Alexandria Symonds

banks and atms are not functional either, so to get the physical cash to use at the markets, gazans have to pay 50 percent commissions on the black market

with aid increasingly difficult and dangerous to obtain, some basic items are available to buy in gaza, but at unfathomably expensive prices. a bag of flour that cost $10 before the war is $300 now; a pack of diapers that would cost $5 in the u.s. is $150 in gaza. (gift link)

Reuters reported the "ward is silent as hungry children are too exhausted to cry," and a doctor said of a baby who did not gain a gram in three months, "there is a total loss of muscles. It's only skin on top of bones."

60,000 Gazans have been killed. 18,500 were children. These are their names. Palestinian children have been killed at a rate of more than one per hour since the war began.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 60,000 people. 18,500 were children. Here are their names. www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

Gazans Are Dying of Starvation

“There is no one in Gaza now outside the scope of famine, not even myself,” said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, who leads the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. “I am speaking to you as a health official, but I, too, am searching for flour to feed my family.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/w...

Where Congress’s Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR The loss of federal funding threatens scores of public TV and radio stations across the United States.

New: I teamed up with @elenashao.bsky.social
and nytgraphics to map more than 100 public TV and radio stations that are at risk of closing as a result of tonight's vote:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

This is a time bomb that will go off in the fall, when the last federal grants run out.

How Trump and MAGA Fans Are Talking About the Epstein Case (Gift Article) Their actions range from pressuring the administration to release more information to spinning additional conspiracy theories about the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.

Trump calls the Epstein case a "hoax." His MAGA base disagrees. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Bar graph showing the change in percentage of calls answered after FEMA laid off contractors on July 5th (over 99% on July 5, about 36% on July 6 and 16% of calls answered on July 7)

Two days after deadly Texas floods, the agency struggled to answer calls from survivors because of call center contracts that weren’t extended.

This is so horrifying I made a bar graph www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/u...

Wide Leg Jean is an example of something that can be nice to buy, but not so nice to have as a nickname

may god rest his soul!!!

it was just une petite blague 😌

@foster.bsky.social gonna need you to ask her for comment

A path worn away in grass that goes in a straight line towards the other side of the park, bypassing the winding paved path

“Desire paths” are unofficial trails, usually bypassing a planned path, that reveal the most convenient route to get somewhere. The people (AKA meanderthals) that tramp along these routes often wear away grass, creating the secondary path

Walk this way for more on desire paths (a thread / tread)...

the jenny slate doppelganger doing asl translation for the mayoral debate is so wonderfully expressive

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wearing a suit and tie, is sitting at a table. A headline reads: "White House Health Report Included Fake Citations." Photo by Eric Lee/The New York Times.

The Trump administration released a report last week that it billed as a “clear, evidence-based foundation” for action on a range of children’s health issues. But the report, from the Make America Healthy Again Commission, cited studies that did not exist. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/w...

"like you could eat a carrot with an onion ring and they would travel down to your stomach, then they would get there, and the carrot would say, 'it's cool, he's with me'"

overheard through the door of my kids' room this morning —

2-year-old: all done music?
husband: but this song is so important!
brandon flowers: I NEVERRRRRR

restaurants should have a menu option called “the rat” that lets you scurry around and eat leftovers ppl wont finish. the waiter could ask guests if they’d like a box or if they’d like to send it “to the rat”

Just About Everything That’s Changed Since Congestion Pricing Took Effect (Gift Article) Fewer cars. Faster travel. Less honking. And some questions we still can’t answer.

Policy changes often take years to show results.

And then there is congestion pricing in New York.

Here are all of the ways we could find it having an immediate effect: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

‘The Only Person in the World Claiming to Be the Pope Right Now’

I went to Chicago to cover a papal conclave. No, not that one. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...

And now, a note on Bill Owens who, until this past week, was the executive producer of 60 Minutes.

We’ll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes.

Doubling Up: How ‘Sinners’ and Other Movies Multiply One Actor From camera tricks to digital facial replacement, a history of duplicating effects.

very fun story by @ezwrites.bsky.social but as a parent of twin actors i am duty-bound to oppose this practice www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/m...

New preprint finding that eliminating US global health funding over the next fifteen years would cause:
- 15.2m deaths from AIDS
- 2.2m deaths from TB
- 7.9 additional child deaths

What Rights Do Immigrants, Citizens, Green-Card Holders and Visitors Have? The expansion of immigration enforcement actions by the Trump administration has thrown the status of some rights into question. See what is unchanged, what is expanded and what is in dispute.

as the trump admin rapidly changes immigration policy, it can feel hard to keep track of what rights different groups — citizens, green-card & visa holders, the undocumented — have.

an easy-to-follow breakdown of legal rights and how they're shifting, by @albertsun.bsky.social & miriam jordan:

Musk’s SpaceX Could Secure Billions in New Contracts Under Trump (Gift Article) Elon Musk’s role in the White House allows him to cancel contracts and influence policy, potentially benefiting his companies. Supporters say he has the best technology.

Elon Musk might be cutting government spending, but not on his own projects — billions in extra federal money is likely headed toward SpaceX, thanks to policy changes that will make the world’s richest man even richer. A NYT investigation examines the Trump-era shift toward SpaceX

nyti.ms/4kPE8VJ

Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow As the administration does its best to hide public records from the public, Wired magazine is stepping up to help stem the secrecy

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

How DOGE’s Cuts to the IRS Threaten to Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save The Trump administration claims gutting federal agencies will save money, but cutting the IRS means the government collects less taxes. “If you’re interested in the deficit and curbing it, why would…

“By firing us, you’re going to cut down on how much revenue the country brings in,” said an axed IRS specialist who’d been brought in to audit complex tax returns filed by large corporations and wealthy individuals. “This was not about saving money.”

By @andykroll.bsky.social