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Harvard Students End Protest as University Agrees to Discuss Middle East Conflict

Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Harvard Students End Protest as University Agrees to Discuss Middle East Conflict

Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)

Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.

The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.” Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions.

Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it.

The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, and Israel's military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.

The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world's largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion.

The protesters’ statement said the students will set an agenda including discussions on disclosure, divestment, and reinvestment, and the creation of a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more.

“Since its establishment three weeks ago, the encampment has both broadened and deepened Palestine solidarity organizing on campus,” a spokesperson for the protesters said. “It has moved the needle on disclosure and divestment at Harvard."

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World

UK Sanctions Iran Interior Minister Over Protester Crackdown

A woman walks past the flag and map of Iran painted on a wall in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 31, 2026, ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 revolution. (AFP)
A woman walks past the flag and map of Iran painted on a wall in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 31, 2026, ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 revolution. (AFP)
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UK Sanctions Iran Interior Minister Over Protester Crackdown

A woman walks past the flag and map of Iran painted on a wall in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 31, 2026, ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 revolution. (AFP)
A woman walks past the flag and map of Iran painted on a wall in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 31, 2026, ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 revolution. (AFP)

The UK on Monday sanctioned 10 individuals, including Iran's interior minister and police chiefs, for their roles in "recent brutality against protesters", the British foreign ministry said.

Those sanctioned include the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA), interior minister Eskandar Momeni, two Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) officers, an Iranian businessman linked to the IRGC and two judges.

"The Iranian people have shown extreme courage in the face of brutality and repression over recent weeks simply for exercising their right to peaceful protest," said UK foreign minister Yvette Cooper.

"The reports and shocking scenes of violence that have been seen around the world are horrific," Cooper said, adding that this package of sanctions seeks to hold Iran's authorities "to account" for the crackdown.

The measures involve asset freezes and travel bans, the government said.

Iran's authorities have said the protests, which were sparked by economic strain and exploded in size and intensity over several days in early January, were "riots" inflamed by its arch foes the United States and Israel.

Tehran has acknowledged thousands of deaths during the protests, and on Sunday the presidency published the names of 2,986 people out of the 3,117 whom authorities said were killed in the unrest.

Authorities insist most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to "terrorist acts".

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it has confirmed 6,842 deaths, mostly protesters killed by security forces, though rights groups warn that the figure is likely far higher.

World

WHO Chief Says Turmoil Creates Chance for Reset

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus looks on during a press conference with the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations (ACANU) at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva, on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus looks on during a press conference with the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations (ACANU) at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva, on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
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WHO Chief Says Turmoil Creates Chance for Reset

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus looks on during a press conference with the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations (ACANU) at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva, on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus looks on during a press conference with the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations (ACANU) at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva, on December 10, 2024. (AFP)

The head of the World Health Organization said Monday that the dramatic cuts of 2025 as the United States headed for the exit created the chance to build a leaner, re-focused WHO.

Washington, traditionally the UN health agency's biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country's one-year notice of withdrawal.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the agency's annual executive board meeting that 2025 was "undeniably one of the most difficult years in our organization's history", with many donors tightening their belts.

"Significant cuts to our funding left us with no choice but to reduce the size of our workforce," he said.

More than a thousand staff have departed but Tedros said such a shock was something the WHO had seen coming, having tried to pivot away from over-reliance on major donors.
And its reorientation was all but finalized, he said.

"We have now largely completed the prioritization and realignment. We have reached a position of stability and we are moving forward," Tedros insisted.

"Although we have faced a significant crisis in the past year, we have also viewed it as an opportunity. It's an opportunity for a leaner WHO to become more focused on its core mission."

He urged member states to keep gradually increasing their membership fees, to reduce the WHO's reliance on voluntary contributions.

The aim is for membership fees to eventually cover 50 percent of the agency's budget, to secure its "long-term stability, sustainability and independence".

"I don't mean independence from member states. Of course, WHO belongs to you and always will," he stressed.

"I mean non-dependence on a handful of donors; I mean non-dependence on inflexible, unpredictable funding; I mean a WHO that's no longer a contractor to the biggest donors.

"I mean an impartial, science-based organization that's free to say what the evidence says, without fear or favor."

The executive board meeting, which opened Monday and runs until Saturday, will discuss the withdrawal notifications of the United States and Argentina.

Unlike any other member state, the United States reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the organization in 1948 -- on condition of one year's notice, and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year.

While the notice is now up, Washington has not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around $260 million.

World

Iran President Orders Talks with US as Trump Hopeful of Deal

Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
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Iran President Orders Talks with US as Trump Hopeful of Deal

Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, local media said Monday, after US leader Donald Trump said he was hopeful of a deal to avert military action against the country. 

Following the Iranian authorities' deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East. 

Trump has maintained he is hopeful of making a deal and Tehran has also insisted it wants diplomacy, while vowing an unbridled response to any aggression. 

"President Pezeshkian has ordered the opening of talks with the United States" on Iran's nuclear program, the Fars news agency reported on Monday, citing an unnamed government source. The report was also carried by the government newspaper Iran and the reformist daily Shargh. 

US news site Axios cited two unnamed sources saying Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday in Istanbul to discuss a possible deal on the nuclear file. 

Trump had warned "time is running out" for Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a claim Tehran has repeatedly denied. 

In an interview Sunday with CNN, Araghchi said, "President Trump said no nuclear weapons, and we fully agree. We fully agree with that. That could be a very good deal," adding that, "in return, we expect sanctions lifting". 

Iran foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said earlier Monday Tehran was working on a method and framework for negotiations that would be ready in the coming days, with messages between the two sides relayed through regional players. 

- 'Police the world' - 

Türkiye has led a diplomatic push to defuse tensions, with Araghchi visiting Istanbul last week and speaking with other regional counterparts, including in Egypt and Jordan. 

Jordan's top diplomat, Ayman Safadi, on Monday assured Araghchi the kingdom would "not be a battleground in any regional conflict or a launching pad for any military action against Iran". 

Iranian authorities, including supreme leader Ali Khamenei, have warned any US attack would trigger a "regional war". 

In Tehran, pensioner Ali Hamidi told AFP he was a veteran and "not afraid of war", but that "America should mind its own business, why does it want to police the world?" 

But, the 68-year-old added, "Iranian officials are also at fault for not providing for the people. The economic troubles are back-breaking... The officials should do something tangible, not just talk." 

The protests were sparked in late December by economic strain and exploded in size and intensity over several days in early January. 

Authorities have said the protests were "riots" inflamed by its arch foes the United States and Israel, with Khamenei likening them to a "coup" attempt. 

- Ambassadors summoned - 

Tehran has acknowledged thousands of deaths during the protests, and on Sunday the presidency published the names of 2,986 people out of the 3,117 whom authorities said were killed in the unrest. 

Authorities insist most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to "terrorist acts". 

US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it has confirmed 6,842 deaths, mostly protesters killed by security forces, with rights groups warning the figure is likely far higher. 

Young Iranian Selina, who would not give her full name, travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan seeking some relief from "living in fear". 

"It's not safe for us" in Iran, the 25-year-old told AFP. 

"We don't even dare to go out after 6:00 pm because soldiers are everywhere." 

The crackdown prompted the European Union to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, with Iranian lawmakers retaliating on Sunday by slapping the same designation on European armies. 

The EU also issued fresh sanctions on Iranian officials, including the interior minister, a move echoed on Monday by Britain, which announced sanctions on 10 individuals over the "brutality against protesters". 

Baqaei said Monday the foreign ministry had summoned all the EU member state ambassadors in Tehran over the designation, and that other responses were to come. 

Iranian state television also announced four foreigners had been arrested in Tehran for "participation in riots", without specifying their nationalities. 

Authorities have continued to announce arrests, with rights groups estimating at least 40,000 people have been detained over the protests.