Tensions rise on college campuses; CDC unveils new heat risk tool; Supreme Court weighs outdoor sleeping bans

Hot Off The Wire

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted April 23 at 7:30 a.m. CT:

NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University’s main campus will switch to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester amid protests over Israel’s war with Hamas that have roiled colleges across the U.S. University officials announced the move late Monday after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s New York City campus were arrested last week. Students have protested against Israel’s war in Gaza at many campuses. That includes New York University a few miles south of Columbia. An encampment there swelled to hundreds of protesters, and police began to make arrests Monday night. A police spokesperson said he did not know how many NYU protesters had been arrested.

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Enquirer's former publisher is expected to return to the stand in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial as testimony continues in the first-ever criminal trial against a former U.S. president. David Pecker was the first and only witness Monday following opening statements. Prosecutors say Pecker worked with Trump and Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, on a “catch-and-kill” strategy to buy up and then spike negative stories during the 2016 campaign. Testimony resumes Tuesday. It's the first of Trump's four indictments to go to trial and the first criminal trial against a former U.S. president. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is returning to Washington to vote on $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Lawmakers on Tuesday are taking the final steps in Congress to send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad. The $61 billion for Ukraine comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his attacks. Soldiers have struggled to hold the front lines as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and forced Ukraine to cede significant territory.

PARIS (AP) — French police have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River. It's the latest operation in what aid groups call a campaign of “social cleansing” ahead of the Summer Olympics. Around 30 teenage boys and young men from West Africa were awakened by police officers and urged to pack their tents and belongings. The operation came days after police carried out a large-scale eviction at France’s biggest squatter camp. Such evictions happen every spring. But aid groups say these efforts are intensifying ahead of the Olympics. Paris police say the operation was carried out for security reasons.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health and weather officials are unveiling a new color-coded system to warn Americans about heat danger, and it will set magenta as the most dangerous level. The National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used Earth Day on Monday to explain the new online heat risk system. It combines meteorological and medical risk factors with a seven-day forecast that’s simplified and color-coded for a warming world of worsening heat waves.

In other headlines:

• With homelessness on the rise, the Supreme Court weighs bans on sleeping outdoors.
• The Supreme Court will decide whether Trump is immune from federal prosecution. Here's what's next.
• The Biden administration tightens rules for obtaining medical records related to abortion.
• Vice President Harris announces final rules mandating minimum standards for nursing home staffing.
• Four Germans caught marking Hitler's birthday outside Nazi dictator's birthplace in Austria.
• The Denver Nuggets win their NBA playoff game on a buzzer beater, Carolina rallies to stun the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Oakland As score in the 9th inning to beat the New York Yankees and one-time NFL MVP Matt Ryan retires. The Jets trade quarterback Zach Wilson to the Broncos and the Nets hire Jordi Fernandez as coach.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.