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Femen Founder Oksana Shachko Dead In Paris In Suspected Suicide
A founding member of the prominent protest group Femen, Oksana Shachko, has died in Paris in an apparent suicide, fellow members say.
"RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us," a post on the Femen website said. "We mourn together with her relatives and friends and [await] the official version from the police."
"At the moment it is known that ... July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris. According to her friends, she left a suicide note," the post said.
"As far as I know, she was concerned that everything is going badly in the world," Femen co-founder Anna Hutsol told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on July 24.
The second secretary at the Ukrainian Embassy in Paris, Oksana Lovha, confirmed Shachko's death to Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
There was no public comment from French authorities, and Lovha said Ukrainian diplomats were awaiting further details from police.
Founded in Ukraine a decade ago, Femen is known mainly for protests in which activists often bare their breasts -- sometimes exposing slogans written on their skin -- and disrupt political events or gatherings.
Femen activists have rushed politicians such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Czech President Milos Zeman, and public figures like American comic Bill Cosby.
Often directed at leaders they describe as dictators or oppressors, their protests have also taken other forms and targeted issues such as the environment.
A native of Ukraine who had lived in Paris in recent years, Shachko, 31, was one of a group of Femen activists who rushed Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hannover, Germany, in 2013.
"Oksana fought against injustice, fought for equality, fought like a hero for herself and for other women," said a post on the Femen website said.
"Oksana is no longer with us, but she is here, she is everywhere," it said. "Oksana ... is in each of us, she is in FEMEN, and she is in the history of feminism."
Femen said in 2011 that Shachko was among three members seized by security officers after staging a topless protest mocking Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
It said the officers forced them to strip naked, poured oil over them, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair.
Femen has said that Shachko was abducted again during a visit by Putin to Ukraine, and a lawyer for the group said she was beaten and briefly hospitalized.
Femen now has branches on at least four continents.
BBC contributed to this report.
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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