The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they happen.
Cory Booker sets US Senate record with 24-hour speech against Trump
Democrat Cory Booker sets a record for the longest speech in US Senate history after speaking for more than 24 hours, a dramatic gesture highlighting what he says is President Donald Trump’s threat to US democracy.
Booker is still talking after 24 hours and 20 minutes on the Senate floor, breaking the record set in 1957 by Strom Thurmond in a speech opposing the Civil Rights Act.
When he was 19 hours into the marathon speech, Booker deployed his famous facility with Hebrew to proclaim, “Hineni,” I am here.
Princeton says US federal grants frozen, vows to ‘cooperate with government in combating antisemitism’
Princeton University says the US government froze several dozen research grants to the school, becoming the latest academic institution targeted by the Trump administration.
In a statement, Princeton President Chris Eisgruber says government agencies including NASA and the defense and energy departments notified the university of the move but gave no reasons for the action. Princeton doesn’t provide a dollar value for the grants.
The Trump administration has threatened to slash federal funding for other universities over their alleged tolerance of antisemitism and a failure to protect Jewish students during last year’s pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
“We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism. Princeton will also vigorously defend academic freedom and the due process rights of this university,” Eisgruber says in the statement.
The federal agencies have no immediate comment.
US judge rejects Trump administration’s bid to move Mahmoud Khalil’s case to Louisiana
NEW YORK — A federal judge has ruled that the legal battle over Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation should continue to play out in New Jersey, rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to transfer the Columbia University protester’s case to Louisiana.
In a written decision, US District Judge Michael Farbiarz in Newark says jurisdiction over the case should remain in New Jersey since Khalil was being held there at the time his lawyer’s filed their Habeas Corpus petition.
“The court’s jurisdiction is not defeated by the petitioner having been moved to Louisiana,” the judge writes, describing the government’s argument otherwise as “unpersuasive.”
The ruling does not guarantee that Khalil will be moved out of a detention facility in Louisiana, where he is being held as the government seeks his deportation for his role in campus protests against Israel. But it will allow his attorneys to make their arguments for his release before a judge in New Jersey.
If the case were to go forward in Louisiana, it may have ultimately ended up before one of the nation’s most conservative appeals courts, possibly allowing those judges to issue a precedent-setting ruling on both Khalil’s case and the Trump administration’s broader efforts to deport noncitizen student activists.
IDF said to carry out airstrikes in southern Gaza’s Rafah and Khan Younis
Israeli aircraft are carrying out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, including in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, according to Palestinian media reports.
There is no immediate statement from the Israel Defense Forces.
Pentagon announces deployment of second US aircraft carrier to Mideast
WASHINGTON — The United States is increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon says.
The Harry S. Truman will be joined by the Carl Vinson “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell says in a statement.