First Thing: IDF claims control of Gaza side of Rafah crossing amid ceasefire talks
Good morning.
Israel’s military has confirmed it has gained control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a main strategic goal concerning the only entry point from Egypt for humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel has told Palestinians in parts of eastern Rafah to evacuate to an “expanded humanitarian area” to the city’s west and north before a ground incursion. Aid officials said the flow of aid through the crossing had been stopped.
The operation is happening prior to a new round of ceasefire negotiations in Cairo, after an announcement by Hamas on Monday night that the group would accept a recent proposal for a deal. Israeli officials said they would send negotiators to continue talks, though the terms of the proposal did not meet their key demands.
What has the response been? The US, EU and others have long warned against the Rafah offensive. The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Israel’s determination to press on with the assault would lead to more civilian deaths, “whatever they say”, and that “there are no safe zones in Gaza”.
Trump trial continues after judge threatens jail over gag order breaches
Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial continued for a 13th day on Tuesday, after the judge warned the former president he could face jail if he kept breaching a gag order.
Juan Merchan held Trump in criminal contempt for the 10th time on Monday, days after the judge fined him $9,000 because of comments breaching the order prohibiting him from discussing witnesses or jurors.
Monday’s proceedings heard testimony from Deborah Tarasoff, a Trump Organization accounts payable supervisor, and Jeffrey McConney, the company’s former comptroller, which sought to position Trump at the heart of his company and personal finances.
What did the testimony include? Tarasoff said Trump personally signed reimbursement checks to his “fixer” Michael Cohen, who made the payment to the adult movie star Stormy Daniels who is at the heart of the case.
What does it mean for the case? It weakens the defense’s claim that Trump was distant from the payments.
Pro-Palestinian student protesters break through police fencing at MIT
Pro-Palestinian protesters who had been prevented by police from reaching an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology broke through fencing on Monday and encircled the tents that remained.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group was demanding an end to the killing of thousands of civilians in Gaza, and protesting against the university’s “direct research ties to the Israeli ministry of defense”.
The latest escalation in the campus protests came as Columbia University scrapped its university-wide commencement ceremony amid weeks of protests and arrests, with smaller events planned instead. Emory University announced it would move its ceremony from its Atlanta campus to a suburban arena.
What about UCLA? After last week’s attack on pro-Palestinian protesters by a mob of “instigators”, and criticism of authorities’ slow reaction to it, the university has said it will form an office for campus safety. It has moved all classes online this week.
In other news …
The US and most EU countries will boycott Vladimir Putin’s inauguration ceremony as he begins a fresh six-year term as president on Tuesday, after elections that the US and others do not consider to have been “free and fair”.
BP has said it would cut $2bn in costs by the end of 2026 after its profits for the first quarter of 2024 fell to $2.7bn, compared with $5bn last year. This was owing to falling gas prices and an unplanned outage at a large US refinery.
An accused serial killer in Canada has admitted to killing four Indigenous women. The development on Monday prompted prosecutors in Winnipeg to agree to a judge-only trial, while the defendant’s lawyers argued a mental disorder meant he was not criminally responsible.
Stat of the day: just 2.1% of donor money goes to local aid organizations
Many NGOs are increasingly recognizing that local charities can deliver more at a much lower cost, though concerns remain over a lack of audited accounts in some smaller organizations. But while the idea of localizing aid goes mainstream, the numbers show there is still a long way to go in practice: just 2.1% of donor money goes to local organisations, either directly or indirectly, according to the research consultancy Development Initiatives.
Don’t miss this: the inside story of Four Weddings and a Funeral
The low-budget romcom about Britain’s upper middle classes came out of nowhere in 1994 to become a huge hit, launching the career of Hugh Grant and boosting that of its writer Richard Curtis. Three decades on, the Guardian’s Ann Lee hears how it was made and costs were kept low – from waiting around for hours for the bus to borrowing “tails and black ties”.
Climate check: ‘I’ve only the clothes on my back’ – people swept away by floods in Kenya
In Kenya, torrential rains have caused devastating floods, killing at least 228 people, displacing thousands and leading the government to shut schools indefinitely. The crisis has put a spotlight on the country’s infrastructure and slum housing. Edna Odhiambo, a climate action lawyer, says: “We can attribute the intensity [of the rains] to the El Niño phenomenon and climate change, but what we need to separate is the cause and its effects – the havoc we are seeing caused by the floods is a planning problem.”
Last Thing: the best (and … other) Met Gala 2024 looks
This year’s theme was JG Ballard’s 1962 short story The Garden of Time, so you can expect lots of outfits playing with ideas of decay and the “underbelly of nature”, but also, as usual, a few that seemed to have let the theme pass them by.
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