Swiss government eyes dropping purchase of US Patriot air defence system

(The Center Square) – A federal judge has dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit challenging Minnesota’s policy of offering in-state tuition and certain scholarships to students in the country without legal status, allowing the programs to continue.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled the federal government failed to prove Minnesota’s law discriminates against U.S. citizens, rejecting a key argument made by the Trump administration in its legal challenge.

The lawsuit, filed last summer, targeted Minnesota’s Dream Act – a 2013 law that allows students who attended a Minnesota high school for at least three years to qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges, regardless of immigration status.

A 2023 expansion, known as the North Star Promise Act, also allowed for free tuition based on similar criteria.

Federal officials argued the policy violates federal law by offering benefits to immigrants in the country illegally that are not equally available to all U.S. citizens, particularly those who live out of state.

“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said last year when the lawsuit was first filed.

Yet, Menendez sided with Minnesota in the order, saying the Justice Department misinterpreted federal law.

In her ruling, Menendez noted that eligibility for in-state tuition in Minnesota is not based solely on residency, but on whether a student attended a Minnesota high school for a set period of time – a criteria that applies regardless of citizenship status.

Because of that, the ruling found the law does not unlawfully favor illegal immigrant students over U.S. citizens.

Menendez also ruled that the federal government lacked standing to sue Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, noting that neither has the authority to unilaterally change state law governing tuition policies.

Ellison praised the decision, calling it a victory for the state.

“Today, we defeated another one of Donald Trump’s efforts to misconstrue federal law to force Minnesota to abandon duly passed state laws and become a colder, less caring state,” Ellison said in a statement.

He argued the policy is a “necessary” investment in Minnesota’s workforce.

The ruling marks a setback for the Trump administration’s broader effort to challenge similar policies nationwide. The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against multiple states over in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students.

So far, outcomes have varied.

In Texas, a federal judge recently struck down a similar policy. Other states have taken different approaches. Florida recently ended in-state tuition eligibility for undocumented students, while more than 20 states and the District of Columbia continue to offer some form of in-state tuition benefits, according to the National Immigration Law Center. At least 14 states, including Minnesota, also allow access to financial aid or scholarships.

The University of Minnesota, the state’s largest public higher education institution, did not respond to a request from The Center Square for comment. It also did not provide information on how much funding is being used to provide those benefits to illegal immigrants.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has filed confidential papers with US securities regulators for what could be the largest-ever public stock offering, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Wednesday.

The filing puts SpaceX on track to list on a public exchange by July, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter. 

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission declined comment.

US media have reported that the IPO could be valued at a whopping $75 billion or more for a venture with stratospheric ambitions.

The IPO looks set to blow past the biggest public offering on record from 2019, when the oil group Saudi Aramco raised $25.6 billion.

SpaceX, which dominates the space launch market with its reusable rockets, is owned by Musk alongside several investment funds and tech companies including Google's parent Alphabet.

The company's rockets vastly reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit. SpaceX is also the owner of the Starlink satellite constellation.

In February, Musk announced that SpaceX was taking over his artificial intelligence outfit xAI, a step in the billionaire's plan to use SpaceX's rockets to launch solar-powered, satellite-based data centers to develop and run future AI models.

jmb-elm/acb

Armenia cannot be both a member of the European Union and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, President Vladimir Putin told Armenia's Prime Minister on Wednesday, amid tensions over Yerevan's pivot towards the West.

Armenia has shifted its foreign policy away from Russia in recent years, in part because Moscow did not intervene militarily when Azerbaijan launched an offensive against ethnic Armenian separatists in September 2023.

The former Soviet republic froze its membership of the Russian-led CSTO security alliance in 2024, and in the same year expressed an interest in joining the European Union, further deepening its rift with Moscow.

"We see that Armenia is discussing developing relations with the European Union, and we are completely calm about this," Putin said.

"But it should be obvious... Being in a customs union with the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union is impossible. It's simply impossible by definition," he added.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he was aware being in the two unions was incompatible, but that pursuing both paths was possible "for now".

"When the processes develop to the point where a decision needs to be made, I'm confident that we, I mean the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will make that decision, of course," he said.

Moscow and Yerevan are formally allies but their ties have become increasingly strained under Pashinyan.

Armenia's foreign intelligence service warned earlier this year that "external actors" were trying to meddle in Armenian politics, in what analysts believe was a reference to Russia.

bur/jj

Chelsea made a Premier League record pre-tax loss of £262.4 million ($349.3 million) for the year ending June 30, 2025, the club said on Wednesday as it was revealed they had spent more on agents' fees than any other English club this season.

The previous highest recorded pre-tax loss in the Premier League was the £197.5 million posted by Manchester City for the 2010/11 season.

Chelsea posted a profit of £128.4m in the previous year's accounts but this was aided by the sale of the women's team to Blueco Midco -- a subsidiary company -- for nearly £200 million.

Chelsea said that the losses were due in part to increased operating costs in 2024/25 compared to the previous year.

Revenue was £490.9 million, the club said, the second-highest recorded by the Blues, and included some of the money earned from winning last year's Club World Cup.

Later Wednesday, a Football Association report into agents' fees in 2025/26 had Chelsea leading the Premier League with a spend of £65.1 million -- well ahead of 'second-placed' Aston Villa's £38.4 million.

All together, English top-flight club spent £460.3 million on agents' fees.

Last month, Chelsea admitted to breaching Premier League rules in relation to some £47.5 million of undisclosed payments made under former owner Roman Abramovich.

The Blues were fined £10.75 million and given a suspended one-year transfer ban by the Premier League.

But, unlike other clubs, they escaped a points deduction -- a move justified by the Premier League on the grounds Chelsea's new owners, a consortium led by US businessman Todd Boehly, had self-reported the information that led to an investigation and had demonstrated "exceptional co-operation" throughout.

Chelsea were deemed compliant with the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) for the three-year period ending 2024/25. 

The rules allow for maximum losses of £105 million over three years, but some of the losses clubs post in their financial reports can be overlooked under PSR –- for example spending on women's football and youth development.

Chelsea also announced on Wednesday that their women's team, champions of England's elite Women's Super League for the past three seasons, posted a loss of £17.1 million, despite generating £21.3 million in revenue.

jdg/bsp 

(The Center Square) — A New Hampshire school district is being investigated by the Trump administration over allegations that administrators are allowing biological men to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced Tuesday that it has opened a complaint into the Contoocook Valley School District based on reports that district officials are allowing biological men to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms.

The federal agency said the investigation will determine whether the district violated federal Title IX requirements by allowing students to access intimate facilities based on "gender identity," not biological sex.  

"Young women should never feel unsafe or uncomfortable in their intimate spaces because their school leaders care more about gender ideology than protecting girls’ dignity and privacy,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement. "Placing the burden on girls to move out of their own intimate spaces when there is a male present is not just absurd, it also discriminates against girls." 

Federal authorities said the district is allegedly violating federal law by applying state law and district policy to allow boys in girls-only spaces, despite complaints from female students about the privacy and safety issues that their presence presents. 

The agency said discrimination based on sex is also "notably absent" from Contoocook Valley High School’s non-discrimination policy, with pledges a learning environment that is "free from discrimination based on race, religion, disability, gender identity, or relationship preference."

Last year, President Donald Trump signed the "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order which barred federal funding for educational institutions that allow males to compete on women's or girls' sports teams. Trump has vowed to cut off funding to states that don't comply with the directive. The Department of Justice has sued Maine and other states over their support for transgender policies.

To be sure, New Hampshire's Republican-controlled state government has been largely supportive of the president's efforts to crack down on transgender athletes playing in women's sports. 

Last year, Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed bills making New Hampshire the first state in the New England region to ban "gender-affirming" medical care for underaged children. The new law prohibits transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy and another banning "gender-affirming chest surgery" for those under 18 to assist in their transition from one sex to another.

But Ayotte also vetoed a bill last year that would have allowed businesses and organizations to require people to use bathrooms, locker rooms, athletic events, and settings such as jails and mental health facilities based on their biological gender at birth. Ayotte's predecessor, then-Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, vetoed a nearly identical version of the bill before he stepped down. 

A 2025 poll by the University of New Hampshire found 71% of Granite Staters support policies aimed at keeping males who identify as women out of women’s sports. Only 21% oppose such policies, pollsters found.

Britain will this week hold a meeting of about 35 countries to discuss how to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz which has been crippled by the Middle East war, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Wednesday.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will host the discussions, Starmer told reporters during a Downing Street press conference, without specifying the day of the talks.

The meeting will "assess all viable diplomatic and political measures that we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and resume the movement of vital commodities", Starmer said.

"Following that meeting, we will also convene our military planners to look at how we can marshal our capabilities and make the strait accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped," he added.

The discussions will include countries who recently signed a statement saying they were ready "to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz", Starmer said. 

Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands are among those to have signed it.

Iran has virtually closed the vital strait since the US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28, causing global oil and gas prices to soar.

A fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait in peacetime.

"I do have to level with people on this. This (reopening) will not be easy," Starmer said.

The UK leader also backed NATO following renewed criticism of the eight-decade-old alliance by US President Donald Trump.

"NATO is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen, and it has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO," Starmer said.

Trump told Britain's Telegraph newspaper in an article published Wednesday that NATO was a "paper tiger".

Asked whether he would reconsider US membership, he replied: "Oh yes, I would say (it's) beyond reconsideration," the paper reported.

Last month, Trump told the Financial Times that it would be "very bad for the future of NATO" if members fail to help reopen the vital waterway.

On Tuesday, he said that countries which have not joined the war but are struggling with fuel shortages should "go get your own oil" in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the US would not help them.

pdh/am/db

A long-awaited trial into Greece's worst train tragedy resumed on Wednesday after overcrowding in the courtroom last month disrupted proceedings and forced an adjournment.

But relatives of the victims were still unhappy about access on Wednesday.

Thirty-six people are on trial over the February 2023 collision that claimed 57 lives, mostly students returning from a carnival weekend.

After a three-year investigation, the trial formally began on March 23. But it made little headway because of crowding in the courtroom in the central town of Larissa.

Hundreds of people tried to enter the courtroom to follow the trial last month.

Lawyers complained that the venue was so packed that they barely had room to open their files and that fire safety regulations were not being respected.

Survivors of the accident and family members had to sit in the seats of the accused, most of whom were absent.

- 'Still unsuitable' -

As proceedings reopened Wednesday, police only allowed participants legally scheduled to attend the trial to enter, but there were still complaints.

"We can't see anything," Panos Ruci, who lost his son in the accident and held a hunger strike last year after the authorities refused to exhume his remains for tests, told reporters.

Ruci later said he had been "shoved like a criminal" by police when he tried to approach his lawyer during the trial.

"All the relatives must be inside the courtroom. The trial cannot take place if the relatives are not inside the courtroom," said Maria Karystianou, a prominent campaigner who lost her daughter in the collision.

"The courtroom is still unsuitable... they have us sitting in the far end," said Vassilis Hatziharalambous, whose son died in the crash. An "excessive" number of police officers were occupying lawyers' seats, he said.

There were also complaints about the presiding judge having forbidden photos and videos from being taken in the courtroom.

The trial was adjourned to Monday.

Responding to comments about the suitability of the venue, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the weekend argued that the courtroom had been "built specifically for this major trial" and was "among the most functional and modern in Europe".

Work to remodel the former conference hall into the courtroom cost hundreds of thousands of euros.

- Repeated warnings -

More than 350 witnesses are due to be heard and some 250 lawyers are accredited for the trial, which is expected to take years to reach a verdict.

It is being conducted around 30 kilometres (nearly 20 miles) from the spot near Tempe, central Greece, where a freight train and a passenger locomotive smashed into each other on February 28, 2023.

Among those to testify are survivors and family members of the victims, some of whom are believed to have burned to death after surviving the initial collision.

Those in the dock include the station master on duty on the night of the accident, other railway officials and two Italian former employees of the trains' parent company, Ferrovie dello Stato.

The head-on collision exposed the parlous state of safety precautions in Greece's railway network, despite European Union grants for its modernisation and repeated warnings from unions. 

On Monday, a separate court in Athens awarded 400,000 euros ($464,000) to the relatives of one of the victims, accepting failings by the Greek state. 

- Evidence thought lost -

Thirty-three of the defendants in the Larissa trial face criminal charges and risk up to life in prison. 

None of the accused are currently in jail, although some have served time in pre-trial detention.

Tens of thousands of people protested across the country last month to mark the third anniversary of the crash, which sparked widespread and lasting anger.

No political official will be in the dock in this trial.

Two former ministers, including ex-transport minister Kostas Karamanlis, were referred to justice by parliament in a separate procedure, but only face misdemeanour charges at present.

Valuable evidence is feared to have been lost when, just days after the collision, a bulldozer levelled the site. 

"(Our) children were burnt and thrown in the garbage. I want answers," said Kanella Andreadou, whose daughter died in the crash.

Despite the disaster, Mitsotakis comfortably won re-election just months later and went on to defeat two parliamentary votes of no-confidence on the issue.

Elections are scheduled in Greece next year. Mitsotakis's conservative New Democracy party leads in opinion polls, but is not expected to gain enough support for an absolute majority.

bur-jph/jj

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to attend Supreme Court oral arguments, observing as the justices considered a challenge Wednesday to his controversial executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship.

At stake is the future of birthright citizenship in the United States – a bedrock principle enshrined in the 14th Amendment that grants automatic citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court's decision in this landmark case will determine whether children born to undocumented immigrants or temporary visitors will continue to be recognized as American citizens, potentially reshaping the nation's approach to immigration and the very definition of citizenship.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the clause in the 14th Amendment, "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," means its protections don't extend to those in the country illegally. The Amendment was passed to reverse the Supreme Court's 1857 decision in the Dred Scott case regarding former slaves.

"The clause thus does not extend citizenship to the children of temporary visa holders or illegal aliens," he told the Supreme Court. "Unlike the newly freed slaves, those visitors lack direct and immediate allegiance to the United States."

The 14th Amendment reads: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." The case could hinge on the meaning of five words: "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

Sauer argued that birthright citizenship hurts the nation and cheats those who immigrate through legal pathways.

"It demeans the priceless and profound gift of American citizenship," he said. "It operates as a powerful pull factor for illegal immigration and rewards illegal aliens who not only violate the immigration laws, but also jump in front of those who follow the rules."

He also warned about birthright tourism.

"It has spawned a sprawling industry of birth tourism as uncounted thousands of foreigners from potentially hostile nations have flocked to give birth in the United States in recent decades, creating a whole generation of American citizens abroad with no meaningful ties to the United States," Sauer said.

Sauer noted that most modern nations don't recognize birthright citizenship.

Thirty-two other countries have birthright citizenship laws, according to a Pew Research Center report.

Chief Justice John Roberts appeared skeptical about the government's argument.

"You know, children of ambassadors, children of enemies during a hostile invasion, children on warships," he said. "And then you expand it to the whole class of illegal aliens who are here in the country. I’m not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and sort of idiosyncratic examples."

Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that parentage wasn't mentioned at the time.

"It's striking that in none of the debates do we have parents discussed. We have the child's citizenship and the focus of clauses on the child, not on the parents, and you don't see domicile mentioned in the debates. That's the absence is striking."

Challengers will present their arguments next.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the matter before the end of its term this summer. The decision could have sweeping implications for immigration in America.

On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order that denies U.S. citizenship to children born on American soil unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or green card holder. The order was immediately challenged by several states, and four federal judges have since blocked Trump’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

The Swiss government is considering dropping the agreed purchase of the Patriot air-defence system from the United States amid severe delivery delays, Defence Minister Martin Pfister said Wednesday.

"Cancellation is alway an option in the event of a delay," he told the ATS-Keystone news agency.

Earlier Wednesday, the defence ministry announced it would continue suspending payments for the system "until the United States has firmly announced new delivery dates and payment deadlines".

Switzerland, which is not in NATO, had ordered five Patriot systems in 2022, with delivery scheduled to begin this year and to be completed in 2028.

But last July, the government said it had been informed by the US defense department that the deliveries to Switzerland would be delayed as Washington strived to provide more support for Ukraine.

Switzerland first suspended its payments for the system last autumn.

"We are still operating on the assumption that we will receive the delivery, but we don't know when," Pfister said, adding that the government was mulling various options.

"A possible cancellation is one of them, but we don't know the conditions," he said.

- Unauthorised payment -

Last week, the Swiss government said the United States had circumvented the freeze on its payments for the Patriot system by dipping into Swiss payments into the same fund but intended for its purchase of a fleet of F-35A fighter jets.

This manoeuvre was authorised, head of the Swiss armaments department, Urs Loher told Swiss media.

However, "if the fund's liquidity falls below a critical threshold, projects may be suspended or even abandoned in the event of a further decline", the Swiss defence ministry said in Wednesday's statement.

"This could affect not only the acquisition of the Patriot system but also the entire Swiss portfolio within the framework of the (Foreign Military Sales) programme with the United States," it warned.

The ministry noted that Washington had said it would inform Switzerland in the coming weeks about the next steps in the operation, delivery schedules and the costs and consequences of a potential interruption.

According to its statement, a recommendation on this matter will be submitted to the government "by the end of June, 2026".

In early March, Bern announced its intention to examine the acquisition of an additional long-range surface-to-air missile system, preferably manufactured in Europe, to complement the Patriot system.

Last month, the government also said that it now wanted to buy only 30 F-35A fighter jets, instead of the 36 ordered, after Washington last year hiked the price tag, citing high inflation and surging raw material and energy prices.

ag/nl/jj

Experts said Wednesday they were halting rescue efforts for a humpback whale struggling in shallow waters off the German coast and had given up hope for its survival.

The 13.5-metre (44-foot) animal has been floundering off Germany's Baltic Sea coast for more than a week, having first been spotted stuck on a sandbank on March 23 near the city of Luebeck.

The creature managed to free itself but then became stuck again several more times near the city of Wismar. Coverage of its struggle for survival has gripped much of the German public.

Experts had hoped the whale's odyssey would end with it finding its way back to its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

But on Wednesday scientist Burkard Baschek, who had taken part in the rescue efforts, told reporters: "We are convinced that the animal is going to die" near Wismar.

The whale's ordeal had severely weakened it, its breathing had become "very, very irregular" and it was exhibiting "virtually no" reaction to the presence of human beings, he added.

The chances of it freeing itself again were "very low" and any further rescue efforts would therefore "be pure animal cruelty".

Since it was spotted last week the whale had prompted a large-scale rescue operation involving firefighters, scientists and the maritime police.

"Now we have the task of giving him some peace," said Till Backhaus, the environment minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The animal will now "have to depart this life," he said.

An exclusion zone of 500 metres will be put in place around the whale in order to avoid disturbing it.

The authorities have ruled out putting the whale to sleep, saying this would be too dangerous both for the whale itself and those taking part in the operation.

In the case of its death, Backhaus said it would be transferred ashore for investigations to determine the cause of death.

lep-jsk/fec/jj