Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

Here is a look at the life of Andrew Yang, entrepreneur and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

Birth date: January 13, 1975

Birth place: Schenectady, New York

Birth name: Andrew M. Yang

Father: Kei-Hsiung Yang, researcher at IBM and GE

Mother: Nancy L. Yang, systems administrator

Marriage: Evelyn (Lu) Yang (2011-present)

Children: Two sons

Education: Brown University, B.A. in Economics, 1996; J.D. Columbia University School of Law, 1999

Religion: Protestant

His parents are originally from Taiwan.

The primary proposal for his political platform was the idea of universal basic income (UBI). This “Freedom Dividend” would have provided every citizen with $1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year.

Yang established Freedom Dividend, a pilot program to push for universal basic income, in which he personally funds monthly cash payments.

Is featured in the 2016 documentary, “Generation Startup.”

His campaign slogan was “MATH,” or “Make America Think Harder.”

In 1992, he traveled to London as a member of the US National Debate Team.

After graduating from Columbia, Yang practiced law for a short time before changing his career focus to start-ups and entrepreneurship.

2002-2005 – Vice president of a healthcare start-up.

2006-2011 – Managing director, then CEO, of Manhattan Prep, a test-prep company.

2009 – Kaplan buys Manhattan Prep for more than $10 million.

September 2011 – Founds Venture for America, a non-profit which connects recent college graduates with start-ups. Leaves the company in 2017.

2012 – Is recognized by President Barack Obama as a “Champion of Change.”

April 2012 – Ranks No. 27 on Fast Company’s list of 100 Most Creative People in Business.

February 4, 2014 – His book, “Smart People Should Build Things: How to Restore Our Culture of Achievement, Build a Path for Entrepreneurs, and Create New Jobs in America,” is published.

May 11, 2015 – Obama names Yang an ambassador for global entrepreneurship.

November 6, 2017 – Files FEC paperwork for a 2020 presidential run.

February 2, 2018 – Announces his run for president via YouTube and Twitter.

April 3, 2018 – His book, “The War on Normal People,” is published.

March 2019 – Yang explores the possibility of using a 3D hologram to be able to campaign remotely in two or three places at once.

January 4, 2020 – Launches a write-in campaign for the Ohio Democratic primary in March of 2020 after failing to fully comply with the state’s ballot access laws.

February 11, 2020 – In New Hampshire, Yang suspends his presidential campaign.

February 19, 2020 – CNN announces that Yang will be joining the network as a political commentator.

March 5, 2020 – Launches Humanity Forward, a nonprofit group that will “endorse and provide resources to political candidates who embrace Universal Basic Income, human-centered capitalism and other aligned policies at every level,” according to its website. Yang also announces that he will launch a podcast.

December 23, 2020 – Files paperwork to participate in New York’s 2021 mayoral race, according to city records.

January 13, 2021 – Yang announces his candidacy for New York City mayor.

June 22, 2021 – Yang concedes the New York City mayoral race.

October 4, 2021 – Yang announces in a blog post that he is “breaking up” with the Democratic Party and has registered as an independent

July 27, 2022 – Yang, along with former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, and a group of former Republican and Democratic officials form a new political party called Forward.

September 12, 2023 – Yang’s political thriller “The Last Election,” co-written with Stephen Marche, is published.

2020 hopeful wants holograms to campaign in multiple cities

CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in the United States. In 2022, an outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus originated in Africa and is the cousin of the smallpox virus.

In November 2022, WHO renames the monkeypox virus as mpox after working with International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) to rename the the virus using non-stigmatizing, non-offensive social and cultural nomenclature.

(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Mpox is a poxvirus. It generally causes pimple- or blister-like lesions and flu-like symptoms such as fever. The disease is rarely fatal.

Mpox spreads through close contact. This includes direct physical contact with lesions as well as “respiratory secretions” shared through face-to-face interaction and touching objects that have been contaminated by mpox lesions or fluids. The virus may also pass to a fetus through the placenta.

Anyone can become ill from mpox, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that more than 99% of mpox cases in the United States in the 2022 outbreak have been among men who have sex with men. However, mpox is not generally considered a sexually transmitted disease.

Mpox is usually found in West and Central Africa, but additional cases have been seen in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world in recent years. Those cases are typically linked to international travel or imported animals infected with the poxvirus.

CDC Mpox Map and Case Count

WHO Situation Reports

Timeline and 2022 Outbreak

1958 – Mpox is discovered when monkeys kept for research cause two outbreaks in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1970 – The first human case is recorded in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

2003 – An outbreak in the United States is linked to infected pet prairie dogs imported from Ghana and results in more than 80 cases.

July 16, 2021 – The CDC and local health officials in Dallas announce they are investigating a case of mpox in a traveler from Nigeria. “The individual is a City of Dallas resident who traveled from Nigeria to Dallas, arriving at Love Field airport on July 9, 2021. The person is hospitalized in Dallas and is in stable condition,” the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services says in a statement.

May 17, 2022 – The first confirmed US case of mpox in the 2022 outbreak is reported to the CDC in a traveler who returned to Massachusetts from Canada.

May 19, 2022 – WHO reports that death rates of the outbreak have been between 3% and 6%.

May 23, 2022 – The CDC announces the release of mpox vaccine doses from the nation’s Strategic National Stockpile for “high-risk people.” In the United States, the two-dose Jynneos vaccine is licensed to prevent smallpox and specifically to prevent mpox.

May 26, 2022 – CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announces that the United States is distributing the vaccine to states with reported cases and recommends vaccination for people at highest risk of infection due to direct contact with someone who has mpox.

June 22, 2022 – The CDC announces a partnership with five commercial laboratories to ramp up testing capacity in the United States.

June 23, 2022 – New York City launches the first mpox vaccination clinic in the United States.

June 28, 2022 – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Biden administration announce an enhanced vaccination strategy and report that more than 9,000 doses of vaccine have been distributed to date.

July 22, 2022 – Two American children contract mpox – a first in the United States. According to the CDC, the two cases are unrelated.

July 23, 2022 – WHO declares mpox a public health emergency of international concern, “an extraordinary event that may constitute a public health risk to other countries through international spread of disease and may require an international coordinated response.”

July 27, 2022 – After weeks of mpox vaccines being in limited supply, more than 786,000 additional doses are made available in the United States, according to HHS.

July 29, 2022 – New York declares a state disaster emergency in response to the mpox outbreak.

August 1, 2022 – California and Illinois declare states of emergency. California has reported more than 800 cases, while Illinois has had more than 500, according to data from the CDC.

August 2, 2022 – An mpox response team is created by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden names Robert Fenton from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as the White House national mpox response coordinator.

August 2, 2022 – A report from Spain’s National Institute for Microbiology indicates two men, ages 31 and 44, who died from mpox in unrelated cases had both developed encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, which can be triggered by viral infections. Encephalitis is a very rare condition known to be associated with mpox. It has been reported in people with mpox in West Africa and in a patient in the United States in 2003 during the small outbreak linked to imported prairie dogs.

August 4, 2022 – The Biden administration declares the mpox outbreak a national public health emergency.

August 5, 2022 – A report published by the CDC finds that 94% of cases were among men who had recent sexual or close intimate contact with another man. Further, 54% of cases were among Black Americans and Latinos.

August 9, 2022 – In an effort to stretch the limited supply of the Jynneos mpox vaccine, federal health officials authorize administering smaller doses using a different method of injection. The new injection strategy allows health-care providers to give shallow injections intradermally, in between layers of the skin, with one-fifth the standard dose size instead of subcutaneously, into the fatty layer below the skin, with the larger dose.

August 18, 2022 – The White House announces the acceleration of the HHS vaccine distribution timeline, with an additional 1.8 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine being made available. Additional vaccines will be distributed to communities hosting large LGBTQI+ events.

August 19, 2022 – Washington’s King County, which includes Seattle, declares mpox a public health emergency, with more than 270 recorded cases.

September 12, 2022 – The first US death due to mpox is confirmed in Los Angeles County, California.

May 11, 2023 – WHO declares the mpox outbreak is no longer a global health emergency.

October 26, 2023 – CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, votes unanimously to recommend that certain individuals ages 18 and older who are at high risk for getting mpox continue to get the vaccine as a routine part of their sexual health care.

CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at the life of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Birth date: 1935

Birth place: Safed, Palestine

Marriage: Amina Abbas

Children: Three sons Mazen (died in 2002), Yasser and Tareq

Education: Damascus University, B.A.; Oriental College (in Moscow), Ph.D.

His family left the British Mandate area Safed, Palestine, to live in Syria as refugees in 1948.

Abbas laid floor tiles and taught elementary school before earning a law degree.

Played an integral role in the forging of the Declaration of Principles, the historic Oslo Accords signed in 1993 by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel.

Was the primary force behind the Palestine National Council’s decision to work with Israeli peace groups.

He is also known as Abu Mazen. (Abu is a slang term to describe the head of a family or father of children.)

1959 – Founding member of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), which became the largest political group of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

1964 – Fatah joins the PLO.

1967 – Is appointed to Fatah’s Central Committee.

1968 – Joins the Palestinian National Council (PNC).

1980 – Is elected to the PLO’s Executive Committee.

September 1993 – Accompanies Arafat to the White House to sign the Oslo Accords, or the Declaration of Principles.

1995 – Signs the Interim Peace Agreement with Israel.

March 19, 2003 – Accepts the position of prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

June 3, 2003 – Meets with US President George W. Bush and the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain, in Egypt, regarding peace efforts.

September 6, 2003 – Resigns as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

November 11, 2004 – Becomes the chairman of the PLO after Arafat’s death.

January 9, 2005 – Declares victory in Palestinian presidential elections.

May 26, 2005 – Meets with Bush; the first meeting with the Palestinian Authority in the White House since peace talks broke down in 2000. Bush pledges to give the Palestinian Authority $50 million in aid.

May 31, 2005 – Undergoes a successful, minor heart procedure in a hospital in Amman, Jordan.

February 21, 2006 – Asks Hamas leader Ismail Haniya to assemble a government. Haniya is sworn in in March.

June 14, 2007 – Dissolves the government and dismisses Haniya as prime minister. Haniya rejects this and remains the de facto leader in the Gaza Strip.

June 15, 2007 – Appoints economist Salam Fayyad as the new prime minister of an emergency Palestinian Cabinet.

November 27, 2007 – Attends the Annapolis Middle East Peace Conference, the first formal peace conference sponsored by the US since 2000. Top diplomats and representatives from dozens of countries and organizations also attend, hoping to restart stalled Middle East peace negotiations.

April 24, 2008 – Meets with Bush at the White House.

January 2009 – Extends his term in office until 2010, citing a clause in the constitution.

December 16, 2009 – The PLO’s Central Council votes to extend Abbas’s term as president indefinitely.

May 4, 2011 – Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal formally adopt a reconciliation agreement during a ceremony in Egypt.

September 16, 2011 – Abbas announces during a speech in Ramallah that he will pursue a full United Nations membership bid for Palestine.

September 23, 2011 – Abbas submits a statehood application letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

January 3, 2013 – Abbas issues a decree renaming the organization the “State of Palestine.”

December 31, 2014 – One day after the UN Security Council rejects a resolution calling for Palestinian statehood by 2017, and for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Abbas applies to join the International Criminal Court. This sets the stage for the Palestinian Authority to possibly pursue war crime complaints against Israel.

September 30, 2015 – Addresses the UN General Assembly before the historic raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations, saying the Palestinian Authority is no longer bound by the Oslo Accords.

September 8, 2016 – Once-secret Soviet documents, obtained by CNN from the Mitrokhin Archive at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, claim that Abbas, who completed graduate work in Moscow in 1982, was a KGB agent while he was a member of the PLO in Damascus. Palestinian leaders decry the report as a “smear campaign.”

September 30, 2016 – Attends the funeral of Israeli statesman Shimon Peres and shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

October 6, 2016 – Is hospitalized to have his heart tested.

May 3, 2017 – Meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

December 10, 2017 – Abbas cancels a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

January 14, 2018 – Abbas calls on the PLO to “revise all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel because Israel has brought these agreements to a dead end,” and accuses Israel of ending the Oslo agreement. This criticism comes six weeks after Trump announces recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

April 30, 2018 – Abbas speaks at the opening of the Palestinian National Council remarking that the Holocaust was driven not by antisemitism, but by the financial activities of European Jews. He apologizes a few days later.

May 28, 2018 – Is released from the hospital after being treated for pneumonia.

January 28, 2020 – Abbas rejects Trump’s Middle East “Peace to Prosperity” plan, unveiled alongside Netanyahu at the White House, saying at a news conference from Ramallah in the West Bank that “Jerusalem is not for sale. All our rights are not for sale or for compromise. Your deal is a conspiracy and it will not work.” Abbas, having cut diplomatic contact with the US in December 2017, did not attend the unveiling and had not been briefed in the plan.

April 29, 2021 – Abbas announces the postponement of planned parliamentary elections, saying Israel has failed to confirm it will allow voting in East Jerusalem.

August 16, 2022 – At a news conference in Berlin, Abbas says Israel has caused “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians, triggering outrage from world leaders and a social media storm.

November 5, 2023 – Abbas meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah amid escalating settler violence in the West Bank following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Greener newsletter. Our limited newsletter series guides you on how to minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety.

CNN
 — 

For weeks, your Christmas tree has sat twinkling quietly in a corner of your home, carefully decorated with the dazzling bits and baubles you so thoughtfully placed on its branches.

But now, the holiday has passed and the presents have disappeared, needles have begun to fall to the floor and the trunk has become a glorified cat-scratching post.

So what do you do with it now?

Here are a few things you can do to recycle, repurpose or dispose of your lovely tree.

Luckily, your tree is biodegradable, so it can easily be returned to nature. If you have a compost pile, go ahead and throw it in there.

Many places will also accept undecorated trees and put them through a wood chipper to be turned into mulch and compost.

And for goodness sake, do not send your tree through the mulcher with the string of lights still on.

Dream up some lovely landscaping ideas

If you’re a crafty creature, there are many creative ways to use an old tree in your landscaping.

Cut the trunk into slices and use them to line your flower beds or walkways. You can also create dynamic garden displays by cutting trunk pieces at different thicknesses and using them as pot risers.

Those with serious green thumbs may also use the branches of their tree to line perennial flower beds. The evergreen boughs will catch snowfall and insulate the patch of dirt from winter chills.

For plants that need a little extra support, the branches can also be used as natural stakes.

Dried branches and hunks of trunk will make fabulous firewood for an outdoor firepit or bonfire, but be sure to keep the fire outside.

When Christmas trees burn, they release creosote — a highly flammable, toxic substance consisting mainly of tar — into the fire smoke. Creosote may build up on the inside of your chimney, increasing your risk of a chimney fire.

Who would have thought you could use your tree as a tree? If you bought a potted Christmas tree or one that has its roots balled in burlap, you probably had this solution in mind already.

Buying a tree with its roots intact allows you to plant it after the holiday, giving you a gorgeous evergreen addition to your yard that can be enjoyed year-round.

The fragrant smell of evergreen needles can last long after the tree is gone.

Just remove the needles from the tree before you dispose of it and put them in sachets or bowls of water to continue basking in the festive smell for a little while longer.

Dispose of your tree and help your community

Many communities have figured out how to use old Christmas trees in creative ways.

In north-central New Jersey, the Somerset County Park Commission has a free annual Christmas tree recycling program. The trees are turned into wood chips and mulch that are used within the park system to protect and support plant life. New York City has a similar program.

The city of San Diego also offers a free program with 16 locations where residents can drop off trees that are converted into compost, mulch and wood chips that can be purchased throughout the year.

Check with your neighborhood, county, city or local groups to see if they have a need for the trees this season.

A year after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky secured bipartisan support from the United States for its defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion, the outlook looks much more grim. A long-anticipated Ukrainian offensive in the south has made scant progress. Russia appears to have weathered international sanctions, for now, and has converted its economy into a war machine.

The mood in Moscow seems grimly determined: The goals of the “special military operation” will be achieved, and the fighting will continue until that happens.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is relishing the much more partisan atmosphere in Washington, where many in the Republican Party are questioning the purpose of sending Ukraine another $61 billion worth of aid as requested by President Joe Biden’s administration, assessing that it will achieve little on the battlefield.

At his first year-end news conference since the conflict began, Putin scoffed: “Ukraine produces almost nothing today, everything is coming from the West, but the free stuff is going to run out some day, and it seems it already is.”

Zelensky — who, by his own recent admission, is tired — has an ever-harder job as Ukraine’s chief salesman, with events in the Middle East diverting attention from Ukraine as the number-one international crisis.

On the first anniversary of the invasion, he predicted that “2023 will be the year of our victory!” He’s unlikely to make the same optimistic forecast for the coming year.

Read the full analysis here.

CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at the life of the former King of Spain.

Birth date: January 5, 1938

Birth place: Rome, Italy

Birth name: Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor Maria de Borbon y Borbon

Father: Don Juan de Borbon y Battenburg, Count of Barcelona, third son of King Alfonso XIII of Spain

Mother: Dona Maria de las Mercedes de Borbon y Orleans, Princess of the Two Sicilies and Countess of Barcelona

Marriage: Princess Sofia of Greece (May 14, 1962-present)

Children: Infanta Elena of Spain, Elena Maria, Isabel, Dominica de Silos de Borbon y Grecia, Duchess of Lugo, December 1963; Infanta Cristina of Asturias, Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y Grecia, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, June 1965; Prince of the Asturias, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso y de la Santísima Trinidad y de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia, January 1968

Education: Marianist, Fribourg, Switzerland; Instituto San Isidro, Madrid, Spain; Navy Orphans’ College, Spain; Saragossa Military Academy, Saragossa, Spain; Naval College, Marin, Spain; Spanish Air Academy, San Javier, Spain; University of Madrid, Spain

Military: Spanish Army, Spanish Navy, Spanish Air Force

The Spanish Royal Family pays income taxes by constitutional provision and lives in a converted hunting lodge, Zarzuela Palace, by choice.

The Palacio Real, the Royal Palace, in Madrid is used for formal events such as visits from heads of state.

First visited the United States in 1958, during training as a naval midshipman aboard the Juan Sebastian Elcano.

Great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, distant cousin to both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

Both King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are descendants of Queen Victoria.

Distant relative of fifteenth century’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

1947 – Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s Law of Succession declares the Spanish royal family will be restored to power upon his death.

1948 – Makes first trip to Spain, after Franco and Don Juan de Borbon agree to a Spanish education for the heir apparent.

1960 – Completes military training and becomes the first Spanish officer to hold the rank of lieutenant in all three branches of the military.

August 1962 – During his honeymoon, visits the United States and meets US President John F. Kennedy.

1969 – Invested as crown prince and designated as Franco’s successor.

November 22, 1975 – Crowned Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, two days after the death of Franco and restores the Spanish monarchy after a 44-year interregnum.

June 1-4, 1976 – First reigning Spanish monarch to visit the United States. He meets with US President Gerald Ford.

1977 – Enacts political reforms that lead to the first democratic election since 1936.

1978 – Adoption of a new constitution gives the monarchy more than a titular or ceremonial role in the government.

February 1981 – An attempted coup is blocked when forces loyal to the King refuse to join the rebellion.

2000 – Celebrates his 25th anniversary on the throne.

March 11, 2004 – Addresses the nation and visits the wounded after 10 bombs go off on four commuter trains during rush hour in Madrid.

November 10, 2007 – Tells Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, “Why don’t you shut up?” (¿Por qué no te callas?), during the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile.

May 8, 2010 – Has a growth removed from his right lung, which turns out to be benign.

August 8, 2010 – With Queen Sofia, hosts US First Lady Michelle Obama and her youngest daughter, Sasha, at the summer palace on Mallorca Island.

April 14, 2012 – Undergoes hip replacement surgery after falling during a trip to Botswana. He is readmitted later in the month to “reduce a dislocation” of the hip. He undergoes another surgery for his hip in November 2012.

July 2012 – Is dropped as honorary president of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Spain after his April elephant hunting trip in Botswana is widely criticized. “Although not illegal, the hunting was widely viewed as incompatible with the King’s position at the head of WWF-Spain,” the group said in a statement. He had held the honorary post since 1968.

March 3, 2013 – Is hospitalized for surgery on herniated discs. While he is recovering, a small fire breaks out at the hospital but he is not affected.

September 2013 – Undergoes a third hip surgery in Madrid to replace the infected joint..

June 2, 2014 – Announces that he is abdicating in favor of his son Prince Felipe.

June 18, 2014 – Formally abdicates.

January 14, 2015 – A 12 judge panel rules Juan Carlos must face a paternity lawsuit – by a Belgian woman alleging that he’s her father – before the nation’s Supreme Court. Ingrid Sartiau, from Brussels, alleges that her mother and Juan Carlos had a relationship in late 1965, and she was born, as a result, in August 1966. At that time, Juan Carlos was married but still a prince.

March 11, 2015 – Spain’s Supreme Court dismisses the paternity suit against Juan Carlos.

November 29, 2016 – Attends the memorial service for former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

June 2, 2019 – Officially retires from public life.

June 8, 2020 – Spain’s Supreme Court announces an investigation into Juan Carlos for possible crimes involving an alleged 2008 transfer of $100 million from the Saudi king for a high-speed rail project in Saudi Arabia. Switzerland is also investigating the contract.

August 3, 2020 – Leaves Spain amid scrutiny of alleged financial dealings. In a letter to his son, King Felipe VI, Juan Carlos writes that he made the decision to leave “in the face of the public repercussion that certain past events of my private life are generating.”

December 2021 – Swiss prosecutors drop charges against Juan Carlos regarding the Saudi rail project.

March 2022 – Spanish prosecutors close their investigations into Juan Carlos and file no charges.

May 19, 2022 – A resident of the United Arab Emirates since his self-imposed exile, Juan Carlos travels to Spain for the first time since fleeing nearly two years prior.

October 6, 2023 – London’s High Court throws out a lawsuit brought by his former lover Corinna Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein accusing Juan Carlos of coordinating a campaign of harassment and surveillance against her. Juan Carlos has denied the allegations.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday disclosed new information about an underground Hamas tunnel network which the IDF said it recently demolished following the recovery of the bodies of five Israeli hostages. 

The hostages – who CNN previously reported on in mid-December are: Ziv Dado, Eden Zecharya, Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer and Elia Toledano.

Zecharya and Toledano were civilians, Dado, Sherman and Beizer were IDF soldiers.

Citing recent operations over the past few weeks in “the area of the Jabalya camp” which the IDF calls “one of Hamas’ operational centers in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF on Sunday said in a statement it “exposed a strategic tunnel network that served as Hamas’ northern headquarters in Gaza. The underground headquarters, which included two levels … with many routes, was used for directing combat and the movement of terrorists.”

“The network was connected to a shaft leading to the residence of the Commander of Hamas’ Northern Brigade,” Ahmed Ghandour, who the IDF previously identified as “a leading figure in the planning and execution of the October 7th massacre.” 

In late November, the IDF said Ghandour – and four other “senior commanders” were killed in IDF operations.

“He initiated, promoted, and approved terrorist activities and attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops. These included shootings, bombings, rocket launches, and terror attacks,” they said in a November 26 statement.

In their Sunday statement, the IDF said the underground network, used by Hamas, “also passed beneath a school and a hospital.” CNN has not independently verified details of the tunnel network’s location.

After the bodies of the five Israeli hostages were recovered, the IDF says it dismantled the “subterranean headquarters,” according to the statement.

“The demolition of the headquarters in Jabalya is part of the effort to deal with Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure and to strike at its senior commanders and its strategic capabilities,” the IDF said in Sunday’s statement.

“This effort is continuing at all times and is now being carried out in Khan Yunis and the southern Gaza Strip,” they said.

In late December, Hamas released a video that showed Elia Toledano, Nik Beizer and Ron Sherman while they were alive and still in Hamas in captivity in what appears to be an underground tunnel.  

CNN is not showing the Hamas video or images from the video because the men were likely speaking under duress.

CNN
 — 

Here is a look at the January 2015 terror attacks in Paris. From January 7 to January 9, a total of 17 people were killed in attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a kosher grocery store and the Paris suburb of Montrouge. Three suspects in the attacks were killed by police in separate standoffs. On December 16, 2020, a French court found guilty 14 accomplices of the French Islamist militants behind the attacks.

The Charlie Hebdo magazine began publishing in 1970 with the goal of satirizing religion, politics, and other topics. Most employees came from the publication Hara-Kiri, which was banned after it mocked the death of former President Charles de Gaulle.

The Charlie in the title references Charlie Brown from the Peanuts cartoon. Hebdo is short for hebdomadaire, meaning weekly, in French.

The magazine ceased publication in the 1980s due to lack of funds. It resumed publishing in 1992.

In 2006, Charlie Hebdo reprinted controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that originally appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. French President Jacques Chirac criticized the decision and called it “overt provocation.”

In 2011, the magazine’s offices were destroyed by a gasoline bomb after it published a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed.

Cherif Kouachi:
– Born in France, of Algerian descent.
– During his standoff with police, Cherif Kouachi told CNN affiliate BFMTV that he’d trained in Yemen with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
– He also told BFMTV that during that time he met with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Muslim who was the face of AQAP until he was killed in 2011 in a US drone strike.

Said Kouachi:
– Born in France, of Algerian descent.
– Starting in 2009, Kouachi traveled to Yemen frequently, spending months at a time there.
– US officials said that in 2011 Kouachi received weapons training and worked with AQAP.

Amedy Coulibaly:
– Born in France, of Senegalese descent.
– Arrested in 2010 for attempting to free an Algerian serving time for a 1995 subway bombing and spent some time in prison. Cherif Kouachi was under investigation for the same plot, but there was not enough evidence to indict him.
– Before he was killed by police, Coulibaly purportedly told CNN affiliate BFMTV by phone that he belonged to ISIS.

Hayat Boumeddiene:
– Born in France, of Algerian descent.
– Girlfriend of Coulibaly.
– Initially it was believed she took part in the shooting of a police woman in Montrouge and the subsequent kosher grocery store attack.
– However, a Turkish Prime Ministry source has told CNN that Boumeddiene entered Turkey on January 2, arriving at the Istanbul airport on a flight from Madrid with a man. She had a return ticket to Madrid for January 9, but she failed to take her return flight from Istanbul that day.
– Also, a French source close to the nation’s security services said it’s believed that Boumeddiene is no longer in France and she is thought to have left for Turkey, “of course to reach Syria.”
– Paris prosecutor Francois Molins has indicated Boumedienne and Cherif Kouachi’s wife also were well acquainted, saying they exchanged 500 phone calls in 2014.

– In 2020, Boumeddiene is tried in absentia and found guilty of financing terrorism and belonging to a criminal terrorist network.

January 7, 2015 –
– At approximately 11:30 a.m., gunmen force their way into the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. The attackers allegedly say they are avenging the Prophet Mohammed and shout “Allahu akbar,” which translates to “God is great,” according to Molins.

– Twelve people are killed: Eight employees, a guest at the magazine, a maintenance worker and a police officer are killed.

– After fleeing the building, the gunmen encounter another police officer on the street and shoot him at point-blank range.

– Later in the day, the phrase “Je Suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”), begins trending on social media. Thousands of Parisians take to the streets to hold a vigil for the victims.

January 8, 2015 –
– Police name the prime suspects, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi. Police search for them in an area northeast of Paris, near Villers-Cotterêts.

– One killed: A gunman dressed similarly to those in the Charlie Hebdo attack, all in black and wearing a bulletproof vest, shoots and kills a female police officer in the Paris suburb of Montrouge.

– The Kouachi brothers steal food and gas from a gas station near Villers-Cotterets, according to a gas station attendant.

– A US law enforcement official tells CNN both Kouachi brothers were in a US database of known or suspected international terrorists known as TIDE and also were on the no-fly list and had been for years.

– In the evening, the Eiffel Tower briefly goes dark in remembrance of the victims.

January 9, 2015 –
– Four people are killed: In the morning, police and French special forces troops surround a building in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, where the Kouachi brothers are hiding inside with one hostage.

– In the afternoon, a gunman enters a kosher grocery store in the Paris suburb of Porte de Vincennes, taking people hostage. The gunman is identified as Coulibaly. Police also link him to the attack in Montrouge. Also identified is his suspected accomplice, Boumeddiene. Officials say Coulibaly killed four hostages in the grocery store.

– At approximately 5 p.m., police launch an assault on the building in Dammartin-en-Goele, where the Kouachi brothers are hiding. The brothers are killed.

– Shortly afterward, police launch an operation against Coulibaly at the kosher grocery store. Four hostages are killed, and fifteen are rescued. Coulibaly is also killed.

January 11, 2015 –
– Across France, approximately 3.7 million people march in anti-terrorism rallies. In Paris, 40 world leaders, including French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and British Prime Minister David Cameron march with a crowd of 1.5 million people.

January 13, 2015 –
– Funeral services are held in Israel for the four hostages killed in the kosher market. Netanyahu attends.

– Hollande awards The Order of Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor, posthumously to the three slain police officers in the attacks, during a memorial ceremony at the Prefecture de Police in Paris.

– Bulgaria arrests Frenchman Fritz-Joly Joachin on a European arrest warrant, citing alleged ties to terrorists and a possible connection to the Kouachi brothers.

January 14, 2015 –
– Charlie Hebdo releases a new edition of its magazine, featuring a cartoon of the Muslim prophet Mohammed on the cover, holding a sign that says “Je suis Charlie.”

– AQAP claims responsibility for the operation carried out on Charlie Hebdo.

A chemical tanker operating in the Indian Ocean Saturday was struck by an Iranian attack drone, a US defense official says. 

“The motor vessel CHEM PLUTO, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck at approximately 10 a.m. local time (6 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time) today in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India, by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran,” the official said in a statement. 

A one-way drone is designed to impact its target rather than return to its origin.

“No US Navy vessels were in the vicinity,” the official said, adding that Naval Forces Central Command is communicating with the struck vessel which is making its way toward India.

The Indian Coast Guard posted on social media that there are 21 crew members on board and that “the vessel has started making (its) way toward Mumbai.” 

Context: The strike comes after a series of attacks on shipping interests in the Red Sea by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels operating in Yemen, which have occurred since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

On Saturday, US Central Command reported more such incidents in a statement on social media. A crude oil tanker was hit by “a one-way attack drone” Saturday. There were no injuries, Central Command said. A separate chemical tanker operating in the southern Red Sea reported a “near miss” Saturday from a one-way drone, the command said.

Two “anti-ship ballistic missiles” were also fired into the southern Red Sea from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen but did not hit any vessels, according to the statement. 

It also said the USS Laboon, a Navy destroyer, shot down four aerial drones that were heading toward it. 

While the incidents originating from Yemen have been regular, Saturday’s strike in the Indian Ocean may mark a new escalation in tensions. 

A close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden administration officials on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the plans, after the Israeli leader vowed a “long fight” ahead in the war in Gaza.

Ron Dermer, considered one of Netanyahu’s closest allies, is expected to meet with officials from the White House and the State Department to discuss the next phase of the war in Gaza, the source told CNN.

Dermer is a member of Israel’s war cabinet who previously served as ambassador to the United States.

He is expected to meet with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and members of Congress, according to Axios, which first reported the meetings.

The National Security Council told CNN they do not have any meetings to announce “at this time.”

The expected meetings come as the White House has looked for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza that has resulted in approximately 20,000 people killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Healthy in Ramallah, which draws its data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Last week, the White House told reporters that Israel has assured the United States that it would transition to operations of lower intensity, though the administration would not put a specific timeline on the transition. US officials previously told CNN they expect Israel could shift its tactics to more localized operations by January.

Netanyahu vowed Monday that the war in Gaza was still a “long fight and it is not close to ending.” After his second visit to Gaza since the war began on October 7, Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel would “deepen the fighting.”