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Palestinian Students and Staff Sue Columbia University Alleging Discrimination

Protestors gather at the gates of Columbia University, in support of student protesters who barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall, despite orders from university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in New York City, US, April 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Protestors gather at the gates of Columbia University, in support of student protesters who barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall, despite orders from university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in New York City, US, April 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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Palestinian Students and Staff Sue Columbia University Alleging Discrimination

Protestors gather at the gates of Columbia University, in support of student protesters who barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall, despite orders from university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in New York City, US, April 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Protestors gather at the gates of Columbia University, in support of student protesters who barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall, despite orders from university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in New York City, US, April 30, 2024. (Reuters)

A ‌group of current and former Palestinian students and staff have sued Columbia University, alleging discriminatory treatment by the school against its Palestinian community since late 2023, according to a court filing in New York.

The lawsuit said the university failed to protect its Palestinian members from harassment and targeted them through what it cast as "unfair and biased disciplinary hearings."

Columbia has previously denied being discriminatory and has ‌condemned hate. ‌Local media reported that it declined ‌to comment ⁠on pending litigation. ⁠It did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Protests took place at Columbia and around the US after the start of Israel's assault on Gaza following a deadly Palestinian Hamas attack in October 2023.

Protesters demanded an end ⁠to US support for its ally and ‌called for the divestment ‌of funds by universities from companies supporting Israel.

In ‌May 2025, Columbia suspended more than 65 students ‌for their role in shutting down the university's main library in a pro-Palestinian demonstration.

That demonstration came as the university was negotiating with President Donald Trump's administration, which ‌had cut its federal funding after accusing the university of tolerating antisemitism during pro-Palestinian ⁠protests.

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say opposing Israel's assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories is not antisemitic and advocacy for Palestinian rights should not be conflated with supporting extremism.

Columbia agreed to pay over $200 million to the US government to resolve federal probes and restore most of the federal funding in July last year.

Free speech groups condemned Columbia's protest crackdown in which students faced arrests, suspensions, expulsions and degree revocations.

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Police in Eastern German State Defuse 21 Explosive Devices Found Near Power Grid

A burned vehicle sits at a construction site on the ground of a substation, as police is investigating a fire at the transformer substation, further raising security concerns over a series of sabotage attacks on Germany's power grid, in Berlin, Germany, September 7, 2026. Sign reads "No entry to the construction site". (Reuters)
A burned vehicle sits at a construction site on the ground of a substation, as police is investigating a fire at the transformer substation, further raising security concerns over a series of sabotage attacks on Germany's power grid, in Berlin, Germany, September 7, 2026. Sign reads "No entry to the construction site". (Reuters)
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Police in Eastern German State Defuse 21 Explosive Devices Found Near Power Grid

A burned vehicle sits at a construction site on the ground of a substation, as police is investigating a fire at the transformer substation, further raising security concerns over a series of sabotage attacks on Germany's power grid, in Berlin, Germany, September 7, 2026. Sign reads "No entry to the construction site". (Reuters)
A burned vehicle sits at a construction site on the ground of a substation, as police is investigating a fire at the transformer substation, further raising security concerns over a series of sabotage attacks on Germany's power grid, in Berlin, Germany, September 7, 2026. Sign reads "No entry to the construction site". (Reuters)

Prosecutors in the eastern German state of Saxony said on Monday that authorities had found a total of 21 explosive devices as part of their investigations into attacks on the electricity grid that have kept authorities on high alert for days.

Investigators discovered nine additional homemade explosive devices over the weekend near high-voltage power ‌lines south ‌of the Graustein substation in the ‌eastern ⁠German district of Goerlitz, ⁠taking the total number discovered to 21, police and prosecutors said in a joint statement.

Germany has been the focus of European fears about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, as it experienced a series of sabotage incidents ⁠on the power grid last week ‌after a drone attack ‌in August at Leipzig/Halle for which the ‌government formally blamed Russia.

German police said on Friday ‌they were searching for a man who sent letters claiming responsibility for a series of sabotage attacks on the power grid last week after ‌they found what appeared to be explosives at his home. The man ⁠is ⁠still at large.

Initial findings into a fire at a transformer substation in Berlin earlier on Monday, which police had said was being investigated, showed the incident was caused by a technical fault, Spiegel reported citing Police Commissioner Barbara Slowik Meisel.

Separately, Bild newspaper reported that police in the western city of Wesel have launched major assessment operations after the security fence around another transformer substation was found to be cut open.

World

Kremlin Says It Does Not Rule Out Restart of Peace Talks with Ukraine and US

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 6, 2026, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (R) and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (L) arrive for talks with Ukrainian president in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service /AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 6, 2026, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (R) and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (L) arrive for talks with Ukrainian president in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service /AFP)
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Kremlin Says It Does Not Rule Out Restart of Peace Talks with Ukraine and US

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 6, 2026, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (R) and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (L) arrive for talks with Ukrainian president in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service /AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on September 6, 2026, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (R) and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (L) arrive for talks with Ukrainian president in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service /AFP)

The Kremlin said on Monday that it did not rule out the resumption of peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States, but said it was too early to say when and where such talks might take place. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comments when asked about a weekend visit to Moscow and Kyiv by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared ‌Kushner who ‌are trying to breathe new ‌life into ⁠stalled talks designed ⁠to find a way to end the war in Ukraine. 

"As for the resumption of the trilateral format, you heard the statement from Kyiv yesterday. Mr. Kushner made such statements. We, too, do not rule out the resumption of this trilateral format, but ⁠it is still too early to ‌speak of the venue ‌and exact dates,” Peskov told reporters when asked if three-way ‌peace talks would resume. 

Peskov, who declined to ‌discuss in detail the content of the latest US peace proposals or what the hardest outstanding issues to solve are, said the Kremlin did not rule out ‌a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump to ⁠discuss ⁠the US envoys' trip. 

"Undoubtedly, any attempts...represent a small step towards peace, and we truly hold the peace-building efforts of the American negotiators in very high regard," Peskov told reporters. "President Putin himself has said that he holds President Trump’s efforts in high regard, and that he is grateful to President Trump for his commitment to this path towards peace.” 

Moscow had not yet received any information about contacts between the US envoys and Ukrainian officials in Kyiv on Sunday, Peskov said. 

World

Majority of Spaniards Unhappy with Government's Handling of Ceuta Crisis, Poll Shows

Migrants rest along a street in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, 04 September 2026. EPA/LAURA RINCON
Migrants rest along a street in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, 04 September 2026. EPA/LAURA RINCON
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Majority of Spaniards Unhappy with Government's Handling of Ceuta Crisis, Poll Shows

Migrants rest along a street in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, 04 September 2026. EPA/LAURA RINCON
Migrants rest along a street in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, 04 September 2026. EPA/LAURA RINCON

Nearly nine in ‌10 Spaniards blame Morocco for the mass migrant crossings into Ceuta in late July, while a majority rate Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's handling of the crisis as "bad" or "very bad", according to an opinion poll released on Monday that also showed a drop in support for Sanchez's party, Reuters said.

The 40dB poll of 2,000 people for El Pais newspaper and radio station SER also recorded an increase in voting ‌intentions for the ‌conservatives and the anti-immigration, far-right Vox party, ‌in ⁠line with several ⁠other polls conducted after the deadly border surge into Spain's North African enclave.

* For 89% of respondents, Morocco bore the most responsibility for the crisis, followed by human-trafficking groups (75%), the spread of disinformation on social media (74%), the migrants who decided ⁠to cross (73%) and the Spanish government (72%), the ‌40dB poll found.

* Only ‌14.2% rated Sanchez's handling of the crisis positively, with ‌two-thirds of those surveyed saying his response was too ‌slow.

* The combined voting intentions for the conservative People's Party and Vox hit 50.2%, leading their potential right-wing alliance to breach the 50% mark for the first ‌time in an opinion poll during this legislature. The center-left bloc fell to 36.1%.

* ⁠The ⁠PP rose to 32.4%, from 32% in the previous 40dB poll in July, and Vox to 17.8% from 17.2%, while Sanchez's Socialist Party dipped to 27.6% from 28%.

* About 27% of respondents named Vox as the most capable party on the issue of immigration, ahead of the Socialists at 18.4% and the PP at 13.9%.

* Seven out of 10 chose tighter border controls over protecting vulnerable migrants and 82% backed increasing fences and surveillance at Spain's borders.