Because someone else is in charge of our future, we can’t imagine it. As the UN warns that there is no safe haven for Israeli attacks, a displaced girl in Gaza City describes her family’s struggle there.
EXPLAINER
To ease a wave of cancellations and delays at Newark Liberty international airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has limited the number of hourly arrivals and departures in an effort to reduce congestion for the foreseeable future.
The Department of Transportation has asked the airport – a major hub for United Airlines, which serves New York City – to reduce operations from 77 to 56 departures and arrivals per hour. The change could significantly affect air travellers and carriers that rely on the airport.
Newark has faced numerous challenges that have hindered air traffic and led to this drastic shift. These include a shortage of air traffic controllers, glitches in radio and radar systems, and ongoing runway construction. The FAA says daily construction will end on June 15, after which it will occur only on Saturdays through the end of the year. During non-construction periods, operations will increase to 68 arrivals and departures per hour.
Newark’s cascade of problems began on April 28, when air traffic controllers at a Philadelphia-based facility, which monitors traffic heading into Newark Liberty, lost both radio and radar contact with planes for 90 seconds. A similar incident occurred at Newark itself – also lasting 90 seconds – during the early morning hours of May 9. Another occurred on May 11, and a brief two-second outage happened the following Monday.
In an op-ed, the sole air traffic controller working on May 9 told the newspaper The Times of London that “it is only a matter of time before a fatal crash”.
NBC News, citing an unnamed source, said similar incidents have occurred at least eight times since August and prior to the April event.
Newark is not the only US airport facing glitches. Last week, air traffic controllers in Denver, Colorado, also lost contact with planes for 90 seconds, impacting 20 different pilots. Denver, like Newark, is a hub for United Airlines.
Last Monday, following the Newark incident, The New York Times reported that only three flights passed through Newark-area airspace during a period when the goal was 14. At times, there were only one or two fully certified controllers on duty.
As a result of the incident, 20 percent of air traffic controllers went on trauma leave, citing the event itself, the use of outdated equipment, and a longstanding staffing shortage. United CEO framed it as air traffic controllers having “walked off the job”. Controllers are entitled to 45 days of paid trauma leave.
Air traffic control in the New York area has been chronically understaffed. A 2023 Department of Transportation report (PDF) found staffing levels to be dangerously low at 20 of the 26 critical air traffic control facilities across the US. The FAA mandates that at least 85 percent of controller positions be filled to maintain safe operations. The New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility was operating at just 54 percent. In 2024, control of Newark’s approach operations was moved to Philadelphia, a move that exacerbated certified controller shortages, as there were fewer of those personnel in Philadelphia.
The FAA said that it is in the process of ramping up staffing efforts.
“The area in the Philadelphia TRACON that handles Newark traffic has 22 fully certified controllers and 21 controllers and supervisors in training. Ten of those 21 controllers and supervisors are receiving on-the-job training. All 10 are certified on at least one position, and three are certified on multiple positions. We have a healthy pipeline with training classes filled through July 2026,” an FAA spokesperson told Al Jazeera.
“Secretary Duffy has made air traffic controller hiring and building a new state-of-the-art air traffic system top priorities.”
The reduced capacity will lead to fewer flights at the major hub. United Airlines, which accounts for 75 percent of Newark’s daily traffic, announced last week that it would cancel 35 roundtrip flights per day.
“Reducing the number of flights scheduled at Newark will help ensure that we can safely and reliably operate the flights that remain on the schedule, which is why we proactively reduced our schedule earlier this month,” a spokesperson for United Airlines told Al Jazeera in an emailed statement.
United serves 76 US destinations and 81 international destinations from Newark. The airline told Al Jazeera that the affected flights are primarily to cities that already have a high frequency of service, such as Orlando and Las Vegas.
United said that customers can be easily re-accommodated on other flights, and that flyers who typically transit through Newark can use alternative hubs like Washington Dulles.
Despite the cutbacks, United is launching new service to 10 destinations this summer, including two flights that have launched in the last week.
The Palestinian health minister reports that at least 29 children and elderly people have recently died from “starvation-related” deaths in the Gaza Strip, citing the fact that thousands more are in danger as limited aid enters the devastated area.
According to Majed Abu Ramadan, the UN’s director of aid to the BBC had earlier stated that 14, 000 babies could die without desperately needing food aid, which was “very realistic” but could be underestimated.
In response to the country’s string of international condemnations of its 11-week total blockade, which sparked fears of widespread famine, Israel has restricted humanitarian aid to Gaza.
However, UN officials claim that Gaza’s population needs are met by “nowhere near enough” aid to supply the region’s displaced people.
On Thursday, about 90 truckloads of aid entered Gaza, but Abu Ramadan claimed the majority of what was permitted was “flour for bakeries.”
A few bakeries in Gaza are baking bread again after receiving limited supplies overnight, according to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday afternoon.
“This is a crucial first step, but the assistance needs to be increased. More food is required to reduce the threat of famine. The organization stated in a post on X that “bread alone cannot provide enough for people to survive.”
Younis al-Khatib, the president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), earlier claimed that many Palestinians had not yet received any supplies. According to al-Khatib, “No civilian has yet received anything.”
He claimed that the southern Gaza crossing known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, where the majority of the aid trucks are still located.
The Israeli military has continued to launch attacks across the Strip as deliveries are limited, according to medical sources who have reported for Al Jazeera that at least 51 Palestinians have been killed since Thursday morning.
Since Israel’s war on Gaza started in October 2023, at least 53, 655 Palestinians have died and more than 121, 000 have been injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee also announced new forced evacuation orders for Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Jabalia and Beit Lahiya. He stated in a post on X that the army would “significantly expand its military activity” in the area.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, a reporter from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, claimed that while Palestinians have welcomed the aid, it is a “drop in the ocean” in comparison to the population’s requirements.
According to Abu Azzoum, “Five hundred aid trucks are required every day to stop the territory’s current food crisis.”
Ahmed Abed al-Daym, a resident of Gaza, called the aid trucks a “positive sign” in the midst of grim conditions.
He told Al Jazeera, “Our homes are empty, and our children are going hungry.”
Bread has completely vanished in many households. A steady, sufficient flow of flour and other necessities is what people absolutely need. Unfortunately, the lack of funding so far falls short of what we need.
No one is safe in the besieged enclave, according to Reem Zidiah, a resident.
We don’t think about tomorrow because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, Zidiah told Al Jazeera. “We don’t think about tomorrow,” she said.
Action Against Hunger teams on the ground in southern Gaza also issued a warning that children in southern Gaza face acute malnutrition after only seven days of receiving food.
The humanitarian organization’s head of Middle East operations, Natalia Anguera, stated that “some bakeries in the south have resumed operations.”
Iran’s foreign minister warned after CNN reported that Israel might be planning strikes that resulted in the United States being held accountable for an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites.
Iran’s closest allies, Israel’s allies, will hold a fifth round of nuclear talks on Friday amid intense disagreements over Iran’s uranium enrichment, which Washington claims could lead to the development of nuclear weapons.
Tehran has consistently disputed that it wants to bomb and that its nuclear program is intended for civilian use.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi wrote that “Iran firmly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime of Israel and will stand ready to respond to any threat or unlawful act by this regime.”
“I have called on the international community to take effective preventive measures to stop Israeli threats that, if unchecked, would force Iran to take special measures to defend our nuclear facilities and materials,” Araghchi said.
Tehran, according to the minister, would view any such attack as “participating.”
According to him, “the nature, content, and scope of our actions will be in line with and be proportionate to preventive measures taken by these international organizations in accordance with their statutory duties and obligations.”
Following a CNN report released on Tuesday, which claimed the US had “new intelligence suggesting that Israel was planning to attack Iranian nuclear facilities”
Even though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear sites in advance of its decision to pursue one, Israel has not acknowledged any preparations.
In what could be their fifth round of negotiations, which would see Tehran curtail or end its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, are scheduled to take place on Friday in Rome between the US and Iran.
Israel has opposed a deal like this between the US and Iran on numerous occasions.
Separately, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is under the direct command of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Israel that an “devastating and decisive response” would be imposed if it attacked Iran.
According to IRGC spokesman Alimohammad Naini, “They are trying to frighten us with war, but are miscalculating because they are ignorant of the formidable popular support the Islamic Republic can muster in times of war.”
US President Donald Trump ambushed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday when he claimed that a “genocide” against white Afrikaners is taking place in South Africa. This claim has been widely discredited.
Here are some of the key moments from the meeting.
The South African leader appeared to have arrived at the Oval Office with hopes of mending a tricky relationship between the United States and South Africa.
Trump started the meeting by referring to Ramaphosa as a man who is, “in some circles, really respected, other circles, a little bit less respected, like all of us in all fairness”.
Trump’s love for golf is no secret and, perhaps in the hope of defusing tension, Ramaphosa brought along two of South Africa’s top golfers, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, both of whom are white. “These two guys are unbelievable,” Trump said.
Ramaphosa also presented Trump with a repository of South Africa’s golf courses, compiled in a book weighing 14kg (31 pounds) and featuring writing by Els. White businessman Johann Rupert — South Africa’s richest man — was also part of Ramaphosa’s delegation.
During the meeting, Trump repeatedly claimed that genocide against white farmers is taking place in South Africa, an allegation denied by Ramaphosa.
Earlier this month, 59 white “refugees” were flown from South Africa to the US as part of a relocation plan for white South Africans devised by the Trump administration.
Trump told Ramaphosa that these were white farmers fleeing violence directed at them in South Africa. “We have many people that feel they’re being persecuted, and they’re coming to the United States,” said Trump. “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated, and in many cases, they’re being killed.”
But Ramaphosa denied allegations of a “white genocide” in South Africa. “If there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you, these three gentlemen would not be here,” the South African president said, referring to Els, Goosen and Rupert.
While murder is an issue in South Africa, a majority of victims are Black and are targeted by thieves, experts say, not for political reasons.
“There is no merit to Trump’s fantasy claims of white genocide,” South African historian Saul Dubow, professor of Commonwealth history at the University of Cambridge, told Al Jazeera. “South Africa is a violent country and, in economic terms, one of the most unequal societies in the world. The violence is criminal rather than political, though racial injustice inevitably forms part of the context.”
Dubow suggested that Trump may be more angry about South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, filed in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023 in relation to the war on Gaza.
While the Trump administration is welcoming “refugees” from South Africa, it is simultaneously removing protections for those from other countries. Since Trump’s inauguration in January, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has revoked protection from deportation previously granted to more than 800,000 people who escaped conflict zones or danger in Venezuela, Haiti, Afghanistan and Cameroon.
Trump claimed he had video and photo evidence to back up his “white genocide” allegations.
At one point during the meeting, the US president flipped through a stack of printed news clippings. “Death, death, death,” he said, showing the cameras one news article after another.
He held up one particular article from a publication called American Thinker, titled “Let’s talk about Africa, which is where tribalism takes you”. While the article mentions South Africa, Trump said that the thumbnail image showed white farmers being buried. However, the thumbnail proved to be a screengrab from a news clip about violence against women in Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Goma.
Trump then asked for the lights in the Oval Office to be dimmed and a five-minute video montage was displayed on a screen. The videos included one of a South African opposition figure, Julius Malema, the leader of the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, singing the anti-apartheid song Dubul’ ibhunu (“Kill the Boer”) at a rally. The title of the song is often also translated as “kill the white farmer”.
Dubow said some populists do promote “inflammatory songs” such as “Kill the Boers” in South Africa. “This may or may not be meant literally,” he told Al Jazeera. “President Ramaphosa and the ANC [Ramaphosa’s party, African National Congress] do not support such rhetoric.”
Next, Trump went on the attack again. “You do allow them to take land,” Trump told Ramaphosa.
“Nobody can take land,” Ramaphosa said.
“When they take the land, they kill the white farmer. And when they kill the white farmer, nothing happens to them,” Trump replied.
“There is criminality in our country. People who do get killed, unfortunately through criminal activity, are not only white people, majority of them are Black people,” Ramaphosa said. Trump cut him off, saying “the farmers are not Black”.
In January, Ramaphosa signed a new land expropriation law aimed at righting apartheid-era wrongs in South Africa.
Under the new law, the government has the power to seize privately owned land from people of any race for public purposes and public interests. While the law provides for compensation payments, it also allows for seizure without compensation in certain instances. This law replaced a 1975 law which was criticised for lacking clear compensation plans and being legally ambiguous.
White South Africans are mostly either Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Dutch settlers or English-speaking descendants of British colonialists.
Until the 1990s, white Afrikaners controlled the country under the system of apartheid, a system which excluded the Black majority in South Africa.
Even though apartheid officially ended in 1994, several of the most successful business and farmland owners in South Africa are white and more than half of the country’s Black population is categorised as poor. White South Africans make up about 7 percent of the population but own more than 70 percent of the land.
“The long history of colonialism and land dispossession in South Africa has not been addressed. Historical racial injustice remains keenly felt. White farmers remain in possession of most of the productive land, 30 years after 1994,” Dubow said.
“White farmers, large producers in particular, have generally done well in the post-apartheid era. They are probably more vulnerable to American tariffs than physical attacks,” said Dubow.
In February, Trump froze aid to South Africa, saying the new land law permits the government to seize land from ethnic minority Afrikaners without compensation.
As of mid-May, however, no land had been forcibly taken by the South African government without compensation under the new law.
The Trump administration also extensively scaled back the operations of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), stripping aid organisations all over the world of foreign assistance. This put more than 8,000 workers in South Africa’s national HIV programme out of work.
“South Africans keenly feel the withdrawal of American support of HIV/AIDS programmes,” Dubow said. “A key question is the future of the AGOA [African Growth and Opportunity Act] agreement, signed in 2000, which allows tariff-free exports to the United States. South African manufactured motor cars and agricultural exports would be hit should AGOA not be renewed,” he added. As of 2024, 32 sub-Saharan countries are eligible for AGOA benefits.
“Another indicator will be whether Trump attends the upcoming G20 in South Africa.”
Ramaphosa had promised South Africans that he would present a trade deal to the US, so he talked about the history of economic cooperation between Washington and Pretoria, and dangled access to “rare earth minerals”.
“We’ve got critical minerals that you want to fuel the growth of your own economy and reindustrialise. So, we have that on offer, including rare earth minerals,” Ramaphosa told Trump.
South Africa holds large reserves of gold, platinum group metals, chrome ore, manganese ore, zirconium, vanadium and titanium.
Critical minerals are important for the manufacturing of clean energy and machinery and for the production of technology including mobile phones, solar panels and electric vehicles. In March, Trump invoked wartime powers to direct federal agencies to identify mines and government-owned land that could be exploited to boost the production of critical minerals.
South Africa is one of many countries eager to forge a new trade deal with the US in order to avoid Trump’s threat of punishing tariffs. On April 2, which Trump called “liberation day,” he slapped a 31 percent reciprocal tariff on South Africa, currently on a 90-day pause. The US’s universal 10 percent tariff on overseas goods remains in place, including for South Africa.
In 2023, 7 percent of South Africa’s exports went to the US and 6.4 percent of its imports came from the US, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).
While the two countries did not confirm a trade agreement at Wednesday’s meeting, Ramaphosa told reporters afterwards that the discussion was “a great success”. He added that he presented a framework for a trade deal to Trump, and the two agreed to continue having discussions to figure out the specifics of this deal.
This was not the first time a foreign leader has faced a hostile atmosphere in the Oval Office.
Manchester United’s decline on and off the field has been laid bare for a number of years but was placed in even sharper focus with their defeat by Tottenham in the Europa League final.
It was a zero-sum game on Wednesday: Winner goes into the Champions League – plus the UEFA Super Cup game in August – and loser is out of Europe next season and gets nothing.
Tottenham won a painfully drab match 1-0.
As football finance expert Kieran Maguire noted on Thursday, the defeat came despite United having higher revenue than Tottenham and spending 64% more on wages for a more expensively acquired squad of players. Tottenham also beat United twice in the Premier League this season, and in the domestic League Cup.
“If I was teaching this at management school (I) would conclude that there is something seriously wrong with the culture of the organisation… which is set by senior management,” Maguire wrote on X.
Beyond the loss of sporting opportunities and reputational prestige, the club owned by the Glazer family from the United States and British billionaire industrialist Jim Ratcliffe has short-term and long-term financial hits ahead.
No Champions League play next season is an instant loss of at least 80 million euros ($90m), and approaching 150 million euros ($169m) for a run deep into the knockout stage.
United also misses out on the 4 million euros ($4.5m) Tottenham will get from UEFA for playing the Super Cup against the Champions League titleholder – either Inter Milan or Paris Saint-Germain – on August 13 at Udinese’s stadium in Italy. The winner gets a bonus of 1 million euros ($1.1m).
After failing to qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup – which has a $1bn prize fund from FIFA and should pay more than $100m to a successful European team – United is now far behind in qualifying for the 2029 edition.
European teams qualify for the FIFA event only by being in the Champions League, either winning the title or building consistent results over four seasons.
United already will miss the entire first half of the 2024-28 qualifying period, and it is hard to project the team that last won the Premier League 12 years ago both qualifying for and then winning a Champions League title within three years.
One clear solution to growing financial issues and the ability to comply with Premier League rules is selling the club’s best players, like captain Bruno Fernandes and out-of-favour forward Marcus Rashford, or its homegrown prospects. Some already earn high wages that are problematic for potential buyers.
A talent drain risks speeding a spiral of decline on and off the field if coach Ruben Amorim is left trying to rebuild with a weaker pool of players.
While United is still one of Europe’s highest-earning clubs, UEFA’s annual research shows its advantage is in decline, even though revenue was a club record 661.8 million pounds ($887m) last year.
A UEFA chart showed that over five years from 2019-24 – pre-COVID-19 through to the post-pandemic recovery in the football industry – United’s revenue grew at a slower rate than all of its biggest English rivals except Chelsea.
Revenue now risks dropping, and another income cut is coming from falling to 16th in the Premier League standings with one round left on Sunday.
Premier League prize money based on final position in the standings means dropping from eighth a year ago to 16th is a difference of 22 million pounds ($29.5m) less.
It all adds up to another loss-making season after a 113.2 million pounds ($152m) deficit last season. The three previous years totaled losses of 236 million pounds ($316m).
The Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) allow clubs to lose 105 million pounds ($140.7m) over a three-year period or face sanctions, though United can cite some exemptions.
Ratcliffe, who has operational control despite being a minority shareholder, is already the public face of unpopular cuts to jobs and staff benefits, and rising ticket prices for fans.