
Kristi Noem's hospitalisation linked to her visit with RFK Jr to a controversial biohazard lab for Ebola, SARS-CoV-2?
Kristi Noem hospitalised
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US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after experiencing an allergic reaction, her spokeswoman said. 'She is alert and recovering,' said the statement from department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who said the hospital treatment was out of an 'abundance of caution.'She has been among the more high-profile members of President Donald Trump's cabinet, traveling extensively and maintaining a robust social media presence.According to a report in The Daily Beast, Noem was hospitalized for an allergic reaction one day after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared a photo of them both visiting a biosafety lab that was temporarily shut down over safety concerns.'With @Sec_Noem and @SenRandPaul inspecting the biological hazard labs at Fort Detrick ,' the Health and Human Services Secretary posted, sharing an image of himself with Noem and GOP Sen. Rand Paul at the Integrated Research Facility in Frederick, Maryland. On Tuesday, Noem was rushed to the hospital via ambulance for an "allergic reaction", DHS' Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Beast in a statement.'She was transported to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. She is alert and recovering,' McLaughlin said. What promoted Kristi Noem's allergic reaction is yet to be determined and there's no evidence to suggest that the incident was anything more than a bizarre coincidence. Noem is yet to comment on her condition publicly.On Tuesday, Health Secretary posted a picture with Kristi Noem and Senator Rand Paul when they inspected the biological hazard labs at Fort Detrick. The MAHA Institute, a think tank supporting Kennedy's 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda, posted on X earlier that Noem, Paul, and Kennedy had toured the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases biosecurity lab at Fort Detrick on Monday.The Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick conducts research on viruses responsible for severe diseases like Ebola and SARS-CoV-2 , as stated on its website. Its core mission includes helping to prevent major public health crises caused by emerging or reemerging infectious diseases and potential biological weapon threats.Noem, 53, heads a sprawling department with roughly 260,000 employees handling immigration enforcement, airport security, disaster response and other matters. She has been among the more high-profile members of President Donald Trump's cabinet, traveling extensively and maintaining a robust social media presence.She is often the public face of his mass deportation effort, frequently goes out on immigration enforcement operations and has appeared in commercials encouraging immigrants in the country illegally to voluntarily leave the U.S. Before being tapped to head Homeland Security, Noem was a two-term governor of South Dakota, a former member of Congress and a staunch Trump supporter.She has said she specifically asked Trump for the Homeland Security portfolio because she knew it dealt with Trump's top priorities.Earlier this year Noem's purse was stolen on Easter Sunday while she was out to dinner with her family. The purse reportedly contained about $3,000 in cash, her keys, driver's license, passport and Homeland Security badge.(With inputs from AP)
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Business Standard
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Vance blames California Democrats for protests, mocks Sen Padilla as 'Jose'
Vance's visit to Los Angeles to tour a multiagency Federal Joint Operations Center and a mobile command centre came as demonstrations calmed down in the city and a curfew was lifted AP Los Angeles Vice President JD Vance on Friday accused California Gov Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of encouraging violent immigration protests as he used his appearance in Los Angeles to rebut criticism from state and local officials that the Trump administration fuelled the unrest by sending in federal officers. Vance also referred to US Sen Alex Padilla, the state's first Latino senator, as Jose Padilla, a week after the Democrat was forcibly taken to the ground by officers and handcuffed after speaking out during a Los Angeles news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on immigration raids. I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, Vance said, in an apparent reference to the altercation at Noem's event. I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't a theater. And that's all it is. They want to be able to go back to their far-left groups and to say, Look, me, I stood up against border enforcement. I stood up against Donald Trump,' Vance added. A spokesperson for Padilla, Tess Oswald, noted in a social media post that Padilla and Vance were formerly colleagues in the Senate and said that Vance should know better. He should be more focused on demilitarizing our city than taking cheap shots, Oswald said. Vance's visit to Los Angeles to tour a multiagency Federal Joint Operations Center and a mobile command centre came as demonstrations calmed down in the city and a curfew was lifted this week. That followed over a week of sometimes-violent clashes between protesters and police and outbreaks of vandalism and looting that followed immigration raids across Southern California. Trump's dispatching of his top emissary to Los Angeles at a time of turmoil surrounding the Israel-Iran war and the US's future role in it signals the political importance Trump places on his hard-line immigration policies. Vance echoed the president's harsh rhetoric toward California Democrats as he sought to blame them for the protests in the city. Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass, by treating the city as a sanctuary city, have basically said that this is open season on federal law enforcement, Vance said after he toured federal immigration enforcement offices. What happened here was a tragedy, Vance added. You had people who were doing the simple job of enforcing the law and they had rioters egged on by the governor and the mayor, making it harder for them to do their job. That is disgraceful. And it is why the president has responded so forcefully. Newsom's spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement, The Vice President's claim is categorically false. The governor has consistently condemned violence and has made his stance clear. Speaking at City Hall, Bass said Vance was spewing lies and utter nonsense. She said hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted by the federal government on a stunt. How dare you say that city officials encourage violence? We kept the peace, Bass said. In a statement on X, Newsom responded to Vance's reference to Jose Padilla, saying the comment was no accident. Jose Padilla also is the name of a convicted al-Qaida terrorism plotter during President George W. Bush's administration, who was sentenced to two decades in prison. Padilla was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport during the tense months after the 9/11 attacks and accused of the dirty bomb mission. It later emerged through US interrogation of other al-Qaida suspects that the mission was only a sketchy idea, and those claims never surfaced in the South Florida terrorism case. Responding to the outrage, Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesperson for Vance, said of the vice president: He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law. Federal immigration authorities have been ramping up arrests across the country to fulfil Trump's promise of mass deportations. Todd Lyons, the head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has defended his tactics against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed. The friction in Los Angeles began June 6, when federal agents conducted a series of immigration sweeps in the region that have continued since. Amid the protests and over the objections of state and local officials, Trump ordered the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the second-largest US city, home to 3.8 million people. Trump has said that without the military's involvement, Los Angeles would be a crime scene like we haven't seen in years. 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Harvard secures longer reprieve from Trump's ban on foreign students
By David Voreacos and Anika Arora Seth A federal judge issued a new order that allows Harvard University to continue enrolling foreign students while the school fights the Trump administration's efforts to prevent it from doing so. US District Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard a preliminary injunction Friday that prevents the Trump administration from implementing a May 22 order revoking the university's ability to host international students. The injunction extends an earlier temporary bar that was set to expire. Harvard is the main target of President Donald Trump's efforts to force universities to crack down on antisemitism, remove perceived political bias and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Harvard has separately sued over a $2.6 billion funding freeze, and Burroughs has temporarily blocked that from moving forward. Trump has also threatened to revoke the school's tax-exempt status. Burroughs said at a May 29 hearing that she would grant a preliminary injunction to help Harvard's 6,800 international students, who comprise 27 per cent of the school's population. In her injunction, she sided with Harvard in adopting an order that broadly prevents the administration from taking other steps to alter the school's status. Burroughs directed the government to instruct all embassies, consulates and border agents to 'restore every visa holder and applicant to the position that individual would have been' before the May 22 order and to provide a status update to the court within 72 hours. Harvard claims Trump has violated its free-speech and procedural rights as it seeks to dictate its decisions on faculty hiring, academic programs and student admissions. The school sued after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said May 22 that she was immediately revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students, despite the school participating in a US program to do so for more than 70 years. Trump also issued a separate proclamation on June 4 barring students and scholars on Harvard-sponsored visas from entering the US. Burroughs issued a separate temporary halt to that order but did not mention it in her ruling on Friday afternoon. The Trump administration argues that the president has sweeping power to control immigration and national security, and judges can't second guess his exercise of that power.


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2 hours ago
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Harvard Gets Longer Reprieve From Trump Foreign Student Ban
A federal judge issued a new order that allows Harvard University to continue enrolling foreign students while the school fights the Trump administration's efforts to prevent it from doing so. US District Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard a preliminary injunction Friday that prevents the Trump administration from implementing a May 22 order revoking the university's ability to host international students. The injunction extends an earlier temporary bar that was set to expire. Harvard is the main target of President Donald Trump's efforts to force universities to crack down on antisemitism, remove perceived political bias and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Harvard has separately sued over a $2.6 billion funding freeze, and Burroughs has temporarily blocked that from moving forward. Trump has also threatened to revoke the school's tax-exempt status. Burroughs said at a May 29 hearing that she would grant a preliminary injunction to help Harvard's 6,800 international students, who comprise 27% of the school's population. In her injunction, she sided with Harvard in adopting an order that broadly prevents the administration from taking other steps to alter the school's status. Burroughs directed the government to instruct all embassies, consulates and border agents to 'restore every visa holder and applicant to the position that individual would have been' before the May 22 order and to provide a status update to the court within 72 hours. Harvard claims Trump has violated its free-speech and procedural rights as it seeks to dictate its decisions on faculty hiring, academic programs and student admissions. The school sued after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said May 22 that she was immediately revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students, despite the school participating in a US program to do so for more than 70 years. Trump also issued a separate proclamation on June 4 barring students and scholars on Harvard-sponsored visas from entering the US. Burroughs issued a separate temporary halt to that order but did not mention it in her ruling on Friday afternoon. The Trump administration argues that the president has sweeping power to control immigration and national security, and judges can't second guess his exercise of that power.