Boston Consulting Group CEO apologizes for Israel-backed Gaza aid project
The chief executive of one of the world's top consulting firms apologized to staff and admitted 'process failures' in the company's decision to help design and run a controversial Israel-backed group that supplanted the work of the United Nations to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
IDF recovers body of Thai hostage
The Israeli military has recovered the body of a Thai national who was held hostage in the Gaza Strip. The remains of Nattapong Pinta were recovered in a special operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza. Mr Pinta was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the Oct 7 2023 attack on Israel, and he was killed in captivity shortly after being taken, the IDF said. He had been working as a farm labourer on the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel, just a few miles east of Gaza's border, when he was abducted. The Thai national is the most recent hostage whose body has been found. On Thursday, the Israeli military recovered the bodies of US-Israeli dual citizens Judith Weinstein Haggai, 70, and Gad Haggai, 72, who were both residents of the same kibbutz where Mr Pinta worked. Israeli authorities have said they believe all three of the recently found hostages were murdered by the terrorists who kidnapped them. The attack that Hamas launched on Oct 7 surprised and devastated Israel, with the terrorist group killing more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of security personnel, and taking over 200 hostages. About 30 Thais were abducted that day. Roughly two-thirds of those kidnapped on Oct 7 were subsequently released as part of deals between Israel and Hamas. Forty-six Thais have been killed during the conflict, the Thai foreign affairs ministry has said. The war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Oct 7 attack, continues to rage on in Gaza. Attempts to broker a ceasefire and peace deal have repeatedly hit roadblocks. Hamas has rejected proposed deals that do not guarantee a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and an end to the war. Mr Pinta, 36, who is survived by a young son and wife, was among those taken after he'd migrated to Israel as an agricultural labourer in 2022. At the time of the Oct 7 attack, there were about 30,000 Thai migrant workers in Israel. Many of them returned home primarily via government evacuation flights, and some vowed never to return, given the risks they faced due to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Since then, however, the Thai government has continued to grant permissions for its citizens to work in Israel. Thais remain the largest group of foreign farm workers in Israel, with about 38,000 in the country, according to Thai officials. There are 55 hostages remaining in Gaza, though only about 20 of them are believed to still be alive, according to Israeli authorities. Israel said its expanded offensive in the Strip, named Operation Gideon's Chariot, will increase the chances of returning the missing. However, many of the hostages' families have expressed alarm at the new tactic of seizing and holding territory, which follows heavy bombardment, and are urging Benjamin Netanyahu to make a deal with Hamas. The Thai Embassy has been notified about Mr Pinta, according to the prime minister's office. 'We express our deep gratitude and appreciation to our brave commanders and soldiers for this important and successful operation,' said a statement from Netanyahu's office. 'We will not rest and we will not be silent until all our hostages are brought home – both the living and the deceased.' 'We stand with Nattapong's family today and share in their grief,' an Israeli hostage support group said in a statement. 'While the pain is immense, his family will finally have certainty after 20 terrible and agonising months of devastating uncertainty,' the statement said. 'Every family deserves such certainty to begin their personal healing journey.' 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.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump has rejected police reform. States and localities must take the lead.
Five years after a Minneapolis police officer brutally murdered a handcuffed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes, prompting worldwide protests against wrongful police killings of Black people, the Trump administration has taken a giant step back from police reform. The Justice Department announced in May that it is abandoning agreements reached with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Ky., mandating reforms designed to reduce killings, brutality and other police misconduct. The Justice Department is conducting a review to determine if it should drop similar agreements with about a dozen other police departments. On top of this, the Justice Department will end civil rights investigations of alleged criminal conduct by the Louisiana State Police and police departments in Memphis, Mount Vernon, N.Y., Oklahoma City, Phoenix and Trenton, N.J. Thankfully, Minneapolis officials announced that they will abide by their agreement, known as a consent decree, reached with the Justice Department in the closing days of the Biden presidency. But it is absurd to depend on police departments to police themselves. The federal government has a duty to protect people from police who engage in criminal conduct. The dangerous pullback by the Justice Department is likely to result in more wrongful deaths at the hands of police — particularly of Black people and members of other minority groups. A nationwide count by the Washington Post of deadly shootings by police from 2015 through 2024 found that Black people 'are killed by police at more than twice the rate' of white people in America. The number of non-Hispanic whites killed by police was 4,657, compared with 2,484 Black people. Because only 14 percent of the American population is Black, the number of people killed by police annually averaged 6.1 per million of the Black population, compared with 2.5 per million of the white population. There are, of course, times when police must use deadly force to prevent the killing of others. But this wasn't the case with Floyd and many others killed by police. Floyd, who was unarmed, was only suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. As a Black man like Floyd, I have experienced the unfair and harsh treatment some officers give to people who look like us. I've been stopped on the road and detained in front of my home by police several times when doing nothing wrong. I've been ordered out of my home and car to lay on the ground, had guns pointed at me, been handcuffed and been threatened with arrest. I don't think I would be treated this way were it not for the color of my skin. Most police officers never beat, shoot or kill anyone. They risk their lives to keep us safe and deserve our gratitude. But it is naive to believe that officers can do no wrong, that we live in a colorblind society or that there is no such thing as systemic racism. In the wake of the Trump administration's rejection of its duty to protect us all from police misconduct, the job of implementing needed reforms must go to state and local governments that oversee police agencies. Here are some actions they should take. Increase police funding to implement reforms: After Floyd's murder, some progressives adopted the slogan 'defund the police.' That was a mistake. Police departments need more federal, state and local government funding to better train and pay officers and to put more officers on the street to do police work the right way. More funding will make it less likely that police engage in the kind of unlawful violence that killed Floyd and too many others. Polling by CBS in 2022 found only 9 percent of Americans believed providing less funding for police would help prevent violent crime, while 49 percent said more funding for police would do so. A Gallup poll the same year found 89 percent of Americans believed minor or major changes were needed to improve policing — including 87 percent of whites, 90 percent of Hispanics and 95 percent of Blacks. Focus on preventing crime, not just crime response: Putting more cops on the street and having them get out of their patrol cars to build relationships with people and businesses helps officers gather intelligence about bad actors. The increased presence of officers in communities will prevent crime. This is an expensive but necessary step if we are serious about police reform. Independently investigate alleged misconduct: Rather than relying on police departments to police themselves and investigate officers accused of misconduct, states and localities should set up independent commissions to objectively conduct such investigations. Reward good cops and punish bad ones: Officers who report misconduct by colleagues should be rewarded financially and with promotions, while officers acting improperly should be disciplined, including with firing and prosecution when they commit crimes. A national database of fired officers should be established so bad cops can't get hired by departments in other localities. Increase police pay and education requirements: Raising police pay will make it easier to attract well-qualified job applicants. Departments should require every new hire to have at least two years of college and eventually a four-year degree. A 2017 national survey found that about 52 percent of officers had two-year college degrees, about 30 percent had four-year degrees and about 5 percent had graduate degrees. Governing Magazine reported in 2023 that 'research suggests that officers with college degrees generate fewer substantiated complaints and … are less likely to shoot or kill members of the public.' Increase screening of police recruits and veteran officers: Use psychological tests and in-depth interviews to identify those unsuitable for police work because they are too eager to use violence — especially if they feel threatened — or too prejudiced against certain groups. Increase officer training: Better training will make officers better able to do their jobs without resorting to deadly force. This should include training in psychology and mental health to assist officers in dealing with people experiencing a mental health crisis. Alternatively, set up a division of mental health police officers to address incidents where drugs or mental issues are the source of bad conduct. 'One in five fatal police shooting victims may have been experiencing a mental health crisis … at the time of their death,' a federal study of 633 deadly police shootings concluded. These recommendations are all common sense and promote justice and public safety. With the Trump administration abandoning its responsibility to investigate police misconduct and demand reforms, the job passes to state and local governments. Doing so would be a fitting tribute to George Floyd and the many others wrongfully killed by police. A. Scott Bolden is an attorney, former New York state prosecutor, NewsNation contributor and former chair of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
'Makes no sense': Carville scolds Jewish donors for abandoning party, defends Dem record on Israel
EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville responds to Jewish donors who no longer support the Democratic Party due to the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. "I've never seen a Democrat have dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes," Carville told Fox News Digital. "I've never seen a Democrat that endorsed the Alternative für Deutschland Party in Germany. I can point to plenty of Republicans who have." Carville is pouring cold water on Democratic donors' excuse that the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, particularly at Columbia University, means they can no longer support the Democratic Party. "In my view, that makes no sense. You can't be for a Democrat because they're protesting against Biden? It's nonsense," Carville said. College campuses became the epicenter of resistance to the war in Gaza as students across the country, a typically Democratic voting bloc, began protesting President Joe Biden during his re-election campaign last year. Before Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, students chanted, "Genocide Joe has got to go!" outside his campaign rallies in critical swing states and organized protest votes to express their disapproval of the United States' support for Israel in the war against Hamas. Last month, President Donald Trump's administration accused Columbia University of violating federal law through its "deliberate indifference" toward anti-Israel protests that have persisted on campus since Oct. 7, 2023. But Carville, speaking to Fox News Digital about recent comments on his podcast, said it makes no sense for Jewish donors to turn away from the Democratic Party because of protesters at Columbia. Carville said it is the Democratic Party – not the Republican Party – that has historically supported Israel. "I would tell my Republican friends, which president was instrumental in the founding of the state of Israel? I happen to know Harry Truman. I happen to know he's a Democrat," Carville said. "Which president came closest to achieving Middle East peace and security for the state of Israel? I happen to know his name was Bill Clinton," he added. "Which president installed the Iron Dome, which saved, I don't know, how many thousands of Israeli lives? I happen to know Barack Obama. So, when you're looking at who is more supportive of the state of Israel, it's not even close," Carville told Fox News Digital. Carville drew a stark contrast with the Republican Party as he criticized Trump for dining with Kanye West, who is infamous for making antisemitic comments, and Nicholas Fuentes, considered a "white supremacist, Holocaust denier who hates Jews" by the American Jewish Committee. The longtime Democratic strategist also criticized Elon Musk, who until this week was a loyal Trump confidant and a "special government employee," for endorsing the Alternative for Germany party, considered a "confirmed extremist" group by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. Carville said on his podcast, "Politics War Room," this week that those Jewish donors are most likely embracing the Republican Party because they want their "f---ing tax cut." Speaking with Fox News Digital, Carville reiterated that Columbia University protests weren't a very good excuse for abandoning the Democratic Party. But the White House rejected Carville's perception of the Republican Party. "President Trump received unprecedented support from the Jewish community in his historic re-election, and this support continues to grow as he combats the left's rampant anti-Semitism that is exposed daily. The Trump administration is the most pro-Israel and pro-Jewish in our nation's history, and the President's record stands as a testament to this commitment," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital. Trump signed executive orders during his first administration, and again last month, aimed at combating antisemitism in the United States.
