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Kerry Burke/New York Daily News/TNS

Dozens of Columbia University students suspended for library pro-Palestinian takeover

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — Dozens of Columbia University students were temporarily suspended as of Friday for their alleged involvement with a brief takeover of the main campus library in a pro-Palestinian protest, the Daily News has learned.

At least 65 Columbia students were placed on interim suspension pending further investigation, according to a ...Read more

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Get ready, Massachusetts, the cicadas are coming: 'They can be really loud, as loud as a chainsaw'

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BOSTON — Seventeen years after the Brood XIV cicadas last emerged as adults and annoyed people with their loud buzzing calls, they’re coming back.

Residents along inner Cape Cod and over the bridge into southeastern Plymouth County should expect the 17-year periodical red-eyed cicadas to surface by late June.

While the noisy cicadas are ...Read more

Prison can't stop Indigenous man from wearing religious headband, RI judge rules

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A prison that denied an Indigenous inmate’s request to wear a religious headband four times will now have to let him wear it and update its policies regarding similar requests, a Rhode Island judge ruled.

A complaint filed in January 2024 argued that the Rhode Island Department of Corrections violated the religious rights of Wolf Pawochawog-...Read more

Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Trump's firing of Hayden brings culture wars to the Library of Congress

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Republicans have waged a yearslong battle against cultural institutions. It reached an abrupt zenith on Thursday night.

President Donald Trump’s firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday marked the arrival of the conservative culture wars to the world’s largest library. At its core was the intersection of Trump administration...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says 80% China tariff 'seems right,' ahead of talks

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U.S. President Donald Trump floated an 80% tariff on China ahead of negotiations due to begin Saturday as he urged Beijing to do more to open their markets to U.S. goods.

“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” Trump said in a social-media post Friday morning, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Woman inspired by Luigi Mangione planned to kill Trump Cabinet members, feds say

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A week after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a woman turned herself in to U.S. Capitol Police, revealing she had a knife, two “Molotov cocktails” and planned to kill Trump Cabinet members, court documents say.

It was a plan she said was inspired by Luigi Mangione, who is facing federal charges in the fatal shooting of United ...Read more

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/TNS/TNS

Aryan Brotherhood members plucked from state prison into the federal system

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nearly 18 months after the first of six guilty verdicts, the federal government has made good on its pledge to move some of California’s allegedly most dangerous inmates into the federal prison system.

Five Aryan Brotherhood members — Ronald “Renegade” Yandell, William Sylvester, Jason Corbett, Pat “Big Pat” ...Read more

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images North America/TNS

Tufts grad student Ozturk is freed on bail in Trump setback

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A federal judge freed a Turkish graduate student on bail while she fights possible deportation over the Trump administration’s claims of antisemitism in an op-ed she helped write.

The ruling Friday in favor of Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk is the latest setback for the administration, amid a crackdown on foreign students it...Read more

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Man dies trying to rescue his dog from the ocean at notorious California beach

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A man died Thursday after rushing into the perilous waters of San Francisco's Ocean Beach fully clothed in an attempt to rescue his dog, authorities said. While the dog made it out of the ocean alive, the man was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Northern California beach is notorious for its strong rip currents, powerful waves and icy water ...Read more

Idaho Department of Correction/TNS

Idaho's $200,000 in execution drugs expire in latest setback to death penalty

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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s prison system once again is without execution drugs after its stockpile expired earlier this year, the latest in a series of hurdles to carrying out the death penalty in the state.

The Idaho Department of Correction has spent $200,000 in state funds on the hard-to-find lethal injection chemicals since 2023, according ...Read more

Handout/GoFundMe.com/TNS

After mistrial in Michigan police shooting case, Kent County prosecutor to decide on retrial. Experts weigh the difficulty

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Kent County's top prosecutor said he'll decide in the coming weeks whether to retry a former Grand Rapids police officer for second-degree murder after a mistrial was declared Thursday, but experts say it could be a challenging road ahead given the case's media attention and other factors.

Christopher Schurr, 34, was on ...Read more

Sean Rayford/Getty Images North America/TNS

Local police group to hold vote of no confidence on Charlotte police chief

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police will hold a vote of no confidence against Police Chief Johnny Jennings following reports of a settlement between Jennings and the city and allegations of unethical conduct at city hall.

The organization posted on Facebook Friday that a preliminary vote of no confidence will...Read more

Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Most Republican voters polled say fraud is 'prevalent' in California elections

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Most California voters are confident in the state’s voting system, a new poll shows, with one large exception: Republican voters.

Nearly two-thirds of GOP voters in the state say fraud is either somewhat or very prevalent in California elections, according to the poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental ...Read more

Chase Stevens @csstevensphoto/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

'A painful summer': Lake Mead at risk of reaching crisis levels with new projections

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Forecasters are confident it’s a particularly bad water year for the Colorado River, worrying some about a likely return to record low levels in reservoirs that are reminiscent of 2022.

Las Vegas is almost entirely dependent on Lake Mead, the country’s biggest reservoir, for its water supply. Flows into Lake Mead come from Lake Powell, the ...Read more

Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS

'1-way ticket to a dungeon': Venezuelans anxious as Supreme Court weighs TPS decision

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DORAL, Fla. — Dozens of Venezuelans gathered at El Arepazo, an iconic restaurant in the heart of Doral’s Venezuelan community, for a vigil Thursday night in support of deportation protections now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The event was organized for the Venezuelan American Caucus to show support for the Venezuelan community on...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Woman shoots Tesla dealership with BB gun in Georgia, police say

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ATLANTA — A woman has been arrested after police said she damaged a Tesla dealership with an automatic BB gun in Gwinnett County, one of several acts of violence targeting the electric vehicle company across the United States in recent months.

Alexa Beckstead, 23, was charged with felony second-degree criminal damage to property after police ...Read more

Adam Beam/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Georgia has a 2026 budget. Will federal cuts upend it?

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ATLANTA — Georgia officials on Friday celebrated a new $37.8 billion state spending plan that devotes more money to schools, prisons and other priorities.

Now they must wait to see whether federal budget cuts and economic turmoil force them to rewrite that plan.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed the fiscal year 2026 budget at the Georgia Capitol ...Read more

File photo/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Former Baltimore City Council candidates sue mayor; accuse him of ordering their firing

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BALTIMORE — Two city employees who were fired after making failed bids for local office last year sued Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott last week, accusing him of directing their firings because he saw them as aligning with his political opponents.

The lawsuit was filed May 2 by Margo Bruner-Settles and Liam Davis, who ran for city council seats...Read more

Pope Leo XIV's family: What to know about his parents and their deep Chicago ties

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CHICAGO — Here’s a look at some of Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV‘s family members as discovered in the Chicago Tribune archives.

Mildred A. Martinez Prevost (mother)

Raised in Chicago with five sisters — including two who became nuns — she graduated from Immaculata High School for girls in June 1929, according to Chicago Tribune archives...Read more

Luke Johnson/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle police chief apologizes for response at nude beach as neighbors step up opposition to park's use

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SEATTLE — A police response earlier this week to a locally famous nude beach on the shores of Lake Washington has brought into sharp relief the ongoing tension between the park’s history as a safe place for people in the LGBTQ+ community and its wealthy neighbors frustrated by how it’s being used.

The response Sunday, coupled with a ...Read more