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Continued court fights could put Harvard in unwinnable position vs Trump

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A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday granted Harvard University’s emergency request to block, for now, the Trump administration’s effort to ban international students from its campus, siding with Harvard in ruling that the university would likely suffer «immediate and irreparable harm» if enforced.

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The temporary restraining order from U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs blocks the administration from immediately stripping Harvard of its certification status under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP — a program run by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allows universities to sponsor international students for U.S. visas.

Burroughs said in her order that Harvard has demonstrated evidence it «will suffer immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties,» prompting her to temporarily block the SEVP revocation. 

Still, some see the order as a mere Band-Aid, forestalling a larger court fight between Harvard and the Trump administration — and one that Trump critics say could be unfairly weighted against the nation’s oldest university.

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STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD

Banners hang outside the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 27. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)

«Ultimately, this is about Trump trying to impose his view of the world on everybody else,» Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman said in a radio interview discussing the Trump administration’s actions. 

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Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the administration has frozen more than $2 billion in grants and contracts awarded to the university. It is also targeting the university with investigations led by six separate federal agencies. 

Combined, these actions have created a wide degree of uncertainty at Harvard.

The temporary restraining order handed down on Thursday night is also just that — temporary. Though the decision does block Trump from revoking Harvard’s SEVP status, it’s a near-term fix, designed to allow the merits of the case to be more fully heard.

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Meanwhile, the administration is almost certain to appeal the case to higher courts, which could be more inclined to side in favor of the administration.

And that’s just the procedural angle. 

JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA

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Harvard President Alan Garber places his hands over his heart while standing at the podium during the university’s commencement ceremony, as faculty in academic regalia applaud behind him.

Harvard President Alan Garber acknowledges an extended round of applause during Harvard University’s commencement ceremonies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Should Harvard lose its status for SEVP certification — a certification it has held for some 70 years — the thousands of international students currently enrolled at Harvard would have a very narrow window to either transfer to another U.S. university, or risk losing their student visas within 180 days, experts told Fox News. 

Some may opt not to take that chance, and transfer to a different school that’s less likely to be targeted by the administration — even if it means sacrificing, for certainty, a certain level of prestige.

Regardless of how the court rules, these actions create «a chilling effect» for international students at Harvard, Aram Gavoor, an associate dean at George Washington University Law School and a former Justice Department attorney, said in an interview.

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Students «who would otherwise be attending or applying to Harvard University [could be] less inclined to do so, or to make alternative plans for their education In the U.S.,» Gavoor said. 

Even if the Trump administration loses on the merits of the case, «there’s a point to be argued that it may have won as a function of policy,» Gavoor said.

Harvard University gate

People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 29, 2023. (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, any financial fallout the school might see as a result is another matter entirely.

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Though the uncertainty yielded by Trump’s fight against Harvard could prove damaging to the school’s priority of maintaining a diverse international student body, or by offering financial aid to students via the federally operated Pell Grant, these actions alone would unlikely to prove financially devastating in the near-term, experts told Fox News. 

Harvard could simply opt to fill the slots once taken by international students with any number of eager, well-qualified U.S.-based applicants, David Feldman, a professor at William & Mary who focuses on economic issues and higher education, said in an interview. 

Harvard is one of just a handful of American universities that has a «need-blind» admissions policy for domestic and international students — that is, they do not take into consideration a student’s financial need or the aid required in weighing a potential applicant. But because international students in the U.S. typically require more aid than domestic students, replacing their slots with domestic students, in the near-term, would likely have little noticeable impact on the revenue it receives for tuition, fees and housing, he said. 

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«This is all about Harvard, choosing the best group of students possible,» Feldman said in an interview. If the administration successfully revokes their SEVP certification, this would effectively just be «constraining them to choose the second-best group,» he said.

«Harvard could dump the entire 1,500-person entering class, just dump it completely, and look at the next 1,500 [applicants],» Feldman said. «And by all measurables that you and I would look at, it would look just as good.»

Unlike public schools, which are subject to the vagaries of state budgets, private universities like Harvard often have margins built into their budgets in the form of seed money that allows them to allocate more money towards things they’ve identified as goals for the year or years ahead.

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This allows them to operate with more stability as a result — and inoculates them to a larger degree from the administration’s financial hits. 

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«Uncertainty is bad for them,» Feldman acknowledged. But at the end of the day, he said, «these institutions have the capacity to resist.»

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«They would rather not — they would rather this whole thing go away,» Feldman said. But the big takeaway, in his view, is that Harvard «is not defenseless.»

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Mamdani taps party insiders to steer transition despite vowing to ‘turn the page’ on old-guard NYC Dems

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Zohran Mamdani vowed Tuesday night during his victory address to «turn the page» on old-guard New York City Democrats. But within less than 24 hours, the mayor-elect of New York City announced a transition team comprised of folks with ties to the administrations of Bill de Blasio, Eric Adams, Michael Bloomberg and Joe Biden. 

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«Let tonight be the final time I utter [Andrew Cuomo’s] name as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few,» Mamdani said Tuesday evening as he touted a new political order for New York City at his victory address at the Brooklyn Paramount theater. The next morning, Mamdani named an all-female transition team comprised of four co-chairs and an executive director. 

The co-chairs are Maria Torres-Springer, a former top aide under former mayors de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg and soon-to-be former Mayor Adams; Lina Khan, the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission chair; Melanie Hartzog, a former New York City budget director who served as the deputy mayor for Health and Human Services under de Blasio; and Grace Bonilla, a former Bloomberg and de Blasio aide appointed to lead the former’s task force on racial equity and Inclusion. Elana Leopold, a former senior aide to de Blasio, was tapped to be the transition team’s executive director.

WILL ELECTION DAY 2025 BE REMEMBERED AS THE RISE OF THE SOCIALISTS? 

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Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment but did not get a response in time for publication.  

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (left), Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (center) and soon-to-be former mayor Eric Adams. (Getty Images)

«The polls have barely closed, and already the incoming mayor is breaking one of his core promises to shake up the status quo and usher in a new day. New York City started a downward spiral under the de Blasio administration, and now some of its main players are returning to the halls of power,» said Republican strategist Colin Reed. 

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«And former FTC Chair Lina Khan became synonymous with her hostility toward businesses large and small during the Biden administration and one of the ringleaders of Bidenomics.»

Khan, in particular, has been accused of sidelining career staff in favor of fresh blood from a cadre of dark money nonprofits, which coincided with a forceful antitrust strategy that mirrored the organizations’ goals. The FTC, under Khan’s leadership, credited individuals brought up from these nonprofits for help in crafting policy and messaging in posts on its website and in a report to Congress in 2022.

FLASHBACK: WILDEST MOMENTS MAMDANI OVERCAME ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO BECOME NYC’S NEXT MAYOR 

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Zohran Mamdani's transition team

Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York, center, joined by members of his transition team, from left, Elana Leopold, transition executive director; Melanie Hartzog, transition co-chair; Maria Torres-Springer, transition co-chair; Grace Bonilla, transition co-chair; and Lina Khan, transition co-chair, speaks to members of the media at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Queens borough of New York Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Mamdani, a New York state assemblymember who ran as the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, defeated former Empire State Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the Big Apple’s mayoral contest.

«My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,» Mamdani said in his victory speech Tuesday night. «Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change. ​​A mandate for a new kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.»

During Mamdani’s victory speech Tuesday night, the mayor-elect also slammed corporate interests, telling his supporters New Yorkers have been betrayed by those elected officials who care more about their own enrichment. 

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«We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore,» he said. «They can play by the same rules as the rest of us.»

Mamdani’s election victory was being cheered by Alex Soros, the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who has helped fund left-wing campaigns stretching from district attorneys to federal elections. In 2022, the younger Soros succeeded his father as chair of the board of directors of the massive $25 billion Open Society Foundations he runs his activism through. 

Alex Soros and Zohran Mamdani

Alex Soros, son of billionaire megadonor George Soros, congratulates Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on his New York City election victory. (X/@AlexSoros)

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Alex Soros’ support of Mamdani is not a surprise, with the Open Society Foundations reportedly donating $37 million in the last decade to left-wing groups that promoted Mamdani’s nomination this year, such as the Working Families Party, the New York Post reported in July.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Emma Colton contributed to this report.

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Primera vuelta de la elección presidencial en Chile: una verdadera primaria entre los tres candidatos de la derecha

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No hay dudas. No existe analista en Chile que no afirme que habrá un balotaje presidencial. Si hace tres semanas todo parecía predecible, y apuntaba a un paso del republicano José Antonio Kast y la candidata del oficialismo, la comunista Jeannette Jara, hoy en la derecha se agitan las aguas.

Distintos sondeos han evidenciado que Kast ha perdido apoyo, el que se ha traslado al libertario Johannes Kaiser. Hoy no es tan seguro quién será el contendor de Jara, que según encuestas como Cadem, Criteria y Panel UDD, parece mantener la base de apoyo al presidente Gabriel Boric, lo que significa rondar el 30% de intención de voto.

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Pero para entender esta trama, se debe realizar un breve resumen. A comienzo de año lideraba las encuestas Evelyn Matthei, la candidata de la centroderecha, heredera del Piñerismo. En Junio, las encuestas comenzaron a evidenciar un desgaste de la ex alcaldesa de Providencia y un resurgimiento de Kast, quien lideró sin contrapesos los sondes de opinión pública hasta poco menos de un mes. En ese periodo surgió el libertario Kaiser, quien fue electo diputado acompañando a Kast en 2021, pero renunció al poco andar.

“Matthei fue sobrepasada por Kast, principalmente por dos razones. Primero, el comunismo ganó la primaria de la izquierda, lo que asustó a muchos, y muchos leyeron que para enfrentar a Jara se necesita un candidato duro. El liberalismo moderado de Matthei parecía no ser suficiente. Y como segunda razón, Kast asumió un encuadre bastante pragmático, seduciendo a muchos con la idea de que el suyo será un gobierno de emergencia, sin meterse en temas valóricos o conservadores”, explica el sociólogo Roberto Munita.

Y agrega que esto mismo le ha generado su leve declive: “Lo hizo crecer por el centro, pero pierde votos por la derecha más dura. Para muchos de los que apoyaron a Kast en 2021, este candidato se fue diluyendo y perdió sus valores; Kaiser, en cambio, que es un tipo más dogmático, representa esa derecha que no está dispuesta a cambiar una coma del programa por un millón de votos. Y eso lo ha hecho irrumpir como espuma en un electorado furioso, conservador y nacionalista”, sostiene.

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Si bien en Chile existe veda electoral, la ley rige sólo para el territorio chileno. Durante la veda, la encuesta Cadem sondeó la intención de votos y reveló el siguiente escenario: Jara 27%; Kast 21%; Kaiser 15%; Matthei 13%. Más atrás le siguen el independiente Franco Parisi, quien se declara opositor a Boric, con un 11% y otros tres candidatos que no superan el 3% de intención de votos.

Cadem evidencia que Kaiser ha subido 7 puntos en aproximadamente un mes, mientras otras encuestas, como la desarrollada por el Sociólogo Alberto Mayol, lo sitúan sobre Kast por menos de un 1%, mostrando también a Matthei en el mismo rango de intención de votos. Mayol ha levantado la tesis del “triple empate en la derecha”.

La disputa se vuelve importante porque ningún partido de la oposición quiso realizar primarias. La primera vuelta se transformó en el desgrane natural. Lo cierto es que, en prácticamente todos los sondeos, los votos sumados de la oposición rondan el 60%. Por eso, quien pase con Jara a la segunda vuelta podría quedar en una inmejorable ventaja para ser el próximo presidente.

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En la derecha, la contienda está picante, frente a un electorado que cada vez se identifica más con este sector político, según la encuesta Criteria de Cristián Valdivieso.

Matthei busca diferenciarse de Kast, diciendo que no basta combatir la delincuencia y la inmigración, levantando otros temas como empleo y salud. Kaiser ha elevado la apuesta buscando al electorado más identitario, prometiendo incluso indultos a violadores de derechos humanos de la dictadura de Pinochet, quienes cumplen condenas en el penal Punta Peuco. Kast, por su parte, busca administrar su leve ventaja y no elevar el tono, porque necesitará apoyos para ganar y gobernar.

Otro factor que están usando los candidatos para persuadir a los electores es el “voto útil”. Según los mismos sondeos, tanto Kast como Matthei derrotarían fácilmente a Jara en una segunda vuelta, no así Kaiser.

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La irrupción del libertario y la tesis del triple empate han generado nerviosismo y revitalizado una contienda que se había vuelto monótona y predecible. Una primera vuelta tipo primaria que, advierten los especialistas, podría dejar prácticamente definido quien sucederá a Boric en el palacio presidencial.

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Body of final US hostage Itay Chen, held by Hamas terrorists, brought home after 2 years in captivity

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The body of the last U.S. citizen held by Hamas, Staff Sergeant Itay Chen, a 19-year-old dual U.S.–Israeli citizen, has been returned from Gaza for burial, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed Monday. Seven more hostages’ bodies remain in Gaza.

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«Following the completion of the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, in cooperation with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the family that Itay had been returned for burial,» the military said.

Chen served as a combat soldier in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade. He was killed on the morning of October 7, 2023, while fighting near Kibbutz Nahal Oz—one of the hardest-hit communities in Hamas’s brutal attack. Chen’s tank was struck during the battle, and his body was taken into Gaza. His death was officially confirmed on March 10, 2024.

BODY OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE WHO WAS HELD FOR NEARLY 700 DAYS IN GAZA IS RECOVERED

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Ruby Chen’s son, IDF Sergeant Itay Chen was serving along the Gaza border when he was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.  (IDF)

Itay was the middle of three brothers. He grew up in Netanya, a city in central Israel, studied in an advanced academic program, and was known for his warmth, humor, and dedication. He loved basketball, hiking, and rock climbing, and before joining the army worked as a camp counselor. Even after sustaining an injury at camp, he insisted on finishing the summer to set an example for the kids he led. Later he enlisted as an armored-corps soldier, driven by a deep sense of duty to protect others. He leaves behind his parents, Ruby and Hagit, and his brothers Roi and Alon.

Over the past year, his parents led an unrelenting campaign to bring their son home. They met with senior officials in Israel and Washington, including President Trump, advocating for the return of all hostages and the remains of the fallen.

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Ruby Chen addresses the U.N. Security Council in New York.

Ruby Chen addressed the U.N. Security Council, calling for more action to bring the hostages home from Gaza. Ruby’s son Itay is still being held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists. (Bianca Otero)

Ruby and Hagit Chen shared in a statement: «For 760 days, our dear and beloved son Itay, a hero of Israel, was held captive by Hamas. Last night, we received the bittersweet news of his return home to Israel. Even in this difficult moment, we remember that there are still seven hostages who must be brought back: Hadar Goldin, Ran Gvili, Meny Godard, Dror Or, Lior Rudaeff, Joshua Loitu Mollel and Sudthisak Rinthalak.»

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Chen family shortly after being notified of the identification. The prime minister offered his heartfelt condolences to the family, asked about the well-being of Roy and Alon, Itay’s brothers, and vowed to continue the fight without relenting until the last hostage is returned. The family thanked the Prime Minister for bringing Itay home for a proper burial in Israel. 

Ruby Chen told Netanyahu that Itay’s sacrifice must not be in vain, and that there could be no return to the mindset of Oct. 6. He emphasized the need to establish a commission of inquiry, noting that the people of Israel deserve answers about what happened on that terrible day — answers for the 2,000 bereaved families and tens of thousands wounded in body and spirit.

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President Trump’s special envoy for Peace Missions, Steve Witkoff, also called the Chen family for an extended conversation. 

Witkoff expressed his admiration for how the family had conducted their campaign to bring Itay home, and underscored their pivotal role in highlighting the urgency of returning all remaining hostages. He added that the family helped President Trump grasp the critical importance of bringing home both the living and the deceased hostages and reinforced American determination and commitment to press forward until the last hostage is returned.

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Itay Chen

Itay Chen, 19-year-old U.S.-Israeli citizen, was on active duty in a tank unit on Oct. 7, 2023.   (Hostage Family Forum)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said, «The return of Itay brings a measure of relief to a family that lived in agonizing uncertainty for more than two years. We will not rest until the last hostage is returned.»

Chen’s funeral will take place this week with full military honors.

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