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Columbia University Bows To Trump’s Demands After Threat To Withhold Funds

Published

8 months ago

March 22, 2025

Columbia University has taken steps to comply with demands from the Trump administration after the federal government threatened to withhold $400 million in funding.

The university released a four-page memo titled Advancing Our Work to Combat Discrimination, Harassment, and Antisemitism at Columbia. This response is being closely watched by other institutions that were also focal points of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year.

The Trump administration had previously canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia, citing the university’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” In a letter last week, the administration outlined nine demands that Columbia had to meet by Thursday as “a precondition for formal negotiations” regarding federal funding.

Among the measures taken, Columbia has agreed to ban masks, addressing one of the administration’s key requirements. The university stated in the memo, “Public safety has determined that face masks or face coverings are not allowed for the purpose of concealing one’s identity in the commission of violations of University policies or state, municipal, or federal laws.”

Columbia has also agreed to implement stricter oversight of its Middle East Studies department. A new senior vice provost will now oversee the department and “will conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of programs in regional areas across the University, starting immediately with the Middle East.”

According to the memo, this review is intended to ensure that the curriculum is “comprehensive and balanced” and that faculty represent an “intellectually diverse academic environment” as the administration pushes to limit left-wing ideology on campus.

To further address academic concerns, the university will establish a Provostial Advisory Committee on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression. This committee will advise university leadership on maintaining academic freedom at Columbia.

“The committee members will serve as trusted advisors, both to consult on university policies and procedures and to ensure that our decisions are consistent with our values,” the university stated.

Additionally, Columbia will form a commission to examine campus events since Oct. 7, 2024—the anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war—and “present an analysis with the underlying causes.” The commission will create a report with recommendations to ensure that members of the Columbia community “are held accountable for actions that hinder the academic pursuit of any individual within the community.” It will also propose recommendations for a new disciplinary process.

(ABC News)

Headline

12 Die, 30 Missing In Peru Landslide

Published

2 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Editor

At least 12 people, including three children, died in a landslide at a river port in central Peru on Monday, and 30 were reported missing, officials said.

The landslide submerged a boat with about 50 passengers on board, and another with none, as they were docked at the port of Iparia in the Amazon jungle region of Ucayali, according to a police report cited by the Andina news agency.

Six people were injured, it added, and a search and rescue operation was underway at the start of the Peruvian rainy season.

Without giving a toll, Peru’s COEN national emergency operations centre said on X that tragedy struck at dawn due to “erosion” of the bank of the Ucayali river.

It said the navy has been called in to help.

AFP

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Nigeria Grants Asylum To Guinea-Bissau Opposition Candidate

Published

2 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian embassy in Guinea-Bissau has granted asylum to Fernando Dias da Costa, the country’s opposition presidential candidate, following alleged threats to his life after last week’s military coup, The Cable Reports.

The coup was announced by military officers on Wednesday, just days after Guinea-Bissau’s presidential election in which both incumbent President Umaro Embaló and his main challenger, da Costa, claimed victory before official results were released.

Nigeria condemned the takeover and urged an immediate return to constitutional order.

In a letter to the President of the Economic Community of West African States Commission, Omar Touray, dated November 30, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said President Bola Tinubu had approved asylum and protection for da Costa inside the Nigerian embassy in Bissau.

Tuggar wrote that the decision was made “in response to threats made against da Costa’s life.”

“In this regard, it would be appreciated if you would kindly mandate the ECOWAS Stabilisation Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau to provide him protection and security while in the premises of the Nigerian embassy,” the letter stated.

The foreign affairs minister’s Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir, confirmed the letter’s authenticity to The Cable on Monday.

He said, “The decision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to grant asylum and provide protection to Fernando Dia Da Costa falls squarely within Nigeria’s sovereign responsibility and longstanding commitment to regional peace, stability, and democratic governance.”

He added that Nigeria acted “in the broader interest of de-escalation,” saying the government had exercised its discretion “to prevent further deterioration of tensions and to promote social cohesion in Guinea-Bissau and the wider West African sub-region.”

According to Abdulkadir, the intervention aligns with ECOWAS principles and reflects Nigeria’s role as a stabilising force in West Africa.

Following the coup, ECOWAS held an emergency virtual summit of heads of state and subsequently suspended Guinea-Bissau from the regional bloc until constitutional order is restored.

Headline

Trump To Attend FIFA World Cup Finals Draw On Friday

Published

2 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Editor

The White House on Monday confirmed US President Donald Trump would attend the draw for the FIFA World Cup finals in Washington later this week.

The United States will co-host the 2026 tournament alongside Canada and Mexico.

“On Friday, President Trump will attend the FIFA World Cup final draw at the Kennedy Centre,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Trump has made the World Cup a centrepiece event of both his second presidency and the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.

But the giant sporting extravaganza has not escaped the political turmoil caused by Trump’s hardline stance on a host of issues.

Trump, a Republican, has raised the possibility of moving games from some US host cities amid a crackdown on what he says is crime and illegal migration in some Democratic-run areas.

AFP