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Gaza cease-fire survives, TikTok may not and Florida gets a new senator

 
Today's INTERNATIONAL story

Gaza cease-fire, hostage deal on track to start by Monday

What happened
Representatives from Israel, Hamas, Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. signed a Gaza cease-fire agreement in Doha yesterday, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early this morning his security cabinet would convene to approve it today. Final approval by Netanyahu's full cabinet is expected tomorrow evening, a delay likely to push off the implementation of the cease-fire from Sunday to Monday, according to Axios.

Who said what
Netanyahu's security cabinet had been expected to vote on the phased 42-day cease-fire and hostage deal yesterday, but the vote was "delayed amid last-minute disputes with Hamas and rifts over the agreement" inside Netanyahu's governing coalition, The New York Times said. Two ultranationalist cabinet ministers oppose a cease-fire and one, Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatened to quit the government if it took effect. A Hamas spokesperson said yesterday the militant group was "committed to the cease-fire agreement that was announced by the mediators."

Inside Gaza, "joy over the truce gave way to sorrow and anger" as "Israeli warplanes kept up intense strikes," killing at least 86 people "in the day after the truce was unveiled," Reuters said. "Traditionally," The Associated Press said, "both Israel and Hamas have intensified military actions before cease-fires take effect."

What next?
If "fully implemented," the deal could "mark the beginning of the end of one of the deadliest episodes in modern Middle Eastern history," The Wall Street Journal said. Many hundreds of Israelis and more than 46,000 Palestinians are dead, and the "full extent of the damage" in Gaza "will only be known when the fighting ends and inspectors have full access to the territory," the AP said. But the U.N. estimates that 50 million tons of rubble needs to be cleared, a task that would take "100 trucks working full time" more than 15 years to accomplish.

 
 
Today's TECHNOLOGY story

TikTok's fate uncertain as weekend deadline looms

What happened
TikTok is set to be banned in the U.S. starting Sunday under a law that passed with broad bipartisan support last year. The law gave TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, until Jan. 19 to sell the popular app to a U.S. company on national security grounds.

Who said what
"Barring a Supreme Court intervention or some 11th-hour move by the Biden administration," TikTok "plans to go dark in the U.S." at midnight Saturday, The Wall Street Journal said. President Joe Biden does not plan to enforce the ban on his last full day in office, a White House official said yesterday. "Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement" the law.

Donald Trump plans to keep "TikTok from going dark," incoming national security adviser Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) told Fox News yesterday. The president-elect is "considering an executive order to allow TikTok to continue operating," The New York Times said, though it's "unclear" if such an order "would survive legal challenges or persuade the app stores and cloud computing companies to take steps that could expose them to huge penalties" under the 2024 law.

What next?
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to have a "prime seating location on the dais" at Trump's inauguration on Monday, next to other Big Tech executives, The Associated Press said.

 
 
Today's POLITICS Story

DeSantis sends Florida's top lawyer to US Senate

What happened
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said yesterday that his state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in the Senate after he is confirmed as secretary of state.

Who said what
Moody, 49, is a close DeSantis ally and has been "instrumental" in defending his "conservative agenda" in court and on Fox News, The Associated Press said. Donald Trump's supporters wanted his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to replace Rubio, "putting DeSantis in an awkward position," The Washington Post said, but as the governor "continued to signal interest in other candidates," she bowed out last month.

DeSantis said he was picking Moody to cut federal spending and help "rid our institutions, federal agencies, universities, corporations of the pernicious woke ideology." Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said the Senate seat was Moody's "reward" for being "Ron's personal lapdog." Moody praised DeSantis' leadership but ended her acceptance speech with Trump's catchphrase: "America first, let's get it done."

What next?
Rubio is the only Trump Cabinet pick "being widely discussed as a Day One possibility" for confirmation, Politico said, though "all 100 senators will have to agree to accelerate any final confirmation vote to Monday." If Moody wants to serve out Rubio's full term, until 2028, she will have to defend the seat in a 2026 special election.

 
 

It's not all bad

Decades after the Vietnam War, U.S. soldiers are returning to the country, but on a very different mission — to help their former adversaries find the burial sites of their missing comrades. Where they once "exchanged gunfire," now the vets "exchange handshakes and smiles," Al Jazeera said. Since 2022, teams have located the remains of about 600 people across eight mass graves. The race is on to make even more discoveries before memories fade and it becomes harder to find volunteers.

 
 
Under the radar

Studying cells is a difficult and time-consuming process, but scientists have pinpointed generative AI as a way to make it easier. Developing an AI virtual cell that behaves the same way a real cell does would allow researchers to conduct experiments on the computer rather than on a live cell.

Improving our understanding of the cell could be groundbreaking for public health. Yet "experimenting in this microscopic realm can be a kind of guesswork; even success is frequently confounding," said The Atlantic. There are thousands of cell types that can have different reactions to different stimuli, including medicines and diseases. Luckily, it is now possible for an AI virtual cell to "represent and simulate the behavior of molecules, cells and tissues across diverse states," said an article published in the journal Cell.

For an AI cell model to work, it would need to "accurately predict cellular function, behavior and dynamics and comprehend cellular mechanisms," said Stanford University. Its computer-based experiments would also need to be faster and cheaper than experimenting on an actual cell.

Creating an AI cell necessitates the combination of several models of different biological functions, and "scientists haven't figured out all of the necessary models, let alone how to assemble them," said The Atlantic. This is a "mammoth project, comparable to the genome project, requiring collaboration across disciplines, industries and nations," said Emma Lundberg, the senior author of the Cell article. "Fully functional models might not be available for a decade or more."

 
 
On this day

January 17, 1961

President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his farewell address to the nation. He warned of the "military-industrial complex" that he felt was becoming more influential in American life and could threaten the country's democracy. Almost 64 years to the day later, President Joe Biden echoed Eisenhower's concerns in his own farewell address.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

Wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles is getting "a respite" but there's a "growing risk that significant fire weather could return" next week, the Los Angeles Times says. For now, "a fractious city mourns, and hopes, together," as Angelenos "find a little kinship in devastation," The New York Times says. The Washington Post looks at both the "new kind of urban firestorm" that hit L.A. and the "flurry of executive actions as Biden exits" the White House. There will be a "shift of perspective" when Donald Trump is inaugurated Monday, USA Today says, citing an influx of incoming officials from across the U.S.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Fashion-backward

The hottest fashion accessory for adults is a knit hat that "could be described as a baby bonnet" for grown-ups, The New York Times said. The hats come in "various interpretations that range from girlie to monastic," with Pien Studios selling a popular fuzzy version for $210. Those who want to keep things budget-friendly can buy a pattern from PetiteKnit founder Mette Okkels, whose design is slouchier because she "thinks tightfitting bonnets look too similar to versions for babies."

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Noam Galai / Getty Images; Andrew Harnik / Getty Images; Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images