By JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, allows the U.N. to bring in aid and takes other steps toward long-term peace, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday.

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Starmer, who is under mounting domestic pressure over the issue as scenes of hunger in Gaza horrify many Britons, convened a rare summertime Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. It came after he discussed the situation in Gaza with President Donald Trump during a meeting in Scotland on Monday.

The president told reporters he didn’t mind Starmer “taking a position” on statehood.

Starmer said after the meeting that Britain will recognize a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly, “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.

“And this includes allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid, and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank,” he said.

He also repeated U.K. demands that Hamas release all the hostages it holds, agree to a ceasefire, disarm and “accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.” Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Starmer said in a televised statement that his government will assess in September “how far the parties have met these steps” before making a final decision on recognition.

Britain has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict.

But Starmer said Tuesday Britain was willing to take the step because “the very idea of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has for many years.”

He said that despite the set of conditions he set out, Britain believes that “statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.”

Pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood has mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state in September.

More than 250 of the 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons have signed a letter urging the government to recognize a Palestinian state.

More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including a dozen in Europe. Macron’s announcement last week make France is the first Group of Seven country and the largest European nation to take that step.

France welcomed Britain’s announcement.

″The United Kingdom is joining the momentum created by France for the recognition of the state of Palestine,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot posted on X.

Associated Press Writer Angela Charlton contributed to this story.

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday. Israeli strikes overnight killed more than two dozen people, mostly women and children, according to health officials.

The Israeli offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and fueled a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Experts warned Tuesday that the territory of about 2 million Palestinians is on the brink of famine after Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of security have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver aid.

The Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said that the death toll has climbed to 60,034, with 145,870 others wounded since the war started. The victims include 18,592 children and 9,782 women. Together, they make up nearly half the dead.

The ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn’t provided its own account of casualties.

Dozens killed, most while seeking aid

Airstrikes on tents housing displaced people in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp late Monday killed 30 people, including 12 children and 14 women, according to Al-Awda Hspital.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

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Israel says it only targets combatants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying they operate in populated areas. The military said that it targeted Hamas military infrastructure over the past day, including rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities and tunnels.

Hospital officials, meanwhile, said that they received the bodies of an additional 33 people who were killed by gunfire around an aid convoy in southern Gaza on Monday, bringing the toll to 58. Witnesses said that Israeli forces fired toward the crowd.

Another 14 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday near a site in central Gaza run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, an Israeli-backed American contractor, according to local hospitals. GHF said that there were no violent incidents near its sites on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said it was “not aware of casualties” as a result of Israeli gunfire near the GHF site. There was no comment from the military on the shooting near the aid convoy on Monday.

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the U.N. human rights office. Israel, which controls large areas of Gaza where aid is distributed, says that it has only fired warning shots at those who approach its forces.

Hunger crisis ‘dramatically’ worsens

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, the foremost international authority on food crises, said that Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years. But it said that recent developments, including Israeli restrictions, have “dramatically worsened” the situation.

“The facts are in — and they are undeniable,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said. “Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions … The trickle of aid must become an ocean.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denied that Israel was deliberately starving Gaza, and said that the focus on hunger was part of a “distorted campaign of international pressure.”

“This pressure is directly sabotaging the chances for a ceasefire and hostage deal. It is only pushing towards military escalation by hardening Hamas’s stance,” he said Tuesday.

The U.S. and Israel have both recalled their negotiating teams over the past week as long-running negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release seem to have stalled.

Palestinians swim for airdropped aid

Under mounting international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to increase the flow of aid, including expanded humanitarian corridors and international aid drops. U.N. officials say there has been little change on the ground so far, and much more is needed.

Air force cargo planes from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have dropped aid over Gaza in recent days, and France and Germany have announced plans to join that effort.

But Associated Press reporters in Gaza said that much of the aid has fallen in so-called red zones that Israel has ordered people to evacuate from.

Dozens of Palestinians raced into the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday to try and retrieve food from airdropped parcels that went off course. Some could be seen returning with soaked bags of tea and flour. One man held a can of beans.

Momen Abu Etayya said that his son had told him to “catch the plane” when they saw it flying in the distance.

“I came to try to get aid from the sea. I almost drowned,” he said, adding that he had only managed to get three packets of biscuits.

U.N. agencies and aid groups have long expressed skepticism about airdrops over Gaza, saying they are far costlier and deliver much less aid than land shipments. Parcels can land on desperate crowds, causing injuries or deaths, and can also spark deadly stampedes as thousands try to reach them.

Hunger-related deaths

The World Health Organization says more than 60 people have died this month from malnutrition-related causes, including 24 children under age 5.

Overall, 88 children died of causes related to malnutrition since the start of the war, while 58 adults died this month from malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

During hunger crises, people can die from malnutrition or from common illnesses or injuries that the body isn’t strong enough to fight. The ministry doesn’t include hunger-related deaths in its overall toll.

Hamas-led terrorists killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the attack that sparked the war, and abducted another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.

The war took a major turn in early March when Israel imposed a complete 2½-month blockade, barring the entry of all food, medicine, fuel and other goods. Weeks later, Israel ended a ceasefire with a surprise bombardment and began seizing large areas of Gaza, measures it said were aimed at pressuring Hamas to release more hostages.

At least 8,867 Palestinians have been killed since then.

Israel eased the blockade in May, but U.N. agencies say it hasn’t allowed nearly enough aid to enter and that they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order. An alternative Israeli-backed system run by GHF has been marred by violence and controversy.

Samy Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed.

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NEW YORK (AP) — A man with a rifle killed an off-duty New York City police officer and three other people before taking his own life at a Manhattan office tower on Monday, according to officials.

Law enforcement officials were working to unravel what took place and why this location may have been targeted in a city that recently announced it was on pace to have its fewest people hurt by gunfire of any year in recent decades.

Here are some things to know:

What happened?

A man exited a double parked BMW with an M4 rifle and then walked toward the skyscraper that is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms, as well as other tenants on Monday evening, according to surveillance video.

He quickly opened fire on the NYPD officer as he entered the building before shooting a woman who tried to take cover, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. He then started “spraying” the lobby with gunfire.

The gunman went to the elevator bank and shot a security guard who was taking cover behind a security desk and also another man in the lobby, Tisch said.

The gunman took the elevator to the 33rd floor to a real estate management company and one person was shot and killed on that floor. He then walked down a hallway and shot himself, the commissioner said.

What do we know about the gunman?

Police identified Shane Tamura of Las Vegas as the gunman. Tamura had a “documented mental health history,” Tisch said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Tamura was trying to target the headquarters of the National Football League but took the wrong elevator. Investigators believe he was trying to get to the NFL offices but accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks, Adams said.

Police said a note found on Tamura’s body suggested he had a grievance against the NFL over an unsubstantiated claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He had played football in high school in California nearly two decades ago.

The note, which referenced the NFL, claimed Tamura had been suffering from CTE and said his brain should be studied after he died, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The degenerative brain disease has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports like football.

A motive has not been determined but, based on the note, investigators were looking into whether he might’ve targeted the building because it is home to the NFL’s headquarters.

One challenge for the investigation is that Tamura arrived in New York shortly before the shooting, leaving few clues in the area, Adams said.

Tamura’s vehicle had traveled across the U.S. through Colorado on July 26 and then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27. It arrived in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as Monday afternoon, before making it to New York City, Tisch said.

Officers found a rifle case, a revolver, magazines and ammunition in his car, she said.

No one answered the door at the address listed for Tamura in Las Vegas.

Who were the victims?

Didarul Islam, 36, had served as a police officer in New York City for 3 1/2 years. He was an immigrant from Bangladesh.

Islam was married and had two young boys, Tisch said. His wife is pregnant with their third child.

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His body was draped in the New York Police Department flag as it was moved from the hospital to an ambulance, with fellow officers standing at attention.

In a post on social media, Adams said he ordered all flags on city buildings to be lowered to half-staff until further notice to honor the fallen officer and the other shooting victims.

Blackstone confirmed one of its employees, Wesley LePatner, was among those killed.

“Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the firm said in a statement. “Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed. She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond.”

A Yale graduate, LePatner was a real estate executive at Blackstone, according to the firm’s website, and spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs before joining the firm in 2014.

The names of the other victims have not yet been released.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to staff that a league employee was seriously injured in the attack and was hospitalized in stable condition. He said that “all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for.”

Where did the shooting happen?

The shooting took place in a busy area of midtown at 345 Park Avenue, a commercial office building on one the nation’s most recognized streets near Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s also less than a 15-minute walk from where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed last December by a man who prosecutors say was angry over corporate greed, and Monday’s attack could bring further attention to security in the business world.

The building houses offices for companies including the NFL and real estate company Rudin, as well as finance companies KPMG and Blackstone. It also includes the consulate general of Ireland.

By MATT O’BRIEN and LINLEY SANDERS

Most U.S. adults say they use artificial intelligence to search for information, but fewer are using it for work, drafting email or shopping.

Younger adults are most likely to be leaning into AI, with many using it for brainstorming and work tasks.

The new findings from an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll show that 60% of Americans overall — and 74% of those under 30 — use AI to find information at least some of the time.

The poll highlights the ubiquity of AI in some areas — as well as its limits in others. Only about 4 in 10 Americans say they have used AI for work tasks or coming up with ideas, a sign that the tech industry’s promises of highly productive AI assistants still haven’t touched most livelihoods after years of promotion and investment.

At the same time, wider AI adoption by younger Americans shows that could change.

There’s a particularly large age divide on brainstorming: About 6 in 10 adults under age 30 have used AI for coming up with ideas, compared with only 2 in 10 of those age 60 or older. Young adults are also more likely to use AI to come up with ideas at least “daily.”

Young adults are most likely to use AI

Bridging the generations are people like Courtney Thayer, 34, who’s embracing AI in some parts of her life and avoiding it in others.

Thayer said she is regularly using ChatGPT to come up with ideas about planning what to eat, while also having it calculate the nutritional value of the pumpkin-banana-oat bread she’s been baking for years.

“I asked it to make a meal prep for the week, then to add an Asian flair,” said Thayer, of Des Moines, Iowa. “It wasn’t the most flavorful thing I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s a nice stepping off point. More importantly, I use it for the amount so that I’m not over-serving myself and ending up with wasted food.”

The audiologist has embraced AI at work, too, in part because AI technology is imbued in the hearing aids she recommends to patients but also because it makes it easier and faster to draft professional emails.

She avoids it for important information, particularly medical advice, after witnessing chatbots “hallucinate” false information about topics she spent years studying.

Roughly 4 in 10 Americans say they use AI for work tasks at least sometimes, while about one-third say they use it for helping to write emails, create or edit images, or for entertainment, according to the poll. About one-quarter say they use it to shop.

Younger adults are more likely than older ones to say they have used artificial intelligence to help with various tasks, the poll shows.

Searching for information is AI’s most common use

Of the eight options offered in the poll questions, searching for information is the most common way Americans have interacted with AI. And even that may be an undercount, since it’s not always apparent how AI is surfacing what information people see online.

For more than a year, the dominant search engine, Google, has automatically provided AI-generated responses that attempt to answer a person’s search query, appearing at the top of results.

Perhaps defying emerging media consumption trends, 28-year-old Sanaa Wilson usually skips right past those AI-generated summaries.

“It has to be a basic question like, ‘What day does Christmas land on in 2025?’” said the Los Angeles-area resident. “I’ll be like, ‘That makes sense. I trust it.’ But when it gets to specific news, related to what’s happening in California or what’s happening to the education system and stuff like that, I will scroll down a little bit further.”

Wilson, a freelance data scientist, does use AI heavily at work to help with coding, which she said has saved her hundreds of dollars she would have had to pay for training. She also occasionally uses it to come up with work-related ideas, an attempt to bring back a little of the collaborative brainstorming experience she remembers from college life but doesn’t have now.

When it first came out, Wilson said she also used ChatGPT to help write emails, until she learned more about its environmental impact and the possibility it would erode her own writing and thinking skills over time.

“It’s just an email. I can work it out,” she said. “However many minutes it takes, or seconds it takes, I can still type it myself.”

Most don’t use AI for companionship — but it’s more common for young adults

The least common of the eight AI uses was AI companionship, though even that showed an age divide.

Just under 2 in 10 of all adults and about a quarter of those under 30 say they’ve used AI for companionship.

Wilson has no interest in AI companions, though she isn’t surprised that others do because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on her generation’s social experiences.

“I totally understand and sympathize behind why people in my age group are leveraging it in that way,” Wilson said.

Thayer, the audiologist, also has no interest in AI companionship, though she tries to be polite with chatbots, just in case they’re keeping track.

“I mean, I am nice to it, just because I’ve watched movies, right?” Thayer said, laughing. “So I’ll say, ‘Can you make me a meal plan, please?’ And, ‘Can you modify this, please?’ And then I’ll say, ‘Thank you.’”

The AP-NORC poll of 1,437 adults was conducted July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.