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☆ Universities on Guard for Pro-Palestinian Protests at Commencement: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Others, including pro-Israel professors, have sought to build other avenues of support for students. Faculty members at Emory University and Columbia University are among those who have either taken or pushed for no-confidence votes in their school presidents. Some professors, faculty and staff members have gotten caught in police sweeps and arrested as law enforcement has moved to evict students and their tent encampments from campuses. He said the letter came together as colleagues expressed outrage over seeing some of their students caught in the clash and not receiving a response from some administrators when they pleaded for intervention. “There was a very clear sense from very early on, even as things were happening yesterday, that some response was imperative — that we couldn’t let something like this go unanswered,” he said.

Persons: Jim Ryan, Ian Baucom, Annelise Orleck, —, ”, Erik Linstrum, “ there’s, Brian Coy, Ryan, Baucom, “, ” Mr, Coy, Laura Goldblatt, they’re, Thomas Jefferson, Linstrum Organizations: University of Virginia, Israel, Emory University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College Locations: Charlottesville, Gaza, aggress

☆ Dozens Are Arrested in Pro-Palestinian Protest at Art Institute of Chicago
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The police forcibly dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday and arrested dozens of protesters, hours after demonstrators had gathered in a garden at the institute and set up tents. Some of the demonstrators were students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which is affiliated with the institute, the school said in a statement. The Chicago police said on social media that officers had removed the protesters at the school’s request. A Chicago Police spokesman said Sunday that 68 people had been arrested and charged with trespassing. The protesters set up the encampment in the North Garden, which is part of the Art Institute of Chicago museum, at about 11 a.m. on Saturday, the police said.

Persons: “, ” Organizations: Art Institute of Chicago, School of, Chicago police, Chicago Police

☆ University Graduations Are Flashpoints for Protests Over Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Kent State students protested the war in Gaza on Saturday during the annual commemoration honoring the four students who were killed by the National Guard on May 4, 1970. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at Kent State University in Ohio on Saturday to protest the war in Gaza, exactly 54 years after a similar campus demonstration ended in four student deaths. Many of them were hoisting signs calling on the university to divest from weapons manufacturers and military contractors. Image Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over the body of Jeffrey Miller, a student who was killed by Ohio National Guard troops during an antiwar demonstration at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Credit... Today, demonstrators at Kent State are asking the university to divest its portfolio of instruments of war.

Persons: James Rhodes, — Allison Krause, William Schroeder, Sandra Scheuer, Jeffrey Miller —, Ohio ”, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Sophia Swengel, “, ”, ” Ms, Swengel, Mary Ann Vecchio, Jeffrey Miller, John Filo, Camille Tinnin, Yaseen Shaikh, Tinnin, Shaikh, Mark Polatajko, Rebecca Murphy, Polatajko, Murphy Organizations: Kent, National Guard, Kent State University, Force, Ohio National Guard, Kent State, Justice Locations: Gaza, Ohio, Kent State’s, Vietnam, Cambodia, Kent, ’, “, Palestine, ”

☆ Graduations Are Flashpoints for Campus Protests: Latest Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Emily Cochrane | Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Pro-Palestinian protesters dismantled their encampment at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Saturday after reaching an agreement with the institution that requires administrators to review a divestment proposal. Student demonstrators pitched dozens of tents on Vassar’s campus, starting on Tuesday. The divestment language did not mention Israel or the war in the Gaza Strip, as the protesters had in their demands. The Vassar agreement is one of several in which student protesters have agreed to clear camps in exchange for commitments to discuss institutional investment policies around Israel. They said they would donate the roughly $7,000 they had raised since launching their encampment to families in Gaza, and redistribute any donated supplies to people and organizations in Poughkeepsie.

Persons: Elizabeth H, Bradley, Vassar, we’ve, “ Organizations: Vassar College, Student, Palestinian, Vassar, Hamas, Students for Justice, Israel Locations: Poughkeepsie, N.Y, Israel, Gaza, “, ”, Palestine

☆ Live Updates: Police Clear U.C.L.A. Encampment and Arrest Protesters
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Jonathan Wolfe | Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

But by Wednesday morning, the peace at the University of California, Los Angeles, had been shattered. Many critics were incredulous that even after officers with the Los Angeles Police Department arrived, there were no arrests or suspensions. Campus officials ordered protesters on Wednesday evening to leave the encampment or face arrest. Image A group of counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, on Tuesday night. seemed to wait too long to call in the Los Angeles police, whose officers did not arrive until after midnight.

Persons: fistfights, “, ”, Marie Salem, Mark Abramson, ANGELES Royce Hall Dickson, Ms, Salem, Aidan Woodruff, Mr, Woodruff, counterprotesters, Philip Cheung, Gene Block, Block, Israel counterprotesters, Karen Bass’s, Counterprotesters, Michael Nasir, Mary Osako, Katy Yaroslavsky, streetlight, Hussam Ayloush, Rob Bonta, Ayloush, Benjamin Kersten, Bella Brannon, Brannon, Jill Cowan, Shawn Hubler, Livia Albeck, Claire Fahy, John Yoon, Yan Zhuang Organizations: University of California, Student, The New York, The New York Times, Los Angeles Police Department, OF, ANGELES Royce Hall Dickson, ANGELES Royce Hall, ANGELES Royce Hall Dickson Court, ., Israel, Royce Hall, Los Angeles police, Police Department, Patrol, California, Credit, . Palestinian Solidarity, Jewish, Fairfax District, Jewish Federation Los, Los, Los Angeles Area, Islamic Relations, Jewish Voice, Peace Locations: Los Angeles, U.C.L.A, Israel, California, . Palestinian, counterprotesters, ”, Westside, Beverly Hills, Iranian, Gaza, Palestine

☆ Richard Tandy, Keyboardist for Electric Light Orchestra, Dies at 76
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Richard Tandy, the keyboardist for the British rock band Electric Light Orchestra, whose riffs helped define the futuristic blend of Beatles-esque pop and orchestral arrangements that catapulted the group to global fame in the 1970s, has died. Mr. Lynne, who called Mr. Tandy his “longtime collaborator,” did not specify when Mr. Tandy had died or the cause of death. Born on March 26, 1948, in Birmingham, England, Mr. Tandy first entered the orbit of E.L.O. by playing the harpsichord in a band with Bev Bevan, who would later become E.L.O.’s drummer. after the release of its first album in 1972, initially playing bass guitar but later becoming the group’s keyboardist after another founding member left.

Persons: Richard Tandy, Jeff Lynne, Lynne, Tandy, ”, Bev Bevan, ’ Organizations: Orchestra, E.L.O Locations: British, Birmingham, England

☆ Stowaway Cat Gets From Utah to California in Amazon Returns Package
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When Carrie Clark got a phone call on April 17 from a veterinarian in California informing her that her cat, which had vanished from her Utah home a week earlier, had been found some 500 miles away, her first reaction was disbelief. “I could not believe that it was true,” Ms. Clark said in an interview on Sunday night. “I told her: I think this is a prank.”It wasn’t. Galena, her 6-year-old American shorthair, had sneaked inside a 3-by-3-foot cardboard Amazon returns package alongside five pairs of steel-toed boots. Then the cat was transported two states away to one of the company’s warehouses, where it was discovered by Amazon employees.

Persons: Carrie Clark, “, Ms, Clark Organizations: Amazon Locations: California, Utah, Galena

Severe thunderstorms and high winds in the Great Plains region on Saturday night injured residents, damaged homes and left more than 50,000 electricity customers in Oklahoma and Texas without power, the local authorities said, as more than two dozen tornadoes were reported overnight. More than 13 million people from Texas to Illinois were under tornado watches as of 2 a.m. local time, meaning that tornadoes could occur over the next few hours. The severe weather followed a day in which tornadoes tore through parts of Nebraska and Iowa and leveled dozens of homes on Friday. Thunderstorms were expected to move east into the Mississippi Valley on Sunday, and heavy rains were forecast in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, the National Weather Service said.

Organizations: National Weather Service Locations: Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Mississippi, Texas , Arkansas, Louisiana

☆ When U.S. Diplomats Visit China, Meal Choices Are About More Than Taste Buds
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Beijing beer made with American hops, to highlight the trade relationship between the two countries. Where, what and how American dignitaries eat when they visit China is a serious matter. Choices of restaurants and dishes are rife with opportunities for geopolitical symbolism, as well as controversy and mockery. An exorbitantly expensive meal can make an official look out of touch. Authenticity, history, cooking technique and taste can all affect the perception of a meal choice.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Biden Locations: Beijing, China

☆ Australian Journalist Says She Was Pushed Out of India
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Sameer Yasir | Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A senior journalist with Australia’s national broadcaster says she was effectively pushed out of India after her reporting on Sikh separatism angered the Indian government, accusing the authorities of hindering her from going to events, seeking to have her reporting taken down and refusing for weeks to renew her visa. Avani Dias, the South Asia correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said on social media that Indian officials told her last month that her application for a resident journalist visa extension would not be approved because a television segment she had produced on accusations that India was responsible for the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada had “crossed the line.”She was eventually granted a temporary visa extension at the last minute after lobbying by the Australian government, less than a day before she was scheduled to leave the country, Ms. Dias said in her podcast, “Looking for Modi.” But she said that she ultimately decided to leave because “it felt too difficult to do my job in India.”“I was struggling to get into public events run by Modi’s party,” Ms. Dias said on the podcast. The Indian government has disputed Ms. Dias’ account and said she was assured by high ranking officials that her visa would be renewed.

Persons: Avani Dias, “, Dias, Modi, ”, Ms, Dias ’ Organizations: Australia’s, South, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Locations: India, South Asia, Canada

☆ Driver Plows Into Michigan Birthday Party, Killing 2 Children
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A drunken driver plowed into a building where a children’s birthday party was being held in Michigan on Saturday afternoon, killing two young siblings and injuring at least 15 other people, the police said. Fifteen people were injured, including three children and six adults who sustained life-threatening injuries and were driven or airlifted to local hospitals, Sheriff Goodnough said. The driver has been taken into police custody and is currently at the Monroe County jail, Sheriff Goodnough said. She has been charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, and is likely to face additional criminal charges, he said. In Michigan, the penalty for such an offense could be as much as $10,000 in fines and 15 years in prison.

Persons: Troy Goodnough, Sheriff Goodnough Organizations: Swan Boat, Sheriff Locations: Michigan, Monroe County, Berlin Township, Detroit, Newport, Monroe

☆ After Months of Cocaine Washing Ashore, Australian Police Make an Arrest
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Inside were 39 sealed packages, each containing about two pounds of cocaine, according to the police. Then, within days, nine more packages were found across eight beaches and bays spanning a 60-mile stretch of coastline between Sydney and Newcastle. And more kept washing ashore in the following weeks and months. In one instance, a lifeguard plucked a two-pound block out of the water off Bondi Beach in Sydney. In another, a fisherman found a blue barrel containing 39 two-pound blocks.

Organizations: Australian Federal Police Locations: New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Newcastle, Beach, Queensland

☆ Heavy Rainfall in Oman, Which Killed 18, Expected to Continue on Wednesday
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With the downpour expected to continue on Wednesday, schools and government offices have been closed and hundreds have evacuated. Some areas received over 180 millimeters of rain between Sunday and Tuesday, according to the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management. The average annual rainfall in Muscat, the nation’s capital, is about 100 millimeters — although other parts of the country can receive more rain. The 18 dead includes an infant, the emergency management committee said on Tuesday, and two others are missing. On Wednesday, heavy rain was forecast to continue falling, with some places, including Muscat, expected to receive 30 to 100 millimeters of rain, the emergency management committee said.

Organizations: Emergency Management, Associated Press Locations: Oman, Muscat

☆ Widespread 911 Outages Are Reported in Four States
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A large-scale outage is affecting residents’ ability to call the 911 emergency number in parts of Nebraska and Texas, and the entire state of South Dakota, according to local authorities. In Las Vegas, calls to 911 on landline phones and mobile phones were not connecting for about two hours before service was restored at about 9 p.m., the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on social media. During the outage, dispatchers could see attempts to make calls from mobile phones and would call residents back, the police said, and all attempted calls had been answered. The outage was also affecting southern Nevada, the Nevada State Police said. Outages were also reported by the local police departments of Dundy County, Neb., Kearney County, Neb., Howard County, Neb., Fremont, Neb., and Del Rio, Texas.

Persons: Del Organizations: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Nevada State Police Locations: Nebraska, Texas, South Dakota, Las Vegas, Nevada, Dundy County, Neb, Kearney County, Howard County, Fremont, Del Rio , Texas

☆ Did Three African Runners Let a Chinese Runner Win a Race in Beijing?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

After a grueling hour, there was little to separate the four runners as the finish line approached. Seconds later, another runner did the same. He Jie of China then strode ahead of the others, a recorded livestream of Sunday’s Beijing Half Marathon shows. He took first place with a time of 1 hour 3 minutes 44 seconds. Mnangat, Keter and Hailu tied for second place, one second later.

Persons: Jie, strode, — Willy Mnangat, Robert Keter, Ethiopia —, Hailu Organizations: Marathon Locations: China, Sunday’s Beijing, Kenya, Ethiopia

☆ Validation for Woman Who Said She Was Raped in Australia’s Parliament
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When a young former government employee said on national television in 2021 that she had been sexually assaulted in Australia’s Parliament two years earlier, it shocked the nation and unleashed a wave of anger aimed at the country’s insular, male-dominated political establishment. The employee, Brittany Higgins accused her colleague Bruce Lehrmann of raping her when she was inebriated, and said that she felt pressure from the government at the time not to report the assault. She became a figurehead for a reckoning on women’s rights that ultimately contributed to the electoral ousting of Australia’s conservative national government. The proceedings did not take place in a criminal court, and the offense did not have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, the standard of proof was a balance of probabilities — a legal term meaning whether something is more likely than not to have occurred.

Persons: Brittany Higgins, Bruce Lehrmann, Lehrmann, Higgins

☆ After Stabbing Rampage, Australia Struggles With Questions of How and Why
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Victoria Kim | Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a perfect mid-autumn day, the scene at the upscale mall in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, was as humdrum as it was idyllic: mothers pushing strollers, gaggles of teenagers being young, families whiling away the weekend afternoon. A mile from the famed Bondi Beach, a knife-wielding attacker stabbed nearly 20 people inside the shopping mall, including a 9-month-old girl. Six of the victims, including the girl’s mother, have died, and about a dozen others were being treated at hospitals. The police on Sunday were combing through a crime scene spanning several floors of the sprawling Westfield Bondi Junction mall. They were also interviewing hundreds of witnesses to Saturday’s attack, trying to piece together the chronology of a rampage that punctured a sense of security in this wealthy suburb of Australia’s largest city.

Persons: — Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bondi, Westfield, Australia’s

☆ At Least 5 Killed in Stabbing at Mall in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Victoria Kim | Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

PinnedFive people were killed and several others injured in a stabbing rampage Saturday afternoon at a crowded major mall in Sydney, Australia, prompting the police to declare a critical incident and evacuate the area. The attacker was shot and killed by a lone police officer who was directed into the mall by people fleeing the scene, police said. The officer then opened fire, saving lives, Anthony Cooke, police assistant commissioner for the New South Wales Police, said at a news briefing. The assailant stabbed about nine people as he moved through the mall Saturday afternoon, Assistant Commissioner Cooke said. “There’s nothing we’re aware at the scene that would indicate any motive or ideology,” Assistant Commissioner Cooke said in the briefing, noting the investigation was in its early stages.

Persons: Anthony Cooke, Cooke, “, Yan Zhuang, Isabella Kwai Organizations: New South Wales Police, ”, Westfield, Southern Hemisphere Locations: Sydney, Australia, Westfield, Bondi, Sydney’s Eastern

Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who became the sport’s first foreign grand champion, has died. He died of heart failure in early April while receiving care at a hospital in Tokyo, according to a statement from his family that was distributed by the United States Forces in Japan. Born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Hawaii, Akebono became Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to win the sport’s highest title. He went on to win a total of 11 grand championships. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons, according to the U.S.

Persons: Taro Akebono, Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan, Akebono, Motoko Rich Organizations: United States Forces, U.S . Forces Locations: Hawaii, Tokyo, Japan

☆ Roger, a Failed Drug Dog, Becomes a Hero of Taiwan’s Quake Response
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The dog picked through boulders and rubble in the Taiwanese national park, looking for victims trapped or buried by the rockslides that had followed a 7.4-magnitude earthquake. Roger was trained to look for survivors, but his handler, Lee Hsin Hung, suspected that this time he had found something else. “As I got closer, I saw the leg of the deceased,” Mr. Lee said in an interview. Roger’s discovery led rescuers to recover the body of a 21-year-old woman from the rubble on Saturday, taking the death toll of Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years to 13. More than 1,000 more were injured in the disaster (but strict building codes and public preparedness may have helped prevent an even greater catastrophe).

Persons: sniffed, Roger, Lee Hsin Hung, ” Mr, Lee Organizations: sniffed Locations: Labrador

Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who became the sport’s first foreign grand champion and helped to fuel a resurgence in the sport’s popularity in the 1990s, has died in Tokyo. When he became Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, he was the first foreign-born wrestler to achieve the sport’s highest title in its 300-year modern history. He went on to win a total of 11 grand championships, and his success set the stage for an era during which foreign-born wrestlers dominated the top levels of Japan’s national sport. Akebono, who was 6-foot-8 and 466 pounds when he was first named yokozuna at 23, towered over his Japanese opponents. Painfully shy outside the dohyo, as the sumo ring is known, he was known for using his height and reach to keep opponents at a distance.

Persons: Taro Akebono Organizations: United States Locations: Hawaii, Tokyo, Japan

☆ Middle East Crisis Israel’s Military Strikes Al-Shifa Hospital in ‘High-Precision’ Operation
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The Israeli military said it was conducting a “high-precision” operation at Al-Shifa Hospital early on Monday morning, claiming that senior Hamas officials had regrouped in the hospital, which is Gaza’s largest. The Israeli military said on its Telegram account that during the operation, Hamas fighters opened fire at soldiers from within the hospital, and soldiers returned fire. Al-Shifa Hospital has been a flashpoint of the war. “We know that senior Hamas terrorists have regrouped inside Al-Shifa Hospital and are using it to command attacks against Israel,” Mr. Hagari said. After Israel’s high-profile raid of the Al-Shifa hospital, it took reporters to see a shaft at the complex leading to a tunnel network.

Persons: Daniel Hagari, “, Israel, ” Mr, Hagari Organizations: Shifa, Hamas, Health Ministry, Al Locations: Al, Gaza, Israel

A volcano erupted with little notice in southern Iceland on Saturday night, the latest in a string of eruptions in the area, threatening local infrastructure and leading the authorities to declare a state of emergency. Lava fountains burst out of the ground, and a nearly two-mile-long fissure opened up on the Reykjanes Peninsula around 8:30 p.m., the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. The meteorological office said that it had received indications of a possible eruption only about 40 minutes before it happened. The Blue Lagoon and Grindavik were evacuated shortly after the eruption, according to RUV, the national broadcaster. About 700 visitors were staying at the Blue Lagoon.

Persons: Grindavik Organizations: Icelandic Meteorological Locations: Iceland, Grindavik

☆ Was He Secretly Working for China? This Is What He Told Us.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

So why would he not get into trouble with the authorities? He believed that it would be embarrassing for Australia to accuse of him of spying because he had been an active member of a major political party. Less than two years later, in 2020, he became the first person to be charged under Australia’s broad foreign interference laws. He was among the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese who fled that country in the 1970s. He settled in Australia and grew a business making tombstones, secured a middle-class life and got enmeshed in local Chinese community groups.

Persons: ”, Di, Duong Locations: Australia, China, Beijing, Vietnam

☆ Australia Wanted to Catch Chinese Spies. Is This Really Whom It Had in Mind?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The police officers asked the man what he meant when he said that involving an Australian government minister in a charity event could benefit “us Chinese.” Was he talking about mainland China and the Chinese Communist Party, or the local Australian Chinese community? Depending on the answer, he faced up to 10 years in prison. “You are understanding the Chinese is China. We always say, ‘I’m Chinese,’ that not mean, ‘I’m mainland China,’” said the man, Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong, who was brought in for questioning. Blockbuster prosecutions revealing sophisticated tactics seemed to be just around the corner.

Persons: ”, ’ ”, Di, Duong, “ Organizations: Chinese Communist Party, Blockbuster Locations: China, Mainland China, United States

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