BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium’s Royal Palace said Friday that Princess Elisabeth, who is first in line to the throne, is waiting to find out whether she can return to Harvard for her second year after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ban on foreign students at the university.

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The Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students in its escalating battle with the Ivy League school, saying thousands of students must transfer to other schools or leave the country.

“We are looking into the situation, to see what kind of impact this decision might have on the princess, or not. It’s too early to say right now,” said the palace’s communications head, Xavier Baert.

Baert said that Princess Elisabeth, aged 23, has completed her first year of a graduate school program at Harvard and would spend the summer back in Belgium. “And we’ll have to see what happens next year,” he said.

The princess is the first of four children born to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and has been studying for a Master in Public Policy. Last year, she obtained a degree in history and politics at Lincoln College at Oxford in the U.K.

FILE – Belgium’s Crown Princess Elisabeth, center, takes part in a three-day exercise at an Army Commando Training Center in Marche-les-Dames, Belgium, Monday, July 26, 2021. (Frederic Sierakowski, Pool Photo via AP, File)

Harvard enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, accounting for more than a quarter of its student body. Most are graduate students, coming from more than 100 countries.

The university filed a lawsuit on Friday in federal court in Boston, saying that the Trump administration’s action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”

By MATTHEW DALY and JENNIFER McDERMOTT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed executive orders Friday intended to quadruple domestic production of nuclear power within the next 25 years, a goal experts say the United States is highly unlikely to reach.

To speed up the development of nuclear power, the orders grant the U.S. energy secretary authority to approve advanced reactor designs and projects, taking authority away from the independent safety agency that has regulated the U.S. nuclear industry for five decades.

The order comes as demand for electricity surges amid a boom in energy-hungry data centers and artificial intelligence. Tech companies, venture capitalists, states and others are competing for electricity and straining the nation’s electric grid.

“We’ve got enough electricity to win the AI arms race with China,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said. “What we do in the next five years related to electricity is going to determine the next 50″ years in the industry.

Still, it’s unlikely the U.S. could quadruple its nuclear production in the timeframe the White House specified. The United States lacks any next-generation reactors operating commercially and only two new large reactors have been built from scratch in nearly 50 years. Those two reactors, at a nuclear plant in Georgia, were completed years late and at least $17 billion over budget.

Trump is enthusiastic

At the Oval Office signing, Trump, surrounded by industry executives, called nuclear a “hot industry,” adding, “It’s time for nuclear, and we’re going to do it very big.”

Burgum and other speakers said the industry has stagnated and has been choked by overregulation.

“Mark this day on your calendar. This is going to turn the clock back on over 50 years of overregulation of an industry,” said Burgum, who chairs Trump’s newly formed Energy Dominance Council.

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The orders would reorganize the independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure quicker reviews of nuclear projects, including an 18-month deadline for the NRC to act on industry applications. The measures also create a pilot program intended to place three new experimental reactors online by July 4, 2026 — 13 months from now — and invoke the Defense Production Act to allow emergency measures to ensure the U.S. has the reactor fuel needed for a modernized nuclear energy sector.

The administration is focused on boosting nuclear as “affordable, reliable, safe and secure power,” said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The executive orders send a signal that “America will build again,” Kratsios said. Energy Secretary Chris Wright echoed that sentiment on social media, posting that more reliable, secure and affordable energy sources — like geothermal, nuclear and natural gas — are the key to remaining the world’s energy powerhouse.

Trump has signed a spate of executive orders promoting oil, gas and coal that warm the planet when burned to produce electricity. Nuclear reactors generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. Trump said reactors are safe and clean, but did not mention climate benefits.

The order to reorganize the NRC will include significant staff reductions but is not intended to fire NRC commissioners who lead the agency. David Wright, a former South Carolina elected official and utility commissioner, chairs the five-member panel. His term ends June 30, and it is unclear if he will be reappointed.

Critics have trepidations

Critics say the White House moves could compromise safety and violate legal frameworks such as the Atomic Energy Act. Compromising the independence of the NRC or encouraging it to be circumvented entirely could weaken the agency and make regulation less effective, said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Simply put, the U.S. nuclear industry will fail if safety is not made a priority,” he said.

A number of countries are speeding up efforts to license and build a new generation of smaller nuclear reactors to meet a surging demand for electricity and supply it carbon-free. Last year, Congress passed legislation that former President Joe Biden signed to modernize the licensing of new reactor technologies so they can be built faster.

This month, the power company in Ontario, Canada, began building the first of four small nuclear reactors.

Valar Atomics is a nuclear reactor developer in California. Founder and CEO Isaiah Taylor said nuclear development and innovation in the United States has been slowed by too much red tape, while Russia and China are speeding ahead. He said he’s most excited about the mandate for the Energy Department to speed up the pace of innovation.

The NRC is currently reviewing applications from companies and a utility that want to build small nuclear reactors to begin providing power in the early 2030s. Currently, the NRC expects its reviews to take three years or less.

Radiant Nuclear is a clean energy startup based in El Segundo, California, that is building a nuclear microreactor. Chief Operating Officer Tori Shivanandan said the administration’s support for the advanced nuclear industry will help ensure its success, and the executive orders mark a “watershed moment” for nuclear power.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the company to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court papers filed Friday.

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The Justice Department said in a court filing that it had reached an “agreement in principle” that will require the company to pay and invest more than $1.1 billion. In return, the department will dismiss the criminal case against the aircraft manufacturer. The deal still needs to be finalized.

“The Agreement guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in court papers.

Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families in the long-running case, had previously said said his clients strongly oppose dropping the criminal case.

“Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims who Boeing killed through its callous lies,” Cassell said in a recent statement.

Many relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes, which took place off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, have spent years pushing for a public trial, the prosecution of former company officials, and more severe financial punishment for Boeing.

By JONEL ALECCIA, AP Health Writer

The supermarket chain Publix has recalled fruit and vegetable baby food sold in eight states because product testing found elevated levels of lead, according to federal health officials.

Publix recalled 4-ounce Greenwise Pear, Kiwi, Spinach & Pea Baby Food pouches sold at more than 1,400 stores.

The pouches were produced by Bowman Andros, a French company with a manufacturing plant in Mount Jackson, Virginia, according to the company’s website. Publix issued the voluntary recall on May 9, but it wasn’t added to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall list until late Thursday.

The potential contamination was flagged by officials in North Carolina, the state that first identified a 2023 lead poisoning outbreak linked to tainted applesauce pouches that sickened more than 500 U.S. children.

Routine sampling of the baby food pouches found lead levels at 13.4 parts per billion, according to North Carolina agriculture officials. That exceeds the FDA’s recommended limit of 10 parts per billion for such products intended for babies and young children.

Publix said all the potentially contaminated products have been removed from store shelves. No illnesses have been reported, the company said. Customers can return the pouches to local stores for full refund.

This is the second baby food pouch recall because of potential lead contamination in two months. In March, Target recalled more than 25,000 packages of its store brand Good & Gather Baby Pea, Zucchini, Kale & Thyme Vegetable Puree because of elevated lead levels.

North Carolina collaborates with the FDA to conduct routine testing of food products, officials said.

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In 2023, state health officials investigated reports of lead poisoning in four children who consumed WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree. Those findings led to the detection of a nationwide outbreak linked to the pouches, which were widely sold in Dollar Tree and other stores. Tests showed they contained lead at levels 2,000 times higher than the FDA’s maximum recommended level, as well as chromium.

Federal health officials eventually identified 566 cases of confirmed, probable or suspected cases of lead poisoning tied to the pouches in 44 states.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood lead poisoning program investigated the applesauce outbreak and coordinated state and federal response. However, the program was eliminated in April as part of federal funding cuts under the Trump administration.

CDC officials didn’t say whether or how the agency would respond to a similar outbreak now. A spokesperson said the agency is aware of the Publix baby food recall but hasn’t been asked to assist with any investigation.

There is no safe level of lead exposure, according to CDC. While the heavy metal is toxic to people of all ages, it can be especially harmful to children, causing damage to the brain and nervous system and slow growth and development.

Heavy metals like lead can get into food products from soil, air, water or industrial processes, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.