In the news today: Fights in bread lines and despair in shelters as war threatens to unravel Gaza's close-knit society; Joe Manchin’s decision not to seek reelection sparks new speculation about a presidential bid; and the Census Bureau sees an older, more diverse America in 2100. Also, the Festival of Lights, Diwali, begins today. | Palestinians crowded together as they wait for food in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File) |
Fights in bread lines, despair in shelters: War threatens to unravel Gaza’s close-knit society |
With the Israel-Hamas war in its second month and more than 10,000 people killed in Gaza, trapped civilians are struggling to survive without electricity or running water. Palestinians who managed to flee Israel’s ground invasion in northern Gaza now encounter scarcity of food and medicine in the south, and there is no end in sight to the war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Read more.
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Over half a million displaced people have crammed into hospitals and U.N. schools-turned-shelters in the south. The schools — overcrowded, strewn with trash, swarmed by flies — have become a breeding ground for infectious diseases. Several hundred trucks of aid have entered Gaza through the southern Rafah crossing, but aid organizations say that’s a drop in the ocean of need. For most people, each day has become a drudging cycle of searching for bread and water and waiting in lines. What aid workers call “food insecurity” is the new baseline for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, said Alia Zaki, spokesperson for the U.N.'s World Food Program.
The sense of desperation has strained Gaza’s close-knit society, which has endured four previous wars with Israel and a 16-year blockade since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces. Some Palestinians have even vented their anger against Hamas, shouting insults at officials or beating up police in scenes unimaginable just a month ago, witnesses say.
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Each day, families send their most assertive relative off before dawn to one of the few bakeries still functioning. Some take knives and sticks — they say they must prepare to defend themselves if attacked, with riots sporadically breaking out in bread and water lines. The violence has jarred the tiny territory, where family names are linked to community status and even small indiscretions can be magnified in the public eye.
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Manchin decision hurts Democrats’ Senate hopes and sparks new speculation about a presidential bid |
Joe Manchin’s decision not to seek reelection virtually ensures that the Democratic Party will lose his Senate seat next year in deep-red West Virginia, making the party’s steep path to retaining its razor-thin Senate majority even more difficult. Read more. |
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Some Democratic officials are concerned that Manchin’s announcement frees him to pursue a third-party presidential bid that could ultimately undermine President Joe Biden’s bid for reelection. The 76-year-old Manchin has raised the possibility of a presidential bid in the past, and he made direct reference to national ambitions in the retirement video he posted on social media Thursday.
Manchin’s sudden announcement injects a new layer of uncertainty for Democratic leaders already anxious about the party’s prospects in 2024 as Biden seeks a second term despite persistent concerns about his age and economic leadership from voters in both major parties.
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Even before Manchin said he was stepping down, 2024 was shaping up to be a tough election cycle for Senate Democrats. The party will be forced to defend 23 seats, including three held by independents and three held by Democrats in states won by Trump in 2020 — compared to just 10 seats for Republicans.
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The Census Bureau sees an older, more diverse America in 2100 in three immigration scenarios |
The population projections offer a glimpse of what the United States might look like at the turn of the next century. Without substantial immigration, older adults will outnumber children, and white, non-Hispanic residents will account for less than 50%. However, a forecast decades into the future can’t predict the unexpected like a global pandemic. Read more.
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The three different projections through 2100 are based on high, medium and low immigration. Currently, the U.S. has 333 million residents. If immigration is low, the population shrinks to 319 million people. It grows to 365 million people under the medium immigration scenario and to 435 million residents with high immigration.
The projections can help prepare for change, from anticipating the demands of senior health care to providing insight into the number of schools that need building, said Paul Ong, a public affairs professor at UCLA.
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Experts say that predicting immigration trends is more difficult than in the past, when migration was tightly linked to the pull of economic opportunity. It is harder to predict when factors like climate change, social tensions and fluctuating anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. are involved, said Manuel Pastor, a professor of sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
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On Nov. 10, 1969: The children’s educational program “Sesame Street” made its debut on National Educational Television (later PBS). In the image above, Joe Namath, quarterback for the New York Jets, chats with Big Bird, Sept. 25, 1972. (AP Photo/Harry Harris)
A look at what else happened in history on November 10 |
The Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge in Kihei, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP) |
A wildlife refuge pond in Hawaii mysteriously turns bright pink
Curious visitors have flocked to the park after photos of the pink pond appeared on social media. No one at the refuge has seen the pond this color before — not even volunteers who have been around it for 70 years.
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WATCH: Man receives the world’s first eye transplant
An Arkansas man has received the world’s first transplant of a human eye after a high-voltage electrical accident. Surgeons at NYU Langone Health have said his new eye appears healthy. |
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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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