Palestinians welcome third set of prisoners in Gaza truce deal | Israel-Palestine conflict | Al Jazeera
Palestinian families gathered to celebrate the third batch of 39 Palestinian prisoners freed.
‘Military camp’: Palestinian town of Huwara under 55-day Israeli closure | Features | Al Jazeera
Once-vibrant Huwara has become a ghost town since October 5, the start of the Israeli assault on Gaza made it worse.
Russia-Ukraine war live news: Kyiv vows it ‘won’t back down’ | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera
Goal of securing 1991 internationally recognised borders remains unchanged and ‘nothing will stop us’, FM says.
Egypt’s Sinai Bedouins fear Israel’s mass displacement of Gaza Palestinians | Israel-Palestine conflict | Al Jazeera
Bedouin tribes in Sinai have long taken a hit from geopolitical conflicts. Now, concerns are rising again.
Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli army kills two children in Jenin raid | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera
Negotiations have now entered a ‘pragmatic’ phase involving various mediators and stakeholders, according to analysts.
India vs Australia — Third T20 cricket match | Cricket News | Al Jazeera
All the updates as Maxwell hits a 47-ball-100 in Australia’s five-wicket win in the third T20 against India at Guwahati.
CIA reminds staff about social media posts after CIA officer shares pro-Palestinian image
An internal reminder went out to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) staff Wednesday about social media posts that could be construed as political, Fox News has confirmed. This internal reminder came after reports surfaced that a senior CIA officer had posted a pro-Palestinian image on social media two weeks after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. In a statement to Fox News, the CIA said its officers are committed to “analytic objectivity.” “CIA officers may have personal views, but this does not lessen their — or CIA’s — commitment to unbiased analysis,” the agency said. The CIA has not denied the authenticity of the pro-Palestinian image first reported by the Financial Times. A separate source familiar with the posts says that there were also posts by the same CIA officer who put up the pro-Palestinian image taking a stand against antisemitism. This is a developing story and will be updated.
US suffers record number of suicides in 2022, data shows
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The U.S. recorded a record high number of suicides in 2022, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Nearly 50,000 Americans chose to take their own lives last year, with the vast majority of those being men. The NCHS warned that the current numbers are provisional, and the true statistics are likely to rise. By gender, men saw 23.1 suicides per 100,000 population, while women saw 5.9 suicides per 100,000. The average rate for all Americans was 14.3 per 100,000, the highest recorded since 1941. SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM AT NEBRASKA CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL EMPHASIZES ENCOURAGING, ‘LIFE-SAVING’ NOTES The new data arrives just days after a Department of Veterans Affairs report found a spike in suicides among the nation’s service members. Veteran suicides saw a spike of 11.6% between 2020 and 2021, totaling 6,392 suicides in 2021 alone, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs’ suicide report released this month. SUICIDE RATES REACH ALL-TIME HIGH IN US, PER CDC DATA “It’s a disturbing trend that after going down for two years, we saw spike,” Cole Lyle, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and executive director of Mission Roll Call, told Fox News Digital on Monday. “After COVID and the Afghanistan withdrawal … it’s probably not surprising that we saw an increase in veteran suicide.” “Anecdotally, we saw a lot of evidence that both of those events were negatively impacting the mental health in the veterans community and suicide rates,” he added. “I mean, personally, I had to talk a few friends down off the ledge during the Afghanistan withdrawal crisis, so I don’t think anybody necessarily is surprised by this increase. But, it is tragic and there are seemingly simple things that we could do to at least try to reverse this trend.” YOUNG WOMAN IS TALKED OUT OF SUICIDE BY A PASSERBY, AN OFF-DUTY PARAMEDIC: ‘ARE YOU OK?’ A shocking survey in October found that 36% of young adults ages 18-34 stated that they had contemplated suicide at some point over the past year. Despite that, less than a third (32%) strongly agreed that they can recognize the warning signs of someone potentially at risk, while just four in 10 people (43%) are strongly aware of resources that offer support and information on suicide prevention, the poll by CVS Health in Rhode Island found. Fox News’ Kendall Tietz and Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.
House Republicans roll out ‘one-stop shop’ Biden impeachment inquiry website
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are launching a “one-stop shop” website for all things related to the impeachment inquiry against President Biden on Wednesday so that the American people can “see the clear corruption that Joe Biden and his family have committed,” Fox News Digital has learned. The website, GOP.gov/Bidenimpeachmentinquiry, will highlight the work of the committees leading the effort — the House committees on Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways & Means — and will include summaries of their findings to date, along with supporting “key evidence.” A GOP aide told Fox News Digital that the website will be a “one-stop shop” for Americans. “House Republicans investigations have uncovered what I believe will be the greatest political corruption scandal of my lifetime. House Republicans will continue to follow the facts and uncover evidence of vast corruption committed by Joe Biden and his family,” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. “Here are the facts: Joe Biden directly financially benefited from his family’s corrupt influence peddling scheme, the Biden family repeatedly attempted to sell access to Joe Biden to the highest bidder, including our foreign adversaries, Joe Biden has repeatedly lied to the American people about his involvement and knowledge of his family’s corrupt influence peddling scheme.” “Today, House Republicans are unveiling a website for the American people to provide them with transparency and allow them to see the clear corruption that Joe Biden and his family have committed,” she said. HOUSE OVERSIGHT SUBPOENAS HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN, ROB WALKER FOR TESTIMONY AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY The website includes the House Oversight Committee’s interactive timeline of the Biden family’s alleged “influence peddling,” dating back to President Biden’s time as vice president during the Obama administration. That timeline includes a breakdown of business dealings with China-linked companies, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. That timeline also has a feature dedicated to the federal criminal investigation into Hunter Biden. The website also includes a “photos” section, which features images of checks written to Joe Biden, photos of the president with his son’s business associates like Devon Archer and more. House Republicans also invite visitors of the website to sign up with their email addresses to “get the latest impeachment inquiry updates.” House Republicans also use the website to break down the impeachment inquiry “by the numbers.” That section says that lawmakers have found at least $240,000 in direct payments to Biden and have issued 20 subpoenas. The committee, last month, subpoenaed Hunter Biden, the president’s brother, James Biden, and requested transcribed interviews from a number of other Biden family members. “House Republicans are committed to delivering the transparency and accountability that the American people demand and deserve. Our investigation has unearthed evidence revealing how Joe Biden knew of, participated in, and benefited from his family’s corrupt business schemes,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital. “House Republicans’ new website ensures this information is accessible to the American people.” Comer, in September, subpoenaed personal and business bank records belonging to both Hunter Biden and James Biden. Comer said those subpoenaed bank records revealed that President Biden himself received $40,000 in “laundered China money” from a bank account belonging to James Biden and Sara Biden. The $40,000 check had a memo line reading “loan repayment.” Subpoenaed financial records also revealed that Joe Biden received a “$200,000 direct payment” in 2018 in the form of a “personal check” from James Biden and Sara Biden. That check was also labeled “loan repayment.” WEISS SAYS HE ‘WASN’T GRANTED’ SPECIAL ATTORNEY AUTHORITY IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE DESPITE REQUEST: TRANSCRIPT The White House has repeatedly blasted the impeachment inquiry as an “evidence-free” investigation. Hunter Biden is set to appear for a deposition behind closed doors on Dec. 13, despite offers to testify publicly. The committees have also heard testimony from DOJ officials involved in Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation into Hunter Biden. “President Biden and his administration have continually changed their stories about President Biden’s involvement in his family’s influence-peddling schemes and business deals,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. “House Republicans are ready to deliver transparency and accountability to the American people.” SPEAKER JOHNSON: BIDEN ENGAGING IN ‘COVER-UP’ OF ROLE IN HUNTER BUSINESS DEALINGS, IMPEACHMENT PROBE CONTINUES The impeachment inquiry is being led by Comer, Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo. and began under the leadership of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Newly-minted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is fully behind the effort. Republicans are focused several avenues of investigation, including the Biden family’s business dealings and whether the president was involved. The lawmakers are also investigating allegations of political misconduct and politics influencing prosecutorial decisions throughout the years-long federal investigation into Hunter Biden.
New pro-DeSantis group brings on aide from former 2024 rival to lead Iowa effort: report
A former adviser for the now-defunct presidential campaign of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is reportedly running a new effort in support of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa. Politico first reported that Blake Harris, who served most recently as senior political adviser to Scott, is expected to run the super PAC Fight Right. Scott dropped out of the 2024 presidential contest on Nov. 12. Last week, Fight Right kicked off a $980,000 television ad buy, concentrating on airing ads in Iowa targeting former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley who is polling narrowly behind DeSantis’s No. 2 position in the first caucus state. Former President Trump is still polling first – ahead of DeSantis by a double-digit margin. One ad compares Haley to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON WHETHER DESANTIS’ IOWA STRATEGY WILL BE ENOUGH TO TOPPLE TRUMP: ‘HAIL MARY’ Politico also reported about alleged infighting at the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down regarding how to best prevent Haley from gaining ground before the Jan. 15 caucuses after the Florida governor already spent most of the summer focusing campaign efforts on Iowa. Never Back Down transferred $1 million to Fight Right before its first ad buy, a source told the outlet, and DeSantis met personally in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday with potential donors for Fight Right. With primary voting set to begin in less than two months, the two political action committees are slated to work alongside each other and share the “same objective,” the source said. In a Monday memo first reported by ABC News, DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier told potential donors that he “welcomes the independent efforts” of Fight Right, which was formed this month, and which he said will focus on providing “welcome air support” for the governor. Never Back Down, which Uthmeier deemed “the largest Iowa turnout machine in history,” will focus on groundwork for DeSantis. HALEY, DESANTIS OR TRUMP? WHO WILL TOP-DOLLAR DONORS BACKING TIM SCOTT SUPPORT NEXT IN 2024 GOP RACE Meanwhile, Haley’s presidential campaign on Tuesday received a key endorsement from Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network, which has been building a network of paid conservative activists and volunteers in key states for several years, according to the Associated Press. Back in the spring, the Koch network began running ads across Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — the first three states on the GOP’s presidential primary calendar — focusing on questions about Trump’s electability in next fall’s general election against President Biden. Still, Trump remains the overwhelming front-runner in the race. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed Americans for Prosperity as “the political arm of the China-first, America-last movement.” In a statement, DeSantis spokesperson Andrew Romeo likened the Koch endorsement to a contribution to the Trump campaign. “Congratulations to Donald Trump on securing the Koch endorsement. Like clockwork, the pro-open borders, pro-jail break bill establishment is lining up behind a moderate who has no mathematical pathway of defeating the former president,” Romeo wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Every dollar spent on Nikki Haley’s candidacy should be reported as an in-kind to the Trump campaign. No one has a stronger record of beating the establishment than Ron DeSantis, and this time will be no different.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.