According to US President Donald Trump, housing, gas, and grocery costs are all declining. All of these assertions are unsupported by current research, though.
When asked about home sales and whether it was a good economic indicator for him on Thursday in the Oval Office, the president responded that there were very good housing sales.
However, the reporter who asked the question made reference to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which stated that sales of existing homes were down 5.9 percent in March from the same month.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a public statement that “residential housing mobility, which is currently at its lowest levels, indicates the troublesome possibility of lessening economic mobility for society.”
Trump mentioned that some states’ energy costs have decreased to $ 1.98. Although he did not specify what kind of energy, his comments were similar to those made last week. He specifically cited gasoline prices at the time.
The lowest average price per gallon ($0.71 per litre) last week in Mississippi was according to AAA, which monitors national gasoline prices. Mississippi reported the lowest average gasoline price this week, this time for $ 2.68 ($0.70 per litre). The lowest individual station prices, according to data from GasBuddy, were $2.33 per gallon (0.62 per litre), which is still higher than the president’s mention.
The average price of gasoline in the United States is currently $ 3.17 per gallon ($0.84 per litre). That is a decrease from $ 3.60 ($0.95 per litre) at this time last year, even though it is a five-cent increase over the previous month. The president made the correct observation that, despite what he had suggested, gasoline prices are still trending downward.
Overall energy prices decreased by 2.4 percent over the past month, largely as a result of the Department of Labor’s most recent report, which was largely driven by lower gasoline prices. The decline in natural gas and electricity costs was aided by the decrease. Since Trump’s election, oil prices have generally decreased, largely as a result of the uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariff threats.
Trump also claimed that prices are dropping for groceries in his comments. This assertion is disproven by recent research. Food prices increased by 0.4 percent from last month to $2.44 percent from last year, according to the Department of Labor. Four out of the six main grocery categories reported price increases.
This time, Yale University was the latest top university in the country to outlaw a pro-Palestine organization in response to protests against the visit of far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Ben-Gvir’s visit to a “food and aid depot” in the Palestinian territory on Wednesday sparked outrage as protesters criticized the minister’s support for mounting attacks on Gaza and, most recently, his calls to bomb “food and aid depots” in the country.
Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), described Ben-Gvir’s silence and subsequent crackdown on protesters as “not just a moral contradiction – it’s a moral and legal failure” in an interview with Al Jazeera.
The demonstrations started on Tuesday night when protesters gathered on the university and set up tents in a fading camp. The event, which lasted just a few hours, was similar to the encampment protests that swept across US universities last year, frequently causing administrators to make policy changes and crackdowns.
The encampment had violated its policies, according to a statement from Yale the day before, and students who had been warned or punished in previous incidents would be subject to “immediate disciplinary action.”
Without providing any further information, the university stated that it was looking into “concerns about disturbing anti-Semitic conduct at the gathering.”
The administration also threatened to sue Yalies4Palestine, a student organization, for sending “out calls over social media for others to join the event” and later for claiming credit for the event.
A group of pro-Palestine protesters denied that the event was connected to any group in a statement to the Yale Daily News, a student newspaper.
The protests continued on Wednesday night when Ben-Gvir arrived for a speech at the Shabtai, a private Jewish organization that claims to be “based at Yale University” despite not being formally affiliated with or based there.
According to video of the event, Ben-Gvir briefly made fun of the protesters by using what his office claimed was a “victory sign” gesture as he was met by “shame on you” chants.
Later, according to his office, he was unharmed when a water bottle was thrown at him from the crowd, which included both students and nonstudents.
Attacking students won’t save Yale, according to the saying.
The administration of President Donald Trump has launched a wider pressure campaign on top universities with the latest punishment for pro-Palestine protesters at Yale.
The Trump administration has stepped up the response while former president Joe Biden was widely criticized for supporting crackdowns on pro-Palestine protests.
The Trump administration has attempted to deport noncitizen protesters protesting the constitution of Palestine, and it has threatened to freeze or freeze federal funding for several top universities, including Harvard University in Massachusetts and Columbia University in New York, if they do not consent to a number of policy changes.
Organisers of the protest movement have repeatedly refuted the notion that such demonstrations are anti-Semitic, noting the regular involvement of Jewish students and noting the odd number of anti-Jewish statements made at frequently publicly accessible demonstrations.
Pro-Palestine protesters at Yale accused administrators of retaliating against the Trump administration in a statement released by the student newspaper.
Harvard or Columbia were saved by a combination of attempt for students and hostile community members. They claimed that Yale won’t be saved.
Yale declined to comment on whether concerns about a Trump administration response informed its disciplinary actions or whether it had any plans to respond to Ben-Gvir’s visit.
The assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, responded to a video on X in which students refused to break a human chain and let students march through their ranks on campus.
The article stated that “Jewish students aren’t allowed to walk through Yale’s campus anymore”!
According to Dhillon, her office is “responding to the concerned students at Yale” and is “tracking the concerning activities there.”
Some observers said the dissonance on display at Yale was especially striking despite criticisms that pro-Palestine protesters have become a common practice in the US.
An Israeli court found Ben-Gvir guilty in 2008 of supporting a “terrorist” organization, the founded Kach group, which supported the Palestinian territories’ annexation and ethnic cleansing.
UN experts have already stated that Israel is engaged in “genocidal acts,” so he has demanded a no-holds-barred military operation in Gaza.
He has urged Israel to carry out war crimes in Gaza in accordance with international law. He most recently stated on X that he had previously told “senior Republican officials” at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that Israel should bomb “food and aid depots.”
“Deepest contradiction,”
The University of Chicago’s Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist, claimed that Yale’s silence regarding Ben-Gvir’s speech at a university “exposes the deepest contradictions in our society and in these institutions that are supposed to be dedicated to truth seeking and critical thought.”
Ben-Gvir, she said, “has no red lines.” However, “people who protest can suffer severe consequences.”
In this situation, universities are fighting for their lives and trying to convince the public that their reputation is worth protecting in the face of Trump’s assault, she said. They nevertheless exhibit no moral uptitude.
The administration of US President Donald Trump’s administration has been unable to halt funding for public schools that support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts because of a federal judge in New Hampshire.
The US Department of Education is prohibited from enforcing its policy against members of three groups, including the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union, in Concord, on Thursday, with the release of a preliminary injunction from District Judge Landya McCafferty’s Concord.
After the Education Department threatened to cut funding for educational institutions that were participating in DEI efforts in February, the NEA, its local affiliate in New Hampshire, and the Center for Black Educator Development filed a lawsuit against the organization.
According to a letter, the federal law forbids races from being taken into account in decisions involving race in things like housing, hiring and promotions, pay, financial aid, and graduation ceremonies.
McCafferty, a nominee for Democratic President Barack Obama, said an order was necessary to stop the policy from being implemented with the plaintiffs, their members, or any organization that employs or contracts its members.
As a prerequisite for receiving federal funding, the Trump administration issued an order in K-12 schools (kindergarten to 12th grade) to formally certify within 10 days that they are adhering to federal civil rights laws and that they are not engaging in discriminatory DEI practices.
The Trump administration issued a memo on February 14 in which it stated that it had given US institutions 14 days to end diversity initiatives or face losing federal funding.
The Education Department also provided a ultimatum to stop weighing “racial preferences” in hiring, job placement, and other areas.
Schools across the US have been frantically trying to figure out what practices might conflict with the anti-DEI orders since then.
However, critics objected to April’s certification letter, saying it contradicts Trump’s pledge to return education to schools and states.
Is this what the Trump administration refers to as local control? You can’t say you’re re-establishing state control over schools and then dictating how they run their schools, National Parents Union president Keri Rodrigues said earlier this month.
The national teachers’ union, the American Federation of Teachers, also filed a lawsuit to stop the February 14 memo, alleging it violates the First and Fifth Amendments.
The union’s president, Randi Weingarten, added that federal law forbids the White House from telling schools and colleges what to teach, and that federal funds cannot be withheld without the consent of the government. The union’s president, Randi Weingarten, told The AP in early April.
Under the leadership of 89-year-old Mahmoud Abbas, who hasn’t named a successor, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has announced the creation of a vice presidency.
The organization’s central council approved creating the position of vice chairman of the PLO Executive Committee after a two-day meeting on Thursday. The Palestinians hope that the State of Palestine’s vice president will eventually receive full international recognition for their contributions.
Although it’s unknown when or exactly how that position will be filled, it is anticipated that someone with that position will be in the lead candidate to succeed Abbas. The other 15 members of the PLO’s executive committee will select Abbas as his vice president.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which is the Palestinian people’s internationally recognized representative, is in charge of some of the areas of Israeli-occupied West Bank where the PLO exercises limited autonomy. For 20 years, Abbas has taken charge of both organizations.
Hamas is not a member of the PLO, having won the last national elections in 2006. Since the PA security forces seized control of Gaza in 2007, reconciliation efforts have repeatedly failed.
Recent polls have revealed a decline in his and his Fatah party support.
For the PA to play a role in post-war Gaza, donors from the West and the Arab world have demanded reforms. The organization has long been accused of corruption and poor governance, but it is incredibly unpopular. His critics might be at ease if they were to name an heir apparent.
Abbas was criticized by Hamas on Thursday for remarks he made the day before, in which he called the group “sons of dogs” and demanded that it be free of Israeli prisoners and lay down weapons.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim stated, “Abbas repeatedly and suspiciously places the blame on our people for the crimes committed during the occupation and its ongoing aggression.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that at least 1 928 people have died there since Israel’s war broke out in October 2023, bringing the total toll to at least 51,305.
After being largely sidelined, Abbas has been looking for more relevance and a place in post-war planning for the Gaza Strip.
According to medical sources, at least 59 people have died as a result of Israeli-related attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip.
At least 12 members of the same family were killed on Thursday when their home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia was targeted, according to rescue teams and medical personnel in the enclave.
A couple and their four children were among the six people killed when an airstrike levelled their home in Gaza City, according to a statement from the civil defense.
After the attack, first responder Ahmed Arar in Gaza City reported that there were “a large number of body parts and remains,” many of which were children.
“We have only hands, legs, and heads,” he said. They have all been severed and torn, according to Arar.
A statement from the Indonesian Hospital, where the casualties were taken, claimed that another 10 people were killed and several others were hurt in a bombing of a former police station in the Jabalia region of northern Gaza.
Abdel Qader Sabah, 23, from Jabalia, described the attack that hit the station near a market as “everyone started running and screaming, without knowing what to do from the horror and severity of the bombing.”
Palestinian woman reacts when Israeli forces attack a home in Gaza City [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]
Without revealing whether it was aiming at the police station, Israel’s military said it attacked what it described as a Hamas “command and control center” in the Jabalia neighborhood. Similar justifications have previously been used by the army in attacks on hospitals and numerous shelters for Palestinian refugees.
According to the civil defense agency and the medical staff, at least 26 people have been killed in previous Israeli attacks on the same area.
According to Tareq Abu Azzoum of Al Jazeera, who is based out of Deir el-Balah, there is “an ongoing increase in the rate of Israeli attacks on the entire Gaza Strip.”
He claimed that civil defense personnel are still attempting to clear the debris from the most recent attack in Jabalia.
One rescuer, he cited, claimed that many of the victims had burned themselves.
Offensive to say “larger”?
On March 18, Israel resumed its military assault on the Gaza Strip, ending a two-month ceasefire that had temporarily put an end to fighting in the squablocked area.
In addition to bombardment, the military is still securing crucial border crossings for the eighth week in a row, worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis by preventing access to desperately needed humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and fuel.
If Israeli soldiers aren’t freed in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel’s army chief, who was visiting soldiers in Gaza on Thursday, threatened a “larger” offensive.
We will move our operations to a larger, more significant operation if we don’t see any progress in the hostages’ return in the near future, according to Eyal Zamir.
In the meantime, the Israeli military instructed the residents of Beit Hanoon and Sheikh Zeid, both in the north, to leave their homes.
The UN has warned that Israel’s expanding evacuation orders for Gaza are causing “forcible transfers” of people into ever-shrinking areas.
Since the start of the war, aid organizations have estimated that the majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been forced to move somewhere else.
The Durra Children’s Hospital in Gaza City was declared nonoperable on Thursday by the Gaza Health Ministry after an Israeli bomb struck the building’s upper part, causing damage to the intensive care unit and the destruction of the facility’s solar power system.
Israel’s 18-month-old military campaign has devastated Gaza’s healthcare system, putting many of its hospitals in jeopardy, killing doctors, and reducing essential supplies.
Important mediators Qatar and Egypt have so far failed to reach an effective ceasefire despite their best efforts being supported by the US.
At least 1, 978 people have died in Gaza since Israel resumed its assault, bringing the total to at least 51, 355 people dead since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
According to the initial findings of an investigation, a UN worker was killed last month by an Israeli tank fire in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on Thursday.
It had initially denied operating in the area where a UNOPS employee from Bulgaria was killed on March 19.
The findings follow a separate investigation into the killing of 15 Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza, which the military reported on Sunday.
A field commander would be fired, and it was finally stated that operational failures caused their deaths.
