An employee at Israel's Embassy in Beijing was attacked in unclear circumstances and is hospitalised
Beijing (AP): An employee of the Israeli Embassy in Beijing was attacked on Friday and later hospitalized, the country's Foreign Ministry said. China did not immediately acknowledge the assault.
It wasn't immediately clear what sparked the attack, though it comes after Israel had criticised China for its statement that followed Hamas' unprecedented and deadly incursion into southern Israel last Saturday that sparked the ongoing war between the militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel.
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement to journalists, saying the attack did not happen on the embassy's grounds.
The identity of the employee was not made public and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred as calls in Muslim nations grew for mass protests after Friday prayers over Israel's intense bombing campaign in Gaza.
"The employee was transferred to hospital and he is in a stable condition," the statement said, without giving additional details. It added that Israeli officials were still trying to assess the "background" of what happened in the assault.
Just before making the announcement, Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Ambassador Rafi Harpaz had spoken Thursday with the Chinese envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, to express his country's "deep disappointment" over China's comments that followed the Hamas incursion.
There was "no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organisation Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza," the statement said.
"The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society."
An earlier Chinese statement about the meeting described Beijing as being "deeply concerned over the escalation of tensions and violence between Israel and Palestine and saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the conflict."
"China condemns actions that harm innocent civilians, and calls for an early cease-fire and the end of violence, and resuming talks for peace on the basis of the two-state solution to boost the two peoples' confidence in achieving peace," the statement read.
In Beijing, about half-a-dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside the Israeli Embassy in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers. A call to the embassy went unanswered on Friday.
Some 2 kilometres (1.25 miles) away at the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing, plainclothes officers were also on hand and one was tightening wires on a fence.
While the United States remains Israel's top ally, China in recent months had tried to reach out to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government as tensions had risen with Washington over Netanyahu's planned overhaul of the country's judiciary, which sparked months of protests.
Since the attack, however, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have travelled to Israel, while President Joe Biden also has spoken out about the Hamas attack.
America also has sent additional arms to Israel, deployed one aircraft carrier group and plans to send another to discourage a regional escalation as Israel prepares for a possible ground war in Gaza.
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SC wants to know if FIRs filed over suicides of IIT student, NEET aspirant
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought to know if FIRs were registered after suicides of a IIT Kharagpur student and a NEET aspirant in Kota, Rajasthan, came to light.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed its registry to call for a report from both places at the earliest.
The top court noted a 22-year-old student studying in IIT, Kharagpur, was found hanging in his hostel room on May 4, 2025.
"The deceased was a three-year civil engineering student. His body was found hanging in his room in the Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall. The student was identified as Mohammad Asif Qamar from Bihar’s Sheohar District," the bench noted.
The top court went on, "The press reporting indicates that just moments before his death, he was on a video call with his friend in Delhi. This is one of those unfortunate suicides by a student for which we have constituted the task-force to work on the various issues relating to students suicide."
The top court previously ordered the formation of a national task force, headed by former top court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat, to address the mental health concerns of students to prevent suicides in higher educational institutions.
The apex court said it was taking cognisance of the matter with a view to ascertain whether the management or administration of IIT, Kharagpur lodged an FIR with the local police station in accordance with its earlier directions.
It also took into account another case of suicide by a NEET aspirant who hanged herself at her room in Parshavanath area in the city ahead of the National Medical Entrants Examination scheduled on May 11.
"It is reported that the girl was under 18 years of age and hailed from Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh. She had been living with her parents in Kota (Rajasthan) and for the past several years, she was preparing for NEET-UG at a coaching institute," the court added.
The bench observed it was reportedly the fourteenth case of suicide by a coaching student in Kota, Rajasthan in 2025.
"Since January, 2025, a total of 17 cases of suicides by coaching students were reported in Kota last year. We would like to know whether an FIR has been registered in connection with this suicide also or not," the bench said.
The matter then was posted on May 13.
Outlining a disturbing pattern of student suicides in educational institutions, the apex court on March 24 directed Delhi Police to register an FIR and probe the suicidal deaths of two IIT-Delhi students from the SC/ST community.
Saying it was "high time" that it took cognisance of the "serious issue", the court ordered formulation of comprehensive and effective guidelines to address and mitigate the underlying causes contributing to such distress among students.
The bench directed the Centre to deposit Rs 20 lakh with the registry within two weeks as an outlay for the initial operations of the NTF.
Noting a "disturbing pattern" of student suicides were being reported from various educational institutes, the apex court said these tragedies underscored the urgent need for a more robust, comprehensive and responsive mechanism to address various factors which compel students to resort to taking their own lives.
