Columbia Gaza protestors take over campus building after school started suspending students: Live updates

Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University have barricaded themselves inside a school building as demonstrations that have roiled the campus for weeks showed no signs of abating.

The Ivy League school began suspending students on Monday after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters refused to disperse from encampments by a 2pm deadline. Hundreds remained on campus after the deadline passed.

Columbia president Nemat Minouche Shafik said in a statement on Monday that talks between the school and protesters have broken down and that the university has refused to divest from Israel.

Ms Shafik has faced heavy criticism for her decision to allow the New York Police Department to disperse protesters on the campus last week, resulting in numerous arrests and sparking similar protests across the US.

Heavily-outfitted riot police arrested scores of students at the University of Texas on Monday afternoon, using zip ties, pepper spray and a stun grenade against the crowd.

Meanwhile, Northwestern University announced it had reached an agreement with students to dismantle their encampment in exchange for concessions.