Thursday, April 3
After weeks in besieged Gaza, some foreign nationals and wounded Palestinians are allowed to leave

After weeks in besieged Gaza, some foreign nationals and wounded Palestinians are allowed to leave

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli ground troops have advanced to “the gates of Gaza City” in heavy fighting with militants, the military said Wednesday, as hundreds of foreign nationals and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza after more than three weeks under siege. The news came as U.S. President Joe Biden called for a humanitarian “pause” in the fighting. Biden was speaking at a Minneapolis campaign fundraiser when a protester interrupted him, calling for a cease-fire. “I think we need a pause,” Biden responded. White House officials later said a break in fighting would allow more aid to get into Gaza and create a possibility for more hostages held by Hamas to be freed. The first people to leave Gaza — other than four hostages released by Hamas and...
The average long-term US mortgage rate rises for 7th straight week, 30-year loan reaches 7.79%

The average long-term US mortgage rate rises for 7th straight week, 30-year loan reaches 7.79%

NEW YORK (AP) — The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose for the seventh straight week, creating an increasingly high bar to home ownership for Americans. The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage is at 7.79%, up from 7.63% last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago the rate was 7.08%. As mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in far low rates two years ago, when they were around 3%, from selling. The national median mortgage payment was $2,155 in September, up 11%, or $214, from a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ...
Many Israelis are furious at their government’s chaotic recovery efforts after Hamas attack

Many Israelis are furious at their government’s chaotic recovery efforts after Hamas attack

JERUSALEM (AP) — More than two weeks after Hamas militants rampaged through a string of sleepy farming towns, many Israelis are furious at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, not just for failing to prevent the attack, but for failing to come to their aid afterward. While the military is launching unrelenting airstrikes in Gaza that have killed thousands of Palestinians, and hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops are massing for a possible ground offensive, government infighting and lack of help for those in need have left traumatized survivors to mourn on their own and volunteers — many of whom spent the past year protesting the government — to take on recovery efforts. “It has to be clear. The government is completely incompetent,” said Ruvi Dar, a clinical psychologis...
Texas counties trying to prevent people from using roads to get an abortion grows

Texas counties trying to prevent people from using roads to get an abortion grows

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A Texas county near New Mexico — where abortion is legal — has banned helping people traveling to get an abortion in one of the newest ways conservatives are trying to restrict abortion access since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Lubbock County is the largest of four Texas counties that have now adopted a version of the measure, which would be enforced through lawsuits filed by private citizens against people who help women obtain abortions. It is the same legal mechanism Texas used to enact a strict abortion law in 2021 before the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state last year to ban nearly all abortions entirely. Commissioners in the west Texas county adopted the measure 3-0 at a meeting Monday, rejecting some requests to postpone the vote. The ordinance “has man...

The US is sharing hard lessons from urban combat in Iraq and Syria as Israel prepares to invade Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — The prospect of Israeli forces launching an assault into Gaza’s dense urban neighborhoods, where militants use civilians as human shields, brings back searing memories of the deadly battles the U.S.-led coalition fought against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. For U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his military leaders, that intense combat and the thousands of civilians killed in airstrikes and neighborhood gunfights in Mosul and Raqqa are lessons to be shared as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion against Hamas. “In our conversations with the Israelis, and as we’ve made very clear, we’re continuing to highlight, the importance of mitigating civilian casualties and ensuring that ... things like safety corridors are thought through,” Brig. G...
GOP’s Jim Jordan fails again on vote for House speaker as frustrated Republicans search for options

GOP’s Jim Jordan fails again on vote for House speaker as frustrated Republicans search for options

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Jim Jordan failed again Wednesday on a crucial second ballot to become House speaker, but the hard-fighting ally of Donald Trump showed no signs of dropping out despite losing support from even more of his GOP colleagues. Next steps were highly uncertain as angry, frustrated Republicans looked at other options. A bipartisan group of lawmakers floated an extraordinary plan — to give the interim speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., more power to reopen the immobilized House and temporarily conduct routine business. But that seems doubtful, for now. What was clear was that Jordan’s path to become House speaker was almost certainly lost. He was opposed by 22 Republicans, two more than he lost in first-round voting the day before. Many view ...
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