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Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, Oct. 15: | |
- Gaza's lack of clean water and fuel-starved hospitals further endanger Palestinians bracing for invasion, the U.N. says
- Economists now think the U.S. will dodge a recession
- Prices at the pump are tumbling
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 | | Palestinians wait to collect water in southern Gaza. PHOTO: MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS | | |
1. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening as Israel prepares for a ground offensive. | |
| The Israeli military continued to pound the enclave with airstrikes and said it killed a Hamas commander who led one of last weekend's massacres. Two million people in Gaza were forced to drink dirty water after treatment plants ran out of fuel, the United Nations said, warning that shortages of basic goods are putting lives at risk (🔐read for free). Israel has cut off Gaza's access to essential goods including food and electricity. Ahead of its expected ground invasion, it has been urging civilians to flee the northern part of the strip and taken the rare step of evacuating an Israeli town. The death toll in Gaza now stands at 2,329, and 1,400 people have died in Israel since Hamas's Oct. 7 attack. | |
| U.S. Push to Evacuate Americans From Gaza Falters Amid Egyptian Demands (Read) Israel Aims to Destroy Hamas. What Comes Next for Gaza Is Unclear. (Read) Democrats Are at Odds on Israel. Republicans Can't Agree on Ukraine. Here's What It Means for America's Allies. (Read) Follow live updates here. | |
2. "We have a lot of things that can go 'boom' in this town": How two brothers died in a BP refinery tragedy. | |
| America's aging oil refineries faced pressure to ramp back up quickly after the pandemic. At BP's Ohio site last year, a boom reverberated for miles and blasted a wall of flame and smoke through the heart of the refinery, claiming the lives of two brothers. Here is how it happened. | |
3. A recession is no longer the concensus. | |
| Economists are turning optimistic on the U.S. economy. They now think it will skirt a recession, the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates and inflation will continue to ease. In the latest quarterly survey by The Wall Street Journal, they lowered the probability of a recession within the next year, from 54% on average in July to a more optimistic 48%. That is the first time they have put the probability below 50% since the middle of last year. Investors will parse the latest retail sales data on Tuesday for fresh clues on the economy's trajectory. | |
| These Companies Are Being Squeezed by Higher Rates (Read) 🎧 A Key Fed Official on What's Next for Interest Rate Hikes (Listen) | |
4. Jim Jordan's backers for House speaker say this time is different. | |
| Some Republicans say strong support from grassroots conservatives will help new Jordan win over dozens of GOP critics and take the gavel this week. But opponents are digging in and the math remains unforgiving, setting the stage for another unpredictable floor vote. Either way, pressure is mounting on Republican lawmakers to resolve their internal fighting nearly two weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a historic vote. | |
5. Poles are voting in what could be Europe's most important election this year. | |
| An upstart party in Poland has pulled the debate to the right and broken the taboo of questioning support for Ukraine after Russia's invasion last year. This has driven the ruling Law and Justice Party to compete for votes by taking a notably more hostile approach to providing indefinite backing for its neighbor. The first exit polls are expected on Sunday evening, when the likely formation of the next government could become clear. | |
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