Much of aid entering Gaza being hoarded by gangs and sold at exorbitant prices
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New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Wednesday Briefing: The U.K. May Recognize a Palestinian State
The U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state if there's no cease-fire Britain's prime minister, Keir Starmer, announced yesterday that the country would recognize the state of Palestine in September if Israel did not agree to a cease-fire with Hamas and halt a war that has brought starvation to Gaza. In addition to a cease-fire, Starmer said the Israeli government would have to agree not to annex the occupied West Bank and commit to a peace process that would result in a Palestinian state. Israel is highly unlikely to accept these demands. Starmer's government has faced political pressure as the British public has recoiled from images of starving children in Gaza. 'The situation is simply intolerable,' he said. Aid chaos: The desperation on the ground in Gaza can be seen from orbit. A satellite captured an image of hundreds of people crowding around an aid convoy in Khan Younis More Gaza news: A U.N.-backed food security group said that 'the worst-case scenario of famine is playing out in Gaza,' and Gaza's health ministry announced that the death toll from the war had surpassed 60,000. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister, said that the country was 'closer than ever' to rebuilding settlements in Gaza. China and the U.S. will continue trade talks Top officials from the U.S. and China said yesterday that they had not reached a deal to avert a trade war after two days of intensive negotiations in Stockholm. But they agreed to continue discussions about extending a trade truce that is set to expire on Aug. 12. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that 'nothing is agreed until we speak with President Trump,' but added that if the president approved a pause on higher tariffs for Chinese goods it most likely would be for another 90 days. Trump said that he would consult his top advisers and 'either approve it or not.' Stocks wobbled on the news. For more: After deals with Japan and the E.U., Trump is winning his trade war. But what will that mean for the U.S. economy? Russian strikes on Ukraine killed at least 22 people Hours after Trump gave the Kremlin a new deadline to end the war, Russia launched a wave of strikes that killed at least 22 people, according to Ukraine. At least 16 people were killed in an attack just before midnight on Monday on a prison in Zaporizhzhia, and a missile struck a hospital with a maternity ward in the Dnipro region, part of a wave directed at 73 cities and villages. In Moscow, officials largely waved off Trump's threat to impose new sanctions on Russia unless it took steps to end the war in about 10 to 12 days. China: Beijing was left reeling after days of torrential rains there and in surrounding areas led to the deaths of at least 38 people. India: The home minister said that security forces had killed three Pakistani nationals accused of a deadly attack in Kashmir in April. Southeast Asia: Thai and Cambodian military commanders endorsed a cease-fire deal reached by their leaders to de-escalate their border conflict. New York City: A gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan office building may have targeted the National Football League. We have live updates. Ozempic: Shares of Novo Nordisk, the Danish company behind the weight-loss drug, plummeted more than 20 percent after a profit warning. Diplomacy: North Korea signaled that it might be open to talks with the Trump administration, but that it would not abandon its nuclear arsenal. Cycling: Here are key takeaways from the Tour de France and a look ahead at the 2026 edition. Soccer: Euro 2025 showed how much the women's game has changed. Swimming: Katie Ledecky won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the world championships in Singapore. The small city of Iten, Kenya, has long produced world-class running talent. Its high altitude and red dirt roads are a training ground for thousands of Kenyans trying to run their way out of poverty. But Iten is also the center of a doping crisis. Some of Kenya's highest-profile runners, like the women's marathon world-record holder, Ruth Chepngetich, have been suspended from competition for doping. Goop to the rescue: An A.I. company enlisted Gwyneth Paltrow to help defuse a kiss-cam scandal at a Coldplay concert. Tread carefully: Finns trying to enjoy beaches this summer have run into an obstacle: mountains of goose poop. English nuptials: Eve Jobs, Steve Jobs's daughter, got married in the Cotswolds, a hot spot for lavish weddings. Coke vs. Pepsi: The race to become the first soda in space drew in NASA and the White House. The Booker Prize nominees are out, and Kiran Desai is back Kiran Desai shot to fame when her first novel, 'The Inheritance of Loss,' won the Booker Prize in 2006. But she struggled to write a follow-up. Almost two decades later, Desai has been nominated for the Booker again, this time for the novel she grappled with for all those years, 'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.' The 13 titles nominated for the British literary award, which were announced yesterday, also include books by David Szalay, Maria Reva and Claire Adam. Here's the list. Make: Quality olive oil helps make this farro salad stellar. Watch: 'Sweet Dreams' is one of the best international movies to stream right now. Plank: Here's an in-depth guide to a great core exercise. Listen: A classical pianist has been experimenting with performances out in nature. Test yourself: Take this week's Flashback history quiz. Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here. That's it for today. See you tomorrow. — Dan We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Israel gets the blame — but Hamas controls hungry Gazans' plight
Hamas started a war, rejected a cease-fire, and stole and profited from humanitarian aid, and we are supposed to believe that it's all Israel's fault. International attention is focused on food shortages in Gaza, with the blame and the pressure — as always — on Israel to do something about it. It is always difficult to get to the ground truth in Gaza, which is shrouded in the fog of war, of Hamas propaganda, and of slanted media coverage, but there appears indeed to be a brewing humanitarian crisis. Israel stopped shipments of aid into Gaza in March after a temporary cease-fire expired, and then started them up again in May, using the so-called Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as the conduit. The pause in aid, coupled with inadequate GHF operations, led to the current situation. It's necessary to understand the larger context, though: Israel halted food shipments as a means to deny Hamas revenue, not to target the general population. The terror group had perfected the art of exploiting humanitarian aid (and commercial transactions) for its own purposes via theft and taxes, plowing the proceeds into its military operations. Although there is now an effort by Israel's critics to portray the concern over Hamas profiteering as fabricated or exaggerated, there is no doubt that this business model was crucial to the terror group. Both The Wall Street Journal ('A Depleted Hamas Is So Low on Cash That It Can't Pay Its Fighters') and The Washington Post ('Hamas Facing Financial and Administrative Crisis as Revenue Dries Up') have run reports on the squeeze felt by Hamas. The Journal article back in April noted that the cash crunch following the cut-off in aid was 'making it harder for Hamas to bring in new recruits and maintain cohesion.' The Washington Post reported about a week ago: 'With its coffers depleted, Hamas' military wing can no longer adequately pay the salaries of its fighters, though it is still able to recruit teenage boys for missions like keeping lookout or placing explosives along Israeli military routes.' Making it harder for your enemy to pay its fighters and secure new ones is an important and legitimate military goal. The problem is the potential cost to people in Gaza who aren't combatants. The shortages are just another consequence of how deeply embedded Hamas is in Gaza society. This isn't a group of terrorists who moved into territory adjacent to Israel to launch the Oct. 7 attacks and could be quickly extricated by an intense military operation. Hamas has been the government of Gaza for a couple of decades, and has used every instrument of political and social influence at its disposal — including the distribution of food — to build its military capacity. It's important to remember that Israel didn't start this war, that it'd much rather be fighting a conventional military force that abided by the rules of war, and that Hamas still holds Israeli hostages and has taken a rejectionist attitude to cease-fire talks. Even Japan's Emperor Hirohito thought his people had suffered enough at the conclusion of World War II, but Hamas considers the agony of Gazans a useful weapon in its narrative war. From this perverted point of view, a famine would be welcome news — perhaps forcing Israel to stay its hand and leave Hamas to fight another day. Clearly, Israel needs to find better ways to get aid into Gaza. The GHF hasn't gotten the support that it needed from the UN and other agencies (they are too invested in the corrupt status quo), while the distribution points for aid are chaotic and dangerous. The best thing that could happen would be an end to the war with a decent political authority — more invested in the general welfare than in tunnels and rockets — finally in charge of Gaza. But Hamas would rather see the population starve than give up on the war, or its grip on power. Twitter: @RichLowry
5 hours ago
Trump administration wants Harvard to pay far more than Columbia as part of settlement
WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration is pressing for a deal with Harvard University that would require the Ivy League school to pay far more than the $200 million fine agreed to by Columbia University to resolve multiple federal investigations, according to two people familiar with the matter. Harvard would be expected to pay hundreds of millions of dollars as part of any settlement to end investigations into antisemitism at its campus, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Harvard leaders have been negotiating with the White House even as they battle in court to regain access to billions in federal research funding terminated by the Trump administration. The White House's desire to get Harvard to pay far more than Columbia was first reported by The New York Times, which said the school has signaled a willingness to pay as much as $500 million. Harvard did not immediately comment. The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as a staple for future agreements. Last week, Columbia leaders agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into alleged violations of federal antidiscrimination laws and restore more than $400 million in research grants. Columbia had been in talks for months after the Trump administration accused the university of allowing the harassment of Jewish students and employees amid a wave of campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Harvard faces similar accusations but, unlike Columbia, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school challenged the administration's funding cuts and subsequent sanctions in court. Last week, President Donald Trump said Harvard 'wants to settle' but he said Columbia 'handled it better.' The Trump administration's emphasis on financial penalties adds a new dimension for colleges facing federal scrutiny. In the past, civil rights investigations by the Education Department almost always ended with voluntary agreements and rarely included fines. Even when the government has levied fines, they've been a small fraction of the scale Trump is seeking. Last year, the Education Department fined Liberty University $14 million after finding the Christian school failed to disclose crimes on its campus. It was the most the government had ever fined a university under the Clery Act, following a $4.5 million fine dealt to Michigan State University in 2019 for its handling of sexual assault complaints against disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar. The University of Pennsylvania agreed this month to modify school records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, but that school's deal with the Trump administration included no fine. The Trump administration has opened investigations at dozens of universities over allegations of antisemitism or racial discrimination in the form of diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Several face funding freezes akin to those at Harvard, including more than $1 billion at Cornell University and $790 million at Northwestern University. Last week, Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the Columbia deal a 'roadmap' for other colleges, saying it would 'ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.' ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
