The United States is sending troops and an anti-missile system to Israel. And an incredible landing has SpaceX cheering and thinking about future missions. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.
US sending troops, anti-missile system to Israel as war escalates
The United States is sending approximately 100 troops and an advanced anti-missile system to Israel to help bolster Israeli air defenses after attacks by Iran. President Joe Biden said the move is meant to “defend Israel.”
Iran has now warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.
“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on X.
This comes as Israel said at least four of its soldiers were killed in a drone attack by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah Sunday, Oct. 13. At least 60 other people were injured in the attack on an army base in central Israel, including seven soldiers.
Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes on Beirut last week that left 22 people dead.
An attack this deadly in Israel is unusual. Its advanced air defense systems usually spot a threat well beforehand. Israel has said it’s investigating how the drone entered the country without triggering an alert.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes left at least 40 people dead in Gaza Sunday, including 13 children, according to local officials. One of those strikes was at a hospital in central Gaza, where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
The Israeli military said it was a precise strike on a Hamas command center “embedded inside a compound that previously served as the ‘Shuhadah Al-Aqsa’ hospital.” Israel’s military also said it took steps to limit harm to civilians in the attack.
Man with loaded gun arrested near Trump rally
A man carrying a loaded gun was arrested at a security checkpoint outside former President Donald Trump’s rally in southern California Saturday, Oct 12.
Authorities said the Nevada man had a shotgun, a loaded handgun, ammunition and several fake passports with him when he was stopped near where the rally was being held in Coachella.
Deputies assigned to the rally said they stopped the 49-year-old suspect as he was driving an unregistered vehicle with a “homemade” license plate. They said the man claimed to be a journalist.
The man passed an outer security boundary before being stopped at an inner perimeter, patrolled by local deputies. Authorities said former President Trump was not yet at the rally when the arrest happened, and he was “not in any danger.”
The suspect has since been released on $5,000 bail. Court records show his next appearance is scheduled for Jan. 2.
Biden approves $612 million to support Florida’s hurricane-ravaged communities
As hundreds of thousands remain without power and flooding continues to be an issue, President Biden visited Florida on Sunday for the second time in less than a week. This time it was to get a firsthand look at communities ravaged by Hurricane Milton.
The president announced an additional $612 million to support communities displaced by not just Milton, but Hurricane Helene, which tore through part of the state less than two weeks earlier.
On Saturday, Biden approved a disaster declaration to give federal funding to people affected by Milton, including grants for temporary housing, home repairs and loans. Biden said more than 250,000 Floridians have already registered for help, which he said was “the most in a single day ever in the history of this country.”
Trial begins in mysterious murders of 2 Indiana teenagers
The trial begins Monday, Oct. 14, for the man accused of killing two teenage girls in an Indiana town more than seven years ago. After several delays, jury selection is set to begin in the double murder trial of Richard Allen.
Investigators arrested Allen in 2022 in connection to the deaths of 14-year-old Libby German and 13-year-old Abby Williams, five years after the girls disappeared while walking on a trail in the town of Delphi near an abandoned bridge. Searchers found their bodies a day later.
The case made national headlines with police releasing video of a mysterious figure on the bridge just moments before the girls disappeared.
Court documents said Allen has admitted he was on the trail the same day but denied having any involvement in the teens’ murders.
SpaceX mechanical arms catch returning Starship rocket booster
SpaceX pulled off an incredible feat on Sunday, successfully launching its fifth test flight of its unmanned Starship spacecraft. However, it was the return of the Super Heavy rocket booster that wowed the crowd, as well as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
For the first time, after breaking off from the Starship, the 232-foot-tall booster returned to Earth but didn’t land in the ocean like the spacecraft would. Instead, it returned to the Texas launch pad, caught by two mechanical arms which SpaceX calls “chopsticks.”
Elon Musk called the moment a “big step towards making life multiplanetary.”
SpaceX is hoping its Starship system will one day take people to the moon and Mars — with plans to use the capsule to transport NASA astronauts to the moon as soon as 2026.
‘Game of Thrones’ Iron Throne sells for $1.49 million
One “Game of Thrones” fan is sitting pretty, or at least powerfully, after taking the iconic “Iron Throne.” Unlike the characters in the HBO drama, the winner didn’t have to go through eight seasons of fighting, just a six-minute bidding war and $1.5 million.
This 310-pound plastic version of the throne was used during promotional and touring events for the series.
In total, Heritage auctions said its three-day auction in Dallas raked in more than $21 million dollars, making it the company’s second biggest entertainment event ever — behind the $22.8 million record set in 2011 by the Debbie Reynolds sale.
