The Headlines - A First Person View of a Deadly Gaza Strike, and a Severe U.S. Flu Season

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

Plus, the best player in the W.N.B.A. now has her own shoe.On Today’s Episode: Airstrikes Pound Gaza as Israel Announces Plans to Displace More Residents, by Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Lara JakesPolice Remove Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Occupying Columbia Library, by Sharon OttermanFlu Killed 25 Children in New York This Season, the Most in Many Years, by Joseph GoldsteinTrump Withdraws Surgeon General Nomination and Announces New Choice, by Tyler PagerFed Keeps Rates Steady and Flags Heightened Uncertainty About the Economy, by Colby SmithThe Best Player In the W.N.B.A. Now Has Her Own Shoe. Why Did It Take So Long?, by Tania GanguliTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, May 8th. Here's what we're covering. My name is Mona Bushnak. I'm a senior photo editor with the International Desk at the New York Times. Early afternoon London time, I got a message from our freelance photographer in the Gaza Strip, Sahir Al Ghurra, telling me that he was at the scene of a strike at a restaurant

in Gaza City and he has strong pictures. So I asked him to send them over and what we saw was really graphic images and videos from the scene of the strike. In Gaza yesterday, the Israeli military carried out widespread airstrikes across the territory, killing dozens of people, according to Gaza's health ministry. The deadliest attack was at a popular restaurant in northern Gaza, just across the street from where the Times photographer happened to be. So I called him up and he said that he was at a cafe using the internet and just having

coffee with his friends and heard a sudden explosion and saw some smoke coming from the restaurant. He picked up his gear and ran to the restaurant. And the scene that unfolded in front of him, there were many bodies on the floor. He saw people taking their last breaths just right before they died and wounded people as well. In one photo, one man in particular was holding a prayer rug to his head wound.

And then in another photo, we see that a man was carrying the body of what seemed to be a child, and the body was mostly covered with a blue sheet but you could see his arms and legs draped on the sides. Sahir asked the man who was carrying the body who the boy was and he told him he was his nephew, his name is Karam, he's five years old and he was killed in the strike on his way back from kindergarten. In all, 33 people were killed at the restaurant.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the target of the attack. The strikes came just after Israel announced an aggressive new push into Gaza, saying it plans to force all two million residents there into the southern part of the territory. Meanwhile, at Columbia University, dozens of protesters occupied the main library yesterday in an attempt to rekindle the pro-Palestinian protests that swept the school last year. Several protesters and public safety officers were injured in the chaotic scene. And after several hours, Columbia's president authorized New York City police to enter the library where they detained about 70 demonstrators.

The school has been under intense pressure from the Trump administration to suppress pro-Palestinian protests. Earlier this year, the White House cut off more than $400 million in federal funds for the school, accusing it of failing to protect Jewish students from harassment. The university has been in ongoing negotiations with the administration to try and get that funding restored. The United States is nearing the end of what's been a particularly brutal flu season. An estimated 47 million people caught it, with many parts of the country reporting high or

very high levels, and the number of hospitalizations for influenza was the most in 15 years. A number of factors likely contributed to the surge. For one, researchers believe it could be about the particular strains circulating this year. Some of it may also be a lingering consequence of pandemic lockdowns and social distancing, when many common viruses didn't circulate as much. People's immune systems may still be out of practice. Another factor medical experts are pointing to is the continuing drop in vaccination rates. Amid a growing distrust of the scientific establishment,

people have been questioning the safety and effectiveness of flu shots and other vaccines. In New York state, for example, 25 children died from the flu this season, and the state health commissioner said that of the kids who were old enough to be vaccinated, only one had gotten the flu shot. Flu season typically peters out in May. In Washington, President Trump has changed up his choice for Surgeon General.

His first pick had been Dr. Jeanette Neswatt, a former Fox News contributor. She was scheduled to appear in front of the Senate Health Committee today, but her nomination ran into trouble on two fronts. The conservative activist Laura Loomer, who Trump has listened to on other staffing matters, claimed she wasn't ideologically aligned with the president. And there have been allegations that she lied about her resume. Trump's new pick is Dr. Casey Means. The message I'm here to share is that American health is getting destroyed.

It's being destroyed because of chronic illness. Means is a Stanford-educated doctor-turned-wellness influencer who frequently casts doubt on the American medical system. She's an ally of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and has shared his criticisms of processed foods and the pharmaceutical industry. She's also echoed some of Kennedy's skepticism of vaccines, calling the current vaccine recommendations for children, quote, extreme. If confirmed as Surgeon General, Means will be responsible for leading thousands of public

health officers and communicating key health information to the public. At the Federal Reserve yesterday... We don't have to be in a hurry. The economy has been resilient and is doing fairly well. The costs of waiting to see further are fairly low, we think. So that's what we're doing. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that interest rates will stay the same, effectively taking a wait-and-see approach to how much President Trump's policy changes may impact the economy. What does your gut tell you about how things are evolving out there? My gut tells me that uncertainty about the path of the economy is extremely elevated

and that the downside risks have increased. Powell said it wasn't totally clear how the Fed should try and manage the economy going forward. On one hand, it might decide to lower interest rates to try and encourage spending if the economy slows down because of Trump's plans for mass deportations and huge federal budget cuts. On the other hand, the Fed might want to raise interest rates if new tariffs cause a spike in inflation and officials feel the need to try and rein it in. The next announcement about the rates will come in June. 1.1 looking for Wilson to put it on, beats the clock! Asia! The game winner! Asia Wilson is widely acknowledged as the best player in women's basketball.

She's won just about every award and title possible from the NCAA to the WNBA to the Olympics. But there was one iconic marker of stardom that she hadn't reached until now, her own signature basketball shoe. Here's a Wilson's on top, top, top, can't take her spot, spot, spot. This week, Nike released the A1, Wilson's first line of sneakers. Some say it is a very late arrival. More than two dozen men's players have signature shoes, but Wilson is only one of a handful of WNBA stars

to land a sneaker deal. Brands like Nike and Adidas launched a few shoes from WNBA stars in the 90s and in the early aughts, but Wilson is the first black player in the league to have a shoe drop in over a decade. And on Tuesday, the first batch of A1s in hot pink sold out in minutes. It's proof that WNBA stars can move shoes, too.

Another player, Sabrina Younescu, released a unisex shoe with Nike two years ago. That design is now one of the most popular sneakers for men in the NBA. The sales speak to the growing popularity of the WNBA and its stars. Viewership numbers have skyrocketed recently. Top players like Wilson, along with Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese, have signed major apparel deals, and arenas have been selling out. At a Nike event for her new shoe, Wilson told reporters, quote, it's time for people to have a shoe and see a shoe from someone like me. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, how the recent air traffic control outage at Newark has exposed a new

crisis in U.S. airline safety. That's next in the New York Times audio app where you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.