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Columbia University president resigns after Gaza protests turmoil

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3 months ago

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Columbia University President Minouche Shafik

Columbia University president resigns after Gaza protests turmoil

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik has resigned from her position amid a free speech debate over campus protests of the war in Gaza.

Ms Shafik’s resignation comes only a year after she took the position at the private Ivy League university in New York City, and just a few weeks before the autumn semester is due to begin.

Ms Shafik is now the third president of an Ivy League university to resign over her handling of Gaza war protests.

In April, Ms Shafik authorised New York Police Department officers to swarm the campus, a controversial decision that led to the arrests of about 100 students who were occupying a university building.

The episode marked the first time that mass arrests had been made on Columbia’s campus since Vietnam War protests more than five decades ago.

The move inflamed other protests at dozens of colleges across the United States and Canada.

In an email to students and faculty on Wednesday, Ms Shafik wrote that she has overseen a “period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community”.

“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community.”

Katrina Armstrong, chief executive officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will serve as the interim president.

“Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead,” Ms Shafik wrote in her letter.

“I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion,” she continued.

“It has been distressing – for the community, for me as president and on a personal level – to find myself, colleagues, and students the subject of threats and abuse.”

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Students’ anger over how Israel is fighting its war against Hamas has raised fraught questions for university leaders, who are already struggling with combustive campus debates around what is happening in the Middle East.

US college campuses have been a flashpoint for Gaza war protests since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, and Israel’s subsequent incursion into the Gaza Strip.

The leaders of Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The presidents of Harvard and UPenn ultimately resigned amid backlash over their handling of campus protests and congressional testimony, including their refusal to say that calling for the deaths of Jews could violate university policy.

In April, Ms Shafik defended her institution’s efforts to tackle antisemitism to Congress, saying that there had been a rise in such hatred on campus and the college was working to protect students.

Ms Shafik is a highly-respected Egyptian-born economist who formerly worked for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England.

She also previously served as president of the London School of Economics.

Ms Shafik, who received a damehood in 2015, was previously considered to be on the shortlist for the Bank of England governor, the BBC reported in 2019.

Her letter adds that she has been asked by the UK Foreign Secretary to lead a “review of the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability”.

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The decision, she wrote, “enables me to return to the House of Lords and to reengage with the important legislative agenda put forth by the new UK government”.

Her resignation comes after three Columbia University deans also resigned last week, after text messages showed the group used “antisemitic tropes”, according to a statement by Ms Shafik, while discussing Jewish students.

The text exchanges were originally published by the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce in early July.

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, the chairwoman of the congressional committee, praised the decision by the three administrators to resign.

“About time. Actions have consequences,” she said in a statement last Thursday, adding that the decision should have been made “months ago”.

“Instead, the University continues to send mixed signals,” she continued, adding that the administration is allowing a dean who has not resigned to “slide under the radar with no real consequences”.

Universities around the US are preparing for the academic year to begin in the next several weeks, as the conflict in Gaza continues.

On Tuesday, a judge in California ruled that UCLA – which saw violent protests break out on campus in May – must prevent protesters from blocking Jewish students from campus facilities.

Judge Mark Scarsi ruled that protesters had “established checkpoints and required passers-by to wear a specific wristband to cross them”, and blocking “people who supported the existence of the state of Israel”.

“Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” Judge Scarsi wrote in the order. “This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating.”

The university has blamed outside agitators for the checkpoints and said it objected to the ruling.

Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in an attack on Israel on 7 October, taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.

That attack triggered a massive Israeli military offensive against Gaza and the current war.

At least 39,897 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli campaign, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Columbia University president resigns after Gaza protests turmoil

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Two dead, buildings destroyed in American factory explosion

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12 hours ago

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November 13, 2024

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Two dead, buildings destroyed in American factory explosion

Two employees of Givaudan sense colour, a factory known for making colourings for beverages, located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States (US) were killed in an explosion that took place at the company’s facility.

The factory reported that the incident which took place on Tuesday, November 12 in the afternoon have also destroyed buildings around the company.

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Louisville Mayor, Craig Greenberg stated that firefighters managed to rescue and evacuate numerous individuals from the site, including some who sustained life-threatening injuries.

He also confirmed that all employees present at the plant during the explosion have been accounted for.

Earlier reports indicated that at least 11 workers were hospitalized.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

 

Two dead, buildings destroyed in American factory explosion

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International

Local security chief arrested over murder of mayor in Mexico

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19 hours ago

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November 13, 2024

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Alejandro Arcos

Local security chief arrested over murder of mayor in Mexico

German Reyes, a local security official in Chilpancingo, Mexico has been arrested for the murder of the city’s mayor, Alejandro Arcos.

The Mexican authorities announced his arrest via a statement on Tuesday, November 12.

The Mayor was killed in the month of October as security officials discovered his lifeless body in his pick-up truck with his head chopped off and placed on his body.

The brutal killing and decapitation of Mayor Alejandro Arcos, which occurred just days after he assumed office, stunned the nation.

Guerrero prosecutors confirmed the detention of the security official who was identified as German ‘N,’ in line with Mexican practice of withholding the full names of suspects.

However, a local government official later identified him as German Reyes, who was the security chief for Chilpancingo, a city of around 280,000 residents in southwestern Mexico prior to his arrest.

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“The Guerrero prosecutor’s office, the Mexican army and the National Guard, arrested a man for the crime of qualified homicide in Chilpancingo,” the statement said.

The arrest seems to provide more proof of the extensive infiltration of organized crime in local governments across large parts of Mexico, as well as the corruption among local officials.

Reyes had a lengthy career in Mexico’s military, according to his public profile.

Further reports by the police revealed that the Mayor had prior to his death, left Chilpancingo in his truck without a driver or security detail, heading toward the nearby town of Petaquillas, Mexico.

Local media also suggested that Arcos had met with members of Los Ardillos, a criminal group operating in Guerrero, Mexico.

 

Local security chief arrested over murder of mayor in Mexico

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International

COP29: Islamic bank supports WHO Impact Investment with $10m

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1 day ago

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November 12, 2024

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COP29: Islamic bank supports WHO Impact Investment with $10m

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has committed a $10 million grant to the World Health Organization (WHO) to support the Health Impact Investment Platform (HIIP), bolstering its mission to strengthen primary healthcare systems worldwide.

Announced on November 12, 2024, during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, the grant highlights IsDB’s dedication to enhancing health resilience and climate adaptation in low- and middle-income countries.

In a statement on Tuesday, IsDB described HIIP as a groundbreaking partnership among Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), WHO and nations seeking robust health and climate solutions.

“This initiative focuses on the investment in essential, climate and crisis-resilient primary health care services and systems,” the bank stated, emphasizing the aim to reinforce the health system, especially in low- and middle-income countries and in underserved communities, ultimately aiming to foster resilience against emerging health threats and climate challenges.

Fifteen countries are identified as part of phase one of the Health Impact Investment Platform: Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia Guinea Bissau .

Other countries included Jordan, Maldives Morocco, Senegal, South Sudan, The Gambia, Tunisia and  Zambia.

Supporting WHO’s technical assistance goals 

The $10 million grant will specifically support the technical assistance that WHO provides to countries around the world to assess investment needs and to design the most impactful health projects.

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“These projects will serve as the foundation for co-investment by the MDBs, ensuring that resources are directed toward areas with the greatest potential for positive health outcomes,”IsDB added.

Over the next four years, WHO aims to strengthen climate resilience as part of its Fourteenth General Programme of Work, which includes implementing national climate adaptation plans and making 10,000 health facilities fully operational, including solar-powered electrification.

Unlocking $500m in health investments across the region 

In addition to the $10 million grant, IsDB’s contribution is projected to unlock at least $500 million in health investments across the region.

“This collective goal is part of a broader effort to mobilize a total of US$ 1.5 billion in concessional loans and grants, focusing on critical areas, this way addressing national health priorities.”  

Advancing health resilience, leadership statements  

IsDB President Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser said, the Islamic Development Bank is proud to support the Health Impact Investment Platform as part of our unwavering commitment to advancing universal health coverage and resilience in our Member Countries.

“These Multilateral Development Banks and WHO partnerships enable us to scale up primary health care where it is needed most, creating a stronger foundation to withstand future crises and addressing the pressing health challenges of today.” 

“Together, we are fostering a healthier, more equitable future for communities across the globe,” he said.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that low- and middle-income countries need access to sustainable financing to strengthen their health systems through primary health care, to make them both more resilient to pandemics and more equitable in delivering essential health services.

“The Health Impact Investment Platform combines WHO’s public health expertise and on-the-ground presence with the resources and financing expertise of the Islamic Development Bank and other multilateral development banks. By working together, we can make a significant difference in improving health outcomes and creating a healthier future for all.” 

The IsDB, along with its partners, remains committed to fostering partnerships that will advance healthcare and improve quality of life globally.

 

COP29: Islamic bank supports WHO Impact Investment with $10m

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