Violent Palestine Protesters arrested
Between Tuesday and Thursday evening, violent Palestine protesters were arrested at notable US Colleges. Columbia University, the University of Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Texas–Austin were the major sites of the arrest. Riot police were called to de-escalate the protests.
Protesters at Columbia University had entered Hamilton Hall and occupied it as a protest. The protester’s key aim was to get Columbia’s Investment firm to divest their assets invested in the Israel-Gaza war. The firm has $13.6 Billion in assets with international investments. Companies that protestors do not want Columbia to invest in our defense companies.
Riot Police entered on Wednesday evening, with violent clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestine protesters. Over 300 protesters were arrested at Columbia University alone. Approximately 1,600 protestors were arrested over this week, across 30 US Colleges.
President Joe Biden said, “We’re a civil society and order must prevail,” “Violent protest is not protected; peaceful protest is.”
London Mayoral Election
On Thursday the 2nd of May, voting began for the mayor of London and the local London assembly elections. On Saturday the 4th, Sadiq Khan (Labour) won a third term as Mayor of London. He beat Susan Hall (Conservative) by 11.1%. Khan got 43.8% of the total vote and Susan Hall received 32.7%. Sadiq Khan’s prior policies when Mayor of London have been environmental and cultural. Khan implemented a London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone that charges £12.50 for cars not meeting CO2 Emission standards. In Khan’s manifesto, he pledged to “protect London’s diversity”.
Contrastingly, the main points of debate were rising knife crime in London and ULEZ. Many working-class voters were unhappy with the charges as it is an expensive tax and older industrial cars do not meet standards.
West Midlands Mayoral Election
Across the UK, multiple Mayoral elections were held, with Labour winning all but one, Tees Valley. Despite this, the West Midlands Mayoral Election had only 1,508 votes between Labour and the Conservatives. Labour won the election with Richard Parker, against Conservative Andy Street who was previously Mayor for two terms.
It is certain that Labour will win the 2024 UK General Election and that the Conservative Party is facing a wipeout. Despite this, the country is leaning towards Conservatism, but many right-wing parties are splitting up a once-Tory vote. For example, Reform UK is polling at approximately 14%. Reform UK would need to consider who they would put for the prime ministerial race, and whether Nigel Farage would stand a chance.
Battle for Chasiv-Yar begins
In the East of Ukraine, in the Donbas region, Russian and Ukrainian forces are preparing and fighting for one of the most geographically influential positions on the Eastern front.
Chasiv Yar is elevated on high ground and would serve as a base of operations for offensives in other Ukrainian-controlled cities in the Donetsk Oblast, like Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka. US aid has not yet arrived on the Eastern front. As a result, Russian forces are quickly pushing, in the brief few weeks long window they have before Ukrainian forces get more weapons.
On May 9th Russia is celebrating Victory Day, a national holiday that commemorates Soviet Victory over Nazi Germany. German tanks reached Moscow in 2024, but not in the way you would expect. An exhibition in Moscows Victory Square has been set up, displaying all the Western equipment that has been captured by Russian Forces. Military hardware that the West considered superior, has been taken, inspected, and displayed in Moscow. Tanks like the German Leopard 2A4 and America’s M1 A1 Abrams Main Battle tank.
The US had sent 31 Abrams to Ukraine, and already 5 have been destroyed.
Such a display will remind the West and Russians that Russia is not losing the war in Ukraine, but slowly winning and that Ukraine’s shortfall is not the number of tanks, but the number of soldiers.
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Cover Image – TASS Sergei Bulkin/TASS
