Student anti-war protesters dig in as faculties condemn university leadership over calling police

Student anti-war protesters at U.S. universities are digging in and vowing to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties have condemned university presidents for calling law enforcement. As Columbia University continues tenuous negotiations with the pro-Palestinian student encampment, the University’s senate criticized the schools' president on Friday after more than 100 protesters were arrested last week. School faculties at universities in California, Georgia, and Texas initiated or passed votes of no confidence in their leadership. They are largely symbolic rebukes, without the power remove their presidents. But the tensions pile pressure on school officials, who are already scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies near.

An investigation led by The Associated Press has found that the practice of giving sedatives to people detained by police has spread quietly across the nation over the last 15 years, built on questionable science and backed by police-aligned experts. The injections are given by medical personnel during police encounters. The investigation shows how a strategy intended to reduce violence and save lives has resulted in some avoidable deaths. While sedatives were mentioned as a cause or contributing factor in a dozen official death rulings, authorities often didn’t even investigate whether injections were appropriate in the 94 deaths identified by the AP over a decade. About half of the 94 who died were Black.

Hamas says it is reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, as Egypt intensifies efforts to broker a deal to end the months-long war and stave off a possible Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Israeli military has massed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles in southern Israel close to Rafah and hit targets in the city in near-daily airstrikes. Early Saturday, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, killing six people, including four children, according to officials at a local hospital.

Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States have peacefully evacuated a campus building at a prestigious French university after days of tensions. The head of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, said an agreement was found Friday with students. Sciences Po counts President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni. In an email to students, Sciences Po administrator Jean Bassères pledged to hold a townhall meeting in the coming week and to suspend some disciplinary proceedings against students. In return, students “committed to no longer disrupting courses, examinations and all other activities of the institution."

Russia has launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine directed at energy facilities. The energy minister said facilities in Dnipropetrovsk in the south of the country and Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv in the west had been attacked. A psychiatric hospital was damaged and one person was wounded after Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. Meanwhile, Russia said its air defense systems had intercepted more than 60 drones over the southern Krasnodar region. The regional governor said that Ukrainian forces targeted an oil refinery and infrastructure facilities but that there were no casualties or serious damage.