Days after the US Supreme Court struck down race-conscious university admissions, civil rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit targeting so-called “legacy” admissions at Harvard University. The lawsuit, alleging widespread discrimination at the college in violation of the Civil Rights Act, is the latest challenge to the practice of prioritising university admissions for the children of alumni. “There’s no birthright to Harvard. As the Supreme Court recently noted, ‘eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.’ There should be no way to identify who your parents are in the college application process,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights, which filed the complaint on 3 July. “Why are we rewarding children for privileges and advantages accrued by prior generations?” he said in a statement. “Your family’s last name and the size of your bank account are not a measure of merit, and should have no bearing on the college admissions process.” The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England and the Greater Boston Latino Network. Last week, the conservative supermajority on the nation’s highest court ruled that private and public colleges and universities may not consider race as a factor in admissions, striking down the precedent affirmed in the 2003 ruling in Grutter v Bollinger. Civil rights advocates and justices who supported the decades-long precedent, intended to promote racially diverse college campuses, derided what they argue is the court’s ongoing perversion of the 14th Amendment and the foundational concept of equal protection. The latest lawsuit points to Harvard data finding that 70 per cent of the college’s donor-related and legacy applicants are white. So-called “legacy” applicants have a roughly six times greater chance of admission, according to records, pointing to a “custom, pattern and practice” that is “exclusionary and discriminatory” and “severely disadvantages and harms applicants of color,” plaintiffs argued. The complaint calls on the US Department of Education to initiate a federal investigation into Harvard’s application process and for the federal government to declare such practices illegal. “Harvard’s practice of giving a leg-up to the children of wealthy donors and alumni – who have done nothing to deserve it – must end,” Lawyers for Civil Rights litigation fellow Michael Kippins said in a statement accompanying the complaint. Following the Supreme Court ruling, Democratic lawmakers and President Joe Biden urged universities to reconsider their legacy admissions, which he said “expand privilege instead of opportunity.” The Independent has requested comment from Harvard. Read More Biden condemns Supreme Court striking down affirmative action: ‘This is not a normal court’ Biden reveals ‘new path’ to student debt relief after Supreme Court strikes down president’s plan Pence ‘doesn’t believe’ racial inequality exists in schools as he celebrates SCOTUS affirmative action ban

Harvard University was accused by minority groups of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by giving preferential

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A huge phosphate rock deposit discovered in Norway contains enough minerals to meet the global demand for batteries and solar panels for the next 100 years, according to the mining company that controls it. Norge Mining said up to 70 billion tonnes of the non-renewable resource may have been uncovered in south-western Norway, alongside deposits of other strategic minerals like titanium and vanadium. Phosphate rock contains high concentrates of phosphorus, which is a key component for building green technologies but currently faces significant supply issues. Phosphorus was first discovered in 1669 by German scientist Hennig Brandt, who was searching for the philosopher’s stone. While it proved ineffective in turning ordinary metals into gold, it has become an essential component in lithium-iron phosphate batteries in electric cars, as well as for solar panels and computer chips. Russia previously controlled the world’s largest ultra-pure phosphate rock deposits, with the European Union warning that these “critical raw materials” have a high supply risk. The EU is currently almost entirely dependent on imports of phosphate rock from the rest of the world, according to a report from The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, with China, Iraq and Syria also home to large deposits. The report, which was published before the discovery of the massive Norwegian deposit, warned that the EU should be “concerned about phosphate rock shortages”. An article in the scientific journal Nature last year warned of imminent supply disruptions of phosphorus, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent economic sanctions as a potential cause of market volatility. The global economy consumes an estimated 50 million tonnes of phosphorus each year, with scientists warning earlier this year that the planet could face a “phosphogeddon” if supply trends continue. “The buyers’ market is becoming increasingly crowded by limited trade – due to political instability in several source countries, as well as international sanctions imposed on others,” Norge Mining noted in a June blog post. “This is forcing importers to fear an impending crisis.” Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Jan Christian Vestre, said last month that the government was considering fast-tracking a giant mine in Helleland once analysis is completed on 76 kilometres of drill cores. If approval is given, the first major mine could begin operation by 2028. The politician said Norway’s “obligation” was to develop “the world’s most sustainable mineral industry” following the discovery of the minerals. The mining plans already have the support of the European Raw Materials Alliance, according to local reports, while local consultations continue. A spokesperson for the European Commission described the discovery as “great news” for meeting the objectives of the Commission’s raw material objectives, with Norge Mining telling Euractiv that the projected 4,500-metre-deep ore body would theoretically be capable of meeting global demand for the next century. Read More Solar trees offer unique solution to charging electric cars ‘Miracle material’ solar panels to finally enter production Twitter is breaking more and more iPhone users urged to check their photo library amid fears they could be deleted

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TweetDeck, a major Twitter client, has stopped working properly. The app is seemingly a victim of the same problems that have meant that Twitter has not been loading properly in recent days. Over the weekend, Twitter owner Elon Musk announced that the site would be limiting the number of posts that users could see. He indicated that the change was meant to stop bots scraping the tweets posted on the platform, though some have suggested that the problem could have other causes. The site also cut off the ability to read tweets without a login. The changes were described as a “temporary emergency measure” by Mr Musk, who said that bots on the platform had degraded the user experience. It has plunged the site into chaos as users look to deal with the ration on the number of posts, as well as a number of apparently linked problems. One of those issues is that TweetDeck is failing to work properly. Some reported that the app was unable to load tweets at all, while others found that they might initially show and then disappear, or that specific columns were not working. TweetDeck is a power user tool that is used by companies to manage multiple accounts, and by those who look to follow updates on the site through its columns and other tools. While a relatively small number of people may use the site, that includes some of those who post and follow prolifically. It is unclear whether the outage is linked to either the restrictions on the number of posts, or removing the option to view posts without being logged in. Experts have suggested that both changes appear to have been made in a rushed and haphazard way, and so might have accidentally broken other parts of the site. TweetDeck does not have an official status account. While Mr Musk has been giving ongoing updates on the situation on the main Twitter site in recent days, he has not mentioned the outage on TweetDeck. The app has been largely neglected for years. The last major announcement was that the TweetDeck Mac app would be closed down, in June 2022, before Mr Musk took over the site. In the time since, Mr Musk has made changes that have taken other third-party clients offline. Though TweetDeck was founded as an independent service, it has since been bought by and integrated into Twitter, presumably meaning it was able to avoid those initial problems in accessing Twitter’s data. Some rumours have also suggested that TweetDeck could become paid-for, or part of Twitter’s premium “Blue” offering. But the company has offered few official updates on its future at all. Read More What Twitter’s ‘rate limit’ message means and why Elon Musk has imposed restrictions Jack Dorsey calls for ‘open internet’ as Musk imposes new reading limits on Twitter Twitter limits number of tweets people can read in a day

(Reuters) -Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the telecom arm of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd said on Monday it

A civil rights legal group is challenging legacy admissions at Harvard University, saying the practice discriminates against students of color by giving an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni

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A civil rights legal group is challenging legacy admissions at Harvard University, saying the practice discriminates against students of color by giving an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni