Some U.S. universities called in police to break up demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war, resulting in ugly scuffles and dozens of new arrests. Other schools appeared content to wait out student protests Thursday, as the final days of the semester ticked down and graduation ceremonies loomed. Boston police say 108 people were arrested early Thursday at Emerson College and four officers suffered injuries at an encampment. Police peacefully arrested 93 pro-Palestinian student protesters at the University of Southern California Wednesday evening. The arrests came hours after police at a Texas university aggressively detained 34 demonstrators.

Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following last week's arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.

A body believed to be that of a missing truck driver has been found in a northwest Iowa field not far from where his abandoned rig was discovered on an isolated highway just before Thanksgiving, but details of his death remain a mystery. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says someone in his field discovered a body Wednesday, near where 53-year-old David Schultz’s semi was found on Nov. 21. The DPS didn’t identify the body as that of Schultz and says in a news release that a forensic autopsy is planned. But Schultz’s wife, Sarah, told reporters on Thursday that the person found was wearing boots that matched her husband’s, and his keys were found in the pants pocket.

The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago. A bulk carrier sailing under a Panama flag passed through the new 35-foot channel Thursday morning, headed for St. John, Canada. The ship is one of five stranded vessels expected to pass through the new, temporary channel. A container ship named Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month, causing the bridge to collapse. The port’s main channel is set to reopen next month after the Dali has been moved.

New York’s highest court has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction and ordered a new trial. The Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the judge at the disgraced movie mogul’s landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced him with improper rulings, including by letting women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. The 72-year-old Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence in New York. He’ll remain imprisoned because a 2022 conviction in a Los Angeles rape case resulted in a 16-year prison term. Weinstein's lawyer called the reversal a "tremendous victory." A dissenting judge called it part of a "disturbing trend" of reversals in cases involving sexual violence.

Authorities investigating New York's Gilgo Beach killings have launched a sprawling search of a wooded area on Long Island. A law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation told The Associated Press about the search area on condition of anonymity. The case has fueled national speculation after years of dead ends. Months ago, prosecutors charged a New York architect with murder in the death of four of the 11 women whose remains were found buried along a remote beach highway in 2010 and 2011. The law enforcement official said dozens of canine units and officers started searching the wooded area Tuesday.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Fellow U.S. Army reservists who witnessed the mental and physical decline of a colleague who would commit Maine’s deadliest mass shooting told a commission investigating the killings Thursday that they tried to intervene before the tragedy.

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A gay actor’s speech that was canceled over his “lifestyle” is back on at a Pennsylvania school after residents spoke out.

A reluctant Donald Trump is back in a New York City courtroom as his hush money trial resumes in New York with testimony from a longtime tabloid publisher. New York Judge Juan Merchan is also weighing whether to hold Trump in contempt and fine him for what prosecutors say were 10 different violations of a gag order that barred the GOP leader from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others connected to the case. Prosecutors on Thursday brought up fresh examples of where they believe Trump violated the order.