First Thing: Dozens more protesters arrested as Mike Johnson suggests calling in national guard

The Republican House speaker visited Columbia University as another 80 people arrested at colleges in Austin and LA. Plus, Arizona indicts Trump allies over ‘fake elector’ scheme

Good morning.

Dozens of people were arrested on Wednesday as college administrators continued to crack down on pro-Palestine demonstrations across US campuses, with the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, making an appearance at Columbia University in New York to decry protesters as “lawless agitators” and suggest the national guard could be deployed.

At least 50 people were detained by police at University of Southern California in LA, and at least 34 people were arrested at the University of Texas in Austin – including a journalist from a local news station.

A wave of demonstrations have swept campuses across the country, sparked when the NYPD destroyed encampments by students at Columbia calling for the university to divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel.

• Where are the protests spreading? After Columbia University called in the New York police department on demonstrators last week, protests and encampments are growing at colleges across the country – including Harvard, UC Berkeley, Brown, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt and more.

• What makes the demonstrations so charged? Protests against the US war in Vietnam rocked campuses in the 1960s and 70s, with national guard troops called in by universities opening fire at protesters at Jackson State and Kent State colleges in May 1970, killing several people. “We fear that Columbia is risking a second Jackson State or Kent State massacre,” Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said.

• What did Johnson say? The House speaker visited Columbia on Wednesday, saying: “It’s detestable, as Columbia has allowed these lawless agitators and radicals to take over. … If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the national guard.” Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called protesters “antisemitic mobs”.

White House seeks ‘answers’ from Israel after Gaza mass graves discoveries

The White House says it wants “answers” from Israeli authorities after the recent discoveries of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals destroyed in Israeli sieges.

Gaza’s civil defense agency said health workers had now uncovered almost 340 bodies of people allegedly killed and buried by Israeli forces at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. About 30 bodies were reportedly found buried in two graves in al-Shifa hospital’s courtyard in Gaza City.

The UN’s high commissioner for human rights said he was horrified by the reports. “We feel the need to raise the alarm,” a spokesperson for Volker Türk said, describing bodies buried “deep in the ground”, “covered with waste”, with some stripped of their clothes. “Some of them had their hands tied, which of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law,” they said.

• What’s the White House saying? On Wednesday the White House told journalists the reports are “deeply disturbing” and it wants “answers” from Israeli forces.

• And the IDF? A spokesperson said the mass grave found at Nasser hospital was “dug by Gazans”. They said “corpses buried by Palestinians” had been examined by soldiers searching for hostages.

• What’s the latest on Israel’s assault on Gaza? Israel appears to be readying troops to send into Rafah, where about 1.5 million people are sheltering.

Arizona grand jury indicts Trump allies including Giuliani over 2020 fake elector scheme

An Arizona grand jury has charged 18 people involved in the scheme to create a slate of false electors for Donald Trump, including 11 people who served as those fake electors and seven Trump allies who aided the scheme.

The 11 fake electors had been charged with felonies for fraud, forgery and conspiracy. Charged with aiding in the scheme include: Mark Meadows, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Christina Bobb and Mike Roman.

Meanwhile, in a separate trial, the criminal case against Trump for alleged hush-money payments resumes on Thursday with further testimony from ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

• What does the grand jury say? That “defendants and unindicted co-conspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep [Trump] in office against the will of Arizona’s voters.”

• Is Trump indicted, too? Nope, not in this case. He’s referred to in the indictment as “unindicted co-conspirator 1”.

Arizona house votes to repeal state’s near-total ban on abortion

Lawmakers in the Arizona house have voted to repeal a controversial 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, amid mounting pressure on the state’s Republicans.

Three Republicans joined with all 29 Democrats on Wednesday to support the repeal of the law, which predates Arizona’s statehood and provides no exceptions for rape or incest. Previously, two attempts to repeal the legislation were quashed.

The move follows weeks of effort by Democrats in the state legislature to undo the law, while the issue increasingly put Republicans on the defensive in a key battleground state.

• What do people in Arizona think of the 1864 law? When polled in 2022, only 28% of voters approved of it.

• What happens next? The measure will now head to the state senate, where it is expected to pass, and then to the governor’s desk.

In other news …

• Ministers in Brazil, Germany, South Africa and Spain said the world’s 3,000 billionaires should pay a minimum 2% tax on their wealth to raise $313bn a year. It comes after the World Bank found inequality rocketed after Covid.

• McKinsey is under criminal investigation by the US justice department. It comes amid allegations of the firm’s key role in the US opioid crisis.

• Human rights groups say Iran’s security services are brutally enforcing draconian hijab rules, with recent accounts of women being dragged from the streets.

• After US lawmakers approved $61bn in military aid for Ukraine, foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed the package – but also urged western allies to recognize that “the era of peace in Europe is over” and that Kyiv would inevitably need more help to fight off Russia.

Stat of the day: 56 firms responsible for half the world’s plastic pollution, survey finds

Just 56 companies are responsible for more than 50% of the world’s plastic pollution, according to a study published in Science Advances, based on analysis across five years. The top five polluters were the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone and Altria, accounting for 24% of the total branded count. One of the study’s authors said “we really need to be capping how much plastic we are producing”.

Don’t miss this: ‘In the US they think we’re communists!’ The 70,000 workers showing the world another way to earn a living

The Basque Country’s Mondragón Corporation is the globe’s largest industrial co-operative, with 70,000 workers paying for the right to share in its profits, and its losses. In return for giving more to their employer, they expect more back. “We work hard, but it’s a totally different feeling from working for someone else,” one worker said.

Climate Check: Estuaries are disappearing fast with 20% of losses in past 35 years

Estuaries – the place where a river meets the ocean – are often called the “nurseries of the sea”, for how they support bird and fish populations, and their salt marshes stabilise shorelines and absorb floods. But a study published in Earth’s Future found nearly half the world’s estuaries have been altered by humans, with 20% of this estuary loss in the past 35 years.

Last Thing: Chicago’s sidewalk ‘rat hole’ removed by officials

A sidewalk in Chicago with an impression of a rat has, in recent months, become a site of pilgrimage, with visitors leaving coins and other items. Now, the beloved “rat hole” is no more. City officials said the sidewalk was damaged and it was removed on Wednesday. But, like the rat it immortalises, the rat hole may yet have a second life. A Chicago official said the sidewalk slab is now in temporary storage.

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