,[ israel-hamas-conflict,nation-world,national-politics,news,politics ],Q-JRdti1W3Y,, Politics,Society, channel_UCRNf0_t4Qo5eojj8sSvd_8A, video_Q-JRdti1W3Y,(ASSOCIATED PRESS) U.S. Vice President JD Vance and other envoys projected optimism Tuesday about Gaza 's fragile ceasefire agreement, calling progress better than anticipated as they visited a new center in Israel for civilian and military cooperation.
Vance noted flareups of violence in recent days but said the ceasefire is going “better than I expected” after two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Envoy Steve Witkoff added that “we are exceeding where we thought we would be at this time.”
They are in Israel as questions remain over the long-term plan for peace, such as whether Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza.
Vance tried to downplay any idea that his visit was urgently arranged to keep the ceasefire in place. “My visit had nothing to do with the events of the past 48 hours,” he said. This is his first visit to Israel as vice president.
READ MORE: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/syndication/associatedpress/israel-identifies-the-remains-of-a-hostage-as-hamas-says-it-is-committed-to-ending-the-war/616-fb32e887-3138-4432-8001-b2e820b88f37
,[ national,news ],donald trump,joe biden,presidential debate,trump biden presidential debate,biden trump debate,trump biden debate,us elections 2024,us elections,donald trump latest news,joe biden news,joe biden speech today,joe biden speech,wqJl_YvwU2E,, Politics,Society,Television_program, channel_UCRNf0_t4Qo5eojj8sSvd_8A, video_wqJl_YvwU2E,(ASSOCIATED PRESS) President Joe Biden begins an intense period of private preparations Friday at Camp David for what may be the most consequential presidential debate in decades.
The 81-year-old Democrat's team is aware that he cannot afford an underwhelming performance when he faces Republican rival Donald Trump for 90 minutes on live television Thursday night. Biden's team is expecting aggressive attacks on his physical and mental strength, his record on the economy and immigration and even his family.
Trump, 78 and ever confident, will stay on the campaign trail before going to his Florida estate next week for two days of private meetings as part of an informal prep process.
The former president's allies are pushing him to stay focused on his governing plans, but they're expecting him to be tested by pointed questions about his unrelenting focus on election fraud, his role in the erosion of abortion rights and his unprecedented legal baggage.
Thursday's debate on CNN will be full of firsts, with the potential to reshape the presidential race. Never before in the modern era have two presumptive nominees met on the debate stage so early in the general election season. Never before have two White House contenders faced off at such advanced ages, with widespread questions about their readiness.
And never before has a general election debate participant been saddled with a felony conviction. The debate-stage meeting comes just two weeks before Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial.
“You can argue this will be the most important debate, at least in my lifetime,” said Democratic strategist Jim Messina, 54, who managed former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.
The ground rules for Thursday’s debate, the first of two scheduled meetings, are unusual.
The candidates agreed to meet at a CNN studio in Atlanta with no audience. Each candidate’s microphone will be muted, except when it’s his turn to speak. No props or prewritten notes will be allowed onstage. The candidates will be given only a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
There will be no opening statements. A coin flip determined that Biden would stand at the podium to the viewer’s right, while Trump would deliver the final closing statement.
The next debate won't be until September. Any stumbles Thursday will be hard to erase or replace quickly.
Biden arrived at Camp David on Thursday night and is expected to hunker down with senior campaign aides until next Thursday’s debate. While traveling to the mountainside retreat, he gave a thumbs up to reporters when asked how debate prep was going.
The president’s aides have been reluctant to share details about his specific preparations, run by former chief of staff Ron Klain. But they have signaled that he is preparing to be aggressive and would not shy away from using the term “convicted felon” to describe his opponent onstage.
One adviser not authorized to speak publicly about debate strategy noted that Biden has been increasingly punchier in recent remarks about Trump and plans to carry that theme through to the debate. That’s still while trying to project himself as “the wise and steady leader” in contrast to Trump, the adviser said.
Among some political operatives, there is the sense that Biden may have the most to lose given his struggle to generate momentum amid signs of weakness within his political coalition. Trump and his allies have set an extraordinarily low bar, however, by suggesting for months that Biden is contending with serious physical limitations that make it difficult for him to stand for 90 minutes or even string together two sentences.
READ MORE: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/nation-world/trump-biden-debate-prep/507-7a4f2ec1-4b5e-41c0-8e2e-3717c8b0c1b5
,[ national,news ],gender affirming care,supreme court,gender-affirming care,breaking news,supreme court news,supreme court arguments,supreme court ruling,supreme court live today court 1,local news,news today,DJFhlgNDItE,, Politics,Society, channel_UCRNf0_t4Qo5eojj8sSvd_8A, video_DJFhlgNDItE,(ASSOCIATED PRESS) The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the fight over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-affirming care.
The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people, including a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.
The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restrict puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed laws in Tennessee and Kentucky to take effect after they had been blocked by lower courts. (The high court did not act on a separate appeal from Kentucky.)
“Without this Court’s prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care,” lawyers for the transgender teens in Tennessee told the justices.
Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people who joined a legal filing in support of Supreme Court review.
Arguments will take place in the fall.
Last week, South Carolina became the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even though such treatments have been available in the United States for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical associations.
Most of the state restrictions face lawsuits. The justices had previously allowed Idaho to generally enforce its restrictions, after they had been blocked by lower courts.
At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls' sports competitions. At least 11 states have adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls' and women’s bathrooms at public schools, and in some cases other government facilities.
The nation's highest court has only rarely taken up transgender issues. In 2020, the justices ruled that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.
In 2016, the court had agreed to take up the case of a transgender student, backed by the Obama administration, who was barred from using the boys' bathroom in his Virginia high school. But the court dropped the case after a directive advising schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth, was scrapped in the early months of the Trump administration. The directive had been a key part of an appeals court ruling in favor of the student, Gavin Grimm.
READ MORE: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/nation-world/supreme-court-ban-on-gender-affirming-care/507-0ffd718a-df66-4428-a147-9b4dbed5dea6
,[ national,news ],world news,breaking news,southwest plane,southwest oklahoma city,caught on camera,plane Oklahoma city,caught on camera unbelievable,vap9bNusZ3E,, , channel_UCRNf0_t4Qo5eojj8sSvd_8A, video_vap9bNusZ3E,(ASSOCIATED PRESS) Federal officials are investigating a Southwest Airlines jet that triggered a low-altitude alert as it prepared to land in Oklahoma City but was still nine miles from the airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that an air traffic controller notified the Southwest pilots after an automated warning sounded around 12:05 a.m. Wednesday morning.
According to data from Flightradar24, the plane descended to about 525 feet above the ground as it passed over Oklahoma City suburbs on the way to Will Rogers World Airport.
“Southwest 4069, low altitude alert. You doing OK?” an air traffic controller asked the Southwest pilots.
“Yeah, we’re going around, 4069,” one of the pilots responded, as captured by LiveATC.net. The air traffic controller told him to maintain 3000 feet.
The Dallas-based airline said the plane, a Boeing 737, landed safely just after midnight.
,1,(ASSOCIATED PRESS) Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a new partnership that includes a vow of mutual aid if either country is attacked, during a Wednesday summit that came as both face escalating standoffs with the West.
The deal, which the leaders said covered areas including security, trade, investment, and cultural and humanitarian ties, could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Both leaders described it as a major upgrade of their ties.
The two met as Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years. The summit came as the U.S. and its allies express growing concerns over an arms arrangement in which the country provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
Kim said that the deal was the “strongest ever treaty” between the two nations, putting the relationship at the level of an alliance, and vowed full support for Russia's war in Ukraine. Putin said that it was a “breakthough document” reflecting shared desire to move relations to a higher level.
The North Korean leader gave Putin a lavish welcome, meeting him at the airport Tuesday night, where the two shook hands, hugged twice and then rode together in a limousine in a huge motorcade that rolled through the capital’s brightly illuminated streets, where buildings were decorated with giant Russian flags and portraits of Putin.
After spending the rest of the night at a state guest house, Putin attended a welcoming ceremony at the city’s main square, filled with what appeared to be tens of thousands of spectators, including children holding balloons and people wearing coordinated t-shirts in the red, white and blue of the Russian and North Korean flags. Huge crowds lined up on the streets to greet Putin’s motorcade, chanting “Welcome Putin” and waving flowers and North Korean and Russian flags.
READ MORE: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/nation-world/russia-and-north-korea-sign-partnership/507-7331049c-b437-4433-9e56-cc108c0f5c8a
,[ nation-world,news ],israel hamas war,israel news,israel war,hamas attack,israel gaza,palestine and israel,israel palestine,israel hamas,gaza strip,hamas israel,israel attack,palestine israel,war in israel,gaza news,israel hamas war gaza today,israel hamas war gaza,israeli airstrikes,international news,israel hamas war news today,israel defence forces,israel hamas war news,news today,palestine and israel history,palestine and israel conflict,CydtL7kpDUQ,, Military,Politics,Society, channel_UCRNf0_t4Qo5eojj8sSvd_8A, video_CydtL7kpDUQ,Israel renewed calls Monday for mass evacuations from the southern town of Khan Younis, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks, as the military widened its ground offensive and bombarded targets across the Gaza Strip.
The expanded assault posed a deadly choice for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians — either stay in the path of Israeli forces or flee to squeeze into progressively tinier slivers of the Gaza Strip, with no guarantee of safety. Aid workers warned that the mass movement would worsen the already dire humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.
“Another wave of displacement is underway, and the humanitarian situation worsens by the hour,” the Gaza chief of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Thomas White, said in a post on X.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose Oct. 7 attack into Israel triggered the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades. The war has already killed thousands of Palestinians and displaced over three-fourths of the territory’s population of 2.3 million people.
Already under mounting pressure from its top ally, the United States, Israel appears to be racing to strike a death blow against Hamas — if that’s possible, given the group’s deep roots in Palestinian society — before any new cease-fire. But the mounting toll, which Palestinian health officials say has killed several hundred civilians since a weeklong truce ended Friday, is likely to further increase international pressure to return to the negotiating table.
It could also render even larger parts of the isolated territory uninhabitable.
Airstrikes and the ground offensive have transformed much of the north, including large areas in Gaza City, into a rubble-filled wasteland.
Hundreds of thousands of residents fled south during the assault. Now around 2 million people — most of the territory’s population — are crowded into the 230 square kilometers (90 square miles) that make up south and central Gaza, where Israel's ground offensive is expanding. Their only escape is to other parts of that area, as both Israel and neighboring Egypt have refused to accept any refugees.
FIGHTING IN CENTRAL GAZA
Residents said Monday they heard airstrikes and explosions in and around Khan Younis overnight after the military dropped leaflets warning people to relocate farther south toward the border with Egypt.
The U.N. said Israel has ordered an area constituting about a fifth of Khan Younis to evacuate, an area that was home to some 117,000 people before the war and now hosts tens of thousands displaced from elsewhere. It said 21 shelters housing 50,000 people — the vast majority from northern Gaza — were in the evacuation zone. Large areas east of Khan Younis were also ordered to flee.
The military warned civilians Monday to avoid the main north-south highway between Khan Younis and the central town of Deir al-Balah, saying the road had become a “battlefield.” That indicated Israeli troops were approaching Khan Younis from the northeast, possibly with plans to cut central Gaza off from the south.
Al Jazeera television aired footage of medics rescuing people wounded by what appeared to have been a strike on a car on that stretch of highway. An Israeli tank could be seen just up the road.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said the army is pursuing Hamas with “maximum force” in the north and south while trying to minimize harm to civilians.
He pointed to a map that divides southern Gaza into dozens of blocks in order to give “precise instructions” to residents on where to evacuate.
Some Palestinians have ignored past evacuation orders, saying they do not feel any safer in the areas where they are told to seek refuge — which have also been repeatedly bombed. Many also fear they will never be allowed back to their homes. The military has barred those who fled the north from returning, even during the cease-fire.
“The level of human suffering is intolerable,” Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said during a rare visit to Gaza. She also called for the immediate release of scores of hostages captured by Palestinian militants during the Oct. 7 attack.
Author: WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)
,1,President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust as the number of U.S. citizens killed in the fighting ticked up to at least 22.
“This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty — not just hate, but pure cruelty — against the Jewish people,” Biden told Jewish leaders gathered at the White House.
Beyond the 22 known to have been killed, the State Department said at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides. A “handful” of U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.
Signs of U.S. support for Israel were seen across the administration, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveling there for meetings, Biden denouncing antisemitism in America and the U.S. military moving a second aircraft carrier toward the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to prevent the war from spilling over into a more dangerous regional conflict.
Kirby said the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its ships would be an “available asset” if necessary. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, and its strike group have already arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The attack has raised questions about the role of Iran, the main sponsor of Hamas, and whether it was directly involved in the operation. But the U.S. has collected information that suggests senior Iranian government officials were caught off guard by the multipronged assault, according to a U.S. official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. That piece of intelligence has informed White House officials publicly asserting that it has not yet seen evidence of direct involvement by Iranians in the planning or execution of the Hamas attack.
“We haven’t seen anything that tells they have specifically cut checks to support this set of attacks, or that they were involved in the training. And obviously, this required quite a bit of training by these terrorists," Kirby said, though he added that the U.S. will continue to look at the intelligence “and see if that leads us to different conclusion.”
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined with a top political rival to create a war-time Cabinet, establishing a degree of unity as the government there faces public pressure to topple Hamas. Israel continued destructive airstrikes in Gaza, where a potential ground offensive would likely result in a large number of casualties on both sides of the conflict.
With many airlines suspending commercial flights in and out of Israel because of the ongoing rocket and missile exchanges, Kirby said the United States was exploring “a range of other options” to assist Americans who want to leave, appearing to leave open the possibility of a U.S.-assisted evacuation.
Kirby said the administration was still in talks with Israel and Egypt to try to arrange safe passage for Gaza’s civilians. “These people are victims, too,” he said. “They didn’t ask Hamas to do this.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, Biden sought to connect the Hamas attacks directly to decades of antisemitism and violence endured by Jews around the world.
“This attack has brought to the surface the painful memories and scars left by a millennium of antisemitism and genocide against the Jewish people," Biden said. "We have to be crystal clear: There is no justification for terrorism, no excuse and the type of terrorism that was exhibited here is just beyond the pale, beyond the pale.”
Biden said he and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone on Wednesday with Netanyahu. It was at least the fourth call between Biden and Netanyahu since Saturday’s attack.
“The United States has Israel’s back and we’re going to be working on this through the day and beyond," Biden said.
Later in the day, while addressing Jewish leaders at the White House, Biden said he had tasked homeland security and law enforcement leaders “to work intensively with our Jewish community partners.”
“We’re also going to condemn and combat antisemitism at every single turn, every turn,” Biden said. “The past few days have been a solemn reminder that hate never goes away.” It can go underground, he said, but it doesn't go away.
Author: MATTHEW LEE and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press
,1,A Marine Corps pilot safely ejected from a fighter jet over North Charleston on Sunday afternoon and the search for his missing aircraft was focused on two lakes north of North Charleston, military officials said.
The pilot ejected and parachuted safely into a North Charleston neighborhood at about 2 p.m. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was in stable condition, said Maj. Melanie Salinas. The pilot's name has not been released.
Based on the missing plane's location and trajectory, the search for the F-35 Lightning II jet was focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, said Senior Master Sgt. Heather Stanton at Joint Base Charleston. Both lakes are north of North Charleston.
A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter joined the search for the F-35 after some bad weather cleared in the area, Stanton said. Military officials appealed in online posts Sunday for any help from the public in locating the aircraft.
Officials are still investigating why the pilot ejected, authorities said.
The pilot of a second F-35 returned safely to Joint Base Charleston, Salinas said.
The planes and pilots were with the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 based in Beaufort, not far from South Carolina's Atlantic coast.
An unrelated crash involving a fighter jet killed a pilot near the Navy's San Diego base in August.
The pilot in that crash was the only person aboard the jet, identified as part of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224. The squadron is based at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina.
It's unclear what caused the August crash.
