Tens of thousands of Palestinians fled Khan Younis to Gaza's border with Egypt and aid groups have been blocked from delivering food, water and other supplies as Israel's military fights Hamas militants deeper into the southern city, Gaza's second largest. More than 470,000 Palestinians have crowded into Rafah; 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled their homes. "Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror," said the U.N.'s top human rights official. |
Displaced Palestinians set up a tent camp in Rafah on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali) |
|
|
The fourth debate of GOP presidential candidates who aren't Donald Trump centered on Nikki Haley, who has risen in polls and with donors to challenge Ron DeSantis for the right to finish a distant second when primaries and caucuses begin next month. The candidates spent the night trading insults while only Chris Christie dared to light into Trump, calling him "unfit" for office. And guess who Christie called "the most obnoxious blowhard in America"? |
|
|
3. BORDER BARGAINING CHIP |
To secure passage of a $106 billion package that would send more military aid to Ukraine and Israel, President Joe Biden said he's willing to "make significant compromises on the border" demanded by Senate Republicans who blocked the bill. The demands include preventing more people from trying to claim asylum and resuming construction of a border wall. |
|
|
The only House speaker to be voted out of his job announced he will give up his seat by the end of the year. McCarthy's departure, less than a week after George Santos' expulsion, will reduce the narrow GOP majority to two fewer votes, leaving virtually no room for defection from far-right members who will hold even more leverage in election-year political battles. |
| |
The U.S. military said it is grounding its entire fleet of hundreds of Osprey V-22 helicopters a week after eight Air Force members were killed in a crash off Japan's coast. An investigation indicates the crash was caused by "a potential materiel failure." In less than two years, 20 service members have died in crashes of the Osprey, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but can fly like a plane. |
A U.S. military CV-22 Osprey takes off from Iwakuni base in Japan. (Kyodo News via AP, File) |
| |
A shooter killed three people at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and critically injured another before responding police killed him in a shootout. The gunman was reportedly an academic who had unsuccessfully sought a job at the university. It was the 631st mass shooting of 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. |
|
|
Oregon authorities found the bodies of two people in creeks this week while the Coast Guard rescued five people by helicopter in Washington on Tuesday as the Pacific Northwest was slammed with heavy rains. Amtrak said it would reopen its route between Seattle and Portland today after the track was blocked from a landslide caused by the downpour, a record in Washington. |
Bernie Crouse outside his home in Seattle on Tuesday. (Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times via AP) |
| |
8. IN MEMORIAM: NORMAN LEAR |
The creator of All in the Family, The Jeffersons and Maude, who died Tuesday night at 101, was praised for transforming primetime TV and inspiring generations of socially minded shows. "Anyone who ever had a chance to say something pointed or political in an American [show]" owes it to Lear, said David Simon, creator of The Wire, on X. |
|
|
President Joe Biden told a gathering of Native American nations that he would support the bid by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy — made up of six indigenous nations in the Northeastern U.S. — to compete as a lacrosse team under their own flag in the 2028 Olympics. The Haudenosaunee, who are credited with inventing the sport, have competed separately at some international contests since 1990. |
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the U.S. faced off in a match last year. (Photo By Tom Beary/Sportsfile via Getty Images) |
| |
Fifty-two of the world's most endangered sea turtles had become so hypothermic that they could no longer swim and washed ashore in Massachusetts. But after some coordination of aquariums and a chartered flight, the Kemp's ridley sea turtles are now recovering in Florida. |
|
|
Giphy has named its top five gifs of 2023. After learning some of our favorites were snubbed, we're going to let their third-place selection speak for us. |
|
| |
