Israel cuts off Rafah as it expands military activity in Gaza: Also in the Middle East, Israeli forces said they have now completely encircled Rafah in southern Gaza. For days the military has warned hundreds of thousands of people in the area to evacuate. The IDF is expanding activities in Gaza, where military operations resumed nearly a month ago.
Israel says it won’t stop fighting there until the remaining 59 hostages are freed, but Hamas has said it cannot guarantee their safety while operations are ongoing.
The Trump administration is excluding smartphones, laptops and other electronics from tariffs. The move caps a week of ratcheting up tariffs on products from China as part of the widening trade war – Chinese tariffs now total 145%.
The exemptions were in guidance that Customs and Border Patrol issued last night. It didn’t give a reason for the change. Among the items retroactively excluded: memory chips, flat panel displays and hard drives. It spares tech companies like Apple and Dell from import duties that threatened to upend their business and raise prices for consumers.
President Trump said he’s in good shape and feeling well after getting his annual physical at Walter Reed Medical Center. At 78, Mr. Trump is the oldest U.S. president in history to be sworn in. He spent five hours at the medical center on Friday. Later, he gave reporters aboard Air Force One his self-assessment and took a swipe at his predecessor.
President Trump: Overall, I felt I was in really a good shape, good heart, a good soul, very good soul. I wanted to be a little different than Biden. I took a cognitive test. And I don’t know what to tell you other than I got every answer right.
John: Despite multiple promises during the campaign to release medical records, the official report from this visit will provide the first detailed look at Mr. Trump’s health since 2018, and the first information of any kind since an assassination attempt last year.
The CDC says there are confirmed cases of measles in half of the country – more than 700 in 25 states. That’s more than double all of last year’s reported cases. Since January, the vast majority of people with measles have been in Texas, with 541. The CDC says there may be more infections nationwide since it doesn’t count cases that are under investigation.
Still to come on PBS News Weekend: why a growing number of patients are finding extra fees on their doctor’s bills, and how the disabled community can provide valuable lessons about parenting.
This is PBS News Weekend, from David M. Rubenstein Studios in Washington, home of the PBS NewsHour, weeknights on PBS.
Source: raialkhalij + aljazeera