59 h. ago Serbia’s Exit festival may go ‘into exile’ amid government pressure over student protests

This year’s edition to be last held in country after Belgrade withholds funding over support of anti-corruption activistsOne of Europe’s largest music festivals will no longer be held in Serbia and could go “into exile” in Germany or a neighbouring Balkan state after Belgrade withheld funding over its support of the country’s anti-corruption student protesters.Exit festival, which is held every July in a medieval bastion fortress in Serbia’s second city, Novi Sad, was founded in 2000 by student activists from the protest movement that helped topple Slobodan Milošević. Affordable ticket prices and starry lineups mean it has acquired a reputation as Europe’s premier music event with a social conscience, with 210,000 people from more than 80 countries attending in 2024. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago University of Michigan using undercover investigators to surveil student Gaza protesters

Revealed: security trailing students on and off campus as video shows investigator faking disability when confrontedThe University of Michigan is using private, undercover investigators to surveil pro-Palestinian campus groups, including trailing them on and off campus, furtively recording them and eavesdropping on their conversations, the Guardian has learned.The surveillance appears to largely be an intimidation tactic, five students who have been followed, recorded or eavesdropped on said. The undercover investigators have cursed at students, threatened them and in one case drove a car at a student who had to jump out of the way, according to student accounts and video footage shared with the Guardian. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Ireland's top university cuts all ties with Israel after major student protest

Ireland's prestigious Trinity College Dublin said on Wednesday that it would cut all links with Israel in protest at 'ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law'.

Politics

2 w. ago Örkesh Dölet descended on to Tiananmen Square with thousands of fellow student protesters. He’s now 36 years into exile | Nuria Khasim

As the anniversary of the 1989 massacre approaches, the Uyghur activist reflects on his lifelong dedication to the fight for democracyWhen I was little, mum used to take us to visit an elderly Uyghur couple every year. We would climb up the winding concrete stairs in a Soviet-era apartment block and be greeted with a warmth that felt like family. Over piping hot bowls of Uyghur chay, mum would talk to them for hours while my brother and I listened. I always assumed they were relatives of ours, until mum told me that they were the parents of her friend Örkesh Dölet, and they had not seen their son for over 20 years. As a child, I didn’t know who Örkesh was, but my heart broke for his parents, who clearly loved and missed their son so very dearly.Growing up in Beijing, dad used to take us to Tiananmen Square on weekends to fly colourful swallow-shaped kites. Due to censorship, I never knew that the pristine, neatly paved tiles beneath the soles of my sparkly light-up sneakers were onc...

Events

3 w. ago US university scholars and international students: are you considering working or studying elsewhere?

We’d like to hear from scholars and students from abroad in light of the Trump administration’s attack on universitiesInternational students at Harvard University were ordered this week to transfer schools or lose their legal status following the Trump administration’s revocation of the university’s eligibility to enroll students from abroad.While that order was swiftly blocked by a judge, it is one of a series of events creating uncertainty on campuses across the US. It follows the US government’s revocation of hundreds of student visas on various grounds, including minor infractions or participation in protests against the war in Gaza. (Some of those visas have been reinstated.) Academics have also felt the impact of funding cuts and subsequent hiring freezes, leading to hundreds looking to leave the US to work elsewhere. Continue reading...

Society

last month Cambridge college to cut ties with arms companies following student protests

The occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories prompted ‘discussions’ about the relationship between King’s investments and its values.

Events