Summary of Current US Domestic News Briefs: Columbia University, Tesla Recall, Bird Flu, Police Brutality, Trump Trial, Biden, Solar Farming, Pro-Palestinian Protests

Columbia University’s president, Nemat Minouche Shafik, is facing criticism from faculty and students after a police crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters on campus. The campus oversight panel rebuked her administration for calling in the New York police to dismantle the protest encampment set up by students against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.

The protesters, who set up camp on a Columbia University lawn, were participating in a living history lesson, drawing parallels to the protests of 1968 against the Vietnam War. The students engaged in discussions with history professor Frank Guridy, who teaches a course on the 1968 protests, during a teach-in at the encampment. They sat on mats on the grass, eating free food provided by a community kitchen set up nearby.

In other news, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into Tesla’s recall of over 2 million vehicles to install new Autopilot safeguards. This comes after reports of 20 crashes involving vehicles with the new software updates installed under the recall.

Additionally, federal health officials have confirmed that pasteurized milk is safe from the bird flu virus, as Colorado becomes the ninth state to report an infected dairy herd. Lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to contain the spread of the virus, as tests show remnants of the virus in one in five commercial milk samples.

On a somber note, Ohio police released video of a Black man, Frank Tyson, who died after repeatedly telling officers “I can’t breathe” as they pinned him to the floor of a bar. The incident has drawn comparisons to the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Former President Donald Trump is facing a trial in New York, where former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that he suppressed a story about an alleged affair to help Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. Pecker admitted that publishing the story would have boosted sales of the tabloid.

As the solar capacity grows in the U.S., concerns are raised about the impact on productive farmland. Farmers like Dave Duttlinger in Indiana have leased their land for solar developments, raising questions about the use of valuable agricultural land for renewable energy projects.

Pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on several U.S. university campuses as activists continue to demand a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas. The movement shows no signs of slowing down as protesters vow to keep up their efforts.