The Israeli military readied troops for action in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, raising the likelihood of a ground invasion following several nights of exchanged air strikes, reports The Washington Post.
On Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes left several senior Hamas figures dead, while rockets fired from Gaza killed four Israelis. Israel reported Thursday that three rockets approached Israel from Lebanon; though no one has claimed them, "there are several groups in Lebanon that support the Palestinians, and a major attack would mark a significant regional escalation in the ongoing conflict," writes The Wall Street Journal.
The fighting began over Israel's planned evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem. During demonstrations at the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters, and in response, Hamas began firing rockets into Jerusalem on Monday. Since then, strikes have killed more than 103 people in Gaza, including 27 children, and six Israelis, including one child.
Read more at The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
Thousands of confidential documents from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department were leaked onto the dark web Thursday after a cyberattack from a "Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate," The Associated Press reports.
The leak includes "hundreds of police officer disciplinary files and intelligence reports," as well as "feeds from other agencies," like "the FBI and Secret Service," AP writes. It is, according to experts, "the worst known ransomware attack ever to hit a U.S. police department."
The so-called Babuk Group coordinated the leak after the D.C. police department "refused to meet" blackmail demands. The group reportedly asked for $4 million in ransom, but were "only offered $100,000." The department has not clarified whether or not it made the offer, per AP.
Last month, the ransomware gang revealed its cyberattack and threatened a massive leak. Some of the data they reportedly obtained includes "sensitive and embarrassing private details" from background checks, as well as documents detailing security operations at events like President Biden's inauguration.
The breach comes just one day after the Colonial Pipeline resumed operations following its own ransomware attack last week. Read more at The Associated Press. Brigid Kennedy
Even Oprah Winfrey has regrets.
The legendary 67-year-old talk show host revealed the question that still makes her "cringe" while appearing as a guest on Rob Lowe's Literally! podcast on Wednesday, per People.
"This was when I was younger and I was not living from the point of view of the surrogate," Winfrey said, explaining that she'd gotten a sit-down with actress Sally Field, who had dated Burt Reynolds in the late 70s. "I asked her, 'Does Burt sleep with his toupee on?'" Winfrey recalled.
She said she only asked because the producers had pressured her, but that Field immediately "went cold on me." Lowe sympathized: "She's one of the most amazing actors I've ever known, but when Sally goes cold, it's like Khrushchev in the Cold War," he said. "She will bury you."
Read more at People. Jeva Lange
Director Joss Whedon's Canadian wife could be deported because he's gone by the name "Joss" for so long, instead of his legal birth name "Joseph," The Toronto Sun reports.
Whedon married Heather Horton in February, and is required to provide his birth certificate to prove his U.S. citizenship for her green card process. But Whedon has been using his nickname, "Joss," on his documents for "decades," including on his driver's license and his passport, meaning he can't get a copy of his birth certificate, where his name is still "Joseph," very easily.
Additionally, Whedon's birth certificate is full of errors, like an incorrect maiden name for his mother and his birthplace being listed as "Santa Monica, New York" — a place that doesn't even exist.
Read more at Page Six and The Toronto Sun. Jeva Lange
According to people who bet on royal baby names, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's soon-to-be-born daughter might be a "Philippa."
The U.K. gambling site Ladbrokes "slashed the betting odds on the name to 3/1" following the death of Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip, last month, People reports, noting that the younger generation of the royal family has a recent history of honoring the patriarch (Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall, Harry's cousins, gave their newborn sons the middle name Philip).
Diana (after Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana) and Elizabeth (after Harry's grandmother, the Queen) are also still going strong, at 5/1 and 10/1 respectively. Celebitchy further casts doubt on Philippa, noting that the baby would be "Pippa for short" and "the Middletons would be so mad." Celebitchy predicts, rather, that "it will be something unexpected. Archie Harrison was unexpected. It won't be 'Elizabeth Philippa Diana.'" Jeva Lange
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has unveiled a major update to its mask guidance, hailing it as a "powerful moment."
The CDC said Thursday that those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 now largely no longer need to wear a mask or practice social distancing indoors, in addition to mostly being able to stop wearing masks outdoors as previously announced.
"Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. "If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic."
This is with the exception of where masks are "required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance," the CDC said. Masks are also still required during travel, CNN notes, and the CDC is advising they still be worn when going to doctors, hospitals, or long-term care facilities, as well as in prisons, jails, or homeless shelters, according to The New York Times.
Walensky also noted that immunocompromised people should talk to their doctor before they stop wearing a mask, and anyone who develops COVID-19 symptoms should resume wearing one. Unvaccinated people remain at risk and should still wear their mask, Walensky added. But "we have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy," Walensky said, and for vaccinated people, "that moment has come." Brendan Morrow