- Buttler keen for England to show their mettle at T20 World Cup
- Children are stars of London's Chelsea Flower Show
- Director Rasoulof, who fled Iran, will attend Cannes: organisers
- Natural disasters hit 1 in 5 US adults' finances in 2023: Fed
- 10 bodies found in Mexico's Acapulco, some in street
- Trump video mentioning 'unified reich' draws White House ire
- Israel shuts down Associated Press live video feed of Gaza
- Stock markets diverge as traders look for fresh impetus
- Platinum loses shine amid BHP's vast Anglo bid
- Pogacar continues Giro dominance on day of rider protests
- Salah hints at Liverpool stay, targets trophies next season
- ICC's Khan: 'No nonsense' lawyer under fire from all sides
- Trump doesn't testify, defense rests case in trial
- Court rules UK government anti-protest powers unlawful
- Cannes star Renate Reinsve 'lost control' in mad laughing fit
- After player covers anti-homophobia logo, Monaco apologise
- Ukraine says allies can down Russian missiles over its territory
- Apple appeals huge EU fine for music streaming restrictions
- Greek court drops charges in migrant shipwreck case
- Raisi death reshapes Iran succession, puts focus on Khamenei son
- Schools, factories closed after quake 'swarm' near Naples
- German 'prince' at centre of alleged coup plot denies charges
- After rider rebellion at hazardous weather, shortened Giro stage starts
- Debt deadline looms for Italian champions Inter Milan
- Afghanistan hire T20 expert Dwayne Bravo as bowling consultant
- UK blood scandal victims to receive payouts this year: govt
- Stock markets waver as traders look for fresh impetus
- Man Utd's Rashford left out of England's Euro 2024 squad
- Ireland back Zebo to retire from rugby at end of season
- OpenAI apologizes to Johansson, denies voice based on her
- Progress in US inflation fight 'has likely resumed': Fed official
- Man Utd's Rashford left out of England's Euros squad
- Serial winner Kroos eyes two-trophy finish to career
- Ronaldo poised for Euro record as Portugal name squad
- Diplomatic crisis deepens as Spain pulls out Argentina envoy
- 'Thank God!': First New Caledonia evacuation flight arrives in Australia
- OpenAI apologizes to actress Johansson over AI voice similarity
- Schools, prison checked after quake 'swarm' near Naples
- Hazardous weather sparks chaos and rider anger at Giro 16th stage
- Murray comeback ends in Geneva defeat
- IMF cautions on timing of UK rate cut
- Germany's Kroos to retire from football after Euro 2024
- Stock markets retreat as traders take profits
- Hazardous weather causes Giro 16th stage to be shortened
- ICC arrest warrant requests: what next?
- Thailand celebrates return of looted statues from New York's Met
- Trump vows to sue over explosive biopic
- France's Macron to visit riot-scarred New Caledonia
- First New Caledonia evacuation flight arrives in Australia
- 16 top AI firms make new safety commitments at Seoul summit
CMSD | 0.31% | 24.315 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.12% | 24.45 | $ | |
SCS | -0.11% | 13.215 | $ | |
JRI | 0.52% | 11.64 | $ | |
RIO | 0.39% | 73.675 | $ | |
BCC | -1.23% | 135.895 | $ | |
BCE | -0.19% | 34.005 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.72% | 59.74 | $ | |
NGG | 0.19% | 72.51 | $ | |
BTI | 0.33% | 31.455 | $ | |
BP | -0.24% | 37.17 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.38% | 5.45 | $ | |
GSK | 0.06% | 44.615 | $ | |
VOD | -1.77% | 9.58 | $ | |
RELX | 0.01% | 44.125 | $ | |
AZN | 2.25% | 78.881 | $ |
Police enter Columbia building barricaded by students as protests rock US campuses
Dozens of helmeted police marched on to Columbia University's campus in the heart of New York City on Tuesday and began evicting a building that had been barricaded by pro-Palestinian student protesters.
AFP journalists could see police climbing up to the second story of Hamilton Hall from a laddered truck and disappear inside, as student newspaper the Columbia Spectator said arrests were being made.
Hamilton Hall had been barricaded at dawn by students who vowed they would fight any eviction, as they protested the soaring death toll from Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The action came as university administrators around the United States struggle to contain pro-Palestinian demonstrations on dozens of campuses.
The demonstrations -- the most sweeping and prolonged unrest to rock US college campuses since the Vietnam war protests of the 1960s and 70s -- have already led to several hundred arrests of students and other activists.
Many of them have vowed to maintain their actions despite suspensions and threats of expulsion.
"We will remain here, drawing from the lessons of our people (in Gaza) that stay put, and hold their ground even under the worst conditions," a protester wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh headscarf, who declined to give her name, told reporters outside the hall earlier in the day.
As she spoke, protesters were seen using ropes to hoist crates of supplies up to the building's second floor, apparently signaling the students were hunkering down.
President Joe Biden's White House had sharply criticized the seizure of Hamilton Hall, with a spokesman saying it was "absolutely the wrong approach."
"That is not an example of peaceful protest," the spokesman added.
The protests have posed a challenge to university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate.
The unrest has swept through US higher education institutions like wildfire, with many student protesters erecting tent encampments on campuses from coast to coast.
At Columbia, demonstrators have vowed to remain until their demands are met, including that the school divest all financial holdings linked to Israel.
The university has rejected the demand, with president Minouche Shafik saying earlier that talks with students had collapsed.
Columbia has warned that students occupying the building face expulsion.
The university outlined in a press update Tuesday that those in the encampments and Hamilton Hall "number in the dozens," while nearly 37,000 attend Columbia.
- A nationwide movement -
In one of the newest clashes, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, police moved in Tuesday to clear one encampment, detaining some protesters in a tense showdown.
Meanwhile at northern California's Cal Poly Humboldt, a week-long occupation was brought to a dramatic end early Tuesday when police moved in to arrest nearly three dozen protesters who had seized buildings and forced the closure of the campus.
In Oregon, Portland State University's campus was closed Tuesday "due to an ongoing incident" in the library, college authorities said, after local media reported around 50 protesters had broken into the building a day earlier.
And Brown University reached an agreement in which student protesters will remove their encampment in exchange for the institution holding a vote on divesting from Israel -- a major concession from an elite American university during the protests.
Footage of police in riot gear summoned at various colleges has been viewed around the world.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk voiced concern at the heavy-handed steps taken to disperse the campus protests, saying "freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly are fundamental to society."
He added that "incitement to violence or hatred on grounds of identity or viewpoints -- whether real or assumed -- must be strongly repudiated."
Shafik said many Jewish students had fled Columbia's campus in fear. "Anti-Semitic language and actions are unacceptable," she said.
Protest organizers deny accusations of anti-Semitism, arguing their actions are aimed at Israel's government.
The Columbia student group insisted their protest was peaceful and warned authorities against a crackdown similar to those that marred the anti-Vietnam War movement.
The Gaza war started when Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left around 1,170 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
During their attack, militants also seized hostages, 129 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 34 whom the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,535 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
F.Müller--BTB