Latest news with #demonstrators

What we know about the visa obtained by Egyptian man who injured a dozen people in Colorado

Washington Post

2 days ago

General
Washington Post

What we know about the visa obtained by Egyptian man who injured a dozen people in Colorado

The Egyptian man charged with injuring a dozen people in Boulder, Colorado, in an attack on demonstrators seeking the release of Israeli hostages is among hundreds of thousands of people known to overstay their visas each year in the United States. Mohamed Sabry Soliman , 45, was born in Egypt and moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife and five children, according to state court documents. He lived for 17 years in Kuwait.

Mongolia PM resigns after anti-corruption protests

CNA

3 days ago

Business
CNA

Mongolia PM resigns after anti-corruption protests

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia: Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned on Tuesday (Jun 3) following weeks of anti-corruption protests in the country's capital. The landlocked democracy in northern Asia has battled deep-seated corruption for decades, with many arguing that wealthy elites are hoarding the profits of a years-long coal mining boom at the expense of the general population. Frustrations have flared since last month as public suspicions over the supposedly lavish lifestyles of the prime minister's family have fuelled persistent demonstrations in the capital Ulaanbaatar. Oyun-Erdene announced his resignation on Tuesday after losing a confidence vote among lawmakers, according to a parliamentary statement. "It was an honour to serve my country and people in times of difficulties, including pandemics, wars, and tariffs," he said after the result of the secret ballot was announced to parliament. He will remain as caretaker prime minister until his successor is appointed within 30 days. Hundreds of young people had converged on the square outside the parliament building on Monday, marching with white placards and chanting: "Resignation is easy." Several protesters said they had come to voice dismay at what they described as deeply embedded corruption and social injustice. But Julian Dierkes, a Mongolia expert at Germany's University of Mannheim, said he "(didn't) expect any successor to adopt substantially different policies" from Oyun-Erdene, including on corruption. His ouster "may mean the resurgence of factional politics in his party" after years of comparative stability at the top of Mongolian politics, Dierkes told AFP. SECRET BALLOT Oyun-Erdene has denied the corruption allegations, and in an address to parliament before the vote, blamed "major, visible and hidden interests" for waging an "organised campaign" to bring down the government. He had also warned of political instability and economic chaos if forced out of power. But it was not enough as only 44 lawmakers voted to retain confidence in him, with 38 against. That did not reach the 64-vote threshold required from the 126-seat parliament, prompting Oyun-Erdene to stand down. The move pushed the country's fractious political scene into further uncertainty. Mongolia had been ruled by a three-way coalition government since elections last year resulted in a significantly reduced majority for Oyun-Erdene's Mongolian People's Party (MPP). But the MPP evicted the second-largest member, the Democratic Party (DP), from the coalition last month after some younger DP lawmakers backed calls for Oyun-Erdene's resignation. DP lawmakers walked out of the parliamentary chamber during the confidence ballot. "TIME FOR CHANGE" Further demonstrations were expected in central Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday, according to AFP reporters in the city. Since Oyun-Erdene took power in 2021, Mongolia's ranking in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index has dropped. Concerns over the economy and rising living costs have also stoked the unrest. Some counter-protesters - overwhelmingly older than their pro-opposition counterparts - have also turned out to support Oyun-Erdene in recent weeks. Speaking on Monday, protest organiser Ulamsaikhan Otgon, 24, said the demonstrations "have showcased throughout that young people are very sensitive to unfairness" in Mongolian society. Yroolt, a 30-year-old content creator who declined to share his surname for privacy reasons, said young people "want a different life, a different society".

Attack Suspect Is Charged With Federal Hate Crime - CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip - Podcast on CNN Audio

CNN

3 days ago

General
CNN

Attack Suspect Is Charged With Federal Hate Crime - CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip - Podcast on CNN Audio

Attack Suspect Is Charged With Federal Hate Crime CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip 46 mins A 45-year-old Egyptian national left an iPhone with messages to his wife and five children in his house, drove to downtown Boulder with a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails and attacked demonstrators at a peaceful Jewish event to support hostages in Gaza, according to federal hate crime charging documents. Plus, policing in secret. A look at the growing trend of masking up when cracking down. Also, if big brands are supporting Pride Month, it's somewhere over, under, and around the rainbow due to the right's ridicule.

Boulder attack suspect threw Molotov cocktails at people rallying for Israeli hostages, officials say. Here's what we know.

CBS News

4 days ago

General
CBS News

Boulder attack suspect threw Molotov cocktails at people rallying for Israeli hostages, officials say. Here's what we know.

Eight people were injured in an attack Sunday in Boulder, Colorado, where peaceful demonstrators were marching to support Israeli hostages in Gaza, authorities said. The incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which described it as targeted. The suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman, was taken into custody. He is facing multiple felony charges as well as a federal hate crime charge. Here is what we know so far. What happened in Boulder? The attack occurred at around 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the outdoor Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, near the historic County Courthouse in the city's downtown. It was the site of a march held to advocate for the hostages who were taken from southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, and have yet to be released. Witnesses said the suspect used a "makeshift flamethrower" and Molotov cocktails to harm demonstrators, leaving multiple people with burns, according to the FBI. The eight who suffered injuries had been standing outside of the courthouse. In the aftermath, a burn scar was visible in front of the courthouse building. Colorado Gov. Jared Polish, who is Jewish, condemned the attack, calling it a "heinous and targeted act on the Jewish community." The FBI's Colorado office said those who attended the march were participating in a scheduled, weekly event. Organized by the group Run for Their Lives, local branches hold community walks and runs in different cities within Colorado, around the country and internationally. "We are a local chapter of the global initiative Run For Their Lives," reads the description of the Boulder chapter's Facebook page. "We do an 18 minute weekly walk to show international solidarity with the hostages taken from Israel during the 10/7 massacre, and still being held in Gaza. We will walk until they are all released." Rachel Amaru, an organizer at Run for Their Lives in Boulder, called the attack "blatantly antisemitic" in comments to CBS Colorado. It took place less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy employees were killed in a shooting outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., which is also being investigated as a hate crime. Omer Shachar, a co-leader of Run for Their Lives Denver, told CBS News the group contacted Boulder police several times about security concerns around the event prior to Sunday. CBS News has reached out to Boulder police for comment. Who was injured in the Boulder attack? Police said the victims of the Boulder attack included four women and four men, whose ages range from 52 to 88. One of them was seriously injured, according to Boulder Police Chief Stephan Redfearn, who said the person had been hospitalized in critical condition. The 88-year-old is a Holocaust refugee who fled Europe, according to Rabbi Israel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado Boulder. Wilhelm described her as a "very loving person." Another victim is a professor at the university, the rabbi said. Two of the injured were flown by helicopter to the burn unit at UCHealth, and four others were taken to Boulder Community Health, according to police and the hospitals. All of the patients at Boulder Community Health had either been discharged or transferred elsewhere later Sunday night, the hospital said, although it did not specify how many were discharged versus transferred. Who is the Boulder attack suspect? The suspect was identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Michalek said Sunday. He is facing multiple felony charges and a federal hate crimes charge. Witnesses allegedly heard Soliman yell "Free Palestine" during the attack, according to Michalek, who said it was "clear this is a targeted act of violence." Two sources told CBS News that witnesses who spoke to investigators also alleged the suspect shouted "End Zionist" during the attack. The suspect told investigators he "researched on YouTube how to make Molotov Cocktails, purchased the ingredients to do so, and constructed them," an affidavit filed by the Department of Justice says. He also "stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead," the affidavit says. Soliman is an Egyptian national, government officials confirmed to CBS Colorado. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the suspect first arrived in the United States in August 2022, originally on a non-immigrant visa that expired in February 2023. She said he filed for asylum a month after arriving in the U.S., in September 2022, but did not provide details about the outcome of that immigration case or whether it was resolved. Soliman had recently been living in Colorado Springs, about 100 miles south of Boulder. After the attack, authorities evacuated three blocks of Pearl Street for the rest of the day as they probed a vehicle of interest in the area, which an FBI official later said belonged to the suspect. On Sunday night, the FBI said it was "conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity related to the attack" in El Paso County, which includes Colorado Springs. FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard have referred to the incident as a terrorist attack. "The @ODNIgov's National Counterterrorism Center is working with the FBI and local law enforcement on the ground investigating the targeted terror attack against a weekly meeting of Jewish community members who had just gathered in Boulder, CO to raise awareness of the hostages kidnapped during Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7," Gabbard wrote in a social media post. Soliman's former employer, an independently owned medical clinic in Centennial, Colorado, called Veros Health, told CBS News that he had a valid work visa while employed there from May 2023 to August 2023. "We can confirm that Mohamed Soliman worked with Veros from May 2023 to August 2023. He was hired in our accounting department," Roni Mushovic, a regional business leader at Vero, said in a statement, noting that Soliman underwent the hiring process through ADP, which handles human resources for the clinic. "At the time of hire, he was confirmed to have a valid work Visa, which was noted to expire on March 2025," Mushovic said. Prior to Sunday's attack, Soliman was driving for Uber, which required him to have a valid Social Security number, CBS News has learned. According to an Uber spokesperson, he passed a background check and provided a photo ID and Social Security number when the company hired him in the spring of 2023, and passed another background check "about nine months ago." , , and contributed to this report.

Israel says anti-Semitic attack in US 'fuelled' by media

LBCI