Alvin Bragg says his office awill make decisions based on the facts and the lawa; Gavin Newsom says, aThe right to free speech does not extend to inciting violencea

• Police clear encampments and arrest hundreds on campuses
• Violence erupts at UCLA campus between rival Gaza protesters

The occupation of Hamilton Hall came after protestersa defied a 2pm Monday deadline to abandon their camp at Columbia or face suspension. The university promptly began suspending participating students.

Posts on an Instagram page for protest organisers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment on campus and join them at Hamilton Hall. Those signs of supports surfaced as the UN human rights chief said he was atroubleda by how law enforcement has dealt with the recent wave of campus demonstrations.

A little after 9 p.m. this evening, the NYPD arrived on campus at the Universityas request. This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community.

After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation.

The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.a

Democrats pick up support of two Republicans to repeal 1864 law reinstated three weeks ago as governor is expected to ratify repeal

An effort to repeal Arizonaas 160-year-old statute banning nearly all abortions has received enough votes in the stateas senate to pass.

The 1864 law, which was reinstated by the stateas supreme court three weeks ago, has made abortion a central focus in the battleground state and galvanized Democrats seeking to enshrine abortion rights.

Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, says his team is determined to retry case against the disgraced movie mogul

Harvey Weinstein will be retried in New York, the Manhattan district attorneyas office said on Wednesday, a week after the stateas highest court threw out his 2020 rape conviction.

Weinstein arrived at a Manhattan courthouse in the afternoon, his first appearance since the decision by the appeals court last week.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

• Minute-by-minute updates on the action at Signal Iduna Park
• Any thoughts or comments? Feel free to email Scott

5 min: Dortmund see plenty of the ball. Sancho popping up all over the place as well, already looking far more confident and assured when compared to his Manchester United self.

3 min: Ryerson makes a glorious nuisance of himself down the right. Dribbling hard. Pressing hard, too, upon losing control. He wins a throw deep in PSG territory. Itas flung in long, but the ballas cleared easily enough. A high-octane start by both teams.

Antony Blinken holds two-hour meeting with Netanyahu while Hamas considers ceasefire proposal

Israelas leaders were under renewed pressure to allow more aid into Gaza on Wednesday after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told Benjamin Netanyahu to aaccelerate and sustain improvementsa during recent days in the amount of humanitarian assistance reaching the territory.

Humanitarian agencies say that though the number of lorries entering Gaza after being vetted by Israel has increased significantly, these still deliver only a fraction of what is needed.

Parliamentary questions dominated by partisan attacks a day after Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre ejected from chamber

Canadaas Liberal and Conservative parties have redoubled their parliamentary clash a day after the Tory leader was ejected from the House of Commons for calling Justin Trudeau a awackoa.

Under the guise of a debate over British Columbiaas decision to decriminalize some hard drugs, the parliamentary question period on Wednesday was dominated by deeply partisan attacks.

Fed announces it will keep interest rates at 5.25% to 5.5% as rate of inflation remains above target of 2%

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it is holding interest rates steady at 5.25% to 5.5%, their highest level in two decades, as inflation continues to dog the US economy.

Though some had hoped the Fed would soon cut interest rates, which are at their highest level since 2007, the annual rate of inflation has stubbornly remained above 3%. The Fedas target rate is 2%.

Extremistas bid to remove House speaker appears certain to fail as Democratic leaders indicate they will table or kill motion

• US politics a latest updates

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Wednesday that she would move to force a vote next week on removing her fellow Republican Mike Johnson as House speaker, even though the measure appears certain to fail.

aI think the American people need to see a recorded vote,a Greene said at a press conference. aAnd so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate a absolutely calling it. I canat wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican speaker and have to go home to their primaries and have to run for Congress again.a

Rejection by three-judge panel fuels new uncertainty about district boundaries as state prepares for congressional elections

A new congressional map giving Louisiana a second majority-Black House district was rejected on Tuesday by a panel of three federal judges, fueling new uncertainty about district boundaries as the state prepares for fall congressional elections.

The 2-1 ruling forbids the use of a map drawn up in January by the legislature after a different federal judge blocked a map from 2022. The earlier map maintained a single Black-majority district and five mostly white districts, in a state with a population that is about one-third Black.

Challenger to market leader OpenAI says it wants to ameet users where they area and become part of usersa everyday life

OpenAIas ChatGPT is facing serious competition, as the companyas rival Anthropic brings its Claude chatbot to iPhones. Anthropic, led by a group of former OpenAI staff who quit over differences with chief executive Sam Altman, have a product that already beats ChatGPT on some measures of intelligence, and now wants to win over everyday users.

aIn todayas world, smartphones are at the centre of how people interact with technology. To make Claude a true AI assistant, itas crucial that we meet users where they are a and in many cases, thatas on their mobile devices,a said Scott White at Anthropic.

After major police raids on universities in New York and Los Angeles on Tuesday, students continued to demonstrate against the war in Gaza

The South Dakota governoras proud dog murder tells a lot about how posturing Trumpists like she and Greg Gianforte think

After South Dakotaas Republican governor, Kristi Noem, proudly admitted in a forthcoming memoir to marching her young puppy Cricket to a gravel pit to kill her with a shotgun, she rationalized the despicable act by arguing that Cricket had been aggressive.

She also said that she used the same gravel pit to shoot a adisgusting, musky, rancida unnamed goat a but botched the job, leaving the goat to suffer unnecessarily while she rushed to her truck to get a second shell. (Itas unclear why Noem, supposedly a shrewd outdoorswoman, didnat think to carry more shells on her.)

More than half of the countryas forestry is in community and Indigenous hands a and from CO₂ absorption to reducing poverty the results are impressive

Dexter Melchor MatAas works in the Zapotec Indigenous town of IxtlA!n de JuA!rez, about 1,600ft (490 metres) above the wide Oaxaca valley in Mexico, where community forestry has become a way of life. Like him, about 10 million people across the country live in and make a living from forests, with half of that population identifying as Indigenous.

As average temperatures soar around the world and wildfires rage across the Americas, in Mexico, where more than a quarter of the country suffers from drought, the number of wildfires has remained steady since 2012.

With limited sizes in bridal salons, it can be impossible to order a dress that works for you when you canat even fit in a sample

Iall just give it to you straight: shopping for a wedding dress mostly sucked.

Anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows that securing the look is crucial. If youare a bride, that usually kicks off with Pinterest stalking and research. Then you make an appointment at a bridal salon (or several), try on dresses, fork over thousands of dollars (per Brides.com last year, in the US the average wedding dress cost between $1,800 and $2,400), wait months for the gown to be made, then pay an additional fee a probably three figures a in alterations.

The star makes for a charming lead playing a mother falling for a younger pop star in a passable adaptation of Robinne Leeas bestselling pulp

There are lithe, low-level pleasures to be had in the glossy pop romance The Idea of You, Amazonas latest attempt to turn a fanfic fave into a broadly alluring date movie. It follows last yearas Red, White and Royal Blue, a smartphone screen adaptation of Casey McQuistonas what-if gay romp. In that film, it was the fantasy of a presidentas son and an English prince. Here itas a 40-year-old mum and a Harry Styles-level pop star, a blogpost daydream of love and lust, played out with both jostling for space.

Itas a far sleeker and far more satisfying package than the former, illuminated by the genuine movie star power of Anne Hathaway and made with a higher level of craft, from the sturdy studio-level direction of Michael Showalter to a mostly smooth-going script. The romcom genre has allegedly been abacka for a while now but thatas mostly translated to quantity over quality and while last yearas sleeper smash Anyone But You might have looked the part, it was cursed with junky dialogue, hapless plotting and a disastrously ill-fitting leading lady. With Hathaway at its centre, The Idea of You is on far surer footing, in small moments almost threatening to be something far greater but settling into being perfectly acceptable instead, a plane movie par excellence.

The viral Glasgow event made children cry and adults seethe. Could a California tribute provide some measure of absolution?

She was the sad Oompa Loompa seen around the world. Inside a bleak warehouse in Glasgow, a supposed celebration of Wonkaas delectable world of chocolate left children crying and parents calling the police. Attendees paid APS35 to visit a bleak warehouse with a handful of props and posters; inside, they were treated to two jellybeans each and a few poorly costumed actors. Images of the event went extremely viral, making international news and inspiring a horror film and an hour-long documentary.

Two months later, I found myself walking toward another grim-looking warehouse, this time in downtown Los Angeles. I was here for Willyas Chocolate Experience LA, a tribute to the Glasgow disaster promising live entertainment, a red carpet-style photo op and a rare chance to meet the celebrity Oompa Loompa herself.

The critically acclaimed American writer has died aged 77. Here, contemporaries pay tribute to his life and work

aC/ Brooklynas bard: Paul Austeras tricksy fiction captivated a generation

aC/ Paul Auster a a life in quotes

aC/ Paul Auster a a life in pictures

British novelist
The exquisite chapter of domestic accidents that opens Paul Austeras final novel, Baumgartner, leaves us with a microcosm of all that drew a worldwide, discerning readership to this super-abundantly gifted, big-hearted novelist: a limpid present tense; a subtle awareness, comic as well as tragic, of what Virgil identified as asunt lacrimae reruma a there are tears in the nature of things a which, in Paulas version, proposed pratfalls as well as death; a perfect expression of a hovering consciousness in the still moment; and finally, a honed prose that seemed to hint that just below its surface were instructions on how to read it and how it was written. The adroit self-consciousness of his writing made him our supreme post-modernist. If his imagination seemed so spacious it was because he was as much a European as an American writer. If he had Thoreau at his back, he also had Beckett. It is possible to cross a Paul Auster Platz and walk down a rue Paul Auster. Not many novelists have been so honoured. As a presence he was ridiculously handsome, worldly, generous, funny and, unlike most great talkers, a highly attuned listener.

Late-night hosts discuss Donald Trumpas court naps, police crackdowns on peaceful pro-Palestinian student protesters and Kristi Noemas VP chances

Late-night hosts talked about Donald Trumpas $9,000 gag order penalty, his falling asleep during the trial and Eric Trumpas day in court.

The long-awaited rebuttal to Drake has arrived: Euphoria, a track in which Lamar dismantles Drakeas street credibility. But why use misogyny and homophobia to do it?

Haymakers were thrown yesterday by Kendrick Lamar towards Drake as rapas top bout enters another round, following duels involving undercards such as J Cole, Rick Ross, Future and A$AP Rocky.

Lamar initially rang the bell a month ago with Like That, slagging off Drake as a mere pop star. Drake came back with Push Ups, featuring the allegation that Lamaras wife was cheating on him (among various other barbs). Before Lamar could respond, Drake released Taylor Made Freestyle, which used AI to cheekily have 2Pac and Snoop Dogg a two of Lamaras west coast forebears a chide Lamar for not following up soon enough.

The British brand has entered the booming market in luxury acar-chitecturea, opening a themed tower in Miami boasting ballroom, helipad and infinity pool a all offering millionaires a perfect view of our choking, collapsing world

Move over, James Bond a a new Aston Martin has rolled into town, brimming with more flashy features than Q could ever dream of. Parked ostentatiously on the Miami waterfront, overlooking a private marina brimming with superyachts, its streamlined flanks glisten in the Florida sunshine, housing an interior trimmed with the finest leathers and exotic wood veneers. Thereas no ejector seat or rocket-launcher, but it is the biggest Aston Martin ever made a housing Jacuzzi, bar, cinema, golf simulator, art gallery, ballroom and infinity pool, all crowned with a 66th-storey helipad.

Unveiled in the week of the Miami Grand Prix, the latest exclusive model from the timeless British automotive brand is not a high-performance sports car, but an ultra-luxury apartment building a the tallest residential tower in the US, south of New York. After Aston Martinas years of financial woes, following a disastrous stock market performance since the companyas 2018 listing, it seems that the boutique car-
maker is seeking salvation in property development.

On the centenary of his death, a new English translation of the great writeras journals reveals some surprising details

After his death on 3 June 1924, a letter was found in Franz Kafkaas office in Prague addressed to Max Brod. aDear Max, My last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and othersa), sketches and so on, to be burned unread.a

His friend did not honour Kafkaas wishes. aBrod was unshakably convinced of their immeasurable value to contemporary and future humanity, and he was right,a says Ross Benjamin, whose new translation of the Czech writeras diaries is published in this centenary year of Kafkaas death.

Authorities clear two buildings at Cal Poly Humboldt overnight, arresting students and faculty and detaining at least one journalist

Police cracked down on a pro-Palestine demonstration at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, early on Tuesday morning, clearing two buildings that protesters had occupied since last week, arresting dozens of people and detaining at least one journalist.

The public university on Californiaas far north coast said in a statement early Tuesday that an operation by law enforcement, which included police from across the state, had arestored ordera to the campus.

Joshua Alexander Heckathorn, 20, arrested and booked into jail for second-degree burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief

Nearly 200 programs to raise baby salmon in a controlled environment dot the rivers in Oregon, holding them before releasing them into the wild to live out their life cycle. Last week, a man broke into the Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program (Step) and poured bleach into a Chinook salmon tank, killing about 18,000 fish.

Authorities arrested 20-year-old Joshua Alexander Heckathorn, a resident of Gardiner, Oregon, on 23 April, a day after the chemicals were dumped into one of the hatchery rearing ponds. He told law enforcement officials he had visited a storage area the day before and picked up a bottle of bleach, according to a Facebook post by the Douglas county sheriffas office. Heckathorn was arrested and booked into the Douglas county jail on Tuesday for second-degree burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

Housing costs and homelessness are on the rise in California. In the Austrian capital, people of all income levels live in subsidised housing a and more is being built

Imagine a beautiful city where a centrally located two-bedroom apartment can cost you as little as $600 a month. For many US policymakers, itas a pipe dream. And yet in Vienna, itas a reality.

In the past two years, at least four delegations of housing experts and political leaders from California have visited the Austrian capital, hoping to unlock the secrets of why Vienna regularly comes top in surveys of the worldas most livable cities.

Three of the striped African mammals recaptured but one remains at large after escaping from trailer en route to Montana

Three zebras were successfully recaptured by state police and rodeo professionals after wandering on to a major interstate in Washington state, though one remains on the lam.

On Sunday, four zebras escaped from their trailer while being transported to Montana via Interstate 90, the Seattle Times reported.

The European hospital is crammed with severely injured and dying children a a military offensive here will be catastrophic

• James Elder is Unicefas global spokesperson

The war against Gazaas children is forcing many to close their eyes. Nine-year-old Mohamedas eyes were forced shut, first by the bandages that covered a gaping hole in the back of his head, and second by the coma caused by the blast that hit his family home. He is nine. Sorry, he was nine. Mohamed is now dead.

Over three visits to the European hospitalas ICU in Rafah, Gaza, I saw multiple children occupy the same bed. Each one arriving after a bomb had ripped through their home. Each one dying despite doctorsa immense efforts.

James Elder is Unicefas global spokesperson

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The pandemic accelerated the shift away from notes and coins. But China and others are realising that transition has a price

One of the idiosyncrasies of Chinaas huge appetite for luxury goods has been the high sales of man bags a a niche item in the west. Their popularity initially reflected not just the fondness of the newly rich for conspicuous consumption, but also the practical need to carry large wodges of banknotes in a country that hadnat truly embraced credit cards. Early last decade, it was unremarkable to pay a quarteras rent or buy a car in cash.

Yet even vegetable sellers in small markets, or people begging on the streets, now use QR codes. By 2020, 98% of people in a survey said they most commonly paid using smartphone apps. The advantage, for the consumer, is convenience. For the authorities it offers not only efficiency but oversight, in a country which is battling corruption and which closely surveils its citizens. Beijing has also been promoting a adigital yuana developed by its central bank.

We chose Yale and it chose us, but one party was betrayed

aOliver was arrested this morning. 13 students arrested,a Ella texted me at 8.27am, aNo, 45.a

aAre you awake? Should we go? Iam feeling paralyzed right now.a

Grey Battle studies political science at Yale University. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama

Symptoms include paranoia, anxiety and a compulsion to snoop on your neighbours. Iam not judging a Iave had a brush with it myself

One of my many guilty pleasures is lurking on my former homeas Facebook group. The New York apartment complex, which houses the population of a small town, is classified as a naturally occurring retirement community, which means there are a lot of people in the group with time and energy to devote to petty feuds. The gossip is unrivalled and often a little unhinged. At one point there was a heated debate about birth control for pigeons that resulted in at least one person getting banned.

Recently, a mania of sorts has swept the group. An influential neighbour rather belatedly learned about video doorbells. When he bought one it set off a spate of other people buying the devices a and obsessively monitoring them to check for package thieves. Every other Facebook post now seems to be a photo of some hapless stranger taken by a video doorbell with a panicked caption along the lines of astranger dangera.