Federal probe finds Columbia University showed ‘indifference’ toward harassment of Jewish students

NEW YORK — A federal probe found Columbia University violated the rights of Jewish students since campus protests took hold following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terror attack on Israel, the government announced this week.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that Columbia had shown “deliberate indifference towards student-on-student harassment,” and renewed calls for an agreement between the Trump administration and the university.

“The findings carefully document the hostile environment Jewish students at Columbia University have had to endure for over 19 months, disrupting their education, safety, and well-being,” Anthony Archeval, acting director of the Office for Civil Rights at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.

“We encourage Columbia University to work with us to come to an agreement that reflects meaningful changes that will truly protect Jewish students.” The joint notice, which was not made public, was issued alongside the U.S. Department of Education, which did not return a request for comment on Thursday night.

—New York Daily News

Five years later, the fight over George Floyd Square continues

MINNEAPOLIS — Several nonprofits are competing to redevelop the “People’s Way,” a defunct Speedway gas station that serves as the protest headquarters of George Floyd Square.

Whoever is chosen will exert tremendous influence over the direction of the entire fractious intersection, which is still viewed worldwide as a barometer of how much Minneapolis has healed from the events of 2020.

Five years ago, protesters took 38th Street and Chicago Avenue hostage in the wake of Floyd’s murder, demanding the city meet 24 demands for racial justice reform before they would cede back the street.

George Floyd Square’s Black business owners and churchgoers cried foul as the intersection turned into a gated “semiautonomous zone” barring regular traffic and police, complicating basic service delivery and creating conditions that benefited the endemic Bloods gang. Seven people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in the area in and around the square within two years after Floyd’s murder.

—Star Tribune

How likely is a new pandemic in the future? Here’s what Americans said in a poll

In 2020, COVID-19 began spreading rapidly across the U.S., leading to major shutdowns and radically altering the lives of millions. Now, five years later, most Americans think the country could be plagued by a new pandemic, according to recent polling.

In a YouGov survey published in early May, 69% of respondents said it is somewhat or very likely that “the U.S. will experience a widespread outbreak of a new infectious disease in the next 10 years.” Meanwhile, 20% said this scenario is somewhat or very unlikely.

The results varied somewhat based on partisan affiliation, with 85% of Democrats saying a new disease outbreak is likely, while 61% of Republicans and 63% of independents said the same.

The poll — which sampled 1,067 U.S. adults April 1-4 — also asked about the likelihood of an existing disease, which children are currently vaccinated against, running rampant through the population.

—The Charlotte Observer

Israeli strikes kill 33 in Gaza as more aid trucks arrive

TEL AVIV, Israel — At least 33 people have been killed and dozens injured in the latest Israeli attacks overnight in Gaza, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday, citing medical sources.

An Israeli airstrike in a small town near Khan Younis in the southern part of the territory killed 11 people, WAFA said. The report stated that a family's house was hit in the attack. Most of the victims are said to be minors. The attack also left several people injured, some seriously.

Due to the extensive destruction, rescue teams have so far been unable to transport all the victims to hospitals, WAFA reported.

A video circulating on social and Palestinian media is said to show bodies among the rubble following the attack. The authenticity of the footage could not initially be independently verified. The Israeli army stated, in response to an inquiry, that it was reviewing the reports.

—dpa