NEW YORK: Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned Wednesday after a brief, tumultuous tenure that saw the head of the prestigious New York university grapple with protests over the Israel-Hamas war and criticism over how the school handled divisions related to the conflict.
The school in upper Manhattan was roiled this year by student protests, culminating in scenes of police officers carrying zip ties and riot shields storming a building that had been occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. Similar protests swept college campuses nationwide.
In addition to the protests, the school in July removed three deans, who have since resigned, after officials said they exchanged disparaging texts during a campus discussion about Jewish life and antisemitism. Shafik said in a July 8 letter to the school community that the messages were unprofessional and “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes.”
Shafik was also among the university leaders called for questioning before Congress earlier this year. She was heavily criticized by Republicans who accused her of not doing enough to combat concerns about antisemitism on Columbia’s campus.
In her letter announcing her resignation, Shafik heralded “progress in a number of important areas” but lamented that her tenure had also been a “period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.” In her statement, she acknowledged the campus protests factored into her decision to resign.
“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in the community,” Shafik wrote. “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.”
Shafik said she will return to the United Kingdom to lead an effort by the foreign secretary’s office reviewing the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability.
“I am very pleased and appreciative that this will afford me the opportunity to return to work on fighting global poverty and promoting sustainable development, areas of lifelong interest to me,” she wrote. “It also enables me to return to the House of Lords to reengage with the important legislative agenda put forth by the new UK government.”
The Board of Trustees announced that Katrina Armstrong, the CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, agreed to serve as interim president. The board said Armstrong, who is also the executive vice president for the university’s Health and Biomedical Sciences, “is the right leader for this moment.”
Armstrong said she was “deeply honored” to be leading the university at a “pivotal moment for Columbia.”
“Challenging times present both the opportunity and the responsibility for serious leadership to emerge from every group and individual within a community,” Armstrong wrote. “This is such a time at Columbia. As I step into this role, I am acutely aware of the trials the University has faced over the past year.”
Shafik was named president of the university last year and was the first woman to take on the role, and she was one of several women newly appointed to take the reins at Ivy League institutions.
She had previously led the London School of Economics and before that worked at the World Bank, where she rose through the ranks to become the bank’s youngest-ever vice president. Shafik also worked at the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, followed by stints at the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England.
At the time of Shafik’s appointment, Columbia Board of Trustees chair Jonathan Lavine described her as a leader who deeply understood “the academy and the world beyond it.”
“What set Minouche apart as a candidate,” Lavine had said in a statement, “is her unshakable confidence in the vital role institutions of higher education can and must play in solving the world’s most complex problems.”
Columbia’s president resigns after months of turmoil, including protests over the Israel-Hamas war
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Columbia’s president resigns after months of turmoil, including protests over the Israel-Hamas war
Dense fog over Indian capital delays flights, trains
- Delhi was ranked as the world’s most polluted city in live rankings by Swiss group IQAir
India’s weather office issued an orange alert for Delhi, the second highest warning level, forecasting dense to very dense fog in many areas.
Visibility at Delhi’s main airport was between zero to 100 meters (328.08 ft), the weather office said, and more than 40 trains across northern India were delayed because of fog, local media reported.
Some aircraft departures from Delhi were delayed, airport authorities said on social media platform X, warning that flights lacking the CAT III navigation system that enables landing despite low visibility would face difficulties. Delhi’s main airport handles about 1,400 flights every day.
“Low visibility and fog over Delhi may lead to some delays,” the country’s largest airline IndiGo said in a social media post.
Local media showed images of vehicles crawling along highways through the fog, and people huddled indoors as the temperature dipped to 7 degrees Celsius (44.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Delhi was ranked as the world’s most polluted city in live rankings by Swiss group IQAir on Wednesday, with a reading of 254, ranked as “very unhealthy.”
The Indian capital has been battling poor air quality and smog since the beginning of winter.
South Korean President Yoon arrested over failed martial law bid
- Earlier more than 3,000 police officers and anti-corruption investigators had gathered there before dawn, pushing through throngs of Yoon supporters and members of his ruling People Power Party protesting attempts to detain him
SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday over his failed martial law bid, after hundreds of anti-graft investigators and police raided his residence to end a weeks-long standoff.
Yoon, who was impeached and charged with insurrection over his short-lived effort to impose martial law last month, is the first sitting president in the nation’s history to be arrested.
Hundreds of police officers and investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office had streamed up the driveway to the presidential residence before dawn on Wednesday, some scaling perimeter walls and hiking up back trails to reach the main building.
It was their second effort to arrest Yoon.
A first attempt on January 3 failed after a tense hours-long standoff with members of Yoon’s official Presidential Security Service (PSS), who refused to budge when investigators tried to execute their warrant.
Yoon’s lawyer announced on Wednesday morning the president had agreed to speak to investigators and that he had decided to leave the residence to prevent a “serious incident.”
“President Yoon has decided to personally appear at the Corruption Investigation Office today,” Seok Dong-hyeon said on Facebook, adding that Yoon would also deliver a speech.
But investigators announced shortly after that Yoon had been arrested.
“The Joint Investigation Headquarters executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol today (January 15) at 10:33 am (0130 GMT),” they said in a statement.
AFP reporters earlier witnessed brief scuffles at the gate, where Yoon’s die-hard supporters had been camped out to protect him, as authorities first moved on the compound.
Lawmakers from Yoon’s ruling People Power Party also rushed to the area in an apparent bid to defend him, AFP reporters saw.
His supporters were heard chanting “illegal warrant!” while waving glow sticks and South Korean and American flags. Some laid on the ground outside the residential compound’s main gate.
Police and CIO officers began forcibly removing them from the entrance to the residence while around 30 lawmakers from Yoon’s ruling People Power Party also blocked investigators, Yonhap News TV reported.
Yoon’s guards had installed barbed wire and barricades at the residence, turning it into what the opposition called a “fortress.”
Due to the tense situation, police decided not to carry firearms but only to wear bulletproof vests for the new attempt Wednesday, in case they were met by armed guards, local media reported.
Following his arrest, Yoon can be held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators would need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.
Yoon’s legal team had repeatedly decried the warrant as illegal.
In a parallel probe, Yoon’s impeachment trial began Tuesday with a brief hearing after he declined to attend.
Although his failure to attend — which his team has blamed on purported safety concerns — forced a procedural adjournment, the hearings will continue without Yoon, with the next set for Thursday.
Australia summons Russian ambassador over reports captured soldier killed
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had been maintaining “a very difficult relationship for many years” with Russia under different governments
SYDNEY: Australia summoned the Russian ambassador over reports a Melbourne man had been killed after being captured by Russia while fighting for Ukraine, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday.
The Australian government had asked Russian authorities to immediately confirm the status of Oscar Jenkins and remained “gravely concerned” over reports that he had been killed, Albanese said during a media conference.
“We’ll await the facts to come out. But if there has been any harm caused to Oscar Jenkins, that’s absolutely reprehensible and the Australian government will take the strongest action possible,” Albanese said.
When asked by a reporter if Australia would expel the Russian ambassador or recall its envoy in Moscow, Albanese said his government would determine its response after verifying all reports.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had been maintaining “a very difficult relationship for many years” with Russia under different governments.
“We will look at the facts when they have been ascertained but I want to be clear all options are on the table,” Wong told ABC Radio on Wednesday. She said the Russian ambassador was summoned by the foreign ministry earlier this week.
Jenkins, a teacher from Melbourne, was serving alongside Ukraine’s military when he was captured by Russia last year as a prisoner of war, Australian media reported. A video taken at the time showed him, dressed in combat uniform, being asked if he was a mercenary, reports said.
Australia is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to the West’s support for Ukraine and has been supplying aid, ammunition and defense equipment.
It has banned exports of alumina and aluminum ores, including bauxite, to Russia, and has sanctioned about 1,000 Russian individuals and entities.
Irregular migration into the European Union fell sharply last year, border agency says
- The agency said that there were just over 239,000 detections of irregular border crossings, the lowest number registered since 2021, when migration was lower due to the COVID-19 pandemic
WARSAW, Poland: The number of irregular border crossings into the European Union fell significantly in 2024, according to the bloc’s border control agency Frontex, something which it attributed to intensified cooperation against smuggling networks.
The Warsaw-based agency said in a statement that its preliminary data for last year reveal a 38 percent drop in irregular border crossings into the 27-member bloc.
The data refers to the number of detections of irregular border crossing at the external borders of the EU, not the total number of people who tried to cross. In some cases the same erson may cross the border several times in different locations at the external border, Frontex notes.
The agency said that there were just over 239,000 detections of irregular border crossings, the lowest number registered since 2021, when migration was lower due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency said that despite the overall decrease, challenges persist, including dangerous sea crossings resulting in significant loss of life and the evolving tactics of smuggling networks.
Despite the decrease in irregular arrivals, a sense has taken hold across Europe that there is too much unregulated immigration to the continent.
The issue has dominated political life in Europe since 2015, when more than a million people arrived at once, many fleeing the war in Syria. The issue has boosted far-right parties that strongly oppose accepting large numbers of refugees and migrants — including in places like Austria and Germany.
The decrease in the total number was mainly driven by a 59 percent plunge in arrivals via the Central Mediterranean route due to fewer departures from Tunisia and Libya, Frontex said. It also reported a 78 percent fall in detections on the Western Balkan route following efforts in that region to halt arrivals.
At the same time irregular arrivals were up last year along the EU’s eastern borders with Belarus.
Frontex also said it recorded an 18 percent increase in arrivals to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that is increasingly used as an alternative stepping stone to continental Europe.
It said the nearly 47,000 arrivals it recorded there marked the highest figure since it began collecting data in 2009.
“While 2024 saw a significant reduction in irregular border crossings, it also highlighted emerging risks and shifting dynamics,” Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens said.
The Frontex statement noted that authorities have reported increasing violence by smugglers along the Western Balkan route, while growing instability in regions like the Sahel continues to drive migration toward Europe.
Risks from unregulated tanker fleet rising, UN shipping chief says
- There have been a number of incidents involving collisions and shadow fleet vessels breaking down in recent months
LONDON: The safety risks posed by unregulated oil tankers are rising, and the so-called shadow fleet is a threat to both the maritime environment and seafarers, the head of the United Nations’ shipping agency said on Tuesday.
The shadow fleet refers to hundreds of ships used by Russia to move oil, in violation of international restrictions imposed on it over the Ukraine war, as well as by oil exporters such as Iran and Venezuela hit by US sanctions.
At least 65 oil tankers dropped anchor this week at multiple locations, including off the coasts of China and Russia, since the United States announced a new sanctions package on Jan. 10.
“The risk is growing in relation to the environmental impact and the safety of the seafarers as the shadow fleet grows,” Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), told a news conference.
“We see it by different accidents and events that have taken place.”
Dominguez, who could not comment on sanctions, said his biggest concern was with aging tankers, which were “putting people onboard at risk and the environment as well.”
“The more that ships start looking to ... avoid meeting the IMO requirements, the more that we will have situations like we have been experiencing in the last part of 2024.”
There have been a number of incidents involving collisions and shadow fleet vessels breaking down in recent months.
Dominguez said an IMO meeting would follow up in March on a resolution adopted in 2023 aimed at greater scrutiny of ship-to-ship oil transfers in open seas — a frequent risk with shadow fleet tankers which carry out such transfers with little regard for safety. He said he had also met with smaller flag registry countries, which typically provide flagging for shadow fleet tankers.
Commercial ships must be registered, or flagged, with a particular country to ensure they are complying with internationally recognized safety and environmental rules.
Shipping industry sources say many of the smaller flag registries are lax about enforcing compliance and also sanctions regulations.
“Substandard shipping ...has been on the agenda at IMO for many years,” Dominguez said.
