Yarden Bibas, one of the hostages who was freed from Hamas captivity, shared a personal account of encountering Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar while being held in Gaza. During that period, Sinwar permitted Bibas to remain alongside his closest friend, David Cunio, for about two weeks before the two were eventually split up.
“David is my best friend, he has been with me my whole life,” Bibas told Channel 12 in an interview.
Bibas recalled seeing Cunio on November 27, 2023—the day Cunio’s wife, Sharon Aloni Cunio, and their twin daughters were released in a short-term truce deal between Israel and Hamas.

Elon Musk said that he expects hundreds of thousands of self-driving Teslas will be on the road requiring no human intervention by the end of next year and that he is committed to staying as CEO of the company for at least another five years. The billionaire also said in a pair of interviews on Tuesday that he has no regrets about leading the job-slashing Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration. He downplayed any damage to the Tesla brand from that role, saying demand for Teslas has experienced a “major rebound.” That’s potentially a big development given that the latest public sales figures from Europe and U.S. show steep declines in sales for several months running.

Severe drought in Syria this year could lead to the failure of an estimated 75% of local wheat crops, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, threatening the food security of millions of people

The DOJ has launched a criminal investigation into Andrew Cuomo, a candidate for NYC mayor, for allegedly lying to Congress about his management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has jumped to 55% according to a new InsiderAdvantage poll, with just 44% of respondents disapproving of his performance and only 1% undecided.
“These results are not a surprise,” noted InsiderAdvantage pollster Matt Towery. “Other pollsters who accurately polled election cycles where President Trump’s name appeared on the ballot have been showing his approval ratings moving into the fifty-percent-plus range.”
That trend is backed up by multiple other national surveys. Harvard-Harris currently shows Trump at a 47% approval rating, Rasmussen puts him at 49%, and Morning Consult has him at 48%.

FDA outlines stricter Covid vaccine booster approval standards for healthy people The Food and Drug Administration outlined new regulatory guidance for future Covid-19 vaccine boosters, setting stricter approval standards for healthy Americans. The FDA recommended different standards of evidence for approval based on patients’ risk of getting severely sick from Covid. The agency said it wants to see new clinical trials showing Covid shots are still safe and effective before approving them for healthy adults and children, a costly new requirement for pharmaceutical companies that could potentially limit who gets new jabs each year.

CNN’s Jake Tapper says Hunter Biden “was driving the decision-making for the family.”

Al-Jazeera media has aired new footage from the tunnels in Gaza today.

Khamenei: “I do not think nuclear talks with the U.S. will be successful… We do not know what will happen.” At a ceremony for Raisi, he warned the U.S., as the crowd chanted “Death to America,” and added, “No one is waiting for permission from this or that.”