President Guillermo Lasso is accused of embezzlement, but he says the allegations are politically motivated.

Mike Pence cheered the end of affirmative action in US colleges and universities on Sunday in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling outlawing the practice. The former vice president discussed the issue on CBS’s Face the Nation and said that the time for policies aimed at improving outcomes for minority students in general had passed. A candidate for the presidency in 2024, Mr Pence is gunning for the GOP nomination against his own former boss, Donald Trump, and other conservatives like Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. His comments came as activists and authorities in the higher education field vowed to keep fighting to ensure that diversity would remain a core value in student recruiting. “Fundamentally, do you believe that there are racial inequities in the education system in the United States?” asked host Margaret Brennan. “I really don’t believe there is [racial inequality in US schools]. I believe there was,” Mr Pence said. “I mean, it’s — there may have been a time when affirmative action was necessary simply to open the doors of all of our schools and universities, but I think that time has passed.” His response drew immediate backlash on Twitter, with many questioning whether Mr Pence’s children had attended schools and colleges with diverse student bodies. The three Pence children, Michael, Charlotte and Audrey, attended Purdue, DePaul, and Yale Universities. The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that universities and colleges may not consider race as a specific factor when choosing to admit individual students. They may, however, continue to take into account how race plays into the individual experiences that those prospective students describe in their applications, such as in personal essay prompts. “[T]he student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts for the majority. The suit was brought on behalf of a group of Asian American students who argued that they were discriminated against by admissions staff at Harvard University. Critics of the ruling say it will gut efforts to improve representation of minority students in college classes. College enrollment rates remain noticeably lower among Black and Hispanic students compared to white and Asian American students. In addition, an analysis of US education data has shown that about 40 per cent of Black children attend schools where 90 per cent or more of the students are nonwhite. President Joe Biden responded to the ruling on Thursday after news of the decision broke, telling reporters simply: “This is not a normal court.” Read More Biden reveals ‘new path’ to student debt relief after Supreme Court strikes down president’s plan The Supreme Court risks inflaming the prejudices that America sought to banish In 370 days, Supreme Court conservatives dash decades of abortion and affirmative action precedents Mike Pence claims Biden is rehabilitating the Iran nuclear deal Trump returns to campaign rallies, draws thousands to small South Carolina city ahead of July 4 Biden blames GOP for student loan ruling as 2024 political consequences loom

Austria qualified for Euro 2024 on Monday with a 1-0 victory away to Azerbaijan in Baku that ensures they will finish in the...

Greg Abbott has been branded “one of the dumbest people in the country” by the author of a satirical story about country music star Garth Brooks that was reshared by the Texas governor. Christopher Blair runs the parody website The Dunning-Kruger-Times, which posted the story that Mr Brooks had been booed off the stage at the 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree last month after calling his conservative fans “a**holes.” The entire story was made-up - but Mr Abbott didn’t seem to notice. “When I saw [Mr Abbott’s repost], I was besides myself with joy,” Mr Blair told The Guardian. “He’s one of the dumbest people in the country.” “As soon as I wrote the headline, I said to myself that it might be a little bit much,” Mr Blair said. “But it wasn’t.” The Texas governor had tweeted a link to the story on 25 June with the caption: “Garth Brooks Booed Off Stage at 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree. Go woke. Go broke.” “Garth called his conservative fans. ‘a**holes’ Good job Texas,” he added. His tweet seemed to refer to a question-and-answer session with the country singer last month in which he said his new bar in Nashville planned to “serve every brand of beer,” shutting down the idea that it wouldn’t serve Bud Light, following the conservative-led boycott of the beer brand. “Our thing is this: If you come into this house, love one another,” Mr Brooks said. “If you’re an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway to go.” The governor has since deleted his tweet, but reactions to the tweet are still up. Democratic Texas Congressman Greg Casar tweeted: “Gov Abbott just accidentally posted a satire article because he wants to hate on queer Texans and Garth Brooks so bad.” “The Texas Country Jamboree doesn’t exist. Hambriston, Texas is not real. And the Governor is not fit to tweet, much less govern,” he explained. Read More Greg Abbott mocked after falling for hoax story about Garth Brooks being booed off stage Garth Brooks commended for not bowing to anti-LGBT trolls and refusing to boycott Bud Light First Amendment group sues Texas Governor and others over the state's TikTok ban on official devices Wembymania set to hit Las Vegas, as Spurs rookie 'can't wait' for his NBA debut at Summer League Joe Manchin fuels speculation around third-party 2024 run with No Labels event George Santos repays himself $85K raised from lackluster reelection fundraising

When Erin Kennedy returns to the boat at the upcoming European Rowing Championships, the occasion will certainly be a joyful one.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark could not have been more excited to welcome BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF into his rapidly growing Power Five conference on July 1.The days are over when it comes to laughing at the Big 12's small market energy.For those who have followed along to th...

By Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's failure to approve a string of crucial economic laws to pull the country back

European shares edged lower on Monday, as a sharp decline in financial stocks more than offset gains in

Dani Holmqvist of Sweden shot a career-best 7-under 64 and took a one-shot lead over Jenny Shin of South Korea and Chinese rookie Yan Liu after the first round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Friday

Siya Kolisi is on track to captain the Springboks in their defence of the Rugby World Cup, said Rassie Erasmus, South Africa's...

Zack Wheeler has not allowed a hit through seven innings for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Detroit Tigers

TEL AVIV U.S. citizens living in Israel urged U.S. President Joe Biden to do what he could to