CNN
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The Trump administration issued an order on Friday to begin easing sanctions against Syria, showing major policy changes after President Donald Trump pledged to roll back the measures during his trip to the Middle East earlier this month.

Trump administration officials have been engaged quietly for months to pave the way for sanctions relief, in order to help the nation recover and rebuild from years of devastating warfare after the fall of exiled leader Bashar al-Assad.

On Friday, the US Treasury Department said Syria has been issued a general license to approve transactions involving the interim Syrian government, central banks and state-owned enterprises.

The GL25 license “approves transactions prohibited by Syrian sanctions regulations and effectively lifts sanctions against Syria” and “enables new investments and private sector activities that are consistent with the President’s America First Strategy,” the press release said.

The US State Department simultaneously issued a 180-day exemption under the Caesar Act, in order to ensure sanctions do not hinder investment, and has proceeded with efforts to restore and rebuild Syria, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Rubio said the exemptions will promote the provision of electricity, energy, water and sanitation, allowing for more effective humanitarian responses across Syria.

“Today’s actions represent the first step in realizing the President’s vision of new relations between Syria and the United States,” Rubio said.

While in Saudi Arabia, where he met with Syrian interim president Ahmed Alshara last week, Trump announced that sanctions over Syria would be quickly removed, shocking some officials, sparking a US government scramble and scramble to implement the decision.

Rubio said the US would issue an exemption to Syrian sanctions, which are currently mandatory by law. Meanwhile, the administration is engaged in a complex technical review of sanctions, which is expected to take several weeks, officials said.

“If we make enough progress, we want to see the law repealed, because we’ll be struggling to find people to invest in the country in six months, so sanctions could come back. We’re not there yet. That’s too early,” Rubio said.

Speaking in Saudi Arabia, Trump said he had decided to lift the sanctions after speaking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan.

Saudi officials have been adjusting the topic behind the scenes for months, claiming that removing sanctions will help boost the Syrian economy and stabilize the entire region.

The Turkish government also knew the work being done to contact the US about Syria and see if sanctions could be lifted, a source familiar with the issue said. The Turkish government has expressed support for these efforts.

But not all US allies in the region agreed with where Trump was led. Israel opposed the move, and Trump ignored their objections.

Israeli officials previously said that when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Trump in Washington in April, he asked the president not to remove Syrian sanctions, fearing that it would lead to repeated events on October 7, 2023.

Last week, Trump admitted that he “didn’t ask” Israel about relief from Syria’s sanctions.

“I thought it was the right thing to do,” he said as he concluded his tour in the Middle East.

CNN
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Popular Mexican singer Julion Alvarez says he and his band had to cancel the show in Texas on Saturday night, when the singer visa to enter the United States was allegedly revoked.

The band, called the Julión Alvarez Y Su Norteño Banda, is scheduled to play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, about 30 miles west of Dallas, and the artist’s team said Friday for a sold-out concert with 50,000 tickets sold.

Show promoter CMN and management company Copar Music said the show was cancelled “due to unexpected circumstances” and that Alvarez “didn’t be able to enter the US in time for the event.”

Alvarez also announced the news on his Instagram account, saying in the video he and his team were notified early Friday that his workplace visa had been revoked by US authorities.

“We can’t go to the US and fulfill our show promise with you. It’s a situation outside our hands. That’s what I have and what I can share,” he said in the video.

Alvarez said the setting has already been built and his production team is already preparing for the show in Texas.

“I apologize to you, and if God allows, we will contact you to provide you with more information,” he said.

The show’s promoters and Copar Music said they are working with the Alvarez team to reschedule the performance. It states that all tickets purchased previously will be recognized on a new date and refund details will be provided to those who are unable to attend.

A US State Department spokesman declined to comment on Alvarez’s case, telling CNN that visa records are confidential and that by law, they cannot comment on individual cases.

Alvarez and his band are the latest Mexican artists whose US visas have been said to have been revoked amid Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

Last month, the State Department revoked tourist visas for members of Mexican band Los Alegress del Baranco.

The Trump administration has also cracked down on foreigners who are allegedly linked directly or indirectly with drug cartels. This includes revoking the artist’s visa, featuring works depicting drug cartels that the administration considers foreign terrorist organizations.

In 2017, Alvarez revoked his US workplace visa after the US alleged that the US allegedly claimed that he and that around 20 other people, including soccer player Rafael Marquez, had ties to drug traffickers and was placed under sanctions, according to a statement from the US Treasury Department.

Alvarez denied the allegations, saying it was solely connected to traffickers over the purchase of the property.

Alvarez was removed from the sanctions list in 2022, allowing him to regain his visa and returned to the US earlier this year with three sold-out shows at Sophie Stadium in Los Angeles in April.

With nearly 17 million listeners on Spotify, Alvarez is famous in Mexico for his traditional musical style with elements of Banda, Nortena and Mariaci. Some of his top hits include heartbreak hits like “Pongamomous de Ackeldo” and “Te Fuvieras Id Anti.”

CNN
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The obvious sounds that took place when the Titan submarine collapsed in June 2023 were revealed in new footage released Thursday by the U.S. Coast Guard’s highest level investigation.

The cameras on Sub’s mothership captured the moment of Wendy Rush, when her husband Stockton built an unfortunate ship and founded Oceangate, one of the five who died from its resilience.

“What was that bang?” she says she looks at the people next to her.

At that point, the sub had reached a depth of about 3,300 meters and about 90 minutes after descending to the seabed, passengers could enjoy views of the Titanic.

That “van” is thought to be the moment when the sub dies. However, after a while, the support ship crew received a message from the sub, saying they had dropped two weights.

Chris Roman, a professor at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Marine, told CNN that the message about weight could have been sent just before the collapse, but only because of delays, as delays were seen by subsequent support vessels.

He explained that all systems that send data into the water have “inherent buffering or delays associated with the timing or how the signal is processed.”

“If the ‘weighted’ message was sent seconds before collapse… your computer may not display the message immediately when it is received. The timing is tight, but it is possible. It depends on the system you were using. ”

Six seconds after that message, the mother ship lost contact with the sub, according to a timeline established by authorities investigating the fateful expedition.

When Sub failed to resurface, a dramatic international search and rescue mission was deployed in remote locations, hundreds of miles, southeast of Newfoundland.

Authorities discovered the Titan’s remains on the North Atlantic floor a few days later, hundreds of yards away from the Titanic’s body.

Rush, businessman Shazada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman. Hamish Harding, a businessman. All French diver Paul Henry Narjore were killed.

Since the explosion, the fate of the sub has been supported by several examples of hubrifying and greed danger.

Testimony given at the disaster hearing featured a terrible portrait of the marine gate and Rush. He charged about $250,000 per dive despite some concerns raised about the durability of the sub.

Two documentaries expected to be released in the coming weeks – one produced by the BBC and the other by Netflix, but will further investigate the causes behind the disaster.

CNN
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At least 12 people were injured in a hot air balloon crash on Friday near an archaeological site near Mexico City, local authorities said.

According to a statement from the Mexican Civil Protection Agency, the balloons took on the “forced landing” of San Martin de Las Pyramides after hitting an air pocket.

The 12 people on the statement are being treated for injuries at a local clinic, the statement said.

Images shared by authorities and registered with the Earth by CNN show that the crash occurred a little further away from the pyramids of the moon, a popular tourist destination in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. The balloons are laid over fencing and power lines along Takishpan Avenue, a two-lane road just over 1,000 feet from the foot of the pyramid.

The Civil Protection Agency added that balloons are run by tour companies. When CNN calls the number listed on the company’s website, the representative will not comment on the incident.

The Mexican Attorney General’s Office reported that police are investigating a 29-year-old man who was detained.

According to the Mexican government, Teotihuacan was once one of the largest cities in Mesoamerica in Colombia, and the pyramids of the Sun and Moon form the twin centers of the ancient ruins there.

According to the government tourism website, balloon rides around the pyramids are popular among tourists visiting Mexico.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

CNN
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International Harvard students say they are experiencing “pure panic” amid the Trump administration’s ban on alien registration as students from around the world are telling CNN that leaving this summer could prevent them from re-entering the US and re-entering.

A federal judge temporarily suspended the Trump administration’s ban on Friday after the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university filed a lawsuit in federal court. Harvard argued that the revocation of accreditation in the Student and Exchange Visitors Program was “clear retaliation” for rejecting government ideologically rooted policy demands.

However, with thousands of international students remaining and unaware of their current legal status, they are “very clearly and very afraid,” Abdullah Shahid Sial, a student body at Harvard University who is from Lahore, Pakistan, told CNN.

“They are literally like thousands of miles away where they have to deal with this situation in their teens, their hometown. Attorneys are often afraid to work,” said Sial, who is currently traveling abroad after the exam.

Approximately 27% of Harvard student organizations are international, with 6,793 international undergraduate and graduate students from almost every country in the world.

“Harvard is Harvard because it has the ability to attract people, not just the US, but the world, the best,” Sial told CNN on Friday. “The United States also benefits greatly from coming to college and studying the best in the world. And they are dehumanized and neglected.”

Sial said the university and deans are helping to support international students at a time of uncertainty and “pure panic.”

As president of the student body, he says he is working to encourage international students who want to transfer to other universities and to help students transfer financial aid packages. However, windows relocating to other universities for the fall semester have already been closed at most universities, Sial said.

“Many of us have worked for the rest of our lives to arrive at a university like Harvard. Now we need to wait and see if we need to move on a visa and face difficulties.”

Malden, who also travels abroad and worries about not being allowed to return to campus, said he feels that international students are being used as “the ball of this big battle between democracy and authoritarianism.”

Jared, 18, from New Zealand, had just been accepted into Harvard and had planned to start his undergraduate course at an Ivy League school this fall. He told CNN it was a moment of “heart calm” when he learned of the Trump administration’s announcement.

Harvard and Trump officials have been locked in conflict for months as the White House exterminates anti-Semitism and “racist” practices, demanding that universities make changes to campus programming, policies, employment and admission.

Like many other universities, Harvard University last year drew intense criticism over the pro-Palestinian protests and handling of camps after the start of the Israel-Hamas War, as well as complaints from Jewish alumni and students about anti-Semitism on campus.

Harvard said he had acknowledged anti-Semitism on campus, particularly in the previous academic year, and began taking concrete action to address it.

An Israeli postdoctoral student studying at Harvard University said he felt that Jewish students were being “used as pawns” by the Trump administration. This accuses the university of being “hostile to Jewish students” and “adopting racist diversity, equity and inclusive practices.”

Israeli students didn’t want to be named for fear of being denied re-entry into the United States, but they said they believe the Trump administration is “using” the university “to make this fight against academia that’s much bigger than Harvard.”

She said the government is tightening the idea that “we don’t have any real concerns about the safety of Israeli students, Jewish students, and it doesn’t always align with the administration.”

“So we feel like we’re being used,” she said, adding that university leadership is like that. We take the issue of anti-Semitism on campus seriously. “I don’t want to reduce anyone’s experience in college. I know people have had tough experiences, but personally I feel I have 100% confidence and faith in our leadership.”

Another Israeli master’s degree studying at Harvard University remained anonymous due to concerns about how speaking publicly would affect their research, telling CNN that it is very important that Israelis and Jews come here and that they still believe in its very strong and that it is a campaign not only for Harvard University, but also for America’s academia and America.”

One Australian graduate student spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being denied a future US visa, but told CNN that, given the many researchers and doctoral students lack the time or interest in working, “I feel extraordinary that we are all punished, that we are all punished.”

“As graduate students, we are fully occupied by research work. I think I spend 80-100 hours each week,” the Australian student said, adding that the Trump administration and Harvard showdown is likely to leave the researchers. “If things really hit the fans, then (i) they’re probably going to transfer to a British school.”

Other graduate students said they were concerned about their research work, their future careers and their loved ones, and also felt fear and uncertainty.

“Their family, your spouse, your children, their registration, their work status, their rent, their housing, everything affects,” said Fangzhou Jiang, 30, from China. He is a student at Harvard Kennedy School and is entering his second year of his master’s degree. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Faced with deportation from the US, retaliation at home

Some international students are even higher for even higher international students, like countries that are experiencing wartime or political turmoil.

Maria Kuznetsova, a former spokesman for OVD-INFO, a Russian independent human rights monitoring group, is currently a graduate student at Harvard Kennedy Government School. She graduated in a week and had planned to work on a visa sponsored by Harvards, which had already been recognized, but she fears that it will be cancelled now.

“I worked against Russia’s human rights, meaning I can’t go back to Russia,” Kuznetsova told CNN. “And I’ve been living in the US for two years and don’t even have a European visa. So I really don’t know where I’ll be able to go geographically if things go well.”

“From what I’m seeing, people are still in panic. Everyone is waiting for a court decision,” Kuznetsova said.

“I’m not just me from Russia here. I have a lot of Ukrainians, many political students from Venezuela, Afghanistan and Palestinians. I even have a classmate from North Korea.

Ivan Bogantsev, also a native of Russia, had planned to remain in the United States after completing his program at Harvard Graduate School of Education. His wife, currently in Russia and on a Harvard-sponsored visa, is due to arrive for graduation, but it is unclear whether she will be allowed in.

“It seems no one can explain whether we are at risk of deportation,” Bogansesv told CNN. “I think there is absolutely no guarantee of brain drain from this country. I can’t say to what extent, but the environment here is not very friendly.”

However, he said returning to Russia is not an option he is considering.

“I was detained at a rally (in Russia) and I’ll just say that the atmosphere is getting more and more tense. Secondly, most of my friends are essentially labelled (in Russia) as criminals, traitors, or foreign agents.”

Leo Gelden, a Swedish native who is due to graduate next week, told CNN that some of his Harvard friends are still “planning new plans to move to other institutions, especially overseas.”

“I was looking forward to celebrating the start of next week, but now I might leave this place and it won’t look the same as the next semester, because without these international students and their international researchers, the Harvard campus wouldn’t be the same.”

“We are essentially used as poker chips in the White House and Harvard battles and honestly feel very dehumanized.”

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, Helen Regan, Todd Symons and Isa Soares contributed to this report.