Harvard accused of antisemitism, Trump administration warns of funding cut
A letter from the Trump administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism to Harvard's president, Alan Garber, said
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1News
4 hours ago
- 1News
Musk forms new political party in fallout after Trump split
Elon Musk said he's carrying out his threat to form a new political party after his fissure with US President Donald Trump, announcing the America Party in response to the president's sweeping tax cuts law. Musk, once an ever-present ally to Trump as he headed up the slashing agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency, broke with the Republican president over his signature legislation, which was signed into law Friday. As the bill made its way through Congress, Musk threatened to form the 'America Party' if 'this insane spending bill passes.' 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' Musk said Saturday on X, the social media company he owns. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' ADVERTISEMENT The formation of new political parties is not uncommon, but they typically struggle to pull any significant support away from the Republican and Democratic parties. But Musk, the world's richest man, who spent at least US$250 million supporting Trump in the 2024 election, could impact the 2026 elections determining control of Congress if he is willing to spend significant amounts of money. His reignited feud with the president could also be costly for Musk, whose businesses rely on billions of dollars in government contracts and the publicly traded company Tesla has taken a hit in the market. It wasn't clear whether Musk had taken steps to formally create the new political party. Spokespeople for Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, didn't immediately comment Sunday. As of Sunday morning, there were multiple political parties listed in the Federal Election Commission database that had been formed in the the hours since Musk's Saturday X post with versions of 'America Party' of 'DOGE' or 'X' in the name, or Musk listed among people affiliated with the entity. But none appeared to be authentic, listing contacts for the organisation as email addresses such as 'wentsnowboarding@ or untraceable Protonmail addresses. ADVERTISEMENT Musk on Sunday spent the morning on X taking feedback from users about the party and indicated he'd use the party to get involved in the 2026 midterm elections. Last month, he threatened to try to oust every member of Congress that voted for Trump's bill. Musk had called the tax breaks and spending cuts package a 'disgusting abomination," warning it would increase the federal deficit, among other critiques. 'The Republican Party has a clean sweep of the executive, legislative and judicial branches and STILL had the nerve to massively increase the size of government, expanding the national debt by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS,' Musk said Sunday on X. His critiques of the bill and move to form a political party mark a reversal from May, when his time in the White House was winding down and the head of rocket company SpaceX and electric vehicle maker Tesla said he would spend 'a lot less' on politics in the future. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who clashed with Musk while he ran DOGE, said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that DOGE's 'principles' were popular, but 'if you look at the polling, Elon was not.' 'I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,' he said.
The Spinoff
4 hours ago
- The Spinoff
Appeasing Trump in the Middle East is not cost-free for New Zealand
The government's responses to recent events in the Middle East indicate that its desire not to offend the Trump administration has compromised New Zealand's commitment to uphold an international rules-based order, argues Robert Patman. While distant in geographic terms, brutal violence in Gaza, the West Bank and Iran marks the latest stage in the unravelling of an international rules-based order on which New Zealand depends for its prosperity and security. It should be emphasised that New Zealand's founding document, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, emphasises partnership and cooperation at home, and, after 1945, helped inspire a New Zealand worldview enshrined in institutions such as the United Nations and norms such as multilateralism. In the wake of Hamas' terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, the National-led coalition government has in principle emphasised its support for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the occupied territories of East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. However, in practice, this New Zealand stance has not translated into firm diplomatic opposition to the Netanyahu government's quest to control Gaza and annex the West Bank. Nor has it been a condemnation of the Trump administration for prioritising its support for Israel's security goals over international law. Foreign minister Winston Peters has described the situation in Gaza as 'simply intolerable' but the National-led coalition had little specific to say as the Netanyahu government resumed its cruel blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza in March and restarted military operations there. Even more striking was the government's silence on president Trump's proposal to own Gaza with a view to evicting two million Palestinian residents from the territory and the US-Israeli venture to start the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in late May in a move which sidelined the UN in aid distribution and has led to the killing of more than 600 Palestinians while seeking food aid. While New Zealand, along with the UK, Australia, Canada and Norway, imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar ben Gvir, in June for 'inciting extremist violence' against Palestinians – a move that was criticised by the Trump administration – it was arguably a case of very little very late. The Hamas terror attacks on October 7 killed around 1,200 Israelis, but the Netanyahu government's retaliation by the Israel Defence Force (IDF) against Hamas has resulted in the deaths of more than 56,000 Palestinians – nearly 70% of whom were women or children – in Gaza. Over the same period, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank as Israel accelerated its programme of illegal settlements there. In addition, the responses of the New Zealand government to pre-emptive attacks by Israel (13-25 June) and Trump's America (June 22) against Iran to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities were strangely ambivalent. Despite indications from US intelligence and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran had not produced nuclear weapons, foreign minister Peters said New Zealand was not prepared to take a position on that issue. Citing provocative behaviour by both Iran and Israel, Peters adopted a neutral stance toward the 12-day war between the two nations. With respect to the attacks by the US on three Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, the current New Zealand government seems to have echoed the view of Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of NATO, that such actions were consistent with international law. Peters and deputy PM David Seymour reiterated Iran could not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and tacitly supported the US decision to bomb nuclear facilities in Iran. Peters noted that the Trump administration's targeted attacks were aimed at 'degrading Iran's nuclear capabilities' and acknowledged the US statement to the UNSC claiming these attacks were taken 'in collective self-defence consistent with the UN charter'. Taken together, the coalition government's responses to recent events in the Middle East indicate that its desire not to offend the Trump administration has compromised New Zealand's commitment to uphold an international rules-based order. To be clear, Israel's conduct in Gaza is clearly at odds with its legal responsibilities as an occupying power, and the pre-emptive attacks by nuclear armed Israel and America on Iran cannot be justified legally when the clerical regime in Teheran does not have nuclear weapons and the diplomatic process had not been exhausted. Of course, some observers maintain that a relatively small state like New Zealand has no choice but to tacitly accept flagrant violations of international law when they are committed by big powerful friends like Trump's America. However, such a perspective understates the capacity of small and middle powers to shape what is an increasingly interconnected world. In 2003, then prime minister Helen Clark bravely refused to support an illegal US invasion of Iraq and the wisdom of that stance was subsequently confirmed in what was a disastrous military adventure for the George W. Bush administration. Moreover, New Zealand's leadership in promoting the 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) – which has been ratified by 73 states – means it should have a strong voice on the military actions by Israel and the Trump team that have effectively incentivised Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Confronted with Trump's 'might is right' approach, the National-led coalition faces stark choices. The government can continue to fudge fundamental moral and legal issues in the Middle East and risk complicity in the further weakening of an international rules-based order it purportedly supports, or it can get off the fence, stand up for the country's values, and insist that respect for international law must be observed in the region and elsewhere without exception.
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Foreign correspondent Sebastian Usher in Israel
international 35 minutes ago Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel about a ceasefire in Gaza are taking place in Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under increasing pressure at home to end the fighting and is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington shortly. Sebastian Usher brings us the latest on the negotiations.
