Thousands rallied in New York for a ‘Mass March for Humanity’ demanding an end to Israel’s imposed starvation of Gaza and the complicity of the US. Protesters honoured slain journalists, including Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, and accused Israel of targeting media workers.
More than 300 people have died in Pakistan after days of relentless monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides. Rescue efforts are still underway as thousands remain stranded, as homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods have been devastated.
Say you are the president of the United States and the relationship with a significant chunk of your political base has become less than blissfully harmonious. What do you do?
Well, one option is to stage a summit, accompanied by much fanfare, with the president of Russia, ostensibly in order to end that country’s war in Ukraine.
And this is precisely the manoeuvre that was pulled by US President Donald Trump, who on Friday rolled out the red carpet in Alaska for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The short-lived encounter was ultimately anticlimactic, with Trump offering the incisive assessment that “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
Fox News reported that Trump had rated the much-anticipated meeting with Putin a “10” out of 10 and that he particularly “appreciated the Russian president’s comments when he claimed he would not have invaded Ukraine had Trump won the 2020 presidency”.
Fox went on to add that neither head of state had bothered to specify the “reasoning behind these comments”.
At any rate, the no-deal talks constituted a convenient distraction from current intra-MAGA strife, which owes to a couple of factors. There is, for example, the matter of the files relating to the late Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
When US Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed Trump in May on the Justice Department’s review of the content of the so-called “Epstein files”, she reportedly informed the president that his name appeared therein.
Despite having pledged while on the campaign trail to declassify the Epstein files, Trump changed tack earlier this year and angrily dismissed the investigation as a “hoax”. He went as far as to insult many of his Republican followers as “stupid” and “foolish” for continuing to insist that the Epstein details be released.
On July 12, the president took to social media with his signature preference for manic capitalisation to berate those demanding declassification: “We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
And yet this is not the only headache facing the “PERFECT Administration” from within Trump’s own MAGA base, many of whose prominent members have become vocally critical of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, which Trump persists in aiding and abetting.
The genocide, which will mark its two-year anniversary in October, has officially killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians thus far – although the true death toll is undoubtedly many times higher. Apparently, Israel’s behaviour was entirely palatable to much of the US political establishment when it simply consisted of unending massacres, slaughtered and mutilated babies, bombed hospitals, and razed neighbourhoods.
Now that mass starvation has been visibly added to the genocidal mix, however, Israel seems to have crossed a red line even among formerly staunch devotees. As per Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the death toll from malnutrition has hit 251, including 108 children. Images of skeletal Palestinians have flooded the internet, and the United Nations World Food Programme has categorised food shortage in Gaza as “catastrophic”.
Furthermore, according to the UN, the Israeli military has killed at least 1,760 Palestinians since late May alone, as they sought aid, including at sites run by the nefarious so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Backed by the US and Israel, the GHF has not only served Israel’s plans for mass displacement and forced eviction of Palestinians; the aid distribution hubs have also functioned as a sort of one-stop shop for indiscriminate killing – which, after all, is the whole point of genocide.
And while Trump has intermittently chided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the disagreeable optics of the whole spectacle, it has not been sufficient to appease the scrutiny of the likes of right-wing US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a traditional ally of the president known for such antics as wearing a hat imprinted with the words “Trump Was Right About Everything!”
In a social media post last month, Greene – a leading figure in Trump’s MAGA movement – was unexpectedly explicit in her condemnation of “the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza”. Other MAGA fixtures like far-right influencer Laura Loomer – a self-defined “proud Islamophobe” and general bona fide sociopath – wasted no time in responding to Greene’s post: “There is no genocide in Gaza.”
Anyway, political tensions and infighting were at least temporarily removed from the spotlight by the Trump-Putin extravaganza in Alaska. It’s hardly the first time the old art of distraction has come in handy – Trump’s pal, Netanyahu, is the master of this trade. His commitment to waging genocide in Gaza has more than a little to do with his desire to stave off domestic opposition and avoid dealing with the assorted corruption charges in which he is presently embroiled.
And while the Alaskan red-carpet stunt provided little to write home about, distraction may yet prevail as folks ponder what the hell that was all about.
The Israeli navy has carried out attacks on a power plant near the Yemeni capital Sanaa, according to Israeli media reports.
Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported on Saturday that the “aggression” damaged generators at the Hezyaz power plant, sparking a fire that was later contained. The country’s deputy prime minister confirmed emergency crews managed to prevent further damage. Residents in Sanaa also reported hearing at least two loud explosions.
The Israeli military claimed that the site was being used by Houthi fighters. But it did not present evidence to justify hitting a civilian power station, raising concerns that the strike may constitute a war crime.
In a statement carried by Israeli outlets on Sunday, the military said the assault was a direct response to repeated Houthi attacks, including missiles and drones launched towards Israel.
The Houthis have repeatedly fired rockets and drones at Israel since 2023 in response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Israel has retaliated by bombing Yemen’s infrastructure, including Hodeidah port, a vital lifeline for humanitarian aid deliveries.
Israel has also attacked Yemen’s international airport, claiming it was being used by Houthis.
Most Houthi projectiles aimed at Israel have been intercepted, but the exchanges have widened the regional fallout of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The United States and the United Kingdom have also carried out bombings in Yemen as the Houthis attacked ships linked to Israel passing through the Red Sea. Houthis said the move, which disrupted global trade passing through the waterway, was in response to Israel’s war and blockade of Gaza.
In May, Washington announced a surprise truce with the group, halting its bombing campaign in exchange for an end to Houthi attacks on US-linked vessels in the Red Sea. The Houthis insisted the deal did not apply to their operations against Israel.
US forces had carried out hundreds of air raids in Yemen, killing more than 250 people, before the ceasefire was declared. US President Donald Trump said the truce would “stop the bombing”.
Protesters have clashed with riot police in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, and other cities, on the fifth consecutive night of demonstrations against the government of right-wing President Aleksandar Vucic.
Clashes also broke out in Belgrade late on Saturday after police stopped demonstrators heading for the governing Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) headquarters.
Late on Saturday, thousands gathered in the central city of Valjevo to show their growing anger against the government, while a small group of masked young men attacked the empty offices of the governing SNS party, setting them alight.
They subsequently clashed with riot police, with protesters throwing fireworks and rocks as the officers responded with stun grenades and tear gas.
Some clashes were also reported in the northern city of Novi Sad, the country’s second largest.
Almost daily protests have gripped Serbia since November, following the collapse of a railway station roof that killed 16 people.
The tragedy became a symbol of deep-rooted corruption in the Balkan nation, with demands for a transparent investigation growing into calls for early elections.
At their height, the protests drew hundreds of thousands onto the streets.
However, the mostly peaceful demonstrations deteriorated earlier this week when large groups of pro-government supporters – many masked and some armed with batons and fireworks – attacked protesters.
That has led to violent clashes for several nights, leaving many injured on both sides.
Protests were further heightened after several videos shared online showed police striking unarmed demonstrators with batons.
Police have denied allegations of brutality, accusing demonstrators of attacking officers.
While the protests have so far led to the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of the government, President Vucic has remained defiant.
Hurricane Erin, the first hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season, is a Category 3, the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, downgrading the storm from Category 4 as the wind speed eased slightly.
The storm was 330 miles (530km) southeast of Grand Turk Island packing maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph), the NHC added early on Sunday.
The hurricane had been gauged as high as a catastrophic Category 5 with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (240 kph), then downgraded to a Category 4. It had earlier been forecast to strengthen into this week.
On Sunday, Erin was moving west-northwest at nearly 14 mph (22 kph) with a decrease in forward speed expected on Sunday and a turn to the north on Monday and Tuesday, the NHC said.
Swells generated by Erin will continue to affect parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands for the next couple of days, the NHC said. These swells will spread to the Bahamas, Bermuda, the east coast of the United States, and Atlantic Canada during the early and middle portions of the week.
Rough ocean conditions will likely cause life-threatening surf and rip currents, the NHC added.
The Bahamas, which provides some meteorological services for the Turks and Caicos Islands, has issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the British islands to its southeast.
Erin has also raised concerns about wildfire risks, if human-caused sparks ignite parched vegetation and strong dry winds fan the flames. BMS Group Senior Meteorologist Andrew Siffert said these conditions could arise if Erin grows into a powerful offshore storm prompted by colliding warm and cold air rather than tropical seas.
The US government has deployed more than 200 employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies as a precaution. Puerto Rico Housing Secretary Ciary Perez Pena said 367 shelters were inspected and ready to open if needed.
Officials in the Bahamas are also preparing shelters and urging people to monitor the storm’s progress.
Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 and is expected to be unusually busy. Six to 10 hurricanes are predicted for the season, including three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 177km/h (110mph).
Scientists have linked rapid intensification of hurricanes in the Atlantic to climate change. Global warming is causing the atmosphere to hold more water vapour and is spiking ocean temperatures, and warmer waters give hurricanes fuel to unleash more rain and strengthen more quickly.