Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil killed in #Israeli strike on a house where she took cover, paper says.

#BEIRUT — A #Lebanese journalist was killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Lebanon where she had taken cover while reporting on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Her body was only retrieved from the rubble hours later, rescue workers said.

The daily Al-Akhbar newspaper says its reporter Amal Khalil was killed in the southern village of al-Tiri.

Khalil had been covering the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group that resumed in early March, in the shadow of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. She took cover in the house in al-Tiri after an earlier Israeli airstrike hit near the car she was traveling in with another colleague.

The Lebanese health ministry said the first strike killed two people. A second Israeli strike then hit the house in al-Tiri where Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj had taken cover.

At first, rescue workers were able to get to Faraj, who was seriously wounded, and retrieve the bodies of two killed in the first airstrike. But they were fired on by Israeli forces so they were forced to halt attempts to reach Khalil, the ministry said.

Khalil remained under the rubble for hours before the Lebanese army, civil defense and the Lebanese Red Cross were able to get to the scene hours later. Khalil’s body was retrieved shortly before midnight, at least six hours after the strike.

Israel’s military said individuals in the village had violated the ceasefire, endangering its troops. Israel denied that it targets #journalists or that it prevented rescue teams from reaching the area. It said the incident was under review.

“Killing of journalists is a crime and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law,” said Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos.

Khalil’s death comes on the eve of the second round of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington on extending the ceasefire that went into effect last Friday.

Khalil, who was from southern Lebanon, had been covering the area since 2006 for al-Akhbar. Her latest reporting was about Israeli demolitions of Lebanese homes in villages where Israeli troops are now positioned inside Lebanon.

Her death brings to nine the number of #journalists killed in Lebanon so far this year. At least 2,300 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and more than 1 million displaced since the latest #Israel-#Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders called for international pressure on the Israeli army to allow Khalil’s rescue. Committee to Protect Journalists expressed its “outrage” at the apparent targeting of the two journalists and warned the obstruction of rescue efforts “may amount to a war crime.”

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun asked the Lebanese Red Cross to coordinate with the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers “to carry out the rescue operation” as quickly as possible.

In late March, an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon killed three journalists covering the war. Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV said its longtime correspondent Ali Shoeib was killed. Israel’s military said it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative, without providing evidence.

Also killed in the same strike was reporter Fatima Ftouni, who worked for the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV along with her brother Mohammed Ftouni, a video journalist.

Days earlier, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed Mohammed Sherri, the head of political programs at Hezbollah’s at Al-Manar TV, along with his wife.

Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

Bassem Mroue And Sarah El Deeb, The Associated Press

U.K. to ban cigarettes sales for those born after 2008. Could Canada do the same?

The proposed U.K. law, dubbed the “Tobacco and Vapes Bill,” aims to stop anyone born after Jan. 1, 2009, now aged 17, from taking up smoking. It has been approved by both houses of Britain’s Parliament but still requires royal assent.

“It’s a step in the right direction and we’re really encouraged to see this,” said Dr. Lesley James, the director of health policy and systems in Ontario for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. “We’re hoping officials in Canada will see this and see what can be done here within our borders, to see what can be done to address smoking.”

A brief history of the White House #bunker

Secrecy surrounding White House security makes details hard to come by, but U.S. President Donald Trump’s court fight over his US$400 million ballroom casts some light on an underground bunker at the site that has had a role in history.

The bunker emerged in the #Trump administration’s court fight against the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is challenging the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-metre) ballroom project in #Washington. A federal appeals court last week permitted the president to continue with construction of the project at the site of the former East Wing, which was demolished last fall.

That ruling put on hold a lower-court judge’s order blocking aboveground construction but exempted work to ensure the safety and security of the White House. The Republican administration’s appeal cited materials that would be installed to make a “heavily fortified” facility, including adding bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom.
The bunker’s role in presidential history

The history of a bunker beneath the East Wing dates to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, when an underground bomb shelter was installed in 1942 after the United States had entered World War II. Beyond that, detail is obscured by secrecy resulting from concerns about presidential safety.

Garrett Graff, a historian and national security author, said the Presidential Emergency Operations Center beneath the East Wing was always intended to be for short-term use.

“The whole point of the sort of presidential evacuation and continuity of the presidency is you want to get the president out of the place where everyone knows that he is and get him into a place where people don’t know where he is,” Graff said.

High-profile flights to an underground bunker at the White House include vice-president Dick Cheney being taken there because of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

A Secret Service agent burst into the West Wing room, grabbed Cheney by the belt and shoulder and led him to a bunker underneath the White House. “He didn’t say, ‘Shall we go?’” Cheney told NBC News years later. “He wasn’t polite about it.”

More recently, Trump was rushed to a White House bunker in 2020 amid protests stemming from the death of George Floyd. At the time, there were chants from protesters at Lafayette Park that could be heard in the building, and Secret Service and law enforcement officers struggled to control the crowds.

Why a ballroom matters to a bunker

Matthew Quinn, deputy director of the Secret Service, wrote in court filings that it’s important for the ballroom project to go forward for security at the White House.

“An above-ground slab and topping structure is needed to ensure that key underground structures with a security purpose are properly protected and strengthened,” Quinn wrote.

He added: “Leaving the project site unfinished imperils the ability of the Secret Service to meet its statutory mission to protect the President.”

Trump last month offered a list of what’s being done to enhance security while the ballroom is built.

“The roof is droneproof. We have secure air-handling systems. You know, bad things happen in the air if you have bad people,” the president said. “We have biodefence all over. We have secure telecommunications and communications all over. We have bomb shelters that we’re building. We have a hospital and very major medical facilities that we’re building.”

The president took to social media to criticize the lower-court ruling and said the underground portion wouldn’t work without the aboveground facility as well.
What’s next in the legal battle over the ballroom

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has argued that Trump overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without getting approval from key federal agencies and Congress.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in favor of the nonprofit group at the end of March but put his decision on hold briefly while allowing underground work to continue. The administration appealed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has a hearing for June 5 to review the case.

#Taxpayer dollars will pay for the security aspects of the project, though Trump has said the ballroom costs will be covered by donations from wealthy people and corporations. He’s said it’s a long-overdue addition to the White House complex.

“The underground portion is wedded to, and serves, the upper portion,” the president said in a #socialmedia post.

What that means in practice is unclear and hinges in part on the outcome of litigation.

Mike Catalini, The Associated Press

#EU Permanent Representatives approved 90 bln euro financing for Kiev and the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions after Hungary and Slovakia lifted their veto, the Cyprus presidency in the EU said.

"Ambassadors approved the 90 bln euro loan for Kiev and the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions," the presidency said.

Information appeared earlier about the start of Russian oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia over the Druzhba oil pipeline via Ukraine, which was a condition of veto cancellation for both countries.

#OTTAWA — The Liberals are moving to take control of House of Commons committees now that they’ve secured a majority government.

House leader Steven MacKinnon said in a social media post Tuesday that the Liberals will seek to change the standing orders, the rules that govern the Commons, to ensure they have the most votes on committees.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government are determined to work constructively both in the House and in parliamentary committees,” he said.

Majority governments traditionally hold a majority of seats on House committees.

Because the Liberals won a minority in last April’s election, MPs agreed to form committees with four Liberals, four Conservatives and one member from the Bloc Québécois.

MacKinnon is proposing that most committees will now have seven Liberals, four Conservatives and one Bloc member.

The standing orders are typically agreed upon unanimously, but MacKinnon’s proposed change will require a vote in the House. He said he intends to give notice of a motion in the coming days.

Committees are a key step in examining legislation and holding the government to account through studies.

Carney’s Liberal government was granted a majority earlier this month through a set of byelection wins.

The governing party swept three byelections in the Toronto area and the Montreal suburb Terrebonne, giving them 174 seats in the House of Commons. Carney’s federal government is the first in Canada’s history to switch from a minority to a majority between elections.

The byelection results, combined with five opposition MPs who crossed the floor to the Liberals in recent months, have pushed Carney’s party over a threshold it could not reach in last year’s election.

The Liberals won 169 seats last April, shy of the 172 needed for a bare-bones majority.

Conservatives sent supporters a fundraising email Tuesday evening arguing that Carney is “going to use his majority powers to make life easier for his government.”

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#US President Donald #Trump has said that the ceasefire with Iran and the naval blockade of its ports will be extended until Tehran comes up with a "unified proposal."

"Based on the fact that the #Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our attack on the country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "I have therefore directed our military to continue the blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other."

F-35 manufacturer lands on Canadian soil to establish new jet maintenance depot. The event also served as a message about what the American aerospace giant is selling as the benefits of its aircraft, as Ottawa continues to weigh which jets will make up its Armed Forces fighter fleet.

Lockheed Martin signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mirabel-based MAS, a company of L3Harris, to establish an F-35 maintenance depot.

“This partnership that we are here to celebrate today just continues an extension of the trust and the relationship that we have established and really builds upon the foundation that we have with Canada as one of the prime partners on the most amazing multi-role fighter to take to the skies,” said Lockheed Martin vice-president and director general of the F-35 program Chauncey MacIntosh.

MAS has maintained Canada’s fleet of CF-18s for decades but is now setting its sights on using that experience for the maintenance of F-35s. The company says that is necessary to maintain and even create jobs at the facility.

While Lockheed Martin says the MoU focuses on the maintenance of the jets Canada buys, MAS aims to convert facilities into a maintenance depot that would also serve other F-35s flying worldwide.

“Certainly, the original contract is what we hope to be able to support up to 88 F-35s,” said MAS General Manager Ugo Paniconi. “At the same time, by establishing a regional sustainment depot, it means that aircraft from other countries, notably from the U.S. and other countries, we can accommodate those aircraft into our facility and do maintenance and support of those aircraft.”

MAS L3Harris says it estimates that re-tooling infrastructure to maintain F-35s will cost at least $200 million and is lobbying the federal government for an investment.
Reassuring news for union representatives

Union representatives say the announcement is reassuring news. Workers have been concerned about what will happen to their jobs between the end of the maintenance of the CF-18s and the beginning of work on F-35s.

“Certainly, we are lobbying the government about investments that are to be made for military contracts,” says International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Philippe Comeau. ”We are hopeful that our workers will be able to do maintenance of whatever aircraft Canada picks.”

In 2023, Ottawa unveiled its plan to purchase 88 F-35 fighter jets to replace its ageing fleet of CF-18s. The government ordered 16, but a year ago, it triggered a review of the rest of the purchase as tensions flared up between Canada and the United-States. The Canadian government is now weighing whether to run a dual fleet and replace some of the planned F-35s with the Swedish-made Gripen.

Ottawa has steered clear of announcements on the file during negotiations of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, (CUSMA). It has also not confirmed when it might unveil its final decision on which fighter jets will make up Canada’s fleet.

“We are very excited about the full 88 airplane buy of Canada, knowing what having a single fleet means,” said Macintosh during an interview with CTV News. “What that does with the interoperability with NATO, the need for one training program, one infrastructure program. There are a lot of advantages to running a single fleet.”

But MacIntosh also said that the MoU signed today would move forward based on the purchase that Canada makes.

Over US$71 bn needed over next decade to rebuild #Gaza: UN, EU. More than $71 billion will be needed over the next decade for recovery and reconstruction in war-ravaged Gaza, according to an EU-UN assessment published Monday.

In their final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), the United Nations and the European Union said that more than two years of war in the Palestinian territory “has led to unprecedented loss of life and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis”.

“Recovery and reconstruction needs are estimated at around $71.4 billion,” said the assessment, developed in coordination with the World Bank.

Much of Gaza -- including schools, hospitals and other civic infrastructure -- has been reduced to rubble by a withering Israeli military offensive following the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

The final assessment determined that $26.3 billion would be required in the first 18 months to restore essential services, rebuild critical infrastructure and support economic recovery.

“Physical infrastructure damages are estimated at $35.2 billion, with economic and social losses amounting to $22.7 billion,” a joint statement said.

Gaza is under a fragile ceasefire agreed last October, which followed two years of devastating conflict sparked by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures tallied by AFP. Palestinian militants also abducted 251 hostages.

The retaliatory Israeli military campaign has killed more than 72,000 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry whose figures the UN considers reliable.
‘Immense scale of need’

According to the RDNA, some 371,888 housing units have been destroyed or damaged, more than 50 percent of hospitals in the territory are non-functional and nearly all schools have been destroyed or damaged.

At the same time, 1.9 million people -- nearly Gaza’s entire population -- have been displaced, often multiple times, and more than 60 percent of the population had lost their homes, the assessment found.

Gaza’s economy has contracted by 84 percent, it said.

“The scale and extent of deprivation across living conditions, livelihoods/income, food security, gender equality, and social inclusion, have pushed back human development in the Gaza Strip by 77 years,” the assessment said.

The UN and the EU stressed that “given the immense scale of need, recovery efforts must run in parallel with humanitarian action” in Gaza, ensuring a “transition from emergency relief toward reconstruction at scale”.

They insisted that the recovery and reconstruction needed to be “Palestinian-led”, and incorporate approaches that actively support the transfer of governance to the Palestinian Authority, in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2803.

That resolution, which was adopted last November, welcomed the creation of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to support Gaza’s reconstruction.

The UN and the EU also emphasised that “a set of enabling conditions” were needed for the resolution to be implemented effectively on the ground.

They included in particular “a sustained ceasefire and adequate security”, as well as “unimpeded humanitarian access and immediate restoration of essential services,” and “free movement of people, goods, and reconstruction materials, within and between Gaza and the West Bank”.

Without such conditions, they warned, “neither recovery nor reconstruction can succeed”.