Weekly News Recap - May 23rd 2025
EU and UK strike landmark deal, Israel's allies rebuke Netanyahu, and Trump escalates his fight with Harvard. Here are all the news you've missed this week:
EU & UK strike landmark deal
Israel escalates war in Gaza - Allies outraged
Trump wants to force International students out of Harvard
More news at the end of this recap
EU & UK strike landmark deal
The United Kingdom and the European Union have signed a landmark deal assuring their bilateral alliance. In addition to military cooperation, the EU and the UK agreed to lower some of the trade barriers that resulted from Brexit.
It was the first trade deal and real reproach to a friendship since the Brexit years and has been called the “Brexit reset deal”. Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the UK and EU commission-president Ursula von der Leyen both said they were satisfied with the results and hope for a future of close alliances.
Israel escalates war - Allies rebuke Netanyahu
This week, Israel escalated the war in Gaza by starting a new offensive on the ground. Allies including France, Canada, and the UK had warned Israel’s PM Netanyahu about further escalating the war after reports of an imminent famine in Gaza came to light.
When Israel pushed ahead with their offensive anyway, these allies issued stark rebukes, pressuring the government to cease further military action.
The ceasefire that was announced in the last days of Biden’s Presidency seems long forgotten and Trump's peace efforts have not yielded any results. Instead, his plans to permanently relocate the citizens of Gaza seem to have stuck with Israel’s Prime Minister.
Such a relocation, as even Israel’s allies have warned, would most certainly violate international law.
Trump escalates fight with Harvard University
President Trump announced on Thursday that no international students can study at the Ivy-league university in a major escalation of his administration’s fight with Harvard. According to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, all future international enrollments must be stopped and international students who are already at Harvard must leave. The news caused chaos on Harvard’s campus as a quarter of its students are international students.
Trump’s administration has repeatedly targeted Palestinian activists who protested Israel’s war in Gaza on campuses last year. In one instance, an international student, Rumeysa Ozturk, was pulled off the streets by ICE agents disguised as civilians because of an article she wrote. Harvard has called the new attack on international students „unlawful“ and sued the federal government.
+++ A federal judge swiftly blocked Trump’s order this Friday +++
The fight between Harvard and Trump started after Harvard’s President, Alan M. Garber, told the Trump administration last April that Harvard would not give in to demands to change its practices.
Other news
Floods in Australia: 50.000 people in danger
Germany’s economy might be growing again: 0,4% growth in Q1 of 2025
Trump threaten’s EU with 50% tariff