Pro-Palestine Protests Escalate Tensions at US Universities
On Tuesday (April 23), tensions surged on various US university campuses amid pro-Palestinian protests, resulting in widespread arrests and class cancellations. At Columbia University in New York, the epicenter of the protests, students urged divestment from companies allegedly profiting from Israeli policies in Palestine. Reports indicated escalating violence, with NYPD officers facing thrown bottles and a chair wielded against a police officer’s helmet.
US Senate Approves Bill to Ban TikTok
The US Senate approved legislation on Wednesday, potentially leading to TikTok’s ban if its Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t divest it. The bill awaits President Biden’s signature, forming part of a $95 billion foreign aid package endorsed by Congress, including military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. It received substantial bipartisan support, with 79 Senators in favor and 18 against. TikTok faces scrutiny for its addictive nature and ByteDance’s Chinese ownership.
Central Galactic Cosmic Explosion Forms 50 Million Suns
Researchers have observed a colossal eruption of cosmic gas at the core of a galaxy, expelling material equivalent to 50 million suns into the universe. This “gas outflow,” spanning nearly 20,000 light-years, was detected in the galaxy NGC 4383, situated approximately 54 million light-years away. The phenomenon, detailed in a recent publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, involved gas streaming out from the galaxy at a velocity exceeding 447,000 miles per hour, encompassing nearly one-fifth of the Milky Way’s diameter.
