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SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt — President Trump arrived in Egypt on Monday for a global summit on Gaza’s future as he tries to advance peace in the Middle East after visiting Israel to celebrate a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.

The whirlwind trip, which included a speech at the Knesset in Jerusalem earlier in the day, comes at a fragile moment of hope for ending two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

“Everybody said it’s not possible to do. And it’s going to happen. And it is happening before your very eyes,” Trump said alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

More than two dozen countries are expected to be represented at the summit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited but declined, with his office saying it was too close to a Jewish holiday.

Despite unanswered questions about next steps in Gaza, which has been devastated during the conflict, Trump is determined to seize an opportunity to chase an elusive regional harmony.

“You’ve won,” he told Israeli lawmakers at the Knesset, which welcomed him as a hero. “Now it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.”

Trump promised to help rebuild Gaza, and he urged Palestinians to “turn forever from the path of terror and violence.”

“After tremendous pain and death and hardship,” he said, “now is the time to concentrate on building their people up instead of trying to tear Israel down.”

Trump even made a gesture to Iran, where he bombed three nuclear sites during the country’s brief war with Israel earlier this year, by saying “the hand of friendship and cooperation is always open.”

Trump is on a whirlwind trip to Middle East

Trump arrived in Egypt hours late because speeches at the Knesset continued longer than expected.

“They might not be there by the time I get there, but we’ll give it a shot,” Trump joked after needling Israeli leaders for talking so much.

Twenty hostages were released Monday as part of an agreement intended to end the war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, with an attack by Hamas-led militants. Trump talked with some of their families at the Knesset.

“Your name will be remembered to generations,” a woman told him.

Israeli lawmakers chanted Trump’s name and gave him standing ovation after standing ovation. Some people in the audience wore red hats that resembled his “Make America Great Again” caps, although these versions said “Trump, The Peace President.”

Netanyahu hailed Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” and he promised to work with him going forward.

“Mr. President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace,” he said. “And together, Mr. President, we will achieve this peace.”

Trump, in an unexpected detour during his speech, called on the Israeli president to pardon Netanyahu, whom he described as “one of the greatest” wartime leaders. Netanyahu faces corruption charges, although several hearings have been postponed during the conflict with Hamas.

The Republican president also used the opportunity to settle political scores and thank his supporters, criticizing Democratic predecessors and praising a top donor, Miriam Adelson, in the audience.

Trump pushes to reshape the region

The moment remains fragile, with Israel and Hamas still in the early stages of implementing the first phase of Trump’s plan.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement calls for the release of the final hostages held by Hamas; the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel; a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza; and a partial pullback by Israeli forces from Gaza’s main cities.

Trump has said there’s a window to reshape the region and reset long-fraught relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

“The war is over, OK?” Trump told reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One.

“I think people are tired of it,” he said, emphasizing that he believed the ceasefire would hold because of that.

He said the chance of peace was enabled by his Republican administration’s support of Israel’s decimation of Iranian proxies, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The White House said momentum is also building because Arab and Muslim states are demonstrating a renewed focus on resolving the broader, decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, in some cases, deepening relations with the United States.

In February, Trump had predicted that Gaza could be redeveloped into what he called “the Riviera of the Middle East.” But on Sunday aboard Air Force One, he was more circumspect.

“I don’t know about the Riviera for a while,” Trump said. “It’s blasted. This is like a demolition site.” But he said he hoped to one day visit the territory. “I’d like to put my feet on it, at least,” he said.

The sides have not agreed on Gaza’s postwar governance, the territory’s reconstruction and Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm. Negotiations over those issues could break down, and Israel has hinted it may resume military operations if its demands are not met.

Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, and the territory’s roughly 2 million residents continue to struggle in desperate conditions. Under the deal, Israel agreed to reopen five border crossings, which will help ease the flow of food and other supplies into Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine.

Roughly 200 U.S. troops will help support and monitor the ceasefire deal as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector players.

Superville and Megerian write for the Associated Press. Megerian reported from Washington. AP writers Will Weissert and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.

Madagascar’s presidency says “an attempt to seize power illegally and by force” is under way, a day after soldiers from an elite military unit joined a youth-led protest against the government.

“In view of the extreme gravity of this situation, the President of the Republic … strongly condemns this attempt at destabilization and calls upon all forces of the nation to unite in defence of constitutional order and national sovereignty,” President Andry Rajoelina’s office said in a statement on Sunday.

The statement did not identify who was behind what it identified as an attempted coup, but members of the elite CAPSAT military unit, which once installed Rajoelina in power, said it has taken over control of the armed forces after three weeks of deadly Gen Z protests.

“From now on, all orders of the Malagasy army – whether land, air or [naval] – will originate from CAPSAT headquarters,” officers from CAPSAT’s administrative and technical contingent said in a video message on Saturday.

It was not clear whether other units of the army would follow the order.

In the face of snowballing protests, Rajoelina faces the gravest political crisis of his rule of the African nation.

So what’s happening in Madagascar? Is this the end for Rajoelina? And what do the Gen Z protesters want?

What’s the latest?

The protests by a group calling itself Gen Z Madagascar have spilled onto the streets for a third week. Saturday witnessed one of the largest protests since the unrest began last month over a range of issues, including a cost of living crisis and corruption.

Addressing crowds of protesters from an armoured vehicle, Colonel Michael Randrianirina of the CAPSAT unit, said on Saturday: “Do we call this a coup? I don’t know yet.”

The CAPSAT officers said they had named General Demosthene Pikulas as the head of the army, a post that has been vacant since its former occupant was appointed minister of the armed forces last week, the AFP news agency reported. However, it was not clear if the posting could be considered official.

There was no immediate response from other units or the existing military command.

On Saturday, a group of soldiers clashed with gendarmes at a barracks before driving into the city to join the Gen Z protesters calling for Rajoelina to step down.

Why are antigovernment protests happening in Madagascar?

On September 25, young protesters started demonstrations against water and electricity shortages, inspired by a wave of Gen Z-led protest movements in countries including Kenya, Indonesia, Morocco, Nepal and Bangladesh.

They soon escalated and snowballed into calling for the end of Rajoelina’s rule, dismantling the Senate and ending privileges for business owners perceived to be close to the president. They also want Rajoelina to apologise for the violence, in which at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured, according to the United Nations.

Madagascar – an island nation off the east coast of Africa with a population of more than 31 million people, 80 percent of whom are affected by severe poverty – has a history of political crises. Several leaders have been forced out in uprisings since it gained independence from France in 1960.

The Gen Z protesters are demanding “radical change to build a free, egalitarian and united society”.

Among the issues they aim to address are systemic corruption, embezzlement of public funds, nepotism, failures in access to basic services and education, and a vibrant democracy.

Rajoelina, 51, first rose to prominence in 2009 after leading protests against the government as the mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, which resulted in a military-backed overthrow of President Marc Ravalomanana.

A military council took power and handed it over to Rajoelina as transitional leader. Later, in 2018, he was elected as president and then again in 2023 when the vote was boycotted by opposition parties.

What’s Gen Z Madagascar?

Gen Z Madagascar’s logo is a pirate skull and crossbones. The image from the Japanese comic series One Piece has become central to the global wave of Gen Z protests and is worn by generally black-clothed demonstrators in Madagascar.

From Kenya to Nepal, this image from the series, which follows the adventures of a young pirate and his crew against an authoritarian government, has come to symbolise the Gen Z movements.

In Madagascar, the image has been personalised by adding a traditional Madagascan hat on the skull.

The group has its own website, a presence on social media platforms and a GoFundMe page to raise money. Their website header reads: “Political movement of young people, by young people, for Madagascar”.

“They didn’t want to hear us in the streets,” the website says. “Today, thanks to digital technology and the voice of Generation Z, we will make our voices heard at the table of power on the opposition side. To put an end to 16 years of inaction, let’s demand transparency, accountability and deep reforms.”

Responding to Rajoelina’s offer for talks, the protesters said in a statement: “We do not reach out to a regime that every day crushes those who stand up for justice. This government talks about dialogue but rules with weapons.”

The Madagascan protesters are being compared to youth-led protest movements in Bangladesh, Nepal and Kenya, which have forced political change. In Nepal, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was forced to resign after mass protests last month while Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee to neighbouring India after a student-led uprising in August 2024.

Across the world, Gen Z, or people below 30, are leading a new wave of protests. Unlike traditional movements, these demonstrations are often organised online, using platforms like TikTok and Discord to spread messages, plan actions and connect with other young people.

From Africa to Asia and Latin America, Gen Z protesters are demonstrating against corruption, economic hardships, climate inaction and social inequality, calling for an overhaul of the system.

What has the government said?

Prime Minister Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo, speaking on the state-run TVM channel late on Saturday, said the government was “fully ready to listen and engage in dialogue with all factions – youth, unions or the military”.

Zafisambo was appointed by Rajoelina after he dissolved the previous government last week in response to the protests. However, the move failed to assuage public anger.

The army’s chief of staff, General Jocelyn Rakotoson, later made a statement broadcast on local media urging citizens to “assist the security forces in restoring order through dialogue”.

AFP via Getty Images

AFP via Getty Images

EPA / Shutterstock

More on Madagascar’s crisis:

Getty Images/BBC

A TOP Putin crony has warned the Kremlin might seize the “valuables of the British Crown” if the UK supports Ukraine with money from frozen Russian assets.

Ex-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused “British thieves” of giving Russian money to “neo-Nazis” in a deranged rant on social media.

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It comes after Britain announced a fresh £1 billion support package for Ukraine’s fight against Moscow.

The money for this aid boost was raised using frozen Russian assets, Defence Secretary John Healey revealed.

But in a chilling post on Telegram, Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, threatened revenge from Moscow.

In his bizarre ramblings, he even referred to Foreign Secretary David Lammy as an “English idiot”.

Close Putin ally Medvedev accused Britain of giving Russian money to “neo-Nazis” – in reference to a false Kremlin claim that Ukraine is run by Nazis.

“Consequences? Britain committed an offence,” he posted.

“But given that this money cannot be recovered through legal proceedings for obvious reasons, our country has only one way to return the valuables.

“Return what was seized in kind.”

He further threatened to take hold of additional Ukrainian land “and movable property located on it”.

Medvedev has long been one of Moscow’s most vocal cheerleaders for Russia’s monstrous invasion of Ukraine.

The Putin lackey added that the Kremlin would respond to any “illegal seizure” of frozen funds by “confiscating the valuables of the British Crown”.

“There are still enough of them in different places, including those located in Russia,” he said.

The UK and other Western nations have imposed bruising sanctions on Russia since Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine.

Medvedev’s comments come as members of the pro-Kyiv “Coalition of the Willing” held talks yesterday over future security guarantees for the war-torn nation.

Around 30 leaders came to Paris or joined via video link to hash out plans for what comes next if a peace deal is reached.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among those to join the summit remotely.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister emphasised that the group had an unbreakable pledge to Ukraine, with President Trump’s backing.

“And it was clear they now needed to go even further to apply pressure on Putin to secure a cessation of hostilities.

“The Prime Minister also welcomed announcements from coalition of the willing partners to supply long-range missiles to Ukraine to further bolster the country’s supplies.”

Medvedev’s ramblings are not the only recent threats against Britain from Kremlin mouthpieces.

Another Putin propagandist has threatened to sink the UK with a new high-speed torpedo.

Vladimir Solovyov called for a Poseidon nuclear torpedo to unleash a tidal wave over Britain and drown the entire population.

He said on Russian state television: “I am not calling for anything, about anything, in any way, I am simply stating – the British say their task is to inflict strategic defeat on us.

“Well, let them say it from underwater.”

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Israeli troops have begun advancing on Gaza City as part of the military’s plan to besiege and occupy the area. Despite a global outcry, the Netanyahu government is pressing forward with the assault. Soraya Lennie explains what we know.

At least 81 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks and forced starvation since dawn as the Israeli military said it had begun the first stages of its planned assault to seize the enclave’s largest urban centre, Gaza City, where close to a million people remain in perilous conditions.

Three other Palestinians starved to death in the besieged enclave on Wednesday, bringing the total count of hunger-related deaths to 269, including 112 children.

Israeli attacks included a strike on a tent housing displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza that killed three people.

Mohammed Shaalan, a prominent former Palestinian national basketball player, was the latest victim of shootings at GHF aid distribution points, as Israeli forces shot him dead in southern Gaza. At least 30 aid seekers were killed on Wednesday.

Gaza has been stalked by famine as Israel’s punishing blockade and ongoing assault have choked off food, fuel, and medical supplies.

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned that malnutrition is rising across Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing aid blockade. “This isn’t just hunger. This is starvation,” WFP said.

“Malnutrition is a silent killer,” the agency said, noting that it causes “lifelong developmental damage” and weakens immune systems, “making common illnesses deadly”.

This isn’t just hunger. This is starvation.

Malnutrition in #Gaza is rising fast – with more children and mothers showing severe signs.

Malnutrition is a silent killer:
🔴 Weakens immune systems, making common illnesses deadly
🔴 Causes stunting & lifelong developmental damage… pic.twitter.com/nEmqSsJX7M

— World Food Programme (@WFP) August 20, 2025

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says nearly one in every three Palestinian children in Gaza City is now malnourished.

Israeli rights group Gisha has debunked a series of Israeli government talking points that seek to minimise and evade responsibility for the starvation crisis unfolding across all of Gaza.

Despite Israel’s claim that the United Nations is to blame for a lack of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, Gisha says that “Israel has used its control over aid entry as a weapon of war since day one” of its military offensive.

“Israel has created and continues to create conditions that make the transfer of aid into Gaza almost impossible,” it said.

Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire and described the conditions its staff are working under in Gaza as dire.

“We are working under catastrophic conditions,” said Dr Hind, a UNRWA physician in Gaza.

Another health worker said staff often walked distances “under the scorching sun” just to reach their posts before working to deliver care “to our people in dire need of help”.

Gaza’s civil defence has, meanwhile, sounded the alarm over the severity of the fuel crisis in the enclave, saying the lack of fuel is compromising its ability to respond to emergency and rescue situations.

“Many times, our vehicles have stopped on the way to missions, some due to fuel shortages and others due to a lack of spare parts for maintenance,” a statement by the civil defence said. “We face major humanitarian challenges amid the ongoing threats of an escalation in the Israeli war of extermination.”

Another wave of ‘mass displacement’

The strikes come as Israel’s military said that it will call up 60,000 reservists in the coming weeks as it pushes forward with a plan to seize Gaza City, which has come under relentless attacks over the last several weeks. A military spokesperson said the first stages of its assault on the city have begun.

Close to one million Palestinians are reportedly trapped in the area, where Israeli tanks have been pushing closer to the city’s centre this week. Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres, expressed concern over the army’s operations in Gaza City, which he said would “create another mass displacement of people who’ve been displaced repeatedly” since the war began.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Israeli forces have been intensifying attacks in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, as well as Jabalia in the north.

“That includes ongoing explosions from systematic demolitions of homes. This is a very effective strategy by the Israeli military, which funnels down into one main goal: emptying the Gaza Strip of its population by depriving people from having something as basic as a home,” Mahmoud said.

“People are leaving behind their belongings, their food supplies that they managed to get in the past few weeks,” he added.

Relatives of Israeli captives held in Gaza have condemned the Israeli Defence Ministry’s approval of the plan to seize Gaza City and accused the government of ignoring a ceasefire proposal approved by Hamas, saying it was “a stab in the heart of the families and the public in Israel”.

Hamas says the Israeli military’s push into Gaza City is a clear sign that Israel plans to continue “its brutal war against innocent civilians” and aims to destroy the Palestinian city and displace its residents.

“Netanyahu’s disregard for the mediators’ proposal and his failure to respond to it proves that he is the true obstructionist of any agreement, that he does not care about the lives of [Israeli captives], and that he is not serious about their return,” the Palestinian group said.

The Gaza City offensive, which was announced earlier this month, comes amid heightened international condemnation of Israel’s ban on food and medicine reaching Gaza and fears of another forced exodus of Palestinians.

“What we’re seeing in Gaza is nothing short of apocalyptic reality for children, for their families, and for this generation,” Ahmed Alhendawi, regional director of Save the Children, said in an interview. “The plight and the struggle of this generation of Gaza is beyond being described in words.”

Mediators, meanwhile, continue to pursue efforts to secure a ceasefire in the 22-month war.

Qatar and Egypt have said they have been waiting for Israel’s response to the proposal, which Hamas had agreed to earlier this week.

The latest framework calls for a 60-day truce, a staggered exchange of captives and Palestinian prisoners, and expanded aid access.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the proposal, which is backed by the United States. Last week, he insisted any deal must ensure “all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war”. There have been further reports that the far-right government is holding to that line.

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said Arab states must pressure the US into getting Israel to agree to a ceasefire.

“Clearly, the Israelis are of two minds: One mind is recalling the reservists, issuing the plans, approving the plans for directly re-occupying the Gaza Strip [and] transferring its people from the north to the south in preparation for ethnically cleansing Gaza.”

“On the other hand, there is of course the domestic pressure … [and] the idea that Israel can secure the release of a few hostages alive and get involved in some sort of a longer[-term] deal,” Bishara said.

“Without Arab pressure on Washington, I think the Israelis will probably go with the first scenario.”

Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 62,122 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Israel’s military says it will call up 60,000 reservists and lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 reservists.

Israel will call up 60,000 reservists in the coming weeks as it pushes forward with a plan to seize Gaza City, the military has said, even as mediators pursue efforts to secure a ceasefire in the 22-month war.

The military said on Wednesday that Defence Minister Israel Katz approved plans to begin operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas, and that it would call up 60,000 reservists and lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 reservists.

The announcement comes as human rights groups warn that a humanitarian crisis could worsen in Gaza, where most residents have been displaced multiple times, neighbourhoods lie in ruins, and starvation deaths continue to rise amid the threat of widescale famine.

An Israeli military official told journalists that the new phase of combat would involve “a gradual precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City,” including some areas where forces had not previously operated.

The official said the military had already begun operating in the neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Jabalia as part of the initial stages.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from central Gaza, said residents are bracing for the worst as Israel pursues its plan to seize Gaza’s largest city, in an operation that could displace hundreds of thousands of people to concentration zones in the south of the territory.

Abu Azzoum said Israeli artillery has flattened rows of homes in eastern Gaza City as attacks intensified across densely populated areas.

“Last night was completely sleepless as Israeli drones and warplanes filled the skies, attacking and destroying homes and makeshift camps,” Abu Azzoum said.

He also described how a father in al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated so-called safe zone in southern Gaza, lost his children in an overnight strike. “He told us his children were sleeping peacefully when the Israeli missile tore through the tent and ripped their bodies apart.”

At least 35 Palestinians, including 10 people seeking aid, were killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, according to medical sources.

Israel’s plan to escalate its assault coincides with renewed mediation efforts led by Qatar and Egypt, with backing from the United States. The latest framework calls for a 60-day truce, a staggered exchange of captives and Palestinian prisoners, and expanded aid access.

While Qatar said the proposal was “almost identical” to a version Israel had previously accepted, Egypt stressed that “the ball is now in its (Israel’s) court.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the proposal. Last week, he insisted any deal must ensure “all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war”.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said his movement “opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past”.

The truce push comes amid mounting international criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war and growing domestic pressure on Netanyahu.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has said at least 62,064 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza started on October 7, 2023, most of them civilians. The United Nations regards the ministry’s figures as credible.

Democrats, bless their hearts, keep trying to figure out the magic formula to stop President Trump. But here’s a cold splash of reality: If Trump’s popularity ever collapses, it will probably be because of something completely beyond their control.

In 2020, it wasn’t some brilliant strategy that defeated Trump. It was COVID. A global pandemic. An act of God (or Wuhan).

This raises an uncomfortable thought: the next disruption — the one that might shake up the political snow globe again — will probably be much bigger than COVID. That looming disturbance is artificial intelligence.

In a recent Substack essay, Pete Buttigieg suggested that “the number one leadership challenge for world leaders, including the President of the United States, will be to manage the changes that AI is bringing about.” He goes on to note that “our president — and his opposition — have yet to make clear what their AI policies even are.”

He’s not wrong about the bipartisan lack of preparation. And for this reason, the political consequences are likely to be brutal for whichever party is in charge when the tipping point arrives and AI upends the lives of millions of Americans.

Trump still has three and a half years left on the clock — just enough time for AI to yank the rug out from under him. That’s a golden opportunity for Democrats, if they’re smart enough to capitalize on it.

But Democrats should hold off on gleefully penciling in 2028 as the year AI hands them the keys to the White House in perpetuity. Why? Because huge shocks to the system tend to empower either a) bold problem solvers or b) populist demagogues.

Lest we forget, the last seismic tech shift — the rise of the Information Age — gave us globalization, economic dislocation (for working-class Americans) and (eventually) Donald Trump.

This next disruption could be even more traumatic. AI isn’t just coming for truck drivers. It’s coming for legal assistants, graphic designers, junior software developers, even (ahem) writers. College graduates who spent decades believing their degree was a shield against obsolescence are about to get a taste of what coal miners, steelworkers, typists and travel agents have already endured.

When that happens, disenchanted moderates will radicalize, and income inequality will detonate. The people who build and control AI will obviously get filthy rich. So will superstar surgeons and elite litigators — people whose rarefied expertise and skills can’t be replicated remotely. But their legions of associates, researchers and paralegals will vanish like Blockbuster Video.

Now, for generations, lost jobs and industries were replaced by new ones — thanks to what economists call “creative destruction.” The buggy maker gave way to the auto industry and the auto mechanic, and society moved forward. But this time, the old rules may not apply — at least, not by virtue of some organic “invisible hand.”

If this shift is as severe and pervasive as many believe it will be (a huge caveat, to be sure), it won’t be solved by fiddling around with marginal tax rates or by mildly expanding unemployment benefits. It will require a vast reimagining of what the government does — the kind of thing that would make free-market purists break out in hives.

But here’s where it gets tricky for Democrats: They can’t simply hand displaced workers a check and call it a solution.

This is the core problem with universal basic income, often touted as the answer to AI-driven job losses. The modest $1,000-a-month figure that’s been floated is a joke. But even if the amount were higher, it would still have to be paired with meaningful work.

Something Democrats must learn: People don’t just want money. They crave dignity, purpose, belonging and a reason to get up in the morning.

That means thinking big and finding meaningful opportunities for the displaced to serve and provide value. Imagine one teacher for every five students in America’s public school and college classrooms. Imagine school buses with three adults instead of one overworked driver.

Imagine a national corps of well-paid nurses and physical therapists making regular visits to isolated seniors and providing full-time home healthcare.

Picture teams of young, tech-savvy Americans helping retirees navigate their iPads, iPhones, TVs and other devices — closing the digital divide for an entire generation.

Now, pair that with a bold expansion of union apprenticeships to train the next wave of electricians, plumbers and carpenters — alongside free college or vocational training in exchange for a year or two of national service.

It wouldn’t happen overnight. Managing this transition would require robust unemployment benefits — say, 90% of prior salary for a fixed period — not as welfare, but as an investment in people and a dividend on the value they’ve helped create by virtue of tax dollars (that built the internet) and data (that fuel automation). Because again, addressing the dilemma of job displacement is about more than money.

Which brings us to some important questions we had better answer.

What does it mean to be a citizen in a society when AI makes half of the labor market feel redundant? How do you retain your identity and sense of self-worth when the work you have dedicated your life to can be more efficiently done by artificial intelligence?

And how do we redeploy human beings — tens of millions of them — into roles that make life better for others and give them back the self-respect that comes from service?

AI might be the great test of our political age, and the party that passes this test will be remembered as our savior.

The party that fails this test will be remembered — if at all — as the one fiddling while Rome was automated.

Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) was seized by Senate police in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and carried into the Senate to answer a quorum call, but he was in good humor after the incident, joking: “I rather enjoyed it. I instructed four of my staff to get a sedan chair.”

Other Republicans, however, bridled at the arrest, which took place as Democratic and Republican lawmakers staged a lengthy fight over legislation that would limit spending on congressional elections. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said the action made the chamber look like “a banana republic.”

The incident–during which Packwood was carried feet-first into the Senate chamber by three plainclothes officers–highlighted the unusual intensity of the fight over the bill. Although Senate rules allow the sergeant-at-arms to compel absent members to attend sessions, it was the first time the procedure had been used since a 1942 filibuster over civil rights.

Vote Planned Friday

Senate leaders plan to vote Friday in an attempt to end Republican stalling tactics, but their strategists concede that campaign finance reform is probably dead for the rest of the year. Supporters of the bill vowed Wednesday to try to make it an election issue in the fall.

The arrest incident occurred after Senate aides began bringing cots into the cloakrooms behind the chamber late Tuesday night. Republicans walked out in an attempt to deprive the Senate of a quorum and shut down the chamber for the night. Democrats responded by voting, 45 to 3, on a motion by Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) to order the Senate police to search out missing members and compel them to attend.

Armed with arrest warrants for all 46 Republicans, the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms, Henry Giugni, and his men began to search the corridors of the Capitol and the Senate office buildings. After checking several empty offices, they spotted Sen. Steve Symms (R-Ida.) but he fled down a hallway and escaped arrest. Then a cleaning woman tipped them that Packwood was in his office, and Giugni–a burly former Hawaii vice officer–opened the door with a passkey.

Bruised Knuckles

Packwood tried to shove the door closed, but Giugni and two of his assistants pushed it open. The senator, who hurt his left arm in an accident two weeks ago and has been wearing a cast since then, tried to use his left hand to keep the door shut, bruising his knuckles in the process.

“It was their mass against my mass,” Packwood said. “Except for the honor of it, I’d rather walk.”

Later in the day, an X-ray showed no serious injury. Packwood proudly displayed his cast and gauze-wrapped left hand to reporters as he described the arrest.

Packwood Forgiving

At a news conference attended by Giugni, Packwood said: “This man deserves accolades, not criticisms.”

Democratic senators, however, were not so forgiving.

Byrd served notice that he had run out of patience. “Senators are supposed to be grown-ups, not kids. They’re supposed to come to the Senate floor to vote,” Byrd told reporters, calling the incident a “sideshow” designed to divert attention from the substantive issues.

Republican attempts to kill the campaign financing bill–which would restrict election spending, provide limited public funds for congressional campaigns and cut back contributions by political action committees–began last spring.

But until this week, Democratic leaders had allowed the Republicans to conduct a “gentlemanly filibuster,” debating the bill for a few hours every few weeks, then setting it aside.

On Tuesday, Byrd said he would put the Republicans to the test of an old-fashioned, non-stop, talk-all-night filibuster. “There is no point in having an easy, gentlemanly filibuster back in the cloakrooms,” he said. “Let’s have it right out here on the Senate floor where the American people can see it.”

Supporters of the bill say it is needed to reduce the power of special-interest money in congressional elections. Opponents say that spending limits would entrench incumbents because challengers generally need to spend more money to become well enough known to beat a sitting lawmaker.

A senior United Nations official has warned the UN Security Council (UNSC) that Israel’s plan to seize Gaza City risked “another calamity” in the Gaza Strip with far-reaching consequences, as five more people in Gaza reportedly died from starvation – bringing the overall toll to 217, including 100 children.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenca on Sunday told an emergency weekend meeting that if implemented, the plan could result in the displacement of all civilians from Gaza City by October 7, 2025, affecting some 800,000 people, many of them already previously displaced.

This “will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings and destruction, compounding the unbearable suffering of the population,” Jenca said.

Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the UNSC that Israel was aiming for “the destruction of the Palestinian people through forced transfer and massacres to facilitate its annexation of our land”.

“What will force Israel to change course is our ability to transform justified condemnation into just actions … History will judge us all,” he said.

Foreign powers, including some of Israel’s allies, have slammed Israel’s plan. The United Kingdom, a close ally of Israel which nonetheless pushed for an emergency meeting on the crisis, warned the Israeli plan risked prolonging the conflict.

“It will only deepen the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This is not a path to resolution. It is a path to more bloodshed,” the British Deputy Ambassador to the UN James Kariuki said.

Another staunch Israel ally, Germany, said it could not actively support Israel’s plan to expand military operations in Gaza and displace of Palestinians.

“Where are these people supposed to go?” Chancellor Friedrich Merz asked in an interview with public broadcaster ARD. “We can’t do that, we won’t do that, and I will not do that.”

France’s Deputy Permanent UN Representative Jay Dharmadhikari condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the plan, which he said would have “dramatic humanitarian consequences” for civilians already “living in horrifying conditions”.

“The images of children dying of hunger or civilians being targeted as they tried to find food are unbearable,” Dharmadhikari said, urging Israel to comply with international humanitarian law.

The UK, Denmark, France, Greece and Slovenia issued a joint statement asking Israel “to urgently reverse this decision and not to implement” the plan, saying it violates international law.

In a separate statement, the foreign ministers of Spain, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia warned that Israel seizing Gaza City would be “a major obstacle to implementing the two-state solution, the only path towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace”.

Israel to ‘finish the job’ in Gaza

Despite the international backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained defiant over the plan to seize Gaza’s largest urban centre, which was approved by Israel’s security cabinet on Friday.

“The timeline that we set for the action is fairly quickly,” Netanyahu told a news conference in Jerusalem on Sunday. “I don’t want to talk about exact timetables, but we’re talking in terms of a fairly short timetable because we want to bring the war to an end.”

He said Israel had “no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas”, given the group’s refusal to lay down its arms. Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state was established.

Netanyahu said the military had been given the green light to “dismantle” what he described as two remaining Hamas strongholds: Gaza City in the north and al-Mawasi further to the south.

“This is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily,” he said. “We will do so by first enabling the civilian population to safely leave the combat areas to designated safe zones.”

While the prime minister stressed that these “safe zones” would be given “ample food, water, and medical care”, guards at the controversial Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), purportedly established to deliver aid to the starving Palestinian population, have routinely opened fire on the aid seekers, killing dozens at a time.

Asked about the growing criticism targeting his cabinet’s decision, Netanyahu said the country was prepared to fight alone. “We will win the war, with or without the support of others,” he said.

Hamas released a statement responding to Netanyahu’s claim that Israel did not intend to occupy Gaza but “liberate” it from the Palestinian group.

The group said the use of the term “liberation” was an attempt to distort the reality of occupation “that will not cover up the crime of extermination, killing, and systematic destruction for more than 22 months”.

Hamas added that it constituted a “desperate attempt to exonerate” Israel after it killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, including more than 18,000 children.

Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN Jonathan Miller fired back at Hamas at the UNSC session, saying the group was “exploiting” the captives and Gaza’s population to “maintain its position, benefiting from attempts to pressure Israel and from the willingness of some countries to recognise a Palestinian state”.

The United States, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UNSC, has so far shielded its staunch ally from any practical measures of UN censure. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister spoke with US President Donald Trump about its plan, without elaborating on the outcome of the conversation.

Speaking to Fox News, the US vice president said Washington neither endorsed nor rejected Israel’s decision to seize Gaza City and the entire Gaza Strip at large. “Obviously, there are a lot of downsides and upsides”, JD Vance said.

Netanyahu’s plan also received domestic criticism, with opposition leader Yair Lapid saying its implementation would mean that “the hostages will die, soldiers will die, the economy will collapse and our international standing will crash.”

Israel’s Channel 12 reported it will cost billions of dollars within several months, increasing the country’s deficit by 2 percent and leading to widespread budget cuts in areas such as healthcare, education, and welfare.

‘Unacceptable catastrophe’

The director of the coordination division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the “unacceptable catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza must be brought to an end as he addressed the UN Security Council via videolink on Sunday.

Ramesh Rajasingham expressed concern over “the prolonged conflict, the reports of atrocities and further human toll that is likely to unfold following the government of Israel’s decision to expand military operations in Gaza”.

Israel has blocked all but a trickle of aid from entering Gaza for months and has prevented UN workers from accessing and distributing lifesaving assistance. “The UN has a plan and the systems in place to respond. We’ve said this before, and we will say it again and again: Let us work,” Rajasingham said.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said only 1,210 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the past 14 days. Officials said this represents just 14 percent of the territory’s minimum actual needs of 8,400 trucks.

Netanyahu acknowledged there have been issues of “deprivation” in Gaza, but denied that Israel has a “starvation policy”. Human Rights Watch, among other international organisations, has repeatedly called Israel’s use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war a “war crime”.

Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children International’s director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, told Al Jazeera that his team on the ground was seeing an “exponential increase” in the number of malnutrition cases, with effects that can “span generations”.

“This is not one event. This is not the absence of two or three meals. This is an accumulation of months [of deprivation],” he said. “We can help alleviate the suffering of children in Gaza, but we cannot do that if the government of Israel continues to impose all its limitations.”

The Israeli government says it’s going to seize control of Gaza City, install a different administration and try to eliminate Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said Israel planned to take over the entire Strip.

The Israeli military already controls about 80 percent of Gaza. The more-than-two-million people living there have been bombed, starved, repeatedly displaced and forced into temporary shelters.

So, why did Israel make this announcement now?

Is the prime minister trying to appease the right-wing members of his cabinet?

Or is he trying to detract international condemnation of the man-made hunger crisis?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Dr Khamis Elessi – Neurorehabilitation and pain medicine consultant

Yossi Mekelberg – Senior consulting fellow at the MENA Programme of Chatham House

Phyllis Bennis – Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of Understanding Palestine and Israel

United Nations report says global cocaine trade thriving, with 25 million users around the world in 2023.

Border authorities in United Kingdom have seized cocaine with a street value of $132m from a ship arriving from Panama.

Border Force Maritime director Charlie Eastaugh said on Saturday that the massive haul of 2.4 tonnes of the drug seized at the London Gateway port near the capital was “one of the largest of its kind”.

UK’s Home Office confirmed that the haul, found under containers on a ship arriving from Panama, was the sixth-largest cocaine seizure on record.

Specialist officers had detected the shipment earlier this month after carrying out an intelligence-led operation, moving 37 large containers to get at the stash.

The UK is one of Europe’s biggest markets for cocaine, according to the National Crime Agency. The UK government says cocaine-related deaths in England and Wales rose by 31 percent between 2022 and 2023.

On Thursday, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the cocaine trade went from strength to strength in 2023, the latest year for which comprehensive data is available.

The Vienna-based agency’s annual World Drug Report showed that cocaine was the world’s “fastest-growing illicit drug market”, with Colombian production surging as demand for the drug expands in Europe and North and South America.

Around the globe, the estimated number of cocaine users also kept growing, reaching 25 million people in 2023, up from 17 million 10 years earlier, the UNODC said.

June 24 (UPI) — Customs and Border Protection officers earlier this month seized 695 pounds of the hallucinogenic drug dimethyltryptamine that was bound for an address in Harford County, Md.

On June 11, CBP officers seized three shipments of DMT that were transported via air cargo from Chiapas, Mexico, between May 7 and May 27, the CBP announced on Tuesday.

“The global marketplace has allowed unscrupulous people in our communities to order dangerous drugs, such as DMT, from overseas manufacturers that could hurt and potentially kill abusers,” said Jason Kropiewnicki, CBP acting area port director in Baltimore.

“Inspecting imports remains a critical component of Customs and Border Protection’s border security mission,” Kropiewnicki said. “Seizures like this are one way in which CBP helps to protect our communities.”

Each shipment contained four boxes containing a total of 100 vacuum-sealed bags filled with a powdery and brown substance, which CBP scientists identified as DMT.

The 300 bags of DMT weighed a total of about 695 pounds and had a street value of $550,000.

Commonly called DMT, the drug is a Schedule 1 controlled substance that has no known medicinal use but has a high potential for abuse, according to the federal government.

DMT is a naturally occurring substance that is found in some plants and animals and can be used as a mind-altering drug.

Large doses can deliver a high while distorting users’ senses and causing hallucinations due to the active ingredients found in ayahuasca, which is a tea that is native to South America.

Synthetic varieties of DMT are made in labs, and organic and synthetic varieties often are used recreationally to cause a short and powerful “trip” that is akin to LSD.

DMT often is known by its street names of “Dimitri,” “elf spice,” “the spirit molecule” and “the businessman’s special.”

Various cultures have used the drug for centuries for religious and ritualistic purposes.

Some studies indicate DMT might provide physical and mental health benefits, but its side effects generally negate them.

Recent research suggests DMT might increase the production of proteins that could enhance learning, memory, and synaptic formation and maintenance within the brain.

DMT also lessened the production of proteins that could cause inflammation, brain lesions and degeneration.

June 19 (UPI) — The Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize $225.3 million for victims involved in cryptocurrency scams.

The complaint, filed Wednesday, alleges that the cryptocurrency addresses that held over $225.3 million were part of a sophisticated blockchain-based money laundering network.

“Civil forfeiture complaint is the latest action taken by the Department to protect the American public from fraudsters specializing in cryptocurrency-based scams, and it will not be the last,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“These schemes harm American victims, costing them billions of dollars every year, and undermine faith in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Our investigators and prosecutors are relentlessly pursuing these scammers and their ill-gotten gains, and we will relentlessly pursue recovery of victim funds.”

Last week, the DOJ found five men guilty who laundered over $36 million from victims. They operated out of Cambodia and face maximum penalties of between five and 20 years in prison.

Assistant Director of the FBI Criminal Division Jose A. Perez, said his agency will not allow the criminals targeting unsuspecting victims who believe they are making legitimate investments to keep these scams going.

“This seizure of $225.3 million in funds linked to cryptocurrency investment scams marks the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history, said Shawn Bradstreet, a special agent in that agency’s San Francisco field office.

In this investigation, more than 400 suspected victims say they lost money after believing that they were making investments, officials said.

According to the FBI internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2024 internet Crime Report, cryptocurrency investment fraud resulted in more than $5.8 billion lost in 2024. People over age 60 were impacted the most, losing an estimated $2.8 billion.

June 15 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized a shipment of amphetamines valued at $6.7 billion, intercepted a Canadian citizen attempting to drive a stolen, high dollar sports car into the country, and apprehended a murder suspect at two Texas border crossings within a matter of hours.

Officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility in Texas discovered the methamphetamine concealed in a shipping manifesto and disguised as tomatillos.

“The cargo environment continues to be a top choice for trafficking organizations but our CBP officers along with our tools and technology are a force to be reckoned with,” said Carlos Rodriguez, port director of the Pharr port.

Officials seized the drugs and the vehicle they were being transported in.

At the same port of entry, officers encountered a 2023 Porsche Cayenne, valued at $55,000, driven by Dileen Raad Sadullah, 39, a Canadian citizen.

Border Patrol officers reported that Sadullah’s story became inconsistent when questioned by the agents at the initial inspection, which resulted in his being detained for a secondary questioning.

“During the secondary examination of the motor vehicle, officers discovered that the Porsche had been reported stolen in Canada earlier that day,” a release from CBP said.

CBP verified his identity and confirmed with Canadian officials that the vehicle was stolen, the U.S. equivalent of a felony.

Sadullah and the vehicle were detained by Canadian law enforcement. That incident also occurred at the Pharr port.

Agents apprehended Alan Alexis Ornelas, 31, of Desoto, Tex., at the Hidalgo International Bridge crossing and investigated him in connection with an arrest warrant, then detained him.

“Ornelas has been wanted since September, 2024 and is charged with capital murder by terror, a first-degree felony in the state of Texas,” a release from CBP said.

Ornelas was transported to the Hidalgo County jail where he awaits extradition to Dallas County.

Peruvian police showcased 5.5 tonnes of seized drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, following an anti-narcotics operation across multiple regions. Authorities say the haul from recent raids is part of a larger 13-tonne seizure, primarily bound for Europe and North America. Fifteen suspects were arrested.

Mess with 50 Cent and he might come for your house — even if it takes him a few years to do it.

The rapper’s company Sire Spirits got the OK last week from a federal judge to seize the Connecticut home of former Sire executive Mitchell Green as partial payment toward a $7-million debt after a federal bankruptcy judge lifted an automatic stay that had prevented transfer of the property.

That took 50 Cent — real name Curtis Jackson III — and his legal team a little more than four years to accomplish, from when Green confessed to embezzling from his employer via a kickback scheme involving wholesalers until last week when the stay came off the house.

Branson Cognac and Chemin du Roi Champagne, both owned by Jackson, are managed through Sire Spirits. Green admitted in February 2020 that he had been raising prices and getting kickbacks from wholesalers that were labeled “agency fees,” the New York Post reported in 2022 and 2023.

Sire Spirits filed a request with the U.S. District Court, New York Southern, on Sept. 1, 2021, for confirmation of an arbitration agreement of a little less than $3.5 million in damages, according to court documents reviewed by The Times.

Green had been embezzling from 2018 into 2020, when someone attempted to blackmail him over the $2.2 million in kickbacks, according to AllHipHop. At that point, Green told his employer what he’d done. Sire Spirits fired him and went into arbitration, which was settled in Sire’s favor. With attorney fees and legal costs rolled in, the November 2022 final judgment totaled around $6.3 million.

In March 2023, the disgraced businessman filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which was still going on when Sire Spirits’ legal team secured a judgment lien against Green’s home in Westport, Conn., according to the court documents.

Green’s legal team had been providing court-ordered updates on the status of the property, always stating that Green was still in bankruptcy proceedings and therefore still had that automatic stay protecting his home. But last week, Sire’s attorneys asked the bankruptcy judge to get rid of the stay, saying that Green had no equity in the home due to the size of the judgment against him and therefore the property didn’t need to be part of his liquidation.

The judge agreed and lifted the stay.

The Connecticut home was appraised in late April at $1 million. That value will ultimately be credited against the judgment plus pre- and post-judgment interest, which now totals around $7 million.

Although Jackson has mentioned Branson Cognac recently on social media, he hasn’t said anything about the legal victory. In the last week, the rapper has been enjoying himself by poking fun at Sean “Diddy” Combs, a.k.a. “Puffy,” who is mired in a federal sex trafficking and conspiracy trial, where prosecution witnesses have been testifying.

“Cut, CUT … Wait a minute PUFFY’s got a gun, I can’t believe this I don’t feel safe … LOL,” Jackson wrote Tuesday on social media, posting screen shots of new testimony from Combs’ former assistant Capricorn Clark. Clark told the court that Combs said something about guns that she took as him making a threat against Jackson.

“Oh my goodness itty bitty Diddy wants me Dead,” the entrepreneur and provocateur said in a follow-up post. “I have to lay low, I think I’m gonna hide out at the playoff game tonight LOL.” He posted a comical picture of himself looking completely freaked out.

The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers should be tipping off right about now.

May 5 (UPI) — U.S. border agents in New York seized a variety of counterfeit trademarked items over a four-day period recently. The confiscations had a street value of nearly $200,000, federal officials reported Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the Port of Rochester say that, over a four-day period in April, a slew of inspections revealed shipments that contained “designer” handbags, wallets, clothing, watches, shoes and scores of other goods.

They said after a “thorough examination” that all of the merchandise items were deemed to be inauthentic and were then seized for “bearing counterfeit trademarks,” according to border officials.

Experts claim that, “had these items been genuine,” the total Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) value would be a little more than $198,000.

Officers in the border protection agency play a “critical role in protecting businesses and consumers from fraudulent items,” Ronald Menz, director of the Rochester Port of Entry, said in a release.

CBP officers “do an outstanding job working diligently for the American consumer by stopping this illegitimate merchandise,” Metz said.

Federal officials have stated that pirated or otherwise counterfeit goods “threaten America’s innovation economy,” saying it also includes business competition, the livelihood of U.S. workers and, in some instances, the national security, health and safety of American consumers.

They added that the agency has the right to detain and ultimately destroy imported merchandise if it infringes on things trademarked or copyright laws, adding how other potential violations can also include a “misclassification of merchandise,” markings bearing a false country-of-origin, valuation, health and safety issues.

Meanwhile, tipsters with information about counterfeit merchandise being illegally imported into the United States can submit information virtually.