Pro-Palestinian protesters remain on Columbia University’s campus in New York City, defying an ultimatum from its administrators to leave by 2pm ET or face suspension.The demonstrators are asking college leaders to divest from Israel, which they have declined to do. Earlier today, Columbia’s president Minouche Shafik said negotiations with protest leaders to dismantle their encampment on the college campus had broken down:Columbia had earlier in the month called police to disperse protesters, resulting in more than 100 arrests and leading to accusations Shafik and the college’s leaders were cracking down on free speech. Here’s more on today’s deadline, and the ongoing protests at campuses nationwide:
Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University were given an ultimatum to abandon their encampment or risk suspension, after the breakdown of talks aimed at having it removed voluntarily. The ultimatum, setting a Monday deadline of 2pm, has passed. Protesters overwhelmingly voted to defy the order and stay.
Texas governor Greg Abbott said no encampments will be allowed after at least five people were arrested by dozens of law enforcement officers, many in riot gear, at a protest at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday afternoon.
The Portland State University (PSU) will “pause” accepting donations from Boeing after students called on the school to cut ties with the manufacturer amid the war in Gaza, one of the first from university administrators to distance their school from a major weapons manufacturer.
Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House who visited the Columbia University campus last week, reiterated his threat to revoke visas from foreign students involved in protests, and cut funding to universities that do not protect Jewish students.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, released a letter to Johnson requesting consideration of a bipartisan bill to counter antisemitism.
Joe Biden and Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged to search for new ways to decrease border crossings by undocumented migrants, as the US president faces pressure to crack down on the issue of immigration ahead of the November elections.
Anyone who thinks Marjorie Taylor Greene will drop her threat to force the removal of Johnson is “high, drunk, or simply out of their mind”, a senior aide to the far-right Georgia congresswoman said.
The Biden administration announced that it “strongly opposes” a group of Republican-backed bills expected to be considered by the House this week that will target its environmental regulations.
Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to the key battleground state of North Carolina on Thursday, the White House has said.
Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis met on Sunday for a golf course breakfast in an apparent attempt to thaw their relationship after the Republican primary.
The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has said no encampments will be allowed after at least five people were arrested at a protest at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday afternoon.Demonstrators gathered on campus to protest against the conflict in Gaza and demand the university divest from companies that manufacture machinery used in Israel’s war efforts, carrying signs and chanting.Dozens of local and state police – including some in riot gear – were seen encircling the encampment. Several protesters have been seen being treated for heat-related illnesses, according to local media.Last week arrests were made at the Austin campus at the request of university officials and Governor Abbott, who said the protesters “belonged in jail”. In a post to X last week, he wrote:
Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.
The response from Portland State University (PSU) is one of the first from university administrators to distance their school from a major weapons manufacturer.Though hundreds of students across the country have been protesting on their campuses, setting up encampments demanding divestment from weapons manufacturers and companies with ties to Israel, many universities have repeatedly said they will not divest from Israel or manufacturers.Colleges and universities in the United States have endowments that they often use as financial buffers. Harvard, which has the largest endowment at $51bn, said that it “opposes calls for a policy of boycotting Israel and its academic institutions”. The University of California, which has an endowment of $169bn for its 10 campuses, also said that it “opposed calls for boycott against any divestment from Israel”.A university in Portland, Oregon will “pause” accepting donations from Boeing after students called on the school to cut ties with the manufacturer amid the war in Gaza.In addition to setting up an encampment on campus, students also addressed a letter to Ann Cudd, the president of Portland State University (PSU), demanding the university cut ties with Boeing.In a campus-wide message, Cudd said she had been motivated by “the passion with which these demands are being repeatedly expressed by some in our community”. She wrote in her memo:
PSU will pause seeking or accepting any further gifts or grants from the Boeing Company until we have had a chance to engage in this debate and come to conclusions about a reasonable course of action.
Cudd reiterated that the university “has no investments in Boeing but accepts philanthropic gifts from the company and, given that Boeing is a major employer in the region, many of our alumni work there”.At least five people have been arrested after setting up a pro-Palestinian encampment and protest at the University of Texas in Austin, according to local media reports.Dozens of Texas state troopers in riot gear arrived at the campus on Monday afternoon and were seen forming a circle around the encampment, along with university police officers and Austin police officers, the Austin American-Statesman reported.It comes less than a week after 57 people were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing at an anti-war protest on campus. All of those protesters were later released from jail, and all charges were dropped.Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House who visited the Columbia University campus last week, reiterated his threat to revoke visas from foreign students involved in protests, and cut funding to universities that do not protect Jewish students:Activists condemned Johnson last week, after he said Hamas “backed” the protesters. While the group has praised the demonstrations, there is no evidence they have been involved in their organization.Columbia University administrators have said they will not call police on protesters again, NBC New York reports.However, protesters appear to be ready for another attempt to remove them. Here’s footage of faculty members linking arms to protect students:And here’s a protester explaining why they are making their stand:Pro-Palestinian protesters remain on Columbia University’s campus in New York City, defying an ultimatum from its administrators to leave by 2pm ET or face suspension.The demonstrators are asking college leaders to divest from Israel, which they have declined to do. Earlier today, Columbia’s president Minouche Shafik said negotiations with protest leaders to dismantle their encampment on the college campus had broken down:Columbia had earlier in the month called police to disperse protesters, resulting in more than 100 arrests and leading to accusations Shafik and the college’s leaders were cracking down on free speech. Here’s more on today’s deadline, and the ongoing protests at campuses nationwide:At her ongoing briefing to reporters, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration does not support the international criminal court’s reported investigation into officials from Israel and Hamas.Jean-Pierre said:
We’ve been really clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support it. We don’t believe that they have the jurisdiction.
She did not elaborate further.Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that charges could be imminent in the investigation launched three years ago, which covers events since 2014. Here’s more:Republican House speaker Mike Johnson has condemned the international criminal court amid reports that it is considering bringing charges against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials over their handling of the situation in Gaza.“It is disgraceful that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is reportedly planning to issue baseless and illegitimate arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials,” Johnson said in a statement.“Such a lawless action by the ICC would directly undermine U.S. national security interests. If unchallenged by the Biden administration, the ICC could create and assume unprecedented power to issue arrest warrants against American political leaders, American diplomats, and American military personnel, thereby endangering our country’s sovereign authority.”The Biden administration announced that it “strongly opposes” a group of Republican-backed bills expected to be considered by the House this week that will target its environmental regulations.The White House office of management and budgeted targeted six bills proposed by Republicans, including measures to remove gray wolves from the list of endangered species, open up land in Alaska to oil production, and allow mining in a federal wilderness area in Minnesota.Even if they clear the House, the bills are unlikely to go anywhere in the Democratic-led Senate.When he is not hobnobbing with Donald Trump, the administration of Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s is disenrolling children from a health insurance program for low-income residents, the Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports: Florida is continuing to “callously” strip healthcare coverage from thousands of children in lower-income households in defiance of a new federal law intended to protect them.Since 1 January, more than 22,500 children have been disenrolled from Florida KidCare, its version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Chip) that is jointly subsidized by states and the US government for families with earnings just above the threshold for Medicaid.Florida healthcare officials admit at least some were removed for non-payment of premiums, an action prohibited by the “continuous eligibility” clause of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act that took effect at the beginning of this year. The clause secures 12 months of cover if at least one premium payment is made.Last week, the administration of Republican governor Ron DeSantis challenged the rule in federal court Tampa, arguing it makes Chip an entitlement program that illegally overrides a state law requiring monthly payment of premiums.Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to the key battleground state of North Carolina on Thursday, the White House has said.Biden will visit Wilmington to talk about how his agenda is “rebuilding our infrastructure and creating good-paying jobs in Wilmington and across the country,” the White House said in a statement.Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis met on Sunday for a golf course breakfast in an apparent attempt to thaw their relationship after the Republican primary.The meeting in Hollywood, Florida, was first reported by the Washington Post. Steve Witkoff, a Trump ally, New York and Florida real estate developer, and donor who testified at the former president’s civil fraud trial in New York, reportedly brokered the meeting.The Florida governor was once considered the former president’s top rival in the Republican presidential primary dominated by Trump, with a platform that rested primarily on fighting the “woke” cultural forces of diversity, inclusion and tolerance.However, a bungled presidential run meant DeSantis left the race after the Iowa caucus in January at the beginning of the primary. That left him in need of repairing his relationship with Trump – now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – after aiming attacks at him for months.Relations have been frosty between DeSantis and Trump since the primary began. However, Trump has proven to be transactional with rivals when necessary, and the former president also stands to benefit from improved relations with DeSantis.The Florida governor developed a network of wealthy donors to back his presidential run, moneyed supporters Trump needs to woo if he hopes to catch up to the fundraising of Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent seeking a second term in the presidency.Matt Gaetz, the far-right Florida Republican congressman, has drawn a last-minute primary challenger, after a former naval aviator filed to run as a Republican in Gaetz’s district last Friday.Aaron Dimmock is a retired navy officer who serves as the director of the Missouri Leadership Academy in Missouri, the Hill reported. In a statement to the outlet, Gaetz called Dimmock a “Missouri-based DEI instructor”. Gaetz wrote:
Aaron is not in Kansas City anymore. This is Trump Country. Our pronouns are USA and MAGA. I’m a proud Trump Republican. I stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump to defeat Joe Biden, secure our border, restore our economy, and support our veterans.
The primary challenge comes as tensions remain high between Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy, months after the former speaker was ousted from his post with the help of Gaetz. Allies of McCarthy have been working to recruit challengers to Gaetz, the Washington Post reported.More than 100 rights groups have sent a letter demanding Congress and Joe Biden reinstate funding to the UN relief agency for Palestinians (Unrwa).The letter comes after the president signed a $95bn foreign aid package that finalized the Biden administration’s suspension of US funding to the UN agency, a “lifeline for the Palestinian people in Gaza” that Israel has sought to disband.An independent review published last week said that Israel had yet to present evidence of its claims that employees of the relief agency are affiliated with terrorist organizations.On Wednesday, Germany, Unrwa’s second-biggest donor after the US, announced that it will resume cooperation and funding to Unrwa operations in the Gaza Strip.The letter by more than 100 immigrant, refugee, human rights and humanitarian organizations, seen by HuffPost, reads:
Cutting off funding to Unrwa completely erodes the international community’s ability to respond to one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time.
It added that international non-governmental organizations and other UN agencies have “repeatedly stated that they do not have the personnel, resources, or infrastructure to respond to the humanitarian needs in Gaza appropriately.”Congress is lurching back into gear, with the House convening to consider several pieces of legislation that amount to conservative messaging platforms with poor prospects in the Democratic-led Senate. One of the bills coming up would crack down on antisemitism by forcing the government to adopt a definition that has been criticized for equating condemnation of Israel with prejudice against Jews. The top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, wrote to the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, asking him to hold a vote on a different piece of legislation that has bipartisan support – we’ll see if that goes anywhere. Speaking of Johnson, all eyes are on Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right congresswoman who is attempting to boot him from the speaker’s post for his collaboration with Democrats. She does not seem to have much support, but has reportedly vowed to press on.Here’s what else is going on today:
Joe Biden and Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged to work together to deter migrants.
Campus protests over Israel’s invasion of Gaza showed no signs of ebbing over the weekend.
More grim poll numbers for Biden, including that voters increasingly view Donald Trump’s presidency as a success.
CNN came out this weekend with some familiar disquieting news for Joe Biden: the president trails Donald Trump in general election polling.In a head-to-head matchup, CNN finds Trump leads Biden with 49% support against the president’s 43%. But there’s a caveat: the use of national polls is somewhat limited, given that a handful of swing states is what will decide the election (some polls have lately shown Biden struggling in these states, while others indicate the president is regaining momentum.) But the CNN survey is also a warning for Biden’s hopes to campaign on the economy’s recovery during his administration.CNN find 55% of respondents see Trump’s presidency as a success, versus the 44% who regard it as a failure. In January 2021, after the January 6 attack and before Trump left office, it was about the opposite. As for Biden, 61% of respondents see his presidency as a failure, and 33% a success. More
