inputs from agencies
India Today
25 minutes ago
- India Today
With 1971 war ammo, Indian Army fires back at US over Russian oil hypocrisy
As tensions rise over US President Donald Trump's warning against India's imports of Russian oil, the Indian Army took a not-so-subtle dig by revisiting a decades-old chapter in history to put the spotlight on American military aid to Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation Army's Eastern Command shared a newspaper clipping dated August 5, 1971, detailing US weapons supplies to Pakistan in the lead-up to the war. The post was captioned, "This day, that year build up of war - August 5, 1971." The headline of the clipping read, "US arms worth $2 billion shipped to Pakistan since '54."advertisementThe article was about then Defence Production Minister VC Shukla's address in Parliament, mentioning that while France and the Soviet Union had denied selling arms to Pakistan, the US continued supplying weapons.#IndianArmy#EasternCommand#VijayVarsh #LiberationOfBangladesh #MediaHighlights"This Day That Year" Build Up of War - 05 Aug 1971 #KnowFacts.". $2 '54"@adgpi@SpokespersonMoD EasternCommand_IA (@easterncomd) August 5, 2025 Shukla also accused Nato powers of overlooking Islamabad's aggression in Bangladesh. The piece claimed that both the US and China had sold weapons to Pakistan at 'throwaway prices,' implying that Islamabad fought the 1971 war with American and Chinese Army's post comes just 24 hours after Trump threatened New Delhi with higher levies if India continued buying Russian oil. The mercurial leader said he would 'substantially raise tariffs on goods from India' beyond the current 25 per cent if India didn't back off its energy ties with PUSHES BACKIndia responded to Trump's threats with a sharply worded rebuttal, taking apart Washington's own double standards. New Delhi ponted out that the US had 'actively encouraged such imports' from Russia in the early months of the Ukraine war, when energy prices were Ministry of External Affairs also pushed back at the European Union's criticism of Indian crude exports, saying Indian purchases were 'a necessity compelled by the global market situation.'It added that several countries targeting India were themselves 'indulging in trade with Russia' even though 'such trade is not even a vital compulsion.'PAKISTAN GETS A PASSEven as Trump threatens India with steeper duties, he has gone soft on Pakistan. In his latest executive order, he reduced tariffs on Pakistani goods from 29 per cent to 19 per cent, while raising rates for dozens of other nations, including India. The announcement came just before the August 1 tariff relief follows a flurry of engagements between Islamabad and the Trump camp. On June 18, Pakistan's Army chief Gen Asim Munir enjoyed a private lunch with Trump at the White House, barely a month after a brief military conflict with in July, Trump branded India a 'dead economy' and announced a raft of trade deals with Pakistan. Even as Indian officials warily eyed the growing bonhomie between Islamabad and Washington, the US President suggested that India might one day buy oil from Pakistan, which added to the diplomatic frost in India-US ties.- EndsTune InMust Watch
The Wire
25 minutes ago
- The Wire
The US Has Junked the 'Rules-Based Order'. Here's What it Means for the World
Rights This is a most dangerous time for the world and, in particular, for those countries which need a few more decades of stability and global cooperation to pull themselves out of poverty. President Donald Trump arrives, followed by a bagpiper band, at the opening ceremony for the Trump International Golf Links golf course, near Aberdeen, Scotland, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin. The United States has 34 crore people (the size of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar combined). Americans represent four per cent of the global population and they are the biggest beneficiaries of what the US called the ' rules-based order '. This order, imposed by the United States and its European allies after the Second World War, seeks global cooperation through institutions like the United Nations and also the World Trade Organisation. Americans refer to their president, unironically, as the 'leader of the free world'. America's per capita income is almost $90,000, according to one of the institutions of the 'rules-based order', the International Monetary Fund. India's per person income is less than 1/30th, at under $3,000. The US economy has surged over the last few decades because its companies have sent their products — like aircraft, phones and computers — and services — like social media companies — around the world, where they dominate. Even with the recent downward revision in their jobs numbers, the US is running at what is referred to as full employment, meaning that joblessness is around four per cent, which is optimal. This means that from the standpoint of income and jobs, the US is in a very good place, particularly when compared to nations like India, where poverty and joblessness, particularly in the absence of regular, salaried employment, are a serious problem. And yet the US is unhappy with the world, which it says is 'ripping it off', in the words of US President Donald Trump. He has reversed this theft, as he sees it, by making it more difficult for countries to export their products into the US. America is India's largest export market, and a 25% tariff on our goods will weaken demand, hurting our exporters. There is no getting around that fact. If the tariffs remain, our interests will be harmed, no matter who ultimately pays the tariff. There is no meaningful debate inside America's democracy of whether the actions taken by President Trump harm the global rules-based order and its friends and allies, to say nothing of poorer nations. What the US has done is tear up the system where tariffs existed, but were used under a system of WTO rules and regulations that could be appealed. The US has disregarded that, and weakened the system that for decades has served it well. In doing so it is damaging the rest of the world. There is a second disregarding of the rules-based order and that is the American enabling of the genocide in Gaza. Ever eager to free the world from tyranny and despotism through war, the US has protected Israel while it massacres and starves thousands of Palestinians, and wages illegal war on Iran. The majority of the world's nations have called for an end to the horror in Gaza, through their vote in the United Nations General Assembly, but the US has used its veto to allow this 21st century holocaust to continue. Like in the matter of the tariffs, the US is telling the world that it is leaving the rules-based order and prefers to use its strength to extract, and even extort, what it can from the world. There are a few things that we can take away from these actions. One is that America has now set a new precedent. The next nation that becomes powerful will have an example of how to behave with weaker nations, and that 'might is right' is as legitimate as a 'rules-based order'. There is today quite weak resistance to this from the Global South, and the fissures inside BRICS, which we need not go into here, have helped American bullying. The second is that we should seriously consider what the benefit of our personalised style of diplomacy has been. We have thrown away decades of institutional consensus on matters like Palestine, for a hug with the Israeli leader. All the honours we have bestowed on the US President, whether in rallies here or there, and indeed encouraging Indian Americans to vote for him, have not produced any benefit or even mercy. Emperors do not listen to anything other than the voice inside their head but this must be said nonetheless. The last thing that we should consider is what is agitating the US at this point in time. Why is it, given the wealth and power it has and its comfortable economic situation, that the US is going through this spell of madness? The answer is to be found in the rise of the Global South, and in particular, the rise of China. If things continue as they have been for the last 30 years, in a decade or two the US will for the first time in more than a century not be the largest economy in the world. This is unacceptable to what is called 'the West'. It will not be able to continue doing what it has done for centuries in North America, in Australia, in South Africa, or what it is doing today in Palestine. As the rest of the world grows equal to the West, its ability to control and dominate is slipping. It has given up on the 'rules-based order' for this reason, and is resorting to pure might. This is a most dangerous time for the world and, in particular, for those countries which need a few more decades of stability and global cooperation to pull themselves out of poverty. Aakar Patel is the chair of Amnesty International India. He posts on X @aakar_patel. 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