President Raeisi laid to rest
Iranian president Ebrahim Raeisi has been laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth Shia Imam in the holy city of Mashhad. Millions of mourners thronged the streets of the northeastern Iranian city to bid farewell to the president who lost his life along with several companions in a tragic copter crash. Separate funerals were held in different cities for other officials who died in the crash on Sunday. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdolahian was laid to rest in the holy shrine of Abdul-Azim al-Hasani in Rey city, southern Tehran. The Friday Prayers leader of the city of Tabriz, was laid to rest in Tabriz. On Wednesday, millions of mourners headed to the University of Tehran to bid farewell to the late president and his companions. On Tuesday, people also flooded the streets of Tabriz and the holy city of Qom to pay tribute to President Raeisi and his entourage.
US-Israeli genocide in Gaza
The Israeli regime conducts fresh attacks on Gaza, killing around two dozen Palestinians. Ten people lost their lives in an airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza City. An unspecified number of people also died elsewhere in the city. Twelve others were killed in the central city of Deir al-Balah where Israeli forces pounded an aid storage warehouse. Meanwhile, the regime is pressing ahead with its offensive in Rafah, a southern city packed with displaced Palestinians. Tanks and troops are advancing in the city’s southeast, edging towards its densely populated western district. That comes despite international calls for a stop to the invasion of Rafah. Israel has killed at least 35,800 Palestinians since it waged its war on Gaza in early October.
Pro-Palestine protests
Students at Western universities keep up pro-Palestine protests despite their governments’ crackdown. At least 16 people have been arrested after British police stormed the University of Oxford campus to break up a pro-Palestine protest. Police also scuffled with the protesting students at the Oxford University. The students want the university to divest from Israel. They said they wanted to talk to their managers. But the university officials called police. Similar scenes can be witnessed elsewhere in Europe. German police scuffled with pro-Palestine student protesters who staged a sit-in at Humboldt University in Berlin. Police detained 130 students at Humboldt university, and forcibly removed others from their protest site. In the US, things also turned ugly at the University of California in Los Angeles. Police clashed with students who had set up an encampment and briefly took over a campus building. Thousands have been arrested during university protests across the US since they began more than a month ago. The students in the US have inspired their counterparts in other countries to hold similar protests. They all want a stop to financial support for Israel over its genocide in Gaza.