What to Know Pro-Palestinian groups are protesting at colleges and universities across America, an outgrowth of a demonstration that yielded dozens of arrests at Columbia University last week Tensions have only escalated in the weeks since, with the NYPD called to assist in clearing protesters at Columbia and NYU; an encampment remains on one of Columbia’s lawns as negotiations with the school and protesters continue The protesters are calling on Columbia and other colleges and universities to divest from companies the providing funding to Israel and its action in the Israel-Hamas war Negot ..read more

The University of Southern California canceled its main stage graduation ceremony Thursday as college officials across the U.S. worried that ongoing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war could disrupt May commencement ceremonies. Some universities called in police to break up the demonstrations, resulting in ugly scuffles and dozens of arrests, while others appeared content to wait out student protests as the final days of the semester ticked down. USC announced the cancellation of the May 10 ceremony a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus. The university ..read more

Dramatic surveillance video showed a group of thieves dressed in black bust through the front window of a high-end boutique in New Jersey, then swarm the store and make off with luxury handbags worth thousands of dollars. The four suspects struck in the middle of the night at the store in Montclair, forcing their way in through the window. They can be seen on the video blowing right past a rack of clothes, instead heading right for the designer handbag that were on a back wall. In less than a minute, the thieves were gone. “They were in and out in 40 seconds. So they knew where to go.&nbs ..read more

In addition to a cease-fire in Gaza, protesters on college campuses across the country are calling on their schools to divest from all financial support of Israel. Divestment usually refers to selling shares in companies doing business with a given country. Divestment has long been a goal of a movement that seeks to limit what it considers hostile operations by Israel and an end to expanding what the United Nations has ruled are illegal settlements. Now, college protesters are hoping to force their universities to divest to put financial pressure on companies doing business in Israel to meet t ..read more

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced that a sergeant with the Vineland Police Department has been charged after he, allegedly, used his position as a law enforcement official to keep evidence that depicted child sexual abuse for his own personal use. According to a statement from Platkin’s office, Christopher Ortiz, 39, of Estell Manor, a sergeant with the Vineland Police Department, used his position as a law enforcement officer to mishandle evidence — specifically images that depicted child sexual abuse — that was part of a case that the department was investigating. Followi ..read more

New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the court’s 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.” The state Court of Appeals ruling reopens a ..read more

Southwest Airlines on Thursday posted a wider loss for the first quarter than the same period last year. The carrier had previously warned that Boeing’s production slowdown has hampered its growth. Southwest plans to shut down operations at some airports, including in Syracuse, New York; Bellingham International Airport in Washington; Cozumel International Airport; and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental. Southwest Airlines on Thursday posted a wider loss for the first quarter than the same period last year and warned that Boeing’s airplane delays will hamper its growth into 2025. Th ..read more

A reluctant Donald Trump will be back in a New York City courtroom Thursday as his hush money trial resumes at the same time that the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in Washington over whether he should be immune from prosecution for actions he took during his time as president. Jurors will hear more witness testimony from a veteran tabloid publisher, and Trump faces a looming decision over whether he violated a gag order imposed by the judge. But he had asked to skip out on his criminal trial for the day so he could sit in on the high court’s special session, where the justices will weigh ..read more

On the left and right, Supreme Court justices seem to agree on a basic truth about the American system of government: No one is above the law, not even the president. “The law applies equally to all persons, including a person who happens for a period of time to occupy the Presidency,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in 2020. Less than a year earlier, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, then a federal trial judge, wrote, “Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.” But former President Donald Trump and his legal team are put ..read more

Eleven Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against “fake electors.” The defendants include the former chair of the Arizona Republican Party, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state legislators. The grand jury indictment also describes an unindicted co-conspirator who is clearly Trump. The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on De ..read more