News Briefs

Biden calls for order on campuses. At least 200 people were arrested overnight at UCLA, bringing the nationwide total of arrests to more than 2,000 at dozens of college campuses. Demonstrations – and arrests – have occurred in almost every corner of the nation. At Dartmouth College around 90 people were arrested May 1, hours after an encampment had set up. The protests have drawn the most attention in recent days at the University of California, Los Angeles, where on May 2 officers in riot gear surged against a crowd of demonstrators. President Biden is insisting that “order must prevail” on campuses but opposes sending in the National Guard.

Conservatives have urged U.S. college leaders to crack down on antisemitism. Now a bipartisan bill in Congress amplifies that message, but also reveals the complexities of defining what antisemitism is.

Solomon Islands elects China-friendly prime minister. Solomon Islands lawmakers have elected former Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele as prime minister in a development that suggests the South Pacific island nation will maintain close ties with China. Mr. Manele used his first speech as leader to promise to govern with integrity and to put his nation’s interests first. Mr. Manele also urged against any post-election violence. The withdrawal of pro-Beijing former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare from the contest to make way for Mr. Manele as their party’s candidate indicates the country could follow a similar direction. 

Heavy rains cause road collapse in China. A section of a highway collapsed after heavy rains in a mountainous area in southern China, sending cars tumbling down a slope and leaving at least 48 people dead. China has massively expanded its infrastructure in recent years, adding more than 1 million highway bridges, the world’s largest network of high-speed trains, and scores of new airports. In the rush to build, flaws in design and construction methods have frequently come to light.

Harvey Weinstein will be retried. Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein will be retried in New York, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said on May 1, a week after the state’s highest court threw out his 2020 rape conviction. Mr. Weinstein appeared in court more than four years after his conviction was hailed as a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics, and other fields of sexual misconduct. Mr. Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison. He remains in custody due to a Los Angeles conviction of another rape.

It took a vigorous movement called #MeToo to counter long-standing sexual misconduct and abuse in American life. While two high-profile convictions have been overturned, experts say progress continues.

Republicans sue Biden over gun rule. More than two dozen Republican state attorneys general sued the Biden administration on May 1 to stop a new rule that would require gun dealers to obtain licenses and conduct background checks when selling firearms at gun shows and online. The lawsuits challenge a rule finalized last month that U.S. Justice Department officials said is aimed at closing the “gun show loophole.” Under the rule, those selling weapons at gun shows, other venues, and over the internet are subject to the same requirements as gun stores to check the backgrounds of potential buyers.

Safety is essential to civilization. A shootout that left four officers dead in North Carolina is a blow to the police community itself, at a time of strain between some officers and politicians over gun laws.

Georgia’s “foreign agents bill” is a threat to EU membership. A senior European Union official warned the Georgian government on May 2 that its proposed legislation on “foreign agents” was unacceptable and would be an obstacle to the country’s hopes of joining the EU if adopted in its current form. The bill, which would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, has sparked a rolling political crisis in the South Caucasus country. 

Young Georgian demonstrators are hoping to block a Moscow-inspired law on “foreign agents,” which they worry will be used to stifle criticism of the government.

Arizona Senate votes to appeal abortion ban. The Arizona Senate voted on May 1 to repeal the state’s 1864 ban on abortion, which could otherwise have taken effect within weeks. The repeal was passed by the Senate in a 16-14 vote and is expected to be quickly signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, on May 2. Two Republican senators crossed party lines to vote in favor of repealing the ban. The Arizona House last week passed the measure after a handful of Republicans broke party ranks and voted with Democrats to send it to the Senate.

In Arizona and beyond, an abortion uproar has Republicans scrambling.

United Methodist church lifts anti-LGBTQ bans. United Methodist delegates have begun making historic policy changes on sexuality, voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ policies. The delegates voted to delete mandatory penalties for clergy conducting same-sex marriages. They also removed their denomination’s bans on considering LGBTQ candidates for ministry and on funding for gay-friendly ministries. The actions follow a historic schism in what was long the third-largest denomination in the United States. About one-quarter of U.S. congregations left between 2019 and 2023, mostly conservative churches dismayed that the denomination wasn’t enforcing its longstanding LGBTQ bans.

Marijuana poised for lesser classification in U.S. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift to American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The White House Office of Management and Budget will review the Justice Department proposal. It would recognize the medical use of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some other drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s signature throws the full weight of the Justice Department behind the move.

Ten years after individual states began legalizing marijuana, signs of a shift in perspective surface.

Federal judges block new Louisiana congressional map. A new Louisiana congressional map giving the state a second majority-Black House district has been rejected by a panel of federal judges. The 2-1 decision on April 30 fuels new uncertainty about district boundaries as the state prepares for fall congressional elections. Challengers of the new map said it amounted to an unconstitutional gerrymander designed specifically with race in mind. However, another federal court has already ruled that an earlier map with only one mostly Black district likely violates the federal Voting Rights Act. The new ruling likely will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Florida abortion ban takes effect. Florida’s ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy has gone into effect, and some doctors are concerned that women in the state will no longer have access to needed health care. The May 1 ban affects not just women who want to terminate viable pregnancies because of personal choice, but also nonviable pregnancies for women who want to have babies. Voters may be able to enshrine abortion rights in Florida’s constitution after a separate state Supreme Court ruling allowed a proposed constitutional amendment to be on the November ballot.

Leaving abortion to states increases the stakes for the 2024 election – and roils Republicans over how to respond.

Antony Blinken meets with Israeli leaders in cease-fire push. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on May 1 in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas to impress on them that “the time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war. He said that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to achieve a deal. A truce could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering. 

With Gaza talks being conducted in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar, there is a sense of hope in the Middle East for what diplomats are calling a “last best chance” for a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement.

Hundreds of student protesters arrested in New York. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says about 300 people were arrested in police crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and City College on May 1. Hours earlier, police burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring other campuses to act. After scuffles between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators lasted several hours at UCLA, police wearing helmets and face shields slowly separated the groups and quelled the violence.

For protesters, the tactic of occupying buildings at Columbia University and beyond has historical echoes. But it also creates new risks for campuses and for the protesters themselves.

Trump fined by hush money trial judge. Donald Trump has been held in contempt of court and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors, and some others connected to his New York hush money case. The judge warned that Mr. Trump could be jailed. Prosecutors had alleged 10 violations, but New York Judge Juan M. Merchan found there were nine. The decision is a rebuke for the Republican former president, who insisted he was exercising his free speech rights. The ruling came at the start of the second week of testimony.

World plastics ban. The world’s nations finished a round of negotiations early on April 30 on a treaty to end plastic pollution and made more progress than they have in three prior meetings. The talk shifted in Ottawa, Ontario, from sharing ideas to negotiating treaty language. Limiting how much plastic is manufactured globally is on the table. Work on the treaty will continue between now and the next meeting. Many traveled to Ottawa from communities affected by plastic manufacturing and pollution. Negotiators aim to finalize the treaty this fall. 

Four police officers killed in North Carolina. A shootout that killed four law enforcement officers and wounded four others in North Carolina began as officers approached a home to serve a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm, police said. It was the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since five officers were killed by a sniper during a protest in Dallas in 2016. A second shooter began firing on a second wave of officers rushing to the aid of the downed officers. The wanted man was killed.

Columbia University students protesters take over building. Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York April 30, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window. Protesters on Columbia’s Manhattan campus locked arms in front of Hamilton Hall and carried furniture and metal barricades to the building, one of several that was occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest, video footage showed. While the university didn’t call police to roust the demonstrators, school spokesperson Ben Chang said suspensions had started but could provide few details.

On university campuses in the Vietnam era, opposition to the war galvanized a mass movement. But the conflict over Gaza involves two groups with passionate and personal views on a complex political issue.

Nine states sue Biden administration over Title IX protections. Nine Republican-led states and several conservative groups on April 29 filed lawsuits challenging new Biden administration regulations that bar schools and colleges that receive federal funding from discriminating against students based on their gender identity. The states and advocacy groups filed the lawsuits in federal courts in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas challenging new U.S. Department of Education regulations that extend Title IX sex discrimination protections in federal civil rights law to LGBTQ students.