Gaza hospitals “must be protected,” Biden says
President Biden called for “less intrusive action” around hospitals in Gaza, as Israeli troops battled to seize control of what Israel says is a Hamas command complex that lies below the enclave’s main medical center, Al-Shifa Hospital. Hamas and hospital officials have denied the allegation. Here’s the latest.
U.S. officials “remain in contact with the Israelis” to secure a pause in the fighting to allow for the release of Israeli hostages, Biden said, adding: “I remain somewhat hopeful, but hospitals must be protected.” Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser, said at a briefing shortly afterward that the U.S. and Israel “do not want to see firefights in hospitals.”
Thousands of people fled Al-Shifa over the weekend as Israeli troops encircled it, and the W.H.O. has warned of a “dire and perilous” situation for patients. The health organization said in a statement that Al-Shifa “is not functioning as a hospital anymore” after it ran out of fuel and water, risking the lives of patients.
In the hospital: Medicine and food are running out for the hundreds of patients and thousands of people sheltering there. Without electricity or fuel, dozens of corpses are decomposing, a chief nurse and a health official said, and hospital staff members are trying to keep premature babies warm after removing them from now-useless incubators.
Displacement: In Israel, more than 125,000 people have been evacuated from areas where tensions have escalated in recent days. The Israeli state is paying to house the evacuees indefinitely in hotels and guesthouses.
Britain’s troubled leader shakes up his cabinet
In a dramatic reshuffle, Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of Britain, fired Suella Braverman, the hawkish former home secretary and one of his most senior and divisive ministers, and unexpectedly brought a centrist predecessor, David Cameron, back into government as foreign secretary. Here’s a list of the new cabinet members.
After 13 years in Downing Street, the Conservatives’ grip on power appears to be slipping, with the party trailing Labour in the polls and a public sector under acute strain after years of austerity. A general election is expected next year.
Braverman: The hard-right politician has now been fired from the home secretary’s position twice, once by Sunak, and once by his predecessor, Liz Truss. Her hard-line stances and inflammatory rhetoric on law enforcement, immigration and national security have often stoked divisive cultural debates in Britain.
Cameron: The former prime minister will return to government without needing to face an election, thanks to an unusual mechanism that will award him a lifetime place in the House of Lords. But the new foreign secretary comes with political baggage of his own, as the leader who called the vexed referendum on Brexit in 2013.
But trees are far from a silver bullet, even as they provide shelter, shade and food and remain essential to tackling the climate and biodiversity crises. If we protect all current forests, where will people get timber, rubber and palm oil? Would forests be able to store carbon quickly enough? And how much forest carbon would be lost to natural disasters?
Related: In the U.S., the great hope for the future of nuclear power, which does not emit planet-warming carbon dioxide, is to go small. Meanwhile, a group of start-up companies is trying to ignite fusion energy.
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A furious bride
For 157 years, the woman at the center of the painting “The Hesitant Fiancée” by Auguste Toulmouche has issued a withering glare at those who dare to regard her. Lately, her gaze has landed on a new generation of appreciators, becoming a surprise hit on TikTok.
Modern viewers have come up with wide-ranging interpretations of the painting and its applications to modern life — seeing it as a take on women bristling at societal expectations, or using it as a punchline in response to phrases like “You’re overreacting” and “You really should smile more.”