• Associated Press

    Italy's RAI journalists strike over budget streamlining, complain of censorship and media repression

    Journalists at Italy’s state-run RAI went on strike Monday to protest budget streamlining and what they said was an increasingly repressive atmosphere in Italy for media under the government of Premier Giorgia Meloni. The 24-hour RAI strike is the latest protest by Italian journalists against what they say are threats to freedom of the press and expression in Italy, including criminal investigations of journalists and suspected episodes of censorship.

  • Associated Press

    Minnesota Democrats propose constitutional amendment to protect abortion and LGBTQ rights

    Minnesota Democrats have introduced far-reaching legislation to add abortion and LGBTQ rights to the state's constitution in hopes of making it much harder for future lawmakers to repeal these and other rights in the future. The Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment was introduced last week and has its first legislative hearing Monday. It would be among the most expansive protections of abortion and LGBTQ rights in the nation if it is approved by lawmakers this session and then by voters on the 2026 ballot.

  • Associated Press

    Columbia University cancels main commencement after protests that roiled campus for weeks

    Columbia University is canceling its large university-wide commencement ceremony amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests but will hold smaller school-based ceremonies this week and next, the university announced Monday. “Based on feedback from our students, we have decided to focus attention on our Class Days and school-level graduation ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, and to forego the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15,” Columbia officials said in a statement. The protests stem from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages.