By Jade Walker

New Zealand legislators voted today to suspend three lawmakers from Parliament who performed a Māori haka last November in protest of a proposed law. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Te Pāti Māori (the Māori Party), Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days. Prior to this, the longest ban for a lawmaker from New Zealand’s Parliament was three days. The widely unpopular treaty bill, which the suspended lawmakers said would reverse Indigenous rights, has already been defeated.

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Alex Brandon/AP

Travel ban

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last night to ban travel from 12 countries to the US, citing the need to protect the country from "foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.” The travel ban, which will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on June 9, will restrict the entry of nationals from Afghanistan, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. People from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will face a partial restriction. During his first term, Trump barred travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations from coming to the US. That policy was challenged in court before President Joe Biden repealed it in 2021.

Israel-Hamas war

The US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the “unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.” The US was the only council member nation to oppose the resolution on Wednesday. As for humanitarian aid, a controversial organization backed by the US and Israel issued a 24-hour pause on aid after Palestinians en route to the distribution sites came under fire. Earlier today, the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages kidnapped by Hamas were returned to Israel. Judy Weinstein-Haggai, 70, and Gadi Haggai, 72, were killed near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Their remains were recovered during a military operation.

Universities

President Trump continued his feud with Ivy League schools on Wednesday by signing a proclamation to suspend international visas for new students at Harvard University. The move came after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to not make any changes to Harvard’s international student visa program indefinitely. The administration has demanded that Harvard change its hiring and admission requirements, eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and alter rules for on-campus protests. But the school has resisted those orders and filed a lawsuit claiming the government’s actions violate the First Amendment. Harvard wasn’t the only target of the Trump administration’s ire on Wednesday. The Department of Education also threatened Columbia University’s accreditation for allegedly tolerating antisemitism on campus. Accreditation is needed for students to gain access to federal money, including grants and loans. Columbia said it was “aware of the concerns raised” and had already addressed them.

Manhunt

A manhunt is underway for a person suspected of committing a triple homicide. Authorities are searching for Travis Decker, 32, a former Army soldier with “extensive training” who is wanted for the kidnapping and murder of his children. Last Friday, the mother of his three daughters, ages 9, 8 and 5, reported that Decker had not returned them following a planned visit. His pickup truck was discovered, unoccupied, on Monday near a campground west of Leavenworth, Washington. The girls' bodies were found about 75 to 100 yards away from the vehicle, The Seattle Times reported. A reward of up to $20,000 has been offered for information leading to Decker’s arrest. 

Oil spill

An estimated 2,000 gallons of dyed diesel have stained part of Baltimore’s waterfront red. According to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott, the fuel originated at a Johns Hopkins Hospital facility in East Baltimore. When Hopkins reported the spill on Wednesday morning, the facility estimated it was 100 gallons. Seven hours later, that amount was increased to about 2,000 gallons. Emergency crews from nearly a dozen state and city agencies have been working through the night with the US Coast Guard to remove the red-tinted fuel from the water.

Hi, moon. It’s me, Resilience. Can I come for a visit?
Resilience, an uncrewed lunar lander developed by Japan-based Ispace, will attempt to touch down in the moon's Mare Frigoris region at around 3 p.m. ET today.

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Pornhub exits France
Adult entertainment company Aylo has blocked users in France from accessing Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube because it objects to a new law requiring pornographic sites to verify the age of their users.

Doped athletes aren’t welcome
The governing body for all aquatic sports has introduced a ban on individuals who participate in a controversial new competition that allows athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs.

Check your freezers
The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced that some raw ground beef products sold at Whole Foods Market may be contaminated with E. coli.

‘Back to the Future’ stars reunite
Actors Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Harry Waters Jr. recently appeared in a video to ask fans and collectors to help them track down a piece of movie memorabilia that went missing about 40 years ago.

Wickedly excited
A trailer for the sequel to the 2024 hit movie “Wicked” has dropped and it’s sure to thrill Ozians everywhere. The new film, “Wicked: For Good,” will soar into theaters on November 21.

20,500

That’s how many people were evacuated in Cologne, Germany, yesterday after officials discovered three massive, unexploded bombs from World War II. It was the city’s largest evacuation since the war.

“My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role.”

— Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, a CDC official who oversaw agency recommendations for Covid-19 vaccines. She resigned last Friday, the same day the HHS announced it was removing the CDC's recommendation for pregnant women and healthy children to get Covid-19 vaccines.

Discover plants that only bloom after a burn
In South Africa’s Cape Floral Kingdom, two-thirds of its plant species grow nowhere else on Earth.

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