restricts

Despite some progress in delivering food to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the enclave – ravaged by Israeli bombardment and racked by hunger – remains in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations has said.

The UN and its partners have been able to get 37,000 metric tonnes of aid, mostly food, into Gaza since the October 10 ceasefire, but much more is needed, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Friday.

“Despite significant progress on the humanitarian scale-up, people’s urgent needs are still immense, with impediments not being lifted quickly enough since the ceasefire,” Haq said, citing reports from the UN’s humanitarian service, OCHA.

Haq was critical that entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza continues to be limited to only two crossings – the al-Karara (also known as Kissufim) and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings.

There is no direct access to northern Gaza from Israel or to southern Gaza from Egypt, while NGO staff are being denied access, he said.

Earlier this week, the UN said it had distributed food parcels to one million people in Gaza since the ceasefire, but warned it was still in a race to save lives.

The UN’s World Food Programme stressed all crossing points into the Gaza Strip should be opened to flood the famine-hit territory with aid, adding that no reason was given for why the northern crossings with Israel remained closed.

Palestinians across Gaza continue to face shortages of food, water, medicine and other critical supplies as a result of Israeli restrictions.

Many families also lack adequate shelter as their homes and neighbourhoods have been completely destroyed in Israel’s two-year military bombardment.

Chris Gunness, the former spokesperson for UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee agency, said Israel is committing a war crime by blocking aid to Gaza.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Gunness noted that tens of thousands of Palestinians – mainly children – remain at risk of malnutrition. He also said that if Israel doesn’t meet its obligation “to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid”, then third-party countries must act.

“Israel has made it clear that it wants to commit a genocide against the Palestinians, it wants to ethnically cleanse them, and it wants to starve them,” he said.

Captive’s body returned

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10, after both sides agreed to a United States-brokered 20-point plan aimed at ending the war. But since it was announced, Israel has repeatedly launched attacks, killing dozens of people, with its forces remaining in more than 50 percent of the territory.

More than 220 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, according to the Ministry of Health in the enclave.

Israel has also been carrying out a wave of demolitions in parts of Gaza under its continued control east of the so-called yellow line, where Israeli forces are stationed.

The latest demolitions on Friday included residential buildings east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera reporters in the Strip.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed Israel received from the Red Cross the remains of one of the last six captives held by Hamas in Gaza.

The Israeli military later confirmed that a coffin containing the deceased captive’s body had “crossed the border into the State of Israel” after being delivered by the Red Cross.

It said the body was being sent to a forensic facility in Tel Aviv for identification.

At the start of the truce, Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, released all 20 surviving captives. In return, Israel freed hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners, including the bodies of slain Palestinians from Gaza, many showing signs of torture.

Of the 28 deceased Israeli captives that Hamas agreed to hand over under the deal, it has so far returned 22 – 19 Israelis, one Thai, one Nepali and one Tanzanian – excluding the latest body.

The last six deceased captives include five seized on October 7, 2023 – four Israelis and one Thai – as well as the remains of a soldier who died in 2014 during one of Israel’s previous assaults on Gaza.

Israel has accused Hamas of dragging its feet in returning the bodies of deceased captives. The Palestinian group says it continues to press for proper equipment and support to comb through vast mounds of rubble and debris – where some 10,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardments are still buried.

More than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s two-year war.

Reporters blocked from key White House area without prior approval, citing structural changes and security concerns.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has barred reporters from accessing part of the White House press office without an appointment, citing the need to protect “sensitive material”.

In a memorandum on Friday to White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the National Security Council (NSC) said journalists were “no longer permitted” to visit a section where Leavitt’s office is located, “without prior approval in the form of an appointment”.

The National Security Council said the change was made because structural changes to the NSC meant White House communications officials are now “routinely engaging with sensitive material”.

“In order to protect such material, and maintain coordination between National Security Council Staff and White House Communications Staff, members of the press are no longer permitted to access Room 140 without prior approval in the form of an appointment with an authorized White House Staff Member,” the memo said.

The White House move follows restrictions put in place earlier this month for reporters at the Department of Defense, a move that prompted dozens of journalists to vacate their offices in the Pentagon and return their credentials.

Previously, credentialed White House journalists could access Room 140, which is a short hallway from the Oval Office known as “Upper Press”, on short notice to speak with Leavitt, her deputy Cheung and other senior officials.

The White House Correspondents Association, which represents journalists covering the White House, could not be reached for immediate comment.

The Trump administration removed Reuters, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News from the permanent “pool” of reporters covering the president months ago, although it allows those outlets to participate on a sporadic basis.

Friday’s announcement comes weeks after the crackdown on press access by the Defense Department, which now requires news outlets to sign a new policy or lose access to press credentials and Pentagon workspaces.

At least 30 news organisations declined to agree to the Pentagon restrictions, citing a threat to press freedoms and their ability to conduct independent newsgathering.

The Pentagon policy requires journalists to acknowledge new rules on press access, including that they could be branded security risks and have their Pentagon press badges revoked if they ask department employees to disclose classified or certain unclassified information.

Handover comes as Trump says Hamas must disarm or be disarmed, ‘perhaps violently’.

Russia accuses popular messaging apps of facilitating crime and sabotage as Moscow’s online restrictions tighten amid war in Ukraine.

Russia has announced restrictions on voice calls made on the WhatsApp and Telegram messaging apps, the latest moves by Moscow to tighten its control over the internet.

The curb on calls is set to impact WhatsApp’s estimated 96 million monthly users in Russia and Telegram’s more than 89 million users, according to Russian media monitoring service Mediascope.

In a statement on Wednesday, Russia’s media and internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, justified the measure as necessary for fighting crime.

“According to law enforcement agencies and numerous appeals from citizens, foreign messengers Telegram and WhatsApp have become the main voice services used to deceive and extort money, and to involve Russian citizens in sabotage and terrorist activities,” the regulator said.

“Repeated requests to take countermeasures have been ignored by the owners of the messengers,” it said.

Moscow wants the online messaging services to provide access to user data upon request from law enforcement.

“Access to calls in foreign messengers will be restored after they start complying with Russian legislation,” Roskomnadzor said.

While authorities said only voice calls on the platforms were restricted, users in Russia also reported that video calls were also affected.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has been expanding control over the Russian part of the internet. Security services have frequently claimed that Ukraine was using Telegram to recruit people or commit acts of sabotage in Russia.

The Russian government adopted a law last month punishing online users for searching content deemed illicit by authorities. Plans are also in place for popular messaging services to be replaced by a domestic Russian app called Max, which critics fear will allow authorities access to the data.

A WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement that the encrypted messaging app “defies government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people”.

In a statement sent to the AFP news agency, Telegram said that it “actively combats misuse of its platform, including calls for sabotage or violence, as well as fraud”, and removes “millions of pieces of harmful content every day”.

Telegram, which was developed by Russian tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov, faces longstanding accusations in several countries, including Russia, of not doing enough against criminal users.

As rebuilding ramps up in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles leaders are restricting the building of duplexes on single-family-home lots.

The move follows an executive order issued Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that allows exemptions for the Palisades and other areas devastated by January’s Palisades and Eaton fires from Senate Bill 9. The landmark 2021 law, passed in response to the state’s housing shortage, lets property owners divide single-family-home lots and build up to four units.

In recent days, Palisades residents have raised alarms about SB 9, worrying that their historically single-family-home community would be transformed by the additional density allowed under the law and become more dangerous in the event of future fires. On Jan. 7, the chaotic evacuation amid the flames led residents to abandon their cars on Sunset Boulevard and escape on foot, forcing bulldozers to clear the road so that emergency responders could enter the area.

No outcry has erupted over the addition of accessory dwelling units in the Palisades, even though they could bring similar increases in building, and have been far more common in permit applications.

Some 4,700 single-family homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the Palisades fire, the majority of which were in the city of Los Angeles.

Newsom’s order applies to the Palisades and parts of Malibu and Altadena — areas that burned and that are designated as “very high fire hazard severity zones” by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It mandates a weeklong pause on SB 9 projects to allow the city and county of Los Angeles and Malibu to develop restrictions.

In response, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who alongside City Councilmember Traci Park had urged Newsom to act this week, issued an executive order blocking future SB 9 development in the Palisades.

“I thank Governor Newsom for working with my office to provide some sense of solace for a community working to rebuild,” Bass said in a statement accompanying the order.

Since the fire, the prospect of greater density, including increased affordable housing, has raised tension in the neighborhood. Some of the debates have been mired in misinformation and conspiracy theories falsely asserting that the wealthy community would be rezoned for mass building of low-income apartments.

But residents retain deep scars from January’s tumultuous evacuation and fear that such a situation would be even worse with a larger population, said Larry Vein, founder of wildfire recovery group Pali Strong. They also want the area to return to the predominately single-family-home neighborhood it was, he said.

“The community does not want higher density,” Vein said.

Officials’ push to restrict SB 9 construction stands in stark contrast to their efforts to allow more building on single-family-home lots through different means.

Newsom and Bass each issued earlier executive orders to streamline permitting reviews for accessory dwelling units on single-family-home properties in burn zones.

There are some practical distinctions between the two ways of adding homes. Generally, ADU law permits up to three units on a lot. SB 9 can allow four or potentially more if combined with ADU law. SB 9 units often can be larger than ADUs as well.

Yet the possibility of increased ADU construction has not attracted the same opposition in the community; instead, data indicate that it’s been popular.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety does not specifically track permit requests for ADUs or SB 9 projects among home rebuilds, and could not immediately verify their numbers. However, department rebuilding data analyzed by The Times includes a description of each proposed development that is supposed to note if an additional unit is planned.

As of July 28, 500 homeowners had submitted permitting applications to rebuild in the Palisades, The Times’ analysis of department data found. Of those, 73 — nearly 15% — included at least one ADU, according to project descriptions. Per the descriptions, three intend to use SB 9, but that number is an undercount, said Devin Myrick, the department’s assistant deputy superintendent of building. Myrick said the department was still analyzing its data to come up with the actual number of SB 9 projects.

Property owners have cited ADU construction as a way to return to the Palisades more quickly, with some planning to build an ADU before tackling their primary home. For others, the opportunity for building any additional unit, under ADU law or SB 9, provides a financial benefit that could be used to cover gaps in the cost to rebuild.

Vein said Palisades residents are friendlier to ADUs because their construction may not necessarily lead to a larger population. Many people, he said, would use an ADU to work from home, as a guesthouse or allow members of multigenerational families to have their own space. By contrast, he said, SB 9 duplexes inevitably will add people.

“You’ve just doubled the density,” he said.

Some pro-development organizations are blasting the SB 9 restrictions. Matthew Lewis, a spokesperson for California YIMBY, which advocates for greater home building across the state, said that residents’ evacuation concerns are legitimate but that officials should focus on resolving that issue rather than limiting duplexes.

Lewis said the proliferation of ADUs in the area’s rebuild shows that it’s not actually the potential for increased building that’s motivating the opposition. Instead, he said community groups and L.A. politicians are using that argument to thwart a law they’ve long disliked because it expressly calls for changes to single-family-home neighborhoods.

“What we’re talking about is a powerful constituency making enough noise to cause a suspension of laws that were duly passed by the state Legislature,” Lewis said. “That’s very concerning.”

Bass believes her backing of ADUs and opposition to SB 9 in the Palisades do not conflict, mayoral spokesperson Zachary Seidl said. SB 9 was not anticipated to be used after a major wildfire, he said, while streamlining ADU permitting assists property owners with reconstruction.

“The mayor with both of these positions is supporting community members in the Palisades rebuild,” Seidl said.

Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accuses Brazilian Supreme Court judge of creating a ‘persecution, censorship complex’.

Washington will restrict travel visas for Brazilian judicial officials and their immediate family members, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced, over what he called a “political witch-hunt” against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Announcing the move on Friday, Rubio accused Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of creating a sweeping “persecution and censorship complex” that not only “violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans”.

“I have therefore ordered visa revocations for Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members, effective immediately,” he said, without providing further details on who would be subject to the measures.

Brazilian newspaper O Globo also reported on Friday, without citing its source, that the US has revoked visas from seven more justices of Brazil’s Supreme Court. If accurate, the only Supreme Court judges not impacted would be Bolsonaro-appointed justices Andre Mendonca and Nunes Marques, and Judge Luiz Fux.

The move by the US comes after Brazil’s Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against Bolsonaro on Friday, banning him from contacting foreign officials amid allegations he courted US President Donald Trump’s interference in court cases against him.

Explaining his decision, Moraes accused Bolsonaro – who was president from 2019 to 2023 – of attacking Brazil’s sovereignty by encouraging the interference of the “head of state of a foreign nation” in its courts.

Bolsonaro’s ongoing trial relates to charges he attempted to carry out a coup and overturn current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s election victory in January 2023. The coup charges carry a 12-year sentence, and if convicted on other counts, Bolsonaro could spend decades behind bars.

Bolsonaro is now banned from contacting foreign officials, using social media or approaching embassies. He was also prohibited from contacting key allies, including his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman working to drum up support for his father in Washington.

Federal police also raided Bolsonaro’s home and headquarters, with authorities ordering him to wear an ankle monitor following Moraes’s ruling that there is a “concrete possibility” he will attempt to flee the country.

Bolsonaro: ‘Trump of the Tropics’

Speaking to the Reuters news agency at his party’s headquarters on Friday, Bolsonaro called Moraes a “dictator” and described the court orders as acts of “cowardice”.

“I feel supreme humiliation,” he said when asked about wearing the ankle monitor. “I am 70 years old. I was president of the republic for four years,” he added.

On Friday afternoon, a five-judge panel of Supreme Court judges reviewed and upheld Moraes’s decision.

Bolsonaro also said he believed the court orders were a reaction to Trump’s criticism of his trial, in the latest indication that Washington’s interventions may be harming rather than helping the former president.

While Bolsonaro denied he planned to leave the country, he also said he would meet with Trump if his passport, seized by police last year, was returned.

When asked about Bolsonaro’s latest comments, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the former Brazilian leader and his supporters are “under attack from a weaponised court system”.

Trump has maintained friendly ties with ideological ally Bolsonaro – known as the “Trump of the Tropics” – since the US leader’s first term from 2017 to 2021.

On Thursday, Trump shared a letter on Truth Social he had sent to Bolsonaro lamenting the embattled former president’s “terrible treatment” at the hands of an “unjust system turned against you”.

Earlier this month, Trump also threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods starting August 1, as he called for Lula’s government to drop the charges against Bolsonaro.

Lula promised to reciprocate, saying “any measure to increase tariffs unilaterally will be responded to in light of Brazil’s Law of Economic Reciprocity”.

In Friday’s court decision, Moraes also said Trump’s threatened tariffs were an attempt to interfere in the country’s judicial system by creating a serious economic crisis in Brazil.

The tariffs – which would hurt key Brazilian sectors like coffee farming, cattle ranching and aviation – have rallied public support behind Lula’s defiant leftist government.