NEW YORK — Glynis Johns, a Tony Award-winning stage and screen star who played the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie Mary Poppins and introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be Send in the Clowns by Stephen Sondheim, has died. She was 100.

Mitch Clem, her manager, said she died Thursday at an assisted living home in Los Angeles of natural causes. “Today’s a sad day for Hollywood,” Clem said. “She is the last of the last of old Hollywood.”

Johns was known to be a perfectionist about her profession — precise, analytical and opinionated. The roles she took had to be multifaceted. Anything less was giving less than her all.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m not interested in playing the role on only one level,” she told The Associated Press in 1990. “The whole point of first-class acting is to make a reality of it.  To be real. And I have to make sense of it in my own mind in order to be real.”

Johns’ greatest triumph was playing Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, for which she won a Tony in 1973. Sondheim wrote the show’s hit song Send in the Clowns to suit her distinctive husky voice, but she lost the part in the 1977 film version to Elizabeth Taylor.

“I’ve had other songs written for me, but nothing like that,” Johns told the AP in 1990. “It’s the greatest gift I’ve ever been given in the theater.”

Others who followed Johns in singing Sondheim’s most popular song include Frank Sinatra, Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Sarah Vaughan and Olivia Newton-John. It also appeared in season two of Yellowjackets in 2023, sung by Elijah Wood. 

Back when it was being conceived, A Little Night Music had gone into rehearsal with some of the book and score unfinished, including a solo song for Johns. Director Hal Prince suggested she and co-star Len Cariou improvise a scene or two to give book writer Hugh Wheeler some ideas. 

“Hal said ‘Why don’t you just say what you feel,'” she recalled to the AP. “When Len and I did that, Hal got on the phone to Steve Sondheim and said, ‘I think you’d better get in a cab and get round here and watch what they’re doing because you are going to get the idea for Glynis’ solo.'”

Johns was the fourth generation of an English theatrical family. Her father, Mervyn Johns, had a long career as a character actor, and her mother was a pianist. She was born in Pretoria, South Africa, because her parents were visiting the area on tour at the time of her birth.

Johns was a dancer at 12 and an actor at 14 in London’s West End. Her breakthrough role was as the amorous mermaid in the title of the 1948 hit comedy Miranda.

“I was quite an athlete, my muscles were strong from dancing, so the tail was just fine; I swam like a porpoise,” she told Newsday in 1998. In 1960’s The Sundowners, with Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum, she was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar. (She lost out to Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry.)

Other highlights include playing the mother in Mary Poppins, the movie that introduced Julie Andrews and where she sang the rousing tune Sister Suffragette. She also starred in the 1989 Broadway revival of The Circle, W. Somerset Maugham’s romantic comedy about love, marriage and fidelity, opposite Rex Harrison and Stewart Granger.

“I’ve retired many times. My personal life has come before my work. The theater is just part of my life. It probably uses my highest sense of intelligence, so therefore I have to come back to it, to realize that I’ve got the talent. I’m not as good doing anything else,” she told the AP.

To prepare for A Coffin in Egypt, Horton Foote’s 1998 play about a grand dame reminiscing about her life on and off a ranch on the Texas prairie, she asked the Texas-born Foote to record a short tape of himself reading some lines and used it as her coach.

In a 1991 revival of A Little Night Music in Los Angeles, she played Madame Armfeldt, the mother of Desiree, the part she had created. In 1963, she starred in her own TV sitcom, Glynis. 

Johns lived all around the world and had four husbands. The first was the father of her only child, the late Gareth Forwood, an actor who died in 2007.
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white house — The Biden administration hopes that Taiwan’s voters can freely choose their next leader when the island votes next week in a general election, says John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, in an interview with VOA’s White House Correspondent Paris Huang on Thursday.

Kirby also reiterated that President Joe Biden and his administration are “all in” on cooperation with the African continent in the coming year.

The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: Let’s start with Taiwan’s elections. According to the Taiwanese government, China has been interfering in the election, including spreading disinformation and misinformation. Taiwanese prosecutors are investigating allegations that China bribed Taiwanese officials with travel and money to influence the election. When they met in San Francisco, President Biden told President Xi Jinping not to interfere with the Taiwan election. Is President Xi is ignoring his advice?

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications: I can’t confirm these individual reports of interference with the electoral process in Taiwan. We’ve been very clear that we respect Taiwan’s democratic institutions. We respect the will of the people of Taiwan to make these sorts of decisions in terms of their own governance. And we don’t want any other actor, be it a nation state or otherwise, to interfere in this election.

VOA: Will the United States have confidence in Taiwan’s election results if there’s hard evidence that China did influence the election?

Kirby: Look, that’s a hypothetical. I’m just not willing to speculate at this point. We want these elections to be free and fair and transparent. We want the will of the people of Taiwan to be respected. We’ll just monitor this as closely as we can.

VOA: This year, China has sent at least nine fighter jets, four navy ships and at least six balloons over Taiwan. What is the White House’s message to China regarding rising tension in the region before the Taiwan election?

Kirby: Again, it’s important that as the people of Taiwan go to the polls to cast their ballots, that they can do so with a feeling of safety and security and comfort in the knowledge that their vote matters, and that it’s going to be appropriately tallied. And that’s really what we’re focused on. That’s what we want to see happen.

VOA: Moving on to the South China Sea. The United States and the Philippines recently had a joint exercise in the South China Sea. Now China is holding a rival exercise in the same region. And recently, China finally appointed a new defense minister, Navy Admiral Dong Jun. Is the White House watching this? Does this mean that China could be more aggressive in the South China Sea region in the future? And has Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reached out to the admiral?

Kirby: You’d have to talk to Secretary Austin. I don’t know whether he’s reached out to the new nominee for defense secretary. I think we should be careful before drawing conclusions over somebody’s nomination to a job and how they’re going to execute that job based on the jobs that they’ve had in the past. We’ll have to judge this individual as we would judge any leader around the world by their actions, not merely by their resume.

We don’t seek a conflict with the [People’s Republic of China]. We don’t want to see conflict in the South China Sea. We do want to make sure that our national interests and the national interests of our allies and partners are respected in the South China Sea and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, which is why we have a robust military capability there. It’s why the president felt it was so important to get military-to-military communications back up and running between the United States and the PRC, and they have, and that’s a good thing.

I’m sure Secretary Austin, at the appropriate time, will speak to the new defense minister. And it’s our hope that that relationship, while we don’t expect to agree on everything, can at least provide yet another layer of insulation in terms of preventing miscalculation and misunderstanding between our two countries. The PRC has made some unfounded maritime claims when it comes to the South China Sea. We expect that we’re going to maintain the capability for our allies and partners there to be able to manage their own national security and to protect the free flow of international commerce there.

VOA: Moving on to Africa. What is next for U.S.-Africa engagement? Could we see more military cooperation or some high-level trips this year?

Kirby: I think you’re going to see us continue to be all-in when it comes to Africa. We have already made terrific progress on many of the commitments that we made in the Africa Leaders Summit, and there have been visits by some 17 senior-level officials of the United States government. I fully expect that those high-level engagements will continue.

VOA: The U.S. has imposed sanctions on individuals in several African countries that are experiencing conflict, like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. President Biden also recently revoked [African Growth and Opportunity Act] access over human rights issues in the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger and Uganda. Is this type of economic statecraft the main lever that the United States has for managing its relationship with the continent? And is this enough to counter China’s rising influence and massive expenditures on the continent?

Kirby: Well, first of all, these actions we’re taking, these economic actions you’re talking about, were designed to express our deep concern and to do it tangibly about some of the practices by leaders in these countries. It has nothing to do with trying to counter China. It’s about leading our foreign policy with a strong focus on human and civil rights and doing what’s right and making it clear what we will and what we won’t stand for.

We have other tools at our disposal, which, again, I’m not in a position to speculate about right at this time, but it’s not about China. These countries all get to decide for themselves what kind of relationship they want with the United States and what kind of relationship they want with China. That’s up to them. We’re comfortable that we’ve got a strong network of relationships across the continent. We’re comfortable that we’re taking real action to give African nations and African leaders alternatives in terms of financing, transparent, healthy, vibrant financing opportunities that won’t push their countries further into debt the way that other financial relationships with other countries outside the continent have caused to our African friends.

We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing, meeting the commitments that we made during the Africa Leaders Summit, offering opportunities for infrastructure growth and development and investment that are sound and viable and transparent, and continuing to honestly put our money where our mouth is when it comes to standing up for shared principles and values.
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pentagon — Houthi militants appear to be ignoring U.S. warnings about their repeated attacks on ships in the Red Sea, launching a naval drone Thursday that came within “a couple of miles” of merchant ships and American combat vessels before detonating.

U.S. naval officials said the so-called unmanned surface vessel was launched from Houthi territory in Yemen and traveled about 50 miles into busy shipping lanes before exploding. They said it is unclear who or what the Houthis were trying to target, adding the explosion did not cause any damage or injuries.

“There are no signs that their irresponsible behavior is abating,” Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Navy operations in the Middle East, told reporters.

“Shipping lanes in this region are dense,” Cooper said. “These Houthi attacks are, for sure, destabilizing and contrary to international law and clearly, as have as has been articulated by many, must stop immediately.”

Twenty-five attacks since November

Since November, the Iranian-backed Houthis have launched 25 attacks on vessels sailing through the Red Sea, claiming the ships are linked to Israel and that the attacks are in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

In response, the United States, along with France, Britain and nearly 20 other countries launched Operation Prosperity Guardian in mid-December to protect ships from Houthi attacks.

So far, about 1,500 vessels have passed safely through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with the U.S. and its partners shooting down 11 Houthi drones, six anti-ship ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles. U.S. forces also sunk three Houthi boats Sunday after they attacked a container ship.

“We now have the largest surface and air presence in the southern Red Sea in years,” Cooper said. “And in the coming weeks, we expect additional countries to contribute, which will only strengthen our ability to deter.”

But Cooper also said the five warships and other assets taking part in Operation Prosperity Guardian are “entirely defensive in nature” and are separate from any capabilities that might be used to strike at the Houthis.

US, allies warn Houthis

On Wednesday, the U.S. and 12 allies issued a statement warning the Houthis of unspecified consequences if their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea continue.

“Let our message now be clear: We call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” the statement said.

Signatories on the statement include Britain, which on Monday issued its own warning to the Houthis of “direct action,” as well as Australia, Canada, Germany and Japan.

Late Wednesday, a senior U.S. administration official —briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity — said the Houthis should “not anticipate another warning” from the U.S. or its partners.
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SAN FRANCISCO — The falling-block video game Tetris has met its match in 13-year-old Willis Gibson, who has become the first player to officially “beat” the original Nintendo version of the game — by breaking it.

Technically, Willis — aka “blue scuti” in the gaming world — made it to what gamers call a “kill screen,” a point where the Tetris code glitches, crashing the game. That might not sound like much of a victory to anyone thinking that only high scores count, but it’s a highly coveted achievement in the world of video games, where records involve pushing hardware and software to their limits. And beyond.

It’s also a very big deal for players of Tetris, which many had long considered unbeatable. That’s partly because the game doesn’t have a scripted ending; those four-block shapes just keep falling no matter how good you get at stacking them into disappearing rows. Top players continued to find ways to extend their winning streaks by staying in the game to reach higher and higher levels, but in the end, the game beat them all.

Until, that is, Willis managed on Dec. 21 to trigger a kill screen on Level 157, which the gaming world takes as a victory over the game — something along the lines of pushing the software past its own limits.

The makers of Tetris agree. “Congratulations to ‘blue scuti’ for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game,” Tetris CEO Maya Rogers said in a statement. Rogers noted that Tetris will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year and called Willis’ victory a “monumental achievement.”

It’s been a very long road. Early on, “the Tetris scene people didn’t even know how to get to these higher levels,” said David Macdonald, a gaming YouTuber who has chronicled the gaming industry for years. “They were just stuck in the 20s and 30s because they just didn’t know techniques to get any further.” Level 29 posed an especially tough roadblock because the blocks began falling more quickly than the in-game controller could respond.

Eventually players found ways to make progress, as Macdonald chronicled in his detailed video on Willis victory. In 2011, one got to Level 30 using a technique called “hypertapping,” in which a player could rhythmically vibrate their fingers to move the game controller faster than the game’s built-in speed. That technique took players to level 35 by 2018, after which they hit a wall.

The next big thing came in 2020 when a gamer combined a multifinger technique originally used on arcade video games with a finger positioned on the bottom of the controller to push it against another finger on the top. Called “rolling,” this much speedier approach helped one player reach Level 95 in 2022.

Then other obstacles arose. Because the original Tetris developers had never counted on players pushing the game’s limits so aggressively, bizarre quirks began to crop up at higher levels. One particularly difficult issue arose with the game’s color palette, which traditionally cycled through 10 easily distinguished patterns. Starting at level 138, though, random color combinations began to appear — some of which made it much harder to distinguish the blocks from the game’s black background.

Two particularly devilish patterns — one a dim combination of dark blues and greens later dubbed “Dusk,” the other composed of black, gray and white blocks called “Charcoal” — proved taxing for players. When combined with the strain of increasingly longer games, which could run 40 minutes or more, progress slowed again. It took a Tetris-playing AI program dubbed StackRabbit to break that logjam by helping map out just where players might happen across a glitch resulting in a kill screen, and finally beat the game.

StackRabbit, which managed to make it all the way to Level 237 before crashing the game, ran on a modified version of Tetris, so its achievements aren’t strictly comparable to those of human players. And its findings weren’t immediately applicable to the human-played game, either. But its runs clearly demonstrated that game-ending glitches could be triggered by very specific events, such as which block pieces were in play or how many lines a player cleared at once.

That let human players take over the task of mapping all possible scenarios that could cause such crashes in the original game. These typically resulted when the game’s decade-old code lost its place and began reading its next instructions from the wrong location, generally resulting in garbage input.

A massive effort spurred by StackRabbit’s experience eventually led to the compilation of a large spreadsheet that detailed which game levels and which specific conditions were most likely to lead to a crash.

That’s what compelled Willis to make his run for the record.

Yet even he appeared shocked when he crashed the game at Level 157. In his livestream video, he appears to hyperventilate before barely gasping “Oh my God” several times, clutching his temples and worrying that he might be passing out. After cupping his hands over his mouth in an apparent attempt to regulate his breathing, he finally exclaims, “I can’t feel my fingers.”
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Tokyo — The black box from an Osprey military aircraft that crashed off Japan in November with eight people on board has been recovered, the US military said Thursday, five weeks after the accident.

“Critical equipment identified by investigation officials has been recovered, including the Voice and Data Recorder, often called the black box,” U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command spokesperson Rebecca Heyse said.

“The equipment will be transported to laboratories for data retrieval with follow analysis of the data at AFSOC. We expect the analysis process to take several weeks,” Heyse said by email.

Seven bodies had previously been recovered and Heyse said the search for the eighth crewmember was ongoing.

The aircraft crashed in waters off southern Japan on November 29.

The Osprey, which can operate like a helicopter or a fixed-wing turboprop plane, has suffered a string of fatal accidents in recent years.
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washington — Scientists have found a way to help Alzheimer’s drugs seep inside the brain faster — by temporarily breaching its protective shield.

The novel experiment was a first attempt in just three patients. But in spots in the brain where the new technology took aim, it enhanced removal of Alzheimer’s trademark brain-clogging plaque, researchers reported Wednesday.

“Our goal is to give patients a head start,” by boosting some new Alzheimer’s treatments that take a long time to work, said Dr. Ali Rezai of West Virginia University’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, who led the study.

At issue is what’s called the blood-brain barrier, a protective lining in blood vessels that prevents germs and other damaging substances from leaching into the brain from the bloodstream. But it also can block drugs for Alzheimer’s, tumors and other neurologic diseases, requiring higher doses for longer periods for enough to reach their target inside the brain.

Now scientists are using a technology called focused ultrasound to jiggle temporary openings in that shield. They inject microscopic bubbles into the bloodstream. Next, they beam sound waves through a helmetlike device to a precise brain area. The pulses of energy vibrate the microbubbles, which loosen gaps in the barrier enough for medications to slip in.

Prior small studies have found the technology can safely poke tiny holes that seal up in 48 hours. Now Rezai’s team has gone a step further — administering an Alzheimer’s drug at the same time.

Some new Alzheimer’s drugs, on the market or in the pipeline, promise to modestly slow worsening of the mind-robbing disease. They’re designed to clear away a sticky protein called beta-amyloid that builds up in certain brain regions. But they require IV infusions every few weeks for at least 18 months.

“Why not try to clear the plaques within a few months?” Rezai said, his rationale for the proof-of-concept study.

3 patients, 1 drug, 6 months

His team gave three patients with mild Alzheimer’s monthly doses of one such drug, Aduhelm, for six months. Right after each IV, researchers aimed the focused ultrasound on a specific amyloid-clogged part of each patient’s brain, opening the blood brain-barrier so more of that day’s dose might enter that spot.

PET scans show patients’ amyloid levels before and after the six months of medication. There was about 32% greater plaque reduction in spots where the blood-brain barrier was breached compared to the same region on the brain’s opposite side, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This pilot study is elegant but too tiny to draw any conclusions, cautioned Dr. Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging.

Still, “it’s very exciting, compelling data,” added Masliah, who wasn’t involved with the research. “It opens the door for more extensive, larger studies, definitely.”

More testing on horizon

Rezai is about to begin another small test of a similar but better proven drug named Leqembi. Eventually, large studies would be needed to tell if combining focused ultrasound with Alzheimer’s drugs makes a real difference for patients.

Masliah said it’s also important to closely check whether speedier plaque reduction might increase the risk of a rare but worrisome side effect of these new drugs — bleeding and swelling in the brain.

Alzheimer’s isn’t the only target. Other researchers are testing if breaching the blood-brain barrier could allow more chemotherapy to reach brain tumors, and ways to target other diseases.
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WASHINGTON — The federal government’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America’s balance sheet in the coming years. 

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a report Tuesday logging U.S. finances, which have become a source of tension in a politically divided Washington that could possibly see parts of the government shut down without an annual budget in place. 

Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed last June to temporarily lift the nation’s debt limit, staving off the risk of what would be a historic default. That agreement lasts until January 2025. Here are some answers to questions about the new record national debt. 

How did the national debt hit $34 trillion?  

The national debt eclipsed $34 trillion several years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office’s January 2020 projections had gross federal debt eclipsing $34 trillion in fiscal year 2029. 

But the debt grew faster than expected because of a multiyear pandemic starting in 2020 that shut down much of the U.S. economy. The government borrowed heavily under then-President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden to stabilize the economy and support a recovery. But the rebound came with a surge of inflation that pushed up interest rates and made it more expensive for the government to service its debts. 

“So far, Washington has been spending money as if we had unlimited resources,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at Loyola Marymount University. “But the bottom line is, there is no free lunch,” he said. “And I think the outlook is pretty grim.” 

The gross debt includes money that the government owes itself, so most policymakers rely on the total debt held by the public in assessing the government’s finances. This lower figure — $26.9 trillion — is roughly equal in size to the U.S. gross domestic product. 

Last June, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in its 30-year outlook that publicly held debt will be equal to a record 181% of American economic activity by 2053. 

What is the impact to the economy?  

The national debt does not appear to be a weight on the U.S. economy right now, as investors are willing to lend the federal government money. This lending allows the government to keep spending on programs without having to raise taxes. 

But the debt’s path in the decades to come might put at risk national security and major programs, including Social Security and Medicare, which have become the most prominent drivers of forecasted government spending over the next few decades. Government dysfunction, such as another debt limit showdown, could also be a financial risk if investors worry about lawmakers’ willingness to repay the U.S. debt. 

Foreign buyers of U.S. debt — like China, Japan, South Korea and European nations — have already cut down on their holdings of Treasury notes. 

A Peterson Foundation analysis states that foreign holdings of U.S. debt peaked at 49% in 2011 but dropped to 30% by the end of 2022. 

“Looking ahead, debt will continue to skyrocket as the Treasury expects to borrow nearly $1 trillion more by the end of March,” said Peterson Foundation CEO Michael Peterson. “Adding trillion after trillion in debt, year after year, should be a flashing red warning sign to any policymaker who cares about the future of our country. 

How could it affect me?  

The debt equates to about $100,000 per person in the U.S. That sounds like a lot, but the sum so far has not appeared to threaten U.S. economic growth. 

Instead, the risk is long term if the debt keeps rising to uncharted levels. Sohn said a higher debt load could put upward pressure on inflation and cause interest rates to remain elevated, which could also increase the cost of repaying the national debt. 

And as the debt challenge evolves over time, choices may become more severe as the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid increasingly outstrip tax revenues. 

When it could turn into a more dire situation is anyone’s guess, says Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “But if and when that happens, it could mean very significant consequences that occur very quickly. 

“It could mean spikes in interest rates. It could mean a recession that leads to lots more unemployment. It could lead to another bout of inflation or weird goings-on with consumer prices — several of which are things that we’ve experienced just in the past few years,” he said. 

How do Republicans and Democrats differ?  

Both Democrats and Republicans have called for debt reduction, but they disagree on the appropriate means of doing so. 

The Biden administration has been pushing for tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations to reduce budget deficits, in addition to funding its domestic agenda. Biden also increased the budget for the IRS so that it can collect unpaid taxes and possibly reduce the debt by hundreds of billions of dollars over 10 years. 

Republican lawmakers have called for large cuts to non-defense government programs and the repeal of clean energy tax credits and spending passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. But Republicans also want to trim Biden’s IRS funding and cut taxes further, both of which could cause the debt to worsen. 

A Treasury Department representative did not respond to a request for comment. 

“There is growing concern among investors and rating agencies that the trajectory we’re on is unsustainable — when that turns into a more dire situation is anyone’s guess,” Akabas said. 
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washington — The United States on Tuesday denounced controversial comments by two Israeli ministers who said Palestinians should be encouraged to emigrate from Gaza and for Jewish settlers to return to the besieged territory.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington “rejects recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.”

“This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible,” added Miller, who reiterated the “clear, consistent, and unequivocal” U.S. position that “Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel.”

Ben Gvir, Israel’s firebrand national security minister, had called on Monday for promoting “a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents.”

Israel unilaterally withdrew the last of its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, ending a presence inside Gaza that began in 1967 but maintaining near complete control over the territory’s borders.

The government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not officially suggested it has any plans to evict Gazans or to send Jewish settlers back to the territory since the current war broke out on October 7.

But Ben Gvir argued that the departure of Palestinians and re-establishment of Israeli settlements “is a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”

“This is an opportunity to develop a project to encourage Gaza’s residents to emigrate to countries around the world,” he told a meeting of his ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit, or “Jewish Power,” party.

His comments came the day after Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Smotrich also called for the return of settlers to Gaza, equally saying Israel should “encourage” the territory’s 2.4 million Palestinians to leave.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israel.

After the worst attack in its history, Israel began a relentless bombardment and ground offensive that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

With heavy combat raging on, 85% of the people in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced, according to the United Nations.
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pasadena, california — Floral floats, marching bands and equestrian units took to the streets under a sunny California sky as the 135th Rose Parade drew hundreds of thousands of spectators on New Year’s Day.

The Pasadena tradition on Monday featured Broadway legend Audra McDonald as grand marshal and the theme “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language.”

After recent rains and gray skies, there was plenty of sun for the 8 a.m. start of the spectacle with a military flyover of a B-2 stealth bomber.

Among the fanciful floats was Kaiser Permanente’s colorful “Symphony of You,” which featured 8,000 roses and received the President Award for most outstanding use and presentation of flowers.

The top prize, the 2024 Sweepstakes Trophy, went to the San Diego Zoo for the 16.8-meter float “It All Started With a Roar,” depicting its mascot Rex the Lion and celebrating wildlife conservation.

Huge crowds lined the 8.8-kilometer parade route. Many camped out on sidewalks overnight, staking out their spots in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve.

The parade was briefly interrupted by about 50 pro-Palestinian protesters carrying a banner demanding a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas. They blocked the route before peacefully dispersing under police orders, said city spokesperson Lisa Derderian.

McDonald was set to toss the coin before the 110th Rose Bowl college football game between Alabama and Michigan.
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