Efforts to evacuate Gaza’s largest hospitals appear to be failing. The House is expected to consider a short-term government funding bill. And a Mississippi mother who didn’t know her son was dead for months experiences another indignity.
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Evacuation efforts at Gaza’s largest hospitals are failing, doctors say
Doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza said they were not aware of anyone evacuating the facility over the weekend. And at the Al-Quds Hospital, an evacuation convoy was forced to turn back amid “relentless bombardment,” the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.
Despite attempts from health workers to evacuate some of Gaza’s biggest hospitals and promises from Israeli forces to allow those who are wounded and sick to go south, efforts appear to be failing.
“It is not safe to move out. It is not safe to stay. We don’t know what to do,” said Dr. Nidal Abu Hadrus, a neurosurgeon at Al-Shifa. Al-Shifa is Gaza’s largest hospital and has been “out of service” since Saturday morning, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
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Meanwhile, the director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that all of its aid operations in Gaza will soon “grind to a halt” because of the lack of fuel there.
More on the Israel-Hamas war:
- More on the Israel-Hamas war: Follow our live blog for the latest updates.
- A “March for Israel” is expected to draw tens of thousands of demonstrators to Washington, D.C., in a forceful show of support for Israel and to condemn antisemitism.
- Recent comments from right-wing ministers in Israel’s government, including ideas of dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza, are adding fuel to Palestinian fears.
- The turmoil of the war is stoking tensions in Europe.
House Dems warm up to Johnson’s idea to avert shutdown
House Democrats have reversed course on a two-step funding bill, saying they will consider supporting Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to keep the government open ahead of a potential shutdown at the end of the week. The House is expected to take up the stopgap funding bill today.
Last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted Johnson’s “laddered” continuing concept as an “extreme, right-wing policy joyride.” But in a letter to colleagues yesterday, Jeffries said top Democratic leaders are “carefully evaluating” the proposal. With some conservatives already rebelling against the stopgap bill, Johnson will need help from Democrats to get it through the chamber.
The CR would extend funding for part of the government, while other fights will be punted until after Thanksgiving. Here’s what the plan entails.
Report expected to show slowing inflation
Experts are optimistic that a U.S. government report on consumer prices will show that inflation is continuing to slow down. The report, which will be released this morning, is expected to show that prices in the month of October rose 0.1% compared to September, and 3.3% compared to October 2022, economists said. Last month’s report showed overall prices rose 0.2% in September from August and 3.7% over the previous 12 months.
The report will be a major factor in the Federal Reserve’s next decision on interest rates. That meeting is slated to happen in December.
Dexter Wade’s family suffers a final indignity as he’s exhumed without them
Bettersten Wade spent several months this year not knowing what happened to her son, 37-year-old Dexter Wade, after he went missing in March. Eventually, she’d learn that he was struck and killed by a police cruiser in Hinds County, Mississippi, the night he went missing, and he was buried in a pauper’s field after his body went unclaimed. When Wade learned her son’s fate, she paid $250 to obtain the rights to his body and began working on getting him a proper funeral.
Yesterday, Wade arrived at the county penal farm expecting to see her son’s remains exhumed. But county officials said a public works crew had turned up earlier in the morning and removed the remains before anyone else arrived. She had been cut out of the process again.
A consolidation of non-Trump options for 2024
Sen. Tim Scott’s decision over the weekend to drop his presidential bid bewildered many of his campaign workers and there is a growing sense of doom with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s circle of donors, one contributor said. Christie and some of his fellow candidates are struggling in polls.
As Republican candidates drop out and fade away, GOP strategists and operatives now say the presidential primary campaign is coming down to a fight between former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Yet consolidation of the field isn’t a slam-dunk positive for the remaining rivals of frontrunner Donald Trump.
Today’s Talker: A massive fire that shut down an L.A. freeway was...
… preliminarily found to be arson, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference yesterday. Investigators believe there was “malicious and willful intent” when a fire erupted early Saturday at a storage facility near downtown, California State Fire Marshall Daniel Berlant said. The damage from the fire forced the indefinite closure of a stretch of Interstate 10, a major artery in the region. The company that held the lease at the storage facility is under mounting scrutiny.
Politics in Brief
Supreme Court: All nine justices signed a new code of conduct following allegations of ethics lapses that includes guidance on when justices should recuse themselves and what kind of outside activities they can engage in.
Trump civil fraud trial: Donald Trump Jr. returned to the witness stand yesterday as lawyers of former President Trump began presenting their case. The former president’s son said the Trump Org. is “run like a mom-and-pop” and called cross examination “boring.”
Biden-Xi meeting: How every aspect of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to California and his sit-down with President Joe Biden tomorrow has been highly choreographed, down to what he sees outside during a motorcade ride.
Israel-Hamas war: The Biden administration is rolling out new tools to address the rise of antisemitism and Islampphobia on college campuses nationwide. Meanwhile, Jewish Americans have praised Biden’s handling of the war, particularly among groups that did not previously support him.
Staff Pick: 36-hour shifts, 80-hour weeks
Imagine being told you need to work a 12-hour shift after you just completed a 24-hour shift, or working for 13 days straight without a day off. For some people, that’s a reality. From firehouses and police stations to hospitals and manufacturing plants, workers say they are being burned out by overtime to compensate for staffing shortages, and many feel like the trade-off is no longer worth it. — Elizabeth Robinson, newsletter editor
In Case You Missed It
- Some online sleuths can’t stop obsessing over the University of Idaho killings, even as a suspect is set to stand trial.
- Paul Pelosi recalled being bludgeoned by a hammer-wielding assailant in a trial for the man accused in the politically motivated attack.
- A Las Vegas teen died after being attacked by 15 people while defending a friend, his father said.
- A former Fox News reporter sued the network, claiming he was fired for challenging the network’s on-air lies about the 2020 election.
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