US vice president Kamala Harris has said there must be an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza as she called on the Israeli government to do more to increase the flow of aid, with “no excuses”.
Ms Harris said a six-week ceasefire would get Israeli hostages out and get a significant amount of aid into the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
She said people were “starving” and Israel needed to increase the flow of life-saving assistance to ease what she described as “inhumane” conditions and a “humanitarian catastrophe”. Her comments are among the strongest by a senior US official over the crisis.
The vice president also said there is a “deal on the table” and Hamas “needs to agree to that”.
“Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza,” she said.
Although a Hamas delegation is in Egypt for the latest truce talks, Israel has reportedly boycotted them.
Israeli media says it is because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not got an answer from Hamas on two questions – a list of hostages who are alive in Gaza and the number of Palestinian prisoners Hamas wants released in exchange for each hostage.
Ms Harris is due on Monday to meet top Israeli politician Benny Gantz, who will also have talks in Washington with US secretary of state Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
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Although Mr Gantz is in Mr Netanyahu’s war cabinet, he is also a centrist political rival and is thought to have been rebuked by the Israeli prime minister for those planned discussions in America.
Fresh truce could be highly significant
There is increasing hope that a new hostage deal can be agreed between Israel and Hamas in time for the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a week from now, but time is running out and divisions remain between the sides.
Hamas has sent a delegation to Cairo to continue talks; Israel is yet to dispatch its own team and government sources have told Sky News that, among other things, they are still waiting for Hamas to provide information on the hostages they will release.
There are other points of difference, notably over which Palestinian prisoners Israel will agree to release in exchange and the status of Israeli forces inside Gaza, if a truce goes ahead.
An official from Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party said Mr Gantz’s visit was not authorised by the leader.
And the PM had a “tough talk” with Mr Gantz about the trip and told him the country has “just one prime minister”, according to the official.
Mr Gantz had told the PM of his intention to travel to the US and to co-ordinate messaging with him, added an official.
US efforts in the region have increasingly been hampered by Mr Netanyahu’s hardline cabinet, which ultra-nationalists dominate. Mr Gantz’s more moderate National Unity party sometimes acts as a counterweight to the PM’s far-right allies.
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There are deep disagreements between Mr Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden over how to alleviate Palestinian suffering in Gaza and come up with a post-war vision for the enclave.
Speaking on Sunday in Selma, Alabama, Ms Harris said: “People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act.
“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”
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The unidentified official spoke to the Reuters news agency ahead of the talks in Cairo, billed as the final hurdle to a six-week ceasefire.
Earlier on Sunday, the US said a deal had already been “more or less accepted” by Israel and was waiting for approval by Hamas militants.
But after the Hamas delegation arrived, a Palestinian official said the deal was “not yet there”. Hamas also reportedly wanted a permanent ceasefire to be part of any deal.
The war started after Hamas launched a cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October last year, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 others hostage.
Israel retaliated with strikes and a military ground assault in Gaza which have so far killed more than 30,000 people, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Around 80% of the population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and UN agencies say hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.
More than 100 hostages in Gaza have been released.
Michael Cohen said he had been “knee deep into the cult of Donald Trump” as he testified for a second day in the ex-president’s trial.
As Trump‘s defence tried to paint the former lawyer and ‘fixer’ as a bitter and fame-hungry former acolyte, he denied being obsessed by his former boss but said he had once “admired him tremendously”.
He is testifying in the case about hush money payments to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to cover up an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.
Such payouts aren’t illegal, but Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide it – a claim he denies.
He told the court on Tuesday that loyalty was the reason he kept lying about the payment when it came out in the media.
In 2016 he described Trump as kind, humble, honest and genuine.
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The defence asked whether he had believed what he was saying.
“At the time, I was knee-deep into the cult of Donald Trump,” he responded, adding: “I was not lying, no, that’s how I felt.”
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Mr Cohen admitted he “missed Trump” at times after he became president.
They have also pointed to hundreds of media appearances, podcasts and interviews in which the disgraced lawyer has mentioned him.
His credibility was under attack as Mr Cohen has previously admitted lying under oath.
The 57-year-old was jailed after pleading guilty in 2018 to charges relating to the hush money payment and other unrelated offences.
He said that after a FBI raid on his home the same year, Trump had messaged him: “I am the president of the United States, everything is going to be okay, stay tough”.
Donald Trump denies the liaison with Stormy Daniels and says Mr Cohen acted on his own initiative when he made the payment.
The former lawyer denied that claim in earlier evidence, saying “everything required Trump’s sign-off”.
‘I violated my moral compass’
Mr Cohen – who once said he would take a bullet for his boss – admitted at the end of questioning on Tuesday that he “violated my moral compass” while working for Donald Trump.
“I regret doing things for him that I should not have,” he told the New York court. “Lying, bullying people in order to effectuate the goal.
“I don’t regret working for the Trump Organisation – as I expressed before, [those were] some very interesting, great times,” he added.
“But to keep the loyalty and to do things that he had asked me to do, I violated my moral compass, and I suffered the penalty, as did my family. That is my failure.”
Prosecutors say Trump later paid the money back and covered it up by recording it as a legal retainer fee.
He faces 34 counts of falsifying business records over the claims.
Trump – who will take on Joe Biden in his bid to become president again in November – is unlikely to face a custodial sentence if found guilty.
His other cases are potentially more damaging but mired in delays.
They concern allegations of keeping stacks of secret documents after leaving office and trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. He denies the claims.
Eight people have died and another eight were critically injured after a bus carrying farm workers crashed and overturned in Florida.
The bus was transporting 53 workers when it collided with a pickup truck in Marion County, north of Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) said.
The bus then swerved off State Road 40 – a hilly two-lane road that goes through farms – and crashed through a fence, before overturning, authorities said.
The incident took place at 6.35am local time on Tuesday and it is unclear why the two vehicles crashed.
A total of 40 people needed hospital treatment – eight of whom are in a critical condition, the Marion County Fire Rescue confirmed to NBC News.
The driver of the truck was also taken to hospital and more than 30 ambulances attended the scene, NBC News added.
Lieutenant Pat Riordan, from the FHP, told reporters some of those injured are “in very serious condition” and there’s a “high probability” the number of dead could rise.
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“At this point, we are conducting a massive traffic homicide investigation,” he said.
Torrential rain and thunderstorms have hit some US regions in recent days – including Marion County – and authorities will be investigating if the weather contributed to the collision.
Photographs from the scene show the bus on its side, with both its rear emergency door and top hatch open.
The farm workers were being transported to Cannon Farms in Dunnellon, where watermelon harvesting has been taking place.
Following the crash, a post on the farm’s social media account said it will “be closed today out of respect to the losses and injuries endured early this morning”.
“Please pray with us for the families and the loved ones involved in this tragic accident,” the post continued. “We appreciate your understanding at this difficult time.”
Cannon Farms is a family-owned business that has been operational for more than 100 years, according to its website.
They now focus on peanuts and watermelons, which they supply to grocery stores across the US and Canada.
The vehicle transporting the workers was a 2010 International Bus and the pickup truck was a 2001 Ford Ranger, authorities said.
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2:46
Hear Trump and his lawyer discuss hush money
The court also heard a recording of a conversation between Mr Trump and Mr Cohen over hush money said to have been paid to another woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who he also allegedly had an affair with.
Mr Cohen suggests in the recording setting up another company to repay David Pecker – who said he provided the $150,000 to cover up the story.
The former National Enquirer boss previously testified he bought the story to keep it hidden and eventually decided against seeking reimbursement.
Later in the recording, Mr Trump can be heard suggesting the $150,000 might be better off being paid in cash.
Mr Cohen told the court this was to “avoid any type of paper transaction”.
The 57-year-old – who once said he would take a bullet for Mr Trump – worked for him for nearly a decade.
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He pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law in 2018 over the Stormy Daniels payment and was jailed, but at the time prosecutors did not bring charges against Mr Trump.
Mr Cohen’s credibility is in the sights of defence lawyers as he has previously admitted lying under oath.
Mr Trump – who will take on Joe Biden in his bid to become president again in November – is unlikely to face a custodial sentence if found guilty.
His other cases are potentially more damaging but mired in delays.
They concern allegations of keeping stacks of secret documents after leaving office and trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. He denies the claims.