It’s April 25, 2024

  1. What began last week when Columbia University students refused to end their protest against Israel’s war with Hamas had turned into a much larger movement by Tuesday as students across the nation set up encampments, occupied buildings and ignored demands to leave.

  2. U.S. companies would no longer be able to bar employees from taking jobs with competitors under a rule approved by a federal agency Tuesday, though the rule is sure to be challenged in court.

  3. The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that’s expected to face legal challenges and disrupt the lives of content creators who rely on the short-form video app for income. The TikTok legislation was included as part of a larger $95 billion package that provides foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel and was passed 79-18. On Wednesday the bill was signed by  President Joe Biden, who has backed the TikTok proposal.

  4. Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday passed legislation to allow some trained teachers and school staff to carry handguns despite pleas from Democrats, students and gun-reform advocates to defeat the bill.

  5. A top Hamas political official told The Associated Press the Islamic militant group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders.

  6. The Biden administration issued final rules Wednesday to require airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to better disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation. The Transportation Department said airlines will be required to provide automatic cash refunds within a few days for canceled flights and “significant” delays. Under current regulations, airlines decide how long a delay must last before triggering refunds. The administration is removing that wiggle room by defining a significant delay as lasting at least three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international ones.

  7. Reggie Bush has his Heisman back. The Heisman Trust reinstated the former Southern California tailback as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner on Wednesday, citing fundamental changes in the structure of college athletics during the 14 years since Bush forfeited the trophy and the honor. Bush gave up his Heisman following an NCAA investigation that found he received what were impermissible benefits during his time with the Trojans. College football players are now allowed to profit from their work in many ways, and the Heisman Trust decided it was time to move past the conflict with one of the most exciting players in the sport’s history.