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Today's top stories
A U.N.-backed panel of experts on starvation has declared that Gaza is in the grip of famine. The announcement comes after nearly two years of war and Israeli restrictions on aid entering the territory, and as Israel prepares to launch a new offensive on Gaza City. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification raised its classification of conditions in Gaza to Phase 5, the highest level of its food insecurity scale, which the IPC says is "characterized by starvation, destitution and death." The IPC report says half a million people are facing that level of starvation and warns that another 1.07 million people — over half the population of Gaza — are facing severe food deprivation.
- 🎧 Given the lack of outside access to Gaza, it's likely that these numbers are an underestimate, according to NPR's Jackie Northam. Israel has denied that there is a hunger crisis in Gaza, where it has been fighting Hamas since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Northam says the IPC support does not assign blame for the famine, but says a ceasefire is needed to end the war and flood the territory with aid. The aid group Mercy Corps has warned of famine in Gaza for months, and calls it a "man-made" famine that is a "direct result of months of deliberate restrictions on aid, the destruction of Gaza's food, health, and water systems, and relentless bombardment."
The House Oversight Committee is expected to receive hundreds of documents related to the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein investigation today. This is in response to a congressional subpoena issued earlier this month calling on the DOJ to provide records of its probe. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has said some of the files will be made public after victims' names are redacted.
- 🎧 NPR's Claudia Grisales says this is a "major step for Republicans," who have fended off questions around Epstein for months. The party base has been frustrated with President Trump and Republicans for not releasing these records. The House left for its August recess early to avoid votes on the issue. Democrats say they will continue to push for more transparency when Congress returns, and Grisales says they have an unlikely ally in House Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Massie has said he'll force a House vote on the full release of the records on Epstein, the millionaire financier who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
- ➡️ The Trump administration has shifted its tone and message in response to pressure to release these documents. Here's a timeline of what the administration has said.
The Department of Justice has hired a lawyer who represented rioters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Attorney Jonathan Gross is now working with the Trump administration's "Weaponization Working Group," which reviews the criminal and civil cases brought against the president by federal and local prosecutors in the last four years. Gross took an unconventional path to representing Jan. 6 defendants. Here's what to know about the attorney.
Are tariffs raising prices? Earnings calls from some of the largest retailers in the U.S., including Walmart, Home Depot and Target, reveal some answers. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon says that while the company has been able to mitigate the cost of tariffs so far, they're rising "each week." While some prices are up, items like school supplies are cheaper this year than last year, according to Walmart.
- 🎧 NPR's Alina Selyukh says big retailers are giving measured and nuanced takes. When Walmart issued a warning in May that tariffs would raise prices in weeks, Trump posted that the retailer should stop blaming tariffs and "EAT" them. Many retailers have done that, and McMillon says tariffs took so long to roll out that shoppers haven't dramatically changed their behaviors yet. Selyukh says one question hangs over the situation now: How long until companies decide they cannot afford to eat the tariffs anymore?
Living better
Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.
Aging can bring a number of changes to people's bodies, minds and relationships in ways they are often not prepared for. Once people start to experience some of the realities of aging, they might find that younger generations don't fully comprehend what they are experiencing. This gap in understanding can lead to frustration within adult child-older parent relationships. Adult children can find it hard to understand what their parents are going through because they haven't experienced it yet. Parents may keenly feel that lack of empathy. However, there are several ways adult children can help aging parents adjust to life's developments.
- 👴 Listening is the most important thing an adult child can do for an older parent. Try asking them how you can best spend your time with them. If they are struggling with health changes, ask them how they feel about it.
- 👴 Many people have to alter their diets as they age. Remember, there is a difference between helping them stay on track and pressuring them with reminders.
- 👴 If you are providing intimate care, try asking your parents to tell stories about their lives. This can help alter the dynamic of assistance, which can feel humiliating for them.
Weekend picks
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Movies: Lurker follows a sociopathic striver who maneuvers his way into the inner circle of a rising pop star. NPR's Aisha Harris says the tension in the parasocial relationship between the two main characters, Matthew and Oliver, is deeply satisfying in its unease. And, here are some of the films in theaters this weekend, including a box office record setter you probably haven't heard of.
📺 TV: Amanda Knox made headlines in 2007 when her British roommate was found dead in Italy. She's the executive producer of the new eight-part series dramatizing the tale of her wrongful conviction, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox.
📚 Books: Louis Sachar has spent nearly half a century writing some of my favorite children's books, including Holes and the Wayside School series. He hopes the adults who grew up on his books will feel the same connection to his latest release, The Magician of Tiger Castle. And, here are some of this week's publishing highlights.
🎵 Music: Puerto Rican duo Buscabulla joins NPR's World Cafe to perform some of their new music and discuss the making of their latest album, Se Amaba Asi, which explores vulnerability and romantic hardships.
3 things to know before you go
- As European summers grow hotter, a heated political debate is brewing in France over an unsuspecting appliance: the air conditioner.
- More than 3.6 million children were born in the U.S. in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. As these "COVID kindergarteners" enter school for the first time, many parents are anxious about how their time in isolation will impact their development.
- Far fewer Canadians are traveling to the U.S. this year. The dip comes as relations between the two countries are strained after Trump imposed steep tariffs on Canada and vowed to make it a U.S. state.
This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.
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