Wednesday marked the third day students continued to occupy Siemens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt. Barriers were reinforced, more tents were put up Tuesday and students collected gear for facing tear gas. A couple of dozen people are estimated to be barricaded inside the building while others have joined them outside, at some points in the hundreds. Students outside speculated Wednesday night would mean another conflict with police, who initially responded in droves to drive out the protesters Monday evening. Cal Poly Humboldt on Wednesday announced the campus would be closed through the weekend ..read more

California schools may soon need to provide halal and kosher meal options for students. Dubbed the Halal and Kosher School Meals Act, a proposed bill in the California Legislature would require schools to provide kosher or halal meals if more than 5% of their students request such. Both kosher and halal meals follow specific Jewish and Islamic dietary practices, respectively, for how food is prepared and served. For kosher meals, dairy and meat cannot be mixed, and only certain animals can be eaten. Halal requires animals to be slaughtered in a particular way and does not permit the consumptio ..read more

By STEPHEN GROVES and MARY CLARE JALONICK WASHINGTON — For Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, the necessity of providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid as it fends off Russia’s invasion is rooted in their earliest and most formative political memories. McConnell, 82, tells the story of his father’s letters from Eastern Europe in 1945, at the end of World War II, when the foot soldier observed that the Russians were “going to be a big problem” before the communist takeover to come. Johnson, 30 years younger, came of age as the Cold War was ending. As bo ..read more

By Sophie Austin | Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO — Arizona doctors could give their patients abortions in California under a proposal announced Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom to circumvent a ban on nearly all abortions in that state. It would apply only to doctors licensed in good standing in Arizona and their patients, and last only through the end of November. Arizona’s 1864 law banning nearly all abortions except if the mother’s life is in jeopardy takes effect June 8. “Arizona Republicans continue to put women in danger—embracing a draconian law passed when Arizona was a t ..read more

By Brody Ford | Bloomberg Oracle Corp. is planning to make Nashville its “world headquarters” to be closer to a major health care hub, reflecting the software giant’s ambitions in the industry. At the company’s health care summit in Nashville on Tuesday, Chairman Larry Ellison said Oracle is developing a health campus in the city that will “ultimately be our world headquarters.” Nashville’s status as a health center makes it attractive, Ellison said in a conversation with Bill Frist, a physician and former US Senate majority leader, at the conference. Oracle, best-known for its database techno ..read more

Gopal Ratnam | (TNS) CQ-Roll Call WASHINGTON — After 20,000 or more New Hampshire voters received a call with the artificial-intelligence-doctored voice of President Joe Biden asking them to skip the state’s primary in January, state officials were in a quandary. Attorney General John M. Formella launched an investigation alongside others into the robocall that urged recipients to “save your vote for the November election,” ultimately identifying a Texas-based organization as the culprit. But New Hampshire lawmakers who say simply identifying the origins of these deepfakes isn’t enough are bac ..read more

By Fatima Hussein | Associated Press WASHINGTON — More than one-quarter of U.S. adults over age 50 say they expect to never retire and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds. About 1 in 4 have no retirement savings, according to research released Wednesday by the organization that shows how a graying America is worrying more and more about how to make ends meet even as economists and policymakers say the U.S. economy has all but achieved a soft landing after two years of record inflation. Everyday expenses and housing costs, including rent and mort ..read more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations called Tuesday for “a clear, transparent and credible investigation” of mass graves uncovered at two major hospitals in war-torn Gaza that were raided by Israeli troops. Credible investigators must have access to the sites, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters, and added that more journalists need to be able to work safely in Gaza to report on the facts. Earlier Tuesday, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said he was “horrified” by the destruction of the Shifa medical center in Gaza City and Nasser Hospital ..read more

An occupation of Siemens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt that started Monday is ongoing. Every entrance to the building was barricaded Tuesday morning after activists successfully kept out a line of police in riot gear from evacuating students the previous evening. Three were arrested at the scene, according to the university, where hundreds of protesters eventually gathered. Cal Poly Humboldt estimated dozens of students are still in the building. Activists Tuesday said the building was chosen because administrators work out of it. The occupation calls on the University to divest from companies tha ..read more

No, TikTok will not suddenly disappear from your phone. Nor will you go to jail if you continue using it after it is banned. Related Articles National Politics | Biden signs $95 billion war aid measure with assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan National Politics | UN calls for investigation into mass graves uncovered at two Gaza hospitals raided by Israel National Politics | Three arrested at Cal Poly Humboldt as students occupy Siemens Hall National Politics | Ousted fabulist Santos ends his long-shot bid to return to Congress National Politics | It began with defiance at Columbia ..read more