Colombia wants to break off diplomatic relations with Israel. The police detained a 16-year-old boy who is suspected of trying to set fire to the Nożyk synagogue in Warsaw's Śródmieście district. Protests are ongoing at universities across the United States over the war in the Gaza Strip. Here are five things to know on Thursday, May 2.
1. 20 years ago, Poland joined the European Union
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland and Germany – Radosław Sikorski and Annalena Baerbock – met in Słubice on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Poland's accession to the European Union. – The minister and I promised each other that we will be here in another 20 years – the head of Polish diplomacy told the residents of a border town.
Sikorski and Baerbock signed the guest book at the Collegium Polonicum in Słubice and also visited the Słubice-Frankfurt European Picnic.
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2. Arrest in connection with an attempt to set fire to a synagogue in Warsaw
On the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, there was an attempt to set fire to the Nożyk synagogue in Warsaw's Śródmieście district. A Molotov cocktail was used and smashed against the facade, close to one of the ground floor windows. Fortunately, the fire was quickly extinguished. This act was condemned by, among others, President Andrzej Duda and the authorities of Warsaw.
On Wednesday evening, the deputy head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Czesław Mroczek, announced on social media that the police had detained a person suspected of trying to set fire to the synagogue. According to the police, the arrest was made by the police in cooperation with the Internal Security Agency, and the detainee was a 16-year-old boy.
3. Protests at universities in the USA
Protests have been going on at universities across the United States for two weeks. Some are directed against Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip – others are a response to anti-Israel speeches by groups supporting the Palestinians.
In total, more than 1,000 protesters have been arrested on at least 26 campuses. On Tuesday afternoon and overnight, violent clashes broke out at Columbia University in New York and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Protest at UCLACAROLINE BREHMAN/PAP/EPA
4. Colombia wants to break off diplomatic relations with Israel
Colombia will be the third Latin American country after Bolivia and Belize to break off diplomatic relations with Israel. This will happen on Thursday, announced Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
Colombia's leftist president has repeatedly sharply criticized the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for its military operations in the Gaza Strip, which began in October in response to a brutal terrorist attack by Palestinian Hamas.
5. The surprising course of the boxing fight for the European champion title
Georgian boxer Lasha Guruli claims that they tried to bribe him before the final fight of the European Championships in Belgrade with the Russian Tarkhan Idigov. As a sign of protest against this event and the biased attitude of the judges, he refused to continue the fight, for which he now he faces disqualification.
After the final, Guruli published a statement on social media in which he stated that the Polish judge was the only one who scored the fight correctly. He also revealed that he was offered a “large sum of money” not to take part in the final, but he flatly refused.
Main photo source: CAROLINE BREHMAN/PAP/EPA