Wednesday, October 18, 2023

10/18 WAKE-UP CALL: 500 Dead, Blame Game Underway

  • Biden to put 'tough questions' to Israel during visit - White House spokesman Kirby
  • Israeli military urges Gaza City residents to move south
  • U.N. chief says he was "horrified" by hundreds of people killed in Tuesday's strike on a Gaza hospital
  • U.S. raises travel alert for Lebanon to "do not travel"

A strike on a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians, deepening tensions in the Middle East and raising the stakes for U.S. President Joe Biden as he flies to Israel on Wednesday to signal support for its war against Hamas.

Palestinian officials said an Israeli air strike hit the hospital, with the Palestinian Authority's health minister accusing Israel of causing a "massacre". Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.

Reuters could not independently verify the claims around the catastrophe, which has inflamed a region already in crisis since Hamas carried out an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage against communities in southern Israel in which at least 1,300 people died. Palestinian ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra said rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.

Al Jazeera carried footage showing a frantic scene as rescue workers scoured blood-stained debris for survivors. Rescuers and civilians were shown carrying away at least four victims in body bags. A Gaza civil defence chief gave a death toll of 300, while health ministry sources put it at 500. The strike reverberated across the Arab world, prompting street protests and upending diplomatic efforts to create safe passage out of Gaza for foreign nationals and free some of the hundreds of hostages taken during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks that also killed more than 1,400 Israelis. More than half a million Palestinians have left northern Gaza after Israel warned residents ahead of a potential ground invasion; they are dealing with shortages of drinking water, food and fuel.

U-S Daily Mail Graphic

➤BIDEN TRIP OFF TO ROCKY START: President Joe Biden landed in Israel Wednesday morning as he demonstrated the United States’ commitment to the Middle Eastern country devastated by the Hamas terrorist attack that claimed over 1,400 Israeli lives. Biden is to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and show U.S. support in the aftermath of an attack on Israeli villages and military bases by Gaza-based Hamas gunmen that killed hundreds of people on Oct. 7. 

After his meetings in Israel, Biden had planned to travel to Jordan for meetings with Arab leaders, but that stop was canceled after the strike on the hospital which Palestinian officials blamed on Israel and Israel blamed on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. Biden will meet with Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet and seek a sense of Israel's plans and objectives in the days and weeks ahead, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One during the flight to Tel Aviv.

➤JORDAN COMES UP SHORT:  Rep. Jim Jordan failed to win enough votes to be elected House speaker on a first ballot. Twenty fellow Republicans declined to back the Ohio representative in the floor vote. Jordan, a favorite of the GOP base and a Donald Trump ally, must win a majority of the House, which is split between 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats. He wanted to hold another round of voting later Tuesday; some of his detractors also argued that the vote should be held immediately. Jordan’s victory would be an earthshaking win by the party’s populist wing over more establishment and pro-governance figures. It would also raise questions about the Republican-Democrat cooperation needed to pass critical bills in the coming months.


➤UKRAINE LAUNCHES LONG-RANGE MISSILE: Ukraine launched U.S.-provided ATACMS missiles at Russian forces for the first time. A small number of the missiles were secretly sent to Ukraine in recent days to augment Kyiv’s long-range strikes during an important stage of its counteroffensive, according to people familiar with the matter. Ukraine has long sought the surface-to-surface missiles that can be fired by the Himars launchers the U.S. first provided last year. Separately, Russia’s legislature voted unanimously to revoke its ratification of a significant international nuclear-test-ban treaty, a move that threatens to intensify global insecurity.

➤BALDWIN FACING CHARGES: Special prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking to recharge actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie in New Mexico two years ago. New Mexico-based prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said they'll present evidence to grand jury within the next two months, noting that "additional facts" have come to light in the October 2021 fatal shooting on the set of "Rust" during filming on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Baldwin, a co-producer of the film, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film's set outside Santa Fe when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

➤U-S CAR THEFTS JUMP 10% OVER 2022, THESE MODELS ARE THIEVES' FAVORITES: The FBI said Monday motor vehicle thefts posted a double-digit jump year-over-year in 2022. They experienced a 10.9% spike from 2021 to 2022 in the U.S., according to the federal law enforcement agency. It pegged the total number of cars stolen last year at "nearly a million." The motor vehicle theft figures came as part of a wider set of data about U.S. crime that the FBI made publicly available.

According to Fox Business, separate reports have previously suggested some vehicle models are more popular targets of theft than others. In April, the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) identified the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat as the car in the model years 2020-2022 having the highest relative claim frequency for theft. The top-five also had the Dodge Charger HEMI, the Infiniti Q50 4dr, the Dodge Challenger and the Land Rover Range Rover 4dr 4WD, according to the HLDI report. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), meanwhile, said in July that the three models favored by thieves in 2022 were the full-sized Chevrolet Pickup, the full-sized Ford Pickup and the Honda Civic. For those, the most frequently taken model years were 2004, 2006 and 2000, respectively, according to the group.

💸U-S CONSUMERS SPLURGE: Interest rates are high, inflation remains elevated and pandemic savings are dwindling. Yet the U.S. consumer is on a spending binge.  The display of consumer resilience persisted in the latest retail-sales report, which on Tuesday showed spending at stores, online and at restaurants rose a stronger-than-expected 0.7% in September from a month earlier. Stocks finished little changed after a whipsaw session, and the 10-year yield settled at 4.846%, its highest closing level since July 2007.

➤MAN IMPRISONED 16 YEARS FOR WRONGFUL CONVICTION FATALLY SHOT BY GEORGIA DEPUTY: A man who spent more than 16 years in prison in Florida on a wrongful conviction was shot and killed Monday by a sheriff's deputy in Georgia during a traffic stop, authorities and representatives said. Leonard Allen Cure, 53, was identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is reviewing the shooting.

⚾MLB PHILLIES 10 D-BACKS 0: Kyle Schwarber is homering at a rate rarely seen in postseason history. Unfortunately for the Arizona Diamondbacks, they've got a lot more to worry about with the Philadelphia Phillies than just Schwarber. The Phillies remained red-hot Tuesday night, when Schwarber homered twice and Philadelphia racked up seven extra-base hits on its way to a 10-0 win over the visiting Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. The defending NL champion Phillies lead the best-of-seven series two games to none. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Arizona.
Seventy-five of the 89 teams to take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series have won the series. Since the wild card was implemented in 1995, only three teams -- the 1996 Atlanta Braves in the World Series, the 2004 New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series and the 2020 Braves in the NLCS -- have squandered a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven set.


🏈SOURCES: CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY AVOIDS SERIOUS INJURY, COULD PLAY ON MNF: San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey avoided a long-term injury and has a chance to play Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings. McCaffrey, who suffered an oblique/rib injury in Sunday's loss to the Cleveland Browns, underwent an MRI on Monday.

San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams (right ankle) and wide receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder) also have a chance to play in Monday's game, sources said. The 49ers will make a determination on who can and can't play over the course of the next week.

🏈EAGLES SIGN 7-TIME PRO BOWL WR JULIO JONES TO DEAL: Wide receiver Julio Jones, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday. Jones, 34, will be reunited with former Tennessee Titans teammate A.J. Brown, who pushed for Tennessee to trade for him in 2021. The Eagles recently placed wide receiver Quez Watkins on injured reserve with a hamstring injury and worked out receivers Marquez Callaway and Dezmon Patmon on Monday.

🏈NFL WANTS TO CLEAR PATH TO OLYMPIC FLAG FOOTBALL FOR PLAYERS: If Tyreek Hill and other NFL players want to switch to flag football for a summer and compete in the Olympics, the possibility is becoming more real. NFL executive Peter O'Reilly said Tuesday that the league will work with the players' union on allowing current and former players to participate after flag football was among five sports officially added to the 2028 Los Angeles Games by the International Olympic Committee. The NFL has worked hard to promote flag football and pushed for its inclusion in the Olympics. Last year, the league turned its annual Pro Bowl into a weeklong series of competitions culminating with the AFC and NFC all-stars playing flag football.

🌞THE HEAT REMAINS: September-like heat is underway across the Southwest, AccuWeather meteorologists say. The unseasonable heat will challenge daily record highs in several locations. "Strong high pressure will build into the West for the middle of this week, leading to significant warming over much of the West," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Heather Zehr said. "The peak of the heat for much of California will be Thursday, but over the interior West, Thursday and Friday will be similarly hot," added Zehr. Cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are forecast to reach 90 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit respectively on Thursday, roughly 15 degrees above historical averages.




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