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☆ U.S. issues hundreds of sanctions targeting Russia, takes aim at Chinese companies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian servicemen ride on an armored personnel carrier in a field near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, on April 27, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The United States on Wednesday issued hundreds of fresh sanctions targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine in action that took aim at Moscow's circumvention of Western measures, including through China. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on nearly 200 targets and the State Department designated more than 80 in one of the most wide-ranging actions against Chinese companies so far in Washington's sanctions aimed at Russia. China's support for Russia is one of the many issues threatening to sour the recent improvement in relations between the world's biggest economies. "The Chinese side firmly opposes the U.S.'s illegal unilateral sanctions," he said.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Antony Blinken, Yellen, Liu Pengyu Organizations: The U.S . Treasury, State Department, The U.S, Treasury, World Trade Organization, U.S Locations: Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, Ukraine, United States, Russia, China, The U.S, The, Hong Kong, Washington, U.S

☆ Live Updates: Police Enter U.C.L.A. Encampment After Warnings
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Jonathan Wolfe | Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

A deal struck by Northwestern University officials and pro-Palestinian demonstrators brought an end to a protest encampment on campus but drew harsh criticism from Jewish leaders and students on Wednesday. The agreement, announced this week, included a promise by the university to be more transparent about its financial holdings. In turn, demonstrators removed the tent camp they built last week at Deering Meadow, a stretch of lawn on campus. The university did not commit to divesting from companies linked to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, a chief demand animating campus protests across the nation. But protest organizers at Northwestern said they saw transparency as a first step toward that goal.

Persons: ”, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, “, Hillel, Michael Schill, Schill, ” Paz Baum, Baum, Mr Organizations: Northwestern University, Northwestern, Educators for Justice, American Jewish Committee, Cook County Circuit Court, Jewish Voice, Peace, Brown University, Columbia University, University of California Locations: Deering, Gaza, Palestine, Northwestern, Cook County, New York, Los Angeles

☆ U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine, in breach of global ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine undergo training to storm enemy trenches using simulation equipment as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine on February 29, 2024. The U.S. has formally accused Russia of using chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops and announced late Wednesday that it is imposing more sanctions on Russian individuals and entities. The U.S. State Department released a statement late Wednesday in which it accused Russia of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the production and use of chemical weapons, by using the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces. Chloropicrin was used as a poison gas in World War I but is now more commonly used in agriculture as an insecticide. "When inhaled, these agents cause alveoli, air sacs in the lungs, to secrete fluid, essentially drowning those affected," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons states.

Persons: Chloropicrin Organizations: National Guard, Ukrainian, U.S . State Department, Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC, Russian, Chemical Weapons Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kharkiv Region, U.S

☆ 5 Takeaways From the Times Interview of Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( J Wortham | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

star Brittney Griner was starting her nine-year sentence in a penal colony in Russia, sewing uniforms for the Russian military and subsisting on spoiled food. Griner was arrested at the Moscow Airport in February 2022, when officials found two vape cartridges in her backpack with 0.7 grams of cannabis oil. (To treat Griner’s chronic pain, a physician in Arizona had prescribed medical marijuana, but it was against the law in Russia.) She was charged with illegal drug possession and smuggling “a significant amount” of narcotics into the country and was sent to prison. Here are the highlights from my profile of the basketball star after I met her at a practice facility in Phoenix.

Persons: Brittney Griner, she’d, Griner Organizations: Moscow Airport Locations: Russia, Arizona, Phoenix

☆ Colombia to Sever Ties With Israel Over Gaza War
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel over its prosecution of the war in Gaza, President Gustavo Petro announced in Bogotá on Wednesday, describing the Israeli government as “genocidal.”His announcement came in a speech in Colombia’s capital city in front of cheering crowds that had gathered for International Workers’ Day. “The times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people cannot come before our eyes, before our passivity,” Mr. Petro said. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies.”Colombia is the second South American nation to break off relations with Israel after Bolivia, which cut ties in November over its strikes in Gaza. Belize also cut diplomatic ties with Israel that month. “Israel and Colombia always enjoyed warm ties.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, “, ” Mr, Petro, Petro’s, ”, Israel Katz, ’, Mr, Colombia’s, Katz, Netanyahu Organizations: International Workers, Israel, Security Locations: Colombia, Israel, Gaza, Bogotá, Colombia’s, American, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Belize, “ Israel, Gaza City

☆ Donald Trump explains his militaristic plan to deport 15-20 million people
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Trump repeated false claims that many migrants are former prisoners or have been institutionalized in their home countries. John Moore/Getty ImagesTrump promised mass deportation in 2016 tooWhile he did not employ an Eisenhower-like effort the first time he was president, Trump is bringing the pledge back. Trump told Time he would target between 15 million and 20 million people who he said are undocumented in the US. Pew Research Center estimated the number of undocumented migrants in the US was around 10.5 million in 2021. As of 2021, it estimated about 3% of the US population and about 22% of the foreign-born population were undocumented.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, “, ”, ’, Eisenhower, John Moore, Getty Images Trump, Joe Biden, ” Trump, Stephen Miller, We’re Organizations: CNN, Capitol, Historians, Getty Images, Eisenhower, Trump, Pew Research Center, National Guard, Guard, The New York Times, Supreme Locations: reclassifying, Mexico, Rio, El Paso , Texas, China

☆ Far-right Israeli ministers urge Netanyahu not to accept ceasefire proposal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Benjamin Brown | Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming under fierce pressure from far-right members of his government not to agree to the ceasefire proposal currently on the table, which could prevent an Israeli military offensive in Rafah from moving forward. Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 27, 2024. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty ImagesFormer Israeli Prime Minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid hit back at Strook’s remarks. In the first phase, between 22 and 33 hostages are to be released over several weeks in exchange for the pause and the release of Palestinian prisoners. A woman looks at a wall of photos of hostages captured by Hamas on October 7, displayed in Tel Aviv.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Antony Blinken, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Orit Strook, Strook’s, Netanyahu mulls, Bezalel Smotrich, ”, Netanyahu, Jack Guez, Yair Lapid, “, Benny Gantz, Gantz, ” Strook, Amir Levy, Blinken, Jordan, “ We’re, ” Blinken, Isaac Herzog, wouldn’t, Herzog, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Israeli, Israel’s Army, Hamas, Getty Locations: Rafah, Egypt, Gaza, Israel, Tel Aviv, AFP, “, Saudi Arabia

Rafah CNN —An Israeli airstrike on Al-Shaboura refugee camp in southern Gaza’s Rafah city late Tuesday killed two young children and injured several other people, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza and the Kuwait Hospital in Rafah. The Kuwait Hospital said the two infants were declared dead by medics shortly after they had arrived. Video obtained by CNN shows people in bloodied clothes being pulled out of civilian cars and rushed into the hospital. Pointing at the body bag, Um Rami told CNN they were her first and only grandchildren, calling them her “first joy”. A still from a video shows Palestinians being carried into Kuwait Hospital in Rafah, Gaza, after an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Persons: Kareem Jarada, Mona Jarada, Um Rami Abu, Shalab, ”, Um Rami, “, CNN Um Rami, Maram Abu, “ We’re, Israel, ” “ Organizations: Rafah CNN, Palestinian Civil Defense, Kuwait Hospital, CNN, Palestine Red Crescent Society, Israel Defense Forces, IDF Locations: Rafah, Al, Gaza’s Rafah, Gaza, Palestine, Kuwait, ”

☆ ‘Where Is the Palestinian Gandhi?’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Nicholas Casey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Since Israel conquered the region in 1967, its military has forbidden nearly every form of protest, even things as small as gathering more than 10 people for a political conversation or simply waving the Palestinian flag. The simplest acts of defiance can be seen as a threat: Amro once organized and videotaped an effort by a Palestinian man to pass through an Israeli checkpoint while balancing on his shoulder a large watermelon — a longtime symbol of Palestinian nationalism because its colors are those of the Palestinian flag. In the video, soldiers confiscate the watermelon and, as the camera zooms in, eye it warily as though it might explode. He has repeatedly filmed Israeli soldiers at close range and been beaten and grabbed by the throat when he refused to stop. Amro himself lives in one such home, surrounded by some of the West Bank’s most violent settlers.

Persons: —, Mohandas K, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, “ He’s, ” Yehuda Shaul, ” Organizations: Amro, United Nations, West Bank Locations: Palestinian, Israel

☆ CNN gets a rare look at the Iranian missiles and drones that hit Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Fred Pleitgen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But he’s more than happy to show the missiles and drones Iran used in its first ever attack against Israel launched directly from Iranian soil. Iran’s attack on Israel included drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. “NATO, The United States and Arab countries of the region wanted to create barriers for our drones, missiles and cruise missiles, but they failed,” Belali says. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that ballistic missiles that reached Israel fell on the airbase and caused only light structural damage. Shahed attack drones on an unmarked truck at an Iranian Revolutionary Guards exhibit in Tehran, Iran on May 1, 2024.

Persons: Tehran CNN —, ”, General Ali Belali, ” Belali, Israel, Belali, Jordan, Fred Pleitgen, Daniel Hagari, John Krzyzaniak, Lockheed Martin Organizations: Tehran CNN, Revolutionary Guard, Islamic, Israel, CNN, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Forces, NATO, Israel Defense Forces, Washington, Wisconsin, Control, ISIS, Lockheed, CIA, Guards Locations: Tehran, Islamic Republic, Israel, Iran, Damascus, Gaza, Iraq, France, United States, Washington ,, Syria, Kurdish, American, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow

Mai Mahiu, Kenya CNN —Eleven people and a dog were rescued from the raging flood waters in Kenya on Wednesday, the country’s Red Cross has said. The humanitarian agency described the rescue mission as “challenging” but later offered a glimmer of hope with reports that floodwaters were gradually receding. Residents in Mai Mahiu are frantically sifting through heaps of debris to recover bodies trapped by the floods. When CNN visited the town on Tuesday, corpses could be seen accumulating beneath toppled trees and layers of mud. Evacuation from flood hit areasCitizens in the worst affected areas have been ordered to leave due to fears of more rain.

Persons: Mai Mahiu, Isaac Mwaura, William Ruto, he’s, ” Ruto, Ruto, Mwaura Organizations: Kenya CNN —, Red Cross, Residents, CNN, National Youth Service Locations: Kenya, Kitengela, Kajiado County, Nairobi, Mai

☆ Air Force preparing new charges against airman who leaked classified info on Discord
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The US Air Force is preparing new charges within the military justice system against the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to posting a trove of highly classified intelligence reports and other documents on social media, according to an Air Force spokesperson. But after “close coordination” with the Justice Department, the Air Force has“determined that separate and distinct charges” should be referred against Teixeira “for alleged misconduct related to his military duties,” the spokesperson said. The Air Force will hold a first hearing to review evidence on May 14 at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, the spokesperson said. Prosecutors alleged that while working at a Cape Cod airbase, Teixeira posted messages that included classified information in a Discord chat room called “Thug Shaker Central” before eventually posting photos of documents marked as classified. The documents, some of which were reviewed by CNN, included a wide range of highly classified information, such as blunt assessments on the state of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Persons: Jack Teixeira, Teixeira “, Teixeira, “, ”, CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz Organizations: CNN, US Air Force, Massachusetts Air National, Air Force, Prosecutors, Justice Department, Department of Justice, United States Air Force, Military, The Air Force, Hanscom Air Force Base Locations: Massachusetts, Russia, Ukraine, States

☆ US says Russia used choking agents against Ukrainian troops, breaching chemical weapons ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield,” it said. Russia has previously denied using chemical weapons. The US has previously warned Russia against chemical warfare in Ukraine; in March 2022, a month after the invasion began, President Joe Biden said that NATO would respond if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine. The use of chemical weapons is banned by international law. Russia has signed those treaties and claims it doesn’t have chemical weapons, but the country has already been linked to the use of nerve agents against critics in recent years.

Persons: Ukraine’s, Chloropicrin, Joe Biden, Mallory Stewart, Sergei Skripal, Alexey Navalny –, Vladimir Putin, Navalny Organizations: CNN, US State Department, Ukrainian, Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC, Russian Embassy, CDC, State Department, United, United Arab Emirates, US, NATO Locations: United States, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Netherlands, China, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, United Arab, Moscow, Ukrainian, Siberia

☆ Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Archaeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland. Latebra Fundation PolandHowever, they then found ashes and a burned key, before he found the skull fragment. The foundation is waiting to hear the results of a police investigation into the remains, and many questions remain unanswered. “Right now, it’s very hard to say.”The excavation site outside a house inside the Wolf's Lair Latebra Fundation PolandAn important next step is to find out the age of the remains using radio carbon dating, he added. Deliberately built miles from civilization in the forests of northeastern Poland, the Wolf’s Lair was the Nazis’ 6.5-square-kilometer (2.5-square-mile) Eastern Front headquarters.

Persons: Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler, Adrian Kostrzewa, Latebra, ”, Hitler Organizations: CNN —, Nazi, Latebra Foundation, CNN, Third Locations: Poland, Gierloz, Polish, Gdansk, Europe

☆ US imposes sanctions on more than a dozen companies in China for support of Russia’s war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | Samantha Waldenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The United States imposed sanctions on more than a dozen companies in China and Hong Kong for their support of Russia’s war in Ukraine as part of a tranche of nearly 300 new sanctions unveiled Wednesday. “The almost 300 targets being sanctioned by both Treasury and the Department of State include sanctions on dozens of actors that have enabled Russia to acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad,” the Treasury Department said in a news release. The sanctions also hit targets within Russia, as well as Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The sanctions are aimed at cracking down on sanctions evasion and support for Russia’s military-industrial base and its biological and chemical weapons programs. The Treasury Department also targeted those involved in providing precursor materials to Russia used in explosives.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Antony Blinken, “ Organizations: CNN, Ukraine, Treasury, Department of State, Treasury Department, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: United States, China, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, United Arab

☆ Ukraine: Russia is capturing its biggest swath of territory since July 2022, as Kyiv desperately awaits US weaponry
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Russian forces have used the “artillery drought” hampering Ukraine’s defenses since December to push forward on the eastern front near Avdiivka, making the largest advance since the early months of the war. Only on Sunday did the top Ukrainian military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, admit the fall of a series of villages that his subordinates had insisted for days were still contested. The resulting fallback showed Russian forces had, in just over two months, made the most substantial and swift progress since July 2022’s advances near Severodonetsk, according to a CNN analysis. DeepStateMap, which updates the frontline situation daily, showed significant losses near Avdiivka. Yurii Fedorenko, commander of the Achilles attack drones company at the 92nd separate assault brigade in that area, said the next two months marked a “window of opportunity” for Russian forces.

Persons: Chasiv, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ruslan Mykula, ” Mykula, ”, Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksandr Ratushniak Oleksandr Ratushniak, Chasiv Yar, Col Nazar Voloshyn, ” Voloshyn, Druzhkivka, Novozhenina, Yurii Fedorenko, “ Organizations: CNN, Sunday, Kurakhove, Ukraine’s, Airborne, REUTERS, Reuters, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Avdiivka, Donetsk, Mariupol, Russia, Pokrovsk, Chasiv Yar, Bakhmut, Ukrainian, Russian, Avdiivka’s, Severodonetsk, Ocheretyne, Kurakhve, Kupiansk, Kharkiv, Moscow

☆ Russia may not start an all-out war with NATO, but already has plans to destroy it from within
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Late last year, Poland's national security agency estimated that Russia could attack NATO within three years. AdvertisementBut whether Putin really does intend to attack NATO and what an attack might look like remains unclear. In March, Putin denied having any plans to attack NATO members, describing such claims as "complete nonsense." "So, his ambition in growing is not going to be that he will attack NATO and NATO countries next year. A covert war is already underwayRussia, some point out, is already engaged in a war with NATO, albeit covertly.

Persons: —, Donald Tusk, Tusk, Putin, Emmanuel Macron, NATO Putin, Philip Ingram, Ingram, Ruth Deyermond, Bryden Spurling, Robert Dover, Spurling, that's, SERGEY BOBOK, Russia's Organizations: Service, Poland's, Business, Bild, NATO, Germany isn't, Ukraine, King's College London, RAND Corporation, University of Hull, European NATO, RAND, Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces Locations: Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Baltic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Washington, Russian, NATO, European, Kharkiv, Soviet Union

☆ U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Chinese Companies for Aiding Russia’s War Effort
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Alan Rappeport | More About Alan Rappeport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The sanctions represent a broadening of U.S. efforts to disrupt Russia’s military industrial complex supply chain. The Biden administration has expressed growing alarm about the weapons technology alliance between China and Russia. The sanctions follow Ms. Yellen’s trip last month to China, where she confronted Chinese officials over support for Russia. She warned them that Chinese companies and financial institutions that facilitate support for the Kremlin’s war effort would face penalties. The Treasury secretary said her counterparts told her that China had a policy of not providing Russia with military aid.

Persons: Biden, “, Janet L, Yellen, Yellen’s Organizations: Wednesday, Top U.S, Russia Locations: Russia, Ukraine, China, United States

☆ Middle East Crisis Blinken Meets With Israeli Leaders as Netanyahu Promises Assault on Rafah
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Edward Wong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The talks have been stalled for months, and Israeli officials said Monday that they had agreed to lower their demands. Mr. Blinken is scheduled to meet Mr. Netanyahu later. Mr. Blinken and other U.S. officials say Hamas has a narrow window to take the deal since Mr. Netanyahu is pressing for the offensive in Rafah. U.S. officials say they would prefer that Israel do targeted operations against Hamas leaders and fighters in Rafah, where Israeli officials say Hamas still has four battalions. “We want to see in the coming days this agreement coming together.”When asked about Mr. Netanyahu’s statements on Rafah, Mr. Blinken said that U.S. efforts were focused on a hostage and cease-fire deal.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Biden, Biden’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Isaac Herzog of Israel, Netanyahu, Herzog, Mr, “, ” Organizations: Israel, U.S, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Tel Aviv, U.S, Israel, Jordan

☆ Frustrated South Koreans Blame President in Standoff With Doctors
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eun Sung injured her right thumb in a fall in March and needed surgery to fix a torn ligament. But scheduling one has been difficult even though she lives in one of the most developed nations in the world, South Korea. For more than two months, South Korea’s health care system has been in disarray because thousands of doctors walked off the job after the government proposed to drastically increase medical school admissions. But one thing has changed: Public opinion has turned against the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol. A majority of respondents in a recent poll said that the government should negotiate with the doctors to reach an agreement quickly or withdraw its proposal.

Persons: Eun Sung, ”, Sung, Yoon Suk Locations: South Korea, Seoul

☆ Google workers fired for Israel contract protests claim terminations were illegal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google employees who were fired for protesting the company's work with Israel have gone to the NLRB. AdvertisementGoogle workers who were fired for protesting against the company's cloud contract with the Israeli government filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday. Last month, Google said that it fired 28 employees for staging in-office protests in New York City and Sunnyvale, California. But Google told BI last month that the company's work was not directed at highly sensitive or classified military projects relevant to weapons or intelligence services. AdvertisementThe ongoing dispute between Google and some of its employees highlights companies' tricky balance between their business interests and their workers' desire for self-expression.

Persons: —, Nimbus, Rob Munoz Organizations: Google, Service, National Labor Relations Board, Business, NLRB, BI, Amazon, Protesters, Washington Post, Nimbus, Post Locations: Israel, New York City, Sunnyvale , California, Gaza

☆ Clashes escalate at campus protests nationwide as law enforcement makes mass arrests
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —From New York to Los Angeles, college campus protests against the war in Gaza turned violent Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as police sought to clear campuses of protesters in many locations, leading to mass arrests. The flash grenades emit a bright flash and a very loud bang and are typically used to shock and disorient. Officers arrested more than 200 protesters overnight at Columbia and made dozens of additional arrests at City College of New York located about a mile north in Manhattan, according to law enforcement sources. Columbia announced the NYPD could stay on campus through at least May 17, past the university’s commencement ceremony now scheduled for May 15. Brown UniversityAn exception to the escalating conflict was at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Persons: Nobody, ” Anna Dai, Liu, ”, Israel Organizations: New, New York CNN, Columbia University, City College of New York New, NYPD, Columbia, City College of New, UCLA, University of California, Daily Bruin, CNN, University of Arizona University police, Tulane University University, New Orleans police, Louisiana State Police, Tulane, Brown University, Protesters Locations: New York, Los Angeles, Gaza, City College of New York New York City, City College of New York, Manhattan, Israel, New Orleans, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ Veteran Collected Benefits After Lying About Purple Heart, U.S. Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Claire Fahy | More About Claire Fahy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A woman in upstate New York was arrested on Wednesday and charged with fraudulently claiming to be a Purple Heart recipient, federal prosecutors said. The woman, Sharon Toney-Finch, 43, of Newburgh, N.Y., defrauded military charities and the Department of Veterans Affairs by lying about having received the Purple Heart, a military award given to those wounded or killed in action, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. Ms. Toney-Finch claimed that she had survived a terrorist attack on her convoy in Iraq while serving a tour in March 2010, the statement said. She also claimed to have been wounded in a mortar attack the preceding February. In March 2016, Ms. Toney-Finch began collecting disability benefits from the department after lying about getting injured during her military service, federal prosecutors said.

Persons: Sharon Toney, Finch, Damian Williams, Ms, Toney Organizations: Department of Veterans Affairs, Southern, of Locations: New York, Newburgh, N.Y, U.S, of New York, Iraq

☆ Amazon-backed Anthropic launches iPhone app and business tier to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The generative artificial intelligence startup is the company behind Claude, one of the chatbots that, like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google 's Gemini, has exploded in popularity in the past year. Anthropic's first iOS app is free for users across all plans and also available starting Wednesday. In a release Wednesday, Anthropic confirmed that other current clients using Claude include Pfizer, Asana, Zoom, Perplexity AI, Bridgewater Associates and more currently. Now, it's one of the hottest AI startups, with a product that directly competes with ChatGPT in both the enterprise and consumer worlds. Anthropic's stance on the military use of Claude is similar to OpenAI's updated policy.

Persons: Anthropic's, Claude, Amodei, Anthropic, Daniela Amodei, it's, Opus, OpenAI's, Asana, It's, Moby Dick, Harry Potter, OpenAI Organizations: CNBC, Google, Team, Pfizer, Asana, Bridgewater Associates, ChatGPT

☆ Supreme Court rejected military chaplains' lawsuit saying their careers were ruined after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Patricia Kime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Supreme Court denied military chaplains' lawsuit claiming retaliation for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The appellate court ruled that the Defense Department's decision in January 2023 to rescind the vaccine mandate rendered the chaplains' case moot. The Defense Department was later ordered to pay $1.8 million in legal fees as settlement for two lawsuits over the mandate. An aeromedical technician fills a syringe with the COVID-19 vaccine at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station in Pennsylvania. US Air Force photo by Joshua J. SeybertThe Defense Department began requiring service members to get the COVID-19 vaccine in August 2021.

Persons: —, recrimination, Mauricio Campino, Israel Alvarado, Joshua J, Johnson Organizations: Defense Department, Service, Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Defense, Airmen, Dover Air Force Base, US Air Force, Austin, Pentagon, Navy, Fifth Circuit, US, The Defense Department, Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve, Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson, Air Force, Space Force Locations: Delaware, Israel Alvarado et, Pennsylvania, COVID, China

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