Remembering George Floyd 5 years after his murder
May 25 marks the fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, whose death at the hands of police prompted worldwide protests. Prof. Cornell Brooks explains any change that has happened over the past five years and what actions need to be taken next.
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Globe and Mail
22 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Trump administration asks U.S. Supreme Court to leave mass layoffs at Education Department in place
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to pause a court order to reinstate Education Department employees who were fired in mass layoffs as part of his plan to dismantle the agency. The Justice Department's emergency appeal to the high court said U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston exceeded his authority last month when he issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs of nearly 1,400 people and putting the broader plan on hold. Joun's order has blocked one of the Republican President's biggest campaign promises and effectively stalled the effort to wind down the department. A federal appeals court refused to put the order on hold while the administration appealed. The judge wrote that the layoffs 'will likely cripple the department.' But Solicitor-General D. John Sauer wrote on Friday that Joun was substituting his policy preferences for those of the Trump administration. The layoffs help put in the place the 'policy of streamlining the department and eliminating discretionary functions that, in the administration's view, are better left to the states,' Sauer wrote. He also pointed out that the Supreme Court in April voted 5-4 to block Joun's earlier order seeking to keep in place Education Department teacher-training grants. Gary Mason: Donald Trump's corruption knows no bounds or precedent The current case involves two consolidated lawsuits that said Trump's plan amounted to an illegal closing of the Education Department. One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups. The other suit was filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys-general. The suits argued that layoffs left the department unable to carry out responsibilities required by Congress, including duties to support special education, distribute financial aid and enforce civil rights laws. Trump has made it a priority to shut down the Education Department, though he has acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to do that. In the meantime, Trump issued a March order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to wind it down 'to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.' Trump later said the department's functions will be parcelled to other agencies, suggesting that federal student loans should be managed by the Small Business Administration and programs involving students with disabilities would be absorbed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Those changes have not yet happened. The President argues that the Education Department has been overtaken by liberals and has failed to spur improvements to the nation's lagging academic scores. He has promised to 'return education to the states.' Opponents note that K-12 education is already mostly overseen by states and cities. Democrats have blasted the Trump administration's Education Department budget, which seeks a 15-per-cent budget cut including a $4.5-billion cut in K-12 funding as part of the agency's downsizing.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Humanitarian vessel carrying Greta Thunberg rescues four migrants at sea
A ship carrying activists, including Greta Thunberg, to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid rescued four migrants on Thursday after they had jumped into the sea from another vessel to avoid being picked up by Libyan authorities. The vessel Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was alerted by the European Union's Frontex border control agency and arrived at the location in the Mediterranean where it found 30-40 people on a 'boat that was rapidly deflating.' As the Madleen launched its own inflatable rescue boat, a Libyan coast guard vessel approached at high speed, the coalition said. 'To avoid being taken by the Libyan authorities, four people jumped into the sea, and began desperately swimming toward the Madleen,' which rescued them. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition protested the return of the other migrants to Libya, where human-rights campaigners have said they face abuse and even torture. It also has called on Italy, Greece and Malta to pick up those now on board the Madleen and bring them to safety in Europe. Climate campaigner Thunberg is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen which departed Sicily on Sunday on a mission that aims to break the sea blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. The voyage was to last seven days. Our life in Gaza is hungry and sleep-deprived under Israel's blockade Among the others on board are Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent. She has been barred from entering Israel due to her active opposition to the Israeli assault on Gaza. After a three month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian works have warned of famine unless the blockade ends. Almost the entire Gaza population of 2.3 million is acutely malnourished and one in five Palestinians are on the brink of starvation, the World Food Program has warned. An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group's vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Trump and Musk divided after scrappy online fallout. Follow live updates here.
Left: Billionaire Elon Musk. Right: U.S. President Donald Trump. (The Associated Press) U.S. President Donald Trump and his ex-ally, billionaire business mogul Elon Musk, had a fiery falling out yesterday as the two men lobbed insults, accusations and threats at each other from their respective social media platforms. Their relationship fractured as Trump pushed to pass his 'One Big Beautiful Bill' – the 1,116-page act of proposed tax cuts, Medicaid restrictions, border wall funding and money for the Golden Dome that would spike national deficits by US$2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to one estimate that the White House contests . Musk, one of Trump's chief advocates for cost cutting, had criticized the legislation, arguing that a bill could not be big and beautiful at once. Their disagreement exploded on Thursday, descending into an open-air brawl waged online. Here are the latest updates: Trump not interested in talking to Musk Trump is not interested in talking with his former ally Musk amid a bitter feud over the president's sweeping tax-cut bill, a White House official said on Friday, adding that no phone call between the two men is planned for the day. A separate White House official had said earlier that Trump and Musk planned to talk to each other on Friday. 'I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem, the poor guy's got a problem,' Trump told CNN on Friday morning. Shares in Musk's Tesla rose 4.5 per cent when markets opened on Friday. In Thursday's session, the stock dived 14 per cent and lost about US$150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the electric vehicle maker's history. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought to the White House to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Reuters. Read the full story here . Donald Trump Elon Musk news President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Musk pulls back on threat to withdraw Dragon spacecraft As Trump and Musk argued on social media, the world's richest man threatened to decommission a space capsule used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. A few hours later, Musk said he wouldn't follow through on the threat. After Trump threatened to cut government contracts given to Musk's SpaceX rocket company and his Starlink internet satellite services, Musk responded via X that SpaceX 'will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.' It was unclear how serious Musk's threat was, but several hours later – in a reply to another X user – he said he wouldn't do it. The capsule, developed with the help of government contracts, is an important part of keeping the space station running. NASA also relies heavily on SpaceX for other programs including launching science missions and, later this decade, returning astronauts to the surface of the moon. SpaceX is the only U.S. company capable right now of transporting crews to and from the space station, using its four-person Dragon capsules. The Associated Press. Read the full story here . SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of four aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) Tesla shares claw back Tesla shares clawed back from steep losses as a war of words between CEO Musk and U.S. President Trump appeared to cool, easing investor worries about the likely political fallout on the electric automaker. Shares rose about five per cent in early trading. Politico had reported Musk and Trump were expected to speak on Friday, but a White House official told Reuters there were no plans for a call. Musk signalled on his X social media platform he was open to easing tensions with Trump, agreeing with comments from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman calling for a detente. The spat between the world's most powerful man and its richest erased more than US$150 billion from Tesla's market value on Thursday, the company's biggest drop in one session.
