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Thursday, February 22, 2024

2/22 WAKE-UP CALL: Gaza Is A 'Death Zone'


Health and living conditions in the "death zone" of Gaza are "inhumane" and only getting worse, lamented World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday. The WHO head pointed out severe malnutrition has increased from less than 1% to more than 15% in the Palestinian territory, where World Food Program workers aren’t safe enough to distribute supplies in the north and the largest hospital in the south is besieged and barely functional. Fears of mass starvation across Gaza grew Wednesday as the World Food Program was unable to deliver supplies to northern Gaza amid “complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order.”

➤U-S SAYS LIKELY UN AGENCY AIDED OCT 7 RAIDS: A new U.S. intelligence assessment found it is likely that some employees of a U.N. agency that distributes aid to Palestinians took part in Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on Israel. The U.S. can’t verify Israeli allegations that a larger number of U.N. workers have links to militant groups, though, people familiar with the report said. The U.S. and other Western countries last month suspended funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, after Israel shared findings that at least 12 Unrwa workers were connected to the Hamas killings and kidnappings that sparked the Gaza war. Meanwhile, humanitarian aid deliveries have slowed to a trickle, as security in the enclave deteriorates, leaving 2.2 million Palestinians faced with spreading famine, disease and desperation.

➤BOEING EXECUTIVE IS OUT: The Boeing executive in charge of the factory that built the jet involved in last month’s door-plug blowout is leaving the company. Ed Clark, who spent nearly 18 years at the aircraft maker, took over the Renton, Wash., plant in 2021 as the company worked to recover from fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. Boeing also said it was creating a new position overseeing quality control at its commercial airplanes unit. The Alaska Airlines jet blowout occurred shortly after takeoff from Portland, Ore., on Jan. 5. Investigators believe critical bolts were missing when the plane left the factory. Because of the incident, the FAA ordered airlines to ground and inspect some MAX 9 planes; the jets were later cleared to resume flying. Regulators limited Boeing’s MAX production, too. Earlier this month, the company said that it was reworking about 50 undelivered MAX jets after a supplier’s employee found misdrilled holes on some fuselages.

➤RUSSIA 'DETAINS' BALLERINA: Former relatives and associates of a Russian-American woman jailed in Russia are calling for her release and return to the U.S. They identified her as Ksenia Karelina of L.A., an esthetician who had traveled to her hometown of Yekaterinburg around the New Year to visit family. She is being detained on suspicion of treason for allegedly raising funds for the Ukrainian military and faces a possible sentence of up to life in prison. Separately, Ukraine’s military spy chief predicted Russia will struggle to achieve its main strategic goal of seizing two eastern regions this year.



➤IT'S BAAACK:  After spending over a decade on a mission in space, a now-defunct satellite returned to Earth on Wednesday. ERS-2, one of the European Space Agency's first advanced Earth-observing satellites, made a "natural" reentry after staying in space for 16 years.

  • Meet ERS-2: The satellite was launched in 1995 and provided data for over 5,000 projects, including tracking Earth's shrinking polar ice, sea levels, and atmospheric makeup.
  • The crash: After spending over a decade on a mission in space, the 2.5-ton now-defunct satellite returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean somewhere between Alaska and Hawaii. The majority of it was expected to burn, with any remaining pieces to be spread out over a span of hundreds of kilometers.

➤EATING MOST EXPENSIVE IN DECADES: Eating continues to cost more, even as overall inflation has eased from the blistering pace consumers endured throughout much of 2022 and 2023. Prices at restaurants and other eateries were up 5.1% last month compared with January 2023, while grocery costs increased 1.2% during the same period, Labor Department data show. Relief isn’t likely to arrive soon. Restaurant and food company executives said they are still grappling with rising labor costs and some ingredients, such as cocoa, that are only getting more expensive. Consumers, they said, will find ways to cope.

➤FBI CHECKING ON SUPER MAYOR: The FBI is probing self-described “super mayor” Tiffany Henyard over mounting accusations of misconduct and misuse of office — as the Illinois Attorney General shut down her charity Tuesday, The NYPost has learned.   The eccentric mayor — whose face is plastered across billboards in tiny Dolton, Ill. —  is accused of spending taxpayer money on lavish and unnecessary trips and forking over one million dollars on a police detail then using them to retaliate against her perceived enemies.  Lawrence Gardner, 57, said he visited an FBI office after Henyard shuttered his trucking business because he refused to renew a $3,500 political contribution.

Mayor Tiffany Henyard is accused of spending taxpayer money on lavish trips and a police detail. When he refused to give her campaign more money, officials claimed he was illegally selling alcohol out of his business and pulled his license, according to Gardner, who said the allegations against him were false.  The FBI told Gardner they received scores of complaints against Henyard “but they were just starting an investigation,” he recalled. 

🐶BIDEN BANISHES COMMANDER: President Biden’s now-banished German shepherd Commander inflicted more damage with bite incidents than previously known. Newly released records from the United States Secret Service to USA TODAY reveal the aggressive dog was involved in at least 25 biting incidents in less than a year. This month, the Secret Service released 269 pages related to a Freedom of Information Act request that included email traffic with anecdotes of bites. It included a table with the 23 incidents from October 2022 to July 2023. That doesn’t count two more incidents in September and October that finally prompted Commander’s removal. The list showed bites to agents’ arms, hands, thighs, back, wrists, elbows, waist, chest and an agent’s ammunition magazine pouch. At least 11 of the incidents required medical attention.


➤BIDEN CANCELS 153,000 MORE STUDENT LOANS: About 153,000 people who owe money on their student loans got an email yesterday saying the debt was canceled. President Joe Biden said loans were canceled for people who have been paying their loans off for at least 10 years and had borrowed $12,000 or less. They also had signed up for the SAVE program, which allows people with student debt to modify their repayment schedules to meet their incomes. This is just the first round of loan forgiveness, the message from the White House said.

➤PRESIDENT’S BROTHER TESTIFIES: James Biden, the president’s brother, testified yesterday that President Joe Biden had zero involvement in any of his business deals over the last 50 years or more. 

James Biden testified behind closed doors to Congressional investigators conducting an impeachment inquiry into the president. Republicans are accusing the Biden family of selling their political influence abroad. The investigation was rocked last week by the news that the testimony of one of their main informants was manufactured by Russian spies.

➤MOON LANDING SCHEDULED FOR TODAY: An unmanned spacecraft is scheduled to land on the moon later today. If they pull it off, the mission by a company called Intuitive Machines will be the first American mission to make a soft landing on the moon since Apollo 17 touched down in 1972. Although it was built by a private company, the spacecraft was funded by NASA, which wants six scientific instruments delivered. Spacecraft Odysseus is expected to land at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.

➤A TURNING POINT IN CANCER TREATMENT: A promising new type of cancer treatment is about to begin reaching patients. The Food & Drug Administration has approved the first drug using immune cells extracted from the patient’s tumor to create a personalized cancer-killing agent. The first drug is designed to fight melanoma, but other versions are awaiting approval. The treatment will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, raising the issue of affordability and access.

➤AIRLINES HIKE BAGGAGE FEES: If you think airline baggage fees are annoying, just wait: They’re raising the fees. American Airlines was first out of the gate, hiking its fee from $30 to $35 for online ticket purchases. Jet Blue followed, upping its fee by $10 to $45 per bag. 

➤THERE’S A LAKE IN DEATH VALLEY: Death Valley National Park got its name for a good reason: It’s one of the driest places on Earth. Which makes it all the more surprising that it now has its own lake in a grim spot known as Badwater Basin. The temporary lake was formed by the series of atmospheric rivers that has drenched California this winter. Officials say kayaking is possible, but go soon. The pop-up lake is expected to dry up sometime in March.

🎾COCO GAUFF REACHES QUARTERFINALS IN DUBAI: Coco Gauff made it to the quarterfinals at the Dubai Championships yesterday by defeating Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. That ended an 11-match winning streak for Pliskova. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek also advanced by beating two-time Dubai champion Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-4.

🏍MOTOCROSS STAR KILLED AT PRACTICE: Jayden “Jayo” Archer, a Motocross star and two-time X Games medalist, died yesterday while practicing a backflip trick in Australia. He was 27. A member of the Nitro Circus, Archer was the first to perform a triple backflip in competition.

⚾ERIC HOSNER RETIRES FROM THE ROYALS: Eric Hosner has announced he is retiring from baseball to start a media company. The four-time Gold Glove winner was named MVP in 2016. He signed an eight-year, $144 million deal with the San Diego Padres in 2017, was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2022, then joined the Chicago Cubs before being released in May 2023.

⚾A LITTLE PRESSURE ON THE RED SOX: There’s a bit of extra pressure on the Boston Red Sox to improve their performance in the 2024 MLB season. Netflix is filming every step they take on the field and behind the scenes for a documentary series about the season. The cameras are already on at spring training. “Nobody wants to be on Netflix as a losing team,” said third baseman Rafael Devers. “That’s a bad look.”

➤THURSDAY'S WEATHER MAP:



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