The Deadly Choice Facing Many Gazans, and a New Disclosure of “Concerning” A.I. Behavior

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Tracy Mumford (0:32)

From the New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today is Thursday, September 17th. Here's what we're covering.

In Gaza, at around 2 a.m. yesterday, a building that had been damaged in the war collapsed, falling in on dozens of people who had been living there. According to Gaza's Civil Defense Rescue Service, at least 21 people were killed and many others were trapped.

Natan Odenheimer (1:02)

Almost immediately, rescue teams tried to pull out people out of the rubble, including up to late last night. They were still trying to excavate and find people. Videos from the scene shows how they're removing rubble, pulling people out from beneath huge piles of concrete and trying to save them.

Tracy Mumford (1:25)

My colleague, Natan Odenheimer, covers Gaza. He says officials there are warning that this deadly scenario could play out again since so much of the territory was heavily damaged in Israeli strikes.

Natan Odenheimer (1:38)

The civil defense officials also told us that they have warned people in Gaza that it's very dangerous to live in buildings that were damaged by the war, specifically in this building as well. But there are many housing options in Gaza. So many people feel compelled to go and live in those buildings even if they're damaged because there are other choices to live in a tent. And now experts are telling us, experts and officials and humanitarian experts who are working on the ground are telling us that there are many other such buildings and they're worried that the harsh conditions of the winter might drive more people into buildings that might collapse on them.

Tracy Mumford (2:13)

Natan says when the ceasefire between Israel and Amas was signed almost a year ago, many Palestinians had hoped Israel would allow in a significant amount of heavy machinery and construction materials to begin the long process of rebuilding. People also wanted the equipment to try and reach the remains of many Palestinians who died in the war and are buried under the rubble. But efforts to pave the way for reconstruction have stalled, and Israel has continued to attack the territory despite international pressure, saying it is targeting militant commanders.

In a statement after the collapse yesterday, the Israeli military said it did not strike the building during the war, but it did not immediately respond to questions about whether any strikes on nearby targets could have caused the damage.

Kevin Warsh (3:06)

The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long.

Tracy Mumford (3:12)

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced its raising interest rates for the first time in three years, to try and contain inflation levels that have proved stubborn to rein in.

Kevin Warsh (3:23)

Our decision comes at a time when the American economy appears to be strengthening. New hiring, private sector earnings.

Tracy Mumford (3:31)

The new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, emphasized that he was confident in the health of the economy, but said that he wanted to see inflation get back down to the Fed's goal of 2 percent more quickly. It's been above that now for more than 5 years, and has surged recently with the war in Iran driving up energy prices and scrambling global supply chains.

Ben Castleman (3:53)

The Fed has been trying for years to get inflation under control. It kind of thought that it was really making progress on that and began to cut interest rates, but then this year as inflation has picked back up, it kind of has fallen behind on that effort again. And so the decision on Wednesday to increase interest rates was an effort to bring inflation down and to signal to Americans broadly that the Fed is on the case trying to get inflation under control.

Tracy Mumford (4:22)

Ben Castleman is The Times' chief economics correspondent. He says the Fed raising interest rates is intended to keep prices from spiraling up and up, but that rate hikes can also come with their own pain. The move will directly affect people's credit card interests, car loans and mortgages. At a time when many people are already feeling an affordability crunch. Aside from the economic impact, many were watching to see how Warsh's announcement would land at the White House. President Trump repeatedly attacked the previous Fed chair as stupid for not lowering rates. But when Warsh announced the opposite yesterday, Trump's response was relatively muted. He still demanded lower rates, but he did not blame Warsh for the increase. He said he blamed the other Fed governors, some of whom he appointed.