President Joe Biden has warned Israel in his toughest public comments so far that the US would stop supplying it with some weapons if Israel invades the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
If Israeli forces launch an all-out assault on the city, the last major Hamas stronghold in the besieged enclave, the US president said “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used, that have been used”.
In an interview with CNN, Mr Biden acknowledged US weapons have been used by Israel which have killed civilians in Gaza during its seven-month offensive aimed at destroying Hamas.
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IDF launches another Rafah operation
It comes after his decision last week to pause a shipment of heavy 2,000lb bombs to Israel over concerns about a looming attack on Rafah, following public and private warnings from his administration.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres,” Mr Biden told CNN.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the weapons delay earlier on Wednesday, saying the US paused “one shipment of high payload munitions”.
“We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself,” Mr Austin said.
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“But that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah.”
Image: Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah. Pic: Reuters
Image: Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Rafah. Pic: Reuters
Mounting death toll
Nearly 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed so far in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity, according to Israeli tallies.
Image: Palestinians flee Rafah. Pics: Reuters
US will still supply defensive systems
Mr Biden told CNN the US would continue to provide defensive systems to Israel, including for its Iron Dome defence system.
“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” he said.
“But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
It comes as Mr Biden’s administration is due to deliver a formal verdict this week, the first of its kind, on whether Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid have violated international and US laws.
A decision against Israel would heap further pressure on Mr Biden to limit the flow of weapons and money to Israel’s military.
A woman in the US who has been missing since 1962 has been found “alive and well”, authorities have said.
Audrey Backeberg left her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in July that year when she was 20 years old, Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said.
Investigators pursued numerous leads over the years but the case eventually went cold.
However, during a review of cold cases earlier this year, a detective reassessed all the case files and evidence, and re-interviewed several witnesses – and found Ms Backeberg.
The 82-year-old was “alive and well” – living outside of the state of Wisconsin, the sheriff’s office said.
Ms Backeberg was married and had two children when she disappeared on 7 July 1962, according to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation.
She left her home to pick up her salary but never returned, causing her husband to ask family members where she was.
Shortly afterwards their 14-year-old babysitter claimed she and Ms Backeberg had hitchhiked to Wisconsin’s capital city Madison and then caught a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana.
The teenager said when she arrived she became nervous and wanted to go home, while Ms Backeberg refused to return and was last seen walking near a bus stop.
Ms Backeberg’s marriage was troubled and there were allegations of abuse, the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation said, with a criminal complaint having been filed days before she went missing.
Her relatives insisted she would never abandon her children, the organisation added, and her husband passed a polygraph test and maintained his innocence.
Mr Hanson said Ms Backeberg may have left home due to marital issues, but it was unclear why she had stayed away for so long.
He said he had promised to keep their conversation private.
“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life,” he said.
“She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”
Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said Ms Backeberg made the choice to leave and her disappearance “was not the result of any criminal activity or foul play”.
Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal regalia on his Truth Social platform – just 11 days after the death of Pope Francis.
Uploaded onto his account early on Saturday morning, it shows the US president with a large gold cross on a chain around his neck.
From there, it was published, without comment or explanation, on the White House X and Instagram accounts and, though it drew fierce criticism, it was liked more than 100,000 times.
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It comes just a few days after the world leader joked that he’d like to be the pontiff.
Last week, he was asked by reporters on the White House lawn who he would like to succeed Francis and he replied: “I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”
He went on to say that he did not have a preference, but there was a cardinal in New York who was “very good”.
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‘I’d like to be pope’
Mr Trump was quickly accused of mocking Pope Francis’sdeath, but, by noon, UK time, the post had been liked more than 58,000 times on Instagram.
User comments, however, were mostly negative, with one saying that the image “isn’t funny. It’s not satire. And it’s not harmless”.
Another simply called it “disgusting”, while other reactions included “disturbing”, “disrespectful” and “offensive”.
On X, where the picture was liked more than 78,000 times, a user commented that Mr Trump was “making a mockery of the pious”, while another judged it “not a wise decision”.
The Argentinian, who became pope in 2013, died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 due to a stroke and heart failure.
Last weekend, the president was criticised for wearing a non-traditional blue suit for Francis’s Vatican funeral and chewing gum during the ceremony.
However, his meeting in St Peter’s Basilica with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the outdoor mass got under way was dubbed “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy.
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
Mr Trump’s own religious views have long been a matter of speculation.
He was raised as a Presbyterian and publicly identified with it for most of his adult life, before, in October 2020, he renounced it and said he now considered himself a non-denominational Christian.
Many have questioned the depth of his faith, but that hasn’t stopped him appealing to conservative Christians and the Christian right, particularly evangelicals, some of whom have helped him get elected twice.
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Earlier this year, Mr Trump shared a bizarre AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform showcasing what appeared to be a vision of Gaza under his proposed plan.
The footage showed the area transformed into a Middle Eastern paradise with exotic beaches, Dubai-style skyscrapers, luxury yachts and people partying – and featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk.
She was working as a production assistant at the time.
Weinstein has strenuously denied all allegations, and Ms Haley also testified at Weinstein’s initial trial.
Image: Miriam Haley. AP file pic
Image: Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday as he appeared for his retrial. Pic: AP
The 48-year-old was testifying in a Manhattan court when Weinstein’s defence lawyer Jennifer Bonjean questioned her account of the incident.
In court, Ms Bonjean asked why Ms Haley would agree to Weinstein’s invitation to his apartment after testifying about his previous behaviour, including her alleging that he barged into her home.
Ms Haley then became emotional after being asked how her clothes came off before Weinstein allegedly pulled out a tampon and performed oral sex on her.
She said Weinstein took off her clothing, but she didn’t recall the details, before Ms Bonjean asked: “You removed your clothes, right?”
Ms Haley then told jurors that Weinstein “was the one who raped me, not the other way around” – to which his lawyer said: “That is for the jury to decide.”
She then started crying and said: “No, it’s not for the jury to decide. It’s my experience. And he did that to me.”
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reported that Ms Haley said during the exchange: “Don’t tell me I wasn’t raped by that f*****g asshole.”
Judge Curtis Farber then halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Ms Haley’s eyes were red and her face was glistening as she left the witness stand.
In February 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of sexually assaulting Ms Haley – along with raping former actor Jessica Mann in a New York hotel in 2013 – and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
His conviction for the two crimes was overturned in April after an appeals court ruled the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.
After the appeal ruling, Weinstein was charged with raping one woman and forcing oral sex on two others.
Two of the charges are those he faced during the original trial, while the third – one of the charges of forcing oral sex on Kaja Sokola – was added last year.
Weinstein denies all allegations, and his lawyers argue his accusers had consensual sexual encounters.
Regardless of the outcome of the retrial, he will remain in prison over a 2022 conviction in Los Angeles for a separate count of rape. His lawyers are also appealing this sentence.