Babies born prematurely at Gaza’s main hospital are dying as the facility is taken out of service. Senator Tim Scott suspended his 2024 presidential campaign. And new experimental cholesterol drugs show “revolutionary promise.
Here’s what you need to know today.
Gaza’s main hospital no longer functional, says WHO

The situation at Gaza’s main hospital is “terrible and dangerous”, and Al-Shifa is no longer “functioning as a hospital”, warned World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He said patient deaths had increased significantly amid the growing humanitarian situation at the hospital, which has seen heavy shelling and heavy fighting outside the facility.
Newborns are at particular risk due to power and resource outages, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which said Many babies born prematurely face possible “death at any time.” Three babies in Al-Shifa died over the weekend, while 36 are in desperate need of care after they had to be removed from incubators due to lack of power, Abusada said.
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The US military attacked sites in Syria used by Iran-affiliated groups, the latest response to continued attacks on US personnel in the region. Fears of escalation have also risen on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon after days of intense exchanges.
Western diplomatic efforts will now feature a high-profile former leader, with former UK Prime Minister David Cameron named the country’s top diplomat. His surprise return followed the firing of a senior minister who criticized police handling of pro-Palestinian protests, as the crisis spread beyond the Middle East.
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Tim Scott withdraws from 2024 presidential race

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina announced that he will leave the 2024 Republican presidential campaign. “When I return to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. “I’m suspending my campaign,” Scott said in an appearance on former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy’s Fox News show. “I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet, have been very clear in telling me: not now,” Scott continued. Several Scott staffers told NBC News that they received no warning that he was ending the campaign. You only find out when you see the candidate say it on television.
Experimental cholesterol drugs are promising and revolutionary
New experimental drugs designed to lower dangerous levels of cholesterol were shown to be safe and effective in two groundbreaking studies presented yesterday at an annual meeting of the American Heart Association. Both medications target people who are born with a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol. While medications such as statins, as well as diet and exercise, can help these people control their cholesterol, they cannot change the underlying genetic cause.
The two approaches work in different ways, but with a singular mission: hunt down the genes responsible for increased cholesterol to change the trajectory of a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke.
Two students accuse Hillsdale College of retaliating against them after they reported sexual assaults

Two women who reported being sexually assaulted at their conservative Michigan university have accused the school in a lawsuit of blaming them for being raped and conducting false investigations.
Grace Chen, currently a junior at Hillsdale College, alleged that after the assault the school refused to protect her from the attacker and did not explain its findings to her. Danielle Villarreal ended up leaving school after discovering that the student she said attacked her had not been punished and was still on campus.
“You feel like you have a target on your back and you’re not getting any support from the school,” Villarreal, who now attends Vanderbilt University, told NBC News. “I felt like it wasn’t safe for me to be there anymore.”
Today’s talker
Taylor Swift thanked her much-discussed new relationship…
…after changing the lyrics of his song “Karma” to include a reference to Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce. Kelce seemed as surprised as concertgoers when Swift introduced the lyric change. She excited fans even more after the show by running into Kelce’s arms and planting a kiss, the first caught on camera. — as the couple walked backstage together.
Policy in brief
FBI investigation: New York Mayor Eric Adams. defended his role in the new Turkish consulate construction project amid reports that he pressured the city to approve the building despite safety concerns.
Biden’s campaign: president joe biden is starting to move more into re-election campaign mode, with plans to attack his likely 2024 Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Relations between the United States and China: A series of obstacles in relations between the United States and China float over this week’s meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Staff election: A confrontation, then a ‘deafening’ silence
The increasing number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, including on college campuses, has received significant media attention. But this story explores an incident that has generated few headlines: an act of hate against pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas at Austin. The pro-Palestinian students I think the university would have responded much more forcefully if the victims had been Jewish. “Frankly, Palestinian students on this campus are seen as a footnote,” one told me.
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