Cornell University is suspending students after an encampment on campus declined to move to an alternate location, President Martha E. Pollack said in a message Monday.

"Last Thursday, a group of individuals formed an encampment on the Arts Quad," Pollack said. "A student group had previously requested permission for an art installation there, consistent with our policies; however, they were dishonest in their request, stating that there would not be tents and that the art installation would be removed by 8 p.m. on Thursday."

Cornell University leaders then offered an alternative location for the encampment, according to Pollack.

"With an approved permit in hand, the protesters could have remained in the alternative location, per our policies, thereby avoiding disciplinary sanctions," Pollack's message said.

As Democrats play defense in U.S. Senate races this year, two battleground-state incumbents start out ahead in their reelection campaigns. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin are currently leading their lesser-known Republican challengers by seven points.

Both Casey and Baldwin enjoyed large margins of victory in 2018, but their reelection bids look more competitive at the moment in what is a more challenging environment. We find plenty of undecided voters and good reasons for the races to tighten as the campaigns heat up this fall.

These estimates are snapshots of the race early in the election cycle. With several months to go before voting starts, there is plenty of time for movement.

So here's why things could change: For one, the Republicans in the race are not well known to voters. It was under a week ago that David McCormick officially became the GOP nominee in Pennsylvania. He also ran for Senate in 2022, but lost to Mehmet Oz in the GOP primary. Eric Hovde in Wisconsin is currently much less familiar to voters than Baldwin, but the primary there isn't until August, giving him plenty of time to get on voters' radars and make his case.

Matt Gaetz has Republican Challenger

Former Naval Aviator Aaron Dimmock filed to run in the Republican primary against Matt Gaetz in Florida's 1st Congressional district on the very last day of the deadline. He is rumored to be backed by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his allies.

McCarthy has been on a revenge tour targeting the small band of Republican rebels who voted to oust him from the Speakership, and there is nobody McCarthy would like to take out more than their ringleader Matt Gaetz. Their feud has been nasty and well-publicized, with McCarthy alleging that Gaetz only wanted to oust him because he refused to halt the Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz allegedly paying for sex from an underaged girl.

McCarthy is also openly backing a primary challenger to Nancy Mace, who joined Gaetz as a leader of the movement to topple McCarthy. Mace posted a video attacking McCarthy where she said he was "a bitter mean-girl on a revenge tour." McCarthy responded that Mace needs to "seek help" for psychiatric issues.

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/matt-gaetz-has-republican-challenger

(KTLA) — After the family cat mysteriously “vanished,” Carrie Stevens Clark said she tried everything to find her — from paper flyers, social media posts and searching every nook and cranny of her Utah neighborhood.

On April 17, a week after Galena’s disappearance, Clark received a call from more than 600 miles away from home. Turns out the seven days of searching didn’t work because the family cat took an impromptu trip to the Golden State.

“I got a call that changed everything,” Clark posted to Facebook. “Her microchip was scanned, I was immediately notified via text and a vet called me to say they had Galena and she was in CALIFORNIA!!”

Clark said that without her and her family’s knowledge, Galena hopped inside a package full of products they were returning to Amazon. After the box was sealed and shipped off, the cat went on a six-day adventure without food or water before ending up in a return center in Riverside.

https://www.wkrn.com/news/national/utah-couple-accidentally-ships-pet-cat-to-california-in-amazon-return-package/

Humza Yousaf is preparing to quit as Scotland’s first minister after coming to the conclusion that his position is no longer tenable.

Senior SNP figures have been told the nationalist leader decided over the weekend that there is no way for him to survive this week’s vote of no confidence and he may stand down on Monday.

It comes as Yousaf struggles to put ­together a coalition of MSPs that would keep him in office after he sacked the Scottish Greens from government.

A close friend said: “Humza knows what’s best for the country and the party. He is first party activist and a party man, and that’s why he knows it’s time for someone else.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/humza-yousaf-set-to-resign-as-survival-hopes-fade-rwr2f5p0j

Nearly 200 protesters were arrested on Saturday at Northeastern University, Arizona State University, Indiana University and Washington University in St. Louis, according to officials, as colleges across the country struggle to quell growing pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments on campus.

More than 700 protesters have been arrested on U.S. campuses since April 18, when Columbia University had the New York Police Department clear a protest encampment there. In several cases, most of those who were arrested have been released.

At Washington University in St. Louis, the campus was locked down amid protests and several arrests were made on Saturday evening, according to the campus police and updates on the university website. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for the 2024 presidential election, was among the arrested, along with her campaign manager and another staff member, a spokesman for the campaign said. It was not immediately clear how many people were arrested.

Earlier in the day, at Northeastern in Boston, protesters had set up an encampment on the campus’s Centennial Common this week that drew more than 100 supporters. The administration had asked the protesters to leave, but many students did not.