Tuesday briefing
Death toll in Gaza rises as US urges restraint
Nearly a month after Israel began its bombardment of Gaza, the Hamas-led health ministry in the area said more than 10,000 people had been killed and more than 25,000 injured. The figures could not be independently verified, but a Pentagon spokesperson said that “we know the numbers are in the thousands.”
The Israeli army said yesterday that its forces had cut off Gaza City, effectively splitting the Gaza Strip in two, which they said would make it harder for Hamas to control the enclave.
Israel, which has vowed to destroy Hamas over the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel, said it struck about 450 targets overnight in Gaza, where phone and internet connections appeared to be gradually restoring after a communications blackout.
International printing: The UN, along with many countries and aid groups, has urged Israel to commit to a ceasefire or “humanitarian pause” to help civilians in Gaza, but Israeli officials have resisted these calls, including that of President Biden. Read our analysis on the limits of Biden’s influence, both in Ukraine and Israel.
Anthony Blinking: The US Secretary of State ended his tour of the Middle East yesterday in Ankara, the Turkish capital. He said the Biden administration’s efforts to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and prevent the conflict from spreading are making progress.
In Gaza: Doctors say they are performing operations without anesthesia, amid serious shortages of medicine, water, food and fuel.
Donald Trump takes the stand
Donald Trump, one of the leading contenders to win the US presidential elections in a year’s time, took the witness stand in his civil fraud trial in Manhattan. In chaotic testimony, the former president lashed out at his accusers and denied their claims, even as he admitted involvement in some of the conduct at the heart of the case.
Trump attacked New York Attorney General Letitia James as a “political hack,” derided the proceedings as “highly unfair” and scolded the judge overseeing the case, Arthur Engoron, for decided that he had committed fraud. “He called me a fraud and he knows nothing about me,” he said, pointing to the judge, who grinned.
Trump is accused by James of inflating his net worth to defraud banks and insurers, and he acknowledged helping compile financial statements submitted to the banks. The judge, who will decide the outcome of the case, repeatedly warned Trump for not responding directly to questions from James’ team.
Russian attacks on Odessa
Russia has hit the Ukrainian city of Odesa with missiles and drones, wounding five people and damaging an art museum, authorities said. In another setback, Ukraine gave the death toll for a Russian attack Friday at a Ukrainian medal ceremony, saying it had lost 19 soldiers in the attack.
This is Fiona. For at least two years she languished alone at the bottom of a Scottish cliff, growing increasingly woolly and surviving on snacks of grass. It wasn’t clear exactly how she got there; she may have been separated from her mother before she fell or wandered down the hill, ending up at the bottom with no path back up.
On Saturday the animal, dubbed Britain’s loneliest sheep, was rescued and placed on a farm. But some animal rights activists are concerned about her new home.
SPORTS NEWS
A look at Borussia Dortmund’s footbonaut: The passing machine that trains the next generation.
At an important crossroads: What next for Spanish football? after Luis Rubiales?
A look at the future and the past
The James Webb Space Telescope is a giant leap forward in the history of stargazing, providing us with detailed portraits of both distant galaxies and nearest neighbors. Some of his observations have challenged our understanding of the solar system’s timeline – including what we think we know about the Big Bang – forever changing our view of the universe.
The telescope also gives us a look back in time: in some cases the light has traveled through space for 40 million years before reaching Webb’s mirrors, meaning we see it as it looked 40 million years ago.