Campus protests over Gaza grow
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations continued at colleges across the U.S. this weekend, with tensions bubbling on some campuses. Northeastern University officials said about 100 people were detained at a protest Saturday morning, while Columbia University said it banned a protest leader after a video resurfaced that showed the student saying Zionists “don’t deserve to live.”
There has also been a rise in antisemitic incidents on campuses since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Some Jewish leaders, lawmakers and students are displeased that the Biden administration isn’t showing more resolve in stamping out the antisemitic harassment.
During his visit to Columbia last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said President Joe Biden should consider calling in the National Guard to quell unrest. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told “Meet the Press” on Sunday that would be a “very bad idea.”
Meanwhile, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be delivering commencement addresses in May, but the White House plans for them to have a minimal presence.
At least 4 people are dead as tornadoes and storms devastate the Midwest
Officials are assessing the destruction after more than 100 tornadoes damaged homes and buildings across six states over the weekend. Several counties in Oklahoma have reported severe structural damage, closed highways, blackouts, injuries and at least four deaths. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an executive order Sunday declaring a disaster emergency.
Millions of people remain at risk of severe weather, and storms are expected from southern Missouri to southeast Texas on Sunday.
Flash flooding is also a concern for 18 million people from Kansas City to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Some warnings will continue into Monday.
Hamas releases another hostage video
Hamas released a video Saturday showing two Israeli hostages who have been held captive in Gaza since October. In the video, Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47, spoke about not being able to celebrate Passover with their loved ones. It’s not clear whether they are still alive. It is the second video of Israeli hostages that Hamas has shared in a week.
On Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the U.S. to persuade Israel not to attack the border city of Rafah.
World Central Kitchen announced it will resume operations in Gaza on Monday, almost one month after seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the enclave.
Biden jokes about age and swipes at Trump at the White House correspondents’ dinner
Biden took some shots at Donald Trump at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night, mixing jabs at his presumptive election opponent with serious talk about the stakes in November.
Referring to concerns about his age, Biden joked: “Yes, age is an issue. I’m a grown man running against a 6-year-old.” He also urged the media to “rise up to the seriousness of the moment.”
After his remarks, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Colin Jost cracked some jokes aimed at both Biden and Trump. “My ‘Weekend Update’ co-anchor, Michael Che, was going to join me here tonight,” he said, “but in solidarity with President Biden, I decided to lose all my Black support.”
Meet the Press
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., didn’t say whether he supports a 15-week federal ban on abortions, with exceptions, in an interview on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker.
McConnell made it clear that he believes it’s an issue that should be decided in each state, saying: “I’m not advocating anything at this level. I think it’s going to be sorted out all across the country and be very different in different states.”
In late 2022, after the Supreme Court's eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced a bill that would federally ban most abortions at 15 weeks.
McConnell framed the legislation as purely political, saying, “I don’t think any federal legislation is likely to get 60 votes in the Senate on any direction.”
You can watch the full interview here.
Politics in brief
- Tabloid tactics: Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s testimony in Trump’s hush money trial illustrated how shocking the publisher’s tactics were, even by the more lurid standards typical of tabloids.
- Book shocker: South Dakota governor and Republican vice presidential contender Kristi Noem has defended a passage in her forthcoming book, in which she describes killing her 14-month-old dog, arguing that “tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”
- GOP congressman bows out: Rep. Bill Posey of Florida announced Friday he won’t seek re-election. He was first elected to Congress in 2008.
Harvey Weinstein taken to hospital
Harvey Weinstein was hospitalized Saturday for a battery of tests after he was moved to New York’s Rikers Island jail ahead of a court appearance.
Weinstein, 72, the former Hollywood producer, one of whose two rape convictions an appeals court dramatically threw out Thursday, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after he was checked out by doctors on arrival at Rikers, his attorney Arthur Aidala said. Aidala said Weinstein is “somewhat of a train wreck healthwise” and “needs a lot of help, physically.”
Weinstein is due back in court Wednesday after the DA’s office said it intends to seek a retrial in the rape case.
Bringing back the bears
After years of bitterly divided debate, grizzly bears will be reintroduced to Washington state’s North Cascades mountain range.
Advocates say the effort will make the overall ecosystem healthier, but opponents worry that the bears are a safety risk to people and will stray into lowland areas with farms — where livestock are already threatened.
“We’re busy dealing with wolves,” said Rachel McClure, a rancher who is the secretary of the Okanogan County Cattlemen’s Association. “We don’t need to be thinking about bears.”
Reintroducing the bears to the environment is a complicated process that requires trapping, trucking and moving them by helicopter from British Columbia or northwestern Montana. The goal is a population of 200 bears in the region within 60 to 100 years.
It’s giving tenniscore
Zendaya served some iconic red carpet looks promoting her tennis-centric film, “Challengers.” Now, her fans are hopping on the trend and giving rise to tenniscore, which refers to a tennis-inspired aesthetic.
Jasmine Perillo, a creator who makes content about film and fashion, created an all-white outfit with pops of tennis ball green and posted it to her Instagram reel.
“Tenniscore can either be dressed up, like think the outfit I DIYed — I feel like that’s more dressy — or even think about Wimbledon fashion, like that’s a little bit more elevated,” Perillo said. “But tenniscore can also just remain kind of just, like, sporty and practical.”
In case you missed it
- A climber who died after having fallen 1,000 feet in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve was identified as Robbi Mecus, a noted climbing enthusiast and forest ranger.
- Four Colorado police officers who were sent to investigate reports of a woman screaming found a 24-year-old woman actively in labor, giving birth to triplets.
- U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably didn’t directly order the killing of Alexei Navalny, according to sources familiar with the matter.
- A Utah couple were purr-plexed when their cat disappeared. The cat, who sneaked inside a return box, was found a week later by an Amazon warehouse worker in Los Angeles.
- Olympic champion gymnast Gabby Douglas staged a comeback this weekend when she qualified for the U.S. Championships, putting her on a path to compete at the Paris Olympics this summer.
- Recent films like “Drive-Away Dolls” and “Love Lies Bleeding” show just how much lesbian cinema has evolved in Hollywood since the era of the blatantly homophobic Hays Code.
- Swifties rejoice! “The Tortured Poets Department” had the biggest streaming debut for an album in history, with Billboard reporting 891.37 million official streams for all 31 tracks combined.