Vance warns Iran that ‘another option on the table’ if nuclear deal not reached
Vice President JD Vance warned Iran that there is “another option on the table” if the regime does not make a nuclear deal with the U.S. Vance made the statement while speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force Two on Tuesday. A reporter referenced President Donald Trump‘s musings about potentially deploying a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East. “How confident are you in going the diplomatic route? Do you think that is still going to be successful or are we leaning more towards a military strike?” the reporter asked. “The president has told his entire senior team that we should be trying to cut a deal that ensures the Iranians don’t have nuclear weapons,” Vance responded. TRUMP, NETANYAHU TO MEET AT WHITE HOUSE IN HIGH-STAKES TALKS ON IRAN, GAZA PLAN “But if we can’t cut that deal, then there’s another option on the table. So I think the president is going to continue to preserve his options. He’s going to have a lot of options because we have the most powerful military in the world. But until the president tells us to stop, we’re going to engage in these conversations and try to reach a good outcome through negotiation,” he continued. Vance went on to downplay pushes for regime change in Iran, saying a removal of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei‘s regime would be up to “the Iranian people.” He said the Trump administration’s only focus is preventing the current Iranian regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon. NIKKI HALEY URGES TRUMP TO MAKE IRAN ACTION A ‘LEGACY-DEFINING MOMENT’ BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE Vance’s comments come a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, with Iran expected to take center stage in the meeting. In a phone interview with Axios, the president said Tehran “very much wants to reach a deal,” but warned, “Either we make a deal, or we’ll have to do something very tough — like last time.” IRAN PUSHES FOR FRIDAY NUCLEAR TALKS IN OMAN AMID RISING TENSIONS WITH US FORCES: SOURCE Netanyahu, speaking before departing Israel for Washington, said he intends to present Israel’s position. “I will present to the president our concept regarding the principles of the negotiations — the essential principles that are important not only to Israel but to anyone who wants peace and security in the Middle East,” he told reporters. U.S. and Iranian officials resumed talks in Oman this week for the first time since last summer’s 12-day war. The United States continues to maintain a significant military presence in the Gulf, a posture widely viewed as both deterrence and for holding leverage in negotiations with Tehran.
Pritzker joins chorus of Dem governors boycotting White House dinner after snub ignites ‘chaos’
A chorus of Democratic governors are rallying behind their fellow Democratic Governors Jared Polis, from Colorado, and Wes Moore, from Maryland, after they did not receive invites for a traditionally bipartisan White House dinner. Illinois Democrat Governor JB Pritzker was among those who decided they would be boycotting the slate of events hosted at the White House for the National Governors Association’s annual winter gathering held Feb. 19–21. “No way will I attend the White House dinner with this President,” Gov. Pritzker said Tuesday. “I’m standing with Gov. Wes Moore and Gov. Jared Polis — and standing against Trump’s corruption and hatred. And I’m calling on my Republican colleagues to do the same.” The boycott is being led by the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and its vice chair, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Other Democratic Party governors who have committed to the boycott include California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. A coalition of 18 governors signed a statement Tuesday slamming President Donald Trump for creating “chaos and division” by snubbing the state leaders. GOP MUTINY FORCES HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON TO DELAY VOTE ON KEY PIECE OF TRUMP’S AGENDA The White House reportedly decided to divert from the traditional path of inviting both Republican and Democratic governors to the events being held at the White House. Although a White House official also reportedly told Politico that “many Democrats were invited to dinner at the White House” while others were not. The move not to invite all Democrat governors to the winter gathering comes after President Trump got into a public spat with Democrat Governor of Maine, Janet Mills, at a bipartisan “Governors Working Session” last year in February over transgender sports participation. The heated back-and-forth was televised on national stations for all to see and led to the pair exchanging barbs for the subsequent weeks over the matter and over the state’s unwillingness to follow federal orders, such as those related to transgender sports participation. When reached for comment on the matter, a White House spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments Tuesday on the matter from the White House briefing room, during which she defended President Trump’s decision to not invite the Democratic Party governors. “I just spoke with the president about this. It is a dinner at the White House. It’s the people’s house. It’s also the president’s home, and so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House,” Leavitt told reporters from the White House briefing room Tuesday. FAR-LEFT NONPROFITS IN THE HOT SEAT AS LAWMAKER EXPOSES THEM FOR ‘SOWING CHAOS’ IN US She added that Gov. Moore had been invited the previous year, but never ended up coming. “Nobody reported on it. But, again, the president has the discretion to invite whomever he wants to the White House, and he welcomes all those who received an invitation to come and if they don’t want to that’s their loss.” During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Moore suggested his lack of an invite was due to race, telling the show it was “not lost” on him that he is the only Black governor in the country and the president was trying to deny him attendance at an organization’s event that Moore said his fellow Democrat governors have said they would like to see him lead. Moore also pointed to the fact he led a delegation of governors to the White House several weeks ago. In a statement, Brandon Tatum, CEO of the National Governors Association (NGA), said he was “disappointed in the administration’s decision.” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who is the chairman of the NGA, said in a Monday letter to fellow governors that the association was “no longer serving as the facilitator” for the upcoming event, according to The Associated Press. Stitt said the NGA was meant to represent all governors — those of the 50 states as well as the governors of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
GOP lawmaker shocked after anti-ICE sheriff was stumped by ‘fifth-grade civics’ question
North Carolina Republican state Rep. Allen Chesser said he was taken by surprise when a Democratic sheriff who has long opposed cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not answer a basic question about how the government works. A North Carolina House Oversight Committee hearing spurred on by the recent killing of a young Ukrainian woman, Iryna Zarutska, in Charlotte, took an unexpected turn when Chesser asked Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, “What branch of government do you operate under?” McFadden, who is the top law enforcement officer in the county where Zarutska was killed, simply answered, “Mecklenburg County,” prompting Chesser to repeat, “What branch of government do you operate under, sheriff?” The sheriff answered, “The Constitution of the United States,” to which Chesser responded, “That is what establishes the branches of government; I’m asking what branch you fall under.” After McFadden answered, “Mecklenburg County” again, Chesser remarked, “This is not where I was anticipating getting stuck. Um, are you aware of how many branches of government there are?” The sheriff quickly shot back, “No.” CHARLOTTE LIGHT-RAIL STABBING MURDER SPURS LANDMARK CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM FROM NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICANS After a long pause, Chesser continued, “For the sake of debate, let’s say there are three branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial. Of those three, which do you fall under?” The sheriff answered, “I believe I fall under the last one … judicial.” “You are incorrect, sir. You fall under the executive,” said Chesser. After that, Chesser continued to press McFadden about how he reconciles his responsibility as an officer under the executive branch to enforce the law with his opposition to cooperation with ICE. Chesser asked McFadden how he reconciled his responsibility with a previous statement in which the sheriff said, “We do not have a role in enforcement whatsoever, we do not have to follow the rules and the laws that are governed by our lawmakers in Raleigh.” The sheriff said that Chesser was taking his quote out of context, saying it was strictly in reference to immigration enforcement. Though declining to offer more context on the statement, McFadden affirmed his office is now abiding by state law requiring cooperation with ICE, saying, “We follow the law, when the law is produced, we follow the law.” HOUSE DEM EXPLODES ON TOP TRUMP IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL, SAYS HE ‘BETTER HOPE’ FOR PARDON FROM PRESIDENT In an interview with Fox News Digital the day after the hearing, Chesser, who is an Army veteran and former police officer, said that, “Obviously, those weren’t the cache of questions that I was thinking we were going to get him on.” “I had several statements that he had made to the media and to the local press and in different interviews that kind of conflicted with some of the testimony that he provided yesterday about following the law. We made it to [only] one of those statements because we got held up on what I thought was baseline, just kind of setting a baseline of how we were to establish that his role is to enforce the law,” he explained, adding, “I was not expecting to have to get into a fifth-grade civics lesson with a duly elected sheriff.” He said that McFadden has “decided to make himself kind of a centerpiece in the refusal to enforce immigration law here in North Carolina,” adding, “It’s not so much the refusal to enforce immigration law, but it’s the refusal to enforce state law that says he must cooperate with ICE and ICE detainers when people are in custody in his facilities.” WHO IS IRYNA ZARUTSKA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE KILLED IN CHARLOTTE TRAIN ATTACK? “Last summer, we had the unfortunate death of a young Ukrainian national that had sought refuge in our country and in our state,” Chesser went on. “I think that all North Carolinians, and all people who find themselves in North Carolina, should be able to count on one thing when it comes to public safety, and that is whether or not you are safe and whether or not the law will be enforced is not dependent on what county you find yourself in.” “North Carolina is a safe state for all the people who choose to come here, and that is the point of the Oversight Committee [hearing] that we were having was, making sure that the law is equally applied and fairly applied across all imaginary lines in our state,” he said. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
MTG calls Trump’s endorsement of Salazar ‘an insult to his base’
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed President Donald Trump’s endorsement record again after he backed Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida for re-election. “She supports illegals more than most democrats. His endorsements are an insult to his base,” Greene wrote Tuesday in a post on X. Salazar fired back at Greene on Wednesday morning. EX-TRUMP ALLY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE RIPS THE PRESIDENT’S ENDORSEMENTS, SAYING THEY ‘SOLIDIFY THE SWAMP’ “Marjorie, you’re starting to sound like Laura Loomer. Not telling the truth. And you know it,” the Salazar wrote in a post on X. “It’s DIGNITY, not AMNESTY. I’ll say it again: dignity, not amnesty, even for the people working in your own construction company. YOU said it yourself: “We cannot be rounding up every single person and deporting them.” So which is it? I don’t shift my message depending on the audience. I stay consistent. I miss our conversations in Congress,” the lawmaker added. In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Davis Ingle asserted, “President Trump is the unequivocal leader of the Republican party. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a quitter.” In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, the president praised Salazar, backing her for re-election as the GOP aims to retain its majority in both chambers of Congress during the 2026 midterms. “Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar is doing a truly fantastic job representing the wonderful people of Florida’s 27th Congressional District!” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post. “María Elvira Salazar has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election – SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” The incumbent congresswoman, who has served in the House of Representatives since early 2021, thanked the president for his support. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PRESSED TO CLOSE CUBA EMBARGO LOOPHOLE WITH OIL SET TO RUN OUT WITHIN DAYS “Thank you, President Trump @POTUS, for your support. I will continue to proudly represent FL-27 in Congress and fight for what our community deserves,” she wrote in a post on X, listing five points: “Restore dignity and order to our immigration system,” “Codify strong, permanent border security,” “Drive down housing costs so Miami families can stay and thrive,” “Protect American jobs and keep our economy strong” and “Confronting socialism, communism, and dictators head-on while defending freedom across our hemisphere.” “Miami is the ultimate melting pot, a city built by those who came here seeking liberty, opportunity, and a chance to start again. I know their story because it’s my story. In Congress, I will keep delivering results, standing firm on our values, and working to ensure opportunity and prosperity remain within reach for all,” she added. Greene, a longtime staunch Trump ally who left office early last month after a bitter falling out with the president last year, slammed Trump’s endorsement track record in January, asserting in a post on X, “Trump’s endorsements do not drain the swamp, his endorsements solidify the swamp and ensure the swamp is never drained.” TRUMP MAKES ENDORSEMENT IN CONTEST TO FILL HOUSE SEAT VACATED BY EX-ALLY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE White House spokesman Davis Ingle pushed back in a statement to Fox News Digital at the time. “President Trump’s unmatched coalition building ability has led to the most successful Republican Party in American history which has delivered more long-held GOP priorities under his leadership than either party has achieved for their voters in many combined decades prior. President Trump knows politics is a game of addition, and Marjorie ‘Quitter’ Greene just lives a reductive, self-defeating life of subtraction,” Ingle said.
The surprising reason why Americans could face high beef prices for years
Beef prices are soaring — and economists warn Americans shouldn’t expect relief anytime soon, as the U.S. cattle herd shrinks to its smallest size in 75 years. The massive decrease in cattle numbers has been caused by years of drought, soaring costs and an aging ranching workforce. Agricultural economists and ranchers alike say rebuilding herds will take years, meaning beef prices aren’t likely to ease anytime soon. “The biggest thing has been drought,” said Eric Belasco, head of the agricultural economics department at Montana State University. Years of dry weather have wiped out grasslands across the West and Plains, leaving ranchers without enough feed or water to sustain their herds. Many have been forced to sell cattle early, even the cows needed to produce the next generation of calves, making it difficult to rebuild America’s herds. THE COST OF THIS GROCERY STAPLE IS NEARING RECORD HIGHS — AND AMERICANS CAN’T GET ENOUGH Data from the Kansas City Federal Reserve found that with each incremental increase in drought severity, cattle-producing regions see about a 12% drop in hay production, a 5% rise in hay prices, a 1% reduction in herd size and a 4% decline in farm income. That slow recovery isn’t just economic — it’s biological, according to Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University. “The fact of the matter is there’s really nothing anybody can do to change this very quickly,” Peel said. “We’re in a tight supply situation that took several years to develop, and it’ll take several years to get out of it.” Peel, who specializes in livestock marketing, said it takes roughly two years to bring cattle to market and several years to rebuild herds — leaving little room for short-term relief. THE SINGLE CRUSHING PROBLEM AMERICAN CATTLE RANCHERS WISH TRUMP WOULD FIX INSTEAD And once herds shrink, the loss is hard to reverse. That reality is unfolding deep in ranch country. Cole Bolton, owner of K&C Cattle Company, whose pastures stretch along the soft edge of the Texas Hill Country, said the cattle industry is still in the early stages of recovery. “I think it’s going to take a while to fix this crisis that we’re in with the cattle shortage,” Bolton told Fox News Digital. “My message to consumers is simple: folks, be patient. We’ve got to build back our herds.” About 1,000 miles away, Will Harris, a fourth-generation cattleman in Bluffton, Georgia, said the ripple effects of the shrinking cattle herd are now landing squarely on consumers. “The American cattle herd is smaller than it has been since the 1950s and that contraction has pushed beef prices to historic highs. Demand is strong, but domestic supply simply isn’t meeting it and that gap is being felt most by consumers,” said Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, the average price of beef in grocery stores climbed from about $8.40 per pound in March to $10.10 per pound by December 2025, a roughly 20% increase. IN TEXAS CATTLE COUNTRY, ONE RANCHER WELCOMES TRUMP’S FOCUS ON DECADES OF THIN MARGINS Despite rising prices, Americans haven’t blinked. In 2025, shoppers spent more than $45 billion on beef, buying more than 6.2 billion pounds, according to data from Beef Research, a contractor for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Spending jumped about 12% from a year earlier, while the amount of beef sold rose more than 4% — a sign consumers aren’t just paying more, they’re buying more. The revelation comes as President Donald Trump temporarily expands beef imports from Argentina to blunt high grocery prices, while also laying out longer-term plans to bolster the U.S. cattle industry. While imports could ease pressure at the grocery store in the short term, ranchers and economists alike say they are no substitutes for rebuilding the domestic cattle supply.
Canada school shooting live: 10 dead in British Columbia’s Tumbler Ridge
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, At least 27 people have been injured in the shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in remote town near the Rocky Mountains. Published On 11 Feb 202611 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Palestinians sense West Bank annexation after Israel approves new rules
Israeli government moves to change rules around land registration in the West Bank, making it easier for Israeli Jews to buy property in the illegally occupied territory, are raising alarm among Palestinians, fearful that the new rules will establish defacto Israeli annexation. The Israeli cabinet announced the decisions on Sunday. In addition to allowing Jews to buy property in the West Bank – a Palestinian territory that Israel has occupied since 1967 in defiance of international law – the Israeli government has also ordered that land registries in the West Bank be opened up to the public. That means that it will be easier for Israelis looking to take territory in the West Bank to find out who the owner of the land is, opening them up to harassment and pressure. The cabinet also decreed that authority over building permits for illegal Jewish settlements in Hebron, and the Ibrahimi Mosque compound, would pass to Israel from the Palestinian Hebron municipality. Moataz Abu Sneina has seen Israel’s efforts to seize Palestinian land first hand. He is the director of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, a Palestinian national symbol and an important Islamic holy site due to its connection to the Prophet Ibrahim, also known as Abraham. Abu Sneina said that the latest Israeli decisions reflect a clear intention to increase Israeli control over Hebron’s Old City, and the Ibrahimi Mosque compound. “What is happening today is the most serious development since 1967,” Abu Sneina said. “We view it with grave concern for the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque, which is the symbol and beating heart of Hebron, and the shrine of the patriarchs and prophets.” Advertisement The Ibrahimi Mosque site is also revered by Jews, who refer to it as the Tomb of the Patriarchs. An Israeli Jewish settler killed 29 Palestinians after opening fire on Muslims praying at the mosque in 1994. Shortly afterwards, Israeli authorities divided the site into Jewish and Muslim prayer areas, and far-right Israeli settlers continue to strengthen their control over areas of Hebron. Despite only numbering a few hundred, the settlers have taken over large areas of the city centre, protected by the Israeli military. Abu Sneina explained that Israel has repeatedly attempted to strengthen its foothold inside Hebron and the mosque, and that the latest government moves are a continuation of Israeli policy that has only increased since the October 2023 start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. “This has taken the form of increased settler incursions, restrictions on worshippers, control over entry and exit, and bans on the call to prayer – all part of a systematic policy aimed at complete control over the holy site,” Abu Sneina said. “[Israel] continues to violate all agreements, foremost the Hebron Protocol, closing most entrances to the mosque and leaving only one fully controlled access point,” he added. “This paves the way for a new division or an even harsher reality than the temporal and spatial division imposed since the 1994 massacre.” Taking over Hebron Mohannad al-Jaabari, the director of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, a Palestinian organisation focused on the restoration of Hebron’s Old City, said that the Israeli government was already increasing its presence on the ground, in an effort to take control of the city. He pointed to the confiscation of shops belonging to the Hebron Municipality in the Old City, the construction of dozens of illegal settlement units, and the reconfiguration of water pipes by connecting them to an Israeli water company’s network, creating what he described as “a massive apartheid system”. Al-Jaabari warned that the ultimate goal is to establish a Jewish quarter linking settlements to the Ibrahimi Mosque by emptying Palestinian neighbourhoods of their residents. “All Hebron institutions are preparing for a difficult phase,” he said. “We are bracing for a fierce attack on Palestinian institutions, foremost the Rehabilitation Committee.” The Israeli government’s latest decisions open the door for what has happened in Hebron to happen elsewhere, with Israeli settlers establishing a presence in other Palestinian cities, forcing locals out, experts say. Advertisement Nabil Faraj, a Palestinian journalist and political analyst, called the Israeli government’s moves “dangerous” and added that they “have driven the final nail into the coffin of the peace process”. He explained that Israel is reengineering the geographic landscape of the West Bank, expanding infrastructure to serve settlements, and seeking to strip the Palestinian Authority of administrative and security control. The Hebron model Palestinians in Bethlehem are now worried that they will get a taste of what Hebron has already experienced. One of the Israeli cabinet’s decisions on Sunday stipulated that the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in the city, known to Jews as Rachel’s Tomb, would be placed under Israeli administration for cleaning and maintenance, after previously being under the jurisdiction of the Bethlehem municipality. The mosque’s cemetery has also been affected. “It will affect the living and the dead,” said Bassam Abu Srour, who lives in Bethlehem’s Aida refugee camp. “Annexing the area would prevent burials and visits to the Islamic cemetery. This is extremely serious and completely unacceptable to us.” In Bethlehem, Hebron, and the rest of the West Bank, Palestinians feel powerless to stop what they view as a creeping annexation. Mamdouh al-Natsheh, a shop owner in Hebron, said he now has a growing sense that what is unfolding is an attempt to impose a permanent reality. “The city is being taken from its people step by step,” he said. “Daily restrictions are turning it into a fixed policy that suffocates every detail of life.” He added that the deepest impact is on children and young people, growing up in a city that is “divided and constantly monitored”, stripping them of a natural sense of the future. “I fear the day will come when we are told this area has been officially annexed, and that our presence depends on permits,” al-Natsheh said. “In Hebron, a house is not just walls – it is history and identity. Any annexation means the loss of security
Young and old struggle to get their studies back on track in Gaza
Nuseirat, Gaza Strip – Nibal Abu Armana sits in her tent, where she has been teaching her seven-year-old son, Mohammed, basic literacy and numbers. Nibal, a 38-year-old mother of six, is forced to rely on the dim light from a battery-powered LED lamp. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list After two hours, Nibal and Mohammed’s eyes are exhausted. This is what education is like for many in Gaza. The majority of Palestinians in the enclave live like Nibal and her family: displaced and forced to survive in temporary shelters barely fit for habitation. But Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, has gone on for more than two years, and the necessary reconstruction is unlikely to happen any time soon. The majority of school buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel, along with the majority of other structures in Gaza. Many of the school structures that remain are now used as shelters for displaced families. And students – both children at schools and young adults at universities – have largely missed any form of regular education since the war began in October 2023. “My children used to have a routine before the war: wake up early, go to school, get back home, have lunch, play, write homework, and sleep early,” Nibal told Al Jazeera. “There was a sense of discipline.” Now, she said, her children’s days are structured around their basic needs: sourcing water, getting meals from a charity kitchen, and finding something to burn on the fire for cooking and warmth. After all of that, there is little time left in the day to study. Advertisement Nibal, originally from the Bureij camp but now living in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, said her children struggled, especially at the start of the war, when all forms of education stopped for months. And now, even though circumstances are getting better, it is hard to catch up. Many older children, who have missed out on education at a vital period of their lives, are unwilling to resume their studies. “My eldest son, Hamza, is 16 years old, and he entirely rejects the idea of going back to school,” Nibal said. “He has been cut off from learning for so long and lived in displacement that he lost interest in education. He has new responsibilities. He works with his dad as a porter, helping people carry their aid boxes. He focuses on working to get money to buy food for us and buy himself clothes.” “He grew up before his time; he bears the responsibilities and thinks like a parent would for his youngest siblings,” she said. Nibal’s second son, 15-year-old Huzaifa, is eager to keep learning, but uncertain of his future, as he thinks it will take him years to make up for the time he has lost being unable to study properly. For now, he is studying, but he is forced to attend classes in a makeshift tent classroom. “I feel tired sitting on the ground, and my back and neck ache while writing and looking at the teachers,” Huzaifa said. Attacks on education Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, 745,000 students have been out of formal schooling, including 88,000 higher education students who have been forced to put their studies on hold. Even with a “ceasefire” being in place since October, which Israel continues to violate, more than 95 percent of the significantly damaged school buildings require rehabilitation or reconstruction, according to UNESCO satellite damage assessments. At least 79 percent of higher education campuses and 60 percent of vocational training centres are also damaged or destroyed. Ahmad al-Turk, the dean of public relations and assistant to the president of the Islamic University of Gaza, said that Israel has been deliberately attacking education. “Targeting professors affects future generations, especially given the experience and skills these professors possess in their fields of specialisation,” al-Turk said. “There is no doubt that the absence of competent professors negatively affects students’ achievement, as well as the research process in the future.” This is particularly worrying for Raed Salha, a professor at the Islamic University and an expert on regional and urban planning. Advertisement “University expertise is not something that can be replaced quickly,” he said. “It is cumulative knowledge built through years of teaching and research. Losing it – whether through death, forced displacement, or prolonged disruption – is a devastating loss for students, academic institutions, and society as a whole.” Most families and university students also struggle with the online education system, as it is difficult to afford to buy electronic devices and mobile phones, even before taking into account the weak internet connection in Gaza. “Teachers are trying to teach; students are trying to follow, but the tools are almost nonexistent,” Salha said. “We cannot recreate the experience of students leaving home in the morning, meeting friends, sitting in university courtyards, libraries, laboratories, or participating in activities and events,” he said. “This experience shaped generations of students’ identities and sense of belonging. Today, it is being taken away from them.” Students sit in a classroom at the Islamic University in Gaza City after partially resuming face-to-face learning [Mustafa Salah/Al Jazeera] University challenges University student Osama Zimmo explained that getting used to online learning has been a challenge. “We became names on screens, not students living a full experience,” the 20-year-old civil engineering student from Gaza City said. Osama had enrolled to study computer systems engineering at Gaza’s al-Azhar University before the war, and completed the first year of his studies. But despite his initial passion for that field, it became difficult to continue his studies online once the university shifted to e-learning. “I found that I didn’t have a laptop, stable electricity, or good internet, and even my phone was old and unreliable,” he said, adding that uncertainty over when the war would end and the impact of artificial intelligence gave him pause about his chosen field. Eventually, he decided to switch his major, starting a
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to skip proceedings amid no-confidence motion, citing moral grounds
Sources said the notice of motion of no-confidence cited four incidents against the Speaker, including the Opposition’s allegation that Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak in the House during the discussion on the motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.
Another shocker from Delhi: 32-year-old labourer from Bihar dies after falling into open sewer in Rohini days after similar Janakpuri incident
A 32-year-old labourer from Bihar died after falling into an open sewer in north-west Delhi’s Rohini area on Monday, as there was no sewer lid. As per PTI, the body of the labourer was recovered from a manhole after an overnight delay in reporting the incident, police said on Tuesday.