In the news today: A look at the key takeaways from the third Republican presidential debate; the Hollywood strikes are now over; and what would Israel taking “overall security responsibility” for Gaza really look like? Also, the oldest black hole discovered has been given an age: 13.2 billion years. |
Presidential candidates participate in a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) | GOP candidates hit Trump and back Israel. Here are highlights from the Republican debate |
Five Republican presidential candidates gathered Wednesday for the party’s latest debate. Trump, the overwhelming front-runner in the race, skipped the event, as he did the first two, citing his polling advantage. There was no shortage of noteworthy confrontations on stage, as participants debated the Israel-Hamas war, the future of abortion rights and the former president himself. Read more.
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Wednesday marked the first time the presidential candidates gathered on a debate stage since war broke out between Israel and Hamas, resulting in a sharper foreign policy conversation. The contenders were unified in offering robust support for Israel and bemoaned antisemitism, especially on liberal college campuses, but they said virtually nothing about protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
There were five candidates on the debate stage, but the vendetta between two of them stood out — former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. The two children of Indian immigrants have collided during previous debates, but the tension intensified with Ramaswamy taking several digs at Haley.
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Republicans have had no answers on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In election after election, including several this week, Democrats have used the issue to their advantage. On Wednesday night, Haley, the only woman on stage, took a decidedly softer and more personal approach than what the men on stage offered.
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Hollywood’s strikes are both now over as actors reach deal with studios, return to work with writers |
On Thursday at 12:01 a.m., for the first time in more than six months, neither Hollywood’s actors nor its writers will be on strike. The long-awaited clearing in the industry’s stormiest season in decades comes as a deal was reached late Wednesday to end what was, at nearly four months, the longest strike ever for film and television actors. Read more.
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The union valued the deal at over a billion dollars. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s executive director and chief negotiator, said the deal includes boosts to minimum payments to actors, a greater share of streaming revenue going to performers, a bolstering of benefit plans, and protections against the unfettered use of artificial intelligence in recreating performances. Details of the terms will not be released until after a meeting on Friday where board members will review the contract.
Although the writers’ strike had immediate, visible effects for viewers, including the monthslong suspension of late-night talk shows and “Saturday Night Live,” the impact of the actors’ absence was not as immediately apparent. But its ripple effects — delayed release dates and waits for new show seasons — could be felt for months or even years.
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Israel says it will maintain ‘overall security responsibility’ for Gaza. What might that look like? |
This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not elaborate when he said that Israel would maintain indefinite “overall security responsibility” in Gaza once it removes Hamas from power. It is likely that any Israeli security role will be seen by the Palestinians and much of the international community as a form of military occupation, potentially complicating any plans to hand governing responsibility to the Palestinian Authority or Arab states, and risk bogging Israel down in a war of attrition. Read more.
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Israel has sent mixed messages about evolving plans for Gaza. Leaders say they don’t want to reoccupy Gaza, but they also say troops need freedom to operate inside the territory long after heavy fighting subsides. Even if Israel succeeds in ending Hamas’ 16-year rule in Gaza and dismantling much of its militant infrastructure, the presence of Israeli forces is likely to fuel an insurgency, as it did from 1967 to 2005. That period saw two Palestinian uprisings and the rise of Hamas.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority is in charge of roughly 40% of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is deeply unpopular. This is in large part because his forces cooperate with Israel on security even as Palestinian hopes for statehood have all but disappeared, leading many Palestinians to view the Palestinian Authority as the subcontractor of a never-ending occupation.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested the Palestinian Authority could return to Gaza after the war but that could further unravel Abbas’ legitimacy among his own people, unless it were linked to concrete steps toward Palestinian statehood. Arab leaders, even those closely tied to Israel, will likely face similar backlash if they step in to help it control Gaza.
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On Nov. 9, 1938: Nazis looted and burned synagogues as well as Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria in a pogrom or deliberate persecution that became known as “Kristallnacht” — the “Night of Broken Glass.” On its 85th anniversary, a holocaust survivor recalls the Kristallnacht horrors in an interactive, virtual reality project to be released in 2024. (AP Photo)
A look at what else happened in history on November 9 |
This annotated image provided by NASA shows a composite view of data indicating a growing black hole. (NASA via AP) |
Oldest black hole discovered dates back 470 million years after the Big Bang
The findings confirm what until now were theories that supermassive black holes existed at the dawn of the universe. Given the universe is 13.7 billion years old, that puts the age of this black hole at 13.2 billion years. |
WATCH: National Zoo's three celebrity giant pandas head home to China
The day that panda lovers have been dreading has finally come. The National Zoo’s three giant pandas and their cub on Wednesday began their long trip to China, leaving behind an empty panda exhibit. |
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah
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