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Pro-Palestinian students in the US have defied an order by university officials to dismantle a tent camp set up to protest Israel’s war in Gaza or face suspension.

College authorities at Columbia University in New York, sent students a letter on Monday demanding they sign a form agreeing to obey university policies until June 2025 or an earlier graduation, if they wish to finish the term in good standing.

If they failed to comply by 2pm, local time, the letter said, they would be suspended, pending further investigation and would not finish the term, the note said.

A George Washington University student waves a Palestinian flag as he stands atop police barricades that students broke through to occupy the school's University Yard during a pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
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A George Washington University student waves a Palestinian flag during a protest on Sunday. Pic: AP

A counterprotester holds a sign during a march on Columbia University campus in support of a protest encampment supporting Palestinians, despite a 2 pm deadline issued by university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U.S., April 29, 2024. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
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A pro-Israeli counterprotester at Columbia University. Pic: Reuters

But those at the camp, now in its second week, voted nearly unanimously to stay put, NBC, Sky’s US partner, said.

Around 2.45pm, protesters were seen marching on the quad and chanting “Disclose! Divest! We will not slow, we will not rest!'”, NBC said.

More than 300 people and at least 120 tents remained.

Noting that exams are starting and graduation is coming up, the letter said: “We urge you to remove the encampment so that we do not deprive your fellow students, their families and friends of this momentous occasion.”

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Mahmoud Khalil, the protesters’ lead negotiator, said university representatives began passing out the notices at the encampment shortly after 10am on Monday.

Demonstrators set up tents in the centre of the Columbia campus in one of the early pro-Palestinian protests over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll, but dissent quickly spread to other colleges, sparking clashes with police and arrests.

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At least 25 killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah

More than 900 people have been arrested across the US since police in New York removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia, arresting more than 100 demonstrators as they did so, on 18 April.

Clashes have continued, with about 275 people arrested on Saturday at various campuses including Indiana University at Bloomington, Arizona State University and Washington University in St Louis.

Barricades torn down by demonstrators are piled in the center of an encampment by students protesting against the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Barricades torn down by demonstrators at a student encampment at George Washington University in Washington. Pic: AP

On Sunday night and Monday, people at an encampment near George Washington University in the US capital, protested, breaching and dismantling barriers.

Protesters at Yale University set up a new encampment with dozens of tents on Sunday afternoon, nearly a week after police arrested nearly 50 demonstrators and cleared a similar camp.

Read more:
Student anti-Israel protests continue to sweep the US
Campus protests sum up a moment of divisiveness
Man arrested for swastika placard at London protest

People sit in the shade near tents at an encampment by students protesting against the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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A student encampment at George Washington University. Pic: AP

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war, according to local health officials, who say about two-thirds of the dead are women and children.

Israel declared war on Hamas and unleashed an air and ground offensive in Gaza in response to the attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostages in its assault.

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One dead, multiple injured, in shooting at US country club hosting wedding

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One dead, multiple injured, in shooting at US country club hosting wedding

A man has been killed and several other people injured in a shooting at a US country club hosting a wedding, police in New Hampshire have said.

Aerial pictures above the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua show emergency responders at the scene.

A suspect was detained at the scene by police officers who said “a single male had entered the club and fired several shots”.

Eyewitness reports said the country club was hosting a wedding, and diners were also eating at its restaurant when the suspect entered and began shooting people.

New Hampshire congresswoman Maggie Goodlander said in a statement she was “closely monitoring the tragic reports” and that her heart was with the victims, their families and the entire community.

Ambulances park outside a hotel acting as a reunification centre after the shooting. Pic: AP
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Ambulances park outside a hotel acting as a reunification centre after the shooting. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

At a news conference, Peter Hinkley, senior assistant attorney general of New Hampshire, said “people don’t think things like this happen on a Saturday night in Nashua in New Hampshire”.

Nashua is about 45 miles (70 kilometres) northwest of Boston, just across the Massachusetts border. It is the only city in America to be ranked Number 1 Best Place to Live by Money magazine twice.

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Forbes magazine ranked it America’s seventh most liveable city.

Attorney general John Formella and Nashua Police Department chief Kevin Rourke issued a statement:

“This evening officers responded to 911 calls from the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua for reports of gunshots.

“From investigation, a single adult male entered the club and fired several gunshots. One adult male was shot and killed, and several other people were wounded.”

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Ted Cruz blasts ‘mafioso’ threats over Jimmy Kimmel suspension

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Ted Cruz blasts 'mafioso' threats over Jimmy Kimmel suspension

American Senator Ted Cruz has broken ranks with fellow US conservatives and
hit out at talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, saying it was “mafioso” behaviour.

Disney-owned ABC has been widely criticised after it pulled the long-standing host of Jimmy Kimmel Live following comments in his show about the alleged gunman charged with right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Kimmel implied the suspect was a Maga Republican, despite the man’s mother telling police he had “started to lean more to the left”.

As a result, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr threatened Disney and local broadcasters with investigations and regulatory action if they aired Kimmel’s show – which led to dozens of local TV stations affiliated with ABC pulling it.

US President Donald Trump, who appointed Carr, lauded the decision.

But Mr Cruz criticised the threats as “dangerous as hell”.

“I got to say that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas’,” he said, evoking the Martin Scorsese gangster movie. “That’s right out of
a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here.

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“It would be a shame if something happened to it’.”

Senator Ted Cruz. Pic: AP
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Senator Ted Cruz. Pic: AP

Explainer: What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?

The senator, a former constitutional lawyer, then adopted a broad mafioso accent to quote Mr Carr’s comments about broadcasters this week: “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.”

Mr Trump fired back, telling reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he disagreed with Mr Cruz – one of the most
powerful Republicans in Congress – and calling Mr Carr “an incredible American patriot with courage.”

Demonstrations against his suspension have sprung up. Pic: AP
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Demonstrations against his suspension have sprung up. Pic: AP

The Texas senator’s remarks are a rare example of a prominent member of the president’s own party publicly
criticising the actions of the administration, highlighting deepening concerns over free-speech rights and Mr Trump’s threatened crackdowns.

Prominent Democrats and civil rights groups condemned the Trump administration’s pressure to punish Kimmel and others who speak negatively of the president.

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US talk show titans speak out

Kimmel’s fellow late-night hosts have rallied around him, as did former US president Barack Obama, who wrote on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP
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Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating it.”

Conservative activists had been angered by Kimmel’s comments on his show that they were using the assassination to score “political points”.

Right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead on 10 September as he took part in a public debate at a college campus in Utah .

Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder, weapon, and obstruction of justice offences.

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US talk show titans come out fighting after Kimmel cancellation

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US talk show titans come out fighting after Kimmel cancellation

US talk show host Stephen Colbert has condemned the cancellation of fellow late-night star Jimmy Kimmel as a “blatant assault on freedom of speech”, as America’s top late night presenters came out fighting.

He used the opening of Thursday night’s edition of his Late Show to address the pulling of Jimmy Kimmel Live over comments made about the assassination of the right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel used his show earlier this week to accuse the Trump administration and its allies of “working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”, with the president among those to pin it on left-wing extremism.

The move by Disney-owned ABC has been widely criticised, with the network accused of kowtowing to President Donald Trump, who celebrated the decision.

Also airing on Thursday night, Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s Daily Show, appeared in a garish gold set, in parody of Mr Trump’s redesign of the White House, to tell viewers the episode would be “another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show”.

Stewart, playing the role of an over-the-top, politically obsequious TV host under authoritarian rule, lavished praise on the president and satirised his criticism of US cities and his deployment of the National Guard to fight crime.

“Coming to you tonight from the real […] crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no-one’s ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” he said.

He then introduced his guest – Maria Ressa, a journalist and author of the book How To Stand Up To A Dictator.

Jon Stewart. Pic: Associated Press
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Jon Stewart. Pic: Associated Press

Over at The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon told his audience he was “not sure what was going on” but that Kimmel is “a decent funny and loving guy and I hope he comes back”.

Fallon then promised viewers that in spite of people being “worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we will be censored”, he was going to cover the president’s recent trip to the UK “just like I normally would”.

He was then replaced by a voiceover describing Mr Trump as “incredibly handsome” and “making America great again”.

Jimmy Fallon on Thursday's Tonight Show. Pic: The Tonight Show X
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Jimmy Fallon on Thursday’s Tonight Show. Pic: The Tonight Show X

Seth Meyers also joined the fray.

“Donald Trump is on his way back from a trip to the UK,” he said at the top of his show Late Night, “while back here at home, his administration is pursuing a crackdown on free speech… and completely unrelated, I just wanted to say that I have always admired and respected Mr Trump.

“I have always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president, and an even better golfer.”

Kimmel’s removal from the show he has hosted for two decades led to criticism that free speech was under attack.

But speaking on his visit to Britain, Donald Trump claimed he was suspended “because he had bad ratings”.

It came after fellow late-night host Colbert saw his programme cancelled earlier this year, which fans claimed was also down to his criticism of Mr Trump, who has since railed against Kimmel, Meyers, and Fallon.

He has posted on Truth Social that they should all be cancelled.

Jimmy Kimmel hosting last year's Oscars. Pic: AP
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Jimmy Kimmel hosting last year’s Oscars. Pic: AP

Figures from both the worlds of entertainment and politics lined up to lament ABC’s removal of Kimmel.

Chat show doyenne David Letterman said people should not be fired just because they don’t “suck up” to what he called “an authoritarian” president.

During an appearance at The Atlantic Festival 2025 in New York on Thursday night, he added: “It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous.

“I feel bad about this, because we all see where see this is going, correct? It’s managed media.”

Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP
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Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP

Former US president Barack Obama wrote on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating it.”

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