Department for International Development

Columbia University is grappling with the fallout from its president's promise to Congress that she would crack down on unsanctioned protests, and her decision to ask the police to clear an encampment on campus, resulting in the arrests of more than 100 students last month.

Dozens of helmeted police flooded Columbia University's campus in the heart of New York City on Tuesday to evict a building occupied by pro-Palestinian student protesters and detain demonstrators.

Police climbed into Hamilton Hall via a second floor window they reached from a laddered truck, before leading handcuffed students out of the building into police vans.

Columbia University backed off late Thursday from an overnight deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon an encampment there as more college campuses in the United States sought to prevent occupations from taking hold.

Across the United States, a groundswell of student protests in solidarity with Palestinians is gaining momentum, sparking both cancellations of classes and clashes with authorities on campuses nationwide.

Dame Minouche Shafik is one of the world's most distinguished academics. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1962, Shafik went on to study at Amherst College, Massachusetts, the London School of Economics and St Antony's College, Oxford, and has since worked for some of the most prestigious global institutions.

At its regular meeting on Wednesday, the Bulgarian government adopted the national defence strategy.

The strategy is a result of last-year's mid-term review of the strategic document which has been in force since 2011.

The main changes to the document are related to the altered strategic security environment and the arising consequences.