CHICAGO: At least 55 protesters were arrested following violent clashes with police in Chicago on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, a situation the police chief called “a danger to our city.”
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Wednesday that those arrested outside the Israeli Consulate, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the United Center where Democrats were meeting, “showed up with the intention of committing acts of violence, vandalism.”
“As the Chicago Police Department, we did everything that we could to de-escalate that situation,” Snelling said during a news conference. “But there’s only so much de-escalation that you can attempt before it becomes excessive repetition.”
The intense confrontations between pro-Palestinian protesters and officers began minutes into the demonstration, after some protesters — many dressed in black, their faces covered — charged at a line of police who had blocked their march. They eventually moved past the officers but were penned in several times throughout the night by police in riot gear who did not allow protesters to disperse.
Snelling said protesters showed up to “fight with the police.”
“We were not the initiators of violence, but we responded to it,” Snelling said.
Snelling said that between 55 and 60 people were arrested. Two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, one for knee pain and one with a finger injury, Snelling said. Two officers were injured but they refused medical attention because they did not want to leave fellow officers, Snelling said. He said three journalists were among those arrested, but he did not have details on charges.
“Last night was a danger to our city and a danger to our citizens in this city, our residents’ property. And CPD has to protect that,” Snelling said.
The Israeli Consulate has been the site of numerous demonstrations since the war in Gaza began in October, and protests during the DNC have largely focused on opposing the Israel-Hamas war..
The group behind the protest Tuesday night is not affiliated with a coalition of more than 200 groups that has organized permitted rallies and marches — one that took place Monday and two more expected Wednesday and Thursday. Another rally, organized by the US Palestinian Community Network, a Palestinian and Arab community-based organization, is planned for Wednesday afternoon near the United Center.
On Tuesday night, organizers rallied demonstrators under the slogan “Make it great like ‘68,” invoking the anti-Vietnam War protests that seized the city during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
“That was what they brought here to Chicago,” Snelling said. “It’s 2024. And the Chicago Police Department proved that. So let’s get off of 1968. Let’s stop talking about 1968. This is 2024.”
A large portion of the arrests happened at the end of the night, as police pinned demonstrators in a plaza and blocked them from leaving. Snelling denied that police had “kettled” protesters, a tactic that involves corralling people in a confined area, which is banned under a federal consent decree.
Snelling, who has been present at all major demonstrations so far during the convention, praised his officers. He said some female police officers were subjected to “vicious, nasty, sexually explicit” comments but that they “stood their ground and they did what they had to do.”
“I could not be more proud of the work that the men and women of this department are doing right now to keep this city safe,” he said.
Snelling rejected criticism that the police response was overwhelming.
“We wanted to overwhelm them,” Snelling said. “We wanted to overwhelm those people who decided to come to our city and destroy it. Now, overwhelming doesn’t mean that we were excessive. The response was proportionate.”
The largest protest so far, which attracted about 3,500 people on Monday, was largely peaceful and resulted in 13 arrests, most related to a breach of security fencing. Two were arrested Sunday night during another mostly peaceful march.
Also on Wednesday, a man who escaped from a Mississippi courthouse and is wanted on murder and armed robbery charges was taken into custody following a standoff with police at a restaurant about half a mile from the United Center. There was no indication that he had any connection to the convention.
At least 55 arrested after clashes with police outside Israeli Consulate in Chicago during DNC
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At least 55 arrested after clashes with police outside Israeli Consulate in Chicago during DNC

- The intense confrontations between pro-Palestinian protesters and officers began minutes into the demonstration
Zelensky urges ‘regime change’ in Russia and calls for confiscation of assets

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the world should push for “regime change” arguing that President Vladimir Putin otherwise would continue to destabilize its neighbors
Helsinki, July 31, 2025 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the world should push for “regime change” in Russia, arguing that President Vladimir Putin otherwise would continue to destabilize its neighbors.
“I believe Russia can be pushed to stop this war. It started it, and it can be made to end it, but if the world doesn’t aim to change the regime in Russia, that means even after the war ends, Moscow will still try to destabilize neighboring countries,” Zelensky told a conference marking 50 years since the signing of the “Helsinki Final Act” on respecting borders and territorial integrity.
Zelensky also called for the confiscation of Russia’s financial assets, following the latest deadly strike by Moscow on Kyiv.
“We need to fully block Russia’s war machine ... put every frozen Russian asset, including the stolen wealth of corruption to work defending against Russian aggression. It’s time to confiscate Russian assets, not just freeze them, confiscate them and use them to serve peace, not war,” Zelensky told the Helsinki conference in an online address.
Suspected arsonist appears in court over Melbourne synagogue fire that shocked the nation

- The federal government has committed $20 million to rebuild the synagogue
- Giovanni Laulu appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday after his arrest Wednesday
MELBOURNE: A suspected arsonist accused of destroying a Melbourne synagogue appeared in court seven months after the crime shocked the nation and triggered a large-scale investigation.
Giovanni Laulu, 21, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court Thursday after his arrest at a Melbourne home on Wednesday.
Police allege Laulu is one of three masked men who spread a liquid accelerant around the interior of the Adass Israel Synagogue then set it alight before dawn on Dec. 6. A worshipper preparing for morning prayers suffered minor burns.
Laulu is the first suspect to be caught, but police have foreshadowed more arrests. Police suspect there are also accomplices who planned the attack from overseas.
Laulu was charged with arson, reckless conduct endangering life and car theft.
Laulu confirmed his name but otherwise remained silent during the brief court appearance. He did not enter pleas or apply to be released on bail.
His lawyer told Magistrate Brett Sonnett this was not Laulu’s first time in prison. Laulu was then remanded in custody and will appear in court next on Aug. 6.
Prosecutors sought 12 weeks to gather evidence against Laulu and said 11 cell phones need to be analyzed. Sonnett gave the prosecution until Oct. 22 to present their case to Laulu’s lawyers.
Federal and state police, plus Australia’s main domestic spy agency, have been investigating the crime, which is suspected to be politically motivated. Police say more than 220 law enforcement officers have devoted more than 50,000 hours to the investigation.
State Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said Victoria Police would be relentless in pursuing and holding those involved in the synagogue arson to account.
“Victoria Police has seen first-hand the impact this incident has had in the Victorian community — the fear and distress a crime like this can cause,” Bush said in a statement.
“People deserve to be safe and feel safe, particularly when it comes to their places of worship. This is not negotiable in any way. We remain committed to identifying all those who seek to cause this kind of fear and harm, and ensuring they are brought to justice,” he added.
A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia since the Oct. 7, 2023. The synagogue attack is the only incident that has been classified as an act of terrorism, a designation that increases the resources available to the investigation.
The federal government has committed 30 million Australian dollars ($20 million) to rebuild the synagogue.
London’s Heathrow hit by more flight cancelations after air traffic failure

- The second outage in as many years at NATS also affected Gatwick Airport near London, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland and other locations
LONDON: At least 16 flights to and from London’s Heathrow Airport were canceled on Thursday, a day after technical problems with Britain’s air traffic control system caused widespread disruption across the country’s airports.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which provides air traffic control services for planes flying in UK airspace and the eastern part of the North Atlantic, said on Wednesday its systems were fully operational with capacity returning to normal after it switched to a back-up system.
The second outage in as many years at NATS also affected Gatwick Airport near London, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland and other locations, resulting in 122 cancelations as of 1830 GMT on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Heathrow’s website showed that at least 16 flights, including departures to Brussels and Toronto and arrivals from New York and Berlin, had been canceled on Thursday.
Heathrow, Britain’s largest and Europe’s busiest airport, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the latest cancelations.
Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon called on NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign, saying no lessons had been learnt since the August 2023 disruption caused by a malfunctioning in the automatic processing of flight plans.
NATS, which on Wednesday apologized to those affected by the failure, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a response to McMahon’s comments.
Heathrow was also hit by a fire at a power sub-station in March which stranded thousands of passengers.
China summons chip giant Nvidia over alleged security risks

- The California based firm said earlier this month that it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports
BEIJING: Chinese Internet authorities summoned Nvidia on Thursday to discuss “serious security issues” over some of its artificial intelligence (AI) chips, as the US technology giant finds itself entangled in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Nvidia is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, but the United States effectively restricts which chips it can export to China on national security grounds.
A key issue has been Chinese access to the “H20,” a less powerful version of Nvidia’s AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China.
The California-based firm said earlier this month that it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports.
But the firm still faces obstacles — US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities.
And on Thursday, Beijing’s top Internet regulator said it had summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss recently discovered “serious security issues” involving the H20.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said it had asked Nvidia to “explain the security risks of vulnerabilities and backdoors in its H20 chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials.”
The statement posted on social media noted that, according to US experts, location tracking and remote shutdown technologies for Nvidia chips “are already matured.”
The announcement marked the latest complication for Nvidia in selling its advanced products in the key Chinese market, where it is in increasingly fierce competition with homegrown technology firms.
CEO Jensen Huang said during a closely watched visit to Beijing this month that his firm remained committed to serving local customers.
Huang said he had been assured during talks with top Chinese officials during the trip that the country was “open and stable.”
“They want to know that Nvidia continues to invest here, that we are still doing our best to serve the market here,” he said.
Nvidia this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value — a new milestone in Wall Street’s bet that AI will transform the global economy.
New hurdles to the firm’s operation in China come as the country’s economy wavers, beset by a years-long property sector crisis and heightened trade headwinds under US President Donald Trump.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the country to enhance self-reliance in certain areas deemed vital for national security — including AI and semiconductors — as tensions with Washington mount.
The country’s firms have made great strides in recent years, with Huang praising their “super-fast” innovation during his visit to Beijing this month.
Finland celebrates 50 years since Helsinki Accords in shadow of Ukraine war

- The historic agreement between 35 states, including the Soviet Union and the United States, led to the creation of the OSCE, which today brings together 57 countries
- Among the key principles enshrined in the treaty are state sovereignty, non-use of force, and the inviolability of borders
HELSINKI: Finland on Thursday hosts a conference marking 50 years since the signing of the “Helsinki Final Act” on respecting borders and territorial integrity, principles that have come under assault following the war in Ukraine.
Keynote speakers for the conference include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Zelensky had been invited to attend the conference but will give his address remotely, the Finnish foreign ministry told AFP. Guterres will also only speak via a video message.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that Russia would be participating but would not be sending any high-level representatives to the meeting.
“Russia does not see the expediency of participating in the event at a high political level,” she told reporters, adding representatives would still “take part in the conversation.”
Notable guests include UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, as well as Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who arrived in Helsinki on Wednesday.
An opening speech is scheduled for 10:00 am (0700 GMT) by the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE), Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.
On August 1, 1975, 50 years ago, the Eastern and Western blocs signed the Helsinki Final Act in the Finnish capital.
The historic agreement between 35 states, including the Soviet Union and the United States, led to the creation of the OSCE, which today brings together 57 countries.
Among the key principles enshrined in the treaty are state sovereignty, non-use of force, and above all, the inviolability of borders.
“The participating States regard as inviolable all one another’s frontiers as well as the frontiers of all States in Europe and therefore they will refrain now and in the future from assaulting these frontiers,” the text of the treaty reads.
These commitments have been gravely challenged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has caused the most severe crisis in OSCE history.
Since then, Kyiv has unsuccessfully demanded that Russia be excluded from the international body.
However, in July 2024, Russian lawmakers earlier voted to suspend participation in the body’s parliamentary assembly, branding it anti-Russian and discriminatory, although the country is still listed as a member state on the organization’s official website.
While in Finland, Sybiga is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several Finnish officials, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and other high-level officials visiting the conference, according to the Ukrainian diplomacy.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday that “key topics” would include “synchronizing allied pressure on Moscow.”
Finland shut its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) eastern border with Russia in mid-December 2023 after the arrival of around 1,000 migrants without visas.
Helsinki has claimed the surge was orchestrated by Russia — a charge the Kremlin has denied.