Category World News

Despite the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians, including 46 children, Israeli forces continue to enforce the Washington-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 104 Palestinians were killed and 253 others were hurt in the roughly 12 hours that followed Tuesday through Wednesday, according to the country’s ministry of health.

The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza demanded an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” across the Strip, adding that “these documented crimes add to the long list of ongoing violations against our people.

According to medical sources, one of the most recent attacks happened in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, which was a tent that was being occupied by displaced people. The enclave’s northern and southern regions were targeted by other attacks.

On Wednesday, the US president defended Israel’s actions, citing rumors that an Israeli soldier, 37, had been killed in southern Gaza. The Israeli military’s brief statement did not specify the soldier’s death, but stated that his family had been informed before the information was made public.

As he traveled from Japan to South Korea, Trump claimed that he had heard an Israeli soldier had been killed by sniper fire and that, as I understand it, they had evacuated the soldier. The Israelites responded by saying, “They should respond. They should react when that occurs, he continued, calling Israel’s attacks “retribution” for the soldier’s death.

Hamas has denied being responsible for the alleged attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza, and stated in a statement that it is still committed to the ceasefire agreement.

The US president stated that “nothing will compromise” the ceasefire.

Hamas is only a small portion of the Middle East’s peace, he said, and they must act accordingly.

“If they [Hamas] are good, they will be happy, and if they are not good, they will be terminated, their lives will be ended,” he said.

After carrying out numerous strikes on “terror targets,” including “30 terrorists holding command positions,” the Israeli military announced in a statement on Wednesday that it had reinstated the Gaza ceasefire. There was no proof to support these assertions.

“Indefinite, protracted occupation”

Hani Mahmoud, a journalist for Al Jazeera from Gaza City, claimed that Palestinians were in a “panic” as a result of the new attacks.

“At this morning, we can see that a lull in hope of calm has faded into despair.” He stated on Wednesday that the skies are brimming with reconnaissance aircraft, drones, and fighter jets.

“And the fear is now that what started last night will continue for days to come,” he added.

Save the Children described reports of children being killed with their families as “excruciating.”

According to Ahmad Alhendawi, the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe region director for Save the Children, “this cannot become the new normal under a ceasefire.” Children’s safety, comfort, and recovery must be assured by a lasting ceasefire, not just their continued suffering. It must be upheld and fully respected.

“We’re pleading: stop right away,” we said. Protect the ceasefire, safeguard the children, and bring about the real peace that Gaza’s residents have been seeking, Alhendawi added.

Israel “never really fulfilled any of its commitments” under the agreement, including reversing its commitments to the agreed line in Gaza or allowing the agreed-upon amount of aid to enter Gaza, according to Mouin Rabbani, a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies.

Israel is allegedly attempting to deliberately undermine a ceasefire agreement that the US unintentionally dragged into. He claimed that because Israel does not appear to be able to unilaterally renounce the ceasefire, “we are seeing a gradual intensification of the process of erosion.”

The key question is now, he said, “how will the United States… react?”

The ceasefire has been fragile “from day one,” according to Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, because both Israel and Hamas reached a deal under significant pressure from the US.

He claimed that because Israel continues to control roughly 50% of the Strip, “it’s understandable why many Palestinians in Gaza might not perceive this as a ceasefire or a peace plan, but rather as an indefinite, protracted occupation with no end in sight.”

According to Pinfold, there is a “game of chicken” between Hamas and Israel, where both sides are attempting to “test each other’s boundaries.”

A viral chart claims that the majority of the country’s food stamp recipients are non-white and noncitizens, with millions of Americans in danger of losing access to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – also known as food stamps – starting on November 1.

The chart, titled “Food Stamps by Ethnicity,” listed 36 different ethnic groups and indicated that “a proportion of US households are receiving SNAP benefits.”

The racial groups were labeled “white,” “Black,” and “native,” along with the nationalities “Afghan,” “Somali,” “Iraqi,” and “Somali.” The largest group receiving SNAP benefits, at 45.6 percent, was the Afghan population, according to the chart, followed by Somalis (42.4%) and Iraqis (34.8%). White people, who are represented by the US flag, came in third place with 8.6%.

The looming SNAP funding lapse was brought on by the federal government’s October 1 shutdown. Low-income households who use SNAP have access to food. People commenting on the chart rehashed a similar talking point, just as conservatives have spread the deceptive claim that Democrats are pushing for healthcare for undocumented immigrants.

Who will lose their EBT? read the caption to a post on October 25 that shared the chart, which had 3.1 million views as of October 27. A SNAP payment system, EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer.

“Only 18.7% of people who receive EBT or food stamps are Americans. There was no “American” category in the chart, despite the seemingly incorrect use of the figure next to the word “Armenian.” “We are paying the taxpayers’ dime to subvention foreigners.”

Who will receive their EBT cut photo? twitter.com/el8x9X5iVX

The SNAP recipients’ complete list is not represented in the chart, which is not representative of all races or ethnic groups. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the program, is the most trustworthy source for demographic breakdown of SNAP recipients.

White people are the most prevalent racial group receiving SNAP benefits starting in 2023, according to the most recent USDA data available, at 35.4 percent. Next are African Americans, who account for 25.7 percent of recipients, followed by Hispanics, who account for 3.9 percent, Native Americans, who account for 1.3 percent, and people of different races, who account for 1%. Unknown is the race that accounts for 17% of the participants.

Less than 11 percent of SNAP participants were foreign-born, according to the same report, which found that 89.4% of SNAP recipients were US-born. 6.2% of those who were naturalized citizens, 1.1 percent of refugees, and 3.3 percent of noncitizens who were lawful permanent residents and other eligible noncitizens, were lawful permanent residents.

Although many of the groups on the list may receive food stamps, “they definitely account for a small portion of the households and spending on SNAP,” according to Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Richmond.

Survey results paint a picture of SNAP recipients that are incomplete.

The Personal Finance Wizards blog post from June, which cited “US Census Table S0201” as its source, is where the chart was shared on social media. The website provides financial advice, but it recently published a disclaimer that states it cannot guarantee the information’s “completeness, accuracy, or reliability.”

The site’s creators made the decision to include a number of ethnicities in the chart, noting that “the graph highlights a group of ethnicities we felt would be most relevant and engaging for our audience.” There was no author name in it.

Personal Finance Wizards shared a link to the US Census table it used in a comment on an Instagram post that was shared the chart. The American Community Survey’s data, which was filtered by 49 racial and ethnic groups, is displayed here. Although the dataset has a column for “households with food stamp/SNAP benefits,” which displays percentages comparable to those in the chart, the filtered groups don’t completely overlap with those in the chart.

What proportion of SNAP recipients are ethnically or nationally unrepresented in the data?

According to Joseph Llobrera, senior research director for the liberal think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the chart appears to show the shares of households receiving SNAP based on household respondents’ reported ancestry, which is distinct from citizenship status.

Without context, he said, “This graphic is misleading and may lead some people to believe that many non-citizens are SNAP participants,” which is false.

Respondents can choose their race according to the American Community Survey. An ancestry is defined as a person’s “person’s ethnic origin or descent, roots or heritage, birthplace or place of parents’ ancestors before their arrival in the United States.”

The American Community Survey data on SNAP receipts is self-reported, according to Colleen Heflin, an expert on food insecurity, nutrition, and welfare policy at Syracuse University, and that data “has a great deal of measurement error” when compared to SNAP administrative data.

Chart shows higher levels of need in groups with higher SNAP participation rates.

Because of their unique immigration status, groups like Afghans and Iraqis, who are first and third on the list, would have been more likely to have been eligible for the SNAP program right away.

Prior to the passage of the law, refugees and those receiving asylum were also eligible for SNAP without a waiting period. According to Roof, Somalis, who were second on the list, are “more likely” to meet those requirements.

Other noncitizens, such as lawful permanent residents, may be eligible for SNAP after a five-year waiting period.

After Hurricane Melissa slammed across the Caribbean island as one of the strongest storms ever to pass, leaving behind a trail of destruction, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has labeled Jamaica a “disaster area.”

Most of the country’s 2.8 million people were without electricity as a result of the hurricane’s landfall as a Category 5 storm on Tuesday, which wiped out the roofs of homes, inundated the “bread basket,” and destroyed power lines and trees.

Melissa had to pass through Jamaica before it was reduced to a Category 3 storm before it resumed its course on Wednesday, heading Cuba.

In a number of posts on X, Holness claimed that the storm had “ravaged” his nation and that the disaster declaration would give his government “tools to continue managing” its response.

He told CNN late on Tuesday that it was obvious that the hurricane’s eye would have a devastating impact. “Reports we have received so far include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property, and damage to our road infrastructure.”

Holness claimed that at this time there are no confirmed reports of fatalities. However, he continued, “We are anticipating some loss of life with a Category 5 hurricane.”

By Wednesday morning, the prime minister claimed his country was mobilizing quickly to begin relief and recovery efforts.

The hurricane caused seven fatalities before Melissa slammed into Jamaica, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic.

The storm had impacted almost every parish in Jamaica, according to Desmond McKenzie, the island’s local government minister, on Tuesday evening, and left the majority of the island without electricity.

He claimed that the parish of St. Elizabeth, the nation’s primary agricultural region, was “under water” as a result of the storm.

According to what we have seen, “St. Elizabeth has sustained a lot,” the minister continued, noting that “almost every parish experiences blocked roads, fallen trees, utility poles, and excessive flooding in many communities.”

He continued, “Work is currently on the way to restore our service, to prioritize the crucial facilities, such as hospitals and water and pumping stations.”

Health and Wellness Minister Christopher Tufton reported to the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper that at least four hospitals had been “significantly damaged” by the storm.

Due to Hurricane Melissa’s passing, a building at a section of the Savanna La Mar Public General Hospital had completely torn off. In Westmoreland, Jamaica, the system made landfall earlier today near the New Hope district. #GLNRToday #TrackingMelissa image twitter.com/zBnm9bu4Oq

“Monstrous Melissa”

The storm was the “worst we’ve ever experienced,” according to Robian Williams, a journalist for the Nationwide News Network radio broadcaster in Kingston.

From the capital, she said, “It’s truly heartbreaking and devastating.”

“We’re calling Hurricane Melissa “Monstrous Melissa” here in Jamaica because that’s how powerful she was. … The devastation is widespread, mostly being felt and still being felt in the western ends of the country at this point in time. So many homes, so many people have been displaced,” she said.

“We did prepare, but there wasn’t much else we could have done.”

Trout Hall Road, Clarendon, is the location of the CVMTV photo, “TrackingMelissa #HurricaneMelissa #Jamaica.” twitter.com/bTop93pOvp

Lisa Sangster, a 30-year-old communications specialist, claimed that the storm had destroyed her home in Kingston.

She told the AFP news agency, “My sister explained that some of our roof’s components were blown off, while others caved in, and the entire house was flooded.” “Outside structures like our outdoor kitchen, dog kennel, and farm animal pens were also gone, destroyed,” said one employee.

Mathue Tapper, 31, told AFP that the capital’s residents were “lucky,” but he worried about the residents of Jamaica’s more rural areas.

He expressed his condolences to the island’s western residents.

Melissa reshapes

On Tuesday night, the US National Hurricane Center received a warning that Melissa was regaining speed as it moved toward eastern Cuba.

At 11 p.m. CST on Tuesday (03:00 GMT on Wednesday), the center warned that “there is a very dangerous major hurricane there” as a potential major hurricane in the next few hours.

More than 700, 000 people have been evacuated from Cuba, according to Granma, the official newspaper, and forecasters predicted that Santiago de Cuba and other nearby areas will suffer severe damage as a result of the Category 4 storm.

Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas, and the southeast and central Bahamas were both subject to a hurricane warning. Bermuda was in the midst of a hurricane watch.

Up to 51cm (20 inches) of rain were forecast for parts of eastern Cuba as a result of the storm, which was expected to cause a storm surge of up to 3.6 meters (12 feet) in the area.

There will be a lot of work to be done, he declared. In a televised address, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said, “We know there will be a lot of damage, and no one is left behind, and no resources are spared to protect the lives of the population.”

He urged Cubans to not underestimate the strength of Hurricane Melissa, which he described as “the strongest ever to strike national territory.”

Changes in climate

Although hurricanes have been common in Cuba and Jamaica, climate change is making them more severe.

In a video that was shared on social media, British-Jamaican author and activist Mikaela Loach claimed Melissa “gained energy from the extraordinarily hot seas in the Caribbean.”

Loach claimed that these sea temperatures are not typical. They are “extremely hot” due to the gases produced by fossil fuel burning.

“Countries like Jamaica are also the nations whose wealth and resources have been taken from them through colonial bondage,” Loach continued. “These nations are the most vulnerable to climate disasters.

Holness urged wealthy nations to increase climate financing in order to aid developing nations like Jamaica in adjusting to the effects of a warming world during a speech at the UN General Assembly in September.

“Changes in climate is not a distant threat or an academic consideration. It is a daily reality for small island developing states like Jamaica,” he said.

Global warming is only caused by 0.02 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to World Resources Institute data.