World

‘I can barely do one story. I just feel dizzy’ – BBC’s Gaza freelance journalists tell of struggle for food

'I can barely do one story. I just feel dizzy' – BBC's Gaza freelance journalists tell of struggle for food5 hours agoShareSaveYolande KnellMiddle East correspondent, JerusalemShareSaveAnadolu via Getty ImagesJournalists are facing the same dire circumstances as those they are coveringThree trusted freelance Palestinian journalists whom the BBC relies on for its Gaza coverage have shared how they are now struggling to feed their families and often go two days or more without eating.
All of the men have kept their cameras running, sending us vital footage, even on days when their close relatives have been killed, they have lost their homes, or have been fleeing from Israeli military advances with their families.
One was previously badly wounded by shrapnel from an Israeli bombing while on assignment.
But he says the current time is “the hardest time I have lived through since I was born. It's a huge crisis of suffering and deprivation.”
Global food security experts ..

World

One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, UN aid agency says

One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, UN aid agency says5 hours agoShareSaveAoife Walsh and Paulin KolaBBC NewsShareSaveBBCThe UN says the hunger crisis in Gaza 'has never been so dire'One in five children in Gaza City is malnourished and cases are increasing every day, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) says.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini cited a colleague telling him: “People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses.”
More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups have also warned of mass starvation – pressing for governments to take action.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, says there is no siege and blames Hamas for any cases of malnutrition.
The UN, however, has warned that the level of aid getting into Gaza is “a trickle” and the hunger crisis in the territory “has never been so dire”.
In his statement on Thursday, Lazzarini ..

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Epstein files: Ghislaine Maxwell called to testify before US Congress; subpoena issued for August 11

Epstein and Maxwell (File photo-Agencies) Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted in 2021 for helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls, has been called to testify before the US Congress next month. The house oversight committee has issued a subpoena asking her to sit for a deposition on 11 August at the Tallahassee prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence. The committee said Maxwell’s testimony is crucial to examine how the US government handled sex trafficking cases, especially controversial plea deals and prosecution gaps in the Epstein investigation.“While the Justice Department undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly disclose additional information related to your and Mr. Epstein’s cases, it is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of you and Mr. Epstein,” said chairman James Comer in a letter attached to the subpoena. The panel’s task ..

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WSJ claims Trump was told in May that his name was in Epstein Files multiple times, White House says ‘fake news’

Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was told in May that his name appeared several times on Epstein files. In a bombshell claim, the Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in Epstein documents. The president was also told at the meeting that “many other high-profile figures were also named” in the Epstein files, and that the “files contained what officials felt was unverified hearsay about many people, including Trump, who had socialized with Epstein in the past,” the Journal reported.WSJ report comes after Trump sued Murdoch
The Wall Street Journal report came after Trump sued Rupert Murdoch and WSJ after it claimed that Trump wrote a birthday letter to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and that note was not in good taste. Apart from calling the note fake, Trump announced that he sued WSJ and Rupert Murdoch. White House says latest WSJ report fake
White House communications director Steven Ch..

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Could China’s Tibet mega dam help boost its sway with South Asian neighbours?

AdvertisementTibetChinaDiplomacyCould China’s Tibet mega dam help boost its sway with South Asian neighbours?Using the dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo to share electricity could carry ‘significant strategic value’ for Beijing, analysts say
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPVanessa Caiin Shanghai,Sylvie Zhuangin BeijingandMeredith Chenin Hong KongPublished: 6:00am, 24 Jul 2025China’s latest mega dam on the Tibetan Plateau could help draw neighbouring countries closer into its economic orbit by supplying electricity and boosting growth, analysts have argued.AdvertisementAccording to some estimates, the dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo will be the world’s biggest, producing up to 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, three times the output of the Three Gorges Dam.
State news agency Xinhua said over the weekend that its output would “primarily deliver electricity for external consumption” but would also meet local demand in Tibet.
But the project has drawn concerns about the ..

EuropeWorld

Turkey wildfires leave 10 dead and 14 in hospital

At least 10 people have been killed and many other injured while battling wildfire in Turkey, the government in the country has said.
Those who lost their lives were firefighters and rescue workers battling the fires in northwestern Turkey.
The five forestry workers and five members of the AKUT rescue organization died while trying to put out the wildfire raging through a forested area of Eskisehir province, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said.
At least 14 other rescuers and forestry workers were hospitalized.
The deaths bring the number of fatalities in wildfires that have flared amid strong winds, high temperatures and dry conditions so far in the country this year to 13.
The minister said the wind suddenly changed direction, causing the flames to shift rapidly and surround the forest workers.
President Erdogan paid tribute to the victims (AP)It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
Yumakli said firefighters were currently battling seven wildfires in Turkey, including ..

AmericasEuropeWorld

FEMA chief rejects criticism, calls Texas floods response ‘a model’ for dealing with disaster

The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 136 people earlier this month.
“I can't see anything we did wrong,” David Richardson told a House panel of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Wednesday. He called the relationship between state and federal agencies “a model for how disasters should be handled.”
Lawmakers used the hearing about improvements to FEMA disaster response to address reports that FEMA support was impaired by bureaucratic delays that slowed the deployment of urban search and rescue teams and left the agency's call centers unstaffed, which Richardson denied. The response “brought the maximum amount of capability to bear in Texas at the right time and the right place,” he said.
Richardson's appearance came after a wave of criticism and fallout over the response, including the resignation Monday of FEMA's ..

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Trump administration issues plan to limit AI exports to China

AdvertisementUnited StatesUSEconomy, Trade & BusinessTrump administration issues plan to limit AI exports to ChinaMove comes amid hawks’ concerns that US chips could help Chinese AI, military development
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMP1Bochen Hanin WashingtonPublished: 5:31am, 24 Jul 2025Updated: 5:38am, 24 Jul 2025The White House on Wednesday released proposals to restrict exports of American AI equipment and limit the spread of Chinese AI models as part of a sweeping plan to shape the rules governing the fast-moving technology.
AdvertisementThe 28-page AI Action Plan marks US President Donald Trump’s administration’s first comprehensive strategy on the topic and comes as national security hawks have raised concerns that superior American chips may reach China – including through third countries – and advance its AI and military development.Under the plan, the US Commerce Department will lead an effort to develop new export controls on chipmaking subsystems to close “loop..

World

Gazans ‘wasting away’ as mass starvation spreads, humanitarian groups warn

Gazans 'wasting away' as mass starvation spreads, humanitarian groups warn37 minutes agoShareSaveDavid GrittenBBC News, JerusalemShareSaveGetty ImagesMore than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups are warning of mass starvation in Gaza and pressing for governments to take action.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam are among the signatories of a joint statement that says their colleagues and the people they serve are “wasting away”.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory, rejected the organisations' statement and accused them of “serving the propaganda of Hamas”.
Their warning came as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said another 10 Palestinians had died as a result of malnutrition in the last 24 hours.
That brings the number of such deaths across Gaza since Sunday to 43, according to the ministry.
The UN has reported that hospitals have admitted people in a state of severe exhaustion caused..

World

Backlash grows after Zelensky strips anti-corruption bodies of independence

Backlash grows after Zelensky strips anti-corruption bodies of independence3 hours agoShareSaveLaura GozziBBC NewsCharlotte GallagherIn KyivShareSaveBBC”Corruption loves silence! Don't be silent” – Thousands gathered in Kyiv to protest on WednesdayUkraine's government is facing growing backlash after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law limiting the independence of two anti-corruption agencies.
The contentious bill grants control of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sap) to the prosecutor general, who is appointed by the president.
Thousands demonstrated in Kyiv for a second night on Wednesday, many brandishing signs criticising the government.
As protestors gathered, Zelensky acknowledged public anger and said he would submit a new bill to parliament in response to the criticism, although he offered no further details about what it would contain.
Kyiv's Western allies expressed their displeasure at..