Good morning.
A prominent Al Jazeera journalist who had previously been threatened by Israel has been killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike.
Anas al-Sharif, who was one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable faces in Gaza, was killed while inside a tent for journalists outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City last night.
Seven people in total were killed in the attack, including Al Jazeera’s correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.
What did Israel say about the attack? The Israel Defense Forces admitted the strike and claimed the reporter had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation”. It claimed it had intelligence and documents found in Gaza as proof, but rights advocates said he had been targeted for his frontline reporting on the Gaza war and that Israel’s claim lacked evidence.
What else is going on in the region? Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his plan to take control of Gaza City in the face of widespread international outrage.
JD Vance’s attempt to link Democrats to Epstein revives calls to ‘release the files’
Four days after JD Vance reportedly asked senior Trump administration officials to come up with a new communications strategy for dealing with the scandal around the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he appears to have put his foot in it, sparking a new round of online outrage even as he tried to defuse the furor.
In an interview with Fox News broadcast yesterday, the vice-president tried to deflect criticism of the administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files by blaming Democrats.
“And now President Trump has demanded full transparency from this. And yet somehow the Democrats are attacking him and not the Biden administration, which did nothing for four years,” he said.
What was the reaction to the interview? Within minutes of the Fox News interview being broadcast, social media began to hum with renewed cries of “release the files!” Jon Favreau, Barack Obama’s former head speechwriter, said: “Release the names! Democrats, Republicans, billionaires, or not. What are you afraid of, JD Vance?”
Colorado prison evacuated as wildfire becomes one of largest in state history
A Colorado prison was evacuated as one of the largest wildfires in state history continued to grow, and officials advised residents of remote areas to be ready to leave yesterday as gusty winds and low humidity fed the flames.
Evacuation orders were in place for mountain communities as the Lee fire charred more than 167 sq miles (433 sq km) across Garfield and Rio Blanco counties. No injuries or structural damage have been reported.
The Lee fire, churning through trees and brush about 250 miles west of Denver, is now the sixth-largest single fire in the state’s history.
Where were the prisoners evacuated to? All 179 incarcerated people were safely removed from the Rifle correctional center on Saturday and temporarily relocated about 150 miles away at the Buena Vista correctional complex.
In other news …
In a social media post yesterday, Donald Trump demanded homeless people in Washington DC leave the capital or face eviction, promising to use federal officers to jail criminals.
Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the US government 15% of their revenues from chip sales in China, under an unprecedented arrangement to obtain export licenses for the semiconductors, the Financial Times reported.
Europe’s leaders have raised the pressure on Donald Trump to involve Ukraine in a planned summit with Vladimir Putin, as Germany warned the White House against any deal hatched “over the heads of Europeans and Ukrainians”.
Stat of the day: Tiny fireball that crashed into Georgia home is 4.56bn-year-old meteorite, say experts
A cherry tomato-sized fireball that crashed through the roof of a metro Atlanta house in June was a meteorite 20m years older than Earth, a scientist has determined. Scott Harris, a planetary geologist, established that samples came from a meteorite that formed 4.56bn years ago. Experts estimate Earth is roughly 4.54bn years old.
Don’t miss this: ‘I was too good’ – Sharon Stone on stardom, family secrets, sexual abuse – and her comeback after a stroke
She became famous with Basic Instinct and Casino. Then she had a near fatal brain bleed. Incredibly, she made a full recovery, but offers of work dried up. “In those days, as a woman, if something happened to you, you were done,” she says. The actor and artist discusses strength and survival.
… or this: I thought we’d entered the age of body positivity. Then came ‘shrinking girl summer’
It’s been the year of weight-loss drugs, with celebrities seemingly disappearing before our eyes. For those of us left behind, it’s both a torment and a temptation, writes Rose Stokes.
Climate check: The Guardian view on climate finance – crumbling under a second Trump presidency
The election of Donald Trump has created an environment of impunity where businesses no longer need to even pay lip service to progress. Fossil fuel companies donated $19m to Trump’s inauguration fund. So far, their investment has paid off.
Last Thing: Love? Actually, no: Emma Thompson reveals Donald Trump asked her on a date
Emma Thompson has revealed she once got asked out on a date by Donald Trump on the same day her divorce was confirmed. She joked she could have altered geopolitics if she’d accepted Trump’s offer: “I could have changed the course of American history.”
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