Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 War In Israel: Biden Cancels Summit With Jordan, Protesters Attack U.S. Embassy In Lebanon
As President Joe Biden was boarding Air Force One to travel to the Middle East yesterday, news came in that an airstrike on the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the middle of Gaza had killed or injured at least 500 people. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the attack, with Israel saying it was a missile attack aimed at Israel that misfired, hitting the hospital instead. After the attack, the summit that Biden was scheduled to attend in Jordan with Middle Eastern leaders from Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan was canceled by the countries. After the hospital attack, protesters began to gather outside the U.S. and French embassies in Lebanon, while large crowds gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Police in Istanbul used a water cannon and pepper spray to disperse protesters at the Israeli Consulate. The World Health Organization has condemned the attack, and the United Nations Security Council is expected to meet over the hospital strike this afternoon at the request of Russia and the UAE.
2 House Will Try To Elect Jim Jordan To Speaker Position Again Today
Rep. Jim Jordan fell 17 votes short of being elected speaker of the House on the first ballot yesterday. The final total of representatives’ votes was 212 for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, 200 for Jordan, seven for Rep. Steve Scalise, six for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and seven votes for several other candidates. While it was originally thought that a second vote would be held last night, it was decided to postpone the second ballot until 10 a.m. today. That gives Jordan time to talk to the 20 Republicans who didn’t vote for him and try to change their minds. It's a steep hill for Jordan to climb, as he can only afford to have four Republicans not vote for him and still win, which means he’ll have to convince 16 representatives to change their votes today. When asked by reporters how long he’s willing to continue holding votes, Jordan said, “Until we have a speaker.”
3 Elon Musk Implementing A Yearly $1 Fee To Post On X
X, which many still call Twitter despite a rebranding earlier this year, is starting to roll out a new fee in some markets. Anyone that creates a new X account will have to pay $1 per year to tweet, reply, quote, repost, like, and bookmark posts. Those who sign up for a premium account won’t have to pay the extra dollar, and those who do neither will still be able to read posts, watch videos, and follow other accounts. The new “Not a Bot” plan went into effect in New Zealand and the Philippines yesterday, according to a post on the X Help Center website. The Help Center page says the new fee will help the company “evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X.” Existing users won’t be affected by this change as it rolls out. While many were critical of the announcement, saying they’ll be leaving X, others were more accepting. One user posted, “Even I’ll pay that.”