First Thing: Trump administration to cut more than 90% of USAid foreign aid contracts
Good morning.
The Trump administration said it was eliminating more than 90% of the US Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60bn in overall US assistance around the world.
Wednesday's disclosures give an idea of the scale of the administration's retreat from US aid and development assistance overseas amid a drive to drastically shrink the size of the state.
The administration outlined its plans in an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press and in filings in a federal lawsuit. It said it would eliminate 5,800 out of 6,200 multi-year USAid contract awards, for a cut of $54bn. Another 4,100 of 9,100 state department grants were being eliminated, for a cut of $4.4bn.
What will be the likely impact? Earlier this month, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: 'There are actions that the US government is taking … which we're concerned are having a serious impact on global health.'
Hamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages, and Israel has released more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, as the five-week-old ceasefire appeared to get back on track after a breach that had brought fears of a return to war in Gaza.
From Hamas, the bodies of four hostages were transferred to the Red Cross in southern Gaza and driven to Israel at about midnight. From Israel, the Palestinian Prisoners' Information Office said 642 prisoners had been released, of whom 46 were women or minors.
What happens now? With the transfer, the two sides have completed the obligations for the first six-week phase of the ceasefire. Hamas said in a statement on Thursday it was ready to start talks on a second phase.
Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post owner and world's third-richest man (worth $228bn), emailed newspaper staffers yesterday with a change to the opinion section that aligns the paper closer to the political right.
'We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,' Bezos said. 'We'll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.'
The move coincides with the departure of the opinions editor David Shipley, although it wasn't immediately clear if he was fired for resisting Bezos, or had resigned.
How did Bezos justify the directive? 'There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader's doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views,' Bezos wrote. 'Today, the internet does that job.'
Gene Hackman, the Oscar-winning actor, and his wife, the classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead yesterday at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hackman was 95 and Arakawa was 63. There was no immediate indication of foul play.
Donald Trump is facing a backlash – from even some of his own supporters – after posting an AI video of him sipping cocktails with a topless Benjamin Netanyahu and money raining down on Elon Musk in 'Trump Gaza', a future imagining of the Palestinian territory devastated by Israel's war.
The Vatican said Pope Francis had shown a 'further, slight improvement', as the 88-year-old pontiff remains in hospital with pneumonia.
Utah is poised to become the first state to ban fluoride from its water systems, with a bill now before its Republican governor.
Elon Musk's so-called department of government efficiency (Doge) claims to have cut $65bn from federal spending, but it recently deleted billions from its itemized 'wall of receipts'. Doge has been criticised for its lack of accountability and transparency, as well as accusations of conflicts of interest concerning federal contracts relating to Musk's businesses.
Matt LeBlanc initially refused to do a Friends storyline where Joey dated Rachel. Jenna Ortega said a musical scene in Wednesday was jarring and asked for it to be cut. John Krasinski wouldn't allow Jim to cheat on Pam in The Office. But actors don't always get their way …
After a major rainstorm last week, beaches in southern California have been littered with timber, twisted metals, construction materials and charred silt and sediment originating from the Palisades fire in January. That blaze, along with the Eaton fire, killed at least 29 people and destroyed whole neighborhoods.
People have started taking pictures with their dogs in front of 'Puppy Mountain' in China's Hubei province, after a man posted a picture of the cliff edge. 'It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,' the original poster said. 'The puppy's posture is like it's drinking water.'
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The National
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- The National
The UK's silence on Gaza will haunt generations to come
You could be mistaken for thinking I am describing some Second World War scenario, but depressingly, this is the reality in Gaza today. Despite repeated promises of a ceasefire, and a commitment to lift the siege of Gaza and allow aid to enter, Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians. A UN spokesperson recently announced that only five trucks of aid had reached more than two million people trapped in Gaza, and even then, aid workers were not given permission to distribute that tiny amount. READ MORE: How much has your MP claimed in expenses? See the full Scottish list here According to The New York Times, over the past year, Israel has been in talks with private US security contractors, namely former CIA veteran Philip Reilly, to create an Israeli-backed food distribution programme. In February of this year, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was established with the backing of the Trump administration. United Nations aid expert Tom Fletcher said that the GHF makes aid conditional on Israel's political and military aims, and 'makes starvation a bargaining chip'. The former head of GHF resigned last week citing the foundation's inability to uphold the core humanitarian principles of 'neutrality, impartiality and independence'. According to The New York Times, the GHF emerged from 'private meetings of like-minded officials, military officers and businesspeople with close ties to the Israeli government'. It is therefore very convenient that the GHF, supported by Israel, uses biometric screening, including facial recognition, to vet who receives aid. Critics also warn that the GHF's decision to concentrate aid in southern Gaza serves as a further attempt to depopulate northern Gaza, as planned by the Israeli military. The GHF's lack of experience and capacity to deliver aid to more than two million Palestinians was laid bare on its very first day of operation. We saw images of thousands of starving Palestinians rushing to try to reach food, after three months of Israeli-imposed starvation. Those lucky enough to access food went on to discover there was only enough for a couple of days at most. What began as a retaliatory campaign, after Hamas killed around 1200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 more, has since turned to genocide. As it stands, Israel has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians – of which nearly 20,000 were children. Almost all of Gaza's homes have been damaged or destroyed, alongside 80% of facilities, 88% of school buildings and 70% of road networks and cropland. 222 journalists have been killed since the October 7 attack, of which 217 were Palestinian. The disproportionate response from Israel and the continual breaking of international law means it is beyond doubt that Israeli actions are a deliberate military attempt to seize more Palestinian land. Israel places evacuation orders on areas it plans to bomb, only to issue further evacuation orders to the places people have been displaced to. READ MORE: MSP demands answers from Police Scotland over Kneecap 'security concerns' Most people in Gaza have moved repeatedly in attempts to escape Israeli airstrikes, though no part of Gaza has been spared attacks. The Israeli military has issued more than 65 evacuation orders since October 7, 2023, leaving about 80% of the Gaza Strip under active evacuation orders. Following this, Israel has authorised 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. This is despite the International Court of Justice ruling that Israel's settlement policy is a direct breach of international law. Israel Katz, the country's defence minister, said the decision to expand these illegal settlements 'strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria', using the biblical term for the West Bank, which is Palestinian territory. Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said: 'We have not taken foreign land, but rather the inheritance of our forefathers.' Breaking international law in the name of religion is exactly the kind of behaviour we would describe as extremism. Bombing innocent civilians who are sheltering in hospitals and schools, to the point of obliteration, can only be described as terrorism. READ MORE: 'Do something!': Question Time audience member in fiery row with Labour MP on Israel This Labour Government has contorted itself into knots trying to be everything to everyone. One week, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended talks on further trade deals with Israel, only for the British trade envoy, Lord Ian Austin, to visit Israel the next week to 'promote trade'. The UK Government's continual reticence to speak out against this genocide will haunt us for generations to come, especially when compared to how quick off the mark it has been to condemn the Irish band Kneecap. The duplicity of this Labour Government's failure to act efficiently and proportionately in speaking out against this genocide cannot be forgotten. History will certainly never let us forget.
The National
26 minutes ago
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
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EXCLUSIVE The truth about Todd Chrisley's youthful post-prison appearance
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