Across the country. Skirmishes broke out between protesters and police at the university of Southern California in los angeles. At the university of texas in austin, the governor sent in State Troopers in riot gear to confront demonstrators who waved Palestinian Flags and chanted � free palestine�. These demonstrations have spread since the arrest last week of more than a hundred protesters at Columbia University in new york sparking debates about free speech and the right to protest. Our west coast correspondent emma vardy sent this update from the university of Southern California in los angeles. Protesters arrived here on campus around eight oclock this morning. They have stayed for much of the day. Earlier on tents put up by protesters, police asking them to take those down, that led to some scuffles and clashes between protesters and Campus Police here. One person was detained but we understand they were released pretty quickly. In the hours that followed the protest here in los angeles on campus at usc continued pretty peacefully, there is been a number of points of tension especially on this campus, one of them is that the valedictorian of usc, the top graduate of the Year University has hand picked, had her speech cancelled at the graduation ceremony. She was accused of Anti Semitism and the university here trying to de escalate tensions which have escalated cancelled her speech and cancelled a number of other speakers as well. It seems that had the effect of Galvanising Support for this protest today, there were protesters here Holding Placards saying let her speak in relation to that cancelled speech. It seems the university of Southern California has been caught up in this energy, which has overtaken these protests in recent days, a lot of students here, pro palestinian activists told me today theyve felt they were able to come down and energised by the fact that arrested taken place at the university of columbia and arrests happening in texas as well, it is being very divisive, some of imagery shared online where Bright Police were sent out especially in texas to confront protesters there seems to bang a lot of people who say they are demonstrating peacefully and some police are taking a very hand heavy handed approach. It is being made clear it is a struggle for the university of Southern California and other universities to get the balance right between holding students right between holding students right to free speech and clamping down on incidents of Anti Semitism, or allegations of Anti Semitism on campus. Israeli officials have confirmed they are moving ahead with plans for a Military Assault on the City Of Rafah in Southern Gaza. Israel says it hopes to launch an assault on the several hamas battalions remaining in rafah. However, aid groups and western allies have warned israel not to carry out a full scale attack. More than a million displaced people are taking shelter in rafah. As part of its invasion, israel is planning to evacuate civilians out of the city. And an israeli official told reuters that it has purchased 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people. Our middle east correspondent wyre davies has more on israels plans. We got a very clear indication from an Israeli Government spokesperson today that israel is moving ahead and planning for what is expected to be a pretty full scale Military Incursion into rafah, which is the city in Southern Gaza where israel says the remnants or significant remnants of hamas fighters and leadership are still based. Israel says it has destroyed 19 of the hamas military battalions, meaning there are four or five battalions, hundreds of heavily armed men remaining in Southern Gaza with the hamas leadership. Israel has had to bear and respond to these criticisms and appeals from its allies, including the United States in recent weeks not to undertake this full scale military invasion, principally because of the humanitarian consequences, there are thought to be a Million People in and around rafa in Southern Gaza, people in pretty dire circumstances and the americans and british and others, including aid agencies, are worried about the growing humanitarian crisis there. There is some evidence that tents and other shelters are being built in preparation for the invasion to move some people away from rafah but a Million People is a lot of people to move in the event of a Military Operation. Egypt and israel are thought to have been holding talks about the consequences of a big Military Operation right on the border with egypt. Its also worrying for israeli families, remember, 130 hostages are thought to be held in Southern Gaza, 100 of them still remain, and israeli families of the hostages are increasingly worried the Military Operation in this area mightjeopardise the lives also of the remaining hostages. Meanwhile, pope francis has said he phones the Roman Catholic church in gaza every day to find out what people are experiencing. In an interview with the news network cbs, the pope said the hundreds of palestinians sheltering there had to fight for food. The pope has continued to talk in strong terms about the conflict in gaza. Translation every afternoon at 7pm i called gaza to the parish. There are about 600 people there and they tell me whats going on. It is very hard. Very, very hard. Food goes in, but they have to fight for it. Its very hard. The us Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken is in china aiming to put relations between the countries on a steadierfooting. Mr blinken arrived in shanghai late on wednesday for meetings with Business Leaders before heading to beijing for talks on friday with Foreign Minister wang yi. Though tensions have eased since last year, disagreements on issues such as trade and security remain. There was a sharp illustration of that on wednesday when President Biden signed a foreign aid package which includes 8 billion for allies in the asia pacific, including taiwan. Heres chinas reaction. Translation the insertion of taiwan related content into the us congressional bill seriously violates the chinese principal and sends the wrong signal to separatist forces in taiwan. We urge the us to honour its commitment of not supporting Taiwan Independence with concrete actions and to stop Arming Taiwan in anyway. Lets speak to political economist shirley ze yu who is a senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of economics. Good morning to you. That is one example, the funding for taiwan which china reacted to but also as well President Biden signed a bill to see the ban of Tiktok Operating in the United States, how is anthony blink in� s trip likely to go given what is happening at the moment . Mr given what is happening at the moment . ~ � ~ , ~ , moment . Mr blinken is likely discuss for moment . Mr blinken is likely discuss for points, moment . Mr blinken is likely discuss for points, the moment . Mr blinken is likely discuss for points, the first i discuss for points, the first one is the us seriously considers sanctions of chinese banks involved in supporting russias military industrial complex, the second one is the us recently restarted the 301 trade investigation on chinese steel, Illumine Shipbuilding and Logistics Sector so the tariffs imposed on chinese goods faces an escalation stopping the third point is the continued conversation on chinese overcapacity in the eb capacity, sector is considered vital to the us domestic economic success. The last point is certainly on taiwan with the looming inauguration of the incoming taiwanese president , the us wants to seek a broader understanding of measures to prevent a potential escalation across the taiwan strait. � ,. ,. , strait. Its quite clear what the american strait. Its quite clear what the american agendas strait. Its quite clear what the american agendas you | strait. Its quite clear what the american agendas you talk through, we had the us secretary treasury talking about the Overcapacity Issue in the Global Economy being flooded with cheap chinese goods, often made by Companies Highly subsidised by the chinese state. What is china saying in response to all this . If we reflect on Secretary Yellin Visit To Beijing recently, china dismissed the allegations of overcapacity in the green economy, and who last date the Russian Foreign minister flew in date the Russian Foreign ministerflew in and met date the Russian Foreign minister flew in and met with the chinese president and lets bearin the chinese president and lets bear in mind secretary yellin didnt get a chance to meet with the chinese president , i wouldnt consider that was a very productive trip even if it was considered as a friendly gesture. In this time mr blinken comes with four policy tools and his toolbox, financial sanctions, Trade Sanctions Tariffs and military deterrence and i dont think it will be welcome on the chinese part, however it is not entirely impossible for mr blinken especially being invited by the Chinese Foreign minister, to beijing, he might propose a potential of a Heads Of State meeting between President Biden and gees and penn, President Biden is the only us president who has never paid a visit to china during his tenure. I think that will be welcome and that would be significant. Xijinping. We significant. Xijinping. We are watching significant. Xijinping. We are watching with great interest. Shirley ze yu thank you for your take on his trip. The us has confirmed that ukraine has begun using long range Ballistic Missiles which were sent in secret by washington last month. The weapons were first used a week ago to strike a russian airfield in occupied crimea. The missiles have a range of hundreds of kilometres. The Us National Security advisor, Jake Sullivan said the us provided the weapons because russia was attacking ukraine with long range missiles it had secured from north korea. Its not a Silver Bullet. One capability will not be the ultimate solution, its an amalgam of capabilities that come together and combined with the bravery and skill of the ukraine fighters, which will make the difference in this conflict. It is good we can provide them but i dont expect to stand before you and say one capability has been the Silver Bullet in this conflict. Now lets take a look at the latest on Tiktok The Social Media app has vowed to fight a new law which could see it sold or banned in the United States. The bill gives tiktok� s chinese owner, bytedance, nine months to sell its stake or the app will be blocked in the United States where it has some 170 million users every month. Tiktok says itll challenge the move in court. Its Chief Executive had this to Say On Tiktok of course. Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on tiktok and ban on you and your voice. Politicians may say otherwise but dont get confused, many who sponsored the bill Admit A Tiktok Ban is the ultimate goal. Tiktok has huge reach. Across the us, it has 170 million users and 40 of those users say its their regular source of news. There are concerns among politicians that the chinese authorities could misuse their data. Tiktok has consistently denied ever sharing information with the Chinese Government. Its Chief Executive has been grilled by lawmakers, twice in less than a year. Iam making i am making the following commitments to you and to all our users. Number one we will keep safety especially for teenagers as a top priority. Number two, we will i will protect us data from unwanted foreign access. Number three tiktok will remain a place for Free Expression and will not be manipulated by any government. The us is not the only country taking action. India is the largest country to place a blanket ban on the app. It also banned 58 other chinese apps. Other countries have banned tik tok on government owned devices, like australia and canada. In the uk, the British Government banned ministers from using it. Staff from the european commission, and the nato alliance, are not allowed to have tik tok on their work phones. For more, lets cross over to San Francisco to speak to paresh dave, Senior Writer at technology magazine, wired. There has been an awful lot of discussion and analysis, tiktok said it would fight this in the courts and this could go on for a long time . A long time . Absolutely unlikely a long time . Absolutely unlikely this a long time . Absolutely unlikely this will a long time . Absolutely unlikely this will get a long time . Absolutely unlikely this will get resolved this year, next year at the earliest, tiktok has 270 days basically to decide what its going to do. If it will do a sale or not . Going to do. If it will do a sale or not . ~. ,. , sale or not . What are people sa in sale or not . What are people saying about sale or not . What are people saying about this, sale or not . What are people saying about this, we sale or not . What are people saying about this, we have i saying about this, we have talked about the millions of us users, if you have already got the tiktok at and you are already using it, would you be impacted if there is a ban, it means you cannot update and you cant get the latest versions, what will it mean practically four people . What will it mean practically fuur maple . Four people . Exactly, it will wither away four people . Exactly, it will wither away from four people . Exactly, it will wither away from users four people . Exactly, it will wither away from users phones, it will become ineffective. The biggest thing to think about today, if you are a tiktok creator, someone relying on tiktok to run a business, to market yourself or a product, you might be wanting to look at a contingency plan, more seriously than you have needed to before because this has been the talk has been happening for the talk has been happening for the last four years, but now this is the most serious step the us has taken, i think the people who should be most worried other people relying on tiktok for their business, and thats what im saying they should be looking for Contingency Plans right now. You might like to buy tiktok, the us business . fix, you might like to buy tiktok, the us business . You might like to buy tiktok, the us business . A company like microsoft has the us business . A company like microsoft has expressed microsoft has expressed interest in tiktok before, they want to get deeper into the social media game, oracle is tied up with tiktok over the last couple of years but mostly to tout its Cloud Services are legitimate, does not seem like they are a legitimate buyer, maybe a bunch of Private Equity Funds could team up and put together their money, i would not rule out elon musk even though tesla stock has been sinking. Perhaps he could make a run for tiktok, sinking. Perhaps he could make a runfortiktok, i sinking. Perhaps he could make a run for tiktok, i would sinking. Perhaps he could make a run for tiktok, iwould not rule that out. The thing to keepin rule that out. The thing to keep in mind about a sale, the Chinese Government has the ability to veto a sale there because they have put bite dance the tiktok owner, they have put their technology on the export control list, it is our understanding tritone could veto sale and its unlikely they would want to approve