Gazans Lining Up for Food Say Supplies Remain Limited
Thousands of Palestinians desperate for food lined up outside two distribution centers in southern Gaza on Wednesday, despite concerns over security. Large crowds had overwhelmed one of the centers a day earlier and Israeli forces said they fired warning shots outside the compound. As the number of people surged after a slow start, witnesses said there was disorder and crowding as they heard about food running out.
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New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Columbia University to pay out more than $220M after violating Jewish students' civil rights in massive win for Trump admin
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has won unprecedented concessions from Columbia University in a sweeping settlement — with the Ivy League university paying more than $220 million and pledging to reverse racially discriminatory practices and resolve civil rights violations against Jewish students, The Post can exclusively reveal. The settlement, under which Columbia will agree to submit to independent monitoring to ensure it is complying with merit-based hiring and admissions requirements, is likely to put pressure on other schools — like Harvard — that have crossed the White House over tolerance of extreme Jew-hatred on campus since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas against Israel. The resolution comes after just four months of negotiations between Columbia and Trump, striking a stark contrast with Harvard, which decided to drag the administration into court for stripping the school of $2.6 billion in grants and other funding. A source familiar with the negotiations noted that $400 million yanked from Columbia in March when talks began would have snowballed to affect billions of dollars of university research grants and other funding. In addition to paying the feds $200 million to settle their discrimination claims, Columbia will also fork over more than $20 million to Jewish employees who were discriminated against amid fierce antisemitic demonstrations that followed the Hamas attack. 7 The settlement is likely to put pressure on other schools that have crossed the White House over their tolerance for extreme Jew-hatred on campus since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas against Israel. James Keivom The Trump administration is touting the employees' sum as the largest public settlement of its kind in nearly 20 years and the highest for any victim who's lodged a Title VI complaint. The Ivy League school has also agreed to end all programming that discriminated against faculty or students — bringing it into full compliance with the Supreme Court's 2023 decision banning race-based affirmative action — and create some yet-to-be-announced faculty positions in the name of broadening intellectual diversity. The settlement further calls for Columbia to maintain a trained security force blocking demonstrations in academic spaces and coordinate with the NYPD to prevent a repeat of the takeover of Hamilton Hall by anti-Israel rioters in the spring of 2024 — while the university will impose a complete ban on masked protests. Disciplinary rules will no longer be governed by the faculty senate but, rather, by the Office of the Provost. On Tuesday, Columbia announced that dozens of students were going to be suspended or penalized — and a handful expelled — for a recent disruptive library demonstration and anti-Israel tent encampment that engulfed the campus last year. 7 The university's admissions office will step up vetting for foreign applicants, quiz potential students about their reasons for wanting to study in the US and share that data with the feds. Paige Kahn/NY Post The university's admissions office will step up vetting for foreign applicants, quiz potential students about their reasons for wanting to study in the US and share that data with the feds, while Columbia's reliance on international enrollment will be cut back. As part of its participation in the federal Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Program, the school will now be expected to report any disciplinary actions for those holding visas — including suspensions, expulsions or arrests. Experts are also supposed to consult with administrators to prevent the threat of terrorist financing or other illicit funds flowing to the school. Regional programs — specifically the Center for Palestine Studies; the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies; Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies; the Middle East Institute; and learning hubs in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Amman, Jordan — will come under strict review from the senior vice provost to ensure they are 'comprehensive and balanced.' 7 Regional programs are expected to come under strict review from the senior vice provost to ensure all educational programs are 'comprehensive and balanced.' X/@LishiBaker Additionally, the Morningside Heights school will comply with Title IX and no longer force women to compete with biological men in sports or use their locker rooms, housing or other facilities. Finally, most of the $400 million in federal grants, contracts and other funding yanked from the prestigious school — representing roughly 8% of its taxpayer funding — will be returned. Grant eligibility will be fully reinstated once the school implements all terms of the agreement. The Trump-Columbia deal will sunset in three years, and a Resolution Monitor will provide 'semi-annual' reports on the university's compliance. 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' said Columbia acting president Claire Shipman. 'The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track. Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest.' 7 Grant eligibility will be fully reinstated once the school complies with all terms of the agreement. The Trump-Columbia deal will sunset in three years. X/LishiBaker Leaked terms of the negotiations in recent weeks have revealed that Columbia was willing to release its admissions and hiring data to the Trump administration and pay the $200 million fine after concerns were raised about its failure to comply with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling. In March, the administration issued a series of nine demands as a 'precondition' for Columbia receiving more federal funding, requiring the elite university to commit to wide-ranging policy changes and accept additional oversight. These included promoting academic diversity and 'institutional neutrality' among faculty and stepped-up enforcement of existing disciplinary policies. The final agreement declared: 'Columbia may not use personal statements, diversity narratives, or any applicant reference to racial identity as a means to introduce or justify discrimination.' 7 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' said Columbia acting president Claire Shipman. James Keivom Columbia was also supposed to ban masks on campus to hold protesters who violate codes of conduct accountable and punish students who participated in the Hamilton Hall storming One of the most sweeping demands was that the school's Middle East, South Asian and African Studies departments be placed under 'academic receivership' for at least five years, which would put decision-making authority in the hands of someone outside of the departments. A new senior vice provost role will carry out that function for the life of Wednesday's agreement. Days later, Columbia gave into many of the demands, agreeing to numerous policy reforms. 7 Columbia has been through several leadership shakeups in the last year over repeated failures to bring a stop to antisemitic protests and incidents on campus. J.C. Rice The school has been through several leadership shakeups in the last year over repeated failures to bring a stop to antisemitic protests and incidents on campus. In the spring of 2024, its campus was the site of an anti-Israel tent encampment in the weeks leading up to graduation. When the makeshift tent city was finally dismantled, the demonstration escalated into the Hamilton Hall takeover. That August, then-Columbia University president Minouche Shafik suddenly resigned, citing a 'period of turmoil' for her shocking departure. Her interim successor, Katrina Armstrong, was ousted just seven months later by Columbia's board of trustees after publicly agreeing with Trump officials to uphold a mask ban — but pledging to faculty in private that she would not. 7 The agreement codifies earlier concessions to ban masks on campus and punish students who participated in the Hamilton Hall storming Getty Images She was replaced by Shipman, co-chair of the Columbia board of trustees, who was exposed earlier this month for trying to oust the only Jewish member of that board, and urging the school to install an 'Arab' board member 'quickly.' Shipman's incendiary personal messages from 2023 and 2024 — in which she also appeared to downplay fears of campus antisemitism as irrational — sparked a probe by the House Education Committee. Republican lawmakers say they are working to decide if new legislation is needed to hold university leaders more accountable amid a troubling uptick of anti-Israel sentiment on campuses nationwide.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hamas leader's wife ‘smuggled from Gaza tunnels to Turkey'
The wife of the architect of the Oct 7 massacre was smuggled out of Gaza and remarried in Turkey, it has been reported. Samar Muhammad Abu Zamar, the wife of Yahya Sinwar, slipped out of the enclave using a fake passport and carrying significant amounts of cash, sources in Gaza told Ynet, an Israeli news website. She married again a few months after Sinwar, Hamas's military commander, was killed by Israeli troops in October 2024, the news outlet reported. Sources said her wedding and resettlement in Turkey were organised by Fathi Hammad, a Hamas political bureau member who has been linked to attempts to hide terror operatives and their families. In 2024, footage was released showing Abu Zamar walking through a Hamas tunnel, clutching what appeared to be a designer handbag, hours before the Oct 7 attacks. Although officially unconfirmed, the story has been widely reported in Israel. Hamas, which styles itself as the primary force of Palestinian resistance to Israel, has repeatedly been accused of drawing strength from the suffering of ordinary Gazans who cannot leave the territory. Ynet reported an Israeli security official as saying that both Abu Zamar and Najwa Sinwar, the wife of Mohammed Sinwar, who took command of Hamas after his brother was killed, left Gaza via Rafah. 'She's no longer here – she crossed through the Rafah border using a fake passport,' a source said of Abu Zamar, saying the escape required 'high-level coordination, logistical support, and large sums of money that regular Gazans don't have'. The women are believed to have escaped via a smuggling network that Hamas has long had in place to evacuate the families of its leaders. The report comes amid increasing resentment from Palestinians towards Hamas after 19 months of war. Pictures and videos showing senior members of the group living comfortable lifestyles elsewhere in the Middle East have also fuelled criticism. One Gazan civilian said: 'They send their children to study in Turkey and Qatar – and send ours to the grave. 'What makes them different from any corrupt ruler in the Arab world? 'They only look after themselves.' Hamas is now believed to be under the command of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the only senior commander from Oct 7 still alive. Hostage negotiations are believed to have been hampered by difficulty in communicating with what is left of Hamas's military structure in the Strip. Although groups of fighters are still inflicting regular losses on the IDF, the group is no longer capable of organised military operations across a wide area. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Iran Warns It Could Exit Nuclear Treaty if Europe Reimposes Sanctions
A top Iranian official warned on Wednesday that Iran could withdraw from a key nuclear nonproliferation treaty if Europe followed through on its threats to reimpose sanctions on Tehran. The remarks, from Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, came during a rare on-the-record briefing with reporters in New York, where he was attending meetings at the United Nations. Mr. Gharibabadi laid out his country's positions on a range of issues, setting the stage for nuclear talks with European counterparts in Istanbul on Friday. Since negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed in June as Israel launched a wave of attacks on Iran, setting off a 12-day war, Tehran has faced additional pressure from Europe about making concessions on its nuclear program. Britain, France and Germany announced this month that they would enforce tough U.N. sanctions on Iran by the end of August if the country did not make concrete progress on a deal to limit its nuclear program. The mechanism for applying the sanctions is called a 'snapback,' and it refers to a term in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that allows parties to the deal to impose sanctions on Iran before the deal expires at the end of October this year if it has violated its terms. Mr. Gharibabadi, who is part of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, warned that enacting snapback sanctions would provoke Iran to retaliate, including potentially by withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, one of the last remaining international safeguards on its nuclear program. Iranian officials have made similar threats in the past, saying the country would withdraw from the treaty if Israel or the United States attacked its nuclear sites. But even after the United States and Israel did just that during the recent war, Iran did not follow through on that threat. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
