Hezbollah Fires Rockets at Israel in Response to Assassination in Beirut (www.nytimes.com)
The Lebanese militia Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets toward a small military base in northern Israel on Saturday morning, in what the group said was an initial response to the assassination of a senior Hamas commander in Lebanon five days ago that has raised fears of a wider conflagration....
Auto dealers challenge new US FTC car-buyer consumer protection rules (www.reuters.com)
The FTC said the new rules will ban bait-and-switch advertising tactics, prohibit charging for add-on costs that do not benefit consumers and require dealers to make key disclosures to consumers, including accurate pricing disclosures in advertising and sales communications....
European Supermarket Giant Drops Pepsi and Lay’s Over Price Increases (www.wsj.com)
CNN Runs Gaza Coverage Past Jerusalem Team Operating Under Shadow of IDF Censor (theintercept.com)
The Jerusalem bureau has long reviewed all CNN stories relating to Israel and Palestine. Now, it’s helping shape the network’s coverage of the war.
Americans living in their cars are finding refuge in ‘safe parking lots’ (www.theguardian.com)
Los Angeles County has thousands of ‘unclaimed dead.’ These investigators retrace their lives (apnews.com)
Martirosyan acts as a living representative of those Los Angeles County calls “the unclaimed dead.” She is one of more than a dozen investigators who work for the Public Administrator, an understaffed and little-known branch of the county’s Department of the Treasurer and Tax Collector....
Inside Israel's torture camp for Gaza detainees (www.972mag.com)
Palestinians arrested in the northern Gaza Strip describe how Israeli soldiers systematically abused civilians and combatants alike, from severe deprivation to brutal physical violence.
In Gaza 'safe zone,' Palestinians are living out their nightmares (www.972mag.com)
Israel ordered thousands to evacuate to Al-Mawasi, where they are struggling to find food, water, and shelter amid the war and winter cold.
Famine in Gaza ‘around the corner,’ as people face ‘highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded,’ UN relief chief says (edition.cnn.com)
Wayne LaPierre resigns as leader of the NRA days ahead of civil trial (www.cnn.com)
Wayne LaPierre, the leader of the National Rifle Association of America who served for decades as a fierce protector of the Second Amendment, advocating for firearms owners and manufacturers, is resigning days before his civil trial is set to begin....
Neri Oxman, billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s wife, accused of plagiarism in MIT dissertation (www.nbcnews.com)
Ackman has been a vocal critic of Harvard’s recently resigned president, Claudine Gay, over allegations of plagiarism and her handling of antisemitism on campus.
A model suspected of recruiting for Epstein was asked whether Bill Clinton's security advisor tipped him off about search warrant (www.businessinsider.com)
‘Speed Racer’ Actor Christian Oliver and His Two Young Daughters Killed in Caribbean Plane Crash (variety.com)
Sudanese women describe being gang-raped in attacks by Arab forces (www.reuters.com)
Rape is widespread amid the war in Sudan. Young women from the ethnic-African Masalit tribe say they were sexually assaulted at gunpoint by RSF paramilitary and Arab militia forces during attacks on the city of El Geneina in West Darfur.
US supreme court allows Idaho’s strict abortion ban to stand pending hearing (www.theguardian.com)
Biden administration had argued hospitals receiving Medicare funds are required to provide emergency care, including abortion...
Nude man nabbed by police after 'cannonball' plunge into giant aquarium at Bass Pro Shop in Alabama (apnews.com)
The ordeal happened Thursday night in front of shocked shoppers in the town just outside Birmingham, Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin said....
Kentucky governor backs longer list of conditions eligible for treatment under medical marijuana law (apnews.com)
Access to medical marijuana in Kentucky should expand to include a longer list of severe health conditions, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday in advocating a change that would make hundreds of thousands more people eligible for treatment when the program begins next year....
N.Y. AG calls for $370 million fine against Trump and lifetime ban from real estate industry (www.nbcnews.com)
Attorneys from James’s office requested the punishment in post-trial motions filed Friday in the Trump fraud case....
Ohio governor signs executive order banning gender surgeries for minors (www.nbcnews.com)
Surgeries for minors are rare and are generally not recommended by medical associations, most of which oppose broad bans on transition-related care....
The teacher shot by a 6-year-old still worries, a year later, about the other students in the room (apnews.com)
A year after she was shot by her 6-year-old student in a Virginia classroom, former teacher Abby Zwerner said she still worries about the other children who saw it happen, and wonders how they’re faring....
Vatican stands by approval of blessing same-sex couples despite criticism (www.thepinknews.com)
Sanctions are working. Chechen leader Kadyrov begs the US to lift sanctions on his family in exchange for the freedom of Ukrainian soldiers (ua-stena.info)
BEKadyrov handed over the list of prisoners to former US Army intelligence officer Scott Ritter, who visited Grozny....
Baltimore celebrates historic 20% drop in homicides even as gun violence remains high (apnews.com)
Long plagued by rampant gun violence, Baltimore recorded less than 300 homicides last year for the first time in nearly a decade, ending a surge that began in 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray, which sparked civil unrest and prompted widespread calls for police reform....
Body found in San Diego home's freezer may be woman missing for 9 years, police say (www.nbcnews.com)
“Out-of-town” family members discovered the body in the freezer last month....
