U.S. soldiers who refused the COVID-19 vaccine were discharged by the Army during the pandemic. Those same soldiers are now receiving invitations to rejoin the military since the services have rescinded the controversial vaccine requirement. The letters detail necessary steps for discharged members to correct their records and re-characterize the reason for their separation. The…

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a hostage release deal that will see a four-day pause in fighting. And he’s back — less than a week after being fired, Sam Altman is returning as the CEO of OpenAI. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. Israel, Hamas agree to…

Russians call it “Rasputitsa,” or the Season of Bad Roads. In Ukraine it’s known as “Bezdorizhzhia,” or Roadlessness. They both refer to the same thing: it’s mud season in Ukraine. Days of steady rainfall turn every unpaved road, field and tree line into a quagmire of muck in which most anything will get stuck. Thankfully,…

A Navy plane overshot its landing on a Marine Corps base, just miles outside of Honolulu in Hawaii on Monday, Nov. 20, and ended up in Kaneohe Bay. Officials said all nine passengers on the plane escaped unscathed. The plane missed the runway and landed in the water, similar to the 2009 “Miracle on the…

SpaceX’s Starship, intended for lunar missions, launched from Boca Chica, Texas on Saturday, Nov. 18, but the launch was deemed a failure as the Super Heavy booster exploded over the Gulf of Mexico after detachment. Minutes later, the core Starship continued into space before exploding. SpaceX officials suggest that the ship’s self-destruct system was likely…

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening by the day. The World Health Organization is warning that there’s an extreme risk that disease will spread among Palestinians in the territory. “We’ve recorded already more than 70,000, 72,000 cases of acute respiratory infections,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn of the World Health Organization (WHO). “44,000 cases of…

The war in Ukraine is not going Russia’s way. Ukraine has established multiple beachheads along the Dnipro River in recent weeks. At the same time, thousands of Russian soldiers died in the war’s new meat grinder, Avdiivka. As he is known to do when suffering a series of battlefield losses, Vladimir Putin is rattling his…

Yarden Zemach, 38, has lived in Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel, just 3 miles from the Gaza Strip. During the breach of Israeli defenses by Hamas militants, nearly 1,400 people were killed. Zemach, who grows avocados in the kibbutz, tried to return but was barred by authorities. Zemach’s 39-year-old brother, Shachar, was killed during the…

Dropping leaflets from the sky, Israel warns Palestinians living in southern Gaza to flee, fueling concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict will spread to areas that Israeli officials had previously indicated were safe. However, it’s unclear where those 100,000 Palestinians can safely retreat. In southern Gaza, Egypt is only allowing select individuals – such as those…