US – Police have made several arrests at George Washington University (GW) after officers moved to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment from the campus. A spokesperson for Washington DC Metro Police told the BBC that “a number of arrests” were made for assaults on a police officer and unlawful entry.

University students have been inside an encampment since 25 April. Since mid-April pro-Palestinian demonstrations have broken out at nearly 140 US colleges.

According to the university’s independent student-run newspaper, GW Hatchet: “Officers gave their third and final warning to demonstrators to move at about 03:30 local time, saying all who remained in U-Yard and the stretch of H Street in front of the plaza would be arrested.”

Previously, despite GW’s efforts to offer an alternative protest site, the encampment has persisted and has drawn attention from beyond the campus. University officials say they are unsure how many of the demonstrators are students. “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,” a GW statement said.

Tensions had grown in recent days, after police removed a large Palestinian flag that demonstrators had raised above a campus building. In a statement, GW called the flag’s hoisting an “aggressive act of lawlessness”.

Metro Police told the BBC there has been “a gradual escalation in the volatility” of the protest and as a result officers moved to disperse the demonstrators from GW. “Therefore, this morning, working closely with the GW administration and police, MPD moved to disperse the demonstrators from the GW campus and surrounding streets,” the statement added. The police operation came a week after six Republican members of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee visited the encampment in University Yard, where they called on officials to arrest protesters involved. There have been heated demonstrations at a number of universities across the country against the war in Gaza.

Since the 7 October attack by Hamas and Israel’s retaliatory assault, students have launched rallies, sit-ins, fasts and, most recently, encampments against the war.

According to a BBC tally, there have been pro-Palestine protests at 45 states and Washington DC since the demonstrations started at Columbia University in New York on 17 April. They are demanding that their schools, many with massive endowments, financially divest from Israel. Many also want their universities to end academic relationships with Israeli institutions. Previously, President Joe Biden said people had the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos.

But, Mr Biden warned the threat of antisemitism is growing in the US, including on college campuses, joining a heated American debate about Jewish security, Zionism, free speech and support for Israel, in the country with the largest Jewish population after Israel. Addressing a bipartisan audience at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual commemoration, Mr Biden said: “This hatred (of Jews) continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world and requires our continued vigilance and outspokenness,” Biden said. “Now here we are, not 75 years later, but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting … that Hamas unleashed this terror,” he added. “I have not forgotten, nor have you. And we will not forget.”

(BBC)…[+]

UKRAINE – Russia has launched more than 70 missiles and drones overnight in one of its largest barrages against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The attack was directed at facilities in Kyiv and six other cities, authorities said. Moscow continues to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the hope of denting industry and public appetite for fighting back against its invasion. Russia launched more than 50 missiles and 20 Iranian-made “Shahed” drones – long-range unmanned vehicles with built-in warheads – authorities said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed the “massive missile attack,” which was also reported to have damaged homes and the railway network.

Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, and parts of southern and western Ukraine were among the targets. Three people, including an eight-year-old girl, were injured during the attack. Nine Ukrainian regions experienced power cuts yesterday morning following the strikes. Grid operator Ukrenergo warned that power cuts across the country were likely in the evening. “The enemy has not abandoned plans to deprive Ukrainians of light,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

Moscow has pummelled Ukraine’s power plants in an attempt to hamper the production of weapons for the military and diminish public morale, analysts say.

The attack came ahead of Victory in Europe Day. May 8 marks the surrender of Germany in World War II. Russia celebrates Victory Day, marking the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, on May 9. Ukraine changed its celebration to May 8 last year. “On Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II Day, Nazi Putin launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine,” President Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Ukraine is desperately awaiting weapons deliveries from Western allies, warning that its defense capabilities are running low. The United States and European Union have both committed to new aid packages in recent months.

However, Kyiv continues to plead for more air defense systems, such as the US-built Patriot which intercepts drones and missiles. Washington has promised to deliver more Patriot systems, as well as more munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or Nasams defense systems which it delivered in 2022.

In the meantime, Russia is racing to bombard the country, while its ground forces seek to extend progress on the front line in eastern Ukraine. As well as targeting energy facilities, Moscow’s military is also reported to be sending growing numbers of missiles and drones in a bid to exhaust Ukraine’s air defenses.

Ukraine’s energy firms have all but exhausted their finances, equipment and spare parts fixing the damage Russia has already wrought. The country’s power plants urgently need specialist equipment that Ukraine can no longer make at sufficient speed and scale.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier this month that half of the country’s energy system had been damaged by Russian attacks. DTEK, Ukraine’s biggest private electricity supplier, said it has lost 80 percent of its electricity-generating capacity in almost 180 aerial attacks since the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022.

(Al Jazeera)…[+]

BUENOS AIRES – Argentina’s central bank announced the circulation of a new 10,000-peso bill (about $11), the largest denomination ever printed in the South American country.

The bill, carrying the images of independence figures General Manuel Belgrano and Maria Remedios del Valle, aims to make it easier for Argentines to pay for goods and services without having to carry huge amounts of cash, given the country’s high inflation rate.

According to the bank, the banknote “will facilitate transactions between users, make the logistics of the financial system more efficient and significantly reduce the costs of acquiring finished banknotes.”

An even larger 20,000-peso (about $23) bill is expected to enter into circulation in the last quarter of the year, the bank said.

(Xinhua)…[+]

INDONESIA – A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted yesterday and spewed an ash tower almost a mile into the sky, prompting officials to raise an alert level to the second-highest and warn people to keep away.

Mount Ibu, located on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, erupted at 11:11 am local time (0211 GMT) and sent a thick column of dark smoke and ash above the peak. The volcano spewed an ash tower 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) above the peak, Indonesia’s volcanology agency (PVMBG) said. “Based on the results of visual and instrumental monitoring… Mount Ibu’s activity level has been raised from level two to level three” of a four-tiered system, said PVMBG chief Hendra Gunawan in a statement yesterday. Authorities formed an exclusion zone between three and five kilometres around the volcano’s crater. Hendra urged nearby residents to wear face masks and glasses when doing outdoor activities and to prepare for falling volcanic ash.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”. Last month, Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi Province erupted more than half a dozen times, forcing thousands of residents of nearby islands to evacuate. It erupted again last week and remains at the highest alert level of a four-tiered system. All of the 800 or so residents of Ruang island have been permanently relocated.

(AFP)…[+]