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1 Pro-Palestinian University Protests Continue, Schools Start To Crack Down
Protests have broken out at colleges and universities across the country in connection with the war in Gaza, with pro-Palestinian protesters calling for their schools to divest from Israeli military operations, while some Jewish students have called the protests antisemitic and said they feel unsafe. The student protests, some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments, have erupted at schools including Columbia University, Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California, and more. At Emory University in Georgia, the Department of Public Service says they’ve used a Taser and pepper balls in an attempt to control the crowd of protesters, though Emory's administration later said the individual in the viral video of the Taser incident did not appear to be affiliated with the university. Twenty of the twenty-eight people arrested at Emory were Emory community members. The University of Texas at Austin says the 55 people arrested at a protest there, 26 of whom were unaffiliated with the university, will not face charges due to deficiencies in probable cause.
2 Supreme Court Looks To Be Leaning Toward At Least Partial Immunity For Presidents
The Supreme Court is indicating that any trial in former President Donald Trump's election interference case is unlikely to happen soon, as the justices have concerns about whether certain presidential acts should be off-limits from prosecution. While the court appears lean toward rejecting Trump's claim of absolute immunity, it could remand the case for further proceedings, making a trial before the November election less likely. So now, court is weighing the legal question of whether a former president can be prosecuted for "official acts" taken in office. However, court's conservative justices seem to have differing views on the scope of presidential immunity, with some raising concerns about the implications for future presidents. Though SCOTUS justices generally seem skeptical that blanket immunity would apply to a former president, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump nominee, is among those who questioned what type of behavior should be considered private acts versus official acts. Overall, the court's eventual ruling on immunity will be a crucial one.
3 FDA: One In Five Pasteurized Milk Samples Had Bird Flu Virus
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revealed that traces of the bird flu virus have been found in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk from a nationally representative sample, with more positive results coming from milk in areas with infected herds of dairy cows. As of yesterday, bird flu has been detected in 33 herds across 8 states, but an influenza virologist says the number of positive milk samples seems high compared to the reported number of infected farms, suggesting there may be more infected animals than being reported. The FDA first disclosed on Tuesday that it had found viral fragments in milk, leading the Agriculture Department to issue an order requiring all dairy cows to be tested for bird flu before interstate transport. However, health officials maintain that pasteurized milk is safe to drink, as the FDA only detected small pieces of the virus and that they weren’t live, infectious virus.