5/09/2025

FRIDAY | SEPT 5, 2025

8

Australia agrees to pay A$475m to settle suit

Judge rules for Harvard against funding freeze

WASHINGTON: A US federal judge ruled in favour of Harvard University on Wednesday in its lawsuit against the administration, finding that the federal government had unlawfully frozen billions of dollars in research funds. Allison Burroughs, judge of the US District Court of Massachusetts, wrote in a ruling that “defendants (US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Justice) used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities”. On April 11, administration officials sent a letter to Harvard, demanding that the university eliminate antisemitism on campus and dismantle diversity initiatives that favour certain minority groups. The administration “did so in a way that runs afoul of” the Administrative Procedure Act, the First Amendment of the US Constitution, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, wrote the ruling. On April 14, after Harvard rejected the administration’s demands, the administration announced a freeze on US$2.2 billion (RM9.3 billion) in multi-year grants and US$60 million in multi-year contract value to the university. “We must fight against antisemitism, but we equally need to protect our rights, including our right to free speech, and neither goal should nor needs to be sacrificed,” wrote Burroughs. Noting that Harvard “was wrong to tolerate hateful behaviour for as long as it did”, the judge wrote that “Harvard is, even if belatedly, taking steps it needs to take to combat antisemitism and seems willing to do even more if need be”. “Now it is the job of the courts to similarly step up, to act to safeguard academic freedom and freedom of speech as required by the Constitution, and to ensure that important research is not improperly subjected to arbitrary and procedurally infirm grant terminations, even if doing so risks the wrath of a government committed to its agenda no matter the cost,” Burroughs wrote. The judge granted a motion for summary judgment, which means she has ruled in favour of Harvard without a trial. – Bernama China denies conspiring against US BEIJING: China defended yesterday its decision to invite the leaders of Russia and North Korea to World War II commemorations, which President Donald Trump accused them of using to conspire against the United States. Trump wrote a testy Truth Social post addressing his Chinese counterpart after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin flanked Xi Jinping at a massive parade in Beijing showcasing China’s military prowess. “Give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America,”Trump wrote. Asked about Trump’s post, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday“foreign guests”had been invited to commemorate 80 years since the end of World War II. “It is to work together with peace-loving countries and peoples to remember history, cherish the memory of the martyrs, cherish peace, and create the future,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun. “China’s development of diplomatic relations with any country is never directed against any third party.” The Kremlin said on Wednesday it hoped Trump’s allegation on social media was a joke. “I think not without irony, he said that these three are allegedly plotting against the United States,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian state TV when asked about Trump’s post. – AFP

o Just and fair thing to do, says Attorney-General

“Today is a day of vindication and validation for hundreds of thousands of Australians afflicted by the Robodebt scandal,” he told reporters. Felicity Button, a Robodebt victim and one of the lead applicants, said there was a “bitter sweetness to it, thinking of the people that have had irreparable damage happen” as a result of the scheme. The Robodebt programme was designed to ensure welfare recipients were not underreporting income and over-receiving government payments. But computer algorithms for the scheme wrongly calculated that hundreds of thousands of Australians owed money and, with little to no human oversight, recovered A$1.76 billion. Robodebt was a failure of public administration, a “crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal”, that made many people feel like criminals, and caused at least three known suicides, the government inquiry found. – Reuters

costs to A$2.4 billion and ends what is regarded as one of Australia’s worst-ever public administration scandals. Robodebt victims and law firm Gordon Legal had originally brought the class action suit in 2019. The government settled the case in 2020, agreeing to pay more than A$720 million in unlawfully claimed debts, A$400 million in unlawful demands and A$112 million in compensation to 400,000 people. Plaintiffs appealed the case after new evidence was uncovered during the government inquiry. “Settling this claim is the just and fair thing to do,” Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said in a statement yesterday. The statement said that if the compensation was approved by the courts, it would be the largest class action settlement in Australian history. Peter Gordon, senior partner and founder of Gordon Legal, welcomed the settlement, which could rise to A$548 million with legal and administration costs.

SYDNEY: The Australian government said yesterday it had agreed to pay a further A$475 million (RM1.3 billion) in compensation to victims of an illegal welfare debt recovery programme, which if approved by the courts would be the largest class action payout in the country’s history. The programme, known as “Robodebt”, chased hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients for false debts calculated by a faulty automated algorithm between 2016 and 2019, until a court ruled it illegal. A government royal commission inquiry found that “Robodebt” pushed vulnerable people into further debt and caused multiple suicides. The latest settlement brings total government repayment and compensation

Police and firefighters working at the crash site in Lisbon on Wednesday. – AFPPIC

Portugal holds day of mourning after derailment LISBON: Portugal held a day of national mourning yesterday after a funicular train derailed in Lisbon, killing at least 15 people in one of the capital’s most popular tourist spots. The accident on Wednesday saw the yellow Gloria funicular veer off a steep stretch of tracks near Liberty Avenue and crash into a building. wall of the street. A woman interviewed by the SIC television channel said the train, which can hold about 40 people, struck the building “with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box”. Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas called the incident “a tragedy that our city has never seen”. the site of the accident, adding that maintenance of the funiculars has been done by a contractor for the past 14 years. General maintenance is carried out every four years and was last conducted in 2022, Carris said. Intermediate maintenance takes place every two years and was completed last year.

Antonio Javier, a 44-year-old Spanish tourist, said his family were “a little relieved” to have skipped taking the funicular because the queue was too long. Tourists and residents alike use Lisbon’s funiculars to travel up and down the capital’s steep hills and the boxy yellow train is a common image on gift shop souvenirs. The Gloria first entered into service in 1885 and was hooked up to electricity in 1915, according to the website of Portugal’s national monuments. – AFP

A statement by the office of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said it had “brought grief to ... families and dismay to the country”, and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen offered condolences to the victims’ families. Lisbon prosecutors said they were opening an investigation into the accident’s circumstances. The city’s public transport operator said it had complied with “all maintenance protocols”. “Everything was scrupulously respected,” Pedro Bogas, the head of Lisbon Carris, said at

Rescuers said a further 18 people were injured. The victims, including some foreigners, have all been recovered from the wreckage, according to the emergency services. The Portuguese government said the country would observe a day of mourning yesterday to commemorate the victims, whose identities were not immediately available. Footage showed police and rescue personnel working into the night around the mangled funicular lying on its side against a