Headline

Europe Woos US Scientists Fleeing Trump’s Policies With Paris Conference

Published

6 months ago

May 5, 2025

French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen were on Monday set to host a conference in Paris aimed at attracting US researchers ready to relocate because of President Donald Trump’s policies.

European commissioners, scientists, academics and ministers for research from European Union member countries will discuss, among other things, financial incentives to lure disgruntled US scientists across the Atlantic.

Paris’s Sorbonne University is hosting the conference, called “Choose Europe for Science”, which is to close with speeches by Macron and von der Leyen.

Universities and research facilities in the United States have come under increasing political and financial pressure under Trump, including threats of massive federal funding cuts.

US research programmes face closure, tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired and foreign students fear possible deportation for their political views.

The 27-nation EU hopes to offer an alternative for researchers and, by the same token, “defend our strategic interests and promote a universalist vision”, an official in Macron’s office told AFP.

The French president has already appealed to foreign, notably US, researchers to “choose France”.

Last month, he unveiled plans for a funding programme to help universities and other research bodies cover the cost of bringing foreign scientists to the country.

– Flood of applicants –

Aix Marseille University in the south of France announced in March it would open its doors to US scientists threatened by cuts.

It says its “Safe Place for Science” scheme has already received a flood of applicants.

Last week, France’s flagship scientific research centre, the CNRS, launched a new initiative aimed at attracting foreign researchers whose work is threatened.

It is also seeking to attract French researchers working abroad, some of whom “don’t want to live and raise their children in Trump’s United States”, according to CNRS President Antoine Petit.

An official in Macron’s office said Monday’s conference came “at a time when academic freedoms are retreating and under threat in a number of cases and Europe is a continent of attractiveness”.

One obstacle, experts say is the fact that while EU countries can offer competitive research infrastructure and a high quality of life, research funding and researchers’ remuneration both lag far behind US levels.

But CNRS’s Petit said last week he hoped that the pay gap would seem less significant once the lower cost of education and health, and more generous social benefits, were taken into account.

Macron’s office said France and the EU were targeting researchers in a number of specific sectors, including health, climate, biodiversity, artificial intelligence and space.

The French government could finance up to 50 per cent of selected research projects, an official in the presidential office said, while assistance could also be offered in the form of tax incentives.

Non-EU members Norway, Britain and Switzerland are participating in Monday’s conference, Macron’s office said.
AFP

Headline

Christian Genocide’: Trump Designates Nigeria As Country Of Particular Concern

Published

7 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

United States President, Donald Trump, has named Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” citing what he described as a growing threat to Christianity in the nation.

In a statement on Truth Social on Friday, Trump claimed thousands of Christians have been killed by radical Islamist groups and urged U.S. lawmakers to investigate the situation urgently.

Trump maintained that the United States would not stand by while Christians in Nigeria and other parts of the world face persecution, adding that America remains ready to protect Christian populations globally.

He said, “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.

“When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.

“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”

His declaration follows increasing criticism from U.S. politicians and public figures who claim that Christians in Nigeria are facing systematic violence.

Recently, US comedian and HBO host Bill Maher accused Islamist groups of carrying out a genocide against Christians in the country.

“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over a hundred thousand since 2009. They’ve burnt 18,000 churches. These are the Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.

“They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” Maher said.

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Similarly, US Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Nigerian government officials were “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.”

Cruz also lamented that Christians in the country were being targeted for their faith by terrorist groups and “are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.”

He said it was “long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities,” adding that he had introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act to the US Senate to sanction such officials.

In the same vein, Riley Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District in the US Congress, wrote to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging him to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

Moore also called for a suspension of arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government demonstrates commitment to ending what he described as “a reign of persecution and slaughter against Christians.”

However, both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Presidency have dismissed the allegations of a Christian genocide.

While CAN described the reports as false narratives peddled by foreign agents, the Presidency insisted that there is no religious war taking place in the country.

Headline

Trump Breaks Silence On ‘Christian Genocide’ In Nigeria

Published

8 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

In a stark rebuke to months of escalating violence, President Donald Trump has declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over what he described as an “existential threat” to Christianity, accusing radical Islamists of orchestrating a mass slaughter of believers in the West African nation.

The announcement, posted on Truth Social on Friday, marks the administration’s most direct intervention yet in a crisis that has claimed thousands of lives this year alone, reigniting debates over US policy toward religious persecution abroad.

Full statement below;

“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.

Headline

Tanzania Protesters Loot Singer Juma Jux Fashion Store

Published

12 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Tanzanian protesters have reportedly looted singer Juma Jux’s fashion store.

Unrest erupted on Thursday after a disputed general election marked by disqualification and detention of the key opposition figures in Tanzania.

The protesters are demanding cancellation of the election results, alleging irregularities in the country’s presidential election.

Amid the development, a controversial post by an X user Bolaji Fesomade alleged that the singer store valued at $780 million has been set ablaze by protesters.

Reacting to the report, Juma Jux’s wife, Priscilla Ojo on her Snapchat account, dismissed the claims, noting that the store was looted and not burnt.

She simply wrote; “Looted not Burnt”.