STARTING WITH THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST — THE U-S IS SENDING 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 QUOTE “DEFEND ISRAEL.” 

IRAN HAS NOW WARNED WASHINGTON TO KEEP AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES OUT OF ISRAEL 

THIS COMES AS ISRAEL SAYS AT LEAST FOUR OF ITS SOLDIERS WERE KILLED IN A DRONE ATTACK BY THE IRAN-BACKED MILITANT GROUP HEZBOLLAH. 

AT LEAST 60 OTHER PEOPLE WERE INJURED IN THE ATTACK ON AN ARMY BASE IN CENTRAL ISRAEL — INCLUDING 7 SOLDIERS. 

HEZBOLLAH SAID THE ATTACK WAS IN RESPONSE TO ISRAELI STRIKES ON BEIRUT LAST WEEK,  WHICH 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 ON SUNDAY,   INCLUDING 13 CHILDREN, ACCORDING TO OFFICIALS IN GAZA. 

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 QUOTE “EMBEDDED INSIDE A COMPOUND THAT PREVIOUSLY SERVED AS THE HOSPITAL.” 

ISRAEL’S MILITARY ALSO SAYS IT TOOK STEPS TO LIMIT HARM TO CIVILIANS IN THAT ATTACK.

BACK HERE IN THE U-S — A MAN CARRYING A LOADED GUN WAS ARRESTED AT A SECURITY CHECKPOINT OUTSIDE FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S RALLY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SATURDAY NIGHT. 

AUTHORITIES SAY THE NEVADA MAN HAD A SHOTGUN, A LOADED HAND GUN, 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 STOPPED THE 49-YEAR-OLD SUSPECT AS THEY SAY HE WAS DRIVING AN UNREGISTERED VEHICLE WITH A “HOMEMADE” LICENSE PLATE. 

THEY SAY THE MAN CLAIMED TO BE A JOURNALIST. 

THE MAN MADE IT PAST AN OUTER SECURITY BOUNDARY BUT WAS STOPPED AT AN INNER PERIMETER,  PATROLLED BY LOCAL DEPUTIES. 

AUTHORITIES SAY FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS **NOT** YET AT THE RALLY WHEN THE ARREST HAPPENED AND HE WAS QUOTE “NOT IN ANY DANGER.” 

THE SUSPECT APPEARED IN COURT THE SAME DAY AND WAS RELEASED ON FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS BAIL. 

COURT RECORDS SHOW HIS NEXT APPEARANCE IS SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 2-ND.

AS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS REMAIN WITHOUT POWER AND FLOODING CONTINUES TO BE AN ISSUE, PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN VISITED FLORIDA ON SUNDAY FOR THE SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN A WEEK — THIS TIME TO GET A FIRSTHAND LOOK AT COMMUNITIES RAVAGED BY HURRICANE MILTON. 

THE PRESIDENT ANNOUNCED AN ADDITIONAL 612 MILLION DOLLARS 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. 

WHILE IN FLORIDA YESTERDAY, BIDEN SAID MORE THAN 250-THOUSAND FLORIDIANS HAD ALREADY REGISTERED FOR HELP… WHICH HE SAID WAS QUOTE “THE MOST IN A SINGLE DAY EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY.” 

MEANTIME AS WE START THE NEW WORK WEEK,  THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, SAYS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVERAL WEEKS, NO ACTIVE TROPICAL CYCLONES ARE FORMING IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

HAPPENING TODAY THE TRIAL BEGINS 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 THIS MORNING IN THE DOUBLE MURDER TRIAL OF RICHARD ALLEN. 

INVESTIGATORS ARRESTED ALLEN  IN 20-22 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 (DEL-FY),  NEAR ABANDONED BRIDGE. 

SEARCHERS FOUND THEIR BODIES A DAY LATER. 

THE CASE MADE NATIONAL HEADLINES – WITH POLICE RELEASING VIDEO OF A MYSTERIOUS FIGURE ON THE TRAIL JUST MOMENTS BEFORE THE GIRLS DISAPPEARED.   

COURT DOCUMENTS SAY ALLEN HAS ADMITTED HE WAS ON THE TRAIL THE SAME DAY – BUT DENIES HAVING ANY INVOLVEMENT IN THE TEENS’ MURDER.

SPACEX PULLED OFF AN INCREDIBLE FEAT ON SUNDAY – SUCCESSFULY LAUNCHING ITS FIFTH TEST FLIGHT OF ITS UNMANNED STARSHIP SPACECRAFT. 

BUT 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.  NO, INSTEAD IT RETURNED TO THE TEXAS LAUNCH PAD  — CAUGHT BY TWO MECHANICAL ARMS – SPACEX CALLS CHOPSTICKS. HERE’S HOW IT UNFOLDED – 

“WE’RE NOW DOWN TO THREE RAPTOR ENGINES… BACK AT THE LAUNCH TOWER.” 

ELON MUSK CALLING THE MOMENT A QUOTE “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.

FINALLY THIS MORNING- ONE GAME OF THRONES FAN IS SITTING PRETTY TODAY AFTER AND UNLIKE THE CHARACTERS IN THE HBO DRAMA, THE WINNER DIDN’T HAVE TO GO THROUGH EIGHT SEASONS OF FIGHTING — NO, JUST A SIX MINUTE BIDDING WAR DURING A GAME OF THRONES AUCTION — WITH THE REPLICA THRONE SELLING FOR ABOUT ONE-AND-A-HALF MILLION DOLLARS. 

THIS 310-POUND PLASTIC VERSION OF THE THRONE WAS USED DURING PROMOTIONAL AND TOURING EVENTS FOR THE SERIES. 

IN TOTAL – HERITAGE AUCTIONS SAYS ITS 3-DAY AUCTION IN DALLAS RAKED IN OVER 21 MILLION DOLLARS — MAKING IT HERITAGE’S SECOND BIGGEST ENTERTAINMENT EVENT EVER — BEHIND THE 22 POINT 8 MILLION RECORD SET IN 2011 BY THE DEBBIE REYNOLDS SALE.