Aid will enter the Gaza Strip after Biden strikes a deal. Some Republicans are upset with tactics Rep. Jim Jordan’s allies are using to get speaker votes. And women who believe their cancer and fertility loss was caused by chemical hair straighteners share their anger.
Here’s what to know today.
Biden announces Gaza aid deal after trip overshadowed by hospital blast
President Joe Biden returned to the U.S. overnight after a trip to Israel where he offered steadfast support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and announced a deal with Egypt to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Biden’s visit was overshadowed by a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday that fueled protests across the Middle East and hampered diplomatic efforts.
The U.S. independently assessed that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfired and hit al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, two senior U.S. officials and a congressional staffer told NBC News. Israel has insisted it did not bomb the hospital. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 471 people were killed in what it called a “targeted” Israeli bombing of the hospital in central Gaza.
While on his way back to the U.S., Biden told reporters he spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and they agreed that Egypt will allow up to 20 trucks with humanitarian aid to go into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, which has been closed since the fighting between Hamas and Israel started. The United Nations is going to be on the other side, distributing the newly-delivered aid to prevent Hamas from confiscating it, Biden added.
The current war is at a “very real, and extremely dangerous” risk of expanding beyond Israel and Gaza, warned Tor Wennesland, the United Nations’ Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. “I fear we are the brink of a deep and dangerous abyss that could change the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — if not the Middle East as a whole,” he said. “After more than a century of conflict, and over half a century of occupation, we, the international community, have failed.”
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More on the Israel-Hamas war
Aggressive campaign by Jim Jordan allies irks GOP holdouts
Rep. Jim Jordan failed in his second House vote for speaker, garnering less support than he did previously. Compared to the first ballot, Jordan lost four votes, flipped two in his favor and added one who was initially absent. Jordan said that a third vote could happen at noon today, but that plan isn’t set in stone.
Jordan’s efforts to round up 217 representatives are being made more difficult by his supporters’ aggressive campaign. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa said she has received “credible death threats” after she didn’t vote for Jordan on Wednesday; she had voted for him on Tuesday. And Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska shared aggressive text messageshis wife had received. The bloc of roughly 20 anti-Jordan Republicans say they won’t cave to the hardball tactics.
American journalist detained and charged in Russia
Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual Russian-American citizen and reporter with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was detained in the Russian city of Kazan. Her employer said Kurmasheva has been charged with failure to register as a foreign agent, which carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.
Kurmasheva’s arrest comes after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on espionage charges in March. He faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Pfizer eyes a nearly $1,400 Paxlovid price tag
Paxlovid will cost nearly $1,390 for a five-day course when the Covid drug moves to the commercial market later this year, a company spokesperson confirmed to CNBC. That list price is more than double the $529 the federal government paid for the drug starting in 2021, but Pfizer noted that it’s working to secure lower copayments for patients. Doctors, health experts and patient advocates fear a higher price will curb access to the treatment, which has been shown to reduce the risk of severe disease and death from Covid among vulnerable patients.
Nebraska reporter responds to governor’s ‘Communist China’ comment
When reporter Yanqi Xu heard that Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen commented on her article about his family’s company, she initially thought, “Oh, wow, he’s finally responding,” she told NBC News. But Pillen’s remarks instead left her “pretty shocked.” In late September, Pillen said in a radio interview that he didn’t read Xu’s article about nitrate levels found on his hog farm because she was “from Communist China.”
Xu, an immigrant from China and reporter for the Flatwater Free Press, is now speaking out, as others rally to support her.
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Politics in Brief
Menendez indictment: Four defendants in the bribery case against Sen. Bob Menendez, including his wife, pleaded not guilty to a revised indictment.
Donald Trump: How would a Trump presidency look if he were behind bars? “It’s plausible this could happen,” a political expert said. And the former president’s supporters said they’d still back him. Meanwhile, a woman was taken into custody after trying to approach Trump yesterday during his civil fraud trial.
Staff Pick: Chemical hair straighteners and loss of fertility
Beauty products that chemically straighten hair have recently been associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer, which is typically treated by a hysterectomy. In fact, one attorney representing thousands of women said more than 90% of them have had hysterectomies.
For this story, Janelle Griffith spoke to women who lost the ability to have children after using those products. Their stories are heartbreaking, and Janelle takes great care in explaining how the women believe that a beauty routine they once considered benign upended their lives and shattered their dreams. — Jaquetta White, news editor
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If you’ve used a loofah to clean or scrub your body while in the shower, it might be time to trade it in for a new alternative. Dermatologists suggest you avoid using them because they can harbor loads of bacteria and can be tough on your skin. Here are the alternatives they suggest.
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