U.S.’ affect on Gaza; Minneapolis faculty taking pictures : NPR

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In the present day’s high tales

As Palestinians endure below famine, NPR reporters have spoken with over 24 former senior Biden administration officers who have been straight concerned in shaping U.S. coverage in direction of Israel’s struggle in Gaza. A lot of them shared a typical query: Did the U.S. do sufficient to forestall this? The interviews highlighted tensions inside two essential camps of the administration concerning strategy the problem of humanitarian entry. One group believes that the U.S. ought to stress Israel to observe the Geneva Conventions on civilian safety and help. The opposite helps giving Israel area to battle its struggle with Hamas whereas secretly advocating for elevated help for affected civilians. A U.N.-backed panel of consultants on meals insecurity final week confirmed famine in Gaza.

• 🎧 Some officers advised NPR that the Biden administration helped stop famine from occurring in Gaza, in keeping with NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf, who labored with reporters Fatma Tanis and Tom Bowman on the unique. Former officers mentioned with them the robust and generally bitter arguments about how far the U.S. was keen to go to stress Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with probably withholding U.S. weapons. There was frustration with Israel; very senior officers, together with Biden, would spend hours on the cellphone with Israel, specializing in specifics of how a lot help Gaza was receiving each day. Officers stated these conversations typically meant that the U.S. was slowed down with these particulars, generally shedding the larger image.

A 23-year-old shooter opened fireplace yesterday on a Minneapolis church and faculty stuffed with youngsters. Two youngsters have been killed and 17 different folks have been wounded as they attended Mass to mark the primary week of faculty. The shooter has been recognized as Robin Westman, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the location of the taking pictures after firing by way of the home windows of Annunciation Church from outdoors the constructing. Here is what else we all know to this point.

• 🎧 Reporter Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio spoke with Pat Scallen, an alum of the college who lives close to the placement. Scallen says he ran to the scene after listening to the gunshots. When he arrived, he noticed a number of injured youngsters popping out of the constructing. He stayed and helped a boy and woman with gunshot wounds till ambulances arrived. Police Chief Brian O’Hara says the shooter left behind a video that was scheduled to be posted to YouTube on the time of the taking pictures. It seems to point out Westman on the scene and contains disturbing writings. Legislation enforcement is working to decide a motive behind the assault.

The Division of Well being and Human Companies introduced yesterday that Susan Monarez, the brand new director for the Facilities for Illness Management, has been fired. Monarez was sworn in lower than a month in the past. She was President Trump’s second alternative after former Congressman Dave Weldon did not get sufficient assist within the Senate. Her attorneys say she was focused for standing up for science.

• 🎧 NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin tells Up First {that a} senior CDC chief knowledgeable her that Monarez met with senior HHS management final week, and it went badly. The assembly appeared to contain a dispute centered round vaccines and the skin vaccine consultants whom Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had fired. She has additionally been pressured to fireside senior scientists and convey folks again to the workplace to work, quickly after a taking pictures that occurred in her first week within the position. She resisted these stress factors, which seems to have resulted in her firing, says Simmons-Duffin.

In the present day’s pay attention

Musician Troy Andrews, also referred to as Trombone Shorty, in his studio in New Orleans, La. on August 26.

Lilly Quiroz/NPR

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Lilly Quiroz/NPR

Troy Andrews, higher often known as Trombone Shorty, is paying tribute to New Orleans with a brand new album out tomorrow titled Second Line Sunday. The album comes out 20 years after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, bringing destruction in its wake. When the storm hit Trombone Shorty’s hometown, he was 19 and on tour with Lenny Kravitz. He anticipated to take a brief break from the tour at dwelling, however as an alternative evacuated with different kin and rented a spot in Dallas. New Orleans was dwelling then and nonetheless is now, and he expresses that along with his new music. The ten-track album is a collaboration along with his cousins and nephews, who make up the New Breed Brass Band. The songs encapsulate the raucous, joyous sound of New Orleans streets, the place festive and somber moments are celebrated with music and dance. Morning Version host Michel Martin visited Trombone Shorty in a studio in New Orleans, the place he talked about what his new music means. Hearken to snippets of the songs and skim extra about his tribute to town.

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Tommy Trenchard for NPR
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South Africa’s artisan miners, who salvage coal from deserted mines with restricted instruments, reside a grueling and dangerous life. The nation is without doubt one of the world’s high coal producers, primarily sourcing it from Mpumalanga, the place open-pit mines and getting older energy stations are prevalent. Whereas industrial coal mining within the area has generated important wealth for a choose few, many native communities stay among the many most marginalized within the nation. Tens of hundreds reside in tin shacks, missing primary facilities, equivalent to coal for cooking and heating their houses. That is why the communities depend on the hundreds of artisanal miners, who’ve been pressured by poverty into the world of unlawful coal mining. Nonetheless, the federal government views them as criminals and a risk to society. To function legally, these miners would want permits, however below South Africa’s present mining system, acquiring them is just about not possible. Goats and Soda paperwork an inside have a look at their onerous work and why it is essential.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

Screenshots of two movies about an adventurous kitten created by Mark Lawrence I Garilao utilizing generative AI for his “FUNTASTIC YT” YouTube channel.

@funntastic_AI/Youtube/Screenshot by NPR

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@funntastic_AI/Youtube/Screenshot by NPR

1. Social media is more and more stuffed with movies created utilizing synthetic intelligence. Critics say the “slop” movies, which garner hundreds of thousands of views, are sometimes repetitive, ineffective and litter folks’s feeds. Right here is how totally different platforms are grappling to unravel the problem.
2. The FDA has permitted the subsequent spherical of COVID-19 vaccines, however they’re proscribing the shot to people in danger for severe issues.
3. A number of universities throughout the U.S. are reporting a big drop in worldwide college students enrolled within the fall semester. Delays and elevated visa screenings have prevented many college students from arriving on campus on time.

This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.