Israel-Hamas war: Israel’s military this morning was expanding operations in the southern part of Gaza as U.N. officials warned that civilians have no safe place left to go after having been driven from the northern part of the country into the south. Israeli troops have encircled a refugee camp in the northern part of Gaza, saying they believe Hamas militants are in the camp. Hamas has taken credit for rocket attacks overnight aimed at Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv, in which three Israeli civilians were reported to have been injured.
Putin’s travels: The Kremlin announced this morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates tomorrow for talks about oil prices and the Israel-Hamas war. This will be Putin’s first visit to the Middle East since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year. On Thursday, the president of Iran is due to visit with Putin in Moscow.
Cheney’s warning: The Washington Post reports this morning that former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney is considering a third-party presidential campaign in order to draw Republican votes away from Donald Trump. Cheney, who represented Wyoming, lost her seat in Congress when the far right went after her for her role in helping lead the Congressional investigation into Trump’s attempted coup. In a new book, Cheney warns that if Trump is returned to the White House he will end the American republic as we know it and become a dictator who will remain in office for life. She calls on people across the political spectrum to unite in a massive effort to keep Trump out of the White House. Cheney says that Trump has been lining up people to work in a new administration who will commit crimes to benefit him and have been promised presidential pardons in exchange.
The Atlantic’s take on Trump: The Atlantic magazine has published a special issue devoted to exploring what would happen if Donald Trump is returned to the White House. The Atlantic says that the 2024 election is not about Democrats versus Republicans but instead is about authoritarians versus pro-Democracy Americans. The Atlantic says that another Trump presidency would result in Trump making news reporting a criminal offense and the alarm needs to be sounded now. The magazine describes Trump as a menace to the U.S. Constitution.
House explosion: The FBI has joined with local police in Arlington, Virginia, to investigate an explosion that destroyed a home while officers were executing a search warrant. Police went to the home after receiving reports of shots being fired and the occupant of the home shooting a flare gun from the home 30 or 40 times. When police arrived on the scene to serve the search warrant the man inside of the house started shooting at them. Shortly after that, the house exploded and a massive fire followed. It was unclear whether the man inside the house died in the explosion and fire.
Global warming: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported this morning that the decade from 2011 to 2020 was the hottest ever recorded. The WMO’s report was released at the climate change conference in Dubai. The WMO said that it expects 2023 to be the hottest year in recorded history. The secretary general of the WMO said that humans need to make cutting greenhouse gas emissions their top priority to prevent climate change from spiraling out of control.
