Nation and world news in brief for December 12
Colleges warn foreign students to get to campus before Trump takes office
(NYT) — With students at many colleges wrapping up final exams this week and preparing for their winter break, a number of schools, including Harvard University, University of Southern California and Cornell University, are advising their international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
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During his last administration, Trump imposed restrictions on entry to the United States from seven majority-Muslim countries, a policy that stranded thousands of students who were abroad at the time. Later in his term, Trump added more countries to the restricted travel list. And he has spoken of wanting to reimpose those restrictions once he is back in the White House.
“A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration,” Cornell’s Office of Global Learning warned students on its website late last month, advising them to be back in the United States before the start of spring-semester classes on Jan. 21. “The ban is likely to include citizens of the countries targeted in the first Trump administration: Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Sudan, Tanzania, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia. New countries could be added to this list, particularly China and India.”
Colleges are also warning all students to prepare for possible delays at the border and in the processing of paperwork.
Felon who attacked Las Vegas judge sentenced to decades in prison
(Reuters) — A Nevada man who vaulted over a judge’s bench in a Las Vegas courtroom to attack her in January has been sentenced to decades in prison, according to court records.
Deobra Redden, 31, was sentenced on Tuesday to between 26 and 65 years in prison over the attack on Judge Mary Kay Holthus, of Clark County District Court. Holthus, 62 at the time, sustained injuries but was able to return to work.
Citing mental illness, Redden pleaded guilty in September to attempted murder and other charges. He said in court on Tuesday he did not intend to kill Holthus, according to KLAS-TV.
The sentence was handed down by Judge Susan Johnson of the Eighth Judicial District Court for Clark County. Johnson said the man’s actions amounted to “an attack on the judiciary.”
The violence in January unfolded in chaotic scenes captured on courtroom video.
Footage showed Redden jumping head first over the judge’s bench as she attempted to scramble out of the way. Two men and a uniformed court officer tackled and punched Redden, as he yelled expletives and hurled punches before being dragged away.
The attack happened as the judge was about to sentence Redden in January to a 2023 battery charge to which he had pleaded guilty. He was later sentenced to 19 to 48 months over that charge.
Redden also served prison time after he was found guilty of attempted theft in 2019 and then in 2021 for domestic battery, online court records showed.
Trump asks judge to dismiss Central Park Five defamation lawsuit
(Reuters) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of making defamatory statements during his campaign about five Black and Hispanic men who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned for the 1989 rape of a white jogger in New York’s Central Park.
Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing that his statements about the men, known widely as the Central Park Five, were legally protected expressions of opinion.
The Central Park Five were cleared in 2002 based on new DNA evidence and another person’s confession. Trump falsely said at a Sept. 10 presidential debate with Democrat Kamala Harris that they had killed a person and pleaded guilty.
Malibu wildfire rages on, destroys several structures
(Reuters) — Firefighters made some progress in containing a wildfire in the beach community of Malibu, California, on Wednesday, but it continued to threaten several structures, force residents to flee and close schools in the area.
More than 1,500 firefighters were battling the Franklin Fire, which had scorched nearly 4,000 acres (1,620 hectares) and was 7% contained as of Wednesday morning, as it burned in the steep, rugged terrain northwest of Los Angeles.
The fire, which started on Monday night, has destroyed at least seven structures and damaged nine others, Chief Anthony Marrone of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said on Wednesday.
No deaths or injuries from the fire have been reported, and its cause remains unknown, officials said.
Time magazine to name Trump ‘Person of the Year’
(Reuters) — Donald Trump will ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday on the same day he is expected to be named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” according to two people familiar with the selection and plans.
A spokesperson for Time declined to comment on the selection.
The Republican president-elect built his fortune as a New York real estate investor before turning to politics. During his first term as president, he measured his success in part by the strength of the stock market, which has so far welcomed his re-election.
The ringing of the bell signifies the start or closing of the trading day at the world’s largest stock exchange, and is considered an honor. The act has historically been reserved for company executives celebrating an initial public offering or other major corporate milestones, but celebrities and politicians like Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela and Arnold Schwarzenegger have also rung it.
Politico first reported the news of Trump’s selection and plans.
Time bestowed the “Person of the Year” title to Trump once before, in 2016. It named Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “Person of the Year” in 2020, after they defeated Trump. Pop star Taylor Swift received the title last year.
Shirtless man on flight pinned flight attendant against door: Prosecutors
(TNS) — A man aboard a Newark, New Jersey-bound flight is accused of taking off his shirt and pinning a flight attendant against an exit door while shouting “epithets and threats of physical violence,” federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Kedus Yacob Damtew, 38, was charged in Newark federal court with one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants by assault or intimidation, Philip R. Sellinger, the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, said in a news release.
The incident unfolded earlier this year, according to the criminal complaint.
Damtew was a passenger on United Airlines flight 2732, arriving at Newark International Airport from Houston when a “conversation” with a flight attendant turned violent.
Shortly before landing, Damtew allegedly removed his shirt before pushing his bare chest into the flight attendant’s chest and pinning the victim against the exit door.
He’s also accused of shouting at the flight attendant — at such proximity that the victim’s face became “covered in saliva” — and punching an aircraft oven, according to the affidavit.
Damtew then followed the flight attendant to the rear of the aircraft, still shouting epithets and threats of physical violence, and “threw a cup of water,” investigators said
After a second flight attendant requested assistance over the plane’s public address system, several passengers managed to help secure Damtew in flex cuffs in the plane’s last row until it landed in Newark.
As a result of Damtew’s conduct, flight attendants couldn’t properly complete pre-landing duties and the pilot was “unable to complete standard safety cross-checks before landing,” the affidavit further states.
Damtew appeared in federal court in Washington, D.C., earlier this month and was released pending a court appearance.
He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.