While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 6
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Police using a crowbar to enter a Stanford University building in which students had barricaded themselves. The school reported extensive damage to the building.
SCREENSHOT, PHOTO: X/@THESTUSTUSTUDIO, X/@TAB_DELETE
Stanford students arrested over pro-Palestinian protest
More than a dozen people were arrested at Stanford University in California on June 5 after pro-Palestinian student protesters barricaded themselves inside the building that houses the school president’s office, the latest clash between US students and authorities over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Approximately 10 students entered the building around 5.30am on the last day of classes for the spring quarter, according to the student newspaper The Stanford Daily, while about 50 students linked arms and surrounded the building, chanting, “Palestine will be free.”
In a post on Instagram, the group Liberate Stanford said an “autonomous group of students” had occupied the office of university President Richard Saller. The students have called on the school to divest from companies linked to Israel’s war in Gaza, among other demands.
Police used a crowbar to enter the building about two hours after the demonstration began, according to the Stanford Daily. In a statement, the school said 13 individuals who unlawfully entered the building had been arrested.
Ukraine’s Zelensky, Qatari Emir discuss how to end war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Emir of Qatar on June 5 discussed ways to end Ukraine’s 27-month-old full-scale conflict with Russia and efforts to keep channels of communication open, the Qatari state news agency QNA reported.
Mr Zelensky also commented on his talks at the Lusail Palace with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, including preparations for next week’s peace summit in Switzerland to which Russia is not invited.
QNA said the talks focused on developments in the conflict, “including the international community’s efforts to stop the war, protect civilians, and keep all channels of communication open to resolve the crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means”.
Slovak PM blames opponents in first address since shooting
VIA REUTERS
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on June 5 blamed his opponents for fostering the “hatred” that led to an assassination attempt against him, in his first address since the shooting.
Looking calm but speaking with long pauses, the 59-year-old also said in the video on Facebook that he could resume work as early as June.
“I feel no hatred towards the stranger who shot me,” Mr Fico said. “I forgive him and let him sort out what he did and why he did it in his own head.”
Italy’s migrant centre in Albania to open up in August, PM says
REUTERS
Italy’s contested migrant reception centre being built in Albania will be operational from August, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on June 5, presenting the “tool of deterrence” during a visit to the Balkan country.
Looking to curb migration to Italy, Ms Meloni signed a deal with Albania in 2023 to send thousands of asylum-seekers there to have their requests processed in two purpose-built centres to be run by Italian authorities.
The plan was supposed to come into force in June, but building work has been delayed and the centres are expected to be operational by Aug 1, 2024.
Elderly driver hits cycling children in France, 7 hospitalised
An 83-year-old driver struck a group of cycling children in western France on June 5, injuring seven, three of them seriously, officials said.
The group of 12 children, aged eight to 11, was heading from a leisure centre to a park on bicycles mid-morning when a woman driving a small hatchback hit them at a roundabout in the west coast city of La Rochelle, officials said.
Seven children were hospitalised after the front-impact accident with the car.
