University protests: Protesters defy Columbia deadline to leave campus | BBC News

Protests calling for universities to boycott companies and individuals with ties to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza have swept college campuses across the US.

The campus movement ignited when Columbia University in New York called the police two weeks ago to remove a small group of student protesters who had pitched tents on campus.

Columbia University's president announced on Monday that talks with student organisers had failed to reach an agreement to dismantle the encampment.

The escalating crisis at Columbia inspired similar encampments at private and public universities in at least 22 US states and Washington DC.