Israeli forces raid Gaza’s largest hospital, where hundreds of patients are stranded by fighting
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces raided Gaza’s largest hospital early Wednesday, where hundreds of patients, including newborns, have been stranded with dwindling supplies and no electricity, as the army extended its control across Gaza City and the north.
Shifa Hospital has become a symbol of the widespread suffering of Palestinian civilians during the war between Israel and Hamas, which erupted after the militant group killed some 1,200 people and seized around 240 captives in a surprise Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel.
The hospital is also at the heart of clashing narratives over who is to blame for the thousands of deaths and widespread destruction in the besieged territory. Israel accuses Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields, while Palestinians and rights groups say Israel has recklessly endangered civilians as it seeks to eradicate the group.
Mohammed Zaqout, the director of hospitals in Gaza, said Israeli tanks were inside the medical compound and that soldiers had entered buildings, including the emergency and surgery departments, which house intensive care units. It was not clear if he was speaking from inside the compound.
“The occupation forces stormed the buildings,” he said angrily over the phone. He said the patients, including children, are terrified. “They are screaming. It’s a very terrifying situation … we can do nothing for the patients but pray.”
Biden, Xi meeting is aimed at getting relationship back on better footing, but tough issues loom
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping head into their big meeting at a country estate on Wednesday hoping to stabilize U.S.-China relations after a period of tumult, but the U.S. president also is prepared to confront his counterpart on difficult issues such as trade, Beijing’s burgeoning relationship with Iran and human rights concerns.
The two leaders, who will meet on the sidelines of a summit of Asian-Pacific leaders, last spoke a year ago. Since then, already fraught ties between the two economic superpowers have been further strained by the U.S. downing of a Chinese spy balloon that had traversed the continental U.S. and over differences on the self-ruled island of Taiwan, China’s hacking of a Biden official’s emails and other incidents.
The two leaders are in California for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, but will hold their one-on-one talks at Filoli Estate, a country house and museum about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Francisco, according to three senior administration officials. The officials requested anonymity to discuss the location, which had not yet been confirmed by the White House or the Chinese government due to tight security.
Both men are seeking to show the world that while the U.S. and China are economic competitors, they are not locked in a winner-take-all faceoff with global implications. Their relationship has been increasingly defined by differences over export controls, Taiwan and the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe.
Biden is expected to let Xi know that he would like China to use its sway over Iran to make clear that Tehran or its proxies should not take action that could lead to expansion of the Israel-Hamas war. The Biden administration also sees the Chinese, a big buyer of Iranian oil, as having considerable leverage with Iran, which is a major backer of Hamas.
House votes to prevent a government shutdown as GOP Speaker Johnson relies on Democrats for help
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan.
Johnson’s proposal to temporarily fund the government into the new year passed on a bipartisan 336-95 tally, but 93 Republicans voted against it. It was the first time the new speaker had to force vital legislation through the House, and he showed a willingness to leave his right-flank Republicans behind — the same political move that cost the last House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, his job just weeks ago.
For now, Johnson of Louisiana appeared on track for a better outcome. His approach, which the Senate is expected to approve by week’s end, effectively pushes a final showdown over government funding to the new year.
“Making sure that government stays in operation is a matter of conscience for all of us. We owe that to the American people,” Johnson said earlier Tuesday at a news conference at the Capitol.
The new Republican leader faced the same political problem that led to McCarthy’s ouster — angry, frustrated, hard-right GOP lawmakers rejected his approach, demanded budget cuts and voted against the plan. Rather than the applause and handshakes that usually follow passage of a bill, several hardline conservatives animatedly confronted the speaker as they exited the chamber.
UK top court says a plan to send migrants to Rwanda is unlawful because they would be at risk
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government’s contentious plan to send some migrants on a one-way trip to Rwanda is illegal, striking a major blow to a key policy of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government that has drawn international attention and criticism.
Five justices on the country’s top court said asylum-seekers would be “at real risk of ill-treatment” because they could be sent back to their home countries once they were in Rwanda.
Britain and Rwanda signed a deal in April 2022 to send some migrants who arrive in the U.K. across the English Channel to the East African country, where their asylum claims would be processed and, if successful, they would stay.
Britain’s government argues that the Rwanda policy will deter people from risking their lives crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and will break the business model of people-smuggling gangs. Opposition politicians, refugee groups and human rights organizations say the plan is unethical and unworkable.
No one has yet been sent to the country as the plan was challenged in the courts.
Labor abuse on fishing vessels widespread, with China topping list of offenders, report says
MIAMI (AP) — Hazardous, forced work conditions sometimes akin to slavery have been detected on nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels around the world, but identifying those responsible for abuses at sea is hampered by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight, a new report concluded.
The research by the Financial Transparency Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that tracks illicit money flows, is the most comprehensive attempt to date to identify the companies operating vessels where tens of thousands of workers every year are estimated to be trapped in unsafe conditions.
The report, published Wednesday, found that a quarter of vessels suspected of abusing workers are flagged to China, whose distant water fleet dominates fishing on the high seas, traditionally lawless areas beyond the jurisdiction of any single country. Vessels from Russia, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea were also accused of mistreatment of fishers.
This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Tens of thousands of supporters of Israel rally in Washington, crying ‘never again’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supporters of Israel rallied by the tens of thousands on the National Mall under heavy security Tuesday, voicing solidarity in the fight against Hamas and crying “never again.”
The “March for Israel” offered a resounding and bipartisan endorsement of one of America’s closest allies as criticism has intensified over Israel’s offensive in Gaza, set off by the bloody Hamas incursion on Oct. 7.
Overlooking a sea of Israeli and U.S. flags, the top Democrats in Congress — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jefferies — came together on the stage with Republicans Mike Johnson, the House speaker, and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa. They joined hands as Schumer chanted, “We stand with Israel.”
Yet underneath that projection of unity, Democrats are sharply divided over Israel’s course and its treatment of Palestinians. President Joe Biden now is urging Israel to restrain some of its tactics to ease civilian suffering in Gaza after voicing full-throated solidarity with the Israelis in the war’s early weeks.
A succession of speakers took the stage to denounce the Hamas attack and what they said was a virulent spread of antisemitism internationally, “an embarrassment to all civilized people and nations,” in the words of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who addressed the crowd by video from the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
The Lion, the chainsaw and the populist: The rallies of Argentina’s Javier Milei
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Batman and the Joker, a man decked out in a full-body lion costume, and another whose head and arms have been replaced by chainsaws. This isn’t Carnival or Comic-Con, but rather the outlandish campaign rally for Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei.
In just a few short years, the right-wing populist Milei went from being a television talking head who garnered high ratings with his unrestrained outbursts against a “political caste” he blamed for Argentina’s perennial economic woes to a frontrunner for the presidency. He even dabbled in cosplay, dressing up as “General AnCap,” short for anarcho-capitalist, at a 2019 event.
Just as his candidacy started as a made-for-television spectacle, his followers picked up the baton and have often turned rallies into opportunities to show their devotion to their candidate using props that go viral on social media.
Shortly after he first appeared on television, the self-described libertarian grew a cult-like following among those drawn to his no-nonsense style. His appeal seems to lie in his ability to channel anger that Argentines feel against the ruling class amid red-hot triple-digit inflation and rising poverty.
Once seen as a sideshow in Argentine politics, Milei managed to parlay his success as a talking head into a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, Argentina’s lower house of Congress, in 2021. He then launched what looked like a long-shot presidential bid, but rocked Argentina’s political establishment when he received the most votes in the country’s August primaries, a national contest seen as a massive poll of voter preferences.
Biden aims for improved military relations with China when he meets with Xi
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to agree Wednesday to restore some military-to-military communications between their armed forces when they meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.
The plan is to revive the regular talks under what’s known as the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, which until 2020 had been used to improve safety in the air and sea, said a U.S. official, who requested anonymity to preview the leaders’ expected announcement.
U.S. military leaders have expressed repeated concerns about the lack of communications with China, particularly as the number of unsafe or unprofessional incidents between the two nations’ ships and aircraft has spiked.
According to the Pentagon’s most recent report on China’s military power, Beijing has “denied, canceled or ignored” military-to-military communications and meetings with the Pentagon for much of last year and this year. The report warns that the lack of such talks “raises the risk of an operational incident or miscalculation spiraling into crisis or conflict.”
The U.S. views military relations with China as critical to avoiding any missteps and maintaining a peaceful Indo-Pacific region. Here’s a look at the often fraught relationship between the U.S. and Chinese militaries.
Asian economies must ramp up wind and solar power to keep global warming under 1.5C, report says
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — To meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), nine major Asian economies must increase the share of electricity they get from renewable energy from the current 6% to at least 50% by 2030, according to a report by a German thinktank released Wednesday.
Nearly a third of that renewable energy should come from wind and solar power, said the report by researchers of Berlin-based Agora Energiewende. A fifth would be hydropower and other clean sources and the remainder, fossil fuels.
The study analyzed energy plans of both developing nations like Indonesia and Vietnam where demand for energy is growing rapidly, and wealthier places like Japan and South Korea, which have among the highest burdens of per capita greenhouse gas emissions. It did not include China, the world’s biggest emitter of carbon, or India, another major contributor.
A global temperature increase of 1.5C (2.7F) since pre-industrial times is considered a critical climate threshold beyond which risks of catastrophes rise. The world will likely lose most of its coral reefs, a key ice sheet could kick into irreversible melt, and water shortages, heat waves and death from extreme weather may surge, according to an earlier United Nations scientific report.
Agora Energiewende researchers found that Asian nations are united in their heavy reliance on fossil fuels and national plans are not aligned with ambitious climate pledges announced by their governments.
Many parents don’t know when kids are behind in school. Are report cards telling enough?
Nearly nine out of 10 parents believe their child is performing at grade level despite standardized tests showing far fewer students are on track, according to a poll released Wednesday by Gallup and the nonprofit Learning Heroes.
Report cards, which many parents rely on for a sense of their children’s progress, might be missing the whole picture, researchers say. Without that knowledge, parents may not seek opportunities for extra support for their children.
“Grades are the holy grail,” said Bibb Hubbard, founder and president of Learning Heroes. “They’re the number one indicator that parents turn to to understand that their child is on grade level, yet a grade does not equal grade-level mastery. But nobody’s told parents that.”
In the Gallup survey, 88% of parents say their child is on grade level in reading, and 89% of parents believe their child is on grade level in math. But in a federal survey, school officials said half of all U.S. students started last school year behind grade level in at least one subject.
In a report examining grade point averages and test scores in the state of Washington over the past decade, researchers found grades jumped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many districts had eased their grading policies to account for the chaos and hardship students were experiencing.
