Global Headlines: Gaza Conflict, Campus Protests, and Human Rights Violations

Escalation in Gaza and Regional Tensions

• 🇵🇸 Israel's strikes on Gaza have killed at least 11 Palestinians, with severe malnutrition affecting 66,000 children due to a blockade.
• 💥 Houthis report four killed and nearly 40 wounded from Israeli strikes on a cement factory and port in Yemen, marking Israel's first strikes in months.
• 🇱🇧 Israel also bombed Lebanon's Beqaa Valley and Shria municipality, targeting Hezbollah sites, violating a November 2024 ceasefire.
• 🗣️ Hamas official Osama Hamdan stated the group won't reenter ceasefire talks while Israel's assault continues and will only disarm if an independent Palestinian state is established.
• 🎯 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined plans for a stepped-up offensive, suggesting the Palestinian population would be moved for their protection.

Campus Protests and Free Speech

• ✊ In Washington State, police arrested 30 student activists protesting the University of Washington's ties with weapons maker Boeing.
• 🎓 Swarthmore College saw nine arrests during the disbandment of a Gaza Solidarity encampment, with students demanding divestment from Israeli occupation.
• ⚖️ Michigan's Attorney General dismissed charges against seven Gaza Solidarity protesters at the University of Michigan, acknowledging the right to free speech.
• ⚖️ UCLA student protesters, previously attacked by a mob, filed a new lawsuit against California over alleged excessive force by LAPD officers using rubber bullets.
• divestment from companies with Israeli military contracts following student campaigns.
• ✊ Columbia University faculty and staff held vigils for abducted community members and students targeted for speaking out for Palestinian rights.

Human Rights and Immigration

• 💔 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found Customs and Border Protection agents responsible for the torture and death of Mexican father Anastasio Hernandez Rojas.
• 💰 The Trump administration proposed paying undocumented immigrants $1,000 to voluntarily leave the US, a move criticized as coercion.
• 🚨 Advocates are demanding the release of labor leaders and United Farm Workers members arrested by ICE during a raid in western New York.
• 🌍 Trump officials are in talks with African nations like Rwanda and Angola to accept deported immigrants from the US.
• 🇸🇩 Explosions rocked Port Sudan, with witnesses blaming drones launched by Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries.
• ⚖️ The International Court of Justice dismissed Sudan's genocide case against the UAE, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

Other Headlines

• ✈️ Newark airport has experienced significant flight delays and cancellations due to staffing shortages, weather, and FAA technical issues.
• 👮 A corrections officer in Utica, New York, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the fatal beating of Robert Brooks, an incarcerated man.
• 🏆 Reuters won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting on the regulations fueling the fentanyl trade, with former Democracy Now producer Laura Goddiser among the recipients.
• ✍️ Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary for his essays on the impact of the war in Gaza.