Netanyahu warns it’s just the beginning as Israel expands ground offensive
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a long and difficult war ahead and said the conflict had entered its “second stage” after ground troops entered Gaza in an expansion of fighting that began Friday night. Israel’s military said early Sunday that its fighter jets struck more than 450 Hamas targets in Gaza in the past day.
Internet and phone connectivity disrupted by Israel’s heavy bombardment was restored for many people in Gaza on Sunday, according to the telecommunications provider Paltel and a member of NBC News’ crew.
Thousands of people broke into several warehouses belonging to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip, the agency said in a statement. Wheat flour, hygiene materials and other basic items that were taken were to be distributed to displaced families.
In Israel, some survivors of Hamas' attack are returning to the kibbutzim where they live in an attempt to rebuild while processing their grief and horror. "This was a killing zone," one said.
New House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that aid to Israel will be considered on the House floor in a stand-alone measure this week and expressed confidence that it would pass.
Follow NBC News’ live coverage here.
Matthew Perry dies of apparent drowning at 54
Matthew Perry died Saturday of an apparent drowning at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, a representative for the actor and a law enforcement source said.
Perry was 54.
He was best known for his role as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” NBC’s generation X sitcom from the ’90s. The massive success of the show and Perry’s indelible performance as the sweetly sarcastic Chandler earned him a legion of admirers. He also won admiration for publicly discussing his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. Condolences and remembrances started pouring in soon after the news of his death.
Mike Pence drops out of 2024 race
Former Vice President Mike Pence has suspended his 2024 presidential campaign.
Faced with a campaign running low on money and a Republican Party moving in a different direction, Pence made the unexpected announcement at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition convention in Las Vegas.
"I came here to say it’s become clear to me this is not my time. So after much deliberation I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today," Pence announced Saturday.
Having broken with former President Donald Trump over certifying the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021, Pence had begun to draw a starker line between himself and his former running mate on the campaign trail, but he struggled to gain support in a crowded primary field dominated by Trump.
Other Republican candidates spoke at the Republican Jewish Coalition event, including Nikki Haley, who took a swipe at Trump for his criticisms of Netanyahu.
Maine gunman found dead
The 40-year-old firearms instructor suspected of killing 18 people Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine, was found dead Friday evening, officials said.
Robert Card's body was found near a former place of employment, three law enforcement sources said.
"Our community can now breathe a sigh of relief," Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre said Friday night. "We're going to grieve for the families that lost loved ones here. We're going to continue to work."
Central Maine’s tight-knit deaf community was hit particularly hard by the shootings. At least four of those killed were deaf, loved ones have said.
Frustrated pharmacists could go on strike
Pharmacies are supposed to be boring. But they've been shaken awake by a series of nonunion "wildcat strikes" over the past few weeks, and there are signs that a larger strike is brewing.
A lot of pharmacists have been frustrated by staffing problems for years, and striking workers want employers to hire more people so their workloads are less overwhelming.
One who worked for CVS told NBC News she saw staffing problems from the very beginning and wasn't able to spend enough time with patients as a result.
"What we end up doing is cutting care to our patients. At some point it has to stop," she said.
Meet the Press
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, defended his call to ban pro-Palestinian groups from state colleges as Israel expands its ground offensive in Gaza.
On “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Kristen Welker asked DeSantis to respond to Vivek Ramaswamy, one of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, who insisted that such a move would violate the students’ First Amendment rights. DeSantis pushed back against the comments, saying: “This is not cancel culture.”
DeSantis also weighed in on what could have been done to prevent the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. "I would be more aggressive on some of those fringe people who clearly are demonstrating signs that they’re a major danger to society," he said.
You can watch the full interview here.
Politics in brief
Ukraine defense spending: Billions of dollars being spent by the federal government to arm Ukraine have been slow to translate into a significant number of new jobs at U.S. defense manufacturers.
Social media cases: The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday in the first of a series of high-stakes cases on the role of social media in society, with potentially broad repercussions.
Florida Senate race: A Republican attorney and businessman challenging Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was once kicked off the ballot in Georgia after a judge became "troubled" about inconsistencies over his eligibility to run.
Toddlers spread cheer at a nursing home
Once a week, Rena Shinohara heads off to work, clocking in for a shift at a job one could say she was born to do.
Rena is only 18 months old.
A Japanese nursing home came up with the idea of baby workers’ coming in to brighten the days of residents whose own grandchildren may rarely visit, helping ease the isolation that can come with growing older.
"Just by seeing a baby walking around, they smile and they start to speak," said Kimie Gondo, the nursing home's director.
Rena and her colleagues are paid in diapers and ice cream, and the requirements are simple: They should be under 3 years old, and the less they speak the better.
A 'devil comet' is coming
A comet with two distinct "horns" of gas and ice, earning it the nickname "devil comet," is speeding through the inner solar system.
But be patient, stargazers: It's not expected to be visible to the naked eye until at least the spring.
In the meantime, however, Comet 12/P Pons-Brooks has been putting on a show for those with powerful telescopes.
Astronomers have observed the comet erupt twice in the past four months — once in July and again this month — for a spectacle that is literally out of this world.
Culture & trends
One Angeleno’s hunt for a scooped bagel in New York City has the internet up in arms, reigniting the city’s long-running culture clash with Los Angeles.
Los Angeles resident and clothing brand founder Taylor Offer posted a video to TikTok last week recounting his attempt to order a scooped gluten-free bagel while he was visiting New York.
Back home, he said, he could walk into any bagel shop and the request would draw no questions or appalled glances, but there’s “nothing more stressful” than trying to do the same in the Big Apple, where such a request was quickly shut down.
Many who stumbled across his post commented that it was the first they had heard of a scooped bagel — a bagel hollowed out from the inside to leave just the outer shell, oftentimes to limit caloric and carbohydrate intake — but that after having looked up what it was, the shop worker was right to reject his request.
In case you missed it
- Two people were shot at a parking lot at Worcester State University in Massachusetts early Saturday, authorities said. One victim died, and another was rushed into surgery.
- Former NHL star Adam Johnson has died after a "freak accident" during a game for a British hockey league. He suffered a serious cut to the neck from a skate.
- At least six people were killed and over 40 were injured in multiple mass shootings across the country during the Halloween weekend, officials said.
- The United Auto Workers union and Stellantis say they’ve reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, leaving General Motors as the only Big Three automaker without a contract.
- Tampa, Florida, burns a lot of garbage every day. The result is making people sick, residents say.
- A 13-year-old West Virginia girl is suing to join her school's track team, a case about restrictions against transgender students that could end up before the Supreme Court.
- Cases of strep throat are surging among children in some pockets of the country, while a widely used antibiotic that can stop the spread is in short supply.
- Anti-Asian hate crimes decreased for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
