Friday Briefing: Trump delves into Gaza's acquisition

Trump delves into plans to take over Gaza

President Trump yesterday defended his proposal to take charge of the Palestinians of postwar Gaza and resettlement, pledging to build one of the “greatest and most spectacular developments” of the planet there.

Trump stressed that he would not deploy US troops to Gaza as Israeli defense minister said he had ordered the troops to draft a plan that would allow the people of Gaza to voluntarily leave.

Trump's comments left some of the biggest questions about unanswered plans, including where Gazan was going, how many people thought he would be happy to leave, and who would govern and secure the enclave. His fantastic ideas also distracted attention from the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. That first six-week phase will end in early March.

Trump's aides had sought to soften the president's thoughts on Wednesday, but this was heavily criticized by leaders of the Middle East, Palestinians and US allies. But the next morning, Trump doubled. “The Gaza Strip will be handed over to the United States by Israel at the end of the battle,” he wrote yesterday in Truth Society.

Analysis: Trump has made it clear that he doesn't want to resume the war, but he also doesn't seem to know how to kick Hamas out of Gaza.

Details of Trump

How school shootings unfolded in Sweden

Authorities have begun sharing new details about the attack at the Adult Education Centre in Orebro, a quiet university town in central Sweden.

Police said yesterday they had identified the suspect in a shooting that had killed at least 11 people and was waiting for DNA confirmation. They did not share details about possible motivations.

But they described a chaotic scene on campus on Tuesday. Upon arriving at the site, officers encountered a fuss of smoke and gunfire from the fireworks. The shooting was so intense they couldn't know how many gunmen were there.

Police Response: In the midst of confusion and panic, none of the 130 police officers chose to return the fire, said the Orebro police chief. About an hour later, they found a gunman among the dead, near three weapons and at least ten empty magazines.

January was the hottest January, record

Even if some people in the world were shaking, scientists said yesterday that the planet had recorded the warmest January. Warmth has been a surprise to climate researchers. As it occurred in La Niña state in the Pacific Ocean, the average temperature tends to drop temporarily.

Earth has been very warm for most of the last two years, and scientists are beginning to see beyond carbon emissions, seeing if something else in the planet's chemistry is changing and explaining the rise in temperatures I started.

More top news

English and whale songs may have more in common than you think.

An international team of scientists discovered that male humpback whales sing long, complicated songs with repeated phrases and themes, and that humans sing in a similar way to how they repeat words like “the” and “of.” I did. Read more about the Whale Song.

Living with: Valerie Andre, a brain surgeon, parachute player, helicopter pilot and the first French woman to become an army general, died at 102.