Don't praise Harvard just yet
Given the options, we should all be relieved to see Harvard's leadership show some fight. But Harvard does not deserve praise, at least not yet. Harvard has spent much of the past 18 months
To earn the public's praise, and to deserve its nonprofit status, Harvard needs to do more than defend itself. With an endowment of more than $50 billion, it is time for Harvard — and peers like
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It is disappointing that there hasn't been aunified front. One explanation is that universities have become anti-democratic institutions more invested in their endowments and rankings than producing knowledge for the common good. Formal power tends to reside in external, and largely unaccountable, boards of trustees whose interests often diverge from the institution's educational missions. This denies core institutional stakeholders — like faculty, staff, students, and communities — any meaningful role in university governance. These dynamics are crippling universities' resolve to defend their communities, their values, and democracy itself.
Juxtaposed to this inaction, a groundswell of higher education workers is uniting around a basic call: We need our universities to fight, together. By one recent estimate,
Faculty governing bodies are also urging their universities to unify. The Rutgers University Senate recently called on all Big 10 universities to enter a NATO-like
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Such statements are not limited to individual universities. Earlier this month, nearly 5,000 professors endorsed a
The Trump administration is open about its desire to leverage funding to exert '
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Newsweek
4 minutes ago
- Newsweek
NATO Scrambles Fighter Jets Amid Major Long-Range Russian Strikes
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Fighter jets from NATO nations were scrambled after Russia launched long-range missile strikes on Ukraine overnight. "In connection with the activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory – including with the use of hypersonic missiles – aircraft of the Polish Air Force and allied aviation are operating in Polish airspace," the Polish military said on X on Thursday. "In accordance with applicable procedures, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces has activated all available forces and assets. Duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness." The Polish military said the actions were taken to "ensure the safety of the territory of the Republic of Poland and its citizens," particularly in areas close to the Ukraine border affected by military operations. It came after Russia carried out an attack overnight on the Ukrainian city of Lviv, close to the Polish border, with Shahed drones and missiles, according to Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi. He said that one person had been killed and two others injured in the strikes. F-16 fighter jets flying over Warsaw, Poland, in 2023. F-16 fighter jets flying over Warsaw, Poland, in 2023. Czarek Sokolowski/AP This is a developing story. More to follow.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Poland says air defenses didn't detect a Russian drone entering its airspace, and that it only realized in the morning
A Polish general said a Russian drone crashed in Poland despite air defenses being activated at night. He said authorities only received information about the drone crash in the morning. Officials said the drone likely had a Chinese engine and was flying "very low" to avoid detection. Warsaw said on Wednesday that a Russian drone crashed and exploded in a field in eastern Poland, and that the uncrewed system was only discovered the morning after air defenses were activated. No one was injured, but Poland's defense minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, called the incident a provocation against NATO. "Russia is once again provoking NATO countries following drone incidents that have taken place in Romania, Lithuania, Latvia," he said, accusing the Kremlin of 10 total airspace violations since 2022. In a press conference, officials said the drone likely entered Polish airspace on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Gen. Dariusz Malinowski, deputy commander of Poland's Armed Forces Operational Command, said air defenses were put on alert that evening during one of Russia's nightly drone and missile waves against Ukraine. Warsaw regularly activates its air defenses along its border as a precaution during such attacks, especially after a stray Ukrainian defensive missile killed two Polish citizens in November 2022. Malinowski said Polish air defenses were alerted at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, alongside "standard measures designed to seal our border." "The entire target detection system was activated. In addition, the forces and means for countering missiles were put on combat readiness, and a Mi-24 helicopter was also raised, which patrolled the eastern part, the Ukrainian part of our border," he told reporters. By midnight, the Polish military stood down because it had not detected any abnormalities or threats, Malinowski said. "Nothing had happened that would show us that something was out of the ordinary," he said. But authorities found out in the morning that a drone had exploded in a cornfield in Osiny, a village nearly 70 miles from Poland's border with Ukraine and roughly 400 miles from mainland Russia. "This morning, after sunrise, we received information, as has already been said here, about an object that exploded very close to Łuków," Malinowski said. A stealthy decoy drone with Chinese parts The general said that preliminary investigations indicated the drone was "flying very low" to avoid radar detection. "In our assessment, this drone is designed to be very difficult to detect, and that is indeed the case," he said. However, Malinowski also said that it's still unclear if the drone was flown deliberately into Poland. Neither is it immediately clear exactly when the drone entered Polish airspace. Authorities did not confirm the drone's flight path. A drone launched from mainland Russia would have to pass through either Belarus or Ukraine to enter Polish airspace. Kaliningrad, a militarized Russian exclave, sits directly on Poland's northern border, though it's unclear if investigators think the drone launch may have originated from the region. Malinowski added that while search teams were still collecting the drone's remains, initial evidence pointed to it being equipped with a Chinese engine and a "self-destructive warhead." That could mean the drone was a decoy. Russia commonly deploys the Shahed, a long-range attack drone designed by Iran. One of its locally produced versions, called the Gerbera, is designed to mimic the loitering munition's signature and appearance while carrying a much weaker warhead. Reuters cited a Polish defense ministry spokesperson saying that the crashed drone was a Russian version of the Shahed. Ukrainian forces have long said that they often find Chinese parts within destroyed Russian-produced Shahed drones. European officials also say some Russian and Chinese companies are actively collaborating on the Shahed, helping the Kremlin's forces to vastly improve the loitering munition's attack capabilities. The drone crash comes amid already tense negotiations that the US is trying to broker this month between Russia, Ukraine, and Europe. Radosław Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, said in a statement on Wednesday that his country would "protest against the perpetrator." "Another violation of our airspace from the East confirms that Poland's most important mission vis-à-vis NATO is to defend our own territory," Sikorski wrote. The Russian embassy in Warsaw, the Russian defense ministry, and the Russian foreign ministry did not respond to comment requests sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider Solve the daily Crossword
an hour ago
This Ukrainian startup makes drones — and soon, cruise missiles — to strike deep inside Russia
When a Ukrainian-made drone attacked an ammunition depot in Russia last September, it showcased Kyiv's determination to strike deep behind enemy lines and the prowess of its defense industry. The moment was especially gratifying for the woman in charge of manufacturing the drones that flew more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to carry out this mission. For months after, Russia no longer had the means to keep up devastating glide bomb attacks like the one that had just targeted her native city of Kharkiv. 'Fighting in the air is our only real asymmetric advantage on the battlefield at the moment. We don't have as much manpower or money as they have,' said Iryna Terekh, head of production at Fire Point. Terekh spoke as she surveyed dozens of 'deep-strike drones' that had recently come off the assembly line and would soon be used by Ukrainian forces to attack arms depots, oil refineries and other targets vital to the Kremlin's war machine and economy. Spurred by its existential fight against Russia — and limited military assistance from Western allies — Ukraine has fast become a global center for defense innovation. The goal is to match, if not outmuscle, Russia's capabilities — and Fire Point is one of the companies leading the way. The Associated Press was granted an exclusive look inside one of Fire Point's dozens of covert factories. In a sprawling warehouse where rock music blared, executives showed off their signature FP-1 exploding drones that can travel up to 1,600 kilometers (994 miles). They also touted publicly for the first time a cruise missile they are developing that is capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles), and which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes will be mass-produced by the end of the year. Even as U.S. President Donald Trump presses for an end to the 3 1/2-year war — and dangles the prospect of U.S. support for NATO-like security guarantees — Ukrainian defense officials say their country is determined to become more self-sufficient in deterring Russia. 'We believe our best guarantee is not relying on somebody's will to protect us, but rather our ability to protect ourselves,' said Arsen Zhumadilov, the head of the country's arms procurement agency. Ukraine's government is now purchasing about $10 billion of weapons annually from domestic manufacturers. The industry has the capacity to sell triple that amount, officials say, and they believe sales to European allies could help it reach such potential in a matter of years. Like most defense companies in Ukraine, Fire Point grew out of necessity after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Despite pleas from Ukrainian military officials, Western countries were unwilling to allow Kyiv to use their allies' longer-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. That's when a group of close friends, experts from various fields, set out to mass-produce inexpensive drones that could match the potency of Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia was firing into Ukraine with devastating consequences. The company's founders spoke with AP on the condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety and the security of their factories. By pooling together knowledge from construction, game design and architecture, the company's founders — who had no background in defense — came up with novel designs for drones that could fly further and strike with greater precision than most products already on the market. Their long-range drones had another benefit: they did not need to take off from an air field. When Terekh — an architect — was hired in the summer of 2023, she was given a goal of producing 30 drones per month. Now the company makes roughly 100 per day, at a cost of $55,000 apiece. The FP-1 looks more like a hastily made science project than something that would roll off the production lines of the world's biggest defense contractors. 'We removed unneeded, flashy glittery stuff,' she said. But the FP-1 has been extremely effective on the battlefield. With a payload of explosives weighing 60 kilograms (132 pounds), it is responsible for 60% of strikes deep inside Russian territory, including hits on oil refineries and weapons depots, according to Terekh. These strikes have helped to slow Russia's advance along the 1,000 kilometer-long (620 mile-long) front line in eastern Ukraine, where army units have reported a sharp decline in artillery fire. 'I think the best drones, or among the best, are Ukrainian drones," said Claude Chenuil, a former French military official who now works for a trade group that focuses on defense. 'When the war in Ukraine ends, they will flood the market.' Fire Point's story is not entirely unique. Soon after Russia's 2022 invasion, hundreds of defense companies sprouted almost overnight. The Ukrainian government incentivized innovation by relaxing regulations and making it easier for startups to work directly with military brigades. Patriotic entrepreneurs in metallurgy, construction and information technology built facilities for researching and making weapons and munitions, with an emphasis on drones. The ongoing war allowed them to test out ideas almost immediately on the battlefield, and to quickly adapt to Russia's changing tactics. 'Ukraine is in this very unique moment now where it is becoming, de facto, the Silicon Valley of defense,' said Ukrainian defense entrepreneur Yaroslav Azhnyuk. 'The biggest strategic asset that we have is that we have been at war with Russia for 11 years.' A case in point: Fire Point had initially sourced navigational equipment for its drones from a major Western firm, but before long Russia was able to disrupt their effectiveness using electronic warfare; so Fire Point developed its own software to outwit the enemy. Because defense companies are high-value targets for Russia, many operate underground or hidden within civilian centers to evade detection. Although they are guarded by air defenses, the strategy has the disadvantage of putting civilians at risk. Many Ukrainians have died in imprecise Russian attacks that were likely targeting weapons facilities. Entrepreneurs said the alternative is to operate openly and face attacks that would set back the war effort. On the day AP reporters visited the Fire Point factory, there were dozens of drones awaiting delivery. They would all be gone within 72 hours, shipped to the battlefield in inconspicuous cargo trucks. The Fire Point team receives regular feedback from army units, and the company has reinvested most profits toward innovating quickly to keep pace with other drone makers. Increasingly, those profits are being directed to develop a new, more potent weapon. The company completed testing this year for its first cruise missile, the FP-5. Capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) and landing within 14 meters (45 feet) of its target, the FP-5 is one of the largest such missile in the world, delivering a payload of 1,150 kilograms (2,535 pounds), independent experts said. Because initial versions of the missile came out pink after a factory error, they called it the Flamingo — and the name has stuck. Fire Point is producing roughly one Flamingo per day, and by October they hope to build capacity to make seven per day, Terekh said. Even as Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials pursue ways to end the war, Terekh said she is skeptical that Russia will accept terms for a real peace. 'We are preparing for a bigger, much scarier war.'
