The Trump administration is seeking to lock Columbia University into a legally binding consent decree, giving the White House oversight of the university for years to come, The Wall Street Journal said Thursday. The proposal is a significant escalation of President Donald Trump’s expanding effort to exert power over top-tier U.S. universities by withholding federal research funds.
Who said what
After Trump withheld $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia, accusing the school of insufficiently protecting Jewish students from harassment during 2024 Gaza War protests, the university “agreed to an initial set of demands,” the Journal said. A consent decree would legally bind Columbia to those and future concessions, giving a judge the power to levy fines for noncompliance.
The Trump administration calls its cancellation of research funds and foreign student visas a “campaign against antisemitism on college campuses,” The Associated Press said. Critics call it a “crackdown on free speech” and academic freedom.
What next?
A consent decree with Columbia “could serve as a model for other schools seeking to negotiate with the White House,” The New York Times said. But the university would have to agree, and negotiations “could require an extended process.” Judges “can’t just wave a wand and turn an agreement into a consent decree absent a lawsuit,” said University of Pennsylvania law professor Tobias Wolff.
A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed into the Hudson River Thursday, killing all five passengers — a family of Spanish tourists — and the pilot.
Who said what
Emergency boats with divers surrounded the Bell 206 helicopter soon after it crashed into the Hudson near Jersey City, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “Four victims were pronounced dead on scene, and two more were removed to local area hospitals, where, sadly, both succumbed to their injuries.” The dead included Agustín Escobar, an executive at tech company Siemens, his wife and three kids, The New York Times and The Associated Press said. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the crash an “unimaginable tragedy.”
Video of the crash showed the Bell 206, operated by New York Helicopters, tumbling downward without its main rotor blades attached. Once the pilot “loses both the tail and the rotor, there’s nothing left to do,” aviation lawyer Jim Brauchle told The Washington Post “It’s an unrecoverable event, unfortunately.”
What next?
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, the “latest U.S. aviation disaster,” the AP said. “At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977,” including fatal tourist helicopter crashes in 2009 and 2018. “Tens of thousands of tourist helicopter flights depart from heliports in and around New York City” each year, the Times said.
The Supreme Court Thursday night unanimously ruled that the Trump administration must work to “facilitate” but not necessarily “effectuate” the return of Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran man erroneously deported to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador last month alongside hundreds of Venezuelan alleged gang members.
Who said what
The unsigned ruling was a “significant rejection of the Trump administration’s claim that it lacked any power — and therefore could not be compelled — to attempt to remedy its admitted error” in deporting Ábrego García, Politico said. It “doesn’t explicitly mention” bringing him back, but it “leaves in place the bulk of U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ order that specifically required his ‘return’ to the United States.”
Xinis “properly” required the government to “‘facilitate’ Ábrego García’s release from custody in El Salvador,” but her “intended scope of the term ‘effectuate'” was “unclear and may exceed the district court’s authority,” the Supreme Court said. Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested in a concurring statement, joined by her two liberal colleagues, that she would have compelled the administration to “correct its egregious error” and refuted its implication it “could deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene.”
What next?
The Supreme Court’s ruling “does not mean Ábrego García will be returned immediately,” The Washington Post said. The justices sent the case back to Xinis to “clarify” her “directive, with due regard for the deference owed” the president in “the conduct of foreign affairs,” and ordered the government to “share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”
Cruising round a blustery bend on the Danube in Austria’s Wachau Valley, I grip my hot-water bottle a little tighter. I’m aboard the Viking Tor on a river cruise between Budapest, Hungary and Passau, Germany and the weather is frosty during my 10-day adventure.
I’ve chosen to sail off-season, a relatively new concept for the cruise line, which launched its first winter cruise on the Rhine in 2023. I came prepared though, with layers, hats, and the aforementioned hot-water bottle, so I am able to enjoy the snow-tipped hills, and icy castles from the boat’s top deck.
It is a special time of year to navigate the Danube. Usually its 2,857 miles are bustling with river cruisers, but in February we have it to ourselves; there’s barely another boat to be seen. Instead, we are treated to chocolate-box towns without the crowds, and glassy, undisturbed waters reflecting a pale winter sky. It is a glorious way to take in Europe at a slower pace.
Experience
The grand Széchenyi Thermal Baths in Budapest (Image credit: Alamy / Bella Falk)
The Viking Tor, launched in 2013, is one of 60 identical Viking Longships, their award-winning fleet of river cruisers primarily used in Europe. It can host 190 guests and 53 crew, each of whom provide friendly, informal service – barman George knew our favourite drinks by the second round.
It doesn’t take long before you feel right at home in the Tor’s sleek, Scandinavian interiors. The library is a relaxing place in which to read, while the top deck has mini golf and shuffleboard, if you prefer a bit more entertainment. There are also talks and demonstrations such as an apple strudel cooking lesson, or a presentation on the history of Slovakian national dance.
Viking cruises are all about the destinations. Each evening before dinner we were given a talk about where we were going the following morning, which helped inform what we might choose to do. A walking tour is included at each stop, where local guides treated us to stories, myths and legends over a Quietvox, a small receiver with headphones that every guest is given.
Itinerary
It doesn’t take long before you feel right at home onboard the Tor (Image credit: Viking Cruises )
After leaving Budapest we head to Győr, a small city in the north of Hungary, and onwards to Slovakia’s Bratislava, Austria’s Vienna, Grein and Linz, and then Passau, just over the border in Germany. This 346-mile journey takes us through four of the 10 countries on the banks of the Danube, and we see the landscape change from vast, flat vistas in Hungary, to winding, vineyard-lined hills in Austria.
Each stop has its own particular charms, from the pastel, onion domes of Győr, to the Baroque St Stephen’s Cathedral of Passau. We start in the grand Széchenyi Thermal Baths in Budapest, where we relax in healing 34C waters. In Linz, we take a dinky little train up the Pöstlingberg hill and are treated to sprawling views into the misty distance, while a tour of Vienna’s State Opera House provides us with culture and history going back to the mid-1800s.
Accommodation
Guests can watch the river from the comfort of their bed (Image credit: Viking Cruises )
Each of the ship’s 95 bedrooms are peaceful and comfortable, with robes, queen-size beds, and toiletries from Nordic skincare brand Freyja, inspired by Freyja the Norse goddess of love. My balcony room had floor to ceiling glass doors, allowing us to watch the river go by from our bed. There is plenty of storage, with a wardrobe, two chests of drawers and room under the beds for your cases, as well as a mini-fridge for any snacks and purchases made along the way.
There are also two suites on board, for those looking for a little luxury. These huge 445 square foot spaces have a wraparound balcony with views directly off the back of the boat, a bedroom and a spacious living room, welcome champagne, and a well-stocked minibar.
Food and drink
The terrace at the front of the ship is a prime spot for dinner (Image credit: Viking Cruises )
The glass Aquavit restaurant and terrace at the front of the ship is a prime spot for a bit of lunch or a more relaxed dinner. The main restaurant is open for a buffet breakfast, and an à la carte lunch and evening meal, and the open seating means you can meet some of your fellow cruisers at different tables each night.
The dinner menu has two halves, one staying the same and the other reflecting that day’s stop. Sommeliers are on hand to recommend, but not push, specialty wines, while their house wine from Austria’s Mörwald Winery is included for all guests at lunch and dinner. The Silver Spirits drinks package is available for those who prefer not to think about the bar bill.
After dinner the lounge comes to life, with performances from local musicians, the house pianist and singer, and even game nights that get more than a little rowdy. All the while, the sound of cocktail shakers and bottles popping signal you’re in for a good time.
Jaymi was a guest onboard the Viking Tor for the 10-day Treasures of the Danube river cruise, vikingrivercruises.co.uk
The UK has announced a further £450 million of military support for Ukraine after Kyiv claimed that Russia’s much-anticipated “spring offensive” has already begun.
Moscow is increasing its attacks around the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, said Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrsky, and this renewed fighting could have a significant influence on the outcome of the war.
What did the commentators say?
Analysts, including the UK’s Ministry of Defence, said that Russia’s “rate of advance” has been “in steady decline” over the “challenging” winter months. It has gone down from about 730 square kilometres captured in November to just 143 in March, said CNN.
But the arrival of spring can make it easier to advance because the ground hardens, so armoured vehicles and soldiers can move more easily.
Moscow’s latest attacks on Sumy “might entail a real effort to occupy the area”, said The Economist, or they might just be “a relentless series of attacks aimed at tying down Ukrainian troops and creating a buffer zone”.
It’s thought “these assaults” are “part of a spring offensive by Russia”, said the BBC, and Kyiv believes Moscow is “preparing for a major renewed assault”, with tens of thousands of troops thought to have “gathered along the border”.
Moving into the region of Dnipropetrovsk would be “a significant moment”, said CNN, because Russian troops haven’t yet “set foot there” so it would be the first new Ukrainian region to come under “part-Russian occupation” since the early weeks of the conflict. Putin could use the area as a “useful bargaining chip” in future negotiations.
Despite the “downbeat assessments”, it’s “important to keep some perspective” because the amount of territory Russia is capturing “remains small”. But Putin’s recent conscription drive and Moscow’s ongoing “aerial onslaught” point “more to a campaign of attrition” than any plan to “stop” the fighting.
As for the ceasefire, it’s “frayed to the point of collapse”, said Radio Free Europe. Kyiv and Moscow are both continuing daily attacks, “utilising scores of drones and powerful missiles”.
What next?
This is “the critical year for the war in Ukraine, and this is the critical moment”, said John Healey, the UK’s defence secretary this morning. He was addressing members of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, an alliance of about 50 countries that have supported Kyiv, at Nato’s headquarters in Brussels. “We stand with you in the fight and we stand with you in the peace,” Healey told Ukraine.
The “whole idea” of the Western allies’ latest moves is to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position” and so “pile the pressure” on Putin to accelerate the “currently slow-moving” talks on a ceasefire, said Politico – “though that hasn’t worked out so far”.
