While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 18
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Injured people are assisted at Shifa hospital, after an air strike hit the nearby Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
Hundreds killed at Gaza hospital amid conflicting claims
About 500 Palestinians were killed in a blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday that Palestinian health authorities said was caused by an Israeli air strike but that the Israeli military blamed on a failed rocket launch by a Palestinian militant group.
The blast was the bloodiest single incident in Gaza since Israel launched an unrelenting bombing campaign against the densely populated territory in retaliation for a deadly cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities on Oct 7.
It took place on the eve of a visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel to show support for the country in its war with Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, and to hear how Israel plans to minimise civilian casualties.
Reuters could not independently verify who was responsible for the blast.
Republican Jim Jordan loses first US House speaker vote
AFP
Combative right-wing Republican Jim Jordan postponed a second vote for speaker of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday after coming up short in the first vote, raising questions about his prospects for seizing the top job.
The Ohio lawmaker said the House would vote in a second round at 11am ET (11pm SIngapore time) on Wednesday.
Mr Jordan, a close ally of former president Donald Trump, won 200 votes, short of the 217 needed to win the job, in a first vote on Tuesday afternoon as 20 of his fellow Republican voted against him.
Ukraine uses US-provided ATACMS missiles for first time
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s armed forces had used US-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles for the first time.
“They have performed very accurately. ATACMS have proven themselves,” he said in an evening address posted on social media, without giving details of when or where they were used.
The United States had not previously said publicly that it had delivered the missile systems to Kyiv.
England seal Euro 2024 berth, as Kane double sinks Italy
AFP
England booked their place at Euro 2024 as Harry Kane’s double inspired an impressive fightback to beat holders Italy 3-1 at Wembley on Tuesday.
Needing a point to be certain of qualifying for next year’s tournament in Germany, Gareth Southgate’s side fell behind to Gianluca Scamacca’s early goal.
But, fuelled by a superb display from Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham, England hit back to equalise before the break through Kane’s penalty.
Britney says she had abortion while dating Justin
REUTERS
Britney Spears says in her eagerly anticipated new memoir that she had an abortion during her relationship with Justin Timberlake over two decades ago, according to an excerpt released on Tuesday.
It is one of several revelations in The Woman In Me, out on Oct 24, in which the 41-year-old pop star also addresses the controversial conservatorship that barred her from handling her own life and finances for 14 years.
“If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it,” she writes of the abortion, in an excerpt published by People magazine on Tuesday.
