GEAR JRNL

Horror and fear in West Bank as Israel approves hanging Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across the embattled Palestinian territories Tuesday in outrage after Israel's parliamentpassed a measureestablishing the death penalty by hanging for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.

Relatives of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails demonstrated against the decision by Israel's parliament to approve the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis in front of the Red Cross headquarters in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, center, and lawmakers celebrate after Israel's parliament passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, at the Knesset in Jerusalem Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Itay Cohen)

Israel Palestinians Gaza

Palestinians young and old held sit-ins and marches in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the territory where the new law is most sweeping. It orders West Bank military courts — which try only Palestinians — to make the death penalty the default sentence for those convicted, except in special circumstances.

"Time is running out and silence is deadly," read the signs carried by protesters in the central West Bank city of Nablus, which showed an animation of a prisoner wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf next to a noose. "Stop the law to execute prisoners, before it's too late."

The bill passed its final vote in the Israeli parliament late Monday, to cheers and applause. Israel's firebrand minister of national security,Itamar Ben-Gvir, who spearheaded the push for the legislation, described the law as long overdue and a sign of strength and national pride.

The law is set to take effect in 30 days but its implementation could be delayed by pending court proceedings at Israel's highest tribunal.

The measure is not retroactive and won't apply to current prisoners. Still, it signaled an extreme hardening of Israeli penal policy that elicited fear from the protesters for all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails —emblems of national resistance.

"You are the symbol of struggle, You are the symbol of steadfastness," the protesters in Nablus chanted, some holding up signs with the faces of friends and family currently in Israeli prisons.

The Fatah political party announced a general strike in the northern part of the West Bank for Wednesday. Palestinian officials released statements saying the death penalty measure violated international law and asking other countries to intervene. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called for sanctions on Israel's parliament and its suspension from international bodies.

"The law represents a critical turning point in the formalization of extrajudicial killings under a legal guise," the statement said. "The Ministry stresses that this law, in its essence, constitutes an institutionalized policy of field executions based on discriminatory and racist standards."

Amnesty International has said that the use of the death penalty under the new measure could violate the right to life and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as enshrined in international law.

In Gaza, dozens joined a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the Red Cross where women in hijab held up large framed photographs of well-known Palestinian prisoners likeMarwan Barghouti.

The law extends also to Israeli courts, giving them the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted of nationalistic murder — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

byAdministrator

in

March 31, 2026

Horror and fear in West Bank as Israel approves hanging Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across the embattled Palestinian territories Tuesday in outra...

Florida to rename Palm Beach airport after Trump

March 30 (Reuters) - Florida Governor Ron ‌DeSantis signed legislation ‌on Monday to rename the Palm Beach International Airport after Donald Trump, ‌the latest ⁠in a series of buildings, ⁠institutions, government programs, warships and money to bear the ‌U.S. president's name.

The decision to rename the airport after Trump follows Florida's ‌approval last year of a plan to ‌donate a downtown Miami property for the site of Trump's presidential ‌library.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese)

byAdministrator

in

March 31, 2026

Florida to rename Palm Beach airport after Trump

March 30 (Reuters) - Florida Governor Ron ‌DeSantis signed legislation ‌on Monday to rename the Palm Beach International...

Universities become new frontline as the US-Israel war against Iran escalates

Iranian universities and scientific research centers have come under a series of attacks in recent days, raising concerns that academic institutions are becoming a new frontline in the widening war.

Iran's Ministry of Science said at least 21 universities have been damaged in strikes since the war began, and academics themselves have been targeted, in what Tehran claims is an attempt to weaken the country's scientific and cultural foundations.

CNN has geolocated several videos showing damaged buildings at the Iran University of Science and Technology, an engineering-focused institution in the capital that has long trained specialists in fields relevant to Iran's industrial and defense sectors.

One video filmed before sunrise on Saturday shows a research center at the university reduced to rubble, with twisted metal, bricks and debris scattered across the site. A nearby building appears to be on fire. Another posted later shows plumes of smoke rising from the wreckage, with windows in adjacent buildings shattered.

The university, founded in 1929 as Iran's first institution dedicated to training engineers, said US-Israeli strikes had caused damage but no casualties. It condemned the attack, calling strikes on academic institutions a violation of international law.

The attacks have triggered warnings of Iranian retaliation which has already disrupted higher education in Lebanon, Qatar and other Gulf states.

"Universities are normally civilian infrastructure, and directly attacking them can constitute a war crime unless they are being used for military purposes," said Janina Dill, professor of global security at the University of Oxford and co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.

"Storing weapons or planning attacks from a university building could make it a legitimate military target, but education or research alone is not generally considered enough to turn the building into a military object," she said.

The Israeli military said it had targeted what it described as military infrastructure at some university sites, including the IRGC-affiliated Imam Hossein University on Monday in Tehran, alleging the facilities were used for weapons development.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli strikes have killed several Iranian nuclear scientists, framing the campaign as part of a broader effort to degrade Iran's nuclear program.

The University of Tehran's Deputy for Research, Manouchehr Moradi, said the strikes go beyond military objectives.

"Universities are homes of thought and dialogue, and any violence or threat in this space is considered an attack on the foundations of national progress and human dignity," he told Iran's state news agency IRNA.

He called on the international academic community to respond, saying it has a duty to defend "academic independence."

A file photo shows a building on the Texas A&M University campus at Education City, in Doha, Qatar, in October 2011. - Osama Faisal/AP/File

The strikes on universities are raising uncomfortable questions for Iranians who live nearby.

"The universities are basically empty, so people are asking: 'What is beneath the surface? Are they producing ballistic missiles? What are they doing?' People are frightened," said one Tehran resident who asked to be anonymous for fear of retribution.

Iran threatens US-linked campuses

Analysts say the targeting of universities, and Iran's threats of retaliation against academic institutions abroad, point to a widening conflict and potentially diverging objectives among the parties involved.

"The strikes demonstrate that Israel's objectives aren't necessarily aligned with those of the United States," said Dina Esfandiary, Middle East lead at Bloomberg Economics. "Israel aims to disrupt, change the government and sow chaos. A weak Iran is less of a threat to it."

Esfandiary said Iran's response so far has followed a calibrated pattern.

"Iran has followed a ruthless, but step-by-step escalation. They've responded to each US/Israeli hit in their country by threatening to hit the same in the Gulf Arab states, but giving the US and Israel time to back down before they follow through on their threat," she said.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would target American- and Israeli-affiliated universities in the Middle East in response to strikes on Iranian academic institutions.

Its threat has been taken seriously.

The American University of Beirut said on Sunday it would operate completely remotely for two days "out of an abundance of caution," while the Lebanese American University also announced a shift to online learning "as a precaution given the broad threats to educational institutions in the region."

Many universities moved online when the war began more than a month ago.

Qatar's Education Ministry ordered all schools and universities to switch to distance learning on February 28, the first day of the conflict. US-affiliated campuses in the country, including those linked to Georgetown University, Texas A&M University and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, remain online-only.

In an email to students sent on Sunday and seen by CNN, the dean of Northwestern University in Qatar, Marwan Kraidy said: "In light of recent developments and as a precautionary measure, we will temporarily close access to the NU-Q building until further notice."

US-affiliated institutions in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have taken similar measures.

"There is little doubt they could, if they wanted to, hit US universities in the Gulf," Esfandiary said. "But this would likely erase any remaining sympathy for them internationally."

In Iran, a new academic term will begin in early April, but all classes will be held virtually until further notice.

Shrooq Alyafeiand Farida Elsebaicontributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byAdministrator

in

March 31, 2026

Universities become new frontline as the US-Israel war against Iran escalates

Iranian universities and scientific research centers have come under a series of attacks in recent days, raising concerns...

Disney's Animatronic Olaf Suddenly Collapsed In Front Of Fans, The Internet Reacted In Hilarious Ways

The newOlaf animatronichad a very relatable moment when he suffered apublic malfunctiona day after making his debut at Disneyland Paris.

Disney Parks had been promoting its new creation, a modern twist on the typical character encounters, for months.

The animatronic, which is the same size as the beloved character fromFrozen, can reportedly roam freely around the park and interact with visitors thanks to AI. He also uses the voice of Josh Gad, who voiced the character in the Disney films.

"This debut marks a new chapter in Disney character innovation, one where technology, storytelling and collaboration come together to bring screen to reality," the company wrote of the hyper-realistic snowman, created by Disney's Imagineering team andFrozen's original animators.

But on Monday (March 30), a day after his debut, the charming snowman stopped working in front of park-goers. A video shows the animatronic talking to the crowd, then suddenly stopping mid-speech, opening his eyes wide, and falling flat on his back—his carrot nose falling off as well.

"POV: you waited 30 minutes to see Olaf and this happens," one park-goer wrote over a video of the moment, which has since amassed millions of views.

After the malfunction, a group of Disney workers quickly reattached his nose and took him away for repairs.

Soon after, internet users worked their magic and turned the unlucky debut into dozens of memes, with some sympathizing with the children who witnessed their favorite character's mishap and others projecting a bit of themselves into the moment.

Without further ado, here are some of thefunniest reactionsto Olaf's malfunction at Disneyland Paris.

byAdministrator

in

March 31, 2026

Disney’s Animatronic Olaf Suddenly Collapsed In Front Of Fans, The Internet Reacted In Hilarious Ways

The newOlaf animatronichad a very relatable moment when he suffered apublic malfunctiona day after making his debut at Di...

Bruce Springsteen wants your attention, plans livestream from tour opener in Minneapolis

Bruce Springsteenwants his No Kings message to be heard around the world.

For the kickoff of the 20-dateLand of Hope & Dreams Tour– fittingly taking place in Minneapolis, a recent hotbed of political uprising – the first two songs of the set will stream for free on Springsteen'sYouTube channel.

The March 31 concert at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis will launch at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Springsteen's touris strategically routed with the first few dates landing in cities heavily targeted byImmigration and Customs Enforcement. Following Minneapolis, the band will perform in Portland, Oregon April 3 and Los Angeles April 7 and 9. The tour ends May 27 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., the only stadium date.

More:Journey thanks fans 'for all the years' on final tour

Musician Bruce Springsteen performs during a "No Kings" protest outside the State Capitol building on March 28, 2026 in St Paul, Minnesota.

"The tour is going to be political and very topical about what's going on in the country," Springsteentold the Minnesota Star Tribuneon March 23. "Minneapolis and St. Paul, that was the place I wanted to begin it, and I wanted to end it in Washington."

Springsteen and the E Streeters will be joined by longtime comrade for social justice causes, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.

Morello also guested with Springsteen during theNo Kings rallyin Minneapolis on March 28. The gathering was one of more than 3,000 nationwide to protest the policies and leadership of PresidentDonald Trump.

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen took the stage on March 28, 2026, to perform his protest song "Streets of Minneapolis" at the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul on Saturday. Springsteen performed during a "No Kings" protest — the third nationwide "No Kings" protest held against the Trump administration. Musicians Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers were also scheduled to perform at the protest.