By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli aircraft struck a residential block in war-ravaged northern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people, health officials said, as the renewed fighting in the devastated Palestinian enclave showed no signs of slowing.

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The Al-Ahly hospital said at least 23 people were killed in the strike, including eight women and eight children. The territory’s Health Ministry confirmed the figures.

The strike hit a four-story building in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, and rescue teams were searching for victims under the rubble, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service. The civil defense, a rescue group that operates under the Hamas-run government, said other neighboring buildings were damaged in the strike.

The Israeli military said it struck a senior Hamas leader who it said was behind attacks emanating from Shijaiyah, but it didn’t name him or provide further details. Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on the group, because it embeds itself in dense urban areas.

As it ratchets up pressure on Hamas to agree to free hostages, Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of Gaza, including Shijaiyah. It imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it.

The U.N. said the Israeli military has denied aid workers permission for more than two-thirds of 170 attempts to move humanitarian supplies within the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire ended. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said efforts to get dwindling aid supplies to Palestinians were “severely strained.”

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Earlier this week, Hamas fired its strongest volley of rockets since the ceasefire collapsed, lobbing 10 projectiles toward southern Israel.

Israel resumed its war against Hamas in Gaza last month after an eight-week ceasefire collapsed. The ceasefire brought a much-needed reprieve from the fighting to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza and sent an infusion of humanitarian aid to the territory. It also led to the release of 25 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the return of the remains of eight others, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Mediators have since attempted to bring the sides to a bridging agreement that would again pause the war, free hostages and open the door for talks on the war’s end, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he won’t agree to until Hamas is defeated. Hamas wants the war to end before it frees the remaining 59 hostages it holds, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

The war, which was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, has seen the deadliest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in their history. It has ignited a humanitarian crisis in already impoverished Gaza, and has sent shockwaves across the region and beyond.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, and European Union.

Netanyahu traveled to Washington this week to meet with President Donald Trump. In their public statements, they offered sympathy for the plight of the hostages but shed little light on any emerging deal to suspend the fighting.

Trump has said he wants the war to end. But his postwar vision for Gaza — taking it over and relocating its population — has stunned Middle East allies, who say any talk of transferring the Palestinian population, by force or voluntarily, is a nonstarter. Israel has embraced the idea.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is under pressure from his far-right political allies to continue the war until Hamas is crushed, an aim Israel has yet to achieve 18 months into the conflict.

The war has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry there, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children.

Hamas killed 1,200 people during its Oct. 7 attack, mostly civilians, and took 250 people captive, many of whom have been freed in ceasefire deals.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court cleared the way Wednesday for President Donald Trump’s administration to fire thousands of probationary workers, halting a judge’s order requiring them to be reinstated in a legal win for Trump’s effort to dramatically downsize the federal workforce.

The decision comes a day after a similar order from the Supreme Court in another lawsuit filed over mass firings.

A split panel for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the government will probably win by showing the mass firings must be appealed through a separate employment process rather than fought out in federal court.

The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen states that had argued the mass firings will cause irreparable burdens and expenses to support recently unemployed workers. They said at least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office in January.

The states could still seek further review as the lawsuit continues to play out.

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The Republican administration has argued that the states have no right to try to influence the federal government’s relationship with its own workers. It has already reinstated, however, some 15,000 workers to full duty or paid leave under judicial order, according to court documents.

The Supreme Court also sided with the Trump administration on Tuesday in an order involving a technical legal assessment of the right, or standing, of several nonprofit associations to sue over the firings.

Probationary workers have been targeted for layoffs across the federal government because they’re usually new to the job and lack full civil service protection.

The states suing the Trump administration are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, along with Washington, D.C.

By MATT O’BRIEN

Microsoft said it is “slowing or pausing” some of its data center construction, including a $1 billion project in Ohio, the latest sign that the demand for artificial intelligence technology that drove a massive infrastructure expansion might not need quite as many powerful computers as expected.

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The tech giant confirmed this week that it is halting early-stage projects on rural land it owns in central Ohio’s Licking County, outside of Columbus, and will reserve two of the three sites for farmland.

“In recent years, demand for our cloud and AI services grew more than we could have ever anticipated and to meet this opportunity, we began executing the largest and most ambitious infrastructure scaling project in our history,” said Noelle Walsh, the president of Microsoft’s cloud operations, in a post on LinkedIn.

Walsh said “any significant new endeavor at this size and scale requires agility and refinement as we learn and grow with our customers. What this means is that we are slowing or pausing some early-stage projects.”

Microsoft didn’t say Wednesday what other projects it has slowed outside of Ohio, but in late December it revealed it was pausing the later phases of a large data center project in Wisconsin.

Analysts with TD Cowen reported earlier this year that Microsoft was also scaling back some of its international data center expansion and canceling some leases in the U.S. for use of data centers operated by other companies.

Other analysts for months have tied some of the changes to a shift in Microsoft’s close relationship with its business partner OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT.

“OpenAI was moving in one direction” by prioritizing the development of ever-more advanced AI systems, which require vast computing resources to train on troves of data, while “Microsoft may not have been moving that same direction,” said Craig Ellis, director of research at B. Riley Securities.

The two companies announced on Jan. 21 that they were altering the agreement that had made Microsoft the exclusive provider of OpenAI’s computing power, enabling the smaller company to build its own capacity, “primarily for research and training of models.” It was the same day that newly inaugurated President Donald Trump touted OpenAI’s partnership with Oracle and SoftBank to pledge $500 billion in new AI infrastructure in the U.S., starting with a data center in Texas.

Microsoft has long built data centers around the world to run its cloud computing services. The generative AI boom accelerated the demand for such facilities, both to train new AI systems and to keep them running as millions of people start using chatbots and other AI tools at work and home.

The computing it takes to run AI tools is expensive and requires a large amount of electricity — so much so that Trump this week cited AI needs as part of the justification for using his emergency authorities to boost the U.S. coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source. Tech companies have also sought to tap into nuclear power, including a proposed Microsoft-backed revival of the shuttered Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, which would feed an electricity grid supplying data centers in Ohio as well as Virginia, the nation’s biggest data center hub.

Microsoft said it still plans to spend more than $80 billion globally to expand its AI infrastructure this fiscal year, which ends in June, and has already doubled its data center capacity over the past three years.

“While we may strategically pace our plans, we will continue to grow strongly and allocate investments that stay aligned with business priorities and customer demand,” Walsh said.

The Ohio pause nevertheless came as a disappointment to local officials.

Licking County has also attracted data center investments from Microsoft rivals Google and Meta Platforms and a highly anticipated semiconductor factory from Intel, though the struggling chipmaker in February pushed back the expected completion date for the project’s first stage to 2030.

“A reimagined SNAP should reflect the realities of modern food consumption and the economic potential of small restaurants. By broadening the program’s reach, we not only nourish individuals but also foster economic resilience.“

The author, Chef JJ Johnson (Photo courtesy of FIELDTRIP).

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has long served as a crucial economic and nutritional lifeline for millions of New Yorkers. However, its potential as a powerful local economic engine remains underutilized due to outdated restrictions on where benefits can be spent.

While SNAP currently allows recipients to purchase food at supermarkets, grocery stores, and some bodegas, it largely excludes restaurants and small food businesses—leaving a gap in how these funds can be used to strengthen local economies and provide healthier, more diverse food options.

Expanding SNAP’s scope to include local restaurants and small food businesses would create a multiplier effect, benefiting both consumers and communities across New York State. First, it would support small business owners, particularly in urban and rural areas where independent restaurants struggle to compete with corporate chains. Secondly, it would provide SNAP recipients with greater access to freshly prepared, high-quality meals—especially in food deserts where supermarkets are scarce.

Additionally, this shift aligns with evolving food consumption habits. Many low-income households in New York lack the time, equipment, or stable housing necessary to cook regularly. Allowing SNAP dollars to be spent at restaurants—especially those that prioritize wholesome, culturally relevant, and nutritious meals—would offer more dignity and choice in food purchasing. 

Equally important is expanding access to products from sources like Edible Garden—a leader providing locally grown, organic, and sustainable produce to over 5,000 stores in the U.S. – ensuring that all families can make healthier choices regardless of income. This approach not only supports public health but also reinvests food dollars into local economies rather than concentrating them in large retail chains.

Some states have piloted restaurant meal programs for SNAP recipients. New York has an opportunity to lead the way by expanding its own restaurant meal program statewide, and advocating for broader policy changes at the federal level. A reimagined SNAP should reflect the realities of modern food consumption and the economic potential of small restaurants. By broadening the program’s reach, we not only nourish individuals but also foster economic resilience in communities from Buffalo to Brooklyn.

It’s time for New York policymakers, including leaders like Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to champion this cause. Their advocacy could pave the way for policies that not only support working-class Americans but also bolster local economies through a distinctly New York lens. Supporting small food businesses, restaurants, and markets through SNAP dollars ensures that federal assistance programs serve a dual purpose: feeding families and sustaining local economies across the Empire State.

Chef JJ Johnson is celebrated for his innovative Afro-Latino cuisine, rooted in the Caribbean flavors of his upbringing, earning him accolades like a James Beard Award. He is also a TV personality, hosting “Just Eats with Chef JJ,” and the author of the acclaimed cookbook “The Simple Art of Rice.” Johnson founded the fast-casual rice bowl shop FIELDTRIP and is an advocate for food justice and equity.

The post Opinion: Expanding SNAP to Restaurants Can Feed New Yorkers & Boost Small Businesses appeared first on City Limits.