North America

22 May 2024; MEMO: US President, Joe Biden, believes a Palestinian State should be achieved through negotiations, not unilateral recognition, the White House said on Wednesday after Ireland, Spain and Norway said they would recognise a Palestinian State this month, Reuters reports.

Washington’s reaction appeared to signal US dismay that the three European nations announced intent to proceed with unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State, which does not exist in practice.

26 April 2024; AP: The students at Columbia University who inspired pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country dug in at their encampment for the 10th day Friday as administrators and police at campuses from California to Massachusetts wrestled with how to address protests that have seen scuffles with police and hundreds of arrests.

Tehran, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has posted images of students, including schoolgirls, being suppressed by the US police, sarcastically referring to them as “another angle of freedom of expression and respect for women’s rights in the US”.

Suppression of the students of Texas University for their protests against the US support for the Zionist crimes in the Gaza Strip is a “disgrace”, the spokesman said on his X account on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, April 25. /TASS/. The "underhand" transfer of US ATACMS missiles to Ukraine cannot be justified as it increases security threats to Crimea and other Russian regions, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said.

25 April 2024; MEMO: Celebrity Chef, Jose Andres, called seven aid workers killed by Israeli forces in Gaza “the best of humanity” on Thursday during a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral that was attended by hundreds, and punctuated by grief and ongoing questions about the attack, Reuters reports.

26 April 2024; MEMO: Senator Bernie Sanders, on Thursday, slammed the Israeli Premier’s remarks that denounced pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled US college campuses, Anadolu Agency reports.

“No, Mr. Netanyahu. It is not anti-Semitic or pro-Hamas to point out that, in a little over six months, your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – 70 per cent of whom are women and children,” Sanders said in a statement.

19 April 2024; AP: The U.S. and U.K. on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran as concern grows that Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East.

Tehran, IRNA — Over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested on the campus of New York’s Columbia University as police cleared an encampment set up by students demonstrating against Israel’s war on Gaza, media outlets have reported.

Several students involved in the protest said they were also suspended from Columbia University and its associate institution, Barnard College. They include Isra Hirsi, who is the daughter of Ilhan Omar, a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives, Al Jazeera reported on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS, APRIL 19. /TASS/. The United States exercised its veto right to block a UN Security Council resolution granting full UN membership to Palestine, a TASS correspondent reported.

A total of 12 countries, including Russia and China, voted in favor of the document, while two countries — Switzerland and the United Kingdom — abstained. The United States was the only country that voted against the proposed resolution.

OTTAWA: At least two Indian-origin men are among six persons arrested in connection with a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport last year, the biggest gold theft in Canada's history.

The Canadian authorities also issued warrants for three more persons in the case, Peel Regional Police (PRP) said.