US: New student visa appointments to be halted
In the cable, first reported by magazine Politico, Rubio said that the department sought to issue updated guidance on social media vetting of student and exchange visitor applicants.
Consular sections were advised to halt scheduling these types of visa appointments.
'The Department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants, and based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants,' the Reuters news agency quoted text from the cable.
Trump administration officials have said that student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over pro-Palestinian activism or support.
A Turkish Tufts University student was held for over six weeks in an immigration detention centre in Louisiana after co-authoring an opinion piece criticising her school's response to Israel's war in Gaza.
She was released from custody after being granted bail by a federal judge.
Last week a judge blocked the White House's bid to halt Harvard's ability to enroll foreign students after the school sued the Trump administration.
Harvard called the revocation a 'blatant violation' of the US Constitution.
Harvard students rally
Students at Harvard University rallied on Tuesday after Donald Trump's administration said it is seeking to cancel all remaining financial contracts with the university.
Doubling down its effort to curtail the university's autonomy, the Trump administration has asked the federal agencies to cut contracts worth US$100mn at Harvard.
Hundreds of students gathered to protest against Trump administration's actions against the university which has refused to give up control of curriculum, admissions and research.
'Trump = traitor', read one student placard. The crowd chanted 'who belongs in class today, let them stay' in reference to Harvard's international students whose status Trump has upended by revoking the university's accreditation to the country's Student and Exchange Visitor programme.
The termination of the remaining contracts would mark the end of business ties between the government and a university that is the country's oldest and a research powerhouse.
The US government has already cancelled more than US$2.6bn in federal research grants for the Ivy League university.
NPR sues Trump
Meanwhile, National Public Radio and three of its local stations are suing President Donald Trump, arguing that his executive order cutting funding to the 246-station network violates free speech.
The American public broadcasting organisation, along with local stations Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT Public Radio, want Trump's order blocked and declared unconstitutional.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered the withdrawal of funding for NPR and for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The executive order stated that taxpayer subsidies for what he termed 'partisan media' would be ended.
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