Under U.S. pressure, Israel agreed to begin "tactical localized humanitarian pauses" in the fighting in northern Gaza neighborhoods for four hours a day, Israeli and U.S. officials said Thursday.
Why it matters: The decision is a shift in policy for Israel, which for weeks had largely resisted the Biden administration's push for pauses in Israeli forces' assault on Gaza for humanitarian reasons. Israeli officials initially saw the pauses as a pathway to a ceasefire that the Israeli public doesn't want.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel dismissed 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's comments calling on her to resign during the third GOP primary debate.
Why it matters: Ramaswamy's words echoed some GOP fears after key election losses for the party this week, including in his home state of Ohio which voted to enshrine abortion rights into the constitution.
Jewish Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the Biden administration are rallying around the president for his support of Israel, amid protests and criticism from the party's left wing.
Why it matters: The protests have highlighted divisions among Democrats but also have prompted an outpouring of support for the president from Jewish politicians and leaders across the country.
Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy continued feuding Thursday after exchanging barbs during the third GOP primary debate.
Driving the news: In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Haley defended calling Ramaswamy "scum" during the debate Wednesday night, saying, "That was showing a lot of restraint. That's all I'll say."
President Biden said Thursday it has taken Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "a little longer than I hoped" to meet Biden's request to briefly pause the fighting in Gaza, after saying he doesn't believe a full ceasefire is possible.
Why it matters: The criticism was unusual for Biden, who has publicly given Netanyahu his full backing since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7,
The long fight for reparations for New Mexico residents who developed rare cancers and other ailments as a result of living near the world's first atomic bomb test is the focus of a new documentary.
House Republicans on Thursday pulled their third government funding vote in two weeks due to threats from moderates and conservatives to kill the legislation.
Why it matters: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing the same internal GOP divisions that led to the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy– and they may be getting worse.
There has been an "unprecedented" surge in complaints of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias in the U.S. since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Thursday.
Why it matters: New data fromCAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, highlights the ripple effects since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
A new bill introduced in the House Thursday would require the U.S. intelligence community to share unclassified, open-source intelligence with other government agencies and Congress.
Why it matters: A growing number of offices and agencies across the U.S. government are now focusing on sustained competition with China, but many lack in-house Chinese language and regional expertise. Greater access to translated unclassified U.S. intelligence could help bridge that gap and improve policy-making and implementation.
The man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in the couple's San Francisco home last year is due in court Thursday for the start of his federal trial.
After Ohio's vote Tuesday to protect abortion rights, Democrats are rushing to get similar measures on the ballot next year in key states such as Arizona, Nevada and Florida — partly to boost President Biden and down-ballot Democrats.
Why it matters: In the face of bleak polling on the economy, abortion continues to be a winning issue for Democrats — one that could motivate otherwise uninspired voters to turn out and keep the White House in the party's hands.
From a performing arts center in downtown Miami to a stadium in nearby Hialeah and elsewhere, Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination — and their Democratic critics — converged on South Florida for Wednesday's debate and related events.
Driving the news: Here are some of the most intriguing behind-the-scenes moments that TV viewers probably missed.
Tim Scott's girlfriend, revealed
After months of speculation about his relationship status, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told Axios it was indeed his girlfriend — Mindy Noce — who came to watch the debate at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center and greeted him on stage afterward.
Scott says he has been dating Noce, a design and renovations manager in Charleston, S.C., for "about a year or so."
For months, top GOP donors and their allies privately had pushed Scott, 58, for more detail about his bachelor status.
Scott first mentioned he had a girlfriend at an Axios event in May, saying, "To suggest that somehow being married or not married is going to be the determining factor of whether you're a good president or not — it sounds like we're living in 1963 and not 2023."
Ramaswamy doubled down on his attacks on the debate's moderators — NBC's Lester Holt and Kristen Welker, and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt — as well as Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel.
As he had during the debate, Ramaswamy blasted McDaniel for Republicans' election losses on Tuesday and repeated his call for different moderators: "I certainly meant what I said. If Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk (were the moderators) ... it will be a far greater service to the Republican base."
"It's not her stage!" he said repeatedly of McDaniel. "It belongs to our Republican voter base!"
... and gets a cold shoulder
After the debate, Ramaswamy got the cold shoulder from at least one candidate.
Scott and Ramaswamy bumped into each other in the "spin room" as the two gave back-to-back interviews to the same media outlet. Ramaswamy gave Scott a pat on the back. Scott didn't acknowledge him.
Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), who has dropped out of the race and endorsed Haley, told Axios that Ramaswamy's "understanding of (foreign policy) issues is juvenile. This is one of the reasons his momentum has stopped."
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who was briefly in the GOP race before dropping out, told Axios before the debate he was watching to see whether Haley could "break out" with another impressive performance, and said DeSantis is "hemorrhaging for real support, and trying to hold back the floodgates."
Trump counter-programs
Less than 10 miles from the GOP debate stage, former President Trump drew several thousand people to a rally in a stadium in Hialeah.
For Trump, who's increasingly tried to turn court appearances into campaign opportunities, the rally was more like one of his traditional campaign stops before adoring fans. He was endorsed by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo, got a street named after him and was backed by a Cuban American MMA fighter at the rally.
A nearby elementary school was closed Wednesday because of the Trump rally, Bovo told Axios.
Scattered near the stadium were a Hialeah City Council candidate’s campaign signs that featured Trump's face the same size as her own photo. (That candidate, Angelica Pacheco, unseated an incumbent council member in Tuesday's election.).
Democrats' prebuttal
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) was in Miami on Tuesday with Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried and other Florida Democrats to weigh in on the debate for the GOP candidates chasing Trump.
Pritzker went after DeSantis and Trump for "dressing up" their MAGA extremism "in boots or a red tie" and Chavez Rodriguez said MAGA Republicans’ Florida blueprint "paved by the guy in Hialeah" is too extreme.
Asked by a reporter to repeat an answer in Spanish, Chavez Rodriguez deferred to former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, saying that her Spanish isn't that strong.
MIAMI — Simmering feuds turned intensely personal at the third GOP presidential debate, in which five candidates sparred over a chance to lead a party still reeling from the latest in a streak of election setbacks.
Why it matters: Call it desperation mode. Every candidate on stage was keenly aware that former President Trump — who held a counter-programming rally down the road in Hialeah, Florida — is on a glide path to re-nomination, beginning with the Iowa caucuses in 67 days.
Hunter Biden sued former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne for defamation on Wednesday, alleging the Trump ally and 2020 election denier falsely linked him to last month's Hamas attacks on Israel.
Details: The lawsuit states that Byrne falsely claimed in a June article that Hunter Biden had contacted Tehran offering to have his father, President Biden, "'unfreeze $8 billion in Iranian funds" in return for $800 million "being funneled" into a bank account.
Four of the five GOP presidential candidates in Wednesday's debate voiced strong support for Israel in its war against Hamas, with only Vivek Ramaswamy warning against the U.S. being drawn into another war in the Middle East.
Why it matters: President Biden's robust support for Israel didn't leave the Republican contenders much room for criticism, so instead they mainly criticized him for not doing enough to stop Iran — Hamas' main supporter — from fueling havoc in the Middle East.
Advertisements for TikTok sandwiched a heated exchange over the Chinese-owned platform during the third Republican presidential debate.
Why it matters: TikTok became a flashpoint for the Republican candidates, with Vivek Ramaswamy, the only GOP candidate with an account, clashing with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Zoom in: Candidatesprovided congressional reality checks, left the choices up to state governments, praised a "culture of life" and even called for more "sexual responsibility for men."
The FBI is moving its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Greenbelt, Maryland, the General Services Administration said Wednesday.
Why it matters: The announcement follows a years-long search to move away from the crumbling J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in which Greenbelt was a finalist alongside Landover, Md., and Springfield, Virginia.
Why it matters: Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy had perhaps the biggest moment of the night as they sparred over the use of Tiktok, with Haley calling him "scum" after he brought up her daughter's purported use of the app.
House Democrats' primary super PAC is looking to strong election performances in red states on Tuesday as evidence that it can expand the number of Democrats in Trump districts come 2024.
Why it matters: Even Republicans are acknowledging that abortion has become a potent issue for Democrats in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling last year overturning Roe v. Wade.
A year ago Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won a landslide re-election in Florida — a rare GOP bright spot in a midterm cycle otherwise dominated by coverage of the "red wave that wasn't."
Why it matters: Fresh off another disappointing election night for Republicans, the DeSantis campaign is eager to remind voters of the dominant 2022 showing that vaulted the governor into contention for the GOP nomination.
The anti-abortion movement's greatest achievement — the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade — has morphed into one of the biggest election liabilities Republicans have encountered in decades.
Why it matters: President Biden's polling weakness ultimately may not matter if Republicans can't find a way to effectively message or — at the very least — sideline abortion as a national issue and driver of turnout.
The U.S. military conducted an airstrike on Wednesday on a facility controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups in eastern Syria, the Pentagon said.
The big picture: This is the second such airstrike in recent weeks and it comes after 41 attacks by pro-Iranian militias against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq since the Israel-Hamas war started, Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Dana Stroul told reporters on Wednesday.
