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Friday, December 8, 2023

12/8 WAKE-UP CALL: Gaza Residents Scramble For Basic Needs


Public order is breaking down as Israel’s military offensive dislodges Hamas’s control of the enclave. Palestinians are reporting cases of starvation and disease. The U.N. said its operations were near collapse and Israeli military restrictions have made it impossible to distribute aid anywhere beyond the small area along the Egyptian border. In the southern city of Khan Younis—where intense fighting risks putting Israel on a collision course with the Biden administration—people broke into a U.N. warehouse and took food supplies. The rapid deterioration of basic living standards adds to a humanitarian crisis that will be the subject of a U.N. Security Council meeting tomorrow.

➤CONGRESS TO PROBE 3 UNIVERSITIES: The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is opening an investigation into Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania and plans to request documents related to the schools’ policies and disciplinary records. It could expand the probe to other schools. MIT said the school “rejects antisemitism in all its forms,” and will address the congressional committee’s questions. Harvard and Penn didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the investigation. The probe adds pressure on the institutions’ leaders. They testified to Congress earlier in the week that whether calls for genocide of Jewish students qualified as harassment depended on the context and whether that speech turned into conduct. Politicians, Jewish advocacy groups, students and donors criticized the response.

➤UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS FEEL THE HEAT: Three university presidents who testified before lawmakers about their handling of antisemitic incidents on college campuses now face a congressional investigation after attempting to clean up their comments in the face of widespread backlash. Lawmakers Tuesday questioned Harvard University President Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth about efforts to combat antisemitism since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.   

After the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing, the presidents primarily drew ire for refusing to say whether calls for the genocide of Jews violates school policies on bullying and harassment.  Gay during the hearing said such hateful speech is “personally abhorrent” to her and against Harvard values. Whether that speech violates the school's code of ethics, though, she said depends on context.

A day later, Harvard posted a statement from Gay on X, formerly Twitter, clarifying her position. “There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” Gay said in her statement Wednesday. “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”

Also on Thursday, Ross Stevens, founder and chief executive officer of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, a financial-services firm, informed Penn in a letter that he would cancel $100 million of Stone Ridge shares held by the university if it didn’t replace President Liz Magill. The letter was delivered hours after some board members met virtually to discuss the current controversy involving the president. There was no formal vote, but attendees were overwhelmingly supportive of Magill, according to a person in attendance.

Reuters Photojournalist
➤NEWS AGENCY ACCUSES ISRAEL OF KILLING JOURNALIST: In what two human rights organizations concluded was probably an intentional attack and war crime, an investigation revealed Israeli tank fire killed a Reuters video journalist and injured six reporters on Oct. 13 in Lebanon, the news agency said Thursday. Videographer Issam Abdallah, 37, who had covered wars for years, was filming Israeli shelling less than a mile away from the border with Lebanon when a round hit a group of journalists from different agencies, killing Abdallah, Reuters said. A second strike less than 40 minutes later severely injured AFP photographer Christina Assi, 28. Reuters said its investigation included conducting interviews with more than 30 sources, reviewing extensive photos and video footage as well as studying evidence from the site. 

➤UNLV SHOOTING DETAILS EMERGE: The gunman who killed three people Wednesday on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before dying in a shootout with police was a college professor who had previously applied for a job at the university and was turned down, according to The Associated Press. The shooter, who formerly worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina, did not seem to be targeting students, the AP reported, citing police. The rampage began just before noon Wednesday on the fourth floor of the university's Frank and Estella Beam Hall. The gunman, who has not yet been identified by police, was killed by police a short time later. A fourth victim is in critical condition.

➤TEXAS JUDGE PERMITS EMERGENCY ABORTION:  A judge on Thursday ruled a woman in Texas can obtain an emergency medically indicated abortion, marking the first such intervention in the state since before Roe v. Wade was decided 50 years ago. After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe, the landmark case that made abortion legal nationwide, Texas instituted an abortion ban with few exceptions, including life-threatening complications. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the case Tuesday on behalf of Dallas mom of two Kate Cox, her husband, and her OB-GYN. Cox is 20 weeks pregnant and her unborn baby has Trisomy 18, a lethal genetic condition, and her doctors have said that continuing the pregnancy poses grave risks to her health and fertility.

➤HUNTER BIDEN CHARGED WITH TAX CHARGES: Hunter Biden was indicted on nine tax charges in California on Thursday as a special counsel investigation into the business dealings of the president's son intensifies against the backdrop of the looming 2024 election. The new charges — three felonies and six misdemeanors — come in addition to federal firearms charges in Delaware alleging Hunter Biden broke a law against drug users having guns in 2018. 

He had been previously expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors who said he failed to pay taxes on $4 million in personal income in 2017 and 2018. Defense attorneys have signaled they plan to fight any new charges. The agreement imploded in July after a judge raised questions about it. It had also been pilloried as a “sweetheart deal” by Republicans investigating nearly every aspect of Hunter Biden's business dealings as well as the Justice Department's handling of the case.


➤MORTGAGE RATES DROP: The average rate for a home mortgage dropped for a sixth straight week, hitting its lowest level since August. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 7.03 percent in the week that ended yesterday.

➤WHITE HOUSE THREATENS ACTION ON HIGH-PRICED MEDICINE: The White House is threatening to cancel the patent protection of certain high-priced drugs that were developed with the assistance of taxpayer dollars. That would allow rival companies to produce the drug at a much lower price to consumers. It’s one of several aggressive moves the Biden administration has taken to reduce the burden of medical costs to consumers. Previous measures have included a $35 cap on insulin for Medicare enrollees.


➤SALMONELLA OUTBREAK TIED TO CANTALOUPE: Three Americans and five Canadians have died from eating cantaloupe tainted with salmonella, according to health officials. At least 230 people have been hospitalized in the U.S. since mid-November due to the outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many reported eating pre-cut cantaloupe sold in clamshell packages, but recalls have also been issued for whole cantaloupes with the brand stickers “Malichita” and “Rudy.”
  • CHECK IT OUT: Click here for the full list of recalled cantaloupe products.
➤U-S MAY FINALLY GET A BULLET TRAIN: A railroad company has gotten $3 billion in federal funding to help build the first bullet train in the U.S. The electric-powered train will zip passengers through 270 miles of desert from Las Angeles to Las Vegas in just two hours. High-speed “bullet trains” have been operating for years in Japan, France and China, among other countries. 

🏈NFL PATRIOTS 21 STEELERS 18: Bailey Zappe threw for three touchdowns and the New England Patriots held off a fourth-quarter rally by the host Pittsburgh Steelers to earn a 21-18 victory on Thursday night. Trailing 21-10, Pittsburgh (7-6) blocked Bryce Baringer's punt and took over at the Patriots' 26-yard line with 13:23 left in the game. Two plays after a defensive pass interference penalty moved the ball to the New England 1, Steelers quarterback Mitchell Trubisky plunged into the end zone. He then found Pat Freiermuth on the ensuing two-point conversion, trimming the Patriots' lead to 21-18 with 11:44 to go. The Steelers ended up getting three more possessions, with their penultimate drive beginning with 2:44 remaining. They worked up to their own 49 but failed to convert a fourth-and-2, and New England (3-10) ran down the clock, giving the ball back to the hosts with just 15 seconds left. A pair of deep passes got Pittsburgh into New England territory, but the second completion came as the clock hit zeros.


🏀INDIANA PACERS MAKE IT TO THE CHAMPSIONSHIP GAME: The Indiana Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 128-119 in the eastern semifinals yesterday. The win gets the Pacers a spot in the championship game that will decide who gets the first NBA Cup.

🏀BULLS’ ZACH LaVINE STILL SIDELINED: Chicago Bulls All-Star guard Zach LaVine is expected to miss three to four more weeks of play due to a foot inflammation, the team announced. LaVine has already missed three games.

⚾THE BALTIMORE ORIOLES MAY BE FOR SALE: The family that owns the Baltimore Orioles is in talks with billionaire David Rubenstein about selling the team, according to a report from Bloomberg. Rubenstein is a Baltimore native and attended Baltimore City College. Forbes estimates the team is worth about $1.7 billion. That’s the middle of the pack of major league teams. The team is now owned by the family of Peter Angelos.



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