U.S. and world news for Oct. 12

Israel-Hamas war: At least 25 Americans are confirmed to have been killed as of this morning in the Hamas attack on Israel, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and pledged more aid, ammunition and anti-rocket missiles for Israel’s Iron Dome missile interception system. The known death toll on both sides in the war has passed 2,500 and the number of known injured has reached almost 10,000. Israel continues pounding Gaza with airstrikes as its ground forces of an estimated 360,000 soldiers are poised for an invasion.

Trump praises terrorists: Donald Trump at a rally in Florida praised the Middle-East terror group Hezbollah as being very smart. Trump’s praise of Hezbollah came shortly after the terror group fired missiles into Israel in support of Hamas, which had attacked Israel  last Saturday. Trump also said that Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is a “jerk.” Trump also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who had praised President Biden for Biden’s support of Israel.

Actors’ strike: SAG-AFRTA said that contract talks with Hollywood producers have broken down. The union said that representatives of the producers walked out of contract talks, claiming that what is being asked by the union would be too expensive. The producers said it is the union that forced a breakdown in the talks by continuing to increase its demands. The producers said that the gap between the union and the producers has become too great for the talks to continue and criticized the actors for rejecting terms that were accepted by the Writers Guild and the Directors Guild.

Inflation: The Bureau of Labor Statics reported this morning that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in September after increasing 0.6% in August. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.7%. The cost of shelter was the largest contributor to the September inflation. Also contributing to the increase was the price of gasoline.

Rep. George Santos: New York Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito said he would introduce a resolution to expel fellow New York Rep. George Santos from Congress. D’Esposito said New York House Republicans Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy and Brandon Williams would be among the cosponsors. A new indictment was returned against Santos alleging he stole credit cards from campaign contributors, then charged campaign contributions on those cards and transferred campaign contributions to his own pocket. Santos said he is not guilty and will not resign.

House Speaker: By a vote of 113 to 99, House Republicans voted to nominate Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana as Speaker of the House. Scalise beat Congressman Jim Jordan. A vote by the full House was delayed because a count indicated Scalise did not yet have enough votes to win when the nomination is brought to the House floor. The House cannot conduct normal business until a speaker in in place.