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Latest News Headlines for Thursday Dec 21, 2023 – Chinese President Xi Jinping conveyed directly to President Joe Biden at their recent summit that China plans to reunify with Taiwan. While the approach remains unclear, Xi suggested an initial preference for peaceful efforts. This statement, made bluntly during a summit aimed at improving relations, underscores the significance of China’s stance on Taiwan reunification. — After thwarting Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive, Russia is amassing resources for a winter stage of the war. This could involve extending gains in the east and dealing significant blows to Ukraine’s vital infrastructure. President Vladimir Putin seems to rely on military pressure, changing Western political dynamics, and global attention on the Israeli-Hamas conflict to weaken support for Ukraine. — As Israeli forces targeted over 300 Gaza Strip locations, the head of IDF’s Southern Command declared the military at “another significant phase of the offensive in new areas.” Israel Defense Forces hit more than 300 infrastructure targets, including a raid on a Hamas headquarters in Khan Yunis by the 55th Brigade paratroopers. — Former President Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court to deny a request from special counsel Jack Smith and decline to consider Trump’s claims of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution before an appeals court can examine the matter. Trump’s attorneys argue that regular review procedures will let the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit address the appeal first. — A federal judge granted former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss’ request to expedite their $148 million judgment against Rudy Giuliani. The judge noted that Freeman and Moss have “good cause” to fear Giuliani may attempt to avoid paying them. Giuliani was ordered to pay nearly $150 million for defaming the women with false accusations related to the 2020 election. — Hackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party vendor servicing Xfinity, leading to the theft of some customer information, according to a state attorney general’s report. Approximately 36 million people could be affected, and the hack originated from a vulnerability in Citrix software, initially patched by Xfinity but requiring additional measures. — Southern border towns in the U.S. are experiencing a familiar scene: thousands of migrants overwhelming Border Patrol agents. Last week, nearly 7,900 migrants were apprehended daily across the southern border, up from an average of 6,000 per day in October. On a specific Wednesday, more than 10,500 migrants crossed into the U.S., with over 4,000 in Texas’ Del Rio sector alone. — Toyota is recalling approximately 1 million cars in the U.S. due to a potential defect in the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensors in the front passenger seat. This defect could cause a short circuit, leading to improper detection of the passenger’s presence and weight, risking failure of the front passenger airbags to deploy properly in a crash.

News headlines for Wednesday Dec 20th: The U.S. is responding to the escalating crisis in the Red Sea by announcing the launch of an international task force for maritime security. However, only nine other politically similar nations have confirmed joining so far. Doubts arise about the coalition’s ability to end militia attacks on vessels in the region and calm anxious shipping companies. State Department officials stated that the Biden administration’s initial goal was to bring together a broad array of international powers to rein in the Houthis, an armed group backed by Iran controlling a significant amount of territory in Yemen. The Israeli army has raided and detained staff at two of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza’s north, where the defense minister said troops were working to completely clear out Hamas militants. Israel bombarded towns across southern Gaza with airstrikes, killing at least 45 Palestinians and pressing ahead with its offensive with renewed backing from the United States, despite rising international alarm. Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant warned that the campaign in Gaza’s south will persist for months. A volcano that began erupting on Monday in Iceland continued to spew lava and was accompanied by hundreds of earthquakes across the magma flow on the country’s southwestern coast. The volcanic activity in Sundhnúksgígar on the Reykjanes peninsula appeared to be diminishing, according to Iceland’s Meteorological Office. New aerial images analyzed showed that there are now three vents belching lava southeast of Stóra-Skógfell, down from five at the start of the eruption in the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system. A federal judge in New York has ordered a vast unsealing of court documents in early 2024 that will make public the names of scores of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates. The documents are part of a settled civil lawsuit alleging Epstein’s one-time paramour Ghislaine Maxwell facilitated the sexual abuse of Virginia Giuffre. Terms of the 2017 settlement were not disclosed. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was convicted of sex trafficking and procuring girls for Epstein. The IRS is waiving penalty fees for people who failed to pay back taxes totaling less than $100,000 per year for tax years 2020 and 2021. The relief measure will waive $1 billion in fees for tax returns filed for those years, the IRS said. The tax agency is nixing the fees due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, which threw the IRS into operational turmoil and led to a massive backlog in unprocessed tax returns. The relief is aimed at resolving a quandary caused by the tax agency’s decision to suspend notices that taxpayers owed money. About 60 protesters were arrested Tuesday inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda, as they called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, according to Capitol Police, who said the group entered the building as a tour group. “Not another nickel! Not another dime! No more money for Israel’s crimes!” the group of approximately 60 protesters chanted as they unfurled a “Stop Funding Violence” sign. A former leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced to more than three years behind bars for joining a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol nearly three years ago. Charles Donohoe was the second Proud Boy to plead guilty to conspiring with other group members to obstruct the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. His sentence could be a bellwether for other Proud Boys conspirators who agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Google will pay millions of U.S. consumers a combined $700 million as part of a settlement with state attorneys general over fees the tech giant charges for use of its app store. The company will shell out $630 million to a fund that will go directly to more than 100 million consumers nationwide, according to details of a settlement made public late Monday. An additional $70 million will be paid into a fund for states to disburse to consumers for similar claims. The settlement resolves a 2021 lawsuit brought against Google over the alleged abuse of its market dominance by charging exorbitant fees for app creators.

Latest News Headlines for Tuesday December 19, 2023: A group of House Democrats, including members with national security backgrounds, wrote to President Biden, expressing their strong opposition to the current military strategy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Gaza. The letter emphasizes deep concerns about the mounting civilian death toll, the humanitarian crisis, and the strategy’s divergence from American interests and the security of Israel. The lawmakers believe the current approach jeopardizes efforts to dismantle the terrorist organization Hamas and secure the release of hostages. The letter is signed by six lawmakers. As the war in Ukraine nears its two-year mark, U.S. officials and NATO allies are increasingly focused on Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic Circle. This expansion includes the recent unveiling of two nuclear submarines by Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling a significant strategic shift in the region. Norway’s Svalbard Archipelago, deep inside the Arctic Circle, holds the distinction of being the world’s northernmost permanent human settlement. Hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid and supplies for desperate Palestinian civilians have entered the Gaza Strip since Sunday. Israeli authorities reopened the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings, facilitating the flow of almost 200 truckloads of aid. An additional 191 trucks passed into Gaza on Monday, according to the Israeli civilian authority overseeing the occupied Palestinian territories. In 2024, millions of workers across the U.S. could see a pay hike as half of the states plan to increase their minimum wages. The baseline pay will rise to at least $16 an hour in three states: California, New York, and Washington. In 22 states, the new minimum wages will take effect on January 1, while Nevada and Oregon’s rates will increase on July 1, and Florida’s will rise on September 30. Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear in a California courtroom next month on nine tax counts, stemming from a special counsel investigation into his business affairs. The charges include three felony and six misdemeanor counts, such as filing a false return, tax evasion, failure to file, and failure to pay. Prosecutors allege that he spent millions on an extravagant lifestyle rather than fulfilling his tax obligations. Police have positively identified the body of Roger Dale Parham, a fugitive from the FBI, more than two decades after it was found in a Kentucky lake. Despite the identification, authorities are still searching for clues about Parham’s murder and how his body ended up at Lake Barkley. Advanced genealogy DNA testing was employed to identify Parham after previous attempts were unsuccessful. Pope Francis has formally approved allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, marking a radical change in Vatican policy. A declaration from the Vatican’s doctrine office emphasizes that an exhaustive moral analysis should not be a precondition for conferring a blessing, and those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection. A Confederate memorial is set to be removed from Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia in the coming days. This decision follows a push to eliminate symbols commemorating the Confederacy from military-related facilities. Despite a demand from over 40 Republican congressmen to suspend removal efforts, safety fencing has been installed around the memorial, with officials anticipating completion by Dec. 22, according to Arlington National Cemetery.

Latest News Headlines for Monday December 18, 2023 – Israel’s military reported on Sunday the discovery of a substantial tunnel shaft in Gaza, near a once-bustling crossing into Israel. This development raises questions about how Israeli surveillance overlooked the conspicuous preparations by Hamas for the militants’ deadly Oct. 7 assault. The tunnel’s entry point is just a few hundred meters from the heavily fortified Erez crossing and a nearby Israeli military base. It stands as the largest and longest tunnel found by Israeli forces to date. Israel’s government faces calls for a cease-fire from some of its closest European allies after a series of shootings, including the mistaken killing of three Israeli hostages, sparked global concerns about the conduct of the 10-week-old war in Gaza. Israeli protesters urge the government to renew negotiations with Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whom Israel has vowed to destroy. Pressure is expected to increase during U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit, as Washington expresses growing unease with civilian casualties while providing vital military and diplomatic support. Chilean voters rejected a proposed conservative constitution to replace the country’s dictatorship-era charter. With 96% of votes counted, about 55.8% voted “no” to the new charter, with approximately 44.2% in favor. This comes more than a year after Chileans resoundingly rejected a proposed constitution written by a left-leaning convention, characterized as one of the world’s most progressive charters. The Republican Party of Florida suspended Chairman Christian Ziegler and demanded his resignation during an emergency meeting Sunday, adding to calls by Governor Ron DeSantis and other top officials for him to step down as police investigate a rape accusation against him. Ziegler is accused of raping a woman with whom he and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, had a prior consensual sexual relationship, according to police records. “Christian Ziegler has engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office,” the party’s motion to censure Ziegler said. Five people, including three young children, have died in a house fire in northwestern Arizona, authorities said Sunday, adding it appeared no adults were home at the time. Bullhead City police said the fire broke out around 5 p.m. Saturday, and the victims did not make it out of the two-story duplex in that community near the Colorado River. A city fire department spokeswoman said the five victims were ages 2, 4, 5, 11 and 13. Their names weren’t immediately released Sunday. Authorities said the cause of the fire isn’t known yet. A car plowed into a parked SUV guarding President Joe Biden’s motorcade Sunday night while the president was leaving a visit to his campaign headquarters. The president and first lady Jill Biden were unharmed. While Biden was walking from the campaign office to his waiting armored SUV, a sedan hit a U.S. Secret Service vehicle that was being used to close off intersections near the headquarters for the president’s departure. The sedan then tried to continue into a closed-off intersection before Secret Service personnel surrounded the vehicle with weapons drawn and instructed the driver to put his hands up. Gunmen attacked a Christmas season party early Sunday, killing a dozen people in the town of Salvatierra in Mexico’s north-central state of Guanajuato, prosecutors said. State prosecutors also reported that four other people died in a shooting in the city of Salamanca, but did not describe the circumstances of that attack. Local media said the victims in Salvatierra were leaving an event hall following a Christmas party known as a “posada” when they were gunned down. At least 61 migrants drowned in a “shipwreck” off the coast of Libya, a migration organization said Saturday night. Women and children were among the dead, according to the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental group that’s part of the United Nations network. “The Central Mediterranean continues to be one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes,” IOM Libya said on social media. The vessel left Zwara, Libya, with about 86 people onboard, survivors of the wreck told IOM Libya, according to the organization.

Headline News Weekend Edition for Dec 16, 2023 – Russia and Ukraine both reported numerous attempted drone attacks within the last day, following Hungary’s veto of 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion) in European Union funding to Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force confirmed that it had successfully shot down 30 out of 31 drones launched overnight across 11 regions. Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have thwarted Ukrainian drone attacks, with its anti-aircraft units destroying 32 drones over the Crimean Peninsula, as announced by the Russian Defense Ministry on Telegram. — The Israeli military acknowledged that three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were mistakenly killed by friendly fire during combat operations in Shejaiya, a dense neighborhood in the Gaza City area. The hostages, waving a white flag and not wearing shirts, were tragically identified as a threat by Israeli troops. The incident occurred “tens of meters from one of our forces’ positions,” leading to the mistaken firing upon the three hostages. The Israeli Defense Forces stated that two of them were killed immediately. — In a landmark financial trial that exposed the Vatican’s internal affairs, a tribunal convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu of embezzlement and sentenced him to 5 ½ years in prison. The trial resulted in several verdicts, reflecting nearly 50 charges brought against various defendants over a 2 ½ year period. Cardinal Becciu, the first cardinal prosecuted by the Vatican criminal court, was found guilty of embezzlement while absolved of other charges. Nine other defendants received a mix of guilty verdicts and acquittals in this complex financial trial. — Responding to a surge in illegal migrant crossings, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has ordered National Guard troops to a remote area along the state’s border with Mexico. The executive order aims to address the situation around the closed Lukeville Port of Entry in the Sonoran Desert, filling the void left by federal government inaction. The move has drawn criticism from Hobbs and Arizona’s U.S. senators, Mark Kelly (Democrat) and Kyrsten Sinema (independent). — The Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed the state’s challenge to a judge’s order that blocked enforcement of Ohio’s near-ban on abortions for the past 14 months. The ruling shifts the case back to Hamilton County Common Pleas, where abortion clinics requested the dismissal of the law after voters approved enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution. The high court stated the appeal was “dismissed due to a change in the law.” — A Georgia teacher, Benjamin Reese, 51, faces charges of terroristic threats and cruelty to children for allegedly threatening a student offended by the Israeli flag in his classroom. The Houston County Sheriff’s Office report indicates that Reese, a seventh-grade social studies teacher, was reported for yelling at students in a hallway on Dec. 7. The incident report details the teacher’s actions following a student’s expression of offense. — With COVID-19 and flu hospitalizations rising across the U.S., federal data reveals that 17 states are experiencing “high” or “very high” levels of respiratory illness activity. Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations reached 23,432 for the week ending Dec. 9, marking the fifth consecutive week of increase. The numbers are now at levels not seen since the end of February, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. — A significant recall of approximately 319,000 Power XL Dual Basket Air Fryers has been initiated due to a potential burn hazard, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Empower Brands issued the recall on Dec. 14, citing a faulty component in two models of the air fryer’s basket apparatus. The recall comes amid concerns of a burn risk associated with the affected air fryers, as reported by the CPSC and PowerXL’s website.

Latest news headlines for Thursday December 14, 2023 – Destruction in Khan Yunis has surpassed other areas of Gaza for the first time as Israel’s military operation against Hamas extends to the south, satellite data analysis by university researchers shows. By Dec. 11, about 20% of buildings in Khan Yunis have been either damaged or destroyed, according to data analyzed by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center in New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University. Israeli military began operations in central Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second-largest city. — Norway has announced additional support for Ukraine coinciding with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Oslo to seek further backing from allies. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere announced the aid as part of a five-year, $6.8 billion commitment to Ukraine, agreed upon by Norway in February. “We are actively consulting with Ukraine to understand its most urgent needs and, along with our allies, are committed to providing the necessary support,” Stoere stated. — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, at a Washington, D.C. press conference, indicated that the Fed anticipates reducing interest rates next year. Powell added that policymakers at the central bank view current interest rates as possibly at their highest point, expressing cautious optimism about the Fed significantly easing its anti-inflation measures by the end of 2024. This announcement followed the Fed’s decision to maintain current interest rates, continuing a halt in its series of substantial rate hikes aimed at combating inflation. — The Senate has passed a defense policy bill that includes the largest troop pay raise in over two decades but omits many social conservatives’ policy goals, leading to an unusually contentious debate over what is typically a bipartisan measure. After months of negotiation following distinctly different versions passed by each chamber in July, the final bill emerged, omitting several social conservatives’ priorities to gain Democratic support. The bill passed the Senate with an 87-13 vote and now proceeds to the House, where it faces more outspoken opposition. — The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is investigating six more schools for alleged discrimination incidents reported on their campuses. The Office for Civil Rights clarified to the schools that initiating an investigation does not imply guilt. New Jersey’s Rutgers University, Washington’s Whitman College, Stanford University in California, the University of California-San Diego, University of Washington-Seattle, and the University of California-Los Angeles have recently joined the list of institutions under investigation. — Two men wrongfully imprisoned for decades have been declared innocent and released, as announced by the Los Angeles County district attorney on Wednesday. Giovanni Hernandez and Miguel Solorio had their convictions overturned earlier this year, and on Wednesday, a judge declared them factually innocent, according to the District Attorney’s Office. At a press conference, District Attorney George Gascón extended an apology to both men, noting the profound impact of wrongful convictions, particularly given their young age at the time of arrest. — A 44-year-old man faces charges for a violent assault on a Jewish couple near a Beverly Hills synagogue, as reported by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, amidst a national rise in anti-Semitic incidents. Jarris Jay Silagi is accused of attacking a 75-year-old man and his wife on Saturday night in Beverly Hills as they headed to a synagogue for Shabbat. Silagi allegedly used a belt in the assault, causing a head laceration to the man. — In the U.S., major retailers Amazon, Target, and Walmart have decided to discontinue selling water beads, following increased pressure and reports of child injuries and fatalities from ingesting or inserting these items. Water beads, often sold as sensory toys or for children with developmental disorders, may seem innocuous but pose significant risks. These small polymer balls can swell up to 150 to 1,500 times their original size, resembling a tennis ball, when in contact with liquids, warns the National Capital Poison Center.