Middle East

AP News - Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned after a brief, tumultuous tenure that saw the head of the prestigious New York university face heavy scrutiny for her handling of protests and campus divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Similar protests swept college campuses nationwide, with many leading to violent clashes with police and thousands of arrests. More.

NPR - The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are set to mediate a new round of talks to end the war in Gaza today. Several rounds of cease-fire talks in the past few months have ended in an impasse between Israel and Hamas. The war is in its 11th month and has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians. It started after a surprise Hamas-led attack on Israel last October killed around 1,200 people in Israel. This round of talks is based on a three-phase proposal that President Biden laid out on May 31 calling for a cease-fire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and Gaza's reconstruction. Hamas says it will not participate because it already responded to Biden's plan with a counterproposal in July. Israel sent a high-level delegation to participate in the talks. Here's everything you need to know about today's negotiations. One of the sticking points has to do with what happens after the six-week cease-fire in the first phase of Biden's proposal, NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf says. Israel wants the ability to resume the war if it feels Hamas is prolonging the talks. Hamas wants a guaranteed end to the war. Mediators said in a statement last week they were aware of the differences and were ready with a final proposal to bridge the remaining issues. The recent assassinations of a Hamas leader in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah official in Beirut have added additional pressure. Israel has been bracing for retaliation from Iran and its proxies, and many are worried about the potential of an all-out regional war.