Thursday briefing: Gazans flee Khan Younis
Gazans flee Khan Younis, but refuge is difficult to find
Israel’s offensive in the southern Gaza Strip has triggered a new migration of distressed civilians as thousands of people flee the town of Khan Younis, where the Israeli army is fighting close battles with Hamas fighters.
Many Palestinians have fled to the southern border town of Rafah, where the UN has said shelters are overcrowded. Many of the displaced people were forced to sleep on the streets or in empty lots and other abandoned areas.
Humanitarian conditions in southern Gaza have become increasingly dire. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said the situation in Gaza was “rapidly deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible consequences for the Palestinians as a whole, and for peace and security in the region.” Here’s the latest.
Israel has urged citizens to leave their homes and move to Rafah or Al-Mawasi, an agricultural area near the Mediterranean Sea. But strikes continued in both places. Gazans and aid groups say Al-Mawasi in particular lacks the infrastructure needed to alleviate the crisis.
Biden urges Congress to approve aid to Ukraine
In a televised statement from the White House, President Biden called on Republicans in Congress to put aside “petty, partisan, angry politics” and pass a multi-billion dollar aid package for Ukraine.
He warned that if the package, which was due to be voted on yesterday afternoon, is not adopted, President Vladimir Putin of Russia could regain momentum in the war and even attract US troops. The Biden administration has told Congress that the money for Ukraine will run out by the end of the year.
“This can’t wait,” Biden said. “Republicans in Congress are willing to give Putin the greatest gift he can hope for and give up our global leadership.”
Details: The White House has requested an additional $61 billion in aid as part of a $110 billion emergency spending measure. Republicans have pushed for funding to support a crackdown on illegal immigration to be tied to the package.
In Ukraine, Political frictions have arisen, including between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his military chief, as the country enters its second winter of full-scale war with Russia.
The losing battle to regulate AI
Lawmakers and regulators in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere are trying to catch up on growing concerns that AI will automate jobs, boost the spread of misinformation and eventually develop its own brand of intelligence.
European officials say they have been blindsided by the technology’s evolution, while American lawmakers openly admit they have little understanding of how the technology works. The answer was a piecemeal approach that revealed a fundamental mismatch: AI systems are developing so quickly and unpredictably that lawmakers and regulators cannot keep pace.
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Memory of Norman Lear
Norman Lear, the television writer and producer who reigned at the top of American television from the 1970s to the early 1980s, died on Tuesday at the age of 101.
Lear left a lasting impression with shows like “The Jeffersons,” “Good Times” and “Maude,” but his crowning achievement was “All in the Family.” His greatest creation was Archie Bunker, the focus of that show and one of the most enduring characters in television history.
Unlike many of the escapist sitcoms of the era, Lear’s shows introduced political and social commentary to the genre, bringing it into the real world.
“Archie was a loser and a fanatic, but a rich man,” writes our television critic. Lear “envisioned popular, populist television as a form of patriotic dissent, embodying the spirit of magnanimous twentieth-century liberalism.”