In First Cabinet Meeting after Elections, Netanyahu Announces Military Exhibition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smiles upon his arrival to a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 14, 2019. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smiles upon his arrival to a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 14, 2019. (Reuters)
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In First Cabinet Meeting after Elections, Netanyahu Announces Military Exhibition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smiles upon his arrival to a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 14, 2019. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smiles upon his arrival to a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 14, 2019. (Reuters)

In the first cabinet meeting after winning elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the military exhibition, which will be held on the streets of Jerusalem on “Independence Day” on May 9.

Netanyahu commended the members of the cabinet and said: “I congratulate the government on four years of achievements and achievements, which is reflected in the public's trust, and we will continue to do so in the next government.”

He then recalled watching the military exhibition when he was 10 years old and recalled the impact it had on him when he realized Israel had an army.

“Therefore, today we will decide to hold our own exhibition in Jerusalem, so that it will reflect the great contribution of the military to the state of Israel and its security,” he said.

Moreover, Netanyahu ignored the challenges he will face in forming his new government, namely the cases against him filed by the prosecution for his involvement in corruption.

Netanyahu finished by speaking of Israel’s failed attempt to land the Beresheet spacecraft on the moon last week.

“It [Israel] became one of the seven countries to reach lunar orbit and one of four countries to land on the moon, although not in the optimal way,” he said.

He pledged that Israel will launch a second spaceship, named Beresheet II, hoping it will be successful.

“We will try again and again until we succeed. I estimate that we will have a better chance of succeeding the second time. According to what I have heard and the mishaps that I saw there, people will evaluate the problem and are also capable of dealing with it.”

Furthermore, he welcomed the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague's decision not to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the United States in Afghanistan.

"They're picking on the United States and Israel, two democracies, which by the way are not members of the international court, but there's no doubt that we have the best judicial systems in the world," Netanyahu said.

He condemned putting American or Israeli soldiers on trial, saying it is a “reversal of the whole original point of the ICC.”

"Therefore, what we have here is a correction of injustice, and it is an act that has far-reaching influence with regard to the conduct of the international system in relation to Israel," added the prime minister.

Netanyahu also congratulated the United States, President Trump and his administration for their support to Israeli citizens and the army which, as in previous times, proved that Israel has no better friend than the United States, and “we very much appreciate this support in other areas as well.”



US Eyes Curbs on China's Access to AI Software

Flags of China and US are displayed on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips, in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Flags of China and US are displayed on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips, in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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US Eyes Curbs on China's Access to AI Software

Flags of China and US are displayed on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips, in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Flags of China and US are displayed on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips, in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

The Biden administration is poised to open up a new front in its effort to safeguard US AI from China with preliminary plans to place guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, sources said, Reuters reported.
The Commerce Department is considering a new regulatory push to restrict the export of proprietary or closed source AI models, whose software and the data it is trained on are kept under wraps, three people familiar with the matter said.
Any action would complement a series of measures put in place over the last two years to block the export of sophisticated AI chips to China in an effort to slow Beijing's development of the cutting edge technology for military purposes. Even so, it will be hard for regulators to keep pace with the industry's fast-moving developments.
The Commerce Department declined to comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Reuters.
Currently, nothing is stopping US AI giants like Microsoft (MSFT.O), OpenAI, Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), Google DeepMind and rival Anthropic, which have developed some of the most powerful closed source AI models, from selling them to almost anyone in the world without government oversight.
Government and private sector researchers worry US adversaries could use the models, which mine vast amounts of text and images to summarize information and generate content, to wage aggressive cyber attacks or even create potent biological weapons.
To develop an export control on AI models, the sources said the US may turn to a threshold contained in an AI executive order issued last October that is based on the amount of computing power it takes to train a model. When that level is reached, a developer must report its AI model development plans and provide test results to the Commerce Department.
That computing power threshold could become the basis for determining what AI models would be subject to export restrictions, according to two US officials and another source briefed on the discussions. They declined to be named because details have not been made public.
If used, it would likely only restrict the export of models that have yet to be released, since none are thought to have reached the threshold yet, though Google's Gemini Ultra is seen as being close, according to EpochAI, a research institute tracking AI trends.
The agency is far from finalizing a rule proposal, the sources stressed. But the fact that such a move is under consideration shows the US government is seeking to close gaps in its effort to thwart Beijing's AI ambitions, despite serious challenges to imposing a muscular regulatory regime on the fast-evolving technology.
As the Biden administration looks at competition with China and the dangers of sophisticated AI, AI models "are obviously one of the tools, one of the potential choke points that you need to think about here," said Peter Harrell, a former National Security Council official. "Whether you can, in fact, practically speaking, turn it into an export-controllable chokepoint remains to be seen," he added.


Russia's Biggest Airstrike in Weeks Piles Pressure on Ukraine Power Grid

Ukrainian servicemen use a searchlight as they search for drones in the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Purchase Licensing Rights
Ukrainian servicemen use a searchlight as they search for drones in the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Purchase Licensing Rights
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Russia's Biggest Airstrike in Weeks Piles Pressure on Ukraine Power Grid

Ukrainian servicemen use a searchlight as they search for drones in the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Purchase Licensing Rights
Ukrainian servicemen use a searchlight as they search for drones in the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Purchase Licensing Rights

Russian missiles and drones struck nearly a dozen Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities on Wednesday, causing serious damage at three Soviet-era thermal power plants and blackouts in multiple regions, officials said.

Ukraine's air force said it shot down 39 of 55 missiles and 20 of 21 attack drones used for the attack, which piles more pressure on the energy system more than two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

"Another massive attack on our energy industry!" Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on the Telegram app, Reuters reported.

Two people were injured in the Kyiv region and one was hurt in the Kirovohrad region, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Galushchenko said power generation and transmission facilities in the Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia regions were targeted.

Some 350 rescuers raced to minimise the damage to energy facilities, 30 homes, public transport vehicles, cars, and a fire station, the interior ministry said.

National power grid operator Ukrenergo said it was forced to introduce electricity cuts in nine regions for consumers and that it would expand them nationwide for businesses during peak evening hours until 11 p.m. (2000 GMT).

Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, interviewed by the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet, said electricity imports would not make up for power shortages. He said hydropower stations had also been hit, clarifying an earlier company statement omitting hydro stations from the list of affected facilities.

Power cuts for industrial users, he said, were "almost guaranteed" but interruptions for domestic users would depend on how well they reduced consumption.

"Many important power stations were damaged," he said, citing three stations operated by DTEK, Ukraine's biggest private company, as well as two hydropower stations.

"The damage is on quite a large scale. There is a significant loss of generating power, so significant that even imports of power from Europe will not cover the shortage that has been created in the energy system."

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Russia's defence ministry said it struck Ukraine's military-industrial complex and energy facilities in retaliation for Kyiv's strikes on Russian energy facilities.

"As a result of the strike, Ukraine's capabilities for the output of military products, as well as the transfer of Western weapons and military equipment to the line of contact, have been significantly reduced," the ministry said.


China, Serbia Chart 'Shared Future' as Xi Jinping Visits Europe

 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his wife Tamara Vucic welcome China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for an official two-day state visit, at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Marko Djurica Purchase Licensing Rights
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his wife Tamara Vucic welcome China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for an official two-day state visit, at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Marko Djurica Purchase Licensing Rights
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China, Serbia Chart 'Shared Future' as Xi Jinping Visits Europe

 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his wife Tamara Vucic welcome China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for an official two-day state visit, at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Marko Djurica Purchase Licensing Rights
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his wife Tamara Vucic welcome China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for an official two-day state visit, at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Marko Djurica Purchase Licensing Rights

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Serbia on Tuesday evening escorted by MIG-29 jets in a tightly secured visit coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of China's embassy in which three Chinese journalists were killed.

Belgrade, after France, is the second stop on Xi's first visit to Europe in five years, which also includes Hungary. In Serbia, which is seen as China's most important partner in the Balkans, Xi is expected to discuss China´s multi-billion investment in the country and possible new deals.

 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and government officials welcomed Xi at the Belgrade airport, where he was greeted by a military guard of honor and folk dancers. The two leaders will hold a meeting on Wednesday.

On May 7, 1999, 20 Chinese nationals were wounded in the NATO attack, which prompted outrage in China and an apology from then US President Bill Clinton.

The embassy was hit during a campaign against the then Yugoslavia to force late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic to end a crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, Reuters reported.

"The Chinese people appreciate the peace but will never allow that a historic tragedy repeats itself," Xi said in an opinion article in the daily Politika on Tuesday.

"The friendship between China and Serbia which is soaked in blood that the two peoples spilled together has become a joint memory of the two peoples and will encourage both parties to make together huge steps forward," Xi said.

The Belgrade streets were decorated with Chinese flags and placards as thousands of police officers were deployed to secure Xi and his 400-member entourage, the highest-level visit by a foreign leader in years.

Xi is visiting Serbia after France, where President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen pressed him to ensure more balanced trade with Europe and use his influence on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

During his first visit to Belgrade in 2016, the two countries signed a strategic partnership. Last year, Vucic signed 18 agreements with Xi in Beijing, including a free trade deal that should become operational in July.

Both leaders insist on an ironclad partnership between their countries. Along with Hungary, which is Xi´s next stop, Serbia is Europe's firmest supporter of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

China runs mines and factories across Serbia and has lent billions for roads, bridges and new facilities, becoming Serbia's key partner in much-needed infrastructure development.

Observers say Xi's choice of Serbia and Hungary is designed to pull closer two European countries that are pro-Russia and large recipients of Chinese investment. Serbia’s Western partners view the country as a Chinese hub at the gateway to the EU.

In 2023, China was Serbia’s second-largest trading partner after the EU with a total trade exchange of $6.1 billion and among its top five investors, according to the national investment agency.


Jewish Groups Protest Iran Ex-leader's Hungary Visit

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. AFP file photo
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. AFP file photo
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Jewish Groups Protest Iran Ex-leader's Hungary Visit

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. AFP file photo
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. AFP file photo

Hungarian Jewish organizations and the Israeli embassy have condemned a public university for inviting Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an event this week.

The Budapest-based Ludovika University of Public Service invited the politician -- who has said Israel is doomed to be "wiped off the map" and that the Holocaust was a "myth" -- to an academic meeting.

Two Hungarian Jewish congregations, together with a Jewish advocacy group, were the latest to protest the visit of "openly anti-Semitic" Ahmadinejad in a joint statement Wednesday.

They urged the university "to consider whether it wishes to give Ahmadinejad the opportunity to spread his dangerous and poisonous ideas within the walls of the institution".

The country's main Jewish organization also condemned the invitation, urging the university to give an explanation and to apologise to the Hungarian Jewish community, AFP reported.

The visit was in "direct contradiction to the principle of zero tolerance against anti-Semitism proclaimed by the Hungarian government", it added.

The Israeli embassy called the visit a "grave insult" that "tramples on the memory" of the 600,000 Hungarian Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

Ludovika University of Public Service did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

Hungary's Foreign Ministry said the government "does not interfere in university programs".

"The government has not received the former Iranian president. His programme is a university programme," it said in a statement.

Hungary hosts central Europe's biggest Jewish community with some 100,000 members.

According to Iran's ILNA news agency, Ahmadinejad arrived in Hungary to give a speech and take part in a meeting on environmental issues taking place at the university from May 6 to 10.

The 67-year-old, who was Iran's president from 2005 to 2013, is currently a member of an advisory board to supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has close relations with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, voicing unequivocal support for Israel's military offensive on Gaza.

But Hungary also has a friendly attitude towards Iran. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto held talks in Tehran this February, marking a rare visit from an EU and NATO member state.


Amsterdam Police Break up Pro-Palestinian Student Protest

Hundreds of students, faculty and staff of the university and sympathizers protest in front of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 07 May 2024, during a protest in solidarity with pro-Palestinian students who protested a day earlier at the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and were removed by the police. (EPA)
Hundreds of students, faculty and staff of the university and sympathizers protest in front of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 07 May 2024, during a protest in solidarity with pro-Palestinian students who protested a day earlier at the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and were removed by the police. (EPA)
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Amsterdam Police Break up Pro-Palestinian Student Protest

Hundreds of students, faculty and staff of the university and sympathizers protest in front of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 07 May 2024, during a protest in solidarity with pro-Palestinian students who protested a day earlier at the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and were removed by the police. (EPA)
Hundreds of students, faculty and staff of the university and sympathizers protest in front of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 07 May 2024, during a protest in solidarity with pro-Palestinian students who protested a day earlier at the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and were removed by the police. (EPA)

Dutch riot police broke up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) on Wednesday, battling demonstrators who had vowed to stay put until the institution severed all ties with Israel.

Protesters on barricades made of desks, fences, wooden pallets and bricks used fire extinguishers to keep the police at bay, images on the local TV station AT5 showed.

Police hit protesters with batons and used a shovel to knock down the barricades, breaking through in a matter of minutes.

Hundreds of protesters on the narrow streets outside shouted "Shame on you!" as the police pushed them away from the campus site and dragged many protesters away.

The police had detained 169 people early on Tuesday after sometimes violent clashes as they cleared a similar protest at another UvA site.

Students in the Dutch capital have joined a wave of sit-ins and other actions at universities throughout Europe against Israel's war in Gaza, following larger-scale disturbances at US universities.

UvA managers had hoped talks on Wednesday would bring an end to the protests, but the students dug in, pulling up bricks from the streets and pavements near to the 19th-century campus and forming human chains to take them to the barricade.

The protesters say the Israeli institutions that the university works with profit from oppression of Palestinians.


EU Staff Members Protest Israel’s War in Gaza

 Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages of aid supplies, after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 8, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages of aid supplies, after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 8, 2024. (Reuters)
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EU Staff Members Protest Israel’s War in Gaza

 Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages of aid supplies, after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 8, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages of aid supplies, after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 8, 2024. (Reuters)

More than 100 staff members of European Union institutions gathered in Brussels on Wednesday in a protest against Israel's war in Gaza.

Protesters laid three rolled-up white sheets with red stains on them on the square outside the European Commission's head office in the Belgian capital.

On the three "bodies" the words International Law, EU Treaties and Genocide Convention were written, in a protest of the way Israel has responded to the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7.

"We're coming together in a peaceful assembly, to stand up for those rights, principles and values that the European institutions are build on," EU Commission staff member Manus Carlisle told Reuters.

"The reasons why we work here and love to work here. Those values of human rights, human dignity and freedom especially."

Fellow protester Simona Baloghova, who works for the European Committee of the Regions, added the protest should not be seen as a political statement.

"The idea of this protest is that we are neutral," she said. "We are not political, we just stand by the EU values."

Israel's offensive has killed more than 34,800 Palestinians in seven months of war in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The war began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.

The European Commission had no comment on the protest.


Police Clear Pro-Palestinian Tent Encampment at George Washington University, Dozens Arrested 

A drone view shows demonstrators rallying at a protest encampment of supporters of Palestinians in Gaza, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, US May 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows demonstrators rallying at a protest encampment of supporters of Palestinians in Gaza, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, US May 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Police Clear Pro-Palestinian Tent Encampment at George Washington University, Dozens Arrested 

A drone view shows demonstrators rallying at a protest encampment of supporters of Palestinians in Gaza, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, US May 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows demonstrators rallying at a protest encampment of supporters of Palestinians in Gaza, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, US May 7, 2024. (Reuters)

Police began to clear a Pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University in Washington, DC, early Wednesday, hours after dozens of protesters left the site and marched to President Ellen Granberg’s home.

“Officers gave their third and final warning to demonstrators to move at about 3:30 a.m., saying all who remained in U-Yard and the stretch of H Street in front of the plaza would be arrested,” according to GW Hatchet, the university’s independent student-run newspaper.

University officials had warned in statements of possible suspensions for students engaging in protest activities on University Yard.

“While the university is committed to protecting students’ rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawful activity, with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations,” the university said in a statement.

Local media had reported that some protesters were pepper sprayed as police stopped them from entering the encampment and nearly 30 people had been arrested, according to community organizers.

Tuesday evening, protesters carrying signs that read, “Free Palestine” and “Hands off Rafah,” marched to Granberg’s home. Police were called to maintain the crowd. No arrests were made.

This comes as Mayor Muriel Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela Smith are set to testify about the District’s handling of the protest at a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Wednesday afternoon.

A pro-Palestinian tent encampment was cleared at the University of Chicago on Tuesday after administrators who had initially adopted a permissive approach said the protest had crossed a line and caused growing concerns about safety.

University President Paul Alivisatos acknowledged the school’s role as a protector of freedom of speech after officers in riot gear blocked access to the school's Quad but also took an enough-is-enough stance.

“The university remains a place where dissenting voices have many avenues to express themselves, but we cannot enable an environment where the expression of some dominates and disrupts the healthy functioning of the community for the rest,” Alivisatos wrote in a message to the university community.

Tensions have continued to ratchet up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the US — and increasingly, in Europe — nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University. Some colleges cracked down immediately on protests against the Israel-Hamas war. Among those that have tolerated the tent encampments, some have begun to lose patience and call in police over concerns about disruptions to campus life, safety and the involvement of nonstudents.

Since April 18, just over 2,600 people have been arrested on 50 campuses, figures based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.

But not all schools are taking that approach, with some letting protesters hold rallies and organize their encampments as they see fit.

The president of Wesleyan University, a liberal arts school in Connecticut, has commended the on-campus demonstration — which includes a pro-Palestinian tent encampment — as an act of political expression. The camp there has grown from about 20 tents a week ago to more than 100.

“The protesters’ cause is important — bringing attention to the killing of innocent people,” university President Michael Roth wrote to the campus community Thursday. “And we continue to make space for them to do so, as long as that space is not disruptive to campus operations.”

The Rhode Island School of Design, where students started occupying a building Monday, affirms students’ rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and supports all members of the community, a spokesperson said. The school said President Crystal Williams spent more than five hours with the protesters that evening discussing their demands.

On Tuesday the school announced it was relocating classes that were scheduled to take place in the building. It was covered with posters reading “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live,” and a dove was drawn in colored chalk on the sidewalk.

Campuses have tried tactics from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action to resolve the protests and clear the way for commencements.

At the University of Chicago, hundreds of protesters gathered for at least eight days until administrators warned them Friday to leave or face removal. On Tuesday, law enforcement dismantled the encampment.

Officers later picked up a barricade erected to keep protesters out of the Quad and moved it toward the demonstrators, some of whom chanted, “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation!” Police and protesters pushed back and forth along the barricade as the officers moved to reestablish control.


China’s Foreign Ministry Congratulates Putin on His Inauguration as President of Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin reviews honor guards of the Presidential regiment following his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2024. (Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin reviews honor guards of the Presidential regiment following his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2024. (Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via Reuters)
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China’s Foreign Ministry Congratulates Putin on His Inauguration as President of Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin reviews honor guards of the Presidential regiment following his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2024. (Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin reviews honor guards of the Presidential regiment following his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2024. (Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via Reuters)

China's foreign ministry congratulated Vladimir Putin on his inauguration as president of Russia, according to a spokesperson on Wednesday.

"China congratulates President Putin on his inauguration," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, noting President Xi Jinping had already sent a congratulatory message to Putin on his re-election.

Lin said Sino-Russian relations have remained healthy under the strategic guidance of the two leaders.

"China attaches great importance to the strategic leading role of the head of state diplomacy in bilateral relations between the two countries. The two heads of state agreed to continue to maintain close exchanges to ensure the smooth and stable development of Sino-Russian relations," he said.

The United States and most European Union nations boycotted a Kremlin ceremony to swear in Putin for a new six-year term as president on Tuesday, citing Russia's war in Ukraine.


Russia Says It Will Target French Troops if They Are Sent to Ukraine 

A woman walks in front of a crater caused by a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)
A woman walks in front of a crater caused by a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)
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Russia Says It Will Target French Troops if They Are Sent to Ukraine 

A woman walks in front of a crater caused by a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)
A woman walks in front of a crater caused by a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP)

Russia warned France on Wednesday that if President Emmanuel Macron sent troops to Ukraine, then they would be seen as legitimate targets by the Russian military.

Macron caused controversy in February by saying he could not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine in the future. The French leader warned that if Russia wins in Ukraine then Europe's credibility will be reduced to zero.

"It is characteristic that Macron himself explains this rhetoric with the desire to create some kind of 'strategic uncertainty' for Russia," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

"We have to disappoint him - for us the situation looks more than certain," Zakharova said.

"If the French appear in the conflict zone, they will inevitably become targets for the Russian armed forces. It seems to me that Paris already has proof of this."

Zakharova said Russia was already seeing growing numbers of French nationals among those killed in Ukraine.

Russia said on Monday it would practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what the Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States.


Top Iran Commander Threatens to Block off Eastern Mediterranean

IRGC leader Gen. Hossein Salami speaks during a ceremony honoring General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last month. (Tasnim)
IRGC leader Gen. Hossein Salami speaks during a ceremony honoring General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last month. (Tasnim)
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Top Iran Commander Threatens to Block off Eastern Mediterranean

IRGC leader Gen. Hossein Salami speaks during a ceremony honoring General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last month. (Tasnim)
IRGC leader Gen. Hossein Salami speaks during a ceremony honoring General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last month. (Tasnim)

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Gen. Hossein Salami suggested on Tuesday expanding battlefronts against Israel and blocking off the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Israel’s war on Gaza has heightened regional tensions, threatening the eruption of a direct war between it and Iran.

Salami made his remarks during a ceremony honoring General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was in charge of IRGC operations in Syria and Lebanon. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last month.

In retaliation, IRGC launched an unprecedented rocket and drone attack from Iran on April 13. Israel said the operation failed almost entirely. It then responded with a limited strike on a radar system near sensitive nuclear sites in central Iran.

Despite Israeli claims, Salami insisted the IRGC attack was a “success”, saying a “limited strike” exposed the region’s vulnerability despite the deployment of heavy air defense systems backed by the US, UK, France, and regional powers.

Moreover, Salami criticized the US regional presence, suggesting regional countries should unite in “jihad” against “tyrants” because they share a common enemy and destiny.

The top commander said Iran is determined to “close the way” for its “enemy” on the eastern flank of the Mediterranean Sea and “expand the battlefield”.

Salami also highlighted the role of the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guard’s external arm, saying it is responsible for countering enemy infiltration into the region and defending the security of Iran and regional countries.

This isn’t the first time such threats have been made. In December, IRGC General Coordinator Mohammad Reza Naghdi threatened to close off the Mediterranean and other waterways “if the US and its allies continued to commit crimes in Gaza.”