What happened
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair met Donald Trump at the White House yesterday to discuss a post-war strategy for Gaza, as the humanitarian situation in the territory worsens. The talks coincided with growing global outrage over Israel's continuing military campaign, including a recent double strike on a southern Gaza hospital that killed 20 people, among them journalists and medics. Blair is said to have "worked for months" on a post-war plan for the territory.

Who said what
Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, told Fox News the US is assembling "a very comprehensive plan" for Gaza's "next day", insisting it reflects the president's "humanitarian motives". He predicted the conflict could be resolved within four months. Trump "promised a quick end to the war in Gaza during last year's presidential campaign", said The Telegraph but "has been unable to secure a permanent resolution".

What next?
Israel says it intends to proceed with a new offensive in Gaza City, even if a ceasefire is agreed. Aid groups warn the mass displacement would breach international law and worsen the crisis, but Israel has "brushed off such concerns", said The Guardian, with military spokesperson Avichay Adraee insisting that "evacuating Gaza City is inevitable".

What happened
Rates of cancer will increase by more than 14% over the next 15 years, reaching as many as 6.3 million cases between now and 2040, cancer charities have warned. That is the equivalent of a diagnosis every two minutes, up from one every four minutes in the 1970s.

Who said what
"Nearly one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime," said Michelle Mitchell of Cancer Research UK, a representative of the coalition of 60 cancer charities known as One Cancer Voice. Everyone "will be impacted by the disease".

Some of the most common forms of cancer, such as breast and lung, will "reach all-time highs", said The Times. The government is "prioritising cancer care as we turn around more than a decade of neglect of our NHS", said the Department of Health and Social Care.

What next?
The government is preparing a national cancer plan for England. One Cancer Voice is calling for it to include measures such as targets for earlier diagnoses, stronger prevention policies, and improved screening programmes.

It has been well documented that China interferes in American elections, with particular evidence of tampering in the 2024 presidential election. But China's election influence may be even greater than initially thought, most notably in New York City races, according to an investigation by The New York Times. And the Big Apple is not the only American city where China is reportedly taking an outsize role in local politics.

Numerous social clubs backed by China have been working to influence local politics in the city, said The New York Times' investigation. They have "undermined a congressional candidate who once challenged the regime on Chinese television, helped unseat a state senator for attending a banquet with the president of Taiwan and condemned a city council candidate on social media for supporting Hong Kong democracy," among other things.

These clubs, known as hometown associations, are made up of people "hailing from the same town or province in China," said the Times. They are similar to heritage groups that help immigrants assimilate.

These associations have become "useful tools of China's consulate in Manhattan's midtown, according to dozens of group members, politicians and former prosecutors." This has "allowed America's most formidable adversary to influence elections in the country's largest city."

This is "another example of a very disturbing trend" of Chinese interference, US Attorney Martin Estrada said to the Times. And the goal of this interference is simple: to reduce support for "pro-democracy movements in China."