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Suspended protesters, Hunter vs. Fox and mandatory brakes

 
Today's NATIONAL story

Columbia begins suspending Gaza war protesters

What happened
Columbia University said Monday it started suspending students who disregarded orders to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment, potentially barring them from campus buildings and finals and rendering them ineligible to graduate in May. Dozens of students occupied Columbia's Hamilton Hall early Tuesday. An April 18 crackdown at Columbia fueled similar entrenched protests against Israel's Gaza war, leading to about 1,000 arrests at 22 universities in 16 states, according to CNN and The Washington Post.

Who said what
With talks at an impasse, Columbia has "begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus" and curtail the "noisy distraction" as students prepare for exams, university spokesperson Ben Chang said. Columbia's administration "didn't even offer us divestment" from Israel, said graduate student Sueda Polat, an encampment organizer. "We will not be moved unless by force." 

The commentary
Columbia's academic sanctions appeared aimed at getting the encampment to "peter out" before graduation "rather than to root it out with force," inciting more protests, The New York Times said. Other elite universities have had mixed results, The Associated Press said. In one "rare case," Northwestern University on Monday reached an agreement with students to allow "peaceful demonstrations through the June 1 end of spring classes" but no tents or outsiders.

What next?
Columbia hopes to avoid canceling its May 15 commencement, typically held on the lawn occupied by protesters. University of Southern California scrapped its main graduation ceremony.

 
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Today's LEGAL story

Hunter Biden threatens legal action against Fox News

What happened
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, warned Fox News that he plans to take legal action "imminently" against the network for its coverage of him, according to an April 23 letter made public Monday.

Who said what
Fox News is perpetrating a "conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light," Biden's lawyers wrote. And "while routinely defaming and disparaging" him, Fox violated multiple "revenge porn" laws and "sought to profit by the unlawful exploitation" of Biden's "image, name and likeness for commercial purposes and reprehensible dissemination of salacious photographs."

The commentary
The letter is the "latest salvo in the president's son's more aggressive legal and press strategy over the past year," Axios said. That stance has "at times created friction" with the White House. Hunter Biden's legal plans were inspired in part by voting machine company Dominion's successful suit against Fox, NBC said.

What next?
Hunter Biden is scheduled to stand trial on gun charges in Delaware on June 3.

 
 
Today's BUSINESS Story

US to require automatic braking on new cars

What happened
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that all new passenger vehicles must come equipped with automatic emergency braking by 2029. Some 90% of new vehicles already have AEB systems under a voluntary 2016 agreement but the new final NHTSA rule sets minimum standards, including automatically braking to avoid hitting other vehicles or pedestrians, night or day.

Who said what
"We're living through a crisis in roadway deaths," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told The Associated Press. AEB "is proven to save lives" and the "technology is now mature enough to require it in all new cars and light trucks," said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman.

The commentary
The U.S. government's "first attempt to regulate automated driving functions" will save 362 lives a year and billions in property damage, the AP said, citing NHTSA estimates, but "it will also drive up prices" by between $23 and $82 per vehicle.

What next?
The NHTSA, nudged in the 2021 infrastructure law to deploy new technology to tackle road deaths, is also exploring requiring nascent technology to block drunken driving.

 
 

It's not all bad

The Jane Austen's House museum in Hampshire, U.K., invited the public to take part in a project to decipher a manuscript written by the author's brother, and thousands of people accepted the challenge. The museum recently acquired a 78-page memoir written by Sir Francis Austen in his later years, when "arthritis is thought to have affected his handwriting," The Times said. Volunteers will help to decode his "spidery" script, with the hope that this manuscript will shed more light on Jane Austen's life. 

 
 
Under the radar

The Italian senate has approved a controversial law that gives anti-abortion activists access to women considering ending their pregnancies. The development is a victory for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right government, said ABC News, and revives tensions around the issue of abortion in Italy, 46 years after it was legalized in the overwhelmingly Catholic country. But there are already questions over what impact the new law will actually have. 

Senate passage has "driven the liberal opposition crazy," said The New York Times, but "without actually changing much," because it is "essentially a restatement" of Law 194, which allowed family counseling centers to "make use of volunteer associations 'protecting motherhood'" to "help women avoid terminating their pregnancies because of economic, social or family hardships."

The new tensions over abortion in Italy "come against the backdrop of developments elsewhere in Europe going somewhat in the opposite direction," said ABC News. France marked International Women's Day last month by "inscribing the guaranteed right to abortion into its constitution." Last year, the overwhelmingly Catholic Malta voted to ease the strictest abortion laws in the EU. And Polish lawmakers have "moved forward" with proposals to lift a near-total ban on abortion. 

Still, there's widespread agreement the Italian measure won't significantly change anything. "My impression is that it won't do much," said Laura Cristofari at the Center for Assistance to Life. Mirella Parachini, a gynecologist and activist for abortion rights, said the measure was a "proclamation that changes nothing" and is merely "waving an ideological flag."

 
 
On this day

April 30, 1789

George Washington gave the first presidential inaugural speech in New York City's Federal Hall. Every U.S. president since has continued the tradition. But the date changed in 1937, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to be sworn in on January 20. 

 
 
TODAY’S newspaperS

Renewed hopes for a Gaza cease-fire, buoyed by a new offer from Israel, commingle on Tuesday's front pages with college protests calling for an end to the Gaza war. The protests "deepen Democratic rifts," raising "election-year risks," The New York Times says, while The Washington Post focuses on Republican efforts to paint the "mostly peaceful" protests as "a nation's slide into chaos." The Philadelphia Daily News calls the conundrum these protest encampments pose for colleges a "Catch-2024." The Times also has a front-page story on the surprising effect of looser business rules in Havana: "Communist Cuba grasps a lifeline: capitalists."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Screeching success

A 9-year-old dubbed Seagull Boy won this year's European Gull Screeching contest in Belgium. Cooper Wallace from Chesterfield, U.K., is known for his uncanny impression of the noisy seabird, which he started imitating after getting pecked by one during a beach vacation. Wallace donned a seagull costume for the competition and screeched his way to victory with an impressive 92 out of 100 points. This was not an easy win — judging the event is "serious business," marine biologist Jan Seys told the BBC.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Chas Newkey-Burden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Victor J. Blue for The Washington Post via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images; Andreas Arnold / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images