LOS ANGELES: A group of 35 pro-Palestinian students, faculty members, legal observers, journalists and activists filed a lawsuit against the University of California, Los Angeles, over its handling of last year’s demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles comes days after the Trump administration joined a separate lawsuit filed in June against the university by Jewish students and a Jewish professor accusing it of failing to protect them from pro-Palestinian activists.
The demonstrations at UCLA became part of a movement last spring at campuses nationwide against the Israel-Hamas war. Last month, the Trump administration opened new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at Columbia University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University.
UCLA was repeatedly roiled by protests and the way administrators were handling the situation. The tensions culminated the night of April 20 when a group of counterprotesters began violently dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment.
The lawsuit says UCLA failed to protect the demonstrators when dozens of people, some in white masks and some draped in Israeli flags and armed with fireworks, hammers, baseball bats and other weapons, attacked the encampment while the loud sound of crying babies played on the jumbotron.
Several protesters were injured during the attack, which happened after private security had left and police had not yet arrived, the lawsuit says.
“Encampment members witnessed the mob’s extreme violence, threats of violence, and UCLA’s failure to intervene,” it says. “They saw people get their heads split open, suffer from open wounds and concussions, scream in pain and fear, with fireworks and mayhem all around them.”
The university did not immediately respond Friday to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Los Angeles Police and California Highway Patrol officers arrested dozens of protesters on May 1 and 2 as the camp was cleared.
The episode led to the reassignment of the campus police chief and creation of a new campus safety office. A subsequent attempt to set up a new camp was also blocked.
The lawsuit also names the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and 20 people it describes as members of a “mob.” It seeks monetary damages for physical and psychological injuries suffered by the protesters.
Last June, three Jewish students and a Jewish professor sued the university saying it allowed pro-Palestinian protesters to block them from accessing classes and other parts of campus. The students alleged they experienced discrimination on campus during the protests because of their faith and that UCLA failed to ensure access to campus for all Jewish students.
A federal judge ruled in a preliminary injunction last year that the university cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to block Jewish students from accessing classes and other parts of campus.
On Monday, the Trump administration filed a brief supporting the Jewish students and professor in their case against UCLA.
“DOJ has thrown down the gauntlet: if university administrators aid and abet mistreatment of Jews, they will pay the price,” said Mark Rienzi, president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and an attorney for the students and professor. “This is a wake-up call for every university that allows antisemitic hatred to fester unchecked. No Jewish student or professor should ever again face this kind of terror on their own campus.”
Pro-Palestinian group sues UCLA over its handling of demonstrations
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Pro-Palestinian group sues UCLA over its handling of demonstrations
- Last week, the Trump administration joined a separate lawsuit filed in June against the university by Jewish students and a Jewish professor accusing it of failing to protect them from pro-Palestinian activists
South Korea authorities deploy choppers, troops to battle wildfire
- Four people have been killed so far, with officials warning that high winds and rising temperatures were hindering efforts to put out the blazes
- The government declared a state of emergency in the affected regions, citing ‘the extensive damage caused by simultaneous wildfires across the country’
Four people have been killed so far, with officials warning that high winds and rising temperatures were hindering efforts to put out the blazes.
In Uiseong, nearly 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of land has been affected and around 600 people evacuated, Lim Sang-seop, head of the Korea Forest Service, told a press briefing.
“A total of 57 wildfire fighting helicopters are to be deployed to extinguish the fire,” he said, adding that more than 2,600 firefighting personnel – including soldiers – would be mobilized “to respond with all their might.”
The fire had been partly contained but was still burning as of Monday afternoon.
The forest agency has issued “severe” fire warnings, its highest level, in multiple locations, including North and South Gyeongsang provinces, Busan and Daejeon.
A major wildfire claimed four lives over the weekend in Sancheong county, in South Gyeongsang province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Seoul.
That fire was also partly contained by Monday – but still burning.
The government declared a state of emergency in the affected regions, citing “the extensive damage caused by simultaneous wildfires across the country.”
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was reinstated as acting president earlier Monday, visited the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, urging authorities to work together “until the wildfires are completely extinguished.”
“It is a truly heartbreaking incident,” he said, adding that he would meet people affected by the fires later Monday.
The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, urged authorities to “mobilize all means at their disposal to quickly and safely suppress the fires” and take further measures to prevent any additional wildfires.
Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.
Other phenomena such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.
Interior minister: 199 migrants deported from US arrive in Venezuela
- Live footage showed young men in sweatsuits walking off the plane, which landed outside the capital Caracas
- The flight comes after Venezuela announced it had reached an agreement with Washington to resume repatriation flights
MAIQUETIA, Venezuela: A plane carrying 199 migrants deported from the United States arrived early Monday in Venezuela, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.
“Today, we are receiving 199 compatriots,” he said at the airport. “We are ready to receive Venezuelans wherever they are.”
Live footage showed young men in sweatsuits walking off the plane, which landed outside the capital Caracas. Some of them were smiling and clapping as officials looked on.
The flight comes after Venezuela on Saturday announced it had reached an agreement with Washington to resume repatriation flights from the United States.
The deportation pipeline was suspended last month when US President Donald Trump claimed Venezuela had not lived up to a deal to quickly receive deported migrants, and Caracas subsequently said it would no longer accept the flights.
Russia launches third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv ahead of peace talks with US
- Latest attack came ahead of Russia-US talks in Riyadh to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea
KYIV: Russia launched its third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv, wounding one person and damaging several houses in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital, a Kyiv’s regional governor said on Monday.
A 37-year-old person received shrapnel wounds in his upper body and head, governor Mykola Kalashnyk said in a post on Telegram messaging app.
“The person has been hospitalized,” Kalashnyk said.
Late on Sunday, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Russia’s attack injured a 54-year-old woman and damaged windows of multi-story and residential buildings, the region’s administration said on Telegram.
The attacks came after a Ukrainian delegation met with US officials for peace talks in Saudi Arabia, and ahead of Russia-US talks there on Monday to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea.
The United States is pushing for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, and hopes to reach a broad ceasefire in the war by April 20, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.
But despite the peace push, both sides have been reporting continued strikes.
The full-scale of the overnight attack was not immediately clear.
There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kyiv, its surrounding region and the eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts several hours starting late on Sunday, according to Ukraine air force maps.
Youth arrested in France for suspected attack on rabbi
- France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union
ORLEANS, France: French police have arrested a 16-year-old on suspicion of attacking a rabbi in broad daylight, a prosecutor said Sunday, shocking the Jewish community and prompting a wave of condemnation.
The attack against the Rabbi of Orleans, Arie Engelberg, happened as he walked with his nine-year-old son from synagogue on Saturday afternoon in the city, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Paris.
Engelberg told BFM television that his attacker asked if he was Jewish. “I said yes.”
“He started saying ‘all Jews are sons of...,” he said, adding that he wanted to film him with his phone as he hurled insults.
“I decided to act and I pushed his telephone away,” the rabbi said. His attacker then “started punching and I protected myself,” he added.
Engelberg said the suspect bit him until several people stepped in to help, he told the channel.
“I’m OK, thank God, my son, I’m getting better and better. We’ve had an enormous amount of support.”
Police were checking the identity of the person in custody since he did not have documents on him when he was detained, Orleans prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren said.
Another source with knowledge of the case said the suspect arrested on Saturday night was known under at least three identities, one Moroccan and two Palestinian.
France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union.
Several EU nations have reported a spike in “anti-Muslim hatred” and “anti-Semitism” since the Gaza war started on October 7, 2023, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
On that date, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a cross-border attack in Israel, resulting in the death of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s subsequent military offensive on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run occupied Palestinian territory. The United Nations deems the figures reliable.
Andre Druon, a Jewish community leader in Orleans, said there had not been any incident in Orleans since October 7, 2023 “apart from some graffiti” before the “very violent” attack on the rabbi.
He said the rabbi was profoundly shaken when he recounted his ordeal to the community on Sunday.
Yann Dhieux, a locksmith, told AFP he had intervened with his arms wide and helped stop the assault, but that it was shocking to see the rabbi attacked in front of his young son.
President Emmanuel Macron voiced solidarity with the rabbi’s family and all French people of Jewish faith.
“Anti-Semitism is a poison,” he wrote on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was “shocked” by the attack and called for “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism.”
France witnessed some 1,570 anti-Semitic acts last year, the interior ministry says. They made up 62 percent of all acts of hatred on the basis of religion.
South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han, reinstating him as acting president
- Han was impeached by the National Assembly, soon after he became acting president when Yoon Suk Yeol was forced out
- The Constitutional Court said Monday it has decided to overturn Han’s impeachment, but it has yet to rule on Yoon’s impeachment
SEOUL: South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Monday overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating the nation’s No. 2 official as acting leader, while not yet ruling on the separate impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Han became acting president after Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly over his Dec. 3 imposition of martial law that triggered a massive political crisis. But Han was impeached by the assembly as well in late December following political strife with opposition lawmakers.
The unprecedented, successive impeachments that suspended the country’s top two officials intensified a domestic division and deepened worries about the country’s diplomatic and economic activities. The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, had since serving as acting president.
The Constitutional Court said Monday it has decided to overturn Han’s impeachment, but it has yet to rule on Yoon’s impeachment.
If the court upholds Yoon’s impeachment, South Korea must hold a election for a new president. If it rules for him, Yoon will be restored to office and regain his presidential powers.
Yoon was impeached about two weeks earlier than Han. Observers earlier predicted the Constitutional Court would rule on Yoon’s case in mid-March but it hasn’t done so.
Yoon has been separately arrested and charged with rebellion in connection with his martial law decree. If convicted of that charge, he would face the death penalty or a life sentence. On March 8, Yoon was released from prison, after a Seoul district court allowed him to stand his criminal trial without being detained.
Massive rival rallies backing Yoon or denouncing Yoon have divided the streets of Seoul and other major cities in South Korea. Earlier surveys showed that a majority of South Koreans were critical of Yoon’s martial law enactment, but those supporting or sympathizing with Yoon have later gained strength.
At the center of squabbling over Yoon is why he sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after declaring martial law. Yoon says he aims to maintain order, but senior military and police officers sent there have said that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to prevent a floor vote to overturn his decree. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter an assembly hall and voted it down unanimously.
