New York's District Attorney Is Investigating Allegations That Eric Schneiderman Abused Women

New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is under investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office after former partners accused him of physical abuse.

"Our office has opened an investigation into the recently reported allegations concerning Mr. Schneiderman," said a spokesperson for New York District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.

In a New Yorker article published Monday, four women — two of them on the record — who had personal relationships with Schneiderman outlined physical violence including slapping and choking, as well as emotional abuse.

Schneiderman, who lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side, announced his resignation three hours after the story came out. He denies the allegations made by the four women.

"It's been my great honor and privilege to serve as Attorney General for the people of the State of New York," Schneiderman said in a statement. "In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me. While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office's work at this critical time."

In an ironic twist, Schneiderman was already investigating how Vance handled Harvey Weinstein, who more than 70 women have accused of sexual harassment and assault. Vance decided to not pursue charges against Weinstein in 2015 despite police having a recording of Weinstein admitting to groping. Weinstein's lawyer had donated $55,000 to Vance in campaign contributions.

Barbara Underwood, the state's solicitor general, will serve in the state's AG role after Schneiderman's resignation.

But that's only temporary. The Assembly, which has the power to pick Schneiderman's replacement, will meet Tuesday morning to decide who will serve in the state's top legal position until a public election in November. It's unknown when it will make the decision.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed the allegations against Schneiderman on Tuesday morning, noting that he'd asked the DA's office to pursue its investigation.

"No one is above the law. No one should be afraid to come forward," said Cuomo.

The governor said he wanted to make sure the DA pursuing the case would "have no conflict whatsoever with the attorney general, either institutionally or personally" to assuage the women in the article who outlined that fear about Schneiderman's political power and position stopped them going public earlier.

"These women should have their day in court," he added.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.

Melania Trump Just Announced Plans To Fight Cyberbullying And Drug Addiction

First lady Melania Trump on Monday unveiled a broad initiative to promote children's health, in part, by combating bullying.

"As a mother and as first lady, it concerns me that in today's fast-paced and ever-connected world, children can be less prepared to express or manage their emotions and oftentimes turn to forms of destructive or addictive behavior such as bullying, drug addiction, or even suicide," she said at the White House Rose Garden.

Called "Be Best," the initiative will focus on three main areas: well-being, social media use, and opioid abuse. She also urged parents to talk to their children about healthy ways to act on the internet in a press release issued after her speech.

While she did not provide details of how she plans to implement Be Best, Trump highlighted things people, especially children, are already doing to illustrate her goals: a "buddy bench" at one school to ease loneliness; one teenager's viral video about her bullies; and organizations that help parents and children with opioid and other addictions.

Trump said she has already started working on Be Best's goals and plans to continue speaking with leaders in the technology industry about children's online habits, raising awareness around the importance of positive behavior, and working with those who have drug addictions.

"Most importantly, I will continue to travel and speak to children directly about both their victories and difficult realities that they face," she said.

Critics, however, have expressed skepticism over the first lady's commitment and ability to combat cyberbullying given her husband's history of being combative on Twitter.

When asked about the apparent dichotomy of what Melania Trump was trying to do and what her husband does virtually every day on social media, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said cyberbullying has been a problem for children "over the last decade."

"The idea that you are trying to blame cyberbullying on the president is kind of ridiculous," she told reporters.

Following his wife's speech, President Trump congratulated her for being an inspiration.

"Melania, your care and compassion for our nation's children, and I have to say this and I say to all the time, inspires us all," he said.

"The Mountain" From "Game Of Thrones" Just Became The Strongest Man In The World

"It’s my passion and my dream to become the world’s strongest man,” the 6'9 Björnsson told the Times.

Björnsson competed in the annual "World's Strongest Man" competition eight times over the years. He had come in second place and third place, but never won.

The competition consists of 16 events, including "pulling a truck or an airplane, carrying a refrigerator, lifting an Atlas stone weighing over 1,000 pounds, and lifting huge logs."

"Behind every strongman is a team. Team Iceland came out in force this year to push Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson - The Mountain to take home the #WSM title! 👊," the event page said.

Black Students At The University Of Florida Were Aggressively Dragged Off Stage During Their Graduation Ceremony

Christopher Garcia-Wilde, a 22-year-old graduate, told the Gainesville Sun that two of his friends wanted to celebrate getting their diplomas by strolling "which is a cultural tradition in historically black fraternities and sororities."

"It’s a tradition to stroll at graduation if you choose to, and people have been doing this for years," he said, adding that he was "too afraid" to stroll because he saw the usher shoving other people.

He also said the practice had been halted for all future ceremonies.

"We will work to make sure all graduating students know we are proud of their achievements and celebrate with them their graduation," Fuchs said in his statement. He repeated the comments at another commencement ceremony on Sunday.

University spokesperson Margot Winick told BuzzFeed News that the matter was still under review and did not address questions about whether the official would face any disciplinary action.

She said Fuchs had personally called each of the students impacted to apologize and "to let them know that the practice of physically interfering with students’ celebrations to rush them across the stage has been stopped from the graduation ceremonies thereafter."

Attah said she had planned what she wanted to do on stage "to celebrate my story, all of my hard work I'd done at the University of Florida."

"I tried to do one of my stroll moves, but I was instantly like blocked by one of the officials on stage and they aggressively pushed me off the stage after that," she told ABC News. "So I was definitely disappointed they took that moment from me because I can only get my bachelors once."

Describing his experience to the Gainesville Sun, Telusma said, "I had just started... and he picked me up and turned me around, which I thought was kind of embarrassing and degrading to be handled in that manner. It was just really uncalled for, especially for anyone not martially trained to do that."

Telusma said he believed the situation was racially motivated.

"It’s a situation where time and time again the university has made black bodies feel unsafe," he said.

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