Lawmakers Revive Bipartisan Bill to Restore US Shipbuilding
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers are reintroducing legislation that aims to revive American shipbuilding, riding off momentum of an executive order from President Donald Trump announced earlier this month.
The bill would put duties on vessels owned or operated by a 'country of concern' — namely China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. It would also establish a 25% tax credit for shipyard investments and create a program to boost the number of US-flagged vessels over 10 years by 250.
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Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The US aid agency sowing chaos in Gaza
The aerial photographs show five narrow lanes made of high metal fences wedged between two artificial mounds of earth and topped with barbed wire. Inside, hundreds of people are crammed under the baking sun. The sight of ordinary Gazans corralled into cages is not the image Israel's reputation managers were after. But, just over a week into its controversial new aid delivery scheme to bypass Hamas using a US contractor, that is what they are faced with. That, and viral videos of civilians running for their lives to the sound of gunfire, amid accusations – bitterly denied by Israel – that more than 20 were shot dead by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Sunday as order disintegrated at a distribution centre in the south of the Strip. On Tuesday morning, there were reports of another mass casualty event near a centre, with Gaza health authorities reporting 24 dead and dozens wounded. The IDF conceded that they fired 'near' Palestinians who deviated from an approved route. It was the third day in a row that the IDF had opened fire in the vicinity of the centres. One man who spoke to The Telegraph said he found the centre 'terrifying' and 'like a prison', but that he was forced there – miles from his temporary home – out of fear that his children would starve. Another called it 'a place of killing'. Fuelling the international criticism is the nature of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the American company created to deliver the new system, with persistent suggestions of CIA involvement, opaque funding and concealed Israeli control. This has been enhanced by condemnation from the UN and other large aid NGOs, which want nothing to do with the GHF and accuse it of politicising aid. After Sunday's alleged shooting, and new claims of gunfire killing more than 20 people overnight, the project's credibility is on a knife-edge. From Israel's point of view, the new system makes perfect sense. The government argues that under the previous model, which it cut off entirely at the beginning of March, Hamas robbed the aid trucks blind – the UN denies this – then sold the food, fuel and medical supplies back to civilians, thus cementing their control over the population and financing their terror infrastructure. By contrast, the new arrangement requires people to travel to four purpose-built distribution centres in the south of the Strip. Israel had promised that aid recipients would be biometrically screened, in order to weed out Hamas. The terror group has attempted to use the proposed measure to sow fear into the population, and there have been some reports of Palestinians staying away, citing their unease. However, multiple aid recipients have said that biometric screening is not being employed. The idea, in principle, is that while the IDF provides a wider blanket of security, Gazans themselves do not interact with Israeli soldiers, but deal directly with the foundation staff and associated security contractors. Some reports suggest these contractors are paid more than $1,000 a day. The UN and legacy NGOs, which used to deliver aid into communities through more than a hundred drop-off points, say this offends basic humanitarian principles, trapping people between starvation and a long and dangerous journey. Omar Baraka, 40, from Khan Younis, said: 'We go to dangerous red zones, the army asks us to walk for several kilometres. 'There is no order in the place, it's very chaotic. 'Tens of thousands of citizens go there. The organisation delivered aid in the first two days, then the centres became places of killing.' Salem Al-Ahmad, an 18-year-old high school student, has ventured to the GHF site on several occasions to try to pick up flour for his family. 'The situation required getting food and saving yourself from death,' he said. 'Anyone who gets aid has to run back quickly, about three kilometres, because the army starts shooting to empty the area of civilians. 'I found a lot of food lying on the ground because it is difficult to carry and run with it. I only had 1kg bags of flour so I could run from the gunfire.' Israeli government officials and their supporters in the press argue that, despite the chaotic scenes, the early days of the new scheme represent a triumph. This is because it shows Gaza's civilian population has passed through the 'fear barrier' – in other words, it shows they are now prepared to defy the terror group's commands not to engage with the GHF. There is certainly evidence that Hamas has tried to put obstacles – some physical, others in the form of propaganda – between the Gazan civilians and the new aid system. It is far less certain to what extent the group has been behind the scenes of chaos at the new distribution centres themselves. Critics say that the scenes of disorder are simply a function of a desperate, starving population and inexperienced aid distributors. Aside from gunfire, flashbangs and smoke grenades have been thrown. Meanwhile, multiple people say that no serious attempt at screening is made. On Monday night, Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, told the BBC that the way humanitarian aid is now being delivered is 'unacceptable' and 'dehumanising'. He said: 'I think what it shows is utter disregard for civilians. Can you imagine people that have been absolutely desperate for food, for medicine, for almost three months and then they have to run for it or try to get it in the most desperate circumstances?' Aside from the practical difficulties the new system imposes, it has been accused of serving Benjamin Netanyahu's agenda by forcing the population into the largely levelled south of the Strip, leaving the IDF clear to execute Operation Gideon's Chariot, which, sources have said, will see a similarly widespread demolition of property. Some have even questioned whether the GHF model is a crucial component of an attempt to realise Donald Trump's 'riviera' vision for Gaza, which would see the population displaced ahead of a comprehensive redevelopment. While the president himself now appears lukewarm about the scheme, there are some in Israel's government – notably the defence minister Israel Katz – who allude to it often. Aside from its performance on the ground, the origins and make-up of the GHF and its partner organisation, Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), continue to provoke comment. The latter is headed by Philip F Reilly, a CIA veteran, who is said to have played a role in training the Contra rebels in Nicaragua in the 1980s, and was then the first agency officer into Afghanistan after the Sept 11 attacks, where he went on to be station chief. SRS previously had the contract to police traffic and people along a main north-south road in Gaza during the January to March ceasefire. A recent investigation by the New York Times suggests that an informal network of powerful individuals in both the IDF and prime minister's office, known as the Mikveh Yisrael Foru, had been aiming towards a parallel aid system that cut out the NGOs since December 2023. It claimed that the group had identified Mr Reilly as its candidate to lead such a mission as early as January last year, and that the January contract was a key step in convincing Mr Netanyahu to hire him for the aid distribution job. The GHF is a separately registered company, although it was registered by the same lawyer and previously had the same spokesman. A $100 million donation to the GHF got tongues wagging in Israel that this was really the work of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency– indeed, the former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said as much. The GHF denies this, saying the donation was from a western European country, but declined to name which one. Jake Wood, a former US Marine, quit as chief executive of the foundation the day before aid distribution operations began, claiming it violated 'humanitarian principles'. He had previously said: 'I would participate in no plan in any capacity if it was an extension of an IDF plan or an Israeli government plan to forcibly dislocate people anywhere within Gaza.' Mr Wood has since been replaced by John Acree, a former senior official at USAid. Back in Rafah, Ahmed Musa, a 34-year-old from Khan Younis, spoke of despair at Sunday's events. 'I left at dawn to go to the American aid centre in the Mawasi area of Rafah,' he said. 'I went there under duress, as I have four hungry children who are tired from malnutrition. 'The scene was terrifying,' he added. 'I sat and cried bitterly over my helplessness that I did not receive anything. But I will try again.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Washington Post
26 minutes ago
- Washington Post
US growth likely to slow to 1.6% this year, hobbled by Trump's trade wars, OECD says
WASHINGTON — U.S. economic growth will slow to 1.6% this year from 2.8% last year as President Donald Trump's erratic trade wars disrupt global commerce, drive up costs and leave businesses and consumers paralyzed by uncertainty. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast Tuesday that the U.S. economy — the world's largest — will slow further to just 1.5% in 2026. Trump's policies have raised average U.S. tariff rates from around 2.5% when he returned to the White House to 15.4%, highest since 1938, according to the OECD. Tariffs raise costs for consumers and American manufacturers that rely on imported raw materials and components.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gold Edges Lower on Stronger Dollar Ahead of US Labor Figures
(Bloomberg) -- Gold dipped as the dollar strengthened ahead of US labor data later this week that will help steer the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Where the Wild Children's Museums Are Billionaire Steve Cohen Wants NY to Expand Taxpayer-Backed Ferry The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move At London's New Design Museum, Visitors Get Hands-On Access LA City Council Passes Budget That Trims Police, Fire Spending Bullion declined as much as 0.8% following the biggest daily jump in four weeks on Monday. Labor market indicators including a report on May employment are scheduled to be released on Friday, while investors watch for news on trade negotiations after the US pushed for presidential talks with China. Despite the modest drop, gold is still up more than a quarter so far this year, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. saying last week it would remain a hedge against inflation in long-term portfolios, along with oil. The European Union, meanwhile, issued a fresh warning of countermeasures if President Donald Trump follows through on his tariff threats. There are few signs of a breakthrough on trade negotiations with the two biggest American trading partners, and there are growing concerns over Trump's policies and their impacts on the global economy. The greenback fell to the lowest level since 2023 on Monday. Spot gold was 0.5% lower at $3,364.69 an ounce as of 2:28 p.m. in Singapore. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%. Silver fell after hitting the highest since October on Monday. Platinum was flat and palladium slipped. YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To Will Small Business Owners Knock Down Trump's Mighty Tariffs? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
