October 18 top stories
It is October 18. Here are today’s top stories.
Explosion at Gaza hospital kills hundreds
On Tuesday night, there was an explosion at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of people. Palestinian leaders said an Israeli airstrike is to blame, but Israeli officials said a rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) that was aimed at Israel ended up misfiring and hit the hospital.
A doctor who was working at the hospital in Gaza said he was operating when he felt a strong explosion and the ceiling fell in the operating room. The doctor, who works with the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) organization, said “This is a massacre.”
The Israeli military said they have intelligence that shows that there was a barrage of rockets fired from inside of Gaza that passed very close to the hospital before it was hit. The Israeli military also released an audio recording of what they said were two Hamas members talking about the explosion and discussing that it was a rocket that came from the PIJ. There are some doubts that the recording is authentic. Some think it was fabricated. It’s controversial.
President Biden, after arriving in Israel and during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, said that based on what he’s seen, it appears that the hospital explosion was done by “the other team, not you. But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure.” Biden later said he saw data from the U.S. military that made him sure that the explosion was not from an Israeli air strike.
News platforms said it is very hard to verify either side’s claims.
There were large protests in Jordan, Lebanon and other places in response to the hospital explosion. The Jordanian government canceled a planned summit with President Biden and other Arab leaders.
Trump returns to his civil fraud trial
Former President Donald Trump made another appearance at his civil fraud trial in New York City.
AP News said he watched testimony from an employee and an outside appraiser that said the Trump Organization would put a thumb on the scale when sizing up Trump’s properties’ value.
Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was supposed to testify today, but he postponed due to a health issue.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and said this case, which was brought against him by New York Attorney Letitia James, is part of a political vendetta designed to hurt his chances of winning the presidency again.
The trial is expected to last into December. Trump is facing a $250 million fine and could lose his company’s business licenses.
Joran van der Sloot admits he killed Natalee Holloway
Joran van der Sloot, who is the prime suspect in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance in Aruba in 2005, admitted he killed her and disposed of her remains. Holloway is from Alabama and was on a high school graduation trip when she disappeared. She was last seen leaving a bar with Joran. Her body has never been found.
Joran confessed to the murder in a plea deal in a separate case that accuses him of trying to extort money from Natalee’s mother.
AP News said Joran was sentenced to 20 years in prison for extortion and wire fraud and that he will serve the sentence concurrently with his sentence in Peru, where he is serving a 28-year prison sentence for killing another woman named Stephany Flores in 2010.
The judge in his case said he “brutally murdered, in separate instances years apart, two young women who refused his sexual advances.”
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Jim Jordan loses two House Speaker votes
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has lost two rounds of votes to become the Speaker of the House.
He is not able to get the support of all House Republicans with 20 voting against him on the first ballot and 22 voting against him on the second ballot.
All Democrats supported their leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) but Democrats don’t have control of the House — they don’t have enough votes.
Jordan needs 217 votes but he’s only been able to get about 200 votes. So this means House Republicans continue to be divided among themselves.
Jordan said he wouldn’t give up and would keep on trying to win the support of other Republicans.
Flag football, lacrosse, cricket among new Olympic sports
The International Olympic Committee announced on Monday that there will be five sports added to the schedule for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. They are flag football, lacrosse, cricket, squash, and baseball-softball.
Americans don’t need an explainer on what flag football or lacrosse is, but cricket is not as familiar. It is a very popular sport in India and looks somewhat similar to baseball. Squash is popular in England and looks somewhat similar to racquetball.
To be clear, the five sports will be a part of the 2028 Olympics.
The next Summer Games is in 2024 in Paris — which already has some new sports such as break dancing, sport climbing, skateboarding, and surfing.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/18/biden-gaza-hospital-israel-other-team
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/17/israel-gaza-hospital-attack-hamas-war-death-toll-palestinians
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67144061
https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-trial-net-worth-new-york-067501b1d742d4dccba2521ac3262fdb
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/18/jim-jordan-house-speaker-second-vote-republicans