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New US-backed aid group begins distributing food in war-torn Gaza

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New US-backed aid group begins distributing food in war-torn Gaza

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) — a U.S.-backed group that has Israel’s stamp of approval — said it has started distributing aid to the Gaza Strip despite being the subject of controversy and questions. 

GHF did not specify how many trucks of food it was dealing with but said that the supplies made it to its hubs and were being distributed throughout the Strip. The organization also said there would be more trucks arriving on Wednesday.

“As part of the ongoing efforts to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, four aid distribution centers were established in recent weeks, in accordance with the directive of the political echelon and in close coordination with the United States,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Gazans are seen going to and from an aid collection spot. (Amit Segal)

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR LASHES OUT AT UN OFFICIAL, CONDEMNS UK, FRANCE, CANADA STATEMENT ON AID

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“Every day, thousands of Gazans will be able to come here, reach this third party and get the aid directly. We hope this will end Hamas’ abuse of the aid coming into Gaza, Hamas’s abuse of the people of Gaza, and that the people of Gaza will be able to receive the aid directly,” IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a video about the aid.

The organization received considerable scrutiny before its distribution began, as well as a potentially major hurdle: just hours before it started distributing aid, the head of the organization resigned. 

Jake Woods, who was the executive director of the GHF, resigned on Monday, citing the organization’s inability to “adhere to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.”

“I urge Israel to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms, and I urge all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination,” Woods said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “I continue to believe the only sustainable path for the long-term is for Hamas to release all hostages, for there to be a cessation of hostilities, and a pathway for peace, security, and dignity for all people in the region.”

Humanitarian aid to be distributed to the people of Gaza. (IDF Spokesperson’s Office)

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ISRAEL TURNS TABLES ON UN OFFICIAL CLAIMING ‘GENOCIDE’ IN GAZA WITH BASIC QUESTIONS

Prior to Woods’ resignation, GHF faced criticism over its distribution plan, which involved the aid arriving at hubs that are guarded by armed contractors, according to The Associated Press. The outlet also reported that the four hubs being set up are all close to Israeli military positions, saying that three are “far south where few Palestinians are located.”

The Associated Press reported that GHF said the flow of supplies to Palestinians in Gaza would be “increasing each day.”

Woods is not alone in his concern about GHF’s independence and impartiality, as the organization has faced backlash over Israel’s support for the organization. The United Nations and aid groups have voiced criticism of GHF. 

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip on Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

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A spokesperson from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told Reuters that GHF is “a distraction from what is actually needed.”

“Our position remains firm: as Tom Fletcher, the under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council the other week, this is a distraction. Aid operations must be in line with the humanitarian principles and must be scaled up to stave off famine and meet the needs of all civilians, where they are in the Strip,” OCHA spokesperson Eri Kaneko told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and the Red Cross for comment, but they did not immediately respond. 

Trey Yingst contributed to this report.

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UAE cuts funding for citizens studying at UK universities over campus radicalization fears: report

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UAE cuts funding for citizens studying at UK universities over campus radicalization fears: report

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is removing funding for its citizens to study in the United Kingdom, citing concerns they could be radicalized abroad. 

The move means the UAE has removed British universities from a list of higher education institutions eligible for state scholarships amid growing tensions over London’s decision not to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, The Financial Times reported. 

“[The UAE] don’t want their kids to be radicalized on campus,” a person directly involved with the decision told the outlet. 

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA ORDERED TO REINSTATE LAW STUDENT WHO WAS EXPELLED AFTER ANTI-JEWISH COMMENTS

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A “Welcome to the People’s University for Palestine” banner at King’s College at the University of Cambridge May 11, 2024, in Cambridge, U.K.  (Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

Since then, Emirati students who have applied to their government for scholarships to study in the U.K. have been denied. 

The move also means that the UAE will not recognize qualifications from academic institutions that are not on its accredited list, rendering degrees from U.K. universities less valuable than others, according to the report. 

NYC STUDENTS EXPOSE ‘EXTREMIST’ PROFESSORS FOSTERING CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM AT MAJOR UNIVERSITIES

The skyline in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where funding for its citizens to study in the United Kingdom has been halted.  (Vidhyaa Chandramohan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“All forms of extremism have absolutely no place in our society, and we will stamp them out wherever they are found,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said in a statement. “We offer one of the best education systems in the world and maintain stringent measures on student welfare and on-campus safety.”

The UAE has taken a hardline approach to Islamist movements abroad and at home. 

During the 2023-24 school year, 70 students at U.K. universities were reported for possible referral to the government’s deradicalization program, the report states. 

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UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan has repeatedly questioned the U.K.’s decision to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. 

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Starmer’s administration last year said the matter was under “close review.”

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Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,416

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Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,416

These are the key developments from day 1,416 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

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Here is where things stand on Saturday, January 10:

Fighting:

  • The death toll from a massive Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv that began on Thursday night has risen to four, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service wrote in an update shared on Facebook on Friday. At least 25 people were also injured, including five rescuers, the service added.
  • The attack left thousands of Kyiv apartments without heat, electricity and water as temperatures fell to minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and other local officials said.
  • Klitschko called on people to temporarily leave the city, saying on Telegram that “half of apartment buildings in Kyiv – nearly 6,000 – are currently without heating because the capital’s critical infrastructure was damaged by the enemy’s massive attack”.
  • Russian forces shelled a hospital in the Ukrainian city of Kherson just after midday on Friday, damaging the intensive care unit and injuring three nurses, the regional prosecutor’s office wrote on Telegram.
  • “As a result of the attack, three nurses aged 21, 49, and 52 were wounded. At the time of the shelling, the women were inside the medical facility,” the office said in a statement.
  • The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, condemned attacks on healthcare in Ukraine in a statement shared on X, saying that there had been nine attacks since the beginning of 2026, killing one patient, one medic and injuring 11 others, including healthcare workers and patients.
  • Tedros said that the attacks further “complicated the delivery of health care during the winter period” and called for “the protection of health care facilities, patients and health workers”.
  • Russian forces attacked two foreign-flagged civilian vessels with drones in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, killing a Syrian national and injuring another, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba and other officials said on Friday.
  • A Ukrainian drone attack on a bus in Russia’s Belgorod region injured four people, the regional task force reported, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.
  • Russian forces seized five settlements in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, including Zelenoye, the Russian Ministry of Defence said, according to TASS.
  • Ukrainian battlefield monitoring site DeepState said on Friday that Russian forces advanced in Huliaipole and Prymorske in the Zaporizhia region, but did not report any further changes.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia’s Oreshnik missile strike late on Thursday was “demonstratively” close to Ukraine’s border with the European Union.
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency has begun consultations to establish a temporary ceasefire zone near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after military activity damaged one of two high-voltage power lines, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement on Friday.

Sanctions

  • US forces seized the Olina oil tanker and forced it to return to Venezuela so its oil could be sold “through the GREAT Energy Deal”, United States President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. According to The Associated Press news agency, US government records showed that the Olina had been sanctioned for moving Russian oil under its prior name, Minerva M.
  • Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Olha Stefanishyna, said that Ukrainian nationals were among members of the crew of the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera seized earlier this week by US forces over its links to Venezuela, according to Interfax Ukraine news agency.
  • The Russian Foreign Ministry separately said on Friday that the US had released two Russian crewmembers from the Marinera, expressing gratitude to Washington for the decision and pledging to ensure the return home of crewmembers.

Politics and diplomacy

  • Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “deep regret” over damage to its embassy in Kyiv, confirming that no diplomats or staff were hurt, in a statement on Friday. The ministry underscored the importance of protecting diplomatic buildings and reiterated its call for a “resolution to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis through dialogue and peaceful means”.
  • British Defence Secretary John Healey said that the United Kingdom was allocating 200 million pounds ($270m) to fund preparations for the possible deployment of troops to Ukraine, during a visit to Kyiv on Friday.
  • The leaders of Britain, France and Germany described Russia’s use of an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in western Ukraine as “escalatory and unacceptable”, according to a readout of their call released by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office on Friday.
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Some flu measures decline, but it’s not clear this severe season has peaked

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Some flu measures decline, but it’s not clear this severe season has peaked

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.

New government data posted Friday — for flu activity through last week — showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.

However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there is more suffering ahead.

“This is going to be a long, hard flu season,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, in a statement Friday.

One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that is the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.

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The last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century — including that H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-2010.

So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including the deaths of at least 17 children.

Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.

Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed, and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.

Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.

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For years, federal health officials joined doctors’ groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.

But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it is a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.

“I can’t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease,” said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.

“Now, with added confusion for parents and health care providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable,” she said in a statement.

Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks — though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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