Israel closes 6 UN schools for Palestinians in east Jerusalem
Jerusalem, May 8 (AP): Israel permanently closed six U.N. schools in east Jerusalem on Thursday, forcing Palestinian students to leave early and throwing the education of more than 800 others into question.
Last month, heavily armed Israeli police and Education Ministry officials ordered six schools in east Jerusalem to close within 30 days, which ended on Wednesday. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, runs the six schools. UNRWA also runs schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which continue to operate.
The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment, which UNRWA denies.
UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.
The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools in east Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.
In a previous statement to The Associated Press, the Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible.
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Social media influencer arrested for sexual assault of multiple women in Kerala
Thrissur (Kerala) (PTI): A social media influencer was arrested here on Friday for "sexually assaulting" multiple women after befriending them through Instagram, police said.
The accused has been identified as Yadu Girish (38), a native of Thannyam in Thrissur district.
According to police, Girish was active on Instagram and operated multiple accounts.
The investigation began after a woman lodged a complaint alleging sexual assault by him, officials said.
During the probe, police received complaints from two more women who alleged that Girish sexually assaulted them after befriending them on Instagram and promising to marry them.
After taking him into custody, police found that more women may have been targeted by the accused, and further investigation is underway, they said.
Multiple cases have been registered against Girish under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
The cases are being investigated by a team under the Thrissur District Crime Branch Assistant Commissioner of Police, officials added.
