Dozens of people were arrested at the University of Texas at Austin during protests over the Israel-Hamas war and state lawmakers are divided on the university’s response. Jack sits down with both major candidates in the race for U.S. Senate in Texas. And a preview of the runoff for Dallas County Sheriff, in which the incumbent is facing a challenge from the predecessor who hand-picked her.

Jack Fink covers these stories and more in the latest edition of Eye on Politics (original air date: April 28).

Protests flare

Dozens of people have been arrested at college campuses across the country in pro-Palestinian protests. Among the locations of these protests: UT Austin, UT Dallas and Columbia University. 

At UT’s flagship campus, 57 people were arrested after failing to disperse as ordered by police. Among those arrested, a news photographer for an Austin television station, who was knocked to the ground by officers. Travis County dropped the charges against the protesters. 

UT Austin President Jay Hartzell released a statement to students and faculty that read, in part:

“Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied.”

Republican State Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe told Jack the university did the best it could under the circumstances.

“What goes too far is showing up to occupy university space for the purpose of calling out Jewish students and the Jewish community on campus and chanting anti-Israel chants throughout the protest, and an effort to absolutely duplicate and repeat what happened at Columbia University just a few days before is just unacceptable,” Creighton said. 

But not everyone agrees. Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Democratic State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio, said UT’s response was not its best work. 

“My question would be, does that automatically require riot, police and riot gear with physical weapons,” Martinez Fischer said. “And does that require altercations that resulted in physical contact and potential injury? I’m not so sure that the the remedy met the response … President Hartzell has the absolute right to protect the students on campus, but I don’t believe you can justify that by letting other people get hurt in the process.”  

On the second day of protests at UT Austin, there were more students and faculty who joined, but law enforcement did not step in.

The situation was more calm at UT Dallas in Richardson, where protesters led a sit-in at the administration building. They dispersed after the university’s President agreed to meet with them and with a group of Jewish students.

And at Columbia University, pro-Palestinian demonstrations ignited a storm of controversy. Some people called for “death to Jews” and made statements against Israel and the U.S. A rabbi at Columbia messaged nearly 300 Jewish students to go home until it is safe to return.   

Jack spoke with both major candidates in the race for U.S. Senate in Texas about the issue.

“While folks have a right to protest, chanting things that are deeply anti-Semitic or are threatening is a line that, once that’s crossed, that’s no longer a protest, that’s an aggressive action,” said Democratic Congressman Colin Allred. “That’s what I’ve seen happening on these college campuses. To me, it’s gotten out of hand.”

Sen. Ted Cruz called the campus protests “disgraceful.”

“This vicious antisemitism is utterly unacceptable,” said Cruz. “We’re seeing radical activists who are pro-Hamas, who are chanting in favor of the Hamas terrorists that butchered 1,200 people on October 7.”

Marquee match-up

Jack also spoke with Allred and Cruz about their campaigns, border security and how they voted on a recent foreign aid package.

Watch Jack’s interview with Cruz below:

Watch Jack’s interview with Allred below:

The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Cruz leads Allred by 7.2 percentage points, 46% to 38.8%. The Cook Political Report rates this seat likely “R”.

Squaring off

One of the closest races being watched in Dallas County is the Democratic primary runoff on May 28 between incumbent Sheriff Marian Brown and her former boss, former Sheriff Lupe Valdez. Valdez hand-picked Brown to succeed her. 

Jack recently moderated a debate between them, sponsored by the Dallas Democratic Forum. During the debate, the candidates made their case to dozens of people on why they should win the Democratic primary runoff next month. 

“Some people said she wants her old job back,” said Valdez. “I don’t want my old job back … Correctional officers will tell you things are not improving, it’s getting worse. So, I made the decision after three years of several folks asking.”

In response, Brown said she wouldn’t have been Valdez’s hand-picked successor and appointed by county leaders if she hadn’t done a good job as the number three person in the department.

“When I hear there are 30 people who’ve asked my opponent to return, I say to you there are 2,100 employees at the department,” Brown said. “What percentage of 2,100 is 30 … I’m okay with that because in the real world, if you have 2,100 employees, you’re not going to please everybody.”

Watch Jack’s full report on this race by watching this week’s full episode of Eye on Politics at the top of this page.

Every week, CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and watch new episodes every Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on air and online. 

“We’re seeing increasing demand for virtual card payments, which our platform is perfectly suited for,” said John Mitchell, E6’s co-founder and CEO. “We’re also seeing an increase in demand for our virtual account, and we’re expected to have growing penetration around these two products in Hong Kong throughout the rest of the year.”

“We know there’s a push from the regulators to see more innovative working capital solutions deployed to SMEs, and we have a product that takes the concept of ‘buy now, pay later’ [BNPL] but industrialises it and makes it fit for purpose for commercial banks to offer to SME customers,” Muse-McKenney said, adding that there is some “good traction” taking place in the market, and E6 is looking to officially launch the new product in the second half of this year.

BNPL is a short-term instalment loan that allows customers to make purchases and pay for them later, without being charged interest.

“The problem across the region is that payments technology needs to be modernised,” said Mitchell. “Asia-Pacific is growing for E6, and some of the new payment products require technology that’s not readily available in the markets that we’re entering, whether that’s around contactless QR code payments, or interoperability between payment schemes.”

Both executives also highlighted Japan as “high on the list” for the start-up.

“Japan is a particularly compelling market for E6,” said Mitchell, adding that E6 has been on the ground in Japan since 2017. With positive macroeconomic trends and a fintech-friendly regulatory environment in Japan, financial institutions are investing in modernising their payment infrastructure, he added.

Ant Group adds 14 foreign payment apps in access boost for Hong Kong merchants

“Financial institutions in Asia have had more direct competition from fintechs, and thus they have had to wake up sooner and are more advanced in their thinking in terms of the digital experiences they need to create,” said Muse-McKenney.

“The payments innovation landscape in Asia, the idea of faster payments, is a really progressive agenda that’s being pushed, and so banks and financial institutions more broadly are at the forefront of payments innovation, whereas within [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] and North America, they’re more catching up.”

While also steadily expanding in Europe and North America, Asia remains E6’s largest market from both a revenue and accounts perspective, since the company was founded in 2015, Mitchell said.

Hong Kong SMEs more confident of growth than their Singapore, mainland peers

E6 in late April announced a partnership with Singapore-licensed financial institution DCS Card Centre that will allow fintech companies to issue their own branded credit cards through E6’s customer interface.

Powered by E6’s card issuance technology, the solution reduces the process needed to launch a new credit card from up to six months to a matter of weeks. It also incorporates access to a virtual account that allows for top-ups with fiat currency through bank transfers, or with digital assets via DCS tokens, which are directly issued by DCS.

With a presence in more than 35 countries, E6 completed its most recent financing round in March 2023, raising US$48 million from investors led by Avenir. E6’s other existing backers include HSBC, Mastercard, SBI Investment Co and Anthos Capital.

AUSTIN, Texas — Diego Rubio and Jáder Obrian scored first-half goals and Brad Stuver notched his second straight clean sheet as Austin FC blanked the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 on Saturday.

Austin (4-3-3) jumped in front in the 7th minute when Rubio took a through ball from Obrian and drilled a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner of the net. It was Rubio’s third goal of the season and the second assist for Obrian.

Obrian made it 2-0 in the 19th minute with his second netter of the campaign. Obrian used an assist from Alexander Ring on a fast break to send a right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner.

Brad Stuver finished with four saves — three in the first half — for Austin, which has won four of its last five matches. Stuver has posted three shutouts this season.

John McCarthy stopped three shots for the Galaxy (5-2-3), who entered play having won four of their last five matches to move to the top of the Western Conference.

Austin won by holding Dejan Joveljić and Riqui Puig in check. Joveljić entered play with three goals and three assists in five career appearances — one start — against the club. Puig had two goals and an assist in two career starts against Austin.

The Galaxy scored 21 goals in their first nine matches with 13 coming in the second half. LA was shut out for the first time this season and falls to 3-2-1 on the road.

Austin picked up its second victory over the Galaxy, improving to 2-4-1 in the all-time series.

Austin travels to play the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday. The Galaxy head to Seattle to take on the Sounders on Sunday.