Judge blocks Trump humanities grant cancellations

May 8, 2026

Summary

A federal judge ruled DOGE lacked authority to cancel more than $100 million in humanities grants and permanently blocked the cuts.

Why this matters

The ruling limits executive branch power over congressionally approved arts and humanities funding and addresses how agencies may use artificial intelligence in grant decisions. It also restores grants to scholars, writers, and organizations whose funding was cut.

A federal judge in New York ruled Thursday that the Trump administration’s cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants was unconstitutional and that the Department of Government Efficiency lacked authority to end the funding.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan sided with the Authors Guild, several other groups, and individual grant recipients who sued the department and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She permanently barred the administration from terminating the grants.

Government lawyers had argued that the cuts to more than 1,400 grants, funded by Congress, were lawful steps to carry out President Donald Trump’s directives, eliminate grants tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and reduce discretionary spending.

It was not immediately clear whether the administration would appeal.

McMahon said the government violated the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee, and that the Department of Government Efficiency had no lawful authority to cancel the grants. She wrote that canceling grants based on diversity, equity, and inclusion was “a textbook example of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.”

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Africa

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Libya’s largest operating oil refinery, in Zawiya, shut down and declared an emergency after fighting between armed groups broke out nearby.

The National Oil Corporation and Zawiya Refining Company said they took a “precautionary halt” to operations and evacuated workers from the oil complex and port. The National Oil Corporation said all employees were safe and fuel supplies would continue as normal.

In a Facebook statement, the company said alarm sirens were activated “following armed clashes involving heavy weapons that erupted around the oil complex in the early hours of Friday.”

It said “several heavy weapons projectiles” landed in different parts of the complex, but no major damage had been reported. “However, the clashes have intensified and reached the residential area adjacent to the refinery, making the area a direct target for heavy shelling and significantly increasing the risk of further damage,” the statement said.

Authorities in Zawiya, about 25 miles west of Tripoli, said they launched a “large-scale operation” against criminal groups. They said the operation targeted “criminal hideouts and wanted individuals” allegedly involved in “murder and attempted murder, kidnapping and extortion, drug, arms and human trafficking and illegal migration.”

Videos showed explosions, gunfire, and damage to cars and facilities inside the refinery. Sirens were audible after shells landed inside operating areas.

Zawiya Refining Company called for an immediate ceasefire and urged Libyan authorities to intervene to protect people and key facilities.

The refinery has a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day and is connected to the 300,000-barrel-per-day Sharara oilfield.

Since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has faced recurring violence and political division between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and an eastern-based administration aligned with military leader Khalifa Haftar that is not internationally recognized.
Africa

Mali village attacks kill more than 30, sources say

Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012 involving groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, local criminal networks, and pro-independence movements. The country has been under military rule since coups in 2020.

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More than 30 people were killed in two attacks in central Mali claimed by the al Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, according to local, security, and administrative sources.

At least 35 people were killed Wednesday in near-simultaneous attacks on the villages of Korikori and Gomossogou. A security source and an administrative source also put the death toll above 30.

WAMAPS, a network of West African journalists focused on Sahel security, said a provisional toll showed more than 50 villagers killed, with several others missing. “Villages have been looted and some properties set on fire,” the group said.

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Dan Nan Ambassagou has refused an order to disband after authorities accused it of carrying out a 2019 massacre in Ogossagou that killed 160 people. Ogossagou was also the site of a February 2020 raid that killed about 30 Fulanis.

The Malian army said Thursday it had conducted “a targeted operation against terrorist armed groups” in the area and that about a dozen fighters were “neutralised.” It gave no further details.

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The attacks came less than two weeks after coordinated assaults on junta positions by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims and the Azawad Liberation Front, an ethnic Tuareg separatist movement. The April 25 and 26 attacks targeted Kidal in northern Mali and Kati, near the capital, Bamako. Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in a car bombing at his residence.
Asia

Indonesia volcano eruption kills 3 hikers

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Three hikers — two Singaporeans and an Indonesian — died Friday in an eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Dukono after entering a prohibited area, officials said.

The eruption on Halmahera island sent an ash cloud about 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles, into the air. Officials said no towns or villages faced an immediate threat.

North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu said 20 hikers were on the slopes when the volcano erupted early Friday. Nine were from Singapore and the rest were Indonesian.

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By lunchtime Friday, the bodies of the three victims were still on the mountain. “Due to ongoing eruptions, the situation is still considered unsafe for evacuation. So, the joint team is still waiting for the right time to begin the search,” Erlichson said.

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State-run Global New Light of Myanmar published a front-page photo of President Min Aung Hlaing examining the 2.2-kilogram, or 4.8-pound, stone at his office.

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The files are part of a broader federal effort to release records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena. Additional materials are expected to be released on a rolling basis.

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Newly declassified government files on unidentified flying object, or UFO, sightings during NASA’s Apollo missions added context to observations recorded during the Moon missions and documented routine mission activity alongside them.

The records included astronaut transcripts and archival images from Apollo 12 and Apollo 17. In them, astronauts described flashes of light, drifting particles, and distant objects while traveling to and from the Moon.

Apollo 17 transcripts showed crew members reporting “very bright particles or fragments” near the spacecraft. They discussed possible explanations, including debris such as ice, paint, or parts from the Saturn V rocket.

Those observations appeared alongside routine communications with Mission Control, including navigation updates, system checks, and maneuver planning.

Apollo 12 transcripts included similar accounts. Astronauts described “particles of light” and later discussed whether they were seeing debris illuminated by onboard equipment.

In another Apollo 17 exchange, an astronaut reported seeing a brief flash on the lunar surface near the Grimaldi crater. Mission Control asked the crew to identify the location on a map.

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“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters,” President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday. “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

More files were made available at WAR.GOV/UFO.
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday defended new Trump administration sanctions on Cuba, including measures targeting Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), a military-run business conglomerate.

The sanctions announced Thursday also targeted GAESA’s leader and Moa Nickel, a Cuban joint venture with Canada’s Sherritt International. Sherritt said it would withdraw from the business, ending a 32-year presence on the island.

GAESA accounted for nearly 40% of Cuba’s gross domestic product. As of early 2024, he said, it held $14.5 billion in liquid reserves, and annual revenue triple the size of the Cuban state budget.

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Rubio told reporters Friday the sanctions did not target the Cuban people. He described GAESA as a company that “is taking anything that makes money in Cuba and illegally putting it into the pockets of a few regime insiders.”

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