Is Biden Risking 2024 Over No Israel Ceasefire? Some Youth Groups Say Yes

Yesterday, when asked about the chances of a ceasefire in Gaza during a press conference, President Joe Biden replied, “None. No possibility.” The statement effectively rejected the calls for a ceasefire in Gaza that have come from college campuses, high schools, and voices at countless marches and protests. Now the question becomes, how many voters Biden and the Democrats are willing to sacrifice for his stance on the war?

Teen Vogue

‘I will not be silenced’: Rashida Tlaib won’t stop fighting for Palestinian rights

Gripping a photograph of her sity, her grandmother who lives in the occupied West Bank, she defended her stance and declared that she “will not be silenced” and “will not let you distort my words”.

“I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable,” Tlaib said, her voice breaking. The congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota reached to comfort Tlaib, a show of solidarity between the only Muslim women in the chamber. Tlaib continued: “The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me.”

The Guardian

Protesters demonstrate against world leaders, Israel-Hamas war as APEC comes to San Francisco

Activists protesting corporate profits, environmental abuses, poor working conditions and the Israel-Hamas war marched in downtown San Francisco on Sunday, united in their opposition to a global trade summit that will draw President Joe Biden and leaders from nearly two dozen countries.

Protests are expected throughout this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ conference, which could draw more than 20,000 attendees, including hundreds of international journalists. The No to APEC coalition, made up of more than 100 grassroots groups, says trade deals struck at summits such as APEC exploit workers and their families.

AP News

An aggrieved McCarthy weighs leaving the House with his GOP foes on his mind

“I don’t believe them to be conservatives,” McCarthy said of the eight Republicans. “It’s driven by Gaetz, and it was all based upon an ethics complaint that happened in the last Congress. He would throw his country away to try to protect himself for what would come out as the truth.”

CNN

Choosing a college is hard. The Israel-Hamas war is making it harder

Many Jewish and Muslim families are drawing up a new set of criteria for the colleges they hope their kids will attend next year.

USA Today

Don Samuels announces he’ll challenge Rep. Ilhan Omar again in 5th District

A major announcement Sunday as former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, who nearly beat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in 2022, is running for the seat again.

Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District is overwhelmingly Democratic. The independent Cook political partisan index ranks it as a plus 30 Democratic seat. That means it is 30 points more Democratic than the average district across the country. And that means the Democratic primary, which is in August 2024, is the contest that will almost certainly decide who goes to Congress from Minneaplis and its inner ring suburbs. 

In 2022, there was very nearly a stunning primary upset. Samuels almost beat Omar, losing by just 2,500 votes. Now Samuels announced he is running against Omar again on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m.

“As of today I am launching my campaign for Congressional CD 5,” he said. “A rematch.”

CBS News

Mike Johnson stares down the first real test of his speakership

Mike Johnson is speaker of the House because Kevin McCarthy pushed through a “clean” continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown and was ousted by right-wingers for it.

Forty days later, and Johnson is in the same spot. The McCarthy CR runs out on Friday night and Johnson has vowed to avoid a government shutdown.

Politico

Ohio Ballot Measures: Abortion rights and marijuana measures approved

Ohio voters approved two ballot referendums. The first will enshrine a constitutional right to abortion. The second will legalize recreational marijuana use.

NBC News

Over 1,800 Jewish Writers, Artists, and Professors Sign Open Letter Saying Criticism of Israel Isn’t Inherently Antisemitic

An open letter, titled “A Dangerous Conflation,” published last Thursday by n+1 magazine specifically addresses what its writers see as people conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism —an issue, they say, that previously existed but has become especially prominent since the October 7 Hamas attack. “We find this rhetorical tactic antithetical to Jewish values, which teach us to repair the world, question authority, and champion the oppressed over the oppressor,” the letter states, which was originally signed by 100 people and now has over 1,800 signatories, including comedian Ilana Glazer and writer Naomi Klein.

Teen Vogue

Alabama town grieves mayor who killed himself after far-right blog outed him

A small Alabama town has expressed grief and outrage at the death of a beloved mayor who died by suicide after facing intense online harassment when images of him dressed in women’s clothing and wigs were published by a far-right website.

The Guardian

A pastor’s suicide brings grief, warnings of the dangers of outing amid erosion of LGBTQ+ rights

“I just want to ask you people who thought it humorous to publicly ridicule him. Are you happy now? What crime did he commit?” Larry DiChiara, a former school superintendent who knew Copeland from when he served on a county school board, wrote in a pointed Facebook post.

AP News

Migrant family journeys back to Venezuela, more leaving Chicago as winter looms: ‘The American Dream doesn’t exist anymore’

“The American Dream doesn’t exist anymore,” said Castejon as he laid on a blanket on the bare floor of the station the afternoon before they left. “There’s nothing here for us,” he added.

Chicago Tribune

Four deaf people died in the Lewiston mass shooting. The tragedy highlights their unique vulnerabilities during a crisis

The recent rampage by a gunman that left 18 people dead in Lewiston, Maine, is opening a window into the vulnerabilities deaf people face during mass shootings and other crises.

CNN

Pope Francis removes US conservative critic as bishop of Texas town

Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland from the pastoral governance of the diocese of Tyler, Texas, and appointed Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin to serve as a temporary administrator, The Vatican News reported.

Strickland, 65, has been a vocal critic of Francis in recent months, writing earlier this year in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the pontiff is “undermining the deposit of faith.”

In 2020, Strickland called the church “weak” and “not clear” and dared the pontiff to fire him, The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) reported earlier this year.

The Hill

California farmers are reeling from loss of powerful congressional allies

The sudden loss of two of California’s most effective champions for agriculture has left a political void that the industry is unsure how to fill. Without another Feinstein-like figure emerging from the bench, farmers and lobbyists describe a growing recognition that California agriculture’s political future depends on casting a wider net, especially as climate change promises to shrink water supplies further.

Politico

Find out why your health insurer denied your claim.

ProPublica’s Claim File Helper lets you customize a letter requesting the notes and documents your insurer used when deciding to deny you coverage. Get your claim file before submitting an appeal.

ProPublica

GOP election losses in Virginia are likely to quiet the presidential speculation about Gov. Youngkin

The first-term governor with growing national recognition told a cheering crowd at a historic waterside venue that voters could help build on the “movement” he started with his own victory in 2021 by handing the party full control of the statehouse and keeping the “spirit of Virginia” alive.

After Tuesday’s voting didn’t go as he had hoped, the rhetoric was less soaring.

AP News

Conservative Christians enraged at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade for being a trans “extravaganza”

The anti-LGBTQ+ organization One Million Moms (OMM) is morally scandalized over the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  

In an alarmist petition, OMM — an offshoot of the anti-LGBTQ+ American Family Association — warned that the parade will be a “non-binary and transgender extravaganza” that will “expose tens of millions of viewers at home to the liberal LGBTQ agenda” because this year’s parade will include music from two Broadway musicals, & Juliet and Shucked, which both feature trans and nonbinary performers in major roles.

LGBTQ Nation

After 118 Days on Strike, SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP Have Come to an Agreement

The strike officially ended at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday November 9. In an email to members, the union wrote, “We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers. Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work.”

Teen Vogue

The Vatican Says Trans People Can Be Baptized Unless It Poses a “Scandal” Risk

The Vatican says that transgender people can be baptized and become godparents under Catholic doctrine — but only if doing so doesn’t pose the “risk of generating a public scandal.”

them

‘Party of losers’? RNC chair hits back at Ramaswamy for slamming GOP and calling for her to resign

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel hit back at 2024 GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for criticizing her over the party’s string of lackluster election results, saying the biotech entrepreneur is simply “looking for headlines.”

“Last I checked, I wasn’t running for president,” McDaniel said Sunday in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He’s at 4%, he’s looking for headlines.”

USA Today

History-making trans politician Andrea Jenkins prevails in a close election

After serving nearly five years on the Minneapolis City Council, trailblazing trans politician Andrea Jenkins faced a significant challenge in Tuesday’s off-year local elections. In a tense race with a fellow progressive challenger, Jenkins narrowly emerged as victor.

In 2017, Jenkins made history as the first out Black trans woman elected to public office in the US, representing the 8th Ward in Minneapolis. Last year, she made history once again when she won her election as city council president. Among her legislative accomplishments, she has named, per Minneapolis Public Radio, “rent protections, paid family leave for city workers and declaring both racism and climate change as public health emergencies.” But according to first-time candidate Soren Stevenson, Jenkins is too moderate.

Into

Jan. 6 “QAnon Shaman” is running for Congress

According to NBC15, using information sourced from CNN, “Chansley has filed paperwork to run as a libertarian in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District,” campaigning for an opening made available after U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko opted out of reelection to focus on spending more time with her family. 

Salon

Rue Landau Is First Out LGBTQ+ Person Elected to Philadelphia City Council

Philadelphia made history Tuesday by electing its first out LGBTQ+ City Council member, lesbian Rue Landau.

Advocate

Indigenous tribe works to establish marine sanctuary along California coastline

Halfway between the technology capitol of the world and the Hollywood Hills is a stretch of pristine California coastline where nature still reigns. 

It’s part of an ancestral territory that was once dotted with Indigenous villages. The Chumash tribe was “stewards of these waters,” according to Violet Sage Walker, head of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, and coexisting alongside the complex food web compromised of coral, fish, seals, sharks and dolphins allowed the tribe to thrive. However, European invasions sparking death and displacement led to a dramatic dwindling of the Chumash population. 

CBS News

St. Paul’s All-female City Council is also Young and Racially diverse

When all the ballots were tallied on Friday, St. Paul, Minnesota, voters had done something remarkable: They had elected the first all-female council in the city’s history.

The Root

Migrants are showing up at the U.S. Southern border in historic numbers. Here’s why

In the past year, the Southwest border has received historic numbers of migrants. More than 2.4 million people. It’s been record-breaking numbers for the past few years. San Diego alone has received more than 230,000 people this year. That’s a 30% increase from the year before.

NPR

Catholic dioceses are declaring bankruptcy. Abuse survivors say it’s a ‘way to silence’ them

“Oakland could get together enough money to build a $200m cathedral not too long ago, but they can’t get the money together to pay the child victims whom they raped for decades,” Piscitelli said. “They’re morally and ethically bankrupt, but they’re not financially bankrupt.”

The Guardian

Some Trans Kids Are Being Forced To Flee America For Their Safety

Some trans youth and their parents are making the same choice — to escape America — as lawmakers across the U.S. impose increasingly draconian restrictions upon gender-affirming health care. To date, 20 states have passed laws restricting doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, providing hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and performing surgery to minor patients, and Arizona has a law that pertains solely to gender-affirming surgery (which is only administered in rare cases of extreme medical need). Florida’s gender-affirming care ban goes so far as allowing courts to remove children from their homes if authorities learn that a child is transitioning, a provision that opponents said amounted to legal kidnapping.

Huffpost

Who is Danica Roem? Where does she stand on LGBTQ+ rights?

Danica Anthony Roem made history as the first out transgender individual ever to be elected to a U.S. state legislature. While she has consistently said that her trans identity doesn’t matter as passing laws that benefit all citizens, she has still been a steadfast advocate for LGBTQ+ equality.

LGBTQ Nation

9 Americans still missing after Hamas attack as hostage negotiations continue: Sullivan

“We know the number of missing and that’s the number the Israelis have given. But we don’t know how many of those are still alive,” Sullivan said. “As far as the Americans are concerned, there are nine missing American citizens as well as a missing legal permanent [resident], a green card holder.”

ABC News

Israel-Hamas war: Hundreds leave Gaza via reopened crossing

The number of people crossing from Gaza to Egypt at the reopened Rafah border crossing on Sunday has reached the hundreds, according to officials.

A border official on the Palestinian side told Germany’s DPA news agency that around 800 people had crossed at Rafah.

Deutsche Welle

French marches against anti-Semitism rally over 180,000 people

More than 180,000 people turned out on Sunday to march against anti-Semitism in France, after a surge in anti-Jewish incidents across the country in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Al-Monitor

Erdogan calls for pressure on US to stop Israel’s war on Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday called for pressure on the United States to stop Israel’s war on Gaza, but said there would be no agreement unless Washington accepted the enclave as Palestinian land.

The New Arab

Netanyahu calls claims of Israel breaking international law ‘hogwash’

Pressed on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the argument from United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk that the “collective punishment” of Palestinians amounts to a war crime, Netanyahu said, “I can say that what the commission has said is hogwash, because we’re — the main difference is — are you deliberately targeting civilians?

“No, we’re deliberately doing everything in our power to target the terrorists. And the civilians, as happens in every legitimate war, are sometimes what are called ‘collateral damage,’” Netanyahu said. “That’s a longer way of saying unintended casualties. That’s clearly what Israel is doing.”

The Hill

Kenya replacement ID cards: High Court blocks new charge

The Kenyan High Court has blocked a new charge for national identity cards which had sparked a national outcry.

BBC

A volcano in Iceland could erupt in hours devastating a nearby town, say experts

A town in Iceland, home to 4,000 people, could be devastated by an imminent volcanic eruption, experts said.

Grindavik, which is close to the capital Reykjavik, could sustain heavy damage within hours or days, per The Guardian.

Business Insider

Netanyahu: Ground Invasion ‘Might Create a Deal’ to Release Hostages

“We’ll talk about it when it’s there. We’ll announce it if it’s achieved,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday’s Meet the Press. Two unnamed Israeli officials told Politico that the deal most likely would be for the release of a few dozen hostages, including children and the elderly as well as some American citizens.

Rolling Stone

Thousands Of Spaniards Rally Against Amnesty Move For Catalan Rebels

Tens of thousands of Spaniards rallied nationwide Sunday, answering a call by right-wing parties to protest after the Socialist government offered an amnesty to Catalan separatists behind a failed 2017 declaration of independence.

International Business Times

Scholz coalition set to double Germany’s military aid to Ukraine to £7bn

German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition has agreed in principle to double the country’s military aid for Ukraine next year to €8 billion (£7 billion), according to reports.

If approved by parliament, where Mr Scholz’s parties hold a majority, the boost would lift Germany’s defence spending to 2.1 per cent of its gross domestic product target, beyond the 2 per cent pledged by all Nato members, the source added.

Telegraph

Attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group wound 7 Israeli troops, 10 others along border with Israel

Attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group Sunday wounded seven Israeli troops and 10 other people, Israel’s military and rescue services said.

The clashes came as skirmishes between the Iran-backed group and Israeli military continue to intensify along the Lebanon-Israel border, threatening to escalate into another front in the Mideast’s latest war.

AP News